Syn–theses

This might just get me to finally pick an aggregator, any aggregator: here's the syndication channel for new law related books available at Amazon, courtesy of Chris Pirillo—who has created 160+ such channels! Surely one or two will suit your interests?

What's up with things that go bump in the RSS night these days? (See Doc, on TLAs.) As Shelley points out, if you blinked you might have missed it. Look for Echo, coming to a blog platform near you. (Some further reading, courtesy of Technorati.)

Hospital Dirt

Here's a neat resource compiling patient survey information about the quality of care in California hospitals: Calhospitals.org, a project of the California Health Care Foundation. "Whether you are having surgery or delivering a baby, choosing a hospital is one of the most important decisions you can make." (Interesting to learn my local bastian gets only an average rating, despite the rave reviews it seems to receive anecdotally.)

East Trenders

Labour MP for West Bromwich East Tom Watson, in an interview yesterday with Lance Knobel: "There will be dozens of MPs blogging by the next election. I'm getting readers of mine contacting their MPs, asking why they don't start a blog."

Meanwhile, another Tom charts a related news cycle.

Prop 209 Applies In California, Despite Yesterday's Affirmative Action Decisions

From the Berkeley Daily Planet:

While the court ruled Monday that colleges may consider race in admissions, it did not require the practice. So in California, public institutions like the University of California and California State University will remain subject to the voter-approved Proposition 209, which bans affirmative action in public admissions and hiring.

Private institutions like Stanford University, which are not subject to Proposition 209, will be allowed to continue with admissions policies that weigh race as one of many factors.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Asserting that California's 1996 initiative banning affirmative action as it applies to university admissions is now unconstitutional, some Hispanic lawmakers in the state Assembly said Tuesday that they are discussing whether to create a ballot measure that would reintroduce the practice of taking race into account in college admissions.

Give 'Em Shelter

Just was wondering if there was a 401(k) blog. Doesn't look like it. There is the entertaining and informative Tax Observer that launched earlier this year, but ?? —no updates since February. Bonus link: Mad Kane's "owed."