September 01, 2007

CONGRATULATIONS TO PATRICK NIELSEN HAYDEN, who won a Hugo award for best science fiction editor. It's well-deserved, I think.

Also, Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End won for best novel. You can hear our podcast interview with Vinge here.

Another winner was Naomi Novik, whom I've praised here before. She won the John W. Campbell Award, which also recently went to InstaPundit fave John Scalzi. (Bumped).

IN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, Dan Morain asks: "How did Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign fail to see the red flags in Hsu's contributions?"

LARRY CRAIG VS. NORMAN HSU: Loyalty counts. "I think the Republicans could learn a thing or two about loyalty from Ed Rendell. . . . Sorry to sound so exasperated, but whatever happened to the South Park Republicans? Is it just my imagination, or are the Jimmy Carter Republicans taking over?"

MR. RODGERS GOES TO DARTMOUTH: "Now the college's establishment is working to ensure that the likes of T.J. Rodgers never again intrude where they're not welcome. What follows is a cautionary tale about what happens when the business world crosses over into the alternative academic one."

Actually, it's about the point I made earlier -- on academic institutions not having the kind of open and responsible governance we find in for-profit corporations. Instead, it's an insiders' game all around.

VIDEO FROM THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR: James Lileks catches Ronald McDonald delivering a vicious clown-beating to a defenseless boy. Quick, call Dateline!

CASUALTIES IN IRAQ: John Wixted looks at the numbers. And at how they're being spun.

MORE ON THE GOOSE CREEK ARRESTS INDICTMENTS, from Andrew McCarthy.

DANIEL ROTHCHILD SAYS THAT CONTRARY TO REPORTING, there's no shortage of post-Katrina leadership on the Gulf Coast:

The tendency of journalists to look first to political leaders-who, to say the least, usually have other motives for pushing a narrative-and big names explains why so much of the media has gotten post-Katrina New Orleans so wrong. Turning first to the great and the good to get the story is an easy mistake to make in a society where everything from the foods we eat to the way we garden is subject to the whims of the ruling class.

But leadership isn't something you are elected into. There have been plenty of leaders on the Gulf Coast over the last two years. It's just that their names don't roll off the tongues of magazine editors, or appear in newspapers or campaign ads.

If there's any good news to come out of the recovery effort it's that people in the hurricane zone have learned to become less reliant on political saviors and more reliant on themselves.

Read the whole thing.

SARKOZY CHARTS a new foreign policy course. "In the traditional opening address to the French diplomatic corps, Nicolas Sarkozy presented a precise, coherent, logical outline of his foreign policy positions. One need not agree with all or any of Sarkozy’s ideas to appreciate the contrast with the vainglorious platitudes of his predecessor, Jacques Chirac."

ALL MY SONS. Well, except for that one.

UPDATE: Tom Smith has had it with Arthur Miller.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More here.

THE FASTEST FINAL EXAM ON EARTH:

I'm at the Formula SAE, a highly regimented competition organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers, the institution that sets most auto-industry standards in the U.S. The contest, held in Romeo, Michigan, a semi-rural exurb about 40 miles north of Detroit, pits student-built 610-cubic-centimeter racecars against one another, testing acceleration, braking, endurance and the time-honored rules of car design and prototyping.

Hands-on is cool.

MORE DMCA CHICANERY: Worse than Vogon poetry: bogus DMCA takedowns stun sci-fi lovers. More robo-lawyering:

Because DMCA takedown notices require a sworn statement from the sender that the works in question are actually infringing (and that the sender has the right to handle copyright issues related to those works), the SFWA could actually find itself in the legal equivalent of a Vogon airlock over the notices.

What appears to have happened is that the group ran a Scribd search for certain author names and then issued takedown notices for all the results—Doctorow's book makes a reference to Isaac Asimov, for instance, and Senger's reading list is populated with the names of great sci-fi authors. This, it hardly needs to be said, is a less than foolproof way to police copyrights.

Perhaps it's time for the SFWA's legal team to guide the ship to a starbase for some needed repairs.

People who execute false affidavits should be prosecuted, and the fact that those affidavits are the result of sloppy, unchecked searches hardly constitutes a defense. Here's a column that I wrote on the topic a while back.

UPDATE: Jerry Pournelle gives the other side of the story, though it doesn't excuse the errors.

HEH: "Sen. John Warner, R-VA, today said the failure of politicians to make reforms and the lack of progress on 'almost any benchmark you can name' have led him to conclude that the only way forward is to pull out of the U.S. Senate, therefore he will not seek reelection at the end of his current term."

THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT has opened an investigation into Norman Hsu's political activities.

JAMES FALLOWS POINTS TO A BOOK ON THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION: Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China, which tells a story that hasn't gotten a lot of traction in the West:

Fewer and fewer people can actually remember the 1930s or 1940s, but we all feel we have a sense of what the Nazi era was like in Europe. There are so many novels, so many movies, so many memoirs, so many museums, so much accumulated lore, apart from the histories and analyses themselves. Life under Stalin is not quite as amply rendered for a world audience, but thanks to legions of Russian writers everyone has some idea.

For obvious reasons, there are far fewer public representations and reminders of daily life in China during the Cultural Revolution. Main reason: the current Chinese government is still uneasy about backwards looks at that era. Such documents as do exist, in Chinese, are less accessible to the rest of the world than are the German, French, English, Russian, etc memoirs of Word War II.

He calls Confessions "a brilliant addition to the existing evidence." The reader reviews are quite positive, too.

MICKEY KAUS WONDERS IF I'M AGAINST CAMPAIGN FINANCE "REFORM:"

Reaction--even from Instapundit--focused on the fine being "too late and too small" to have any effect at deterring future ACTs. I'd say the controversy is whether ACT should be fined at all.

Well, yes. But that wasn't my point here -- rather, my point was that campaign finance law as it exists is a sham (I also used the word "crock") because although it limits free speech it's unwilling to actually police the big-kahuna political players involved. Like a lot of Washington regulations of its ilk, it seems more focused on producing the appearance of regulating the big players than the actuality thereof.

IT'S A HSU-NAMI! Best scandal name in a while.

HARRY REID SOFTENS ON IRAQ: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has backed down from demands for a withdrawal of our troops in Iraq by next spring. Selling voters on cut and run was always tough, but now a new UPI/Zogby Poll finds that 54% of Americans believe the Iraq war is not lost."

MEGAN MCARDLE: "I'm probably going to end up voting for Obama just because I like his senior economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee . . . and then regretting it as soon as he actually starts doing things." Plus, thoughts on Ron Paul.

OVER AT CONCURRING OPINIONS, Kaimipono Wenger wonders when the New York Times will correct its constitutional error.

NEW YORK TIMES: Degeneres/Clinton '08?

August 31, 2007

TRAFFIC'S UP TO A 12-MONTH RECORD, which is odd for August. I don't know where it's all coming from, but thanks for coming by!

STAND BY THE MISSION: A petition to support the surge.

NORMAN HSU UPDATE: "A top Democratic fundraiser wanted as a fugitive in California turned himself in Friday to face a grand theft charge. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge H. James Ellis ordered Norman Hsu handcuffed and held on $2 million bond. A bail hearing was scheduled for Sept. 5, at which the judge will consider reducing his bail to $1 million. . . . On Friday, Hsu, who has an apparel business in New York, also resigned from the board of trustees of The New School and from the board of governors of The New School's Eugene Lang College. The college received a federal appropriation secured by Clinton last year, but a spokesman for the school said Hsu was not involved in seeking money for the school."

OFF TO JAIL: Nifong held in criminal contempt.

K.C. Johnson has more, and is no doubt pleased that this denouement is just in time for the release of his book on the case, which comes out on Tuesday.

MICHIGAN MAKES ITS MOVE "Breaking news from Michigan: there won't be a Democratic caucus in Michigan. There will be a Democratic Primary on Jan. 15. The Michigan Democratic Party will resubmit its delegate selection plan to the DNC. The DNC will find the plan in non-compliance and strip Michigan of its delegates. The candidates will then have to decide whether to compete there."

LARRY CRAIG WILL resign tomorrow.

