Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler

In the discussion over whether there is something scandalous about AEI’s effort to commission analyses of the IPCC report and proposed climate report, more than one commenter sought to defend the use of ad hominem arguments. For instance, “Justin” commented: The “ad hominen criticism is wrong” argument is thorougly erroneous, as I have discussed before. […]

Today’s Washington Post reports on the controversy over the American Enterprise Institute’s effort to solicit analyses and critiques of the IPCC report and proposed climate policies. Advocacy groups such as Greenpeace and the Public Interest Research Group questioned why the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has offered $10,000 to academics willing to contribute to a book […]

National Review Online asked a few folks to provide their thoughts on the Super Bowl. My contribution was the following: The Super Bowl is supposed to be an epic clash of titans. Unfortunately, the game itself often fails to live up to the hype. Blowouts and snoozers are as common as nailbiters. The New England […]

On Friday, Ohio Republican legislative leaders in Ohio filed suit challenging the validity of newly elected Governor Ted Strickland’s veto of a bill outgoing Governor Bob Taft sought to let become law without his signature. According to the suit, technically filed against the new Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, Strickland could not have vetoed the […]

The Clash’s London Calling is among the greatest rock albums of all time. (Rolling Stone ranked it number eight.) The album is chock full of great songs, but this morning I’m thinking about “The Guns of Brixton.” When they kick out your front door How you gonna come? With your hands on your head Or […]

The blogosphere is abuzz about this breathless Guardian story alleging that the American Enterprise Institute is offering cash payments to scientists who will “undermine” the new report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (See, e.g., here, here, and here.) Some suggest this is a scandalous example of “buying science.” I’ve obtained copies of […]

The Associated Press is reporting that Cully Stimson resigned today “over controversial remarks in which he criticized lawyers who represent terrorism suspects.” According to the report, Stimson “made his own decision to resign and was not asked to leave by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.” According to a Defense Department spokesman, Stimson beleived the controversy over […]

Glenn Reynolds has a test to determine the sincerity of those who call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: Limits on private planes and stretch limos. He writes: No, seriously. A Gulfstream III releases 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide an hour. How can we demand “sacrifice” from ordinary Americans when our leaders — including those who […]

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in Slagle v. Bagley. As I posted here, the original three-judge panel split over whether Billy Slagle’s capital conviction for the aggravated murder of Mari Anne Pope (whom he stabbed seventeen times with sewing scissors) […]

According to Roger Alford at Opinio Juris, Jan Crawford Greenburg does not believe there will be another Supreme Court opening while President Bush is in office. Speaking at Pepperdine, Greenburg commented that, based upon the interviews she conducted for her book, neither Justice Stevens nor Justice Ginsburg appears ready to retire. Justice Stevens, she said, […]

Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the “Summary for Policymakers” of the first volume of its Fourth Assessment report on the science of climate change, focusing on the causes, human contribtions, and future projections of climate change. The New York Times covers the release here. The underlying report itself will be published by […]

Historically, governments sought to spur innovation and the development of solutions to important social problems by offering prizes (including large sums of money) to the first person to solve the problem. As noted in this Daniel Drezner post (and in more detail here and here), this is an effectgive way to spur innovation, but not […]

Professor Matthew Franck, Chair of the Political Science Department at Radford University, has inaugurated a new feature at NRO’s Bench Memos (a blog to which I also contribute): The Perennial Publius. Inspired by a class he is teaching on the The Federalist Papers, Franck has inaugurated a series of posts on the wit and wisdom […]

Over at the Sentencing Law & Policy blog — an absolute must-read blog for those interested in sentencing issues — Doug Berman takes Judge Richard Posner to task for pontificating on what would be sufficient to establish that a criminal defendant engaged in an uncharged felony under state law so that his sentence could be […]

Concurring Opinions guest blogger Michael Abramowicz provides an update on John Lott’s defamation lawsuit against Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt, complete with commentary. Jim Lindgren has written about this litigation on the VC here. [Note: Those wishing to comment on the litigation can do so at Concurring Opinions.] UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds’ take: “a lawsuit that shouldn’t […]