- A wealthy teenager in Texas who killed four pedestrians while drunk driving has escaped prison by pleading ‘affluenza’ – his defence argued that he thought rich people weren’t accountable for their actions. The more you think about this, the more paradoxical it becomes.
- If you’ve got time for something long-form, James Meek’s article on housing in Britain in the London Review of Books is a useful historical overview.
- Using the big data of global news coverage to predict which countries will collapse in 2014.
- Did you hear about the ‘elf lobby‘ in Iceland that is blocking road building?
The Earthbound Report 
Re: the Texas case, I note the Psycologist who provided the evidence wasn’t impressed, but I find the conclusion interesting:
“Scott Brown, the boy’s lead defense attorney, said he could have been freed after two years if he had drawn the 20-year sentence. Instead, the judge “fashioned a sentence that could have him under the thumb of the justice system for the next 10 years,” he told the Star-Telegram.”
I’m sceptical of this as it is from the defence lawyer, but it could be argued that it makes sense.
That’s a possibility. What I find wierd is that his defence argued that he suffered from the false belief that rich people aren’t accountable for their actions. But then he was let off on that basis, which means it isn’t a false belief – it’s the truth. But if it’s true, it’s not a defence. So the whole thing is bizarre, and hopefully won’t set a precedent.