The NYT reports on various efforts to restore the credibility of climate science and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the wake of “ClimateGate” and the discovery of a handful false claims and misrepresentation of scientific research in portions of the IPCC reports. The unauthorized release last fall of hundreds of e-mail messages from […]
Archive | 2010
Will Dawn Johnsen Finally Get a Vote?
Once again, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. The vote was along party lines, 12-7. BLT reports: Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University at Bloomington, still has a long way to go if she is to be confirmed. Republicans […]
“Is College Censorship Destroying Our Society’s ‘Sophistication Machine’?”
That’s the new book project that Greg Lukianoff of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is taking on — read more about it in this Huffington Post blog.
The Law of Flipping the Bird
A recent artice, Ira P. Robbins, Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law, 41 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1403 (2008), tells you pretty much all you would want to know.
Washington Night Life “Has Come of Age”
So sayeth the New York Times. It’s true that the beer offerings have improved dramatically in the last two years.
“Number of Lothian Patients Made Ill by Drinking Rockets”
That’s a headline from the Edinburgh Evening News. Prof. Geoffrey Pullum (Language Log) discusses this, and points to the broader phenomenon, which has been labeled crash blossoms. (No it’s not the rockets that are crashing.)
With Friends Like These…
“Castrate Knut [the polar bear], Say Animal Rights Activists.”
U.S. Backs Bluefin Tuna Trade Ban
The Washington Post reports that the U.S. will support a proposal to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This would have the effect of prohibiting all international trade in this valued fish. A single prized specimen has sold for as much as $175,000 in Japan. […]
From Justice to Lawyer
Who was the most recent U.S. Supreme Court Justice to resign from the Court and later return to the practice of law?
Utah May Try to Use Eminent Domain to Take Federal Government Land
The Utah House of Representatives recently enacted a law that would enable the state to seize federal land using its power of eminent domain (see also this shorter account) [HT: Edward Lopez]: Long frustrated by Washington’s control over much of their state, Utah legislators are proposing a novel way to deal with federal land — […]
Ravitch on Education Policy
The Times has an interesting story on Diane Ravitch’s abandonment of many strategies for improving education associated with “conservatives.” I support some of these strategies, like trying to inject markets and competition into the educational system, and oppose others, like national standardized testing, which I suspect may raise the lowest common denominator, but be the […]
Cross-Examining Frank Easterbrook
Something to be avoided in the best of circumstances, and a particularly bad idea here. Judge Easterbrook testified yesterday as a witness, as did Judges Posner and Bauer, in the threat prosecution of Hal Turner. Turner had written a blog post saying that Easterbrook, Posner, and Bauer should be killed for their panel decision holding […]
“Separation of Church and State”
The Des Moines Register reports: Dale Halferty, who has taught industrial arts at Guthrie Center High School for three years, was placed on paid leave Monday after he acknowledged to district officials that he told [a] student he could not build [a Wiccan] altar in class. “But this kid was practicing his religion during class […]
“How to Write Like John Roberts”
Excellent tips from Ross Guberman, with help from John Roberts. Thanks to SCOTUSblog for the link.
Al Qaeda Seven Unmasked!
It seems that the folks at Fox News have successfully unmasked the Al Qaeda Seven — you know, the terrorist-loving lawyers presently working for the Obama Justice Department. All had their names on the front page of public filings in prominent cases, which is how Fox was able to discover their identities. As far as […]