Media Criticism

It’s Only Torture When We Do It

Even when we don’t. Don Surber, on continuing self immolation of the New York Times.

[Update in the afternoon]

OK, I don’t have a lot of time for this, but I’m seeing a lot of nonsense being spouted in the comments section.

Yes, perhaps it isn’t, or shouldn’t be, news that Al Qaeda tortures people. But many people seem to not know that, or have forgotten it, particularly when the major thrust of the news coverage is how awful America is.

Yes, we are supposed to be the good guys. And you know what? We are. When an Abu Ghraib happens, we investigate it, and we try people, and we punish them, and that happens even without the New York Times running it on the front page for weeks on end. When Al Qaeda does it, as prescribed by their training manuals, they, and millions of their supporters in the Muslim world, ululate and cheer.

But somehow, the New York Times and the other enablers of the enemy in what is fundamentally an information war, can’t be bothered to point that out, or point out the differences, instead descending into hand wringing and moral equivalence, in an apparent effort to cast doubt on the goodness of our own society and values, and even whether or not they’re worth defending.

[Saturday morning update]

Follow-up post here.

Administrative

No, I’m Not Dead

But I’m having a hectic week. I went from the conference in Dallas on Sunday to Missouri for a family barbecue, then spent another three days there while also working. I flew back to Florida last night, but we had flight delays due to severe weather in Dallas, and didn’t get in until about 1 AM. Then, after about three hours sleep, I got up and drove back to the airport and got on a plane to DC, where I am now, having worked all day on a client presentation for tomorrow. Probably won’t come up for air until the weekend.

Administrative

No, I’m Not Dead

But I’m having a hectic week. I went from the conference in Dallas on Sunday to Missouri for a family barbecue, then spent another three days there while also working. I flew back to Florida last night, but we had flight delays due to severe weather in Dallas, and didn’t get in until about 1 AM. Then, after about three hours sleep, I got up and drove back to the airport and got on a plane to DC, where I am now, having worked all day on a client presentation for tomorrow. Probably won’t come up for air until the weekend.

Administrative

No, I’m Not Dead

But I’m having a hectic week. I went from the conference in Dallas on Sunday to Missouri for a family barbecue, then spent another three days there while also working. I flew back to Florida last night, but we had flight delays due to severe weather in Dallas, and didn’t get in until about 1 AM. Then, after about three hours sleep, I got up and drove back to the airport and got on a plane to DC, where I am now, having worked all day on a client presentation for tomorrow. Probably won’t come up for air until the weekend.

Political Commentary

Backdating

The WSJ has an article today on backdating:

Brocade Communication Systems Inc. agreed to pay a $7 million penalty to settle … the backdating scandal, according to people familiar with the matter…. Brocade first struck a deal to pay $7 million in March 2006, but the settlement was held up as the number of companies under investigation for backdating options expanded to more than 100….

Republicans, in general, oppose [fines for backdating] as a double hit to shareholders, who already have been penalized once for being defrauded. Democrats argue that penalties serve as deterrents.

There was not necessarily fraud on the shareholder because it’s in a shareholder’s interest to use backdated options to pay executives. They don’t have to use as many of them because they are intrinsically worth more (H. Jenkins), but are also not taxed as highly as more regular dated ones where the date wasn’t coincidentally the lowest price of the quarter.

Putting that aside, fines in general should not be paid by the damaged party, but should be paid as a deterrent–and as compensation! How about the following proposal: the company pays the fine to the shareholders of record on the day before the news that false accounts were filed. That way the ongoing shareholders aren’t hurt and the shareholders that sold after the bad news came out and the stock tanked will be compensated by the new ones who bought after the news. Just like how shareholders are treated when a company goes ex dividend.

Here’s another controversial idea to increase deterrence: don’t prosecute companies for common practices until you’ve given them sufficient warning to change their ways. Otherwise the prosecutors are doing what Dr. Strangelove accused the Russians of doing:

[T]he… whole point of the doomsday machine… is lost… if you keep it a secret! Why didn’t you tell the world, eh?

The Constitution guarantees no ex poste facto laws in Article I, Section 9, but we are still working on no ex poste facto judicially implemented regulation.

Who watches the watchmen? Do we need four independent judiciaries with each one’s scope determined by the others like the four redundant computers on the space shuttle? No need to curb the SEC and prosecutors of public companies–the companies are helping themselves. By going private.

Space

Flexibility

Jeff Foust has a report on three of the talks at this weekends ISDC, on the importance of being willing to rethink plans, improvise, and make rapid changes to them. This is something that small private companies are a lot better at than large ones, or government bureaucracies, which is one of the reasons that they’re likely to beat NASA back to orbit post Shuttle, or on to the moon.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!