WELL, SUMMER'S ALMOST OVER ANYWAY: "There will be no summer of love in Iowa."

ERIC SCHEIE IS DISAPPOINTED WITH THE LARRY CRAIG SCANDAL:

I realize that there are things missing in this analysis, and of course the biggest problem is that it does not involve actual sex, but the perception of sex. In that respect, Craig's "sex" is like the nonexistent sex of Mark Foley, whose crime was not sex, but sending suggestive emails. (Or Vitter, whose name was found in an address book.) . . .

What is it with these guys that they can't even run a proper sex scandal?

Who ever heard of sex scandals without sex?

At least when the Democrats have a sex scandal, it involves real, honest to goodness sex. Yeah, I know, Bill Clinton said the sex wasn't sex. But let's face it, it was. Had Bill tapped Monica's foot, the most he'd have been accused of was playing footsie, and there'd have been little to no outcry, much less an impeachment. And as Matthew Sheffield makes clear, the double standard is appalling; Democrats keep their jobs after drowning women in cars or keeping male brothels, while Republicans are hounded out of office for sex scandals without even the component of sex.

If I were the American people, I'd be totally sick of sexless Republican sex scandals by now.

The GOP needs to shape up.

It is pretty thin gruel.

HOW ABOUT A MOVIE WHERE HOLLYWOOD FILMMAKERS TAKE MONEY FROM AMERICA'S ENEMIES TO UNDERMINE MORALE? It wouldn't be any more dishonest than Brian de Palma's latest.

Here's more on Hollywood's missing movies. Instead of the predictable propaganda they actually make. Plus, how Hollywood screenwriters engage in "literary guerrilla warfare."

UPDATE: More thoughts here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Factchecking DePalma.

IS THE LED ZEPPELIN taking off?

THIS WOULD SEEM TO NARROW JOSH MARSHALL'S CORRUPTION GAP:

Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace is extraordinary. A mere seven months into his term after a landslide victory, the Empire State's brash new governor is openly ridiculed as a liar and worse. An astonishing 80 percent of respondents tell pollsters they want the governor to testify under oath to prove his claim that he had nothing to do with "troopergate," a dirty-tricks plot to smear Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, a Republican rival.

His fellow Democratic pols are largely abandoning him. After two investigations found that his top aides used the state police for a political hit job, and with four more probes gearing up, one of which could bring indictments, Spitzer is suddenly a lonely man. As one prominent supporter put it, "nobody believes him when he says he didn't know."

Spitzer has always struck me as a phony.

"PIGGLY," INDEED: Financing a grocery store's renovations with federal money.

THOUGHTS ON MANAGING THE INEVITABLE DECLINE of the newspaper industry.

WHAT DO THEY TEACH THEM IN SCHOOL NOWADAYS? Reader Bo McIlvain notes that Newsweek calls Bjorn Lomborg "the anti-Cassandra." But as McIlvain points out: "I guess no one at Newsweek remembers that Cassandra's curse wasn't just that she was always right, she was NEVER BELIEVED. So, it's more apt to call Gore the 'Anti-Cassandra'." Yes, the term "Cassandra" as synonym for "doomsayer" is a popular trope, but it does betray unfamiliarity with the story on which it's based.

JOHN HARWOOD: Why Bush stepped into the subprime meltdown.

VIACOM CHARGES MAN WITH VIOLATING HIS OWN COPYRIGHT, after he YouTubed their program that used his video.

POISON GAS AND COUNTERFEIT CASH: A look at the United Nations' inventory problems.

A SHOCKING LAPSE IN JUDGMENT: This story on fugitive campaign donor Norman Hsu contains a passage that's not about politics, and that reflects badly on academia:

Mr. Kerrey said he was introduced to Mr. Hsu about two years ago, and shortly thereafter Mr. Hsu joined the board of governors at the Eugene Lang College for liberal arts at the New School. He joined the university’s board of trustees last July.

“So much of the university is about the immigrant culture, and I liked his personal story, coming from China, and he had an interest in fashion as well,” Mr. Kerrey said. “It all intrigued me.”

He said that the university did not do background checks of prospective trustees, and that he saw no reason to ask Mr. Hsu to resign from its board.

This is probably not that unusual -- guy seems nice, has a lot of money to donate, and the diversity factor is a plus. So why look deeper? But it's wrong. Universities are, in fact, large and wealthy corporations possessing special legal status and imbued with public trust. Their boards oversee large expenditures in a fiduciary capacity. It's true that university administrators prefer for the boards to be mere rubber-stamps, but the management of most corporations would prefer less oversight from the board, too. We've moved away from that in the for-profit sector, but nonprofits haven't caught up. They need to, because there's a lot of money in the nonprofit sector now, and nowhere near the scrutiny over where it goes, either internally or externally.

JOHN WARNER IS RETIRING: Marc Ambinder looks at the impact. Will Virginia's next Senator be named Warner, too?

GOOSE CREEK UPDATE:

Two Egyptian students at the University of South Florida were indicted Friday on charges of carrying explosive materials across states lines and one was accused of teaching the other how to use them for violent reasons.

Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, an engineering graduate student and teaching assistant at the Tampa-based university, faces terrorism-related charges for teaching and demonstrating how to use the explosives.

He and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, an engineering student, were stopped for speeding Aug. 4 in Goose Creek, S.C., where they have been held on state charges. A federal grand jury in Tampa handed up the indictment.

Seems that there was something to this story after all.

UPDATE: A roundup from Dan Riehl. And much more here, including a link to the indictment.

NOT THAT THERE'S anything wrong with that!

A ROUNDUP OF NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ, from the Iraq-bound Major John Tammes.

WAS A CRIME COMMITTED IN HADITHA? Jim Hanson doesn't think so.

THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM: At Captain's Journal, a look at rules of engagement.

"IF YOU THINK GOVERNMENT IS FAIR, go to the grocery store and buy me a six-pack."

HOSPIBLOGGING: The Insta-Mother-in-Law had hip surgery this morning; she's out and doing okay now, though rather groggy.

IN THE MAIL: Choosing the Right College: 2008-2009: The Whole Truth about America's Top Schools.

It's discussed here.

YAMMERING ABOUT PRINCESS DIANA, while forgetting a more important anniversary.

LATER: Link was bad before. Fixed now. Sorry!

HMM. I don't think this is coming from a position of strength: " Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said he is now willing to compromise with Republicans to find ways to limit troop deployments in Iraq."

I wonder if there's a connection with this.

FINE WITH ME: Gay marriage now legal in Iowa.

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE AN INVESTOR SCORNED: A look at securities fraud and its punishment, from Joan Heminway.

We talked to her about her book on Martha Stewart's legal troubles in this podcast.

DEFINING DIPLOMACY DOWN: "Finally, George W. Bush has secured the support of the 'traditional ally' most favored among on the American left. You would think the New York Times would be delighted. You would be wrong."

APPARENTLY, PEOPLE RESPOND TO PRICE CHANGES: With gas more expensive, small cars are coming back.

WE USED TO HAVE A "MISSILE GAP." Now we have talk of a "corruption gap?"

The "missile gap," if I recall correctly, turned out to be phony. The corruption gap? Well, the corruption is real. The gap . . . I'm not so sure.

UPDATE: A Bill Moyers angle.

ANOTHER UPDATE: "How do you do?"

STEVE CHAPMAN: "Before the nation undertakes the extravagant project of rebuilding New Orleans and securing it from the elements, we might ask if there isn't a better option, not only for the nation but for the flood victims."

Plus, Hurricane Katrina Myths, Part One and Part Two.

Also, here's Newsday's Lou Dolinar on what the media got wrong, and here are some Katrina lessons.

MAYBE WE NEED BRADY-STYLE BACKGROUND CHECKS AND WAITING PERIODS before people are allowed to donate to politicians:

From $62,000 for Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York, to $10,000 for the Tennessee Democratic Party, the full extent of fund-raising by Norman Hsu came into focus yesterday, as campaigns across the country began returning his money in light of revelations that he is a fugitive in a fraud case.

