September 3 roundup

  • The bureaucracy in India brings Gilbert & Sullivan to life: “He has been corresponding with himself for the last 26 days as an officer wearing different hats.” [Deccan Chronicle via @tylercowen]
  • “Certificate of Need” laws: “You Shouldn’t Have to Ask Your Competitors for Permission to Start a Business” [Ilya Shapiro]
  • No massive shift to arbitration clauses in franchise world since SCOTUS rulings [Peter Rutledge and Christopher Drahozal via Alison Frankel; Andrew Trask]
  • Evergreen headline in slightly varying forms: “Anti-abuse group’s director quits after arrest in assault” [Sacramento Bee; related here, here, etc.]
  • Economic liberalization increases growth [Alex Tabarrok]
  • “With Auto Amber Alerts, We’re Opted In By Default To A ‘Little Brother’ Surveillance Society” [Kashmir Hill]
  • How Florida trial lawyers plan to crack the tobacco-verdict vault [Daniel Fisher]

2 Comments

  • The amber alert program for phones is horribly flawed. If your only options are helping and having your sleep interrupted or not helping at all, I know what everyone I know is doing.

    If those alerts simply respected the do not disturb settings on your phone, I would be happy to enable them again.

  • Just for comparison with cellphone Amber Alerts —

    FCC mandated Emergency Alert System receivers for broadcast stations allow the broadcaster to program some delay into the interruption and rebroadcast of the alert. It’s not a long delay. But it’s more than the geniuses who designed the alert system for cellphones allowed.