That’s what the 9/11 Commission chair Thomas Kean seems to be saying in response to calls for Jamie Gorelick to resign. (I say “seems” because there’s always the possibility that he was quoted out of context.) From the Washington Post: Gorelick told CNN yesterday that she will not resign. “The wall was a creature of […]
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Jonathan Rauch on the 9/11 commission: I haven’t been following the commission’s work, and have no informed opinion — but I much respect Rauch’s views, and he’s written extensively on the pathologies of American government procedures. Some key paragraphs (emphasis added): The time and attention of Washington’s top policy makers is Washington’s most precious commodity. […]
Rats — we’re not Banned in Burma
any more; my correspondent tells me that we’re accessible again.
Greens for Tax Increases:
I find it somewhat amusing that many environmental groups spent Tax Day calling for a tax increase. Specifically, U.S. PIRG, the Sierra Club, and other groups called upon Congress and the Bush Administration to increase taxes. Specifically, they called for the re-enactment of taxes on corporations and certain chemical feedstocks to pay for hazardous waste […]
Tort sanity:
“A top Russian ballerina, who was sacked for being too heavy, lost a damages claim for £575,000 against the chief of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre yesterday. The prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova, who was fired in September for being too bulky to be lifted by her dancing partners, sought the damages from the Bolshoi’s general director, Anatoly […]
The economics of Iraqi reconstruction:
Randall Parker offers some interesting facts about the finances of Iraqi reconstruction. Here is one good bit: “Even though involvement in Iraq is costing US taxpayers a lot of money at this point very little of the reconstruction money from the US government has been spent. Efforts to repair war damage and kick-start the economy, […]
TaxProf: An interesting new academic blog from taxprof Paul Caron, aimed at tax professors but also useful to lawyers and students working in the field.
Banned in Burma,
yanked from Yangon: A reader reports (I don’t yet know how he figured it out): You should know that as of today the Conspiracy is banned in Burma (Myanmar). The yellow flag says “banned phrase found.”
Handy Aramaic phrases to use while watching The Passion of the Christ, from The Guardian (U.K.) (thanks to Michael Klein for the pointer): Its alleged anti-semitism isn’t the only problem with Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. There’s also the small matter of it being in Aramaic. To help enrich your enjoyment, here is […]
Gmail fun:
Reader Mike Aracic writes: Lawyers can sure make it tough to have a good time! I am eagerly awaiting the time the first of my friends got a Gmail address[.] The victim (friend) was going to immediately get a short paragraph from me about refinancing and “male enhancement.”
If the leaders of the Jewish Community needed an impetus
to try to discourage the ridiculously excessive bar and bat mitvzah parties that have become the norm in many large cities, this story in the April 26 People Magazine (not online) should be it:She’s got the deejay blasting Beyonce and a computerized light show. She has nearly 100 friends crammed into Manhattan’s ritzy Bryant Park […]
Law and film:
In my law and film class this year we watched four movies: High Noon, Kubrick’s early Paths of Glory, Kurosawa’s Rashomon, and Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, a Canadian movie from 1997. A schoolbus crashes through the ice and many schoolchildren drown, leading to a liability suit in a small town. To my surprise, this […]
A bit more on gmail:
David Link, who works for Senator Figueroa — the California legislator who’s talking about outlawing google’s new free e-mail with customized advertising service — writes: The Senator has represented a good portion of the Silicon Valley for the twelve years she has been in the legislature, and has earned the respect of much of the […]
Bush and Sharon:
For all the handwringing of the American (not to mention world) media, the dynamic is very simple: Bush has made it abundantly clear that he wants the Palestinians to have a responsible government that fights terrorism, and wants the Israelis to move toward a settlement that turns over sovereignty of Gaza and most of the […]
Gorelick recusal rule:
This Eric Muller (IsThatLegal?) post is so useful that I thought I’d link to it and excerpt it even though InstaPundit has also already done it. The bottom line: Under these guidelines, it certainly seems to me that Ms. Gorelick should not be participating in the portion of the Commission’s investigation that focuses on law […]