Beyond the hundreds of thousands of dollars he raised from others for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Mr. Hsu personally contributed more than $600,000 to federal, state and municipal candidates in the last three years, a review of campaign finance records shows. It was a startling amount of money for someone whose sources of income remained far from obvious yesterday, as visits to addresses he has provided for his businesses found no trace of Mr. Hsu.

If it saves just one campaign it's worth it.

SOME GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS: "The economy grew at its strongest pace in more than a year during the spring as solid improvements in international trade and business investment helped offset weakness in housing." If they hadn't been writing mortgages to homeless people, it would be even stronger . . . .

WILD PARTIES IN SUDAN: A report from Khartoum.

August 30, 2007

SALON: JOHN EDWARDS turns on his fellow Democrats. Well, the SUV thing didn't work out for him. (Roundup on that here.)

ROGER KIMBALL ON the cult of Diana.

FRED THOMPSON'S CAMPAIGN THEME: Security, Unity & Prosperity.

IS ENFORCING A LAW THAT'S NEVER ENFORCED some sort of due process violation?

Of course, if they'd gone after this particular guy for aggravated ptomaine violations, there'd be no room for argument.

HOWARD MORTMAN HAS SOME QUESTIONS about the Larry Craig arrest.

SAN FRANCISCO'S CITYWIDE WI-FI PLAN FIZZLES: That's too bad, I guess, although the whole thing might have become obsolete in short order anyway.

JUST KEEP SCROLLING: James Lileks continues to blog from the Minnesota State Fair.

ANOTHER ANTI-GUN HEADLINE with no support in the actual story, according to Countertop Chronicles. But at least the WaPo listened to criticism.

THE COUNTERMAJORITARIAN DIFFICULTY, Turkish style.

SHRIMP AND GENDER: Why are we eating more shrimp? Male vs. female explanations.

DANIEL HENNINGER on loss of trust in the media. But it's worse than that:

All this has gotten the media into high anxiety over the one thing it presumes to value most: the public's trust. "The defining problem of contemporary television," the BBC's Mr. Paxman told the TV professionals last week, "is trust: Can you believe what you see on television, does television treat people fairly, is it healthy for society?"

Fascinating and worthwhile questions to be sure, insofar as most opinion polls of how much the American public "trusts" the press, TV news or even Congress have put their approval ratings in Lindsay Lohanland.

But for the media ponderers there's a more troubling issue than the restoration of trust. It's the possibility that too many people now simply don't much care about the major media anymore.

I expect they find being ignored even worse than being distrusted.

FRED THOMPSON ANNOUNCES that he will announce on September 6. The summer has been rough for him, as his non-campaign has been a bit disorganized. He'll need to hit the ground running next week.

MICHAEL BARONE on law schools and affirmative action.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT LIVEJOURNAL CLUELESSNESS, as well as complaints about TypePad. Say what you will about Blogger/Blogspot, but it's free.

THOUGHTS ON the media and foreign policy.

GETTING VIETNAM RIGHT.

MICHAEL VICK HAS NOTHING ON FRANK J., who's been caught running a vicious dog quiz ring.

THE YANGTZE RIVER DOLPHIN appears not to be extinct after all.

MORE ON THE NORMAN HSU CAMPAIGN DONATION SCANDAL, from TigerHawk: "The substance of the story remains fairly thin, even if embarrassing for Democrats. . . . The facts reported so far can be assembled into quite different malign and benign stories, both of which are essentially speculation."

THE WORLD'S FASTEST barbecue pit.

But can it outrun the world's fastest port-a-potty?

FARMING THE GOVERNMENT: Planting long green. It's worse than even the critics thought.

MARINE TO SUE MURTHA, over irresponsible Haditha accusations. The story does seem to have withered.

LOOKING IRAQIS in the eye.

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION FOUND: At the United Nations? "ABCNews has learned that United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of a dangerous nerve gas, phosgene, as they were cleaning out offices at a U.N. building in New York Thursday morning." And yes, I know that phosgene isn't a nerve gas. So does ABC, but you have to read farther. Give 'em a break -- this was rushed.

UPDATE: Ouch: "Aren't these the guys who are supposed to be keeping track of Iranian uranium enrichment?"

ANOTHER UPDATE: If the Foreign Policy folks had taken the time to read this post closely, they'd have realized that I was being snide, not "breathless." Breathlessness is not my, er [Idiom, sir? -- ed. Yes, that's it.] idiom. Continuing in that vein, I should note that it's a different bunch of hapless weapons inspectors who are in charge of the Iranian nukes. And a bang-up job they're doing, too . . . .

A GUN CONTROL QUESTION for the Republican YouTube debate.

IN THE MAIL: Tony Kronman's new book, Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life.

It looks like a very interesting and important book.

ACTUALLY, THIS WILL PREPARE THEM FOR THE REAL WORLD: High school journalism students graded on ad revenue: "The syllabus says $600 will get you an A, $500 will get you a B, $400 gets a C, $300 gets a D and less than $300 worth of ads sold will earn a student an F on the assignment." (Via Romenesko).

GHOSTS OF ANBAR, PART 3: Another dispatch from Michael Yon.

MORE ON HIGHER WAGES WORLDWIDE, from Megan McArdle: "There's a lovely psychic benefit to thinking of Chinese workers getting wealthier, happier and healthier, all while supplying us affordable HDTVs. Some analysts, however, are worried that this benefit will come at a stiff cost to us: inflationary pressure from Chinese exports."

And some related thoughts here:

I spent a significant part of the last three years working in India training derivative traders and I saw the same phenomenon ocurring as described in the Times article. Wages rising fast but, more importantly a shortage of truly qualified workers. India has an enormous population of uneducated lower class workers. Those workers however need a great deal of education before they can step in and work in the call centers or programming shops. The cheap cheap labor era is over in India. The same appears to be ocurring in China. The impact will be higher inflation in the developed world than we have seen in the past decade.

Hmm. That doesn't sound good.

THE KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL HAS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST, and is asking bloggers for help.

WALT MOSSBERG LOVES THE NEW YAHOO MAIL and says it's better than Gmail. "I've been testing the new Yahoo Mail on both Windows and Macintosh computers. It has some downsides, but it beats Gmail, in my view, both in terms of features and in terms of its ability to act like a standard computer program rather than a Web page, something for which Gmail often gets more credit." And unlike Gmail it supports folders for sorting messages. I like Gmail, but maybe I'll give it a try.

THE NEW YORK TIMES' EDITORS think that the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is in the Constitution. But then, they believe many things that are demonstrably untrue.

UPDATE: More questions about the NYT's constitutional scholarship.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Further thoughts here: "So, when you spend a great deal of time touting your authority based on the unique advantages of editors, the question must be asked, who reviews the views and claims of the editors?" And the suggestion that they bring in Randy Barnett as a tutor -- boy, he'll be awfully busy if everyone accepts the blogosphere's recommendations where he's concerned!

MORE: "Oy vey."

J.D. JOHANNES posts a bit of combat video from his forthcoming documentary. Plus, thoughts about Katie Couric.

MICHAEL YON EMAILS to recommend this piece at Small Wars Journal from Dave Kilcullen. Yon writes: "Everything in this latest rings true from what I have seen in Iraq."

FUNDRAISER NORMAN HSU: A wanted man.

KAZAKHSTAN SETS FOOT IN THE E.U.: "But is the Kazakh 'president for life,' Nursultan Nazarbaev, really an alternative to Putin?"

MICKEY KAUS: "The strongest argument I can see against Rendell being the Dem's vice-presidential candidate is that he should be the presidential candidate." I'm not a Rendell fan myself. But that doesn't mean that Mickey is wrong.

Plus, next year's political bathroom bust, today!

ON THE UPSIDE, IT WOULD REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS: "Gasoline prices could rise to about $9 per gallon if the United States withdraws troops from Iraq prematurely, Rep. Jon Porter said he was told on a trip to Iraq that ended this week."

"Could?" Yeah. Would? Doubtful.

EDWARDS VS. THE SUV: More from The Politico. "Of course, none of this automotive stuff holds a candle (to choose an unsafe metaphor) to the gas they're all burning with those private jets."

Because it's all about The Hypocrisy!

