Roger Kimball (via Instapundit) properly mocks Krugman’s claim that angry opposition to the Democrats’ health care “reforms” is a product of racism. But Krugman also includes a logical fallacy, to wit: There was a telling incident at a town hall held by Representative Gene Green, D-Tex. An activist turned to his fellow attendees and asked […]
Archive | August, 2009
The Live-in’s Apparent Authority:
Does a homeowner’s live-in boyfriend or girlfriend have the “apparent authority” to consent to a warrantless search of the property? What if the live-in boyfriend/girlfriend had no key and had shown up at the police station the morning of the search claiming to have been “thrown out” of the house? Would it matter if the […]
Most Demanding Job in the Land?:
N.Y. Times: With the Senate’s approval of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court on Thursday, the new justice will soon take on one of the most demanding jobs in the land. Let’s see. Each Justice has to write eight or nine opinions a year, plus several dissents or concurrences, with the assistance of […]
John Hughes, RIP:
The movies of John Hughes helped define a generation. I can still recite much of the dialog from “The Breakfast Club” and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” from memory (much to the chagrin of my family). He may have only directed eight films, but he wrote over three dozen. No longer. John Hughes died Thursday of […]
About Those “Civilian Casualties” in Lebanon:
Something to keep in mind next time your hear about “civilian” casualties in a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah (whether from the past, or in the future): “‘War will definitely come,’ said Hussam, a 33-year-old fighter who joined Hezbollah in 1987 as a[n eleven year-old] scout.” Unfortunately, all too many “eleven year old scouts” become […]
Who Wrote This?:
Is Sarah Palin America’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? The two differ in many key respects, of course, but it is remarkable how similar they are. There are uncanny parallels in their biographies, their domestic politics and the way they present themselves — even in their rocky relationships with party elders. Both are former governors of a northwest […]
Demanding Settlement for Clearly Baseless Lawsuit = Criminal Extortion:
That’s what State v. Hynes, decided by the New Hampshire Supreme Court yesterday, basically holds. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 637.5 provides, in relevant part, that “A person is guilty of theft” if he gets money by threatening to do any “act which would not in itself substantially benefit him but which would harm substantially […]
Mother’s and Child’s Moving Back from Saudi Arabia, and Child Custody:
An interesting trial court opinion I just ran across, though it was decided in May 2006. [UPDATE: Link fixed.] It doesn’t break any new legal ground, but it does provide an interesting perspective, I think, on a particular kind of problem, and how some courts approach it. From the facts: 1. Plaintiff is C__ C. […]
Chicago’s Brief in Opposition to the Grant of Certiorari in the Second Amendment Incorporation Case
is here.
Yet Another Reason Not To Sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child:
Prof. Peter Spiro (Opinion Juris) responds to my earlier post, saying (among other things): First, joining the Convention makes sense in a conventional national interests analysis. America’s failure to join will cost it more than signing on. There is already a drumbeat on the subject: US nonparticipation is a boilerplate punchline among international actors critiquing […]
Islamic Law:
If you’re really interested in Islamic law and the law of the Muslim world, check out the Social Science Research Network forthcoming article database on the subject. Plus you can subscribe to the abstract distribution service, I believe for free. (My understanding is that the SSRN makes money from universities that pay for the right […]
The Obama/Joker Poster Is Racist, Says a Washington Post Article by the Newspaper’s Culture Critic:
How is that, pray tell? Here’s the argument: Perhaps because the poster is ultimately a racially charged image. By using the “urban” makeup of the Heath Ledger Joker, instead of the urbane makeup of the Jack Nicholson character, the poster connects Obama to something many of his detractors fear but can’t openly discuss. He is […]
Line of the Week:
Why are you guys trying to stuff a health care bill down our throat in three or four weeks when the President took six months to pick out a dog for his kids? — Unidentified tea partier to Steny Hoyer. (H/T Hot Air via Instapundit).
Defamation Case Lingers for 18 Years:
From the homeland of Franz Kafka, evidence that modern litigation dragging on forever is not just an American phenomenon: [I]n the early days of the Velvet Revolution, in November 1989, three students of architecture described their Communist professor as an arrogant careerist and demagogue…. [I]n 1991 [the professor] took the students to court for defamation […]
The Sotomayor Vote:
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court today at 3pm. It looks like there will be just shy of 70 votes in favor of her confirmation. Back in June I wrote: If I had to make a prediction, I’d guess that the vote will actually occur […]