Miscellaneous

Controversy = Page hits

Posted on November 11, 2009
I'm about to post a thought that occurred to me about the House health care bill, and more specifically the Stupak amendment that secured its passage. I'm not going to weigh in on abortion as a practice. Honestly I doubt it's even in my top 10 issues I care about when it comes to politics, and I think the bill is horrible regardless of how it's dealt with...

I will see your cheesy prop gag, and raise

Posted on October 25, 2009
So recently several DNC members bought mops and took them the RNC headquarters in response to Obama's call for healthcare critics to "grab a mop" and help clean up the mess. I'm all for gag gifts. The Democrats have shown a penchant for them recently as well, especially with Hillary's Russian Easy button...

Man on a Mission

Posted on October 24, 2009
I was noodling around Wikipedia for strange minor league baseball team names and learned that players for the San Antonio Missions are themselves called "Missions," and not what, to me, would be the obvious name, "Missionaries." Sadly, this deprives fans of hearing discussions about their favorite "Missionary position players...

I'mma let you finish but...

Posted on October 18, 2009
Can't believe I never thought of this before: Blegging the Question.Please read my pitiful bleg at my usual place. If you don't want to click over, basically it says someone needs to buy me some See's pumpkin spice lollipops, which are already sold out and I just cannot wait another year to get some...

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Better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt

Posted on October 07, 2009
This week marks the opening of another Supreme Court Term, and Court-watchers have been eager to see how new Justice Sonia Sotomayor settles into her role. I've read a few of the early transcripts, and have noticed (as have others here and here; links via How Appealing) that Justice Sotomayor had no problem asking plenty of questions during the arguments...

Eat Mor Ethix

Posted on October 02, 2009
Recently, I had a craving for some Chick-fil-A. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday, and as everyone knows, Chick-fil-A is always closed on Sundays. I won't get into the merits of that decision, but it doesn't seem to be hurting the business. But anyway, the whole thing prompted a discussion between me and a friend about whether Chick-fil-A franchise owners can (or do) drop in on the occasional Sunday, turn on the fryer, and enjoy a nice after-church chicken sandwich...

Time for Footbaw!

Posted on September 03, 2009
For some reason, I'm inordinately excited about the start of college football season this fall. My plan for this weekend is to tailgate at two games and attend at least one.Feel free to treat this as an open thread, football-related or otherwise.

Statutory Trivia Question: UPDATED with answer

Posted on August 31, 2009
What federal crime is required to be reported to a judge instead of a law enforcement officer?I'll update this post with the answer later in the week.UPDATE: I got the guesses I was expecting, perjury and contempt, which are typically crimes against the judicial process, and so one might expect them to be reported to judges...

(Wet Your) Whistle While You Work

Posted on August 28, 2009
Someone asked me to go to a Happy Hour tonight, and I declined because I'm not Happy. But it got me thinking about Happy and his cohorts from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. If I had a bar, I'd have a different theme hour for every day of the week...

How would you like your meth-tini, sir?

Posted on August 25, 2009
Shaken or stirred?

Statutory Trivia Question

Posted on August 24, 2009
What federal crime is required to be reported to a judge instead of a law enforcement officer?I'll update this post with the answer later in the week.

The post wherein I ask you to support my point of view, just so I can feel like I'm right

Posted on August 19, 2009
Let's pretend I do criminal cases. Let's further pretend that a non-lawyer (let's say, a student intern) is personally familiar with a defendant and the victim. As in, he used to hang out with Defendant when he was younger. You know, before Defendant murdered his (the defendant's, not the intern's) dad...

Netbook Thoughts?

Posted on August 15, 2009
I'm thinking about getting a netbook. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations? Also, I don't have wireless at home, so what do I need to know about getting wireless for the netbook? Thanks.

And now for something completely different

Posted on August 08, 2009
There has been entirely too much politics, here and everywhere else recently. In an effort to rectify that, here is my Top Ten list of current TV shows that could be converted into a porn without having to change the name.10. Private Practice (ABC)9...

And depositions...lots of depositions!

Posted on August 04, 2009
I was amused to see that the ABA Journal chose L.A. Law as the best legal-themed tv show of all time. It reminded me of one of my favorite legal-themed Saturday Night Live skits: the one where Corbin Bernsen from L.A. Law chooses to represent himself in a trial, based on the legal knowledge he has accumulated playing a lawyer on tv...

Making Sense of Consensus

Posted on July 31, 2009
National Review's Jay Nordlinger asks, "Should one party, and only one party, impose a new regime of health care on the country -- even if that party has the votes, however narrowly? This would be a tremendously big change. Something like a consensus may be appropriate...

Catching up on All-Request questions

Posted on July 16, 2009
Sorry to be silent for a while, gang. I'm catching up on some long-pending questions from my All-Request post from a few weeks ago.1. PG asks, "What, if any, are good reasons for a government attorney not to include all non-frivolous arguments on his client (the government)'s behalf?" Well, ideally, if justice (or the constitution) is better served by not raising them...

Don't get me started, part 2

Posted on July 08, 2009
I've heard this a lot lately from public figures (or, ahem, clients) who find themselves under some form of punishment for various misdeeds: "It's not like I killed somebody!" A close cousin is the double-disbelief: "I didn't kill nobody! I didn't rape nobody!" Well, yeah, dumbass, you didn't, and you're not being punished like you did, either...

Don't get me started, part 1

Posted on July 07, 2009
It must have been fun to live in the 1930s, when everyone had a brand-new car, no matter their occupation or social station. At least, that's what you would be led to believe watching period films, like The Untouchables or, apparently, the new Public Enemies...

All-Request: iPod Top 20

Posted on June 28, 2009
So, I'm back from "hiking the Appalachian Trail," or wherever I've been, and I'm going to start catching up on some questions and suggestions from my recent All-Request post. First, in response to commenter Cheech's request, the current top 20 songs on my iPod...

Let's play Guess the Gaffe!

Posted on June 19, 2009
So the gays (and the gay-friendly) are upset with the Obama administration for failing to deliver on campaign promises to be a "fierce advocate" for gay rights. And, I'd say, with good reason -- Obama has not just failed to deliver, but in some cases been outright hostile...

Open Thread/All-Request

Posted on June 12, 2009
I'm still around. No, I didn't quit blogging, I didn't get outed, and I'm not escorting the Uighers to Palau. I've just been too busy to write down a few thoughts that are knockin' around my noggin. I'll be back soon, but for now, consider this an open thread/all-request post...

I do not think that word means what you think it means

Posted on June 02, 2009
For some reason, I've always been annoyed by people who say "decimate" when they actually mean something closer to "annihilate." Sure, I've misappropriated words a few times, but this particular bit just annoys me. So it was funny when I saw a cartoon in The New Yorker which featured two viking-looking guys chatting to each other...

Judge Sotomayor on Sentencing

Posted on May 28, 2009
Prof. Berman has been blogging a bit about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's work on sentencing matters. It's no secret that sentencing law is in quite a state of flux, so any new blood could further shake things up. Plus, as Kevin Russell notes at SCOTUSBLog, many of the Booker line of cases have been 5-4 decisions, with Justice Souter in the majority...

Obama on Burma

Posted on May 27, 2009
I was very pleased to see the news that President Obama has called on the military junta currently controlling Burma to release the political prisoner and the elected leader of that nation, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is on trial now, facing even harsher punishment...

