Pre-internment

Re “Reliving a dark chapter in history,” Feb. 21 ( Read more... )

A ‘Lame Duck’ President

Re “The Crippled Supreme Court” (editorial, May 17 ( Read more... )

Innocent people can fold under threat of mandatory minimums

Re "Repeal mandatory minimum drug sentences" (Editorial, June 7): How many innocent people plead guilty to avoid the chance of a long mandatory sentence? No matter how weak the evidence, a small chance of a long unjust sentence can coerce a guilty plea ( Read more... )

Free Speech, at a Price

Regarding Danish editor Flemming Rose's Feb. 19 Outlook piece, "Why I Published Those Cartoons"The Muhammad cartoons were a bad choice for making a point about freedom of speech. They said nothing new, exposed no unknown bad actors, suggested no constructive solutions. In short, they had none of the qualities of speech ( Read more... )

Throwing the Book at GelernterRe "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover, but We May Find a Terrorist by What He Reads," Commentary, June 24: Citizens can't participate in government without educating themselves on "sensitive" subjects. To know whether the government's course in the war on terrorism is sane, we must understand the roots of terrorism ( Read more... )

Imports vs. no drugsThe opposing view on drug re-importation by William Hubbard, associate commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, mentions a patient who was harmed by imported drugs ("Risks are too high", High prescription costs debate, Aug. 23). But how many patients are harmed when they can't afford drugs because of the ban on ( Read more... )

Brought to You by GoogleThe privacy problems of Google's e-mail service, which displays advertising based on e-mail content, are greater than Google admits ["E-Mail Ad Plans Raise Fears About Privacy," Business, April 2]. While e-mail analysis is done by computer, the computer code that does the analysis must be written and debugged by humans ( Read more... )

How Much Do Bioweapons Cost?It is baffling that the FBI would refuse to pay $ 5 million (and issue immigration permits) in exchange for securing known stocks of bioweapons when we just spent billions on a war to eradicate such weapons in Iraq -- and have yet to find any ["Lethal Legacy: Bioweapons for Sale," front page, April 20&rsqb ( Read more... )

The costs of spam (editorial, Aug. 6) go far beyond the ''twinge of disappointment'' you feel after realizing you've been had. Spam costs Internet users 10 billion euros a year in increased connection fees, according to a 2001 European Union study. It also costs businesses in lost productivity, and becomes more than a nuisance when important ( Read more... )

Spend on DefendersOne way to reduce prison costs is to spend more money on indigent defense (Opinion, Jan. 5). Defendants represented by overworked and underpaid public defenders are likely to get longer prison terms, costing taxpayers more than was saved on defense. Closer scrutiny by better-paid public defenders would ensure that long sentences ( Read more... )