stcynic
Posts by this author
July 27, 2005
Just noticed that a couple weeks ago, Randy Barnett linked to a post I wrote about judicial activism with some mild praise of it. Probably doesn't mean much to any of you, but since Barnett is my single favorite legal scholar it makes me feel good that he even noticed my amateur attempts at…
July 26, 2005
Back in June of 2004, I wrote an essay about the varying degrees of credibility among creationists (with people like Kurt Wise and Art Chadwick at the top and people like Kent Hovind and Karl Priest at the bottom) that included a snarky little tidbit about William Gibbons. Gibbons describes himself…
July 26, 2005
I'm quite disappointed that I didn't get to meet John Wilkins while he was here visiting from Australia, but the closest he got to me was Toronto and things have been much too crazy here for me to get out there and join the howlerfest. PZ Myers made it out there and I sure wish I had. It would have…
July 25, 2005
Timothy Sandefur has an op-ed piece in the Whittier Daily News pointing out the many loopholes in California law that allows property to be seized for redevelopemnt projects and the dishonesty used to claim that there are adequate safeguards currently. As my consulting firm prepares to put a…
July 25, 2005
July's Idiot of the Month award goes to Judith Reisman, a nutty anti-anything-sexual crusader who is astonishingly popular with social conservatives. Reisman is one of the leading lights of the "abstinence-only sex ed" movement and a longtime anti-porn and anti-gay activist with a history of saying…
July 25, 2005
The Detroit News featured a fairly in-depth article on the ID movement in Michigan and around the country yesterday. I spent at least an hour on the phone with the reporter who did the story and was quoted in the article. I was also pleased to see that they took my advice and did not use a chart…
July 24, 2005
Yes folks, this is the announcement you've all been waiting for. After weeks of pre-wedded bliss, we have finally managed to drag Timothy Sandefur back, kicking and screaming, into the blogosphere. I am happy to announce that I am joining forces with my three favorite bloggers - Sandefur, Jon Rowe…
July 24, 2005
Rogier van Bakel has a thorough takedown of Judith Reisman, a nutty old anti-everything-sexual crusader who is astonishinly popular among social conservatives. This is the woman who came up with the mythical "erototoxins", highly addictive chemicals allegedly released by the brain when one views…
July 24, 2005
The Senate Armed Services committee is working on a bill that would place firm limits on the treatment of detainess and the types of interrogation they can use. And the Vice President apparently wants the bill stopped:
The legislation, which is still being drafted, includes provisions to bar the…
July 23, 2005
Tonight I'm gonna be on the other side of the poker table than I'm used to. I'm running (and dealing for) a charity poker tournament here locally. They promised me all the iced tea I could drink and I'll have a nice view of the lake while I work, so what the heck. Maybe I can even recruit some new…
July 23, 2005
Jason Kuznicki spotted this at Farkleberries and it's hilarious. This woman named Veronica Lueken, who claims to be in regular contact with Jesus and his mother, has interspersed quotes from the two of them along with quotes from and pictures of Robert Bork about the evils of homosexuality. It…
July 22, 2005
Carnival of the Vanities (COTV) is one of those cool blog compilation things that circulates among different blogs every week and includes links that other people submit to increase readership. I hosted COTV #87 myself sometime last year when I was a blog toddler of sorts. One of the traditions of…
July 22, 2005
I want to offer my belated congratulations to frequent commenter, infrequent contributor and real life pal Dan Ray on his new job. After taking quite a risk by leaving his position as the director of an undergraduate paralegal studies program, he has secured a job doing what he really wanted to do…
July 21, 2005
We often hear from the religious right about gays seeking "special rights", but they never define the difference between a "special right" and a plain old fashioned right. Here's a perfect example of the circular logic involved in such statements, from an email sent out by the Free Market…
July 21, 2005
Jack Balkin has a commentary on John Roberts' nomination for the court in Newsday. He predicts that Roe v Wade will remain intact, but that many state restrictions such as waiting periods, parental notification and bans on late term abortions will be upheld in court. I agree with him on that, and I…
July 21, 2005
Since politics today is conducted primarily through the use of catchphrases and codewords, political memes are particularly fun to watch and never more than when they're first beginning to enter the public discourse. The right has long been the master of this art, building on the direct mail…
July 20, 2005
Just noticed this very odd response by Mark Olson to my post about Robert Bork's mythical martyrdom. Much of the rhetoric in Olson's response would serve as a perfect example of how to execute the strategy known as poisoning the well, as he puts his own unique characterizations on events and…
July 20, 2005
Randy Barnett, my favorite legal scholar, has written an interesting essay on John Roberts and what his nomination says about the entire process. His take:
But what sort of Justice will Judge Roberts make? I have no idea. I have never met him, so all I have to go on is his public record--a record…
July 20, 2005
Given a night to sleep on it and a bit more research, here are my initial thoughts on the nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court. First, let me note that there are different meanings to the word "conservative" in this context. Robert Bork, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Michael…
July 20, 2005
I said yesterday that John Roberts had issued an opinion in the Hamdi case in which he argued for giving the President virtually unchecked authority in terms of treating American citizens as "enemy combatants". That was a mistake. I was confusing Roberts with Judge Harvie Wilkinson. Hamdi's case…
July 19, 2005
Fox News is reporting that the nominee is not Clement, but rather John Roberts of the D.C. Circuit. SCOTUSblog's profile of him can be found here. If Roberts is indeed the choice, then it's obvious that the White House has likely been sending out fake trial balloons to keep people guessing. Roberts…
July 19, 2005
ABC News is reporting that Edith Clement is not Bush's choice to replace O'Connor:
Judge Edith Clement -- perceived by many observers as a potential frontrunner for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor -- is not President Bush's choice for the high court.
An informed…
July 19, 2005
President Bush will announce his nominee to replace Justice O'Connor on the Supreme Court tonight at 9 pm. AP is speculating that it will be Edith Clement of the 5th Circuit:
Bush's spokesman would not identify the president's choice. But there was intense speculation Tuesday that it would be…
July 19, 2005
The Institute for Justice is asking the Supreme Court to rehear the Kelo case, arguing that in just the few weeks since the decision was handed down, much has changed that should make them reconsider their decision. It's a desperate move, not likely to succeed, but they have a point about what has…
July 19, 2005
The Federal Election Commission has unanimously voted in favor of Jerry Falwell in a complaint that was filed against him by the Campaign Legal Center. The complaint said that he had violated election laws by endorsing President Bush because he is the head of a non-profit religious organization:…
July 18, 2005
The Washington Post is reporting that President Bush has narrowed his list of candidates and will announce a nominee to replace Justice O'Connor in the next few days. And that's not all:
As Bush interviews his finalist or finalists, the White House has kept secret his paring-down process. Some…
July 18, 2005
Jerry Falwell is hosting a huge Creation Megaconference at Liberty University starting tomorrow. Reason magazine's Ronald Bailey, who has written a good deal about creationism, is going to attend and post dispatches from the conference. Should be interesting to read.
July 18, 2005
John Gorenfeld has an article in the American Prospect detailing the Rev. Moon's ties to North Korea and to the political right in America. It has long been known that Moon has been pumping hard currency into North Korea, but Gorenfeld provides some shocking numbers as well as evidence of Moon's…
July 17, 2005
And continues to get more ridiculous as well. This Chris Buttars is some piece of work. It's frightening that someone this badly education could have any influence at all on how children are educated, but that's electoral politics for you. You'll recall from the other day that the Utah…
July 16, 2005
I'm out of town on business until sometime tomorrow afternoon, so nothing new until then.