Step 1: Read This. Step 2: ? Step 3: Profit!

Posted on May 26, 2009
I was in an elevator the other day and noticed the instructions for firemen to operate the thing with their special keys. Isn't that something they tell you when they give you the key? Are all elevators unique? Anyway, it got me thinking about unnecessary instructions...

I was born, lucky me, in a land that I love/Though I'm poor, I am free

Posted on May 20, 2009
I was catching up on my survivalist calendar, and discovered belatedly that Monday was Victoria Day in Canada. That has no significance to me, but it does give me a chance to post this quirky video of The Fall covering the song "Victoria" by The Kinks.

Compare and Contrast

Posted on May 15, 2009
When Terrance Graham was sixteen years old, he was charged with armed burglary and assault and battery arising out of a restaurant robbery where an accomplice hit a victim with a pipe. He was sent to a juvenile detention facility for a year and given a probation term after that...

Getting an early start on next year's Pulitzer race

Posted on May 07, 2009
The website for the St. Petersburg Times -- make that the two-Pulitzers-winning St. Pete Times -- has an interesting new addition. It's a prominent link to a site called Tampa Bay Mug Shots. It's pretty much what it says -- a site providing mugshots for local arrestees...

Book Review: Mysteries of the Middle Ages

Posted on May 05, 2009
Fresh off of taking 3 years to finish my previous book, I managed to get through this last one in about a month. Part of that is me spending more time reading. Most of it is going from a 1000 page small print biography to a 300 page large print book with lots of pictures and side notes...

Problem Solved

Posted on May 05, 2009
Alternative Post Title: Procrastination is always the right answerQuiet Sun May Trigger Global CoolingI encourage everyone to trade in their hybrids for large SUVs and construction grade pickup trucks. We also need an immediate ban on all wind and solar energy plants...

A Tribute

Posted on April 30, 2009

Where the elite meet to tweet

Posted on April 29, 2009
So I created a Twitter account not long ago. I wasn't exactly jumping on the bandwagon, more like walking alongside for a bit to see what it was all about.And I don't get it. It just never occurs to me to let people know what I'm up to every minute, probably because I can't imagine they're interested...

...he said

Posted on April 20, 2009
I've been listening to a couple of audio books lately. Does anyone else, after listening to one for a while, find yourself thinking in audio book? Narrating one's own life? Kind of like this:I'm so awesome it's pretty hard for me to annoy myself, but this eventually does it.

Conservatives are from Mars, Liberals are from Venus

Posted on April 15, 2009
Prof. Kerr had a post at the Volokh blog the other day I took some issue with. It refers back to this earlier post, so you may wish to start there. The posts are about an immigration case, but more broadly about approaches to the law.In short, there's this alien from Haiti who is facing deportation...

Legislating Prosecutorial Discretion

Posted on April 14, 2009
Prof. Berman links to a story about a legislative initiative in Vermont that would exclude teens who send explicit pictures of themselves over their cell phones ("sexting") from the child porn laws. Interestingly, prosecutors support the measure. But why is that necessary? If prosecutors don't think a teenager should be charged for this kind of thing...

Random Thought of the Day

Posted on April 04, 2009
If pop culture images today like this:are responsible for eating disorders among women, then were paintings like this:responsible for an obesity epidemic in the 1600s?

Riddle me this...

Posted on April 02, 2009
Just so I can get this straight, let's clarify. When Attorney General Eric Holder disagrees with OLC's opinion that the DC voting rights bill is unconstitutional, and instead adopts the same position as noted liberals Ken Starr and Viet Dinh that the bill is constitutional, that makes him a "craven political hack...

Under new management

Posted on April 01, 2009
Hola, the three readers Milbarge and I have in common. To everyone else, aloha.As you may have noticed, there's been a precipitous drop in postage here at BTQ. I'm not really sure where everyone else went (Fitz-Hume, the Ace Tomato dude, Nataliya....

I think I need to lie down...

Posted on March 28, 2009
This post from Jay Nordlinger at The Corner has vexed me. Nordlinger asserts that President Reagan was not a napper: "And Reagan, as it happened, never napped -- never, ever napped. Nothing wrong with napping. He just never did it. But there was this myth that he did...

Do my job for me

Posted on March 24, 2009
I had a few ideas for little posts -- this commercial is dumb, the Supreme Court denied cert in that case I blogged about six months ago, this news story is strange -- but just haven't gotten motivated to post them. And if I don't even find them interesting enough to pass along, I'm pretty sure you won't care about reading the posts...

I do not think it means what you think it means.

Posted on March 17, 2009
Milbarge named this blog after a turn of phrase which annoyed him. There is a phrase that has always bugged me, but it is popping up more frequently as of late and so my annoyance level has spiraled upwards. Anytime someone talks about the taxpayers being asked to foot the bill for a bailout, my immediate reaction is always "No one is asking...

But I'm great at karaoke!

Posted on March 12, 2009
E. McPan had a post the other day about coming up with brilliant ideas, only to discover that someone beat you to the punch. Mine aren't as interesting or creative as hers, but this sort of thing happens to me all the time, too. Recently, for example, I was shuffling through my iPod, and landed on Dwight Yoakam's version of Johnny Cash's "Understand Your Man...

Winning the hearts and minds

Posted on March 12, 2009
Around the first of the year, in an impulsive moment, I bought a page-a-day calendar of survival lessons taken from some U.S. Army handbook. I was expecting cool stuff like making a compass from a shoestring and starting a fire with bubble gum. Instead, so far it's mostly been a letdown...

Obama's Foreign Policy Revealed

Posted on March 09, 2009
I've finally figured out what Obama's foreign policy strategy is, and it's brilliant.Step 1: Open talks with all of the country's adversaries.Step 2: Offend them with really insulting, poorly interpreted tacky gestures.Step 3: ??Step 4: Profit!

Santelli Lane

Posted on March 04, 2009

Please don't send me your resume

Posted on February 20, 2009
I've been thinking a lot recently about the tremendous ongoing upheaval in the legal job market. Above the Law has been chronicling the carnage, and Prof. Adler at Volokh linked to an interesting piece about what might be coming down the road. None of it is pretty...

New School

Posted on February 19, 2009
This is the kind of story that makes Feddie's bow tie spin and steam pour out his ears. A transgender college student identifies as male; joins a sorority. Spoiler: thing don't end well.

Homeward Bound

Posted on February 14, 2009
When I was a kid, I wore out my cassette tape of Simon & Garfunkel's 1981 Concert in Central Park. I still remember them introducing the band, including "Gerry Niewood on saxophone." That's why I instantly recognized the name when I heard that Gerry Niewood died this week...

Use Your Allusion

Posted on February 11, 2009
Here's a question: Let's say you read a book, and then a few months later discover that the book's title was a reference to a song you'd never heard. Do you re-read the book?Bonus points for guessing the book/song.

The 13th person to read this post wins $1 million*

Posted on February 09, 2009
I've written a few times -- here and here and here -- about these insane radio or tv personalities who sponsor fake contests with fake prizes but real contestants. Like the radio station that promises to give away "100 Grand," and the "winner" thinks that means dollars but in fact it means the eponymous candy bar...

