"I disagree with you, but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler." – Jon Stewart
Posted in Blog Post on Oct 5th, 2010
Guilty on 16 Counts in Connecticut Triple Murder – NYTimes.com. I’m am generally not a fan of the death penalty. It’s not fairly implemented (not very many white millionaires on death row), it’s uncorrectable if new evidence exonerates the defendant and it’s really expensive. Besides, forcing someone to exist in a maximum security prison for [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Sep 8th, 2010
It’s a sad day for the rule of law in America when courts countenance this kind of barbarity without even allowing a day in court: The lead plaintiff in the case is Binyam Mohamed, an Ethopian citizen and legal resident of the United Kingdom who was arrested in Pakistan on immigration charges. He claimed he [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Aug 4th, 2010
Prop 8 Ruled Unconstitutional – The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan. Down in flames, appeals sure to follow. This really will need to go to the Supreme Court. The real fear for me is that the Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Kennedy wing of the court will see nothing wrong with enshrining discrimination in a [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Apr 25th, 2010
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: On Goldman. Bonddad at 538 seems to believe that the SEC has a very strong case against Goldman Sachs. The issue at hand is essentially lying to investors about mortgage backed securities that were sold, while at the same time betting against the same securities. This allowed them to make a [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Apr 6th, 2010
I have 2 broadband providers available in my area: Verizon and Brighthouse. Since Verirzon blocks ports I need for my Linux mail server and web server, I really have one choice, Brighthouse. They are owned by Time-Warner. The idea that they might decide to slow or stop traffic for content at their discretion is troubling. [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Mar 19th, 2010
Slashdot Your Rights Online Story | Company Sued, Loses For Not Using Patented Tech. This verdict would seem to turn the patent system, which is flawed in any case, into a mandatory license to print money. If manufacturers can be sued for not including patented technology in their products where does stop? This seems badly [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Jan 14th, 2010
File this under “no surprise”. Funny how downloads prices are remarkably similar across different providers for content from the big 3 record companies. Also there’s a note that the labels gave themselves a raise at customer expense even though costs dropped in the move away from CD to digital downloads. Sounds like there’s significant distortions [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Jan 12th, 2010
Conservatives Ignore GWB Record on Terrorist Trials | Crooks and Liars. Effective push back against Liz Cheney and others of her ilk by Jason Sigger at Crooks & Liars. Turns out the Bushies made frequent and effective use of civilian courts to try people on terrorism charges. Much more effective than the military tribunal train [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Jun 10th, 2009
via Lawyers plan class-action to reclaim “$100M+” RIAA “stole” – Ars Technica. Not content simply to defend Jammie Thomas-Rasset in her high-profile retrial next week in Minnesota, lawyer Kiwi Camara is joining forces with Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson to file a class-action lawsuit against the recording industry later this summer. The goal is nothing [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Jul 16th, 2008
It seems bizarre that it’s necessary to explain why torture is bad. I found this Rolling Stone piece via Andrew Sullivan on the path taken by a 15 year old prisoner from the early months of the action in Afghanistan. What happened to him at the hands of Americans is flatly, obviously torture. They took [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Jun 13th, 2008
We were one vote away from destroying the most basic of rights and underpinnings of our constitution: Justices Rule Terror Suspects Can Appeal in Civilian Courts – NYTimes.com Foreign terrorism suspects held at the Guantánamo Bay naval base in Cuba have constitutional rights to challenge their detention there in United States courts, the Supreme Court [...]
Posted in Blog Post on May 16th, 2008
Tortures Blowback – washingtonpost.com THE GHOSTS of interrogations past have come back to haunt the Bush administration. This week, the legal officer supervising the military trials at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, dismissed capital charges against Mohammed al-Qahtani, who allegedly would have been the 20th hijacker during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Apr 1st, 2008
As Jefferson Ruling Stands, Prosecutors Feel Stymied – washingtonpost.com The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will not review a lower court’s decision that an FBI raid on Rep. William J. Jefferson’s congressional office violated the Constitution, a ruling that federal prosecutors had said could make lawmakers’ offices a “sanctuary for crime.” And how is [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Feb 13th, 2008
EzraKlein Archive | The American Prospect I strongly agree with Ezra’s post. Job one: Close Guantanamo. No dallying around thinking about it. Scrap the military tribunal kangaroo court. Put them in a Federal maximum security facility and start civilian trials. The issue will be that evidence gained through torture won’t be admissible, and it shouldn’t [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Jan 12th, 2008
US Appellate Court, DC circuit holds that innocent people held as prisoners and tortured in US custody are essentialy a sort of judicial unperson. McClatchy Washington Bureau | 01/11/2008 | In voiding suit, appellate court says torture is to be expected The detainees allege that they were held in stress positions, interrogated for sessions lasting [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Dec 30th, 2007
It was just a matter of time: Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use – washingtonpost.com Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Nov 3rd, 2007
Crooks and Liars » Rev. Fred Phelps loses 11 million in lawsuit—cries: “Hogwash!” I wonder why CNN wanted to give this person airtime? All he did was make an ass out of himself and never even attempted to address any questions in an intelligible way.
Posted in Blog Post on Oct 31st, 2007
The Westboro Baptist hate group Church gets a well deserved comeuppance. Father Awarded Millions for Funeral Protest – New York Times
Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 18th, 2007
Appeals Court upholds FCC anti-line-sharing rules Why? I have exactly 1 phone company, and 1 cable company offering broadband to my house. I’m not in the boonies. How is this enough competition? If the incumbents aren’t forced to share they won’t. period. Broadband is a natural monopoly, rife with market failure and barriers to entering [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Oct 14th, 2007
This makes the argument that telcos should be exempted from lawsuits arising from their extra-legal cooperation with NSA spying because they were patriotically trying to help protect the nation after 9-11 specious. Former CEO Says U.S. Punished Phone Firm – washingtonpost.com A former Qwest Communications International executive, appealing a conviction for insider trading, has alleged [...]
Date: 04/17/2008