Monthly Archives: April 2009

The Problem of Persuasion

One of the many things they don’t teach you in law school is how to persuade someone, especially someone in a black robe. How do you “make your case”? Law school did teach me how to do legal analysis—or at least … Continue reading

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Secure the Good, Amend the Evil

I recently subscribed to The Green Bag, subtitled “An Entertaining Journal of Law.” Having read through most of the Winter 2009 edition (the only one I’ve received so far), I’m not sure the word “entertaining” usefully describes this journal, but … Continue reading

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Hobbes, Heidegger, Rawls, Bruce, and a Priest Walk into a Bar

I have elsewhere suggested that granting religious exemptions to otherwise generally applicable laws is a bad idea because, of the two ideas in conflict—the religious idea of the exempted person and the legal idea of the society, the legal idea … Continue reading

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Or a Cunning Hacker?

So it appears that maybe Amazon.com is not engaging in censorship. A hacker says he did it, basically by exploiting an Amazon.com “feature” for reporting “inappropriate content.” I’ve always thought those kinds of “features” on websites were dangerous. “Weev” says he … Continue reading

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There Are No Dirty Books, Only Dirty Booksellers

Watch out for the censorship—it’s everywhere: even on Amazon.com. (Also, despite his appearance in the photo accompanying the linked article, Gore Vidal is still alive.)

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Justice Jackson was All Too Right

Robert H. Jackson, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and former United States Attorney General, made a famous observation about appellate argument: I made three arguments of every case. First, came the one that I planned as I … Continue reading

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All the Penns of the Rainbow

Nice. So while Sean Penn is just an irritating, big-mouthed, political blowhard, Kal Penn (a.k.a. “Kumar,” a.k.a. “Dr. Kutner“) is actually going to work for the White House as a low-level staffer: [I]t’s not exactly a glamour job—he’s actually going to be a … Continue reading

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Mid Cal Tour of Champions

I just discovered that Drum Corps International (DCI) will be in Clovis on Friday, June 26, 2009, for the “Mid Cal Tour of Champions.” Performing corps include the Blue Devils, corps A, B, and C, the Blue Knights, the Bluecoats, the … Continue reading

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