The verdict is in: Chief Justice Roberts has a sense of humor

Posted on January 28, 2009
I wrote the other day about the kerfuffle over Chief Justice Roberts's stumbling during his recitation of the oath of office during last week's presidential inauguration. The matter is still pinballing around the legal media, and will undoubtedly spawn four score and seven law review articles...

The times they are a-changin'

Posted on January 26, 2009
In January 1961, some people met up at a lunch counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The blacks and whites did not know each other. The blacks sat down and requested service, and got thirty days in jail for their trouble. The whites showed up to hurl taunts, insults, eggs, and fists...

Affirm Believer

Posted on January 22, 2009
So President Obama took the oath of office again, after the little flub he and Chief Justice Roberts made during the big ceremony. All over the blogosphere, pundits were putting off their angels-on-pinheads counting to debate whether Obama was technically the president, since he didn't recite the oath precisely as it's written in the Constitution...

Lolkatz

Posted on January 21, 2009
Big news from the Supreme Court today on the issue of qualified immunity, in a case called Pearson v. Callahan. Here's a summary from Prof. Kerr at Volokh, and more from Prof. Althouse and Steve Minor. The Court, in a much-anticipated move, overruled the 2001 case Saucier v...

Con Air 2: Operation Gitmo Drop

Posted on January 15, 2009
President-elect Barack Obama has promised to close the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but doing so presents the complex question of where to put the 250 or so detainees. Unsurprisingly, politicians representing the possible destinations tend to say, "Yes, please close Gitmo, and no, please don't send them here...

Better Get the Led(better) Out

Posted on January 14, 2009
Via How Appealing a few days ago, I came across this bizarre rant in the Connecticut Law Tribune by one Karen Lee Torre (background on her here via Simple Justice). It's about the case of Lilly Ledbetter, and it just totally misses the point.Ledbetter was an Alabama factory worker who believed she had been the victim of gender-based wage discrimination...

File this under "D" for "Duh!" and "Disappearing"

Posted on January 13, 2009
I saw an interesting story in the New York Times about a blue-ribbon task force study concluding that the supposed threat to children from online sexual predators is vastly overblown, if not a myth approaching moral panic status. I wonder how often police from different jurisdictions end up talking to each other in chat rooms...

Doubting Tucker

Posted on January 08, 2009
Via Feddie, an odd little anecdote from pundit Tucker Carlson. According to Carlson, he had drifted away from his childhood religion, but was reading a book as a teenager when he heard a voice saying "I exist." Naturally, Carlson assumed the voice came from God (absent any other evidence), and "took him at his word...

Workplace Moment of Zen

Posted on January 07, 2009
I think faster than I type, and I'm not a great typist to begin with, so I make a lot of transposition errors. One I've noticed myself making recently has been to refer to someone's conviction as his "convictino." I like that. It always makes me smile: He's not a big bad convict; he's a little convictino...

Run for the Borders

Posted on January 06, 2009
I'm working on posts about my book reading in 2008 and 2009, and it got me thinking about bookstores. Specifically, Borders. The company's stock price has plummetted, and rumors have been swirling that Borders will declare bankruptcy or even go out of business altogether...

Christmas Cat Blog

Posted on December 30, 2008
I took this expression to mean that I couldn't come in unless I was bearing presents.

Peeve of the Year

Posted on December 24, 2008
Prof. Desai at the Co-Op has a perfectly ranty post about the cell phone business model. You know, the notion that you can't buy a new phone without starting a whole new contract and all. This kind of thing has kept me from giving lots of money to the phone companies over the years...

Teapot Dome Scandal

Posted on December 22, 2008
We had our office holiday party the other day. We do one of those gift exchanges where everyone contributes a gift, then they draw numbers, and we go around with the option of taking an unwrapped gift or stealing someone else's already-opened gift. We call it a Yankee Swap, but it goes by other names...

Teapot Dome Scandal

Posted on December 21, 2008
We had our office holiday party the other day. We do one of those gift exchanges where everyone contributes a gift, then they draw numbers, and we go around with the option of taking an unwrapped gift or stealing someone else's already-opened gift. We call it a Yankee Swap, but it goes by a href="http://en...

Home Sweet Huh?

Posted on December 17, 2008
Let's say (hypothetically speaking) I were interested in buying a home, and let's also say (not hypothetically speaking), I have no idea how to go about doing that. Can anyone recommend a good guide (a book is fine; a website preferable) to buying a home? Here's a few hints as to the level of sophistication I need:Example A: I have no idea how to figure out how much home I can afford...

Home Sweet Huh?

Posted on December 16, 2008
Let's say (hypothetically speaking) I were interested in buying a home, and let's also say (not hypothetically speaking), I have no idea how to go about doing that. Can anyone recommend a good guide (a book is fine; a website preferable) to buying a home? Here's a few hints as to the level of sophistication I need:br /br /Example A: I have no idea how to figure out how much home I can afford...

The next Senator from Illinois...

Posted on December 09, 2008
I spent a lot of time today reading the amazing news of the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The blockbuster allegation is that Blagojevich sought political and financial favors in exchange for an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama...

The ADA Goes to the Movies, The Sequel: The ADAAA

Posted on December 08, 2008
I have written quite a few times (here and here and here and here and here) about the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to stadium-style movie theaters. (One of those posts discusses the same legal principles with respect to racetracks...

Be vewy, vewy quiet...the wabbits are hunting you

Posted on December 03, 2008
A couple of weeks ago there was a very thought-provoking article in Sports Illustrated about the decline of hunting in America. The premise of the piece is that the fall-off in hunting has led to a explosion in various wild animal populations. This isn't always good...

Number 5 is Alive!

Posted on November 26, 2008
Sorry for the lack of posting recently. I've had some work issues and some family issues. And nothing-to-blog-about issues. But I'm still here. In fact, it almost slipped by me again, but it's BTQ's anniversary. This blog is five years old! And I'm still excited about doing it...

Update on Shaq's Right to Possess a Gun

Posted on November 15, 2008
A few months ago, I posted about a story from Atlanta in which a woman had received a temporary restraining order against basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. I noted that if the order became a permanent restraining order after a hearing, then federal law would prohibit O'Neal from possessing a gun...

Coming Next Year: Sesame Street, Melrose Place, and Electric Avenue!

Posted on November 12, 2008
So I was drinking a McDonald's beverage the other day, and noticed that affixed to the side of the cup was a game piece for the restaurant's "Monopoly" contest. If you're not familiar, there are stickers on various food items, a few of which offer instant prizes, but most of which correspond to aspects of the classic Monopoly board game...

The Winner: America

Posted on November 04, 2008
It's been an exciting night. I'm not saying "America" is the winner because Barack Obama is being elected President of the United States. This isn't about whether he's the better option, although of course I have my thoughts about that question. Those will be for another day...

What's the matter with Ohio?

Posted on November 04, 2008
After the 2004 election Thomas Frank wrote the much publicized book What's the Matter with Kansas. He argued that much of middle America by voting Republican was voting against it's own economic interest.Now that Ohio and Pennsylvania have voted for a ticket where both candidates have openly advocated the federal goverment bankrupting the coal industry, I eagerly await his sequal lamenting the fact that states voted Democrat against their economic interest...

Notes From a Road Trip

Posted on November 02, 2008
The whole family recently took a cross country road trip. And here are a few observations after spending 4 days in a car with Mrs. Haff and a 2 year old.1. God bless the person who invented the in-car entertainment systems. I honestly don't know how people managed to not strangle their kids without these...