A ROUNDUP OF LARRY CRAIG REACTIONS IN THE BLOGOSPHERE, at The New York Times. I agree that this is the worst part of the Craig story:

According to the police report, the senator presented a business card and asked, “What do you think about that?”

Bathroom sex -- or the possible attempt to obtain same -- is one thing. Abuse of power is another.

UPDATE: Well, yeah.

AFTER AMES: From Brian Pickrell, a look at where the GOP candidates stand in Iowa, three weeks after the straw poll.

EATING MEAT IS WORSE THAN DRIVING: "But didn't you know this already?"

TNR TAKE NOTE: Wesley Morgan demonstrates what to do when you're taken in by a bogus story.

GIRLS GONE MILD.

UPDATE: Related item here: "Fortunately, my daughter shares my goals: She wants to look stylish while still sweet, trendy but not trampy. The designers at Limited Too, a shrine to 'tween fashion, and I differ on how to achieve this."

JAMES FALLOWS: "I think it's silly to complain that David Petraeus's 20-year-old PhD dissertation from Princeton has lots of vapid passages. I'll make this challenge (though I probably won't take the time actually to carry it out): give me any 20-year-old PhD dissertation in the social sciences, and I will show you lots of vapid passages." Yeah, if they aren't there to begin with, the committee will make the candidate add them.

BILL HOBBS HAS MORE on the FEC/ACT/Soros story. More campaign-finance related news here.

August 29, 2007

"BRAVE" ARTISTS liken Osama to Jesus.

I GUESS IT'S GOOD THAT THEY'RE PREPARING:

What may be the largest pandemic planning exercise ever conducted in the U.S. is set to begin next month. The dry run will force financial services firms to operate with shrinking numbers of employees -- on paper, at least.

More than 1,800 organizations have signed up to participate in the three-week simulation, which is being sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

I hope we never need to use the knowledge it produces, though.

PUMPING OIL FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE GULF:

Even better, a recent discovery by Chevron has signaled that soon there may be vastly more oil gushing out of the ultradeep seabeds — more than even the optimists were predicting four years ago. In 2004, the company penetrated a 60 million-year-old geological stratum known as the "lower tertiary trend" containing a monster oil patch that holds between 3 billion and 15 billion barrels of crude. Dubbed Jack, the field lies beneath waters nearly twice as deep as those covering Tahiti, and many in the industry dismissed the discovery as too remote to exploit. But last September, Chevron used the Cajun Express to probe the Jack field, proving that petroleum could flow from the lower tertiary at hearty commercial rates — fast enough to bring billions of dollars of crude to market.

Much more at the link.

UPDATE: A geologist reader thinks the above is a bit overstated on current facts: " 'Jack' was a nice discovery, and does indeed confirm potentially commercial oil recovery from a new trend, but it in no way proves up 15 billion barrels. The initial well and test does not even prove up a commercial field - we will need several more wells to confirm the extent and continuity of the discovery (at over $100 million each). . . . . That said, the federal lease sale the other day attracted a very large number of bids by BP in deep water Gulf of Mexico - I haven't plotted just what acreage they bid on, but it might indicate they are also optimistic about this trend (or a different one). Notably, Chevron did not bid on a lot of acreage - either they already have all they want of the trend, or they don't think it's as good as it is being marketed."

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Stu Wagner emails:

Your geologist writer is correct, Jack by itself is not that big (there are probably only a handful in the world that are more than 3 billion bbls). But it is one of several discoveries in the Lower Tertiary trend in the deep-water GOM. Consequently, multiple discoveries could aggregate enough reserves to justify a large-scale development with central production facilities, even in thousands of feet of water. However, cost and technology means it will take years to bring on to production.

I find it interesting that we’re messing with deep-water reserves with meaningful environmental risk from hurricanes, etc. while billions of bbls lie under the North Slope of Alaska, where there’s existing infrastructure to carry the oil to market (the TAPS pipeline) and the environmental hurdles and challenges are far less than in 10,000’ of water (not to mention much lower cost and years quicker to market)…..

We have a highly dysfunctional political system.

BEWARE THE HORROR OF "CELL-PHONE FACE:" But happily there are spa treatments for that.

AMERICA: Exporting high wages!

UPPING THE ANTE: A 12-megapixel pocketcam that goes to 6400 ISO. I don't care about the extra megapixels, but the higher sensitivity is nice -- I like to take available light pictures, and sometimes there's not as much light available as I'd like.

AMY ALKON ON the homoerotic Taliban.

A BIG FEC FINE for the Soros-backed ACT. Seems to me to be evidence of why campaign-finance regulation is a crock -- the election is years over, the group is shut down, and while the fine's big by historical standards it isn't really all that big considering. It's as if the whole thing is a sham or something.

ANTIGUN PROTEST FIZZLES: "A swarm of two showed up to protest guns and gun stores near Seattle yesterday." This minuscule turnout seems to be common.

FLAMING AND BURNING: A report from Greece.

A RATHER COOL photo.

LOOKS LIKE DURHAM WILL SETTLE with the falsely-accused lacrosse players, according to K.C. Johnson, whose book is still up at number 307.

JOHN EDWARDS: SPORTUTES FOR ME, but not for thee. The photo is pretty damning.

UPDATE: Sorry -- the link seems to have killed Hedgehog Report. The topic was John Edwards' statement that we'd have to give up SUVs. Here's the photo of Edwards' house, with SUVs indicated. Though, really, the house itself should be damning enough where talk of energy conservation is concerned.

MORE: Professor Bainbridge comments: "Does this remind anybody else of Ted Kennedy's simultaneous support for renewable energy and opposition to the wind farm proposed to be built near his Massachusetts home? It's a particularly nasty form of NIMBYism when you have the power to force others to make sacrifices you aren't willing to make."

MICKEY KAUS GIVES UP: "I have run out of ways of saying that the LAT is a pathetic stuffy, faux-newspaper run by respectable liberal twits and doomed to die!"

THOUGHTS ON THE ANTI-PETRAEUS TALKING POINTS, from Greyhawk in Baghdad.

BRUCE CARROLL ON LARRY CRAIG: "For the love of God, shut up!"

IN THE MAIL: Michael Ledeen's The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction.

ONE OF MY EARLIER POSTS about abuse of prosecutorial discretion drew this email on prosecutorial discretion from reader Rob Ives:

It is often abused, and it is granted to some people I wouldn't give the discretion to order dinner, but the alternative would not please you more. The legislative response is to mandate things a prosecutor would not do given discretion. As a law professor, not just another ignorant pundit, I think you should propose alternatives to discretion and examine the negative consequences thereof.

To some degree I've done so, and you can read about it in this essay. The opening sentence is more dramatic than most law review articles': "They tried to kill my brother."

LARRY TRIBE'S Lochner?

FLYING A LA CARTE: A look at SkyBus.

A NEW BOOK ON NANOTECHNOLOGY ETHICS gets a favorable review: "Nanotechnology ethics book is surprisingly fun."

REVIVING INTEREST IN the gold standard? Color me unpersuaded. Though I agree with this: "I think you shouldn’t expect too much of a gold standard."

MIXED REVIEWS FOR nonprofit payday loans. Turns out that even the nonprofits charge very high rates. "Of the $9.90 that GoodMoney charges per $100 borrowed, nearly half goes to writing off bad loans, Mr. Eiden said, and the rest to database service and administrative costs." (Via Christine Hurt, who has some thoughts of her own: "To charge a lower rate, GoodMoney would either have to lose money or fundraise to cover shortfalls or in the alternative, offer their services only to those with better credit, which might not serve their mission. I think critics of payday loans have all along suspected that the 500-plus% APR was compensating for more than the inherent risk of the loans, but I'm not sure that I realized that 250% was necessary.").

PAYING TO HAVE AN UNDERCLASS: "Has anybody noticed that the more we spend on the underclass, the bigger it gets and the worse it behaves? Has anyone noticed, either, that what we used to call the working class has shrunk?" In the United States, of course, paying less for the underclass -- via welfare reform -- has had the opposite effect.

ROLLING OUT THE BIG GUNS TO CRITICIZE PETRAEUS: Apparently, his dissertation was boring.

