Image by manfredrichter, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.
Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:
1. After losing a 19-year court battle with the US Department of Justice, several big tobacco companies will be running advertisements admitting that they violated federal racketeering and fraud laws by conspiring to cover up the fact that their products killed their customers. These ads will run for a full year, and the television ads are going to run five nights a week on multiple networks. Looking at the long view, I'm wondering if this will ever happen with the meat, dairy, egg, and processed foods industries.
2. Meanwhile, the Netherlands has closed prisons because crime is so low. This is partly due to the fact that Dutch judges favor alternatives like fines, community service, and electronic tagging to prison sentences.
That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.