This week the National Research Council released a report on the potential consequences of sea-level rise on the United States. Today’s NYT notes that this is only the latest study to highlight the threat of sea-level rise due to global warming. If global warming causes the seas to rise, low-lying developing countries are not the […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
AG Mukasey to Argue Before Supremes:
Attorney General Michael Mukasey will argue the case of United States v. Ahmed Ressam before the Supreme Court on March 25, the Washington Post reports. Ressam is the so-called “Millenium Bomber” who was arrested trying to cross the U.S.-Canadian border in 1999 with explosives and bomb-making materials in the trunk of his car. He was […]
The Post on OLC:
Today’s Washington Post has an editorial about the DoJ’s Office of Legal Counsel. Here’s is how it begins: Since its creation in the early 20th century, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has been considered the legal conscience of the executive branch, rendering judgments to presidents and executive agencies about what the law allows. […]
University of California v. Animal Liberation Front:
The University of California Regents is suing several animal rights organizations in response to protests and harassment of researchers. Such legal tactics works for the Regents before, but internet organizing may make things more difficult. The regents hope to win a permanent injunction similar to one granted against Last Chance for Animals in 1989. But […]
Biofuel Byproduct Not So Eco-Friendly:
An interesting story about pollution from a biodiesel plant. After residents of the Riverbend Farms subdivision noticed that an oily, fetid substance had begun fouling the Black Warrior River, which runs through their backyards, Mark Storey, a retired petroleum plant worker, hopped into his boat to follow it upstream to its source. It turned out […]
The Double-Proxy Wedding:
Apparently you can get married in Montana without showing up. UPDATE: I see Eugene beat me to it. Ah, the perils of blogging on the road. FWIW, I was pointed to the story by a Montanan whose nuptials are pending . . . though he swears he plans to attend his own wedding. I’ve yet […]
You Can’t Read That!:
An employee of a public university was disciplined for engaging in “racial harassment” for reading a book called Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan. Apparently, the fact that the book had the phrase “Ku Klux Klan” in its title was enough to set the regulatory gears in […]
John McCain’s Junk Science:
Via Kevin Drum I learn that Senator John McCain embraced unfounded anti-vaccination fears on the campaign trail. ABC’s Jake Tapper reports: At a town hall meeting Friday in Texas, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., declared that “there’s strong evidence” that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that was once in many childhood vaccines, is responsible for the increased […]
Saying Goodbye to the Seals of San Diego:
La Jolla features an absolutely exquisite coastline. Featuring small beaches interspersed with rocks and outcroppings the area is often used as a backdrop for wedding pictures and other events. One relatively recent – and apparently controversial – attraction in the area is a beach known as the “children’s pool,” that has been taken over by […]
Sunday Song Lyric:
I spent the past several days at a conference in La Jolla. During breaks I would walk down to the water to watch the surf and the seals (more on them later). With my family at home, it made me think of Billie Holiday’s “I Cover the Waterfront.” Written by Edward Heyman (lyrics) and Johnny […]
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008):
The AP reports that National Review founder William F. Buckley, Jr. died this morning at the age of 82. Kathryn Lopez has an initial comment on NRO here. the NYT obit is here.
The DEA’s Prescription Drug Problem:
The Drug Enforcement Administration is concerned about the abuse of prescription drugs, but its solution may do more harm than good. Writing in today’s WSJ, former FDA official Scott Gottleib explains that the DEA is threatening to interfere with medical practice decisions, to the detriment of many Americans who benefit from prescription drugs. The Drug […]
The McCain Matching Fund Mess:
Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign seems to have gotten itself into a little campaign finance mess by initially pledging to accept public financing, in exchange for various spending limits, and then changing its mind. Former FEC Commissioner Brad Smith provides a good overview of the law and the issues here. It provides all the background […]
No Mohawks in Kindergarten:
A six-year-old boy has been suspended from a charter school kindergarten in Parma, Ohio, because he has a mohawk. As reported here, school officials concluded that his haircut distracted other students and was “disrpting the educational program” of the school. The boy’s mother plans to enroll her son in another school rather than appeal the […]
Hamdan’s Surprise Defense Witness:
I somehow missed this news last week: Col. Morris Davis, the former Gitmo prosecutor who resigned in protest of political interference with the military commissions (see these posts), expects to be called as a witness for the defense in the trial of Salim Ahmed Hamdan. If so, Davis is expected to testify that political interference […]