Media in Australia and Israel are abuzz with news about a detainee in an Israeli prison, a dual Australian and Israeli citizen named Ben Zygier working for the Mossad who committed suicide in late 2010 after being held in solitary confinement for unknown security offenses. I don’t have anything to add to the basics of […]
Archive | February, 2013
Peretz on the New New Republic
Last year, Martin Peretz sold The New Republic to Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. The magazine’s new owner installed himself as editor-in-chief, as Peretz had, and proclaimed his commitment to independent thinking that has characterized much of its recent history. Looking at the new magazine, however, Peretz is not convinced Hughes is fulfilling that commitment. In […]
Catholic science fiction
Speaking of the Pope, what are your favorite Catholic science fiction books? I don’t mean just books written by Catholics, nor do I mean books where the Catholic church plays a plot role (like the Hyperion series), but books with a strong Catholic-related theme, like A Canticle for Leibowitz. Bonus points if canon law makes […]
Criticizing Darth Vader’s Strategy at the Battle of Hoth
In this Wired magazine article [HT: Instapundit], Spencer Ackerman gives a detailed critique of Darth Vader’s strategy at the Battle of Hoth. Presented with a golden opportunity to wipe out the rebels once and for all, Vader let them slip through his fingers: How did the Galactic Empire ever cement its hold on the Star […]
Do Law Reviews Consider the Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation of Authors in Selecting Articles For Publication?
I would have thought the answer was “no,” but Josh Blackman has a very interesting post suggesting that may not be the case at least for some prominent journals.
States Pile on Against Dodd-Frank
By Jonathan H. Adler on February 13, 2013 5:31 pm in Administrative Law, Financial Crisis, Separation of Powers
Eight more states have joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of various provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The states are Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia. As three states (Oklahoma, Michigan, and South Carolina) had already brought suit, this brings the total number of states involved in the suit […]
Ranking Law Schools with Ratemyprofessors.com
National Jurist decided to toss its hat into the law school rankings ring, and the result is something of a joke. Among other things, NJ decided to base 20 percent of each school’s score on the haphazard evaluation of its professors on Ratemyprofessors.com. (No, really. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.) As […]
More Russian privatization?
Sir — A recent issue of The Economist reports that the Russian government may aggressively privatize in Putin’s new term: IN THE 1990s privatisation in Russia was meant to be a way to wipe clean the vestiges of the Soviet economy and to create a new class of property owners. It had some success but, […]
Qatari Law in U.S. Courts
American courts routinely enforce foreign money judgments; this is needed for international business, and it also avoids the injustice that might happen if someone flees, say, Canada or Germany with assets that he owes to someone, and that he otherwise couldn’t be required to pay. At the same time, it’s also unjust if American courts […]
Arming a Hobbyist Drone with a Paintball Gun
In a Hoover Institution essay a few weeks ago, the Brookings Institution’s Benjamin Wittes asked, “How long do we really think it will take before a gun enthusiast arms a remotely-piloted robotic aircraft with his favorite handgun (very doable by a competent layperson with a few thousand dollars to burn)?” He points at Lawfare today […]
A Changing GOP Position on Immigration?
It was interesting to see that both Marco Rubio in his official Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union and libertarian-leaning Senator Rand Paul in the Tea Party response argued for a less restrictive immigration policy. This is an important development for a party whose conservative wing has long been known for its […]
No Tort Law Duty Not to Provoke One’s Abuser
From Hurn v. Greenaway (Alaska Feb. 8, 2013): Simone Greenway and her friend Carrie Randall–Evans were dancing together in a suggestive manner and teasing Jeffrey Evans, Carrie’s husband, when Jeffrey left the room, returned with a pistol, and shot everyone inside, killing Carrie. He then shot and killed himself. David Hurn, the father of Carrie’s […]
My Letter to Ted Cruz on Gun Control Proposals
Today, the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights is holding a hearing on proposals for new gun controls. Below is my letter to the Ranking Member, Senator Ted Cruz, which expands upon a brief op-ed of mine, Gun Control Fails Rationality Test, that ran in the Washington Examiner a couple weeks ago: […]
Gut yontiv for the pontiff
The papal retirement news has proven that Latin is not totally useless: a Vatican reporter heard the news in Latin first and got the scoop. Similarly, back when the current Pope was elected, I was watching the announcement on TV and understood about a minute or two before everybody else who the new Pope was […]
A soft counterattack on private counterhacks
Herb Lin of the National Research Council has launched the first, soft counterattack on those who think victims of cyberespionage should have greater leeway to respond directly to intrusions. Herb always strives for some balance in his work, but it’s clear that he’s a skeptic, concluding “It is not clear that the use of offensive […]