Robert Berring Points Out Downside of Online Research

Boston Globe, Nov. 23, 2008 by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/11/23/group_think?mode=PF

In online searches, the researcher tends to follow hyperlink to hyperlink, in a journey that resembles “a plunge down a rabbit hole,” in the words of Robert Berring, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley who has studied the impact of electronic media. “If you get to an index, a table of contents, you see the environment that surrounds it. In the culture of paper, a lot of these signals are important.”

Franklin Zimring Comments on Rarity of Child Murder Cases

Hollister Free Lance, Nov. 21, 2008 by Colin McConville
http://www.freelancenews.com/news/251099-expert-child-murder-cases-not-unthinkably-rare

The recent killing of 19-month-old Donna May Busch is “not part of an ordinary culture of violence,” said Frank Zimring…. The bottom line, though, Zimring said, is that kids can be subjected to their parents’ instabilities. “Children are hostages to the mental and emotional stability of the parents,” Zimring said.

Laurel Fletcher and Eric Stover Demand Investigation of U.S. Detention Policies

International Herald Tribune, Nov. 21, 2008 by Laurel Fletcher and Eric Stover
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/21/opinion/edsobel.php

The commission should determine what went wrong and who should be held accountable, and recommend ways to help those falsely imprisoned clear their names and recover from the abuses they have suffered…. Commission members should be armed with subpoena power, given full access to classified material and be able to conduct their work unhindered by presidential pardons or amnesties designed to shield the culpable from accountability.

Anne O’Connell Explains Intent of “Midnight Regulations”

NPR, News & Notes, Nov. 20, 2008 by Farai Chideya
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97260899

“I think every outgoing president—Republican or Democrat—wants to extend his administration’s reach, so in the final months we see an attempt at locking in controversial policy decisions. Even if some of these decisions can be undone, the effort that the new administration has to put into undoing them prevents the new administration from starting their own regulatory agendas.”

Jesse Fried Notes Upside of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for Carmakers

San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 20, 2008 by Kathleen Pender
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/20/BUVG147QK6.DTL&type=printable

“It’s a way to give companies a fresh start,” says Jesse Fried…. “Airlines have gone into bankruptcy to get out of all sorts of pension obligations, to eliminate debt or replace it with equity, to renegotiate aircraft leases. This process, even though it is very painful for many parties involved, allows more value to be preserved for all parties collectively than would be the case if the company failed outside of bankruptcy and was ripped apart by its creditors.”