Billy Packer's Election Analysis

Posted on October 28, 2008
This video is a clip from last spring's men's college basketball championship semi-final game. Kansas demolished North Carolina right out of the gate. When the Jayhawks took a 26-point lead around twelve and a half minutes in, Billy Packer, the long-time basketball analyst, declared flatly, "This game is over!"Now, two interesting things happened after that moment...

Decoys?!?!

Posted on October 27, 2008
For the record, it did not escape my attention that tonight's episode of "Chuck" introduced a character, played by the inimitable Tony Hale, who went by the name "Emmett Milbarge." The show also once featured a listening device with the serial number GLG-20, another Spies Like Us reference...

Can anybody spare a podcast?

Posted on October 24, 2008
One of the podcasts I subscribe to has decided to close up shop. So now I'm casting about for a replacement. Any suggestions? What podcasts do you listen to?

Not one to put on your resume

Posted on October 21, 2008
I was reading some cases the other day and ran across this item from a decision from a few years ago. A man in New Jersey was charged with threatening some judges and others involved in his criminal prosecution. He made a sort of hit list, with the judges noted along with "4...

Need a rap name? Go to Lowes.

Posted on October 13, 2008
If I ever decide to become a rapper, (pause, to allow Milbarge to stop laughing) my rap name will be home improvement store inspired. The current top 5 candidates are:1: T-Nut2: U-Joint3: C-Clamp4: Edge Router5: Sawz-All

Who better to lead them in the wilderness, in case there are moose?

Posted on October 10, 2008
I'm bemused by the several conservative commentators I've seen who are dealing with the current presidential polling by trying to convince themselves that some time in the political wilderness will be good for the GOP. I'm not sure how much stock I put in their analysis, though...

10 Questions for a registered independent

Posted on October 10, 2008
For those of you who don't know, Mrs. Haff is actually a registered Independent. Up until the conventions this year, she was on the fence as to who she would vote for in the election. Since the conventions, the Palin pick for VP, and following the race more closely as the day draws near, she has swung firmly into the McCain camp...

Suggestions for the Palin "SNL" skit

Posted on October 07, 2008
The recent rumor in that region where the political and entertainment worlds overlap is that Sarah Palin is thinking about dropping in on "Saturday Night Live." In the same way that Hillary Clinton showed up next to Amy Poehler doing an impression of Clinton, Palin would presumably meet up with Tina Fey's brilliant impression of the Governor...

Inventor's Corner

Posted on October 06, 2008
Someone needs to invent a computer keyboard with a back that slides or pops off, so you can shake out the dust and crumbs like a toaster.Somebody get on that, thanks.

Plea Deal Not Necessarily Sexist

Posted on September 29, 2008
Prof. Berman has a post up noting a CNN story on a plea deal for a female teacher who was charged with a sexual escapade (literally: they ran away to Mexico) with an underage male student. Originally facing a ten-year mandatory minimum on federal charges, the woman pled guilty and received a six-year sentence...

My quick take on McCain's gambit, and more

Posted on September 24, 2008
So the news today is that John McCain is "suspending" his campaign to go to Washington and roll up his sleeves and solve the economic mess and support the pending $700 billion bailout bill. He has proposed to Barack Obama that they postpone this week's debate...

What the hell is going on?

Posted on September 22, 2008
I've been trying to do some reading to help me understand the current financial crisis a little better. I thought I would share some links I've collected.1. This is a decent nickel tour of the basics, from Jim Manzi at The Corner. The policy outlook is conservative, but if you only have three minutes, it'll do...

Hairum Scarum

Posted on September 16, 2008
Yesterday I paid the most money I've ever paid for a haircut.A prize to the person who comes closest to guessing the amount I paid, including tip.

A Pig in a Poke

Posted on September 10, 2008
Feddie gets the vapors over Barack Obama using the common aphorism "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig." Because he used this phrase to describe some position of John McCain's and Sarah Palin's, Feddie asserts that Obama is calling Palin a pig, and has therefore lost "the women vote...

The Latest in Kennedy

Posted on September 09, 2008
Via SCOTUSBlog, news comes today that the Supreme Court has issued an order in the child rape death penalty case Kennedy v. Louisiana. The state of Louisiana has sought rehearing based on a factual error in the opinion. It argues that this error undermines the majority's reasoning...

A Different Way of Doing Things

Posted on September 08, 2008
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper just dissolved Parliament and called for elections. On October 14. That's in five weeks. By that time, we will almost be finished with our election's debates.I'm not saying it's advisable for us to shrink our election cycle to five weeks...

If McCain is Maverick...

Posted on September 02, 2008
Does that mean Palin is Goose?

Palin-monium (trademark)

Posted on August 30, 2008
So McCain went with the VP choice I'd been hoping for. Just becaue she was my first pick, I was convinced he was gonna go with someone safe and boring. Milbarge and I have already traded emails on our thoughts on the pick. Maybe the relevant back and forth can be summarized into another post...

Arguing with TAPPED

Posted on August 30, 2008
Reviving a long defunct post topic. The response over at TAPPED to the Palin pick has generated it's fair share of laughable lines. A small sampling."But it lends more credence to the argument that the McCain campaign is a war room masquerading as a campaign...

Could Shaquille O'Neal be the next Dick Heller?

Posted on August 23, 2008
I think Prof. Berman has found a new champion in his quest to see the courts recognize robust Second Amendment rights in the context of federal criminal firearms laws.A judge in Atlanta has imposed a temporary restraining order on basketball megastar Shaquille O'Neal...

Why Biden is a good choice as Obama's running mate

Posted on August 23, 2008
He may not be the perfect choice, but pretty good overall, I think. A few thoughts. First, one reason I saw against picking Biden is that it could be spun as an admission that Obama needed shoring up on foreign policy. This selection could be cast as Cheney-esque, in the sense of "Don't panic! A grown-up will be present to chaperone!" Picking Biden shows some humility on Obama's part, some recognition that he isn't the leading expert on everything, or appealing to all voters...

Home Sweet Home Home Home Home Home

Posted on August 21, 2008
Greater Blogistan is buzzing today over John McCain's Kinsley gaffe in an interview with Politico. When asked how many houses he (and his heiress wife) own, McCain replied, "I think -- I'll have my staff get to you." It appears he has seven homes.All the political blogs, and a nice chunk of the mainstream press, is covering this, but I've especially enjoyed the alternative takes from NRO's The Corner (see here and here for example) and The New Republic's Plank and Stump blogs...

McCain v. Kaine?

Posted on August 18, 2008
Well, the veepstakes are heating up, and everyone with an electoral college map and a congressional directory is making predictions. (Mine, from November, are comically wrong, but I'll save the laughs for those willing to put in the effort to find that post...

Vote McCain. Do it for the comedy.

Posted on August 16, 2008
Two reasons to vote for McCain. Both have comedic implications.1. Many people out there are more than willing to label any criticism of Obama as racist. This has implications not only for the current campaign, but also for talk shows and comedians across the country...

"Boys...it would be a shame to have to kill you now."

Posted on August 12, 2008
It would be a shame to have to kill you now, because then you wouldn't be able to listen to the like totally awesome Stuck in the '80s podcast episode honoring the Red Scare Movies of the 1980s! Naturally, I was blown away (pictured) by the discussion of Spies Like Us, but also had a lot of fun hearing the gang's reminiscing about the volleyball scene in Top Gun...

