Archive | July, 2007

I just got home from my local sports bar, where I watched the Iraqis win the championship over Saudi Arabia in the Asia Cup (sort of like the world cup, but limited to “Asian” teams [including Australia and most of the Middle East). I’ve taken a lot of stick from people on this blog over […]

Today’s New York Times has an intriguing but frustratingly unclear story adding some details about the now-famous hospital confrontation over whether the recovering John Ashcorft would approve an NSA surveillance program despite Acting-AG James Comey’s conclusion that the program wasn’t legal. A few comments:   (1) The story says that the dispute “involved computer searches through […]

At Concurring Opinions, Dave Hoffman has posted an update of the law blog ranking project initiated by Roger Alford at Opinio Juris. It ranks law-related blogs to which law professors contribute by traffic, and somehow we’re at the top of the list. I think I speak for all of the Conspirators when I say we […]

Given how long I’ve been blogging Sunday Song Lyrics, it seems odd I’ve never posted anything by namesake, Richard Adler. We’re not related (as far as I know), but I can’t think of any other famous songwriters with my name. Working with Jerry Ross, Adler wrote “The Pajama Game” and “Damn Yankees” (for which he […]

In this Wall Street Journal op ed, former chess world champion and Russian opposition leader Gary Kasparov analogizes Vladimir Putin’s Russia to The Godfather: Mr. Putin’s government is unique in history. This Kremlin is part oligarchy, with a small, tightly connected gang of wealthy rulers. It is partly a feudal system, broken down into semi-autonomous […]

Those who want a sense of what the self-described pedophile blogger’s site has looked like in the past can see archived pages here. The blogger is obviously a disturbed and disturbing man — at best someone who has fun scaring the wits out of parents, and at worst a child molester — but I think […]

Sophomore Reade Seligmann was one of the victims of the false rape case at Duke University. The Brown University lacrosse coach, with support from the school’s administration, recruited Seligmann for the Brown team, and he will enroll at Brown this fall. As a Brown Daily Herald article explains, Brown’s new coach began recruiting Seligmann “almost […]

That’s the headline of my latest Rocky Mountain News media column, debunking the claim that commercial air travel for long flights causes greater CO2 emissions than would driving a SUV solo the same distance. To the contrary, air travel causes far few per-capita CO2 emissions. Presumably the emissions of most pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, […]

Fred Thompson has an interesting (especially by the standards of other writings by politicians) article on federalism (hat tip: Instapundit). Particularly noteworthy is his critique of the overfederalization of criminal law: Law enforcement in general is a matter on which Congress has been very active in recent years, not always to good effect and usually […]

Today’s New York Times has a fascinating (and unnerving) story about a self-described pedophile in Los Angeles who blogs about his exploits in dramatic detail and hopes to increase public acceptance of pedophilia. unlike convicted sex offenders, who are required to stay away from places that cater to children, in this case the police can […]

Speaking yesterday at the American Constitution Society’s National Convention, Senator Charles Schumer said that the Senate was “duped” and “hoodwinked” by John Roberts’ and Samuel Alito’s confirmation hearing performances and explained that he would “do everything in [his] power to prevent” the confirmation of another justice like John Roberts or Samuel Alito. Here are some […]

Painesville Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti likes to impose innovative punishments. He ordered three men charged with solicitation to take turns wearing a chicken suit for an hour, while bearing a sign reading “No Chicken Ranch in Painesville,” if they wanted to avoid their jail sentences.

A while back, I liked to collect esoteric libertarian books; in the days before the internet and Amazon.com, there was something cool about finding an obscure book from the early days of the modern libertarian movement. Unpacking today, I found a 1960 hardcover edition of “This Bread is Mine,” by Robert Lefevre, one of early […]

My friend and Northwestern U. Law School prof Eugene Kontorovich is guest-blogging about international law (what else?) at Opinion Juris. A provocative question from Eugene: if Israel agrees to a broad amnesty for convicted Palestinian terrorists with “blood on their hands,” will any of the human rights organizations that routinely oppose amnesties for other human […]

Back in January, I had a post about poor customer service. One example was speakeasy.net, my DSL provider. A salesperson had told me that the company wouldn’t hold me to my contract if I moved, but that turned out not be true. When I transfered my service in January, I was told that this would […]