BRENNER FISSELL: Taxpayers as Victims: Taxpayer Harm & Criminalization. “Criminal statutes are least objectionable when they are justified by the notion that the conduct being prohibited is harmful to others. Over the past few decades, a new argument has arisen that makes this very easy to do. This argument appeals to the reality that often when one’s conduct causes or risks physical injury to one’s self, governmental services (e.g. rescue, police, healthcare) will be provided, and that the cost of these services is an unfair burden imposed upon taxpayers. This argument understands the taxpayers to be victims, and the self-harming conduct to therefore be harmful to others, and justifiably criminalized. This Article unearths this so far un-assessed argument from various legal sources, and analyzes it with the tools of criminal law theory to see whether or not it can hold water. Ultimately, the conclusion is ‘no,’ and an alternative solution is advanced: civil liability.”

My own feeling is that since paying taxes does not give one standing to sue, injury to taxpayers isn’t a sufficient predicate for crime. Or civil liability. If the government doesn’t want to spend the money, or collect the taxes, it doesn’t have to.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 66.

ROGER SIMON: Obama Big Loser In Zimmerman Trial. “By injecting himself in a minor Florida criminal case by implying Martin could be his son, the president