One of the many interesting issues raised by the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorist suspects in New York is whether transferring them to New York gives them any additional rights that they could assert to try to stop the prosecution against them. On Wednesday, the seven GOP Senators on the Judiciary […]
Archive | November, 2009
Climate Scientists, Unfiltered
Someone hacked into the computers at the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit, downloaded various files and e-mails posted on the web. Now the climate blogosphere is all atwitter over whether the resulting disclosures are a scandal or much ado about nothing. Excerpts and reactions from Roger Pielke Jr., Real Climate, Climate Audit, Watts […]
Originalism in the American Mind
(coauthored with Stephen Ansolabehere and crossposted) Upon the initiative of my colleague Jamal Greene who has been writing about the popularity of originalism, our July survey included several questions concerning judicial methodology. As cautious as we might be generally about measuring opinion on constitutional questions, our concerns about question wording, issue complexity, and non-salience are […]
Michael McConnell v. Martin Flaherty on Whether the Pay Czar’s Appointment Violates the Appointments Clause
An online debate at the Federalist Society site — a fascinating subject, and two first-rate debaters. Check it out; here’s the summary (paragraph breaks added): Under the statute authorizing the Troubled Assets Relief Program, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to “require each TARP recipient to meet appropriate standards for executive compensation.” By emergency […]
Stalin’s Bust at the D-Day Memorial
According to the New York Daily News and other news sources, the National D-Day Memorial has added a bust of Stalin to its line-up of allied leaders. This has understandably caused a great deal of controversy. The defense is most elaborately discussed here. Here’s my thinking on the matter: Sculptures at memorials have two different […]
Condo Prices down 40% Year Over Year in Miami
according to Bloomberg. Not terribly surprising for the “ground zero of the housing bubble,” and launchplace of Condoflip.com.
Stimulus Idea
No Social Security or Medicare tax for a year. Raise the retirement age by one year starting in 2014. Pure fiscal stimulus, no additional long-term debt.
“Night Lights” Classic Jazz Radio Program
I recently discovered the “Night Lights” Classic Jazz Radio Program, an hour-long weekly jazz program produced by Indiana University’s public radio station. It’s marvelous, and there are five years’ worth of archives available on the web that you can listen to at any time. Each program focuses on a particular artist, particular period, and/or particular […]
How Many Words Does It Take to Say “Louisiana”?
About 600 or so.
Justice Department to Drop Lori Drew Appeal
I am pleased to announce that the Justice Department will be moving to dismiss its appeal in the Lori Drew case. The motion apparently will be filed today or tomorrow, and it will bring the Drew case to a close.
Goldman Sachs and Its Small Business Fund Ploy
I am a fan of Goldman Sachs. It is one of the few individual stocks I own, running against all my standard corporate finance professor ‘buy index funds!!’ instincts. Although we have had a surfeit of bankers and a surfeit of talent in financial engineering rather than, say, robotics, it is very scary to see […]
First Amendment Violation in Denying Private Employee Unemployment Compensation When He Was Fired for His Speech?
From a Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation in Griffin v. N.H. Dep’t of Employment Security (handed down Nov. 16): For six years prior to May 19, 2009, Griffin worked for the Hospital as a radiology technician. Prior to May 19, Griffin had a conversation with a patient in which he recounted a news story regarding […]
Everybody Knows
The recent “everybody” threads reminded me of one of my favorite songs: Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Note that I quote it just because I like it, not because I think that it by itself is evidence that’s as strong as what I’ve pointed to earlier.
Spurious Grammatical “Rules” of Every Sort Are My Abhorrence
Earlier today, I posted quotes from prominent authors who use “them” with formally singular terms such as “everyone.” A commenter had earlier complained that “Already constructions like these are ubiquitous among high-school age writers, and sanctioned by their teachers.” I pointed out that they were apparently sanctioned by leading writers as well. A commenter suggested […]
Not So New
A commenter writes: The word “disrespected”, when used as, “the ho [disrespected] me”, shows [a] new use of a word, now fairly accepted, regardless of how clumsy. I often see people talk about something being a new use of the word — whether they’re condemning the supposed new use or accepting it — but much […]