The Washington Post covers the disclosure of e-mails from the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit — e-mails that appear to have been subject to an FOI request and that were either hacked by an outsider or stolen and released by an insider. In one e-mail, the center’s director, Phil Jones, writes Pennsylvania State […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Yoo v. Goldsmith on the KSM Trial
Last week, former OLC deputy John Yoo argued in the WSJ that the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York was a major mistake. Trying KSM in civilian court will be an intelligence bonanza for al Qaeda and the hostile nations that will view the U.S. intelligence methods and sources that such a […]
Sunday Song Lyric
Glenn Beck likes Muse. He’ s hardly alone, given the award-winning British Altrock band’s growing popularity in the U.S. While most other Muse fans may be drawn in by the music, Beck likes the lyrics. “These guys are brilliant, they know the time that we live in,” he said during a September broadcast. “All of […]
NYT on Hacked Climate E-Mails
The New York Times reports on the hack and disclosure of e-mails from the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit. The e-mails, attributed to prominent American and British climate researchers, include discussions of scientific data and whether it should be released, exchanges about how best to combat the arguments of skeptics, and casual comments […]
Climate Scientists, Unfiltered
Someone hacked into the computers at the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit, downloaded various files and e-mails posted on the web. Now the climate blogosphere is all atwitter over whether the resulting disclosures are a scandal or much ado about nothing. Excerpts and reactions from Roger Pielke Jr., Real Climate, Climate Audit, Watts […]
How Many Words Does It Take to Say “Louisiana”?
About 600 or so.
Could an Individual Mandate Violate Article I, Section 9?
Most discussions about the constitutionality of an individual mandate in health care reform proposals have focused on whether such a mandate could be justified under the federal government’s enumerated powers in Article I, section 8. (See, e.g., these VC posts.) Some (including me) have opined that, under existing case law, an individual mandate would probably […]
Ricci’s Not Over
The Supreme Court’s decision in Ricc v. DeStefano did not put an end to litigation over the New Haven Fire Department’s use of tests for firefighter promotions. One black firefighter, Michael Briscoe, has filed a disparate impact suit against the city (more here), and other black firefighters have sought to intervene in Ricci on remand. […]
More Stimulative Than You Could Have Imagined
How successful has the stimulus been at creating jobs? So successful that it’s created jobs in Congressional districts that do not even exist! More from Nick Gillespie. (HT: Instapundit)
Filibustering Judge Hamilton
Several news reports indicate that some Republican Senators are going to try to filibuster the confirmation of Judge David Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. This effort is futile and unfortunate. Even if I believed that Judge Hamilton’s record justified opposition to his confirmation (and I do not, as I […]
“It Is a Bad Idea . . . to Leave the Judge with a Smoldering Suspicion . . .”
On Friday, in Johnson v. Sherry, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the district court’s denial of William Johnson’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus and remanded the case for additional proceedings to determine whether Johnson received inadequate assistance of counsel. In his habeas petition, Johnson […]
Where Are the Judges?
The Obama Administration has announced nominees to the federal bench at relatively slow pace thus far, as I noted here and here. Now the lag is beginning to get more attention. As the NYT reported over the weekend: President Obama has sent the Senate far fewer judicial nominations than former President George W. Bush did […]
The Seals of San Diego Can Stay
The NYT reports that a state court judge has concluded that there is no need to evict the seals from the “children’s pool” in La Jolla — at least not yet. In January, a new state law will take effect giving local authorities greater discretion over whether the seals may stay. Meanwhile, reports the Times, “The […]
Sunday Song Lyric
Czechs celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution with a star-studded concert in Prague. Among the highlights, according to news reports, was Lou Reed and Renee Fleming singing Reed’s “Perfect Day.” I’m not sure what the song has to do with the reason for the celebration (most believe it’s about heroin), but it’s a […]
New York: Where “Underutilization” Equals “Blight”
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sing “there’s nothing you can’t do” in New York. That may be true for Hova, but it’s not supposed to be true when it comes to eminent domain under New York law. A purported “public purpose” is insufficient to seize private property for economic development. So government authorities resort to “blight” […]