A real headline and byline from a Sunday Review in last month’s New York Times:

Op-Ed Columnist: How Did the Robot End Up With My Job? — By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN.

For once, Thomas L. Friedman’s automated Thoroughly Conventional Opinion Generator actually spits out a question we’ve all been asking, from time to time.

(Via @notjessewalker, who actually is Jesse Walker.)

• So Long. Radley Balko: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-05-03). “I’m particularly excited about my final project here, a themed issue Jacob Sullum and I put together and co-edited. The July issue of Reason will take an in-depth look at the criminal justice system and the ramifications of America’s massive prison population. Look for it in your mailbox or on newsstands at the beginning of next month.” – Radley Balko (Linked Tuesday 2011-05-03.)

• Gratitude Attitude, Part 2. Roderick, Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-04-29). Are you sick of those t-shirts that say "If you love freedom thank a veteran"? Check out the Molinari Institute's newest t-shirt, which reads "If you love freedom thank an anarchist," thus honouring both those anarchists who've been in the forefront of struggles for freedom in the past (e.g. the… (Linked Friday 2011-04-29.)

• The "book" is dead. Mark, dive into mark (2011-04-29). David Flanagan, author of JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, writes: For 15 years I've been one of those lucky authors who has been able to support himself and his family almost entirely on book royalties. But the publishing industry has been in decline and my royalties checks have decreased more-or-less steadily… (Linked Saturday 2011-04-30.)

• maybe i just don't understand the meaning of leadership. Captain Capitulation, eye of the storm (2011-04-29). maybe i just don't understand the meaning of leadership. obama's visit to tuscaloosa today (then off to the scuttled shuttle launch!) was a bigger story than the aftermath of the disaster. ok he was there, but the practical steps he took he took from dc last night. it's a constant… (Linked Saturday 2011-04-30.)

• Future Timeline. xkcd.com (2011-04-17). (Linked Monday 2011-04-18.)

• Big Media To Innovative App Maker: Stop Innovating Without Our Permission! | Techdirt. www.techdirt.com (2011-04-18). “And, honestly, if creating an app that makes it easier to read your content is a threat to your business, you’re doing business wrong.” (Linked Monday 2011-04-18.)

• boardgames are to monopoly as comics are to garfield, THAT'S RIGHT I SAID IT. Dinosaur Comics (2011-04-19). I blame the Georgists. (Linked Tuesday 2011-04-19.)

• Austro-Californian Empire? Roderick, Austro-Athenian Empire (2011-04-18). While in San Diego I'll be meeting with the San Diego Austrians and the Café Libertalia folks on Thursday night. Details here (for the socially mediated). (Linked Tuesday 2011-04-19.)

• if i was interested in starting a…resistance movement, i. Captain Capitulation, eye of the storm (2011-04-19). if i was interested in starting a…resistance movement, i would proceed by simulated terrorism. such a procedure is suggested by things like this, where i'm thinking the authorities evacuated a mall or at least closed in en masse to get a guy wandering around a mall with a rifle, when it… (Linked Tuesday 2011-04-19.)

• Birmingham officers who beat man while he was unconscious to be reinstated. Dr. Q, Gangsters in Blue (2011-04-15). On January 23, 2008 Birmingham police officers attempted to stop and question one Anthony Shannon Warren about suspected drug activity. Warren fled in his car. Because interrogating people about suspected involvement in activities that harm no one is much more important than public safety, the officers decided that the best… (Linked Wednesday 2011-04-20.)

• On Controlling Parents. der Blaustrumpf (2011-04-20). “Many of the comments, like the author herself, blame Rand for the father's selfishness. What struck me is not the awfulness of Rand's philosophy, though awful it is, but that a seemingly infinite number of options are available to parents who wish to justify abuse. A hardcore Objectivist parent is rare, thankfully, but it'd be easy to envision a Christian parent who would justify similar deprivation as a lesson in altruism and humility – the very opposite of Rand's alleged ideals.” – Cheryl Cline (Linked Wednesday 2011-04-20.)

• Free Market Anti-Capitalism Paper Online. DarianW, DarianWorden.com (2011-04-19). My contribution to the 2011 APEE Topics in Free-Market Anti-Capitalism panel is now available for download from my archives page: Capitalism, Free Enterprise, and Progress: Partners or Adversaries? The paper disentangles the concepts of capitalism, free enterprise, and progress in the context of the early Industrial Revolution. While a lot… (Linked Wednesday 2011-04-20.)

• Digital Cash Sparks Digital Debate. Jesse Walker, Jesse Walker: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-04-20). Writing in Time, of all places, Jerry Brito discusses Bitcoin, the latest alternative currency to capture the digerati's imagination: The web has also seen all-purpose digital currencies, from defunct dot-com bubble start-ups Flooz and Beenz, to the slightly more successful e-gold. Unlike cash, however, digital currencies to date have had a… (Linked Wednesday 2011-04-20.)

• “The Eastern Regions of Libya Are Now Free Regions” Jesse Walker, Jesse Walker: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-02-18). Col. Qaddafi has an eccentric habit of periodically declaring that he has abolished the Libyan government. His subjects suddenly seem interested in taking him up on the idea. Amid reports of severe repression, claims are coming in that the city of Benghazi is now "out of the control of the Gaddafi… (Linked Friday 2011-02-18.)

• And Just Across the Strait from Yemen… Jesse Walker, Jesse Walker: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-02-18). The BBC reports: Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Djibouti to call for President Ismael Omar Guelleh to step down. The demonstrators were reportedly monitored closely by security forces in riot gear. Mr Guelleh's family has governed the Red Sea city state since independence from France in… (Linked Friday 2011-02-18.)

• When rape is Your Tax Dollars at Work. Obsidian Wings (2011-02-19). Men in Uniform (Cont’d). (Linked Saturday 2011-02-19.)

• ST(O) : If all stories were written like science fiction stories. www.shrovetuesdayobserved.com (2011-02-19). (Linked Saturday 2011-02-19.)

• the basic problem with the notion of government is displayed in. Captain Capitulation, eye of the storm (2011-02-20). the basic problem with the notion of government is displayed in the "massive show of force." only it can do that. but even worse than that, only it can subject you to the indignity of using your own resources to intimidate and/or shoot you. surely it is occurring to someone this evening in… (Linked Monday 2011-02-21.)