29 January 2009
by andrew
Comments Off on following leaders
0.2: Fifty-five Bostonians, including the president of Harvard, A. Lawrence Lowell, signed a petition accusing Brandeis of lacking the “judicial temperament.” It was the kind of campaign that could get people muttering that if those guys didn’t like Brandeis, maybe … Continue reading
13 January 2009
by andrew
Comments Off on corruption update
A quick follow-up to the Baltimore post: the mayor has now been indicted too.
9 January 2009
by andrew
1 Comment
I couldn’t help but think of the redevelopment and politics subplot in The Wire when I read this (via): A Baltimore grand jury indicted a city councilwoman and a developer with close ties to Mayor Sheila Dixon Wednesday on bribery … Continue reading
9 January 2009
by andrew
Comments Off on counts of corruption, 2
Noonan, as I wrote below, decided not to attempt to compare levels of corruption across time and space. His explanation is worth quoting at length, as it gets into a lot of the problems surrounding attempts to quantify corruption. (Note … Continue reading
8 January 2009
by andrew
1 Comment
Back when the Blagojevich scandal broke in the news, there was a lot of discussion of which state is the most corrupt, no doubt prompted in part by the claim that “If it [Illinois] isn’t the most corrupt state in … Continue reading
4 January 2009
by andrew
Comments Off on a history of bribery
Aside from visualizing the criminal complaint against him a few weeks ago, I’ve been waiting to see what Rod Blagojevich is actually going to be indicted for before blogging about the case. But if the indictment is postponed, I’ll probably … Continue reading
20 December 2008
by andrew
Comments Off on chance coincidence
When I heard that Blagojevich quoted Kipling in his press conference, I wondered if he quoted the same poem Grandpa Simpson quotes in a casino in the episode where he almost gambles away all the money he inherits. Turns out, … Continue reading
18 December 2008
by andrew
Comments Off on hey diddle diddle
Not sure what a Ponzi scheme is? Or a pyramid scheme? What about a pump and dump, a jitney game, a bucket shop, or front running? Slate‘s explainer answers those questions, but what we really need for today’s world is … Continue reading
12 December 2008
by andrew
1 Comment
If you really want to know what it’s in the criminal complaint filed against Rod Blagojevich, you can read it. But in this 2.0 world, why read when you can visualize? Bill Allison at the Sunlight Foundation’s Real Time Investigations … Continue reading
10 December 2008
by andrew
Comments Off on analogy watch
How long until the Truman:Pendergast::Obama:Blagojevich analogy shows up in the major media? Never mind if the person making the analogy does a good job with differences and historical specifics. I’d just be amazed if it’s not made at all.