Legal Commentary

"Small government" vs. "Big government"

Posted on January 14, 2008
Jonah Goldberg writes about the changing nature of conservatism, implicitly lamenting the rise of several conservative movements which he perceives to be "cris de coeur" against what he labels "mainstream conservatism."  It's a perceptive piece.  There does seem to be an increased reluctance on the part of many people identifying themselves as conservatives to repeat the mantra of "small government, small government" that we've heard so often since 1980...

What's wrong with libertarianism?

Posted on January 12, 2008
Some musings about the pros and cons of libertarianism from Michael Kinsley:Libertarians are quick to see hidden costs of ignoring libertarian principles and slow to see such costs in adhering to them. For example, Tucker Carlson reports in the Dec. 31 New Republic that Ron Paul wants to end the federal ban on unpasteurized milk...

Law vs. Medicine, and law school vs. medical school

Posted on January 11, 2008
I've gotten several email requests over the past few weeks from people who are trying to decide whether to pursue a career in law and/or medicine, asking what the professions are like and what the training for each of them entails. Since more people with the same question may find my blog but won't want to email me directly, I thought I'd post a generic version of what I've said about the subject here...

To my friends in New Hampshire

Posted on January 08, 2008
To each and every one of my political soul mates who live in New Hampshire, please, please, please go out and vote today.Barack Obama won a great victory in Iowa, and he's been getting a lot of good press.  But none of that may matter if you don't lace up your boots and go vote.

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New layout coming

Posted on December 27, 2007
Over the next week or so I hope to transform this blog into one with three columns under the banner.So if you come here and see chaos, that's probably what's going on. Chaos. As in, "why won't this fracking thing work?"For the next few days, though, all is safe...

Why not?

Posted on December 26, 2007
Let's give ourselves a break from all this nostalgia, shall we?Now it's time for something completely different.

Countdown to the new year: battlestar galactica

Posted on December 25, 2007
Continuing our nostalgic trip: this past year I saw some of the new Battlestar Galactica with a friend of mine from law school. It rocked, and it reminded me of how much (as a seven-year-old) I liked the old series. Yes, the effects look kind of cheesy now, but I still like the old Battlestar Galactica...

Countdown to the new year: memories of medical school

Posted on December 24, 2007
As we approach New Year's Day, we traditionally prepare to make new year's resolutions by looking back at our past.  We take stock of what has come before, and we indulge our nostalgia for the good things that we've seen and done.There's no better way to indulge nostalgia on the eve of 2008 than by browsing YouTube...

Cats make the best exterminators

Posted on December 21, 2007
"Amid the goods found in the stores, there is one thing that many owners and employees say they cannot do without: their cats. And it goes beyond cuddly companionship. These cats are workers, tireless and enthusiastic hunters of unwanted vermin, and they typically do a far better job than exterminators and poisons...

How to rid yourself of evil

Posted on December 18, 2007
Or, failing that, how to give yourself a nasty headache.HT: GruntDoc

Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear

Posted on December 06, 2007
Nick Thornborrow has painted a great Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear from Phillip Pullman's Golden Compass. This week, we'll get to see a movie version of Byrnison, voiced by Ian McKellen.  This is one movie I'm gonna have to see.

ER overcrowding

Posted on November 29, 2007
The public doesn't really care about the problem of ER overcrowding, right?Well, maybe as a matter of public policy, Iraq and immigration have a firmer grip on the public's collective attention. But for people who have had to be a patient in an ER, and have had to wait for hours and hours to get a simple medical problem addressed, ER overcrowding is a big deal...

Another reason not to be a republican

Posted on November 28, 2007
The NYT has an article about the differences between the Democratic and Republican candidates on energy policy:For Democrats, the goal of energy policy is largely about reducing oil consumption and has become inseparable from the goal of reducing the risk of climate change...

We're not taking responsibility now. Don't make it worse.

Posted on November 26, 2007
If you have some time on your hands, read this post on Crooked Timber praising Michael Sandel's The Case Against Perfection.Harry emphasizes Sandel's point that enhancement technologies might plausibly erode our understanding that many of our talents are gifted, and that this wouldn't be a good thing...

Just because you like China Miéville's books....

Posted on November 25, 2007
China Miéville is one of my favorite authors, but oh! His taste in other writers is atrocious. I'm reading M. John Harrison's Viriconium, a collection of novels by a guy that Miéville says "is one of the very great writers alive today." Well, I can't tell it from the stuff I've read so far...

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