Turkey’s Islamist government, not known for its compassion to, say, Kurds in Turkey, has been shedding crocodile tears over Gaza for several years now, and helped instigate the flotilla fiasco. So I have a modest proposal: if Turkey is so concerned with the welfare of Gazans, why not let Turkey run the place. Israel doesn’t […]
Archive | 2010
New York High Court Oral Argument in Columbia Eminent Domain Case
By Ilya Somin on June 2, 2010 2:46 pm in Blight, Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
The New York Court of Appeals (which, despite the misleading name, is New York’s state supreme court), held oral arguments yesterday in Kaur v. New York Urban Development Corporation, the case in which New York City is trying to condemn a large amount of property in the Manhattanville neighborhood in order to transfer it to […]
Mickey Kaus’s Ad, in His Primary Campaign for the U.S. Senate Against Barbara Boxer
I like it — and Mickey — a lot. I’m a Republican, but my sense is that he is the sort of Democrat that moderate and conservative Democrats, as well as Democratic-leaning independents (and even some liberal Democrats), should want to support. Mickey’s campaign site is here; go there if you want to contribute.
Challenges of Jurors for Bias, Decided by the Other Jurors
I’m used to the modern American system, where challenges of jurors for bias are decided by the judge. But Blackstone’s Commentaries reports that in 1765, the English rule was that such challenges were to be decided by two of the already impanelled jurors (or by specially appointed “indifferent persons named by the court” if two […]
Greenwald and Gaza
Since Glenn Greenwald is showing up on MSNBC and elsewhere, as an “expert” on Israel and Gaza, this is as good a time as any to recall his record with regard to the last major Hamas-Israel blowup, the Gaza incursion in 2008-09. Greenwald consistently accused Israel of a “disproportionate” (and therefore illegal under international law) […]
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act v Alien Tort Statute?
Sounds like Alien v Predator. Well, the Supreme Court might have taken up that question, but in the event, decided not to get involved with it. My Opinio Juris co-blogger Duncan Hollis explains at OJ. The case handed down today is Samantar v Yousef. I concur with Duncan’s takeaway: For human rights activists, however, the case […]
Its All in the Marketing:
Philip Morris goes green (via The Onion): Executives at Philip Morris USA this week unveiled Marlboro Earth, a new eco-friendly cigarette that gradually eliminates the causes of global warming and environmental destruction at their source…. “I leave work three to five times a day to stand outside and help the environment,” said longtime smoker Sam […]
Conglomerate Blog Junior Scholars Workshop:
The Conglomerate Blog is doing is 5th annual junior scholars workshop. Here’s the call for papers. It is open to untenured scholars in the general area of business law. It is a good thing and if you are a junior business law scholar it is a great chance to get some good comments on a […]
“Of All the Liars, That Have Ever Lived, Since Lying Was First Invented, [Members of the Other Party] Are the Greatest Liars”
(Everything old is new again, political rhetoric department, Part MMDCCCLIV.) The quotation in the title of this post is from the Republican Spy, April 1, 1806, and was said about the Federalist, though I took the liberty of changing “liv’d” to “lived.” Other than the “liv’d,” the sentiment has been freely recycled for over 200 […]
Herd of Individualists, Wolfman Edition
The Sun: Deikitsen “Lupus” Manley, 15, who claims to be pack leader at Brandeis High School in San Antonio, said: “Human wolves have been around a lot longer than characters in Twilight. It gives us a sense of belonging. You gain friends and you belong and indulge your wild side.” Another “wolf” named Argus said: […]
State Attorneys General Argue that Non-Media Speakers Should Get Less First Amendment Protection than Media Speakers
From the amicus brief for 48 states plus D.C. supporting Snyder in Snyder v. Phelps: No decision of [the Supreme] Court has ever exempted a non-media defendant from generally applicable state tort law on First Amendment grounds. That assertion is factually mistaken: NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., 458 U.S. 886 (1982), held that non-media defendants […]
“Four Days That Shook DADT”
What happened last week to the federal ban on military service by gays and lesbians? Chris Geidner has an excellent summary of the developments.
The Dale Peterson Ad
I don’t live in Alabama and I’m not a registered Republican. But if I were, this ad would convince me not to vote in the primary for Dale Peterson for Agriculture Commissioner. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7fhIO7DG0[/youtube] Somebody who’s been a Marine, a cop, and a farmer ought to know elementary gun safety. Yet when Peterson takes out a rifle […]
Is the Sixth Circuit the New Ninth (At Least in Habeas Cases)?
With today’s decision in Berghuis v. Thompkins the Supreme Court has once again reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in a habeas case. Indeed, this is the fifthsuch reversal this year. In each case, a panel of the Sixth Circuit granted a prisoner’s habeas corpus petition. In each case, the Supreme Court […]
Sabotage! Or How “Dilbert” Won The War
A friend of mine who works in the intelligence community brought this jewel to my attention. In January 1944, the Office of Strategic Services created a secret document entitled “Simple Sabotage Field Manual” (available here as a free audio book) to assist operatives in disrupting the Axis war effort. It contains the expected stuff about […]