What should be my next French novel to listen to in audiobook form, The Charterhouse of Parma (Stendhal) [files here] or Swann’s Way (Proust) [files here]? (Both available from Litterature audio.com.)
Archive | August, 2011
The Dictionary of Misinformation
My father Vladimir pointed me to this passage in a 1975 book, The Dictionary of Misinformation, which aims to rebut various commonly believed myths: right to keep and bear arms, the. The second article of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution reads — in whole, not in part, italics furnished — “A […]
The Constitutionality of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Established by the Recent Debt Ceiling Act)
The Committee, the Wikipedia entry labeled “United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction” but redirected from “Super Congress” tells us (as of the time I write this), is an illegal, unconstitutional joint select committee, created by the Budget Control Act of 2011, enacted on August 2, 2011. The Act was intended to consolidate […]
Resolution VI in Current Scholarship and the ACA Debate
My thanks to Eugene and the Volokh Conspiracy for giving me the opportunity to blog a bit on my new paper, “Resolution VI”: The Virginia Plan and Authority to Resolve Collective Action Problems Under Article I, Section 8. In brief, the paper argues that recent efforts to make an historical case for using Resolution VI […]
The Theory of Collective Action Federalism
By Neil Siegel, guest-blogging on August 8, 2011 9:58 am in Collective Action Problems, Commerce Clause, Federalism
I thank Eugene Volokh for inviting me to blog about my work in this highly regarded venue. Today, I will present the theory of collective action federalism, which I have developed with Robert Cooter of Berkeley Law in a recent article. Tomorrow, I will clarify what the theory is and is not. Later in the […]
Words That Have Different Meaning in Different Parts of the Constitution
A law professor friend of mine raised this question: Could the same word have different meaning in different parts of the Constitution (especially ones that were enacted at the same time, or very nearly at the same time)? Of course, we would normally presume that the same word has the same meaning. (For more on […]
Collective Action Federalism
Like Eugene Volokh, I too look forward to the upcoming guest-blogging stints by Kurt Lash and Neil Siegel. It so happens that I recently reviewed Robert Cooter and Neigl Siegel’s outstanding article “Collective Action Federalism” on Jotwell, a website where legal scholars review important new scholarship. Here’s an excerpt from what I said: Robert Cooter […]
Norway and Terrorism
Barry Rubin: Why should others not dream that the road to victory is paved with the corpses of murdered civilians? If terrorist murders by Hamas and Islamists did not stop well-intentioned future leaders of Norway from considering them heroic underdogs, an evil local man could think his act of terrorism would gain sympathy and change […]
Kurt Lash and Neil Siegel, Guest-Blogging
I’m delighted to report that Prof. Kurt Lash (Illinois) and Prof. Neil Siegel (Duke) will be guest-blogging this week on the Constitution and federal power. This isn’t quite a debate, since their arguments differ somewhat in scope; but I thought their perspectives would still provide helpful counterpoints to each other, and would be interesting on […]
Timely T-Shirt
Available here.
Widener’s Dean Linda Ammons Doubles Down
The saga of Dean Ammons vendetta against Professor Lawrence Connell, revolving around trumped up charges of harassment and discrimination, gets more and more absurd. Having been almost entirely vindicated by a faculty committee, with the only remaining “charge” that he dared to rebut false accusations against himself publicly, Dean Ammons has recommended that Connell be […]
Rifle Golf: America’s newest shooting sport
If you’re interested in long distance rifle shooting, or in hunting with a rifle, I highly recommend that you check out the Spirit Ridge Rifle Golf facility, in Utah. The “golf” part of the name is really just part of the rules for how your shots are scored. Other than that, it’s all rifle and […]
Open Thread
Seems like a quiet day here at the blog. Good time for an open thread: If you’re interested, comment away.
Crop Diversity Revisited
Does a decline in crop diversity threaten future food production? A report in the August 2011 National Geographic suggests so. The article, “Food Ark,” reports that the “extinction” of food varieties could be a real problem. Food varieties extinction is happening all over the world—and it’s happening fast. In the United States an estimated 90 […]
Losing Copyright Plaintiff (Mattel, in the “Bratz” Litigation) Must Pay Defendant $137 Million Dollars in Attorneys’ Fees and Costs
So District Judge David O. Carter held Thursday in Mattel v. MGA (though I assume that the case will either be appealed, or will settle for something less than the total amount in lieu of an appeal). The Copyright Act specifically provides that the loser — whether plaintiff or defendant — may be ordered to […]