Legal Miscellany

Posted on August 11, 2008
1. I wrote here recently about the Sirius-XM satellite radio merger. See also here for more background. But way back here, I wrote about another proposed merger, this one between grocery chains Whole Foods and Wild Oats. Basically, I analogized these two specialty stores to the satellite radio companies, and figured that if these two organic stores could merge and not threaten the greater grocery market, the satellite radio outfits could merge and not cause a blip in the larger music entertainment industry...

Standard Bearer

Posted on August 06, 2008
I was pleased to see that the U.S. Olympic team elected runner Lopez Lomong to carry the flag during this week's opening ceremonies at the Beijing Games. Lomong was born in Sudan, was a victim of that country's civil war, came to America in 2001, and became a U...

12 Angry Minutes

Posted on August 05, 2008
This post at How Appealing led me to a Houston Chronicle story about the execution of Jose Medellin, whose death sentence led to quite a fuss regarding the International Court of Justice. I didn't really have anything to say about the Medellin case, but a story in the Chronicle's sidebar caught my eye...

Update on the "Cases" Cases

Posted on August 04, 2008
Longtime readers know about my little obsession with chronicling all the Supreme Court's "Cases" cases -- that is, Supreme Court opinions styled (either popularly or in the U.S. Reports) as "The [X] Cases," such as The Slaughterhouse Cases or The Civil Rights Cases...

The Solicitor General Cops Out in Kennedy

Posted on July 29, 2008
I'm disappointed with the approach taken by the Solicitor General's Office in the ongoing Kennedy v. Louisiana child rape death penalty case rehearing matter. For background, see my posts here and here. The short version is that Louisiana sought rehearing, and there was some curiosity about what action the United States, in the form of the Department of Justice and Solicitor General's Office might take...

Proposed Name: XiriuM

Posted on July 28, 2008
I have written here a few times about my experience with satellite radio and my support for the proposed merger between XM and Sirius. See here and here and here. So naturally I was pleased to hear that the FCC voted 3-2 to approve the merger. I felt like I ought to say something about it, but I couldn't have put it any better than Publius did at Obsidian Wings...

Supreme Court Inside Baseball

Posted on July 23, 2008
Via How Appealing, I saw this interesting Legal Times story about a pretty wonky little essay.The back story: In their Supreme Court expose The Brethren, Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong relate a story about Flood v. Kuhn. Flood upheld baseball's "reserve clause" over a challenge on antitrust grounds...

Update on the Kennedy child rape case: my intervention post vindicated?

Posted on July 22, 2008
On Monday, the state of Louisiana filed a rehearing petition in the Supreme Court, asking the Court to reconsider its recent decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which outlawed the use of the death penalty for child rapists. SCOTUSBlog has coverage and a link to the petition, here's some coverage from How Appealing, here's a little from the Sex Crimes blog, and Prof...

50 Book Challenge: How the States Got Their Shapes

Posted on July 20, 2008
How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein (Amazon, B&N, Powell's). Okay, I'll admit it: I'm a geography nerd. When I was in junior high, I went to the state geography bee sponsored by National Geographic. I didn't get very far, and I was nowhere near the national finals with Alex Trebek...

Suicide is Painless...and Delicious

Posted on July 12, 2008
Back when I was in law school, my group of friends would go to lunch together pretty regularly, and we were always on the lookout for a good barbecue joint. One of the guys had a theory that you could tell how good the barbecue was by examining how "human" the pig in the restaurant's logo was acting...

Could (Will?) the United States Intervene in Kennedy v. Louisiana?

Posted on July 10, 2008
One of the most talked-about and controversial opinions from the just-ended Supreme Court term was Kennedy v. Louisiana, which held that the Eighth Amendment bars the execution of those convicted of child rape. One of the reasons for the Court's decision was what it concluded was a consensus of national opinion against the appropriateness of such executions...

50 Book Challenge: Catching Up

Posted on July 07, 2008
I decided my reviews would never catch up with my reading if I forced myself to do full reviews of the last few books I read. So, herewith, a few thoughts on the following books. If you want to know more about any of them ask away in the comments.11...

50 Book Challenge: Legacy of Ashes

Posted on July 06, 2008
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner (Amazon, B&N, Powell's). Easily one of the best books I have ever read. This is a magisterial study of the CIA, from its birth in the WWII secret services to its post-September 11 demise as the intelligence agencies were melded together...

Huzzah!

Posted on July 02, 2008
Happy Independence Day!

I left Rome [Georgia], and landed in Brussels

Posted on July 02, 2008
There's a little bit of buzz over this story about a purported class action suit filed by a lawyer who was rejected from the DOJ Honors Program, allegedly because of political bias. See thoughts from David Lat at ATL here, and Orin Kerr at Volokh here...

Next, Coco Chanel finds coca in her cocoa butter!

Posted on July 01, 2008
I got these new granola bars recently because the store was out of the ones I usually get. I actually tend to have several different kinds, but I often get these Quaker Chewy chocolate chunk ones that are low fat and only 90 calories. But they didn't have those, so I got the regular chocolate chunk, which I think are 100 calories and probably not a lot worse for you...

Small Business Administration

Posted on June 30, 2008
I was in my favorite used book store the other day when I heard the phone ring. I caught most of what the proprietor was saying, and after a while, I figured out that he was talking to someone who was in the process of opening a used book store and looking for advice...

Creative Defenses in Contract Litigation

Posted on June 27, 2008
The sports fans among you may have seen the story about the University of Louisville suing Duke University (dear alma mater) over football games that weren't played. In short, the two schools signed a contract to play a series of four games, but Duke backed out after one (a 40-3 pasting at the hands of the Cardinals, if I recall)...

Scratching the Itch

Posted on June 24, 2008
I've been silent on the blog for a while, due to, you know, life stuff. However, things at home and at the office have settled down somewhat so I'll see what I can do. I keep promising Milbarge I'll post more, and that never seems to happen. I have decided to join the county republican group, which hold monthly meetings...

Watch porn. Live longer. (possibly get divorced)

Posted on June 24, 2008
A while back on the same day I read two completely unrelated items. The first one was a news headline about a study linking regular masturbation to a reduced risk of prostate cancer in men. Perhaps BTQ should have an all request post for the public service advertisements...

Random Thought of the Day

Posted on June 23, 2008
Why are handicapped parking spaces reserved, but handicapped bathroom stalls aren't?

To Do List

Posted on June 20, 2008
1. Four of five book reviews (including one for one of the best books I've ever read).2. Some thoughts on whether the internet is changing the way we think. See this and this.3. Perhaps some end-of-the-Supreme-Court-term thoughts.4. I guess this is really more of a to-blog list, so what else? I keep looking for stuff, but all I see is politics, and I'm not fired up about the presidential race at the moment...

Proves the Rule

Posted on June 18, 2008
I was amused by Matthew Franck's iteration of "the Kennedy rule," which he defines thusly: "If the Court has declared anything unconstitutional, and the vote was 5-4, and the fifth vote was provided by [Kennedy], the case was wrongly decided."Franck has updated the rule from its original namesake, Justice O'Connor...

(Audio)Book Recommendation?

