Mearsheimer and Walt, that oppressed Harvard-Chicago duo who authored the “Israel Lobby” paper, a paper that would make a precocious but untutored high-schooler proud, but is an embarassment to the authors, have now received a contract from the prestigious commercial publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux to expand their paper into a book. Obviously, this piece […]
Author Archive | David Bernstein
A Bizarre Calumny at Crooked Timber:
I was websurfing recently, and came across a post by Daniel Davies of the Crooked Timber academic blog from September 1 about an Australian controversy over whether the Lebanese Red Cross conspired with Hezbollah to create anti-Israel propaganda. In the comments, and apropos of nothing in particular, he added, “tangentially to which, I was checking […]
A Good Example of How Daubert Has Changed the Legal Landscape:
This opinion, by superior court judge Judith Fabricant in Massachusetts, illustrates the remarkable transformation that has occurred in American courtrooms because of the Daubert decision. Daubert requires judges to serve as “gatekeepers” who exclude unreliable expert testimony, and the judge did just that. The case involved allegations that exposure to mold caused a child’s autism, […]
WSJ Op-ed on State Courts and Daubert:
As noted previously, my op-ed on this topic appeared in the Wall Street Journal Saturday. Since there is no free link, I’m reprinting it below, with permission. Rule of Law Quackspertise By David E. Bernstein 30 September 2006 The Wall Street Journal A9 A recent decision by a New York court is a stark reminder […]
Cut Off the Head of the Pig Who Says Our Religion “Exalts Violence and Hate” !:
AFP: French anti-terrorism authorities Friday opened an inquiry into death threats against a philosophy teacher who has been forced into hiding over a newspaper column attacking Islam, legal officials said. Robert Redeker, 52, is receiving round-the-clock police protection and changing addresses every two days, after publishing an article describing the Koran as a “book of […]
When Not to Talk to the Media?:
You’re the president of the National Association of Realtors, and in the real estate business yourself. The house you’ve been trying to sell for $1.45 million has been sitting on the market for a year, and you’ve already moved to a new residence. The agent you hired to sell your house advised you to drop […]
“Quackspertise” in State Courts:
I have an op-ed on this subject in today’s Wall Street Journal. The theme is that state courts are lagging well behind federal courts in excluded dubious expert testimony in civil casess. I’ll post a link if and when it’s available online (those with access to Factiva through their university can find it there). I […]
The Housing Market and the Economy:
Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist, at Schwab, has an excellent summary, complete with neat charts, of the state of the housing market, the current outlook, and the potential ramifications for the economy as a whole. In short: not a pretty picture. This chart (click for larger view), in particular, is worrisome if one is […]
New York Times Ombudsman on “Balanced” Coverage of Israel-Lebanon Conflict:
I missed this when it first came out: While fairness can’t be determined solely by the numbers of pictures in a situation like this, there is one statistic worth keeping in mind: the death toll. Nearly 1,150 Lebanese died, most of them civilians [actually, we have no idea how many of the “civilians” were actually […]
Balko on Mississippi’s Forensic Pathology System:
Radley Balko has an excellent piece in the October Reason on the Corey Maye case. Thanks to Instapundit, I’ve discovered that the piece is now online. I’m writing an article on expert evidence under Daubert/FRE 702 in which, among other things, I call for the privatization of forensic science services. There is, however, a right […]
More on Columbia and Ahmedinejad:
Last week, I reported that Dean Lisa Anderson at Columbia University had invited Iranian President Ahmadinejad to speak, and that the event was canceled. The reason given at the time by Dean Anderson was “security reasons” but I suspected that it had something to do with the potential tarnishing of Columbia’s reputation as well. Now, […]
My Funniest Law Firm Interview Story:
It’s Fall 1989, my second year of law school, and I’m interviewing with a very nice woman who works, if I remember correctly, at the D.C. office of a major Chicago law firm. She says, “I see you’re interested in constitutional law, we do a lot of interesting constitutional litigation at our D.C. office.” Seeing […]
Columbia U. Dean Invites Ahmadinejad to Speak:
He accepted the invitation, but the talk isn’t going through, for what appears to be some combination of security concerns and concerns over bad publicity for Columbia. Who in a position of authority at Columbia would daft enough to invite Holocaust denier/genocidal maniac/most notorious and powerful anti-Semite of the current age/etc. Ahmadinejad (who, by the […]
Standards for “Heroes” Are Going Way Down:
You’re 17 years old. You discover that some of your high school buddies are plotting a Columbine-style massacre at your school. You go home, tell your mom about it, and then report it to the authorities, who arrest the suspects and discover that they had stockpiled a cache of weapons. Good work! But does that […]
Presidential Candidates With Jewish Roots:
The grandaddy of them all, of course, was Barry Goldwater, who had a Jewish father. He was raised as a Christian by his mother, though it doesn’t appear that he was especially religious. Goldwater was, by all accounts, proud of his Jewish heritage, but this aspect of his background played what seems today like a […]