VARIFRANK DEFENDS LARRY CRAIG.

UPDATE: Eric Scheie is running a poll.

APPLE IS NOW SELLING ONE LAPTOP IN SIX: "The market share increase pushed Apple past Gateway Inc. into third place on NPD's list of laptop sales leaders, behind Hewlett-Packard Co. and Toshiba Corp. Research firm IDC also has Apple in the third spot; data it released last month put Apple's share of U.S. sales at 5.6%, far behind leaders HP (28.4%) and Dell (23.6%) but tied with Gateway."

ELECTRONICS IN THE BEDROOM PRODUCE "Junk sleep" in teenagers:

And although many adults claim that they fall asleep more easily with the TV on, it doesn't always work the same way for kids. One in five of all the teenage boys surveyed admitted that leaving the TV or computer on was affecting the quality of their sleep.

The teens aren't exactly bouncing back from the poor quality sleep, either. 40 percent of the group reported feeling tired in general each day, with 15- and 16-year-old girls doing even worse. But despite this realization, only 11 percent of teenagers surveyed felt that quality of sleep was important. "I'm staggered that so few teenagers make the link between getting enough good quality sleep and how they feel during the day," Edinburgh Sleep Centre's Dr. Chris Idzikowski said in a statement. "Teenagers need to wake up to the fact that to feel well, perform well and look well, they need to do something about their sleep."

They do wake up to that, when they're older. I hear adults say "I can't go without sleep like I could when I was a teenager," but actually I think they can -- at least, I can -- it's just that we're now smart enough to realize just how bad we'll feel the next day.

August 28, 2007

ATTORNEY GENERAL JOE LIEBERMAN? Well, I'm okay with that.

UPDATE: Brendan Loy says not to trust "the DC/netroots rumor mill." But I like the Lieberman-as-veep rumor even better!

And Loy notes one argument in favor of the Lieberman idea: "Still, if Lieberman were appointed, that would bring about something truly remarkable: President Bush would have managed to find an attorney general who is, at least arguably, hated even more viscerally by the Left than John Ashcroft ever was." Go for the gold!

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE YOUNGER GENERATION? Turning down beer in the city of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton?

NORM GERAS: "It's getting to be a bit of a pattern. Someone generically of the left - or so they regard themselves - writes about regrettable features of leftist advocacy and alignment in recent times and is met by a chorus of voices saying, approximately, 'Who, me? Who, us? What, the left? No, never. Unheard of.' . . . It's quite a mystery, this. The volume of foul apologetics that streamed across the pages of the left and liberal press in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 is a matter of public record."

ON BLOGGINGHEADS.TV, Will Wilkinson and Brian Doherty talk about libertarianism and Doherty's new book.

THE COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS criticizes law school affirmative action. The Reynolds in the story, by the way, is no relation.

Professor Bainbridge has more.

TOM JOAD SHRUGGED: Poverty's not what it used to be.

WILL THE FIRST SELF-REPLICATING MACHINE be made of Legos?

ANOTHER ROUND OF NAME THAT PARTY!

SLATE EDITORS SQUABBLE over the Larry Craig story. I like this behind-the-scenes peek. Best line, from John Dickerson: "There's more inappropriate airport behavior in the security pat down line."

UPDATE: Radley Balko has thoughts.

STUART TAYLOR AND K.C. JOHNSON'S BOOK ON THE DUKE NON-RAPE CASE is now up to 567 529 436 370 280 265 on Amazon. Not bad for a book that doesn't come out until next week. (Bumped).

THANKS TO LARRY CRAIG, for providing an opportunity for easy sex jokes.

UPDATES: Speaking of jokes -- and redundancy -- I see that Glenn Greenwald has a "remarkably boring and windy post" accusing me of hypocrisy over the Larry Craig affair. No. Craig got himself in trouble here; what I was objecting to in the past were organized Democratic efforts to out gay Republicans for political gain. That's hardly the same thing. If Glenn Greenwald were to find himself in similar trouble I would shed no more tears than I have for Craig; if I felt that GOP operatives had arranged the story to discredit Greenwald, I'd regard it as a dirty political trick.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Background from Michael Demmons.

MORE: A useful post from Dale Carpenter: "It's hard to work up much sympathy for Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho). He had a perfect legislative score from traditional-values groups, a zero rating from gay civil-rights groups, supported the Federal Marriage Amendment, and refused even to commit to non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in hiring for his own Senate staff. But what exactly was criminal about his conduct in that Minneapolis airport bathroom? . . . At most, Craig was inviting another adult to engage in some kind of sexual behavior in a public place. I'm not a Minnesota criminal lawyer, but I don't think asking a stranger for sex in a public place, while vulgar and rude under many circumstances, would by itself be a crime under state law. At any rate, Craig wasn't charged with that." And more from Josh Marshall.

Ed Morrissey wonders where the crime is, too. "How does foot-tapping and hand-swiping amount to disorderly conduct? . . . Let's put it another way. Take Craig out of the equation and replace him with Generic Suspect. What crime got committed?" Of course, that's a question that Craig could have raised, had he not chosen to plead guilty.

Plus, a problem with Craig's story.

And some thoughts about sex offsets, mentioned here in an earlier post.

STILL MORE: More on Greenwald here. And some rather sharp thoughts about political hypocrisy here.

BLACK PEOPLE ARE FLEEING SAN FRANCISCO. But why? Jeff Goldstein proposes a "Lincolnesque" solution.

WIRED REALLY LIKES this "absurdly powerful" blender. It seems a bit pricey to me, though, and it won't accommodate your larger blending projects, which could be a deal-killer for some.

UPDATE: Reader John Galvin writes: "That's not a blender. This is a blender."

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Steve Ducharme prefers this gasoline-powered model. "It's not the quietest blender, in fact it's as loud as a chainsaw." Vroom!

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Making an iPhone smoothie. Thanks to reader Marc Johnson for the link. Plus, blending Bic lighters? Kids, don't try this at home!

MORE: More blender video. And reader William Harrington notes this monster -- another gas-powered job. Plus, in the "don't try this at home" vein, reader Randy Baird sends a video of lighting a barbecue grill with liquid oxygen.

A BRIBERY CONVICTION IN TENNESSEE:

Former state Sen. John Ford was sentenced today to 5 1/2 years in prison and two years of supervised release for his bribery conviction. . . . The Memphis Democrat, took the most bribe money by far of the Tennessee Waltz lawmakers and is the best known statewide. He is a member of one of Memphis’ most active political families and is the uncle of former congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr., who is currently chairman of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.

Harold Ford's family was a drag on his campaign. I don't know if this helps -- by taking John Ford off the table -- or not.

JOHN HAWKINS LISTS THE top 10 South Park episodes of all time. Let the fanboy arguments begin . . . .

THOUGHTS ON MEN, WOMEN, AND domestic violence.

CAMPAIGN DONATIONS can be found in unlikely places.

MORE ON NEW ORLEANS AND KATRINA: "Two full years after Katrina exposed an incredible number of flaws in the flood protection system for the greater New Orleans area, it’s time to put it back. The system—a bunch of disjointed, defective, incomplete and deficient pieces—performed miserably in 2005, after what was only a Category 3 storm at landfall. And here’s the sad reality: Despite the valiant repair efforts of the Corps to conduct a disharmonious symphony of bureaucratic repair, the system would still fail today." Plus some thoughts on what to do.

JAMES Q. WILSON EMAILS: "On August 26, 2007, the Los Angeles Times published an article explaining why the city council of Santa Barbara has been prevented from painting a blue line across the city to mark how high the water will be if you believe Al Gore’s prediction that global warming will make the oceans rise by 23 feet. The idea was not defeated because people realize that Gore’s prediction is silly and wrong, but because a realtor threatened a law suit based on the argument that property values below the line would fall."

The article is here.

ILYA SHAPIRO looks at steps toward a civilian reserve force. "I am not at all a fan of big government, or new government programs, or creating bureaucracies, but if there's one thing I've learned during this stint in Iraq, it's that if we are to do this kind of work—for national security, humanitarian, or other policy reasons—we have to do it right."