Posted on June 17, 2008
I'm trying to decide on my next audiobook. The current front-runners are Panama Fever and This Republic of Suffering. I'm interested in both, but not desperate to read either. I've glanced at the pictures in Panama Fever in the bookstore, and I worry a little that following the story would require reference to the maps that wouldn't be available on audio...

And now his head...is shaped like a tread

Posted on June 09, 2008
Longtime readers know my affinity for The Band. I recently picked up the latest album from The Band's drummer/singer Levon Helm, Dirt Farmer. It won the 2008 Grammy for Traditional Folk Album. And that's an apt description. It's folkier and countrier than most of The Band's work, but a lot of the group's tunes, like "Ophelia" or "Up On Cripple Creek," for example, would fit right in...

Whatever you say

Posted on June 08, 2008
I was in a restaurant tonight, and the drink dispenser had a sign on it reading "Out the service."That's kind of how I'm feeling, too. My computer is in the hottest room in my house, and with this heat wave, I'm thinking that sweating and blogging don't work well together...

50 Book Challenge #9: Very Strange Bedfellows

Posted on June 01, 2008
Very Strange Bedfellows: The Short and Unhappy Marriage of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew by Jules Witcover. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) A few weeks ago I posed a trivia question here: Who said this about whom? "[X] is the greatest man this country has produced since John C...

Penny for your thoughts

Posted on May 28, 2008
I kind of in a blogging mood. Or maybe it's a blahgging mood. But I don't really have much to say. I have a couple of post ideas kicking around, but some I need to do some more reading for, and some (book reviews), I just don't feel like doing now...

Quickie Movie Review

Posted on May 24, 2008
I saw the new Indiana Jones movie today. I liked it a lot; very entertaining. Don't go in expecting perfection, but it's a worthy follow-up to the earlier ones, and far better than a lot of those one-more-for-old-time's-sake films retreads out there...

Top Twenty Tunes

Posted on May 22, 2008
Inspired by a recent Stephen King column, here are the top twenty most-played songs on my iTunes:1. "Let the Mystery Be" by Iris Dement2. "El Paso" by The Gourds3. "King Dork" by Frank Portman4. "Such Great Heights" by Ben Folds5. "Late for the Sky" by Jackson Browne6...

Jesus is Bigger Than John McCain

Posted on May 19, 2008
Here's one of those "If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for us!" quotes I love to see. Sue Everhart, the Chair of the Georgia State Republican Party said of Sen. John McCain, "John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross...

The "Cases" Cases

Posted on May 13, 2008
I have an update to my ongoing effort to catalog all the Supreme Court's decisions using the naming convention "The [Subject] Cases" (and to revitalize that practice). My first post on the issue, Where Have All the "Cases" Cases Gone? is here, and here is a follow-up (item #3)...

Trivia Question

Posted on May 12, 2008
Identify the speaker and subject. Who said this about whom? "[X] is the greatest man this country has produced since John C. Calhoun and Robert E. Lee." I expect someone at Feddie's place to get this one. I'll reveal the answer in a few days.

50 Book Challenge #8: Another Day in the Frontal Lobe

Posted on May 11, 2008
Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside by Katrina Firlik. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) I don't have a lot to say about this one. It was fine. Firlik is a neurosurgeon, and writes about her practice. Her book is a pretty good overview of the types of things neurosurgeons do, complete with a few suitably gory tales...

testing

Posted on May 08, 2008
just checking

The Day After

Posted on May 07, 2008
Well, it looks like tonight might finally be end of the line for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Yes, yes, I suppose pixie dust could coat the superdelegats and win the nomination for Hillary, but her real problem is the new media line that it's finally over...

Abel was I ere I saw Leba

Posted on May 04, 2008
Prof. Berman had this post last week noting a Ninth Circuit opinion dealing with some sentencing aspects of a dirty pictures case. There were a few things I found interesting.First, one of the defendant's conditions of supervised release was that he undergo Abel testing...

Just a guess

Posted on May 04, 2008
I think CNN is trying to set the record for consecutive days with the word "incest" on its front page. Good grief.

The Reason They Invented Radio

Posted on April 27, 2008
I've been a big fan of the radio program "This American Life" for a long time, but an episode they aired last month is the best one I've ever heard. "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar" tells the story of a 1912 kidnapping, and how it affected three families...

I Don't Even Know Where to Start....

Posted on April 27, 2008
There's so much going on in this news story, I can't even wrap my mind around it all. A couple in New Mexico was watching a porn movie, and the woman thought one of the "actors" was her boyfriend. As in, the guy she's watching the movie with. For some reason, this upsets her, so she grabs a knife and tries to kill him...

Exshoes Me?

Posted on April 21, 2008
I'm not a shoe guy. I don't buy shoes very often, and I always go for comfort over fashion. But I did find interesting these two shoe-related items.1. A very neat article from New York magazine about how bad shoes are for our feet. Worth it just for the illustrations...

50 Book Challenge #7: Midnight Rambler

Posted on April 20, 2008
Midnight Rambler by James Swain. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) This was highly entertaining, one of the best thrillers I've read in a while. Swain's hero is ex-cop Jack Carpenter, an expert in finding missing persons. He took down the notorious Simon Skell, aka The Midnight Rambler, a serial kidnapper and killer, but went a little overboard making the arrest...

Big, Bad, Stupid-Looking...An Exact Match...

Posted on April 13, 2008
It's not often one sees perfectly flawless logic, so it's worth taking note of. Apparently, according to a South Carolina "minister," the street design of Washington, DC, includes an upside-down pentagram. (The linked article has a map.) The Federal City is thus supposed to be some kind of conduit for Satan...

Justice is Blind, and Apparently Anonymous

Posted on April 10, 2008
Via How Appealing this weird and sad story about a man who was charged with threatening several famous black people. It's disturbing and distressing because, if it's true, the guy is evil and/or mentally ill, but one part kind of amused me a little. The indictment used initials for the victims, but the AP didn't have any trouble identifying "L...

These Protesters Need More Cowbell

Posted on April 08, 2008
Perhaps not surprisingly, this gave me the willies.However, is anyone else a little disappointed it didn't turn into something like this?

In Which I Reject the Conventional Wisdom

Posted on April 06, 2008
I like these pictures of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan just after Ford beat back Reagan's challenge for the 1976 GOP nomination, and moments later when Reagan endorsed Ford. It's by noted White House photographer David Hume Kennerly. (A few more Ford-era shots here; link via TNR's The Plank...

This Post Was Written With Words

Posted on April 04, 2008
On tv recently I saw a McDonald's commercial about how great the ingredients in its food are. The eggs are fresh, the salads are green, etc. When they showed some beef and extolled its beefiness or whatever, there was fine print on the screen that said something like "McDonald's beef is USDA-inspected...

Legal Miscellany

Posted on March 26, 2008
1. The Justice Department approved the proposed merger of the two satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius. The FCC still has to give the okay, but this is obviously a positive step towards completing the deal. I wrote in favor of the merger back here...

More Stunning Revelations From the New York Governor's Office

Posted on March 24, 2008
Is there some kind of truth serum in the water in Albany? First we have ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer's shocking downfall thanks to his patronization of a prostitution ring. Then the new Governor, David Paterson, admits he and his wife both had affairs years ago during a troubled point in their marriage...

