Archive | August, 2004

As noted in prior posts (see archives from last week), there is no reasonable policy defense for discriminatory bans on interstate direct shipment of wine, the plain language of the 21st Amendment does not authorize discriminatory bans, and the dormant Commerce Clause does not automatically yield to other constitutional provisions, such as the 21st Amendment. […]

tony long, copy chief at wired news, reports that wired news will no longer capitalize “internet,” “web,” or “net.” i’m not sure i approve, but what do i know. thanks to howard bashman for the link.

Bjorn Staerk has a good rejoinder to some anti-Muslim extremist nonsense — obvious stuff at one level, but still worth repeating. (Thanks to InstaPundit for the pointer.) I take it that few of us would claim anything much about what all Christians think, or even what the overwhelming majority of Christians thinks about particular political […]

My friend Dan Markel has an interesting essay up at The New Republic about the Ninth Circuit’s recent shaming decision.The defendant in the case had stolen mail and was sentenced to prison. As a condition of supervised release — a sort of probationary period that follows prison sentences in the federal system — the suspect […]

I’ve always been annoyed by the way many people use the term “self-hating [X],” usually “self-hating Jew” but often in other contexts. Here are three reasons, two general and one specific to a particular usage I’ve seen: 1. “Hating”: Often, the person being accused shows little evidence of “hating” anyone — he’s criticizing them, maybe […]

Patterico points to this opening of a Dana Milbank Washington Post column: Earlier this month, President Bush was almost done with a speech to a group of minority journalists when he dropped a rather startling proposal. “We actually misnamed the war on terror,” he said. “It ought to be the Struggle Against Ideological Extremists Who […]

From Healthfactsandfears.com: A recent study comparing x-ray analyses of asbestos-related lung damage revealed some troublesome results. An alarming discrepancy was found between conclusions drawn by physicians (certified experts called B-readers) hired by the plaintiff’s lawyers and those drawn by unaffiliated physicians who reviewed the same x-rays… The results: the plaintiffs’ B-readers reported that 95.9% of […]

This John Quiggin post at CT revisits the perennial question of why minor parties fare so poorly in the U.S. I can’t model this in a convincing way, but looking at the comparative cases– much stronger two-party dominance in the US than in federal Australia or Canada or Germany, unitary France or (until recently) Britain, […]

Earlier this year, a group of ex-diplomats and ex-military people (Diplomats & Military Commanders for Change) publicly criticized the Bush Administration’s military and diplomatic strategy, aiming to help defeat President Bush in November. Here’s a response, which is just being released today by a different group, Diplomats for a Nonpartisan Foreign Service: In the face […]

Georgetown lawprof Mark Tushnet explains why it may be wrong to think that the upcoming election will have a dramatic impact on the direction of the Supreme Court. An excerpt: A justice nominated by George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate will be somewhat more conservative than a justice nominated by John Kerry and […]

TNR online republishes a 1983 Wieseltier review of Milosz’ The Witness of Poetry.

Well, in two separate posts, but still amusing ones, from Hanah Metchis (Hit & Run). See this post, and the one below it.

MEMRI, which I’m told is quite reliable, passes along a translation of an article in an Arabic-language Egyptian newspaper; the chairman of the board of directors of that newspaper, MEMRI reports, is the editor of the government’s newspaper. Here’s an excerpt: On the Main Entrance to the Knesset it is Inscribed : ‘Compassion Toward a […]

Check it out.

David Bernstein has a very good op-ed on the subject in the Orange County Register.