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L.A. Times piece on opponents of gay marriage: It’s here, and it actually strikes me as quite thoughtful and balanced (and not just because it quotes me, correctly identifying me as a supporter of gay marriage). I suppose its bottom line is relatively friendly to the anti-gay-marriage forces, but it provides good arguments from both […]

The Cleveland Jewish News reports on how its story about an anti-Semitic speech by Samir Makhlouf at Wooster College, sponsored by Presbyterian Peacemakers, became national news thanks to the Internet. The role of the Volokh Conspiracy is noted (though the reporter never contacted me), but not noted is how many of our readers wrote to […]

Gregg Easterbrook points to this table, and writes: Last week the national average for regular unleaded was $1.71, while “the record,” USA Today declared, was $1.74 in August 2003. But all that matters to consumers is inflation-adjusted cost, and in this real-dollar calculation, gasoline prices remain about where they have been for most of the […]

If you call the lender E-Loan Inc., you can have your loan application processed by either U.S. or Indian workers. If you choose the U.S. workers, it takes about two days longer to hear a response. Roughly 86% of applicants opt for the Indians.

I did not even hear of this story about the Lincoln Bedroom until I read Mark Kleiman’s blog, but I think Mark deserves praise for defending George Bush, a politician he loathes, against a charge of unethical conduct that Mark thinks is unfounded. Kudos to Mark for this classy post. He could have just remained […]

The MSNBC headline in the story is “Ex-Senate aide charged with giving Iraq secrets.” But the body of the story says that [Susan Lindauer] was charged with being a paid Iraqi intelligence agent and trying to contact her distant cousin — the White House chief of staff — to alter U.S. policy. . . . […]

I must have blogged about this a while ago, but this trope keeps bugging me. “Those fundamentalist Christians are trying to force their religious opinions on us,” the argument goes. But that’s what most lawmaking is — trying to turn one’s opinions on moral or pragmatic subjects into law.      Gay rights activists are trying to […]

Thanks to reader Robin Parry, formerly of Scales of Justice, I got a few years’ information from the Department of Labor library. Now all I need is 1963, 1965, and 1967. I’ll repeat my post from below, mutanda mutans: I need some numbers on workers’ compensation in different states. Most of my numbers come from […]

Here’s the order (thanks to How Appealing for the pointer): Respondent is ordered to show cause before this court, when the matter is called at the late May 2004 or June 2004 calendar, why a writ of mandate should not issue, directing respondent to apply and abide by the provisions of Family Code sections 300, […]

I personally do not believe it will make one whit of difference one way or another” in “reducing death and injury.” Who said that? Tom Diaz, of the pro-gun-control Violence Policy Center.

An AP story reports: A pregnant woman who allegedly ignored medical warnings to have a Caesarean section to save her twins was charged Thursday with murder after one of the babies was stillborn. Prosecutors said Melissa Ann Rowland, 28, didn’t want the scars that accompany the surgery. An autopsy found that the baby died two […]

The Passion of the Christ: Reader Tom Hynes writes: I turned to my wife in the middle of The Passion of the Christ today and said “That Roman is using stirrups!” All Conspiracy readers know it was not introduced for centuries. My wife still told me to shut up.

Washington Post site carries ad for term paper mill: John A. Kalb has the scoop. Not a huge scandal, of course; probably no-one authoritative at the Post ever even saw this. But I hope they notice now, and stop carrying such ads. (Yes, I know that the site’s FAQ page says that “All papers provided […]

A reader writes: Though we would both agree that Chief Justice Marshall is “cool” in many regards, the truth behind commemorative coin programs is “way uncool.” I worked for the U.S. Mint for seven years before enrolling in Marshall-Wythe Law School (Wm & Mary) & have a good read on how these programs work. In […]

I have no informed opinion on the subject, but I think people who are interested in it might be interested in this excerpt from a brief filed by the Justice Department in 1993. UPDATE: For a contrary view, from a 1921 Attorney General opinion, see here.