Good Enough

Posted on March 19, 2008
I've been wracking my brain for something to write about, betwixt obsessing over my NCAA basketball tournament picks and work stuff like an oral argument and a couple of cert petitions. Failing to come up with anything good, I decided to share an anecdote of one of my little eccentricities...

50 Book Challenge #6: My Horizontal Life

Posted on March 11, 2008
My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands by Chelsea Handler. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) This was a fun enough lark. It's exactly what the subtitle promises: little vignettes of casual encounters from Handler's active dating life. Some are pretty amusing...

Feddie's '08 Comeback Special

Posted on March 05, 2008
This should be fun: Feddie is back to blogging at Southern Appeal. Even though I disagree with him a lot of the time -- a lot -- I always enjoyed reading SA and am happy to be able to do so again. Welcome back, Feddie!(post title inspiration)

San Francisco: The City That Hates Plastic Bags But Not Suicide

Posted on March 04, 2008
I wrote a bit here and here last year about the Golden Gate Bridge and its popularity as a suicide destination. I think it's ridiculous, callous, and irresponsible for the bridge authority to have refused for so long to erect a suicide-prevention barrier...

50 Book Challenge #5: The Follower

Posted on March 03, 2008
The Follower by Jason Starr. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) This one had some promise, but didn't live up to it. It's about a young woman dating in New York City, and this guy who gets obsessed with her. Ideally, it would have been Bret Easton Ellis crossed with Patricia Highsmith...

Movin' Out

Posted on March 03, 2008
A parody song in to commemorate today being the day that the crack amendments are officially retroactive. (For more on that, see Prof. Berman's blog.) To the tune of Billy Joel's Movin' Out.Anthony held up a grocery store,Savin' his pennies for cocaine...

New Voting Locations

Posted on February 27, 2008
Why haven't they set up voting locations at strip clubs? What better place to have a poling polling place?

Free Campaign Suggestion on Oil

Posted on February 27, 2008
Candidates have talked alot about reducing dependence on foreign oil. Much of it has to do with alternative fuel talk, which is all well and good. But why not offer to create some incentives for the auto companies. I mean serious incentives. My plan that no one will listen to or enact...

Inventor's Corner

Posted on February 26, 2008
Someone needs to invent pants with built-in zippers in the pockets. Like cargo pants, except they look normal and the zippers are concealed inside. They would be great for everything from riding roller coasters to riding the subway and avoiding pickpockets...

40 is the new 30

Posted on February 25, 2008
Congress wasting time on the Roger Clemens hearing got me thinking. If we are going to be suspicious of athletes who continue to perform at a high level into their mid to late 30's, why is no one asking questions of say Jerry Rice, Nolan Ryan, or Bruce Matthews?

What's Black and White and Red All Over?

Posted on February 20, 2008
According to Lisa Shiffren in The Corner, Senator Barack Obama!Shiffren suggests that it's "[t]ime for some investigative journalism" into Obama's background, because all of the mixed-race kids she knew when she was young were the product of a Communist plot to get the blacks and the Jews to intermarry...

A BTQ Valentine's Tradition

Posted on February 14, 2008
For the past several years, I have run the classic Ralph Wiggum Valentine's card, "I choo-choo-choose you." This year I decided to mix it up and use the other Valentine's card he got from Lisa in that episode: "Let's Bee Friends." And it's got a picture of a bee on it! Happy Valentine's, BTQ readers!

Random Thoughts

Posted on February 13, 2008
1. I saw that the price of stamps is going up, from 41 to 42 cents. Of course the "Forever" stamps will still be good after the rate change. You can buy them for 41 cents now and use them as 42-cent stamps after the change. I had some thoughts regarding this and the time value of money, but then I started confusing myself so I dropped it...

An Archbishop, a religious code, and an offended mob walk into a bar

Posted on February 10, 2008
So I can't help but notice my newly adopted church is in the news these days. I will never be a preeminent blogger, because during the time I've procrastinated posting about this much of what I was going to say has already been covered. Given that my association with the church is in it's infancy, I can't speak to Dr...

Totally Random

Posted on February 10, 2008
Sometimes my Dad and I will call each other "Bob," even though neither of us is named Bob. The reason goes back to a car commercial from about fifteen years ago. In the commercial, the narrator, Bob, talks about how his life would be a dream if only he had that certain kind of car...

Airplane Novel Meets Real Life; or, A Lesson for Law Clerks

Posted on February 08, 2008
Via Howard at How Appealing, I discovered the amazing story behind some high-profile disbarments in Massachusetts. Part one of Howard's coverage is here, and part two is here. The basic deal is that there was this huge lawsuit over control of a family-owned grocery store chain, and the losing party was upset and suspected the judge was biased...

Cracked Up

Posted on February 04, 2008
I saw this news item about the scuttling of plans to replace the Tomb of the Unknowns monument at Arlington Cemetery. The marble slab has some cracks in it, and is showing its age and the effects of exposure. Cemetery officials think additional repairs (it's been patched up twice) will look bad and not last long; they want to replace the monument with a shiny new one...

50 Book Challenge #4: Um...

Posted on January 28, 2008
Um...: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean by Michael Erard. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) This was a neat one. It's got everything from Spoonerisms to Freudian slips to Bushisms, lots of other verbal flubs, the theories behind them, the Toastmasters, Cicero, and plenty of other reasons to make you pay more attention to your speech...

Blood Simple

Posted on January 27, 2008
I saw this interesting item from Wired. A scientist has developed a DNA test that will reveal the race of the donor. The technology has been used to help solve several crimes, or at least narrow the range of suspects. Yet lots of people, including police and prosecutors, feel sort of squeamish about it...

Well Now What?

Posted on January 26, 2008
My preferred candidate has dropped out of the presidential race. So now I'm left to look through the remaining options for a suitable option. While I haven't had the annoyance of anyone trying to recruit me to another candidate, this pretty much sums up my current feelings...

50 Book Challenge #3: Manhunt

Posted on January 25, 2008
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) This one is pretty much exactly what the title says: a very thorough, detailed, researched telling of the aftermath of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. It's really more about John Wilkes Booth's flight than it is about the hunt for him, but there's plenty of detail about his pursuers...

Crime and Punishment, Take Two

Posted on January 23, 2008
A few days ago I wrote about this ongoing controversy in the golf world over an announcer making a jesting comment that golfers should gang up and "lynch" Tiger Woods. Woods, for the record, is clearly ready to let it go, saying everything is "said and done...

Choices

Posted on January 22, 2008
Via De Novo, I see that today was "Blog for Choice Day," an initiative of the group Pro-Choice America. Of course, I already mentioned that today is the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. Because it's an election year, I suppose, the folks at Pro-Choice America are asking us what it means to vote pro-choice...

Maybe it was an amicus filing in the DC gun ban case...

Posted on January 19, 2008
Here's a tip: If you ask someone for directions to the U.S. Supreme Court building and say you have an appointment with the Chief Justice, it's probably not a smart idea to be carrying a loaded shotgun, a tactical bow and arrow, and a samurai sword. (Noted here at The Corner, Wonkette, and The Politico, but still waiting to see something on How Appealing, SCOTUSBlog, or even Above the Law...

50 Book Challenge #2: Heartsick

Posted on January 14, 2008
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) After Entertainment Weekly called this one a "profoundly creepy thriller," I picked up the audio version (read by Midland, Texas's own Carolyn McCormick). It was good enough that there were several times when I sat in my car and waited for a scene to end before I could turn it off...

