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William M. Adler reports on astroturf op-eds in a Washington Post Outlook piece. Adler’s correct that this phenomenon is fairly widespread. Industry groups are always looking for compelling surrogates to advance their message. While one should be able to evaluate an argument without regard to the author, it helps if a spokesperson has academic credentials […]

There are not many new bands I like all that much. Maybe that’s part of getting older; the songs off one’s youth are indelibly written across one’s memories, such that later music fails to have the same effect. Or at least it seems that way sometimes. One new band I like quite a bit is […]

Malaria is on the rise in most of sub-Saharan Africa, despite an international campaign to control its spread. In Africa alone the disease kills approximately 3,000 people per day. Six years into the World Health Organization’s “Roll Back Malaria” campaign, malaria incidence has increased. According to Roger Bate of Africa Fighting Malaria “the main cause […]

Read the ever-insightful Randall Parker. The answer of course is no. Here is just one bit: “Hey, if it is standard practice for the Saudis to lower prices before US Presidential elections then maybe we should amend the constitution to reelect presidents yearly. Think of all the money we’d save. Given that the price of […]

in the Washington Blade (cute name for the newspaper, no?).

I am rationally ignorant on this subject, but those who are interested might check out this San Francisco Chronicle article. (Thanks to Dan Gifford for the pointer.)

Could it be partly because their governments are distributing material such as this? (From MEMRI, which to my knowledge is a highly credible source, quoting an article from the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya by deputy editor Abd Al-Wahhab ‘Adas; thanks to lawprof Michael Krauss for the pointer.) “If you want to know the real perpetrator […]

In response to David’s question below about whether air quality is worse closer to busy roads, the short answer is: It depends. Certainly for some air pollutants, including ground-level ozone, ambient concentrations near busy roads or intersections can be higher than elsewhere in an urban areas, particularly at certain times of the day. Ozone readings […]

Government Appeals Raich v. Ashcroft: On Tuesday, the Solicitor General petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari in my medical cannabis case of Raich v. Ashcroft. Although I am not surprised, I admit to being disappointed that Ted Olson did not see this case as an opportunity for advancing the limited reading of […]

My now beloved Panasonic W2 ultralight has a built in DVD and lately I have taken to renting movies to view while traveling on airplanes. Yesterday, I decided to try Movielink, a service that lets you download movies for a fee of $3 to $5, which are then stored on your hard drive for up […]

Is air quality, say, a block from a busy road substantially worse than air quality, say, a four blocks from a busy road, or a half mile from a busy road? Inquiring minds want to know!

The Fourth Circuit’s Mossaoui opinion seems like a significant, though far from complete, victory for Moussaoui, relative to what the government would have liked. Moussaoui is getting less by way of evidence from various military detainees than the district court said he should have, but he’s getting a lot more than the government wanted to […]

Here’s today’s Bush quote in Slate‘s Bushism of the Day, selected by Slate‘s editor, Jacob Weisberg: “My job is to, like, think beyond the immediate.” — Washington, D.C., April 21, 2004 Here’s a transcript of MSNBC Hardball, Dec. 30, 2003: WEISBERG: But I think a bigger problem is really where [Dean] is politically. You know, […]

The Confusion (by Neal Stephenson): Just finished, and thought it was excellent. I thought Cryptonomicon was fantastic; Quicksilver was quite good, and worth reading, but not nearly up to the level of Cryptonomicon. The Confusion was a good deal better than Quicksilver (though not quite as good as Cryptonomicon), and definitely worth the time and […]

Jacob Levy won’t be able to count on little Benjamin to suit up for the rugby match even when he’s 16 and big (and chances are that he will be big) — at least not if I have anything to say about it. UPDATE: Rory Miller writes: Prof. Volokh- Many people think of Rugby as […]