Good journalism from ProPublica
Nice to see this type of reporting from a non-profit:
Since last May, nearly 800 struggling homeowners from all over the country have shared their stories with ProPublica about their efforts to get a loan modification through the federal program. With their help, we showed the incredible delays [1] and frustrations applicants typically face: mortgage servicers have repeatedly lost documents [2], misinformed homeowners [3], and denied modifications [4] for reasons that run contrary [5] to the program’s guidelines. Among the 1.1 million homeowners who’ve begun the program’s trial stage, which is supposed to last three months, hundreds of thousands have waited in limbo for six months or more [6].
That’s good stuff.
Must read column from Friedman…
Must read column from Friedman re: Karzai in Afghanistan … His leadership should worry us all … http://is.gd/b8WQB
French custom: From the story …
French custom: From the story on the U.S. and France jointly tackling Iran:
A senior French official said after th… http://bit.ly/diB7AX
Regarding public discussion
“[The person] who has calmness to see and honestly to state what his opponents and their opinions really are, exaggerating nothing to their discredit, keeping nothing back which tells, or can be supposed to tell, in their favour. This is the real morality of public discussion.”
– John Stuart Mill, 1861
And the universe did NOT disin…
And the universe did NOT disintegrate … RT @nytimes: Large Hadron Collider Finally Smashing Properly http://nyti.ms/cQfl0p
Keynes vs. Hayek in handy rap format
Here’s a great video that explains competing economics theories. It’s got a healthy free-market slant. Enjoy!
No more patents on genes
Having read Michael Crichton’s Next
In a ruling with potentially far-reaching implications for the patenting of human genes, a judge on Monday struck down a company’s patents on two genes linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
The ruling by Judge Robert Sweet of United States District Court challenging whether anyone can hold patents on human genes was expected to have broad implications for the biotechnology industry and genetics-based medical research.
Judge Sweet said he invalidated the patents because DNA’s existence in an isolated form does not alter the fundamental quality of DNA as it exists in the body nor the information it encodes.
Vegas
Enjoying a quick weekend in Vegas with the wife. Downtown Vegas is the best Vegas.
For my academic collegues, enj…
For my academic collegues, enjoy this academic sentence generator … http://ow.ly/1pLTW
Roger Miller’s widow wins copyright suit
Sony had argued that they owned the rights, but an appeals court says they belong to Mary Miller. Now she can enjoy the royalties from the singer’s repertoire. I think we should all listen to Miller’s best song as a celebration. Here it is: “King of the Road.”