DAVID FREDDOSO: "Why is it that Republicans — Craig, Mark Foley, and David Vitter — are the ones who keep getting caught in sex scandals nowadays? Yes, there are always Democrats with lurid stories — the Jim McGreeveys, Gary Harts and Barney Franks of the world (and a lot of others whose transgressions have never been proven or admitted to). But no one can deny that lately it’s been Republicans getting caught in the most peculiar and dastardly deeds."

Well, either they're more likely to do that stuff, or more likely to get caught in ways that become public. Which is it?

UPDATE: Possible answer here.

A CAMPAIGN TO bring back the Ding-Dog! With the suggested Krispy Kreme addition, it's a sure-fire hit . . . .

MICHAEL TOTTEN POSTS ANOTHER REPORT FROM IRAQ, and you should read the whole thing. I looked for the breakout paragraph that summarizes the whole post and couldn't find one. But I found this amusing:

“He’s like me,” he said. “He’s a Harvard Law grad who joined the Army after 9/11. I’m an attorney.”

“You’re an attorney?” I said. “What are you doing out here in Iraq?”

“I practiced law for three years,” he said, “then got into investment banking. When 9/11 happened I just had to sign up with the Army. Investment banking is a lot more stressful than this.”

“You’re kidding, right?” I said.

“No,” he said and laughed. “I am totally serious.”

If he was deployed in, say, Kurdistan I could see it. But Mushadah was stressful. Less stressful than investment banking? Investment banking in New York must really be something.

Indeed.

IN THE MAIL: Diana West's The Death of the Grown-up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization. I was going to read it, but I had to go shop for a PlayStation. . . .

USING TEARGAS AND BATONS ON PRO-BIOTECH PROTESTERS:

There appears to be something of a double standard in French law enforcement here. Anti-biotech activists regularly destroy crops on private land and rarely get more than a slap on the wrist from authorities in Europe.

Next time burn cars. Then you'll just be seen as excitable youth!

MSNBC AND CNBC REFUSING TO RUN PRO-WAR ADS.

Link was bad before. Fixed now. Sorry!

TAMPA TRIBUNE: "By Refusing To Count Our Votes, Democrats Are Writing Off Florida." Whether that's true or not depends, I think, on whether the GOP nominates someone Democrats hate enough to let bygones be bygones by November of 2008.

DEMOCRATS EATING THEIR OWN: Antiwar activist Jon Soltz, last seen shutting up a sergeant at YearlyKos, joined other Democrats who savaged Rep. Brian Baird for having the temerity to offer his own opinions on the war.

MATT SANCHEZ WRITES FROM IRAQ: "There should be no doubt, the so-called surge is working, but, in September, I am afraid General Petraeus will downplay the positive effect for fear of appearing too partisan."

COPYRIGHT GROUP violates copyright.

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION FROM GREG HLATKY: "If Senator Craig purchased sex offsets to live a sex-neutral lifestyle, would this immunize him from charges of hypocrisy?"

Indubitably. But who would sell them?

UPDATE: Reader Chris O'Brien emails: "'The Sex Offsets' would actually be a cool name for a band."

ANOTHER UPDATE: No need to play Name That Party! with Larry Craig!

MORE: Ed Holston emails: "What, exactly, did Craig do that was illegal?" That would be an interesting question, if Craig hadn't pled guilty.

THE LORAX AND the tragedy of the commons.

WHY APPLE CAN'T STOP IPHONE HACKERS.

MICKEY KAUS: "Has Big Hollywood made a single non-anti-US post-9/11 film I missed? I can't remember one . . . . Next up: In the Valley of Elah, a well-made version of the Scott Beauchamp Story. ... Is it the international market that makes our studios behave this way? I sense an underserved domestic niche."

UPDATE: Reader Jon Deur emails: "I wonder why that ABC movie 'Path to 9/11' isn’t available on DVD?"

Huh. I thought it was, but then I realized that was a different film.

TIME: WILL DEAN'S WAR ON FLORIDA BACKFIRE?

So now, just as that state party is regaining full use of its limbs, it begs credulity to watch Dean and the DNC go out of their way to chop them off. This past weekend the DNC threw the book at the Sunshine State's Dems for signing on to Florida's recent move to hold its 2008 presidential primary election two months earlier than usual and a week earlier than DNC rules allow. Florida's Democratic Party has 30 days to back out of the new Jan. 29 primary or face forfeiting all of its delegates and votes at the Democratic National Convention next summer, according to the draconian DNC ruling. (The Republican National Committee's rules also frown on the earlier primary, but the RNC hasn't demanded that Florida's GOP reschedule it for a later date.) As Dean warned earlier this summer, if Florida's Democrats insist on holding their primary in January, it "essentially won't count." To which Florida's Senate Democratic minority leader Steve Geller says, "I question whether Howard Dean is working for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party."

Geller's confusion is understandable for a number of reasons.

"War on Florida" seems a bit hyperbolic. I actually think there needs to be some national coordination and rationalization here somewhere, though I'm not sure this is the way to accomplish it.

August 27, 2007

ANOTHER TERROR-RELATED CASE that's not getting much attention.

MY OLD LAW FIRM, DEWEY BALLANTINE, will now be Dewey & LeBoeuf, as the result of a merger with LeBoeuf Lamb. I suppose it's a good business decision, but it makes me slightly sad to see Dewey, with its century of history, subsumed into a new entity.

UPDATE: Reader Ron Hardin goes back to when the firm had Elihu Root's name up front, and observes:

My father worked there starting probably in the 30s. [Tom] Dewey was a latecomer. The name kept changing over the years, and sounded strange when they added Dewey, to me anyway. Right up front, too.

A lesson in the limits of nostalgia, I guess.

BBC NEWS: "Two of the BBC's most senior news and current affairs executives attacked the corporation's plans yesterday for a Comic Relief-style day of programming on environmental issues, saying it was not the broadcaster's job to preach to viewers."

Though when it does, it's often comic relief.

FIGHTING NEPOTISM AND CRONYISM, the Bobby Kennedy way!

LEWD CONDUCT IN A MEN'S ROOM, by Sen. Larry Craig. Will the GOP have another vacant seat to deal with soon? And what is it with these guys?

UPDATE: Wham!

ANOTHER UPDATE: More thoughts at GayPatriot.

HOLDING DOWN THE NUMBER OF BLACK LAWYERS IN CALIFORNIA? Gail Heriot notes some questions that the California Bar Examiners don't seem to want to answer.

UPDATE: More thoughts here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Indeed: "Isn't it time the ABA just gave up, and acknowledged that as a body completely captured by the perceived interests of the profession it's supposed to be regulating, is in no position to serve as a neutral gatekeeper for law school accreditation?" Though in truth I'm not sure the ABA is that good at protecting the profession's interests, either. Maybe the ABA staff's perception of those interests . . . . Maybe.

K.C. JOHNSON & STUART TAYLOR'S BOOK ON THE DUKE NON-RAPE CASE is now up to 590 on Amazon. I hope it gets a lot of attention. With a cover blurb from John Grisham, it just might.

SHOULD WE EXPECT COLLEGE DEGREES TO decline in value in coming years?

SARKOZY CHANNELS MCCAIN? "French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday a diplomatic push by the world's powers to rein in Tehran's nuclear program was the only alternative to 'an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran.'"

MEGAN MCARDLE: "One particular consideration I think is underdiscussed is the fact that much of the labor illegal immigrants provide substitutes for women's home labor."

WHEN BENCH AND BAR GET TOO COZY:

Dennis G. Jacobs, the chief judge of the federal appeals court in New York, is a candid man, and in a speech last year he admitted that he and his colleagues had “a serious and secret bias.” Perhaps unthinkingly but quite consistently, he said, judges can be counted on to rule in favor of anything that protects and empowers lawyers.

Once you start thinking about it, the examples are everywhere. The lawyer-client privilege is more closely guarded than any other. It is easier to sue for medical malpractice than for legal malpractice. People who try to make a living helping people fill out straightforward forms are punished for the unauthorized practice of law.

