Brian Gongol
Legislators propose cutting pay for Iowa supreme-court judges
It's intended as punishment for how they ruled in the decision that brought about same-sex marriage in Iowa. And for making such a ridiculous proposal, the legislators should be ashamed of themselves. Cutting pay (or otherwise seeking to enact punishment) for judges who decide against your wishes is the best way to destroy the safeguarding role that the judiciary plays in a healthy republic. We need the judiciary to make unpopular decisions occasionally, when the popular will is actively (or soon to be found) trampling on the rights of others. Rights aren't a matter of popular will, if we believe our founding documents and their "self-evident truths". So when the popular will is hostile to rights, we need the judiciary to provide a sober backstop.
Some watchers think solar power is about to break through on a big scale
That, plus cheap natural gas and tools like next-generation household energy-management tools (like the Nest thermostat) could make for volatile times ahead for the major energy utility industry
Huawei: "Not interested in the US market anymore"
The Chinese phone-maker plans to focus on the rest of the world's markets instead after running into social and political friction trying to get into the American market
Don't let your "friends" count get you down
A handful of well-connected people skews the average number of friends inside real and digital social networks
What happens to your posthumous Facebook account?
April 2013 edition of the EconDirectory
