Saturday, April 30, 2005

School Mistakes Huge Burrito for a Weapon -

School Mistakes Huge Burrito for a Weapon Notice that the name of the boy who did it is Michael Morrissey. I always knew he was trouble.

Friday, April 29, 2005

Hey, you! Yeah, you, the ignorant religious bigot! Vote for Me!

This post could sum up my whole semester in ConLaw with Chairman Mac. High-larious.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Who's Pro-Choice Now?

David Boaz of the Cato Institute highlights the glaring inconsistencies of the National Organization for Women and the so-called "pro-CHOICE" movement. Not so free with the choice when it's something you don't like, now are you?

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Another Economics Books to Read this Summer

More summer reading on economics.

The Shape of Days: There’s a line, and it got crossed

Jeff Harrell is quite upset about a Mac site (he's a Macophile) that tells people how to illegally download stuff off the Internet. One of my best friends writes music for a living and he is equally up in arms about illegal copying and downloading. I've had many conversations about this and I've come to a few conclusions. One, it is currently illegal. I don't think there's much doubt about that. Two, morally, it's no where near as clear. Now, we're talking about two different things, here, downloading and copying. Downloading is a little more clear, morally, since you didn't pay for it, but you want it. But what if you did pay for it, by paying for cable to see a TV show, but missed it due to a power outage. Can you morally download it to watch it, even though you're not paying the downloadee but you DID pay the cable company and didn't get what you paid for? As for copying, once I buy something, do I own it or don't I? Why can't I make copies for my own personal use? Why am I restricted to using something I own in the manner in which someone else wants me to use it? Isn't there a Constitutional right to privacy?(Griswold v. Connecticut) I have a real problem with letting people buy a lawnmower and then saying, you can't loan it to your neighbor.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

And Celebrities Wonder Why People Think They're Stupid

There is a new MTV Reality Show which will show ridiculously overpaid women cavorting and pretending to be poor for a few minutes so they can preach to the rest of us. Doesn't that sound compelling?

Oh, and Eva Mendes is NOT pretty. Her face is FUNKY, people, FUNKY.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Muddled Understanding

Edward Whelan at National Review Online makes clear that Ruthie is like the rest of the lefties here at the law school. Adrift in their own sea of feelings, willing to eviscerate procedure in order to effect the changes THEY think should be made, contemptuous of the democratic process and masses, prone to use inflammatory rhetoric ("extreme" to describe the idea that the Constitution means what it says?) to cover up shoddy thinking. What a mess.

More Nukes!

Dale Franks has a compelling little piece on why environmentalists are stupid and shortsighted. Not that you needed me to tell you that.

Monday, April 25, 2005

Putting the Period Inside the Quotes

Eugene Volokh gives the smackdown to my legal research and writing professor and he doesn't even know it. I KNEW putting the question mark inside the quotes was wrong and stupid! Oh, the arrogance of the academy, who snootily look down their noses at ACTUAL lawyers, because THEY are professors. Or, in this case, instructors. What a dummy.

Putin: Soviet Collapse a 'Tragedy'

Vlad Putin needs to be watched very closely. The money quote: "As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory." Yeah, so? The fact that millions of people freely chose to move so they didn't have to stand for days in a bread line is BAD? Reminds of a joke Ronald Reagan used to tell. Russian guy goes in to buy a car. The salesman says, "Thank you, comrade, that'll be 10 million rubles. The car will be delivered in 10 years." "Fine," says the Russian guy. "But can you deliver it in the afternoon?" The salesman says," We're delivering it 10 years from now and you want to us to be sure to come in the afternoon?" "Yeah," says the Russian guy. "The plumber's coming in the morning."

One Week Until Finals

Well, here we are, with one week until my Creditor's Rights final and I am just browsing through my ConLaw outline. I tell myself that I have it all planned out, but really, I am just putting off the inevitable, which is a recipe for disaster. "Seize the day!" they say, but what if the day is full of dusty old Article 9 statutes about how the debtor's name must appear on the financing statement? Huh? What then? Sometimes I really curse my decision to choose law school over a career as a pool repairman. And, the golf course is closed today and tomorrow for a tournament, so there'll be no relief down that alley.

Oh, and see this for a discussion of why the state monopoly argument doesn't work in the issue of making pharmacists fill out prescriptions which are morally repugnant to them.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Asymmetrical Information: Economics in One Lesson

Megan McArdle recommends a book on Economics for Beginners. I will have to try it out.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Hillary is a bad politician

This article talks about what a bad politician Hillary Clinton is because she's such an obvious politician. I tend to agree with that, but there is power in having a public perception that you are a genius, even if you aren't one.

The New York Times > Education > A Group at Princeton Where 'No' Means 'Entirely No'

A Group at Princeton Where 'No' Means 'Entirely No'. Horror! Shock! The humanity! How dare these young people deny their sexual urges!

Sheesh. I'm sure it's just me but this is such a dog-bites-man story. Well, maybe it isn't to most people and that's what's so sad.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

A yiddish examination I have to read later

Yiddish in Court, which I got, of course, from the Volokh Conspiracy.

Monday, April 04, 2005

I often wondered if this was a myth

Conglomerate Blog: Blind Grading in Law School tackles the problem of "blind" or anonymous grading of law school exams. It does get a bit nasty in the comments, but an interesting discussion nonetheless.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Megan McArdle A really, really, really long post about gay marriage that does not, in the end, support one side or the other

Megan McArdle has a good point about the libertarian response to a particular argument in favor of gay marriage. I too have been bugged by this particular argument, but now I know why.