But Judge Jacobs’s main point is a deeper one. Judges favor complexity and legalism over efficient solutions, and they have no appreciation for what economists call transaction costs. They are aided in this by lawyers who bill by the hour and like nothing more than tasks that take a lot of time and cost their clients a lot of money.

And there is, of course, the pleasure of power, particularly in cases involving the great issues of the day.

“Judges love these kinds of cases,” said Judge Jacobs, whose speech was published in The Fordham Law Review in May. “Public interest cases afford a judge more sway over public policy, enhance the judicial role, make judges more conspicuous and keep the law clerks happy.”

There are costs here, too, he said, including “the displacement of legislative and executive power” and “the subordination of other disciplines and professions.”

Yet, at the conclusion of a big public-policy case, the bar and bench rejoice. “We smugly congratulate ourselves,” Judge Jacobs said, “on expanding what we are pleased to call the rule of law.”

It's Times Select, alas, so you can't read the rest unless you subscribe. But the piece mentions this article on the subject by my colleague Ben Barton, and you can download the whole thing for free if you're interested.

ALVARO VARGAS LLOSA: "As I watch the worldwide financial crisis triggered by the wave of mortgage defaults in the United States, I am reminded that at the heart of the problem is the departure on the part of the U.S. government and American consumers from basic economic principles."

GIULIANI ON TAXES AND A HOMEOWNER BAILOUT, from James Pethokoukis.

JUST RAN ACROSS this interview with Joss Whedon from earlier this month, where he talks about the future of Firefly. You can hear our podcast interview with Firefly's Tim Minear from last year here.

LAWYERS -- THE FUN CROWD! Unauthorized Enjoyment of Song Irks Law Firm.

But David Lat is having fun.

A CHANGE OF HEART LOOMS:

Democrats believed the script would go something like this:

Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Army Gen. David H. Petraeus would deliver their report about combat operations, violence and political instability in Iraq, and congressional Republicans, confronted with bad news, would face enormous pressure to vote for an Iraq withdrawal timeline.

But the climate in Washington may have shifted, and the anti-war expectations may not pan out.

Republican lawmakers like U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and U.S. Reps. Charlie Dent in Pennsylvania, along with U.S. Reps. Mike Ferguson and Frank LoBiondo in New Jersey, next month may have a bit more breathing room to stick with President Bush and his plan to surge additional U.S. troops into Iraq.

Military gains in al Anbar Province have surprised policy-makers in Washington and put lawmakers calling for troop cutbacks on the defensive.

It does seem that way.

UPDATE: Finessing the Surge.

ALLOFMP3.COM IS planning a comeback.

JUST KEEP SCROLLING: James Lileks is blogging from the Minnesota State Fair.

EMILY SANDS ON solving the kidney shortage.

EUGENE VOLOKH: "Isn't the Opus cartoon the Washington Post refused to run quite tame?" He continues: "The Post is of course entitled to run or not run whatever cartoons it prefers. Still, we're equally entitled to discuss and, when sensible, criticize its editorial judgment. And it seems to be an odd judgment here."

I MISSED IT, BUT BELDAR DIDN'T: Sen. Kerry permits last statute of limitations for defamation to lapse, forever barring any defamation claim against SwiftVet authors O'Neill and Corsi. But there's more: "You have a standing offer from me: Just sue me here in Houston for defamation. . . . I'll waive any statute of limitations defense. I'll waive service of process. Hell, I'll meet you at the federal courthouse doors for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (you have diversity jurisdiction), and I'll even pay your filing fee!" What an offer! How can Kerry resist?

CHINESE REPRESSION, THE INTERNET, AND THE OLYMPICS: Roger Simon has thoughts on what bloggers should do.

THE GHOSTS OF ANBAR, PART II: A new dispatch from Michael Yon. Excerpt:

As it happens, these “police” had come from the same station that warned us about the bomb. This is one face of the political solutions we hear about in the news. The ones that are supposedly not happening. Here in Anbar, it’s working.

Some of these men will admit they were insurgents who switched sides because they realized that they are more likely to get what they want with a stable government. Al Qaeda promised them everything under the baking sun, yet al Qaeda killed people who smoked—and Iraqis like to smoke.

Read the whole thing.

IN THE MAIL: K.C. Johnson & Stuart Taylor's new book on the Duke Lacrosse bogus rape allegations, Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case. It came on Friday but I didn't get a chance to read it as the Insta-Wife grabbed it right a way. Upside: She's posted a review already. I think it's pretty clear that this is going to be a very important book, and I hope it does well.

MY BIRTHDAY'S TODAY, but I spent the weekend celebrating since today's a busy day at work. One of the best parts was hanging out last night with both of my brothers. We met at the Brewery and then went over to Market Square. You can see the two of them here, in typical pose. That's Brad -- the rock & roll brother -- on the left, and Jonathan -- the blues / history professor brother -- on the right. It was fun. I wish we got to hang out more often.

Brad was saying that I haven't been posting enough photos on the blog lately. As usual, he's right. So here are some more.

Even though it was a Sunday night, Market square was full of people hanging out. I was surprised, as I don't generally get down there on Sunday evenings.

And while there was no midnight basketball, there was midnight whiffleball. People seemed surprisingly serious about it.

GONZALES RESIGNS: Make way for Attorney General Randy Barnett Chertoff. . . .

THE FRENCH ARE READY TO APOLOGIZE TO IRAQ: Hmm. They're usually pretty good at spotting a shift in the wind.

CLAYTON CRAMER NOTES SOMETHING ODD about the ATF.

DEFENSIVE? ABOUT WHAT?

CBS goes on the defensive over "Kid"

Reality shows might need to court controversy to succeed, but a spreading hubbub around CBS' "Kid Nation" suggests that sometimes execs need to be careful what they wish for.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA) said Friday that it will probe whether producers of "Kid Nation" violated their union contract with harsh treatment of amateur kid performers on the CBS reality show, set to premiere September 19. . . .

Amid earlier reports of concerns over the kids' treatment on location, CBS characterized "Kid Nation" as "a voluntary television experience."

As opposed to those involuntary ones, I guess.

MATT SANCHEZ REPORTS FROM RAMADI. There's been a lot of independent reporting from Iraq lately -- scroll down for a number of posts over the last couple of days.

THIS SEEMS LIKE GOOD NEWS:

Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and fellow leaders in the country have reached consensus on key areas of national reconciliation, under mounting US pressure to demonstrate political progress on the eve of a key report to Congress on the Baghdad security "surge".

The Shia prime minister appeared on television flanked by Jalal Talabani, the country's Kurdish president, and the Sunni vice-president, Tareq al-Hashemi, to announce a deal on easing restrictions on former members of the Ba'ath party joining the civil service and military.

Easing de-Ba'athification laws passed after the 2003 US invasion has long been seen as a vital step if disenchanted Sunnis, who formed the backbone of Saddam Hussein's regime and, since its fall, of the insurgency, are to be persuaded to take part in Iraqi political life.

(Via ATC, which has some further thoughts ). Maliki's not happy with Hillary, though: "In separate comments, Mr Maliki lashed out at his detractors with invective that focused on the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton."

RUDY GIULIANI ON TAXES. "I’ve seen how pro-growth policies lead to broader prosperity. We’ll not only keep the current tax cuts in place or their equivalent, we’ll enact additional tax relief and give the Death Tax the death penalty. High tax rates hurt business and destroy jobs. I know that tax cuts are good for the economy. It’s not just theory for me because I cut taxes and got results as Mayor of New York City. As President, I will cut taxes further.”

HMM: "Ten people were arrested and will be charged soon in connection with the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian chief prosecutor said Monday. . . . Politkovskaya, a critic of Putin who exposed human rights abuses in Chechnya, was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building in October." I hope that justice is done, but . . . .

August 26, 2007

STEVEN EMERSON PROVIDES SOME BACKGROUND on the ongoing trial involving CAIR and the Holy Land Foundation. I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more media coverage. (Via LGF, which notes that this is "the largest terror financing trial in history").

MORE BLOGGING FROM IRAQ, by Wesley Morgan.

And don't miss this interview with a female U.S. soldier.

UPDATE: Oops, the interview turns out to be dubious -- Morgan says he was lied to.

