juvenile Rapist ?

It pisses me off, no end that the rapist in the 2012 Brutal Delhi Rape case gets just 3 years in a juvenile prison. Come on !! This person, juvenile or not, is really not fit to be part of the society. And if the debate on death sentence is an unsettled one then atleast do not let him mix with the rest of the society. Is Jurisprudence devoid of basic common sense ? Is it designed to be that way ? 

Most of the people making a case for dealing with juveniles differently seem to be making a case for rehabilitation v/s punishment. Which in my opinion should apply for adults too. Why start with the assumption that a young person is more likely to benefit from rehab. I don't think this is about impaired "reasoning abilities or impulse control", always. Its premeditated and cold blooded in a lot of cases. 

Charles Stimson, Herittage foundation says : 

"An example spanning both classes was 16-year-old Sarah Johnson's plot to murder her parents and pin the crime on an intruder. Her case was transferred to adult court, and Johnson was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. 

A key to providing appropriate punishment across a wide range of cases is the transfer process. In some states, judges decide whether to grant the state's request to move a juvenile to adult court; in others, removal is automatic for certain specified crimes, usually murder. This is how we separate out those few crimes committed by juveniles deserving of adult trial and punishment."

nyt debate ; debate.org ; cliffsnotes on the argument 

When Lenders Are Not Paid Back - NYTimes.com

[via NYT] Eminent domain in Richmond and Bond returns in Detroit will make borrowing difficult for others across the country.

If the effort in Richmond succeeds, the 624 homeowners involved and more in other cities that use the eminent domain approach will benefit from lower payments (and the investors in Mortgage Resolution Partners will see a payoff), but potential home buyers nationwide will be examined with a more jaundiced eye from their lenders than is now the case. Indeed, the reaction of financial markets to the Chrysler bankruptcy suggests that favorable court rulings or other such tidings could lead to higher mortgage interest rates nationwide even before the final outcome is known on the legality of this use of eminent domain.

Just as other municipalities in Michigan are finding it more difficult to borrow in the wake of Detroit's proposal to change the historical understanding of its bond obligations, so too might American families face a steeper challenge as they look to become homeowners if lenders cannot count on homes' standing as collateral behind mortgage loans.

Wanted - A Boring Leader for the Fed - NYTimes.com

[via NYT] looks like obama is going the Other way drumming up the importance of the selection of the next chairman. But below analysis seems reasonable. 

Where the Fed must be held more accountable is for its oversight of banks. It is banks, not the government, that effectively create most of the money we use, by extending credit where it is most needed. As we've painfully learned, banks can over-lend and even set off an economic collapse.

Before the crisis the Fed seemingly lost all capacity for the painstaking, boots-on-the-ground supervision of the banks under its purview. And, effective or not, top-down monetary interventions remain attractive to the Fed's top brass. Running what amounts to a hedge fund on steroids is more glamorous and exciting than managing a regulatory bureaucracy. Perhaps the most important qualification for the next Fed leader is one all too rare in Washington: humility.

SumAll has pay openbook via NYT Corner Office

Dane Atkinson of SumAll, on Making Pay an Open Book - all employees know what anyone in the company makes. http://nyti.ms/17sa1ru

I am not sure it works well though - there is more that Dane might be doing to build trust - this is just one of those that makes good headlines

"When we first started with this, we'd send out the package details of every new hire to the entire team. That caused a lot of stress. So we've switched that and now just their peer group will know the new hire's compensation and be forced to a vote. " 

"We have a trial on-boarding process. Anyone we hire goes into a 45-day test period. But we have a really high bar, and only about 65 percent make it through. At the end we have a fresh, clean start and we decide if we want to get married." 

Happy Independence Day

I hadn't thought about how the last 3 lines contrast with the previous 2 in Tagore's poem : 

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

....
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

I love(?) the melding of clear stream of reason being led by "my Father". 

It must've been a day of great hope in 1947 for a whole lot of people in India. Hopefully there are more such days in the future of the people of this nation !!