Why don't we just lynch her?

Posted on January 11, 2008
I haven't been following this news too closely, but it's hard to miss the increasingly breathless reports that an announcer for the Golf Channel, Kelly Tilghman, was suspended. (In the interest of full disclosure, I will point out that Tilghman went to Duke, although I didn't know that until after I had heard about this controversy and formed an opinion on it...

50 Book Challenge #1: Then We Came to the End

Posted on January 10, 2008
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) I'll admit I was dubious. This book got rave reviews, but I thought, It's about an advertising agency in the early days of the dot-com bust, circa 2001. Wouldn't that seem dated? And it's written in the first-person plural...

They were all like, literally literate

Posted on January 04, 2008
I've lost the source by now, but sometime over the holiday I caught some scold criticizing a public figure (a politician, I think) for talking about her parents and using the construction "They were like, 'Blah blah blah,' and I was like, 'Whatever.'" According to the critic, the speaker should have used "said" instead of "were like," asserting not only that "were like" is wrong but also that is sets a bad example for people who might emulate the public figure...

50 Book Challenge

Posted on January 03, 2008
I'm doing the 50 Book Challenge again this year. I think I got into the thirties last time, so we'll see if I can top that in 2008. I'll have a couple of reviews coming soon, but this will turn into a post where I'll collect links to all the reviews...

Cuteness Overload

Posted on December 30, 2007
Thought I would give readers a quick update on the puppy. Magnus will turn 1 year old next month, and is currently weighing in at about 120 lbs. In case you were wondering how he and Baby Haff are getting along, I present the following picture.Hope everyone's 2008 is happy, healthy and prosperous.

Sebastian and Milbarge Discuss the GOP Race

Posted on December 22, 2007
Sebastian and I have been engaging in a mini-debate over the race for the Republican nomination, and I thought I would share it with BTQ readers. Feel free to chime in. Posting around here should be a little light over the next several days, so I hope everyone enjoys whatever holiday they decide to celebrate...

What if we could live forever?

Posted on December 21, 2007
Scott Adams had a post at The Dilbert Blog recently in which he mentioned, in passing, an invention that allows doctors to "print" organs by replicating a patient's cells, layer-by-layer. Adams didn't cite his source, but let's assume for now this device is legit and fantasize about a world in which it is accessible at any hospital and could replace virtually any failing human organ...

The Dynasty Issue

Posted on December 20, 2007
Sebastian mentioned something in his recent "least bad Democrat" post I've been meaning to respond to. It's the issue of political "dynasties" and whether the thought of having another Clinton in the White House will turn voters off Hillary. (The image at left, of course, is a cast shot from the classic '80s soap opera Dynasty...

Signs you've joined the right church...

Posted on December 18, 2007
At a monthly pot luck dinner, the following things happen:1. Your 18 month old daughter runs up to the wine table, and an elderly lady nearby smiles and says, "What a good little Episcopalian."2. The head clergy gets up to make an announcement encouraging people to attend the New Years Eve party by saying, "The music will be divine, the food will be delectable, and the bar will be open...

Quick musings on the writers strike

Posted on December 18, 2007
1: Once the strike is over, will the writers be able to write about the writers strike?2: What happens for shows in their final season, like Smallville, who's actors probably had summer gigs lined up already? Will their contract to the show force them out of other commitments?3: If Leno and Conan come back on the air without writers and are just as funny, doesn't much of the writers' standing go out the window?4: Thank god they finished the new Batman movie before this happened...

The Internet and Crazy Cases

Posted on December 16, 2007
My eye caught the news last week that Marrita Murphy filed a cert petition in the Supreme Court. See more at How Appealing, SCOTUSBlog, and the Tax Prof Blog. The petition is noteworthy because Ms. Murphy won a short-lived victory in the D.C. Circuit a few months ago in her suit against the IRS...

Keep your geo-political speculation to yourself

Posted on December 12, 2007
Being the history major, and if I may be so bold, buff, checking recent archeology news is a daily routine. Archaeology.org has a great recent headlines section. Yesterday it contained this brief article summary:The Paleolithic paintings in the French cave of Lascaux are threatened by mold...

How are you dealing with the tv writers' strike?

Posted on December 11, 2007
Now that most network tv shows are running out of new episodes, thanks to the writers' strike, I'm realizing that I have a lot of free time. I don't watch as much television as I used to, but there are several shows I watch every week. Or did, that is...

Agreeing with TAPPED - Episode 1

Posted on December 05, 2007
A while back I wrote a post arguing with something said on the TAPPED blog, one of my daily stops. I intended it to be a reoccurring feature. I've seen plenty over there to argue with since then, but time and laziness have prevented any actual posting...

Least bad Democratic candidate

Posted on December 05, 2007
Milbarge asked me for my take on the least objectionable Democratic presidential candidate. I will profess some ignorance of the lesser candidates policy points, so will focus on the Big 3.ClintonActually seems like the most centrist of the three. Is not completely naive about foreign policy and the consequences of an immediate troop withdrawal in Iraq...

Oh, I forgot...

Posted on November 30, 2007
BTQ turned four last week.

Random question after looking at a map of the world

Posted on November 28, 2007
Why has there never been a band called "St. Vincent and the Grenadines"? I picture them as a '50s doo-wop group.

In Defense of Jessica Simpson

Posted on November 27, 2007
I've seen this Macy's ad a few times now:It's a bunch of celebrities, including Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Emeril, and P. Diddy, decorating a Macy's store for the holidays. Near the end, Jessica Simpson trips over an electric cord and pulls the plug from the outlet...

Is "Happy Holidays" a Promise or a Threat?

Posted on November 24, 2007
If you ever feel a little blue this time of year, you really need to read Megan Seling's devastatingly awesome essay on depression in The Stranger. In fact, you ought to read it regardless, although I wouldn't recommend reading it while sitting alone in a restaurant having dinner on a Friday night...

Book Recommendations?

Posted on November 19, 2007
I recently came into possession of a free book download credit from Audible.com. I know some people don't like audiobooks, but I don't mind being read to, especially for free. But I can't decide what to get. The Audible website isn't as easy to browse as a book store...

Political Predictions

Posted on November 18, 2007
I asked Sebastian to keep us updated on his political thoughts as the 2008 presidential race progressed. He posted an early assessment of the GOP bunch back in May, and I was very interested in whether those first impressions have changed, or how different things look...

Updated take on the GOP field

Posted on November 13, 2007
There have been some changes since my last assessment of the GOP presidential nominees. Milbarge asked me to give an update on my feelings about the candidates. I'm giving it a shot, but I don't know how much my impressions have changed.Rudy GiulianiHe still bugs me...

My Gift to the Paranoid

Posted on November 12, 2007
This is pretty cool and pretty scary at the same time: the Global Incident Map. It's a real-time display of "terrorism and other suspicious activity." There tends to be a lot of "other," which I guess is a good thing. But it certainly makes it seem like things are blowing up all over...

The wisdom of age?

Posted on November 11, 2007
At what age are you expected to know who you are? I don't mean this in the existential form. At what age should you have assessed your personality as it pertains to other people? I've wondered this off and on for a while now, but it was recently brought back up by one of my wife's co-workers...