MORE CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS: Number of Colleges Allowing Concealed Carry on Campus More Than Doubles.
Archive for 2010
May 12, 2010
LIKE NEURONS IN THE BRAIN: A molecular computer that evolves.
TUNKU VARADARAJAN: Britons are getting Cameron, not Camelot. “It is remarkable that Britain and America, whose Special Relationship is crying out for full-scale refueling, are both now led by men with such scant political experience.”
SPEAKING Globish.
FROM A BUNCH OF MILBLOGGERS, a joint statement in support of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Not a milblogger myself, but I agree.
IN THE MAIL: The Women’s Small Business Start-Up Kit: A Step-by-Step Legal Guide. Looks like it ought to work just fine for men, too . . . .
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Coming After Your 401(k)? “Democrats have obliquely admitted they covet Americans’ pensions. Last week, congressional Republicans told them to stay away. The shame is that they had to do anything at all.”
SOLUTION TO OIL SPILLS: Hay?
AT CHICAGOBOYZ, a review of Senator’s Son: An Iraq War Novel by Luke S. Larson.
JACOB SULLUM ON ELENA KAGAN: The Bounds of Silence: Obama’s Supreme Court pick looks wobbly on freedom of speech.
RADLEY BALKO: A DRUG RAID GOES VIRAL. A violent drug raid posted to YouTube catches fire online. But the only thing unusual about the raid is that it was caught on video.
As of this morning, the video had garnered 950,000 views on YouTube. It has lit up message boards, blogs, and discussion groups around the Web, unleashing anger, resentment and even, regrettably, calls for violence against the police officers who conducted the raid. I’ve been writing about and researching these raids for about five years, including raids that claimed the lives of innocent children, grandmothers, college students, and bystanders. Innocent families have been terrorized by cops who raided on bad information, or who raided the wrong home due to some careless mistake. There’s never been a reaction like this one.
But despite all the anger the raid has inspired, the only thing unusual thing here is that the raid was captured on video, and that the video was subsequently released to the press. Everything else was routine. Save for the outrage coming from Columbia residents themselves, therefore, the mass anger directed at the Columbia Police Department over the last week is misdirected. Raids just like the one captured in the video happen 100-150 times every day in America. Those angered by that video should probably look to their own communities. Odds are pretty good that your local police department is doing the same thing.
Read the whole thing. And note the attempted cover up by the police. Plus this: “We’ve seen about a 1,500 percent increase in SWAT deployments in this country since the early 1980s. The vast majority of that increase has been to serve search warrants on people suspected of nonviolent drug crimes.”
I SAID THAT HARVARD LAW WAS NOW KINGSFIELD-FREE, but this Elena Kagan transcript shows he’s not entirely forgotten.
The good news, though, is that rumors of an Elena Kagan / Eliot Spitzer date are false.
A REPORT FROM THE Bexar County Open Car and Cycle Show.
DON SURBER: Mollohan Did Not See It Coming. “Apparently, Official Washington has not learned the lesson of Scott Brown.”
MICHAEL BARONE ON THE KAGAN PICK: “Professor chooses professor. That’s one headline you could write about Barack Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.”
Democrat Rep. Alan Mollohan, a 17-year veteran in the House, was defeated by fellow Democrat Mike Oliverio in yesterday’s primary, 56%-44%.
It’s worth noting that Senator Bob Bennett, who lost his seat last week, is an appropriator. So is Mollohan…and guess what, so is Arlen Specter, whose primary is scheduled for next week.
Squeal like a pig.
HEADLINE OF THE DAY: A Haunted Specter Running Scared In PA.
OUR SEXIST HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM: Huge College Degree Gap for Class of 2010. “For last year’s graduating Class of 2009, women dominated at every level of higher education. Here’s the national breakdown: for every 100 men, 142 women graduated with a bachelor’s, 159 women completed a master’s and 107 women got a doctoral degree. ” Obviously, we need to extend Title IX beyond athletics . . . .
You think I’m kidding but I’m not sure I am. Since we’ve given up on merit and instead focus on group representation nowadays, what’s the argument against such an approach?
A NEW BOOK COMING SOON from scholarly fraud Michael Bellesiles.
Here’s Jim Lindgren’s Yale Law Journal piece on Bellesiles’ fraud. Note that he was stripped of his Bancroft Prize, and lost his tenured position at Emory University, too.
More thoughts from Clayton Cramer: “I’m just amazed. Maybe 1877 is a fine book. But the extent of his exposure from scholars across the spectrum was so overwhelming that the smartest thing he could do is not remind anyone of Arming America. It’s rather like deciding to go straight–but include a copy of the Wanted poster for bank robbery with your resume.”
Related: A reliable book about 1877.
WHY NORTHROP CHOSE VIRGINIA: “The crucial difference is that Virginia is a better place to do business. Forbes magazine rates the state as the most business-friendly in the nation. With a 6 percent corporate tax rate, it costs less to run a business in Virginia than either the District (9 percent) or Maryland (8.25 percent).”
CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS: Restaurant Carry bill passes in Tennessee, goes to Bredesen for signature.
Plus, licensed carry now allowed at Colorado community colleges.
COMING NEXT: Drunks Against Alcoholism. And the Tiger Woods Sex Addiction Foundation.