November 26 roundup

  • Reason TV interviews Richard Epstein;
  • On the SEC’s big new “insider trading” sweep [Ribstein, Bainbridge, Lambert, Salmon, more Ribstein]
  • Losing = winning? Ambitious claim for fees in environmental case [California Civil Justice, scroll]
  • “Unintended consequences department: canceled flights” [Ted at PoL] And check out Ted’s new TSA Abuse Blog, on one of the hottest issues of the moment. More on that from Popehat and Simple Justice;
  • H.R. 1408, the Inclusive Home Design Act, would compel handicap accessibility in private home design, yet another dreadful idea from Rep. Jan Schakowsky of CPSIA fame [AmendTheCPSIA]
  • “This place would be a shoplifter’s paradise (and a liability insurance abuser’s motherlode) in the United States, but we were in Japan, where they don’t seem to worry as much about that kind of thing.” [Mark Frauenfelder, BoingBoing, on the Showa Kan museum of everyday midcentury life in Takayama]
  • UK: “I moved out for decorators and squatters took over my house” [Evening Standard]
  • From the ruins of Pompeii, a reflection on government and disaster relief [Dum Spiro Spero]

2 Comments

  • I thought the SEC hit its nadir over 20 years ago when it hauled in a bartender from Harry’s Restaurant to investigate his trades (all very modest). Someone thought his listening to his customers’ “bar boasts,” putting 2 and 2 together, and acting on his guesses amounted to illegal trading.
    Thankfully cooler heads prevailed, and he was let off the hook by the supervisors in the NYC office.

  • Presuming she is a Liberal, does the esteemed Jan Schakowsky consider that making most homes accessible in this fashion could increase the required square footage of these homes, thus increasing their (gasp) carbon footprint? Differently-abled people are already an ecological menace since they require special transportation vehicles. Now every homes must occupy more land space in order to conform to this malarkey. Now, the main floor of that modest 3 bedroom is needs an extra large full bathroom instead of the little powder room, oh, and 1 of those bedrooms is on the main floor too.