Listen here, about 1/3 the way in and again about 3/4 in. He’s talking about corporate personhood, not his American Life, as part of a show on stories provided by family members. Plus, they call Eugene “charming,” which was nice (and also true). Thanks to Marc Bohn for the link.
Archive | 2010
An Advisory Recall of U.S. Senators?
There’s a move afoot to recall Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ). New Jersey law authorizes such recalls, but it seems likely that the U.S. Constitution does not allow a state to force the removal of a senator based on a recall vote. The Seventeenth Amendment provides that the Senators shall be “elected by the people thereof, […]
Supreme Court Relist Watch: Thaler v. Haynes and review of Batson claims
As the Supreme Court comes to the end of its nearly month-long recess, I thought it’d be good to review some of the cases the Court has relisted repeatedly in anticipation of what might be coming when the orders list is released Monday Feb. 22. Time permitting–and that is a big “if”—this will be the […]
Criticizing People Who May Have Inadvertently Helped the Enemy
Jonathan’s post about the recent op-ed in which deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan wrote, “Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda,” led me to think about the broader question of criticizing people who one thinks may inadvertently be helping the enemy. I wrote a bit about this in Deterring […]
Philosopher Wit
From Prof. Mark Liberman (Language Log), attributing this to Columbia philosophy professor Sidney Morgenbesser: Morgenbesser was leaving a subway station in New York City and put his pipe in his mouth as he was ascending the steps. A police officer told him that there was no smoking on the subway. Morgenbesser pointed out that he […]
“Blog” Referring to a Blog Post
A commenter asks, “The Volokh Conspiracy is a blog. What should one call the various postings by members of the conspiracy? Are they blogs too, or is it better to call them posts or something else?” I’ve seen a few people — usually ones that don’t seem particularly blog-savvy — referring to a blog post […]
Horace and “Weblog”/”Web Log” vs. “Blog”
I’m working on the Fourth Edition of my Academic Legal Writing book, and I noticed that in earlier editions I occasionally mentioned “Weblogs” or “Web logs” — I generally didn’t use “blogs,” because I was afraid that to many readers it would come across as unfamiliar jargon. But I thought that things might have changed, […]
Dershowitz Channels Bernstein
Bernstein, 2/10: [Quoting Ha’aretz] Travers also rejects Israel Defense Forces photographs as proof that Hamas hid weapons in mosques during the conflict. “I do not believe the photographs,” Travers said, describing the IDF evidence as “spurious.” [Who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes?] Dershowitz, 2/14 Travers came to the job having […]
SCOTUSblogging
Starting next week, I’m going to be dividing some of my blogging time as I try out co-blogging over at SCOTUSblog. SCOTUSblog is bolstering its commentary and analysis role, and as a part of that I’m going to be blogging over there occasionally about various aspects of the Court’s criminal law docket (and especially the […]
Information Asymmetries and the Agent Principal Problem, As Found in … The Coca Cola Kid
Is this the ‘Australian Sound’? My class is covering information asymmetries as transaction costs affecting pure Coase Theorem analysis, and we will soon come to classic information asymmetries found in agent – principal relationships. I am thinking of using this as a pedagogical tool. Consider Eric Roberts’ soliloquy on agent-principal relations, and the many ironies […]
Is Dissent Today Any Less Patriotic?
In December 2001, then-Attorney General provoked howls of outrage when he made the following statement at a Congressional hearing: To those who pit Americans against immigrants, citizens against non-citizens, to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists for they erode our national unity […]
Please, Mr. Postman:
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” It’s not, actually, the official US Postal Service motto (there is no such thing), but it is carved onto the pediment of the James Farley Post Office building in midtown Manhattan (the big, beautiful […]
Sunday Song Lyric
In March 1985, USA for Africa released the star-studded single “We Are the World,” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, to raise money for famine relief in Africa. The song rapidly become the fastest-selling pop single. This weekend, the We Are the World Foundation released “We are the World 25 for Haiti,” a remake […]
CDSs, Greek Bonds, and Insurable Interests?
The former General Counsel of Long Term Capital Management – it of the late 1990s near global financial meltdown – James Rickards, had a comment in the Financial Times a few days ago (Feb 11, 2010) on the credit default swap market and Greek sovereign debt. Key section: Greece’s travails are often measured by reference […]
Amy Bishop in the NYT … Does the Times Bury the Lede?
The shootings on the university campus opened a window into the pressure-cooker world of biotechnology start-ups, where scientists often depend on their association with academia for a leg up. Ms. Bishop was part of a start-up that had won an early round of financing in a highly competitive environment, but people who knew her said […]