ON HILLARY AND TERROR: "Clinton is prodding us to think about what a good candidate she will be in different situations that may develop over the lengthy campaign season. The others don't want to talk about that because they look worse in these imagined scenarios. So here we see how Clinton has played a shrewder, more complex game all along."

CHINA: From Cultural Revolution to sexual revolution. Sounds like a great leap forward to me!

CRACKING THE CODE FOR KEYLESS ENTRY:

A group of Israeli and Belgian researchers found a vulnerability in the algorithm that is used to secure anti-theft digital key systems in numerous vehicles, including those made by such companies as Honda, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes Benz and Jaguar. With that information they were able to devise an attack to crack the code of anti-theft keys.

With just an hour of remote access to the digital key of one car made by a manufacturer, the researchers say they are able not only to crack the unique code for that specific key but can also determine the key initialization process used to code the digital keys for all of the cars made by that manufacturer. From there, it's pretty simple for them to crack the unique code of another car made by that company.

Oops.

THE STORY KEEPS CHANGING, THOUGH: "This morning on C-SPAN 2, I heard a nice young historian spout the conventional wisdom about President Bush and the Iraq War. This particular interpretation is now totally uncontroversial – but it is false." Back in 2003, people were telling a different story.

CHRIS WALLACE on Bill Moyers.

WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT? An Apple computer that also serves beer! Beat that, Michael Dell. Plus, lots more Apple news.

MORE QUESTIONS about reporting from Iraq.

FORGET HYBRIDS: Volvo is focusing on the diesel route to high mileage. But there's a hitch: "Unfortunately, Volvo has no plans to introduce the Powershift or the diesel into the U.S. market. Apparently certifying the new engine for the U.S. market is too expensive at this point. And they’re unsure if there is enough customer support to back the effort. Too bad. We think both the transmission—and the diesel—would do quite well here." Maybe we need to take a hard look at regulatory barriers to automotive efficiency?

ORIN KERR: "If the rumors are true that Gonzales will soon resign and Bush will nominate Chertoff to replace him as AG, that would be a very positive development." I'd still favor Randy Barnett -- and wouldn't things have gone better if the Bush Administration had listened to me last time? -- but Orin reminds us that this is the real world, not the ideal world.

AT JULES CRITTENDEN'S: Little Saddam.

DAVID BROOKS ON the political brain.

BURT PRELUTSKY LOOKS AT the private lives of public men. And women.

NEW GLASS: An interesting Iraq metric. (Via Charlie Foxtrot).

IN THE MAIL: Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence's Babylon's Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo.

UPDATE: A reader asks if U.S. troops get as much credit in the book as they got in this contemporaneous news story. I'm not sure, but he thinks the Amazon listing downplays the troops' role. However, there's this: "What follows is a truly remarkable book, as Anthony pulled strings, made connections (legal and illegal), sweet-talked bureaucrats, and made miracles happen as he, with the help of the American military, brought the Baghdad Zoo back from the brink."

SOME QUESTIONS ANSWER THEMSELVES: "Seriously, would you rather live 30 days without a politician or 30 days without a sewage treatment facility in your neighborhood? The septic tank pumpers, the garbage collectors, and the electricians are the only folks who hold back the threat of a new Dark Ages. They stand alone along the thin, brown line between anarchy and order. Some of the dirtiest jobs are the most vital. . . . If the world was a fair place, the sump-pumpers and bilge-bailers of this world would make as much as a Congressman. They do more for the public good than both houses of Congress." Amen.

COOKWARE: Reader Jordan Schwartz emails:

I just re-read your cookware post from December of last year, but unfortunately, it didn't answer one of my questions in my great high-end cookware search. I'm deciding between All-Clad stainless steel and Calphalon One Infused and Anodized collection (not non-stick). Do you have any preferences? You have mentioned that you use All-Clad before--have you ever tried the Calphalon One? It's almost been a year--think its time for another cookware post?

I also seem to remember that you and I share a birthday--August 27th. If so, happy almost birthday!

I have the All-Clad and like it a lot. (I also have some of the much cheaper Cuisinart Multiclad stuff, and it's quite good, especially for the money. My brother has it, too, and was saying just last night how much he likes it.) I don't know anything about the Calphalon One stuff other than that it looks pretty in the stores, though if you follow the link to the December post you'll see that Megan McArdle likes it. Any reader comments?

The only new cookware advice I have is that my brother -- who's taking advantage of the 59 cents per pound mangoes at his grocery store -- swears by this GoodGrips Mango Splitter. He says it's works perfectly, splitting and seeding them. Not bad for under twelve bucks. When we were kids, mangoes were a rare delicacy. Now they're cheap, and you can buy specialized mango-cookware at Kroger. Three cheers for globalization!

And reader Ed Bush writes:

Over the years I must have missed you talking about your Romertopf clay pot. Someone like you would have to have one. If you don't, get one and make your Insta Chicken in it.

I've seen these over the years, and they look cool, though it seems like something that might get broken in my household. And how easy are they to clean, really?

Also, I should note that this cheap nonstick skillet, which I picked up last year based on its promise to resist damage from metal utensils, is still holding up perfectly despite the best efforts of, ahem, some of the less careful cooks in my household.

And, yeah, tomorrow is my birthday. Thanks!

UPDATE: A Romertopf endorsement: "This baby is worth every umlaut. . . . Despite being made of clay, it is durable (eight years and counting with an accident-prone chef and two twitchy toddlers) and simple to clean." That sounds good.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Paul Byers emails:

I have been using Calphalon One for over a decade. It has had other names in that time but still the same pots. They cook great! Even temps and brown really well. Cook a lot like well seasoned cast iron, which is what I learned on. I fearlessly use the OXO Stainless utensils without damage to my pots. I wash them with Scott brand pads and soupy hot water. If you take care of the pans they will glaze and then are much easier to clean. DO NOT PUT THEM IN THE DISH WASHER! Have a couple of the newer stainless Calphalon pans that have been gifts from folks who know my loyalty to the brand. They cook well but not as nice as the anodized. Little harder to reduce in the stainless but the thick aluminum plate on the bottom keeps the hot spots to a minimum. I have owned and passed on All Clad, Old copper bottom Revere Wear and well seasoned cast iron. I am all Calphalon now, even when I am camp cooking on a charcoal grill.

That dishwasher thing is a dealbreaker in my house Others may feel differently. Meanwhile, reader Mark Butterworth writes:

I've picked up a number of Calphalon pieces on sale and built up a nice set of pots, but I've also added some All-Clad which I love. They are beautiful and I thought my Saucier pot heated up faster than others I use.

To prove it, I did an All-Clad pot vs. a Calphalon pot of similar dimensions. I put two cups of water in each and set both pots on equal gas burners (two small ones on my range).

It took about 8-9 minutes to get a rolling boil and much to my surprise, the anodized aluminum Calphalon won. It beat All-Clad by a minute or so.

I still prefer my All-Clad. So pretty. So Shiny.

Mmm. Shiny.

THOUGHTS ON ART AND LIFE, from Megan McArdle: "Back when I wanted to be a fiction writer, I wanted to be the kind of fiction writer who has a dramatic slide into the abyss. It wasn't long after I stopped writing short stories that it occurred to me that dying old, desperate and alone probably wasn't nearly as inspiring for the people it happened to as it was for twenty-year olds looking for an excuse to smoke too much."

UPDATE: From the comments: "Even goth chicks prefer guys who make them laugh."

IT'S TIME FOR The Hipster Olympics! "We're forced to assume that our competitors' participation is strictly ironic."

Video is here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Todd Steed!

THE ECONOMY SUCKS: "Record low unemployment across parts of the West has created tough working conditions for business owners, who in places are being forced to boost wages or be creative to fill their jobs."

Oh, nooo! Low unemployment! Upward pressure on wages! This really does suggest that to the Big Media folks there's no such thing as good economic news these days.

TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY responds to European criticism on the death penalty.

JAMES KIRCHICK EXAMINES the Obama doctrine. "Judging from his statements thus far, it appears that Illinois Democratic senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama — though many steps away from becoming leader of the Free World — has presciently formulated his own doctrine: The United States will remain impassive in the face of genocide."