Why Crime Keeps Falling

Very interesting:

Why Crime Keeps Falling - WSJ.com: "When the FBI announced last week that violent crime in the U.S. had reached a 40-year low in 2010, many criminologists were perplexed. It had been a dismal year economically, and the standard view in the field, echoed for decades by the media, is that unemployment and poverty are strongly linked to crime. The argument is straightforward: When less legal work is available, more illegal 'work' takes place."

Suitably Flip: Durable Goods Data: Atrocious

Not good:

Suitably Flip: Durable Goods Data: Atrocious: "Further filling out the picture of just how much the economy has deteriorated over the last couple months, April's durable goods orders are out this morning. Bear in mind the market was already expecting not only a slowown, but a swing from growth to contraction (consensus forecasts called for a reading of -2%, down from better than 4% in March).

Even so, they failed to capture the wretchedness."

Trojan Feigns Failures to Increase Rogue Defragger Sales

Tricky:

Trojan Feigns Failures to Increase Rogue Defragger Sales | Communauté Symantec Connect: "Hard disk failures are a fact of life in the tech world. It’s something many of us have experienced, and not with fond memories. Trojan.FakeAV writers are aware of this, and the end of last year saw a move by some into the creation of fake hard disk scanners and defragmentation tools."

Eye-for-an-eye filibuster stops Democratic nominee

What goes around comes around, or what you sow you shall reap:

Eye-for-an-eye filibuster stops Democratic nominee | Byron York | Politics | Washington Examiner: "If there's one place where what goes around comes around, it's the United States Senate. Goodwin Liu, the Berkeley law professor nominated by President Obama to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, is the latest to learn that lesson."

The End of the World As We Know It? Prediction of Saturday "Rapture" is Fuel for Faithful, Doubters

Are you ready for May 21st? This is of course ridiculous:

The End of the World As We Know It? Prediction of Saturday "Rapture" is Fuel for Faithful, Doubters - FoxNews.com: "A loosely organized Christian movement has spread the word around the globe that Jesus Christ will return to earth on Saturday to gather the faithful into heaven. While the Christian mainstream isn't buying it, many other skeptics are milking it."

A good laugh

Heh: VAvqR.jpg (JPEG Image, 680x280 pixels)

The Never Noticed War

Let's not forget:

Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: The Never Noticed War: ...the third worst war in the 20th century, and by far the worst since the 2nd World War: the war in Congo. Perhaps five million people perished, the killing never really ended, and yet the international community, the UN, the world's media, and everyone else, basically didn't notice; in the rare cases when they did, no-one ever tried seriously to explain what was going on."

Now there's a book which tries to explain, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa, by Jason Stearns. The Economist reviews it approvingly here. I don't know if everyone interested in world politics needs to read it, but I can't think why not.

New York Times Magazine Relies upon Faked Research to Smear Military

If the facts don't support your narrative, make them up:

New York Times Magazine Relies upon Faked Research to Smear Military « Commentary Magazine: "On the day that Osama bin Laden was finally tracked down and killed, the New York Times Sunday Magazine published a cover story detailing the murder of Afghan civilians by American troops. The point of the piece was not to break the news of these crimes, since the incidents had already been uncovered and prosecuted by the military. Rather, they served as the jumping off point for a smear job, portraying the U.S. military as a bloodthirsty band of savage war criminals."

The Coming Euro Crack-Up

Hmm..

The Coming Euro Crack-Up | The Weekly Standard: "A spectre is haunting Europe​—​the spectre of the disintegration of the eurozone. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcize this spectre: German chancellor and French president, the Brussels eurocracy and the bonus-laden bankers. Let the ruling classes tremble. The debtors have nothing to lose but their burdens."

Double-dip recession is now undeniable Outside the Box

Not good:

Double-dip recession is now undeniable Outside the Box - MarketWatch: "The evidence of a double-dipping housing market and economy are becoming undeniable, even to those who cling perilously to the notion that government intervention has been a salve instead of a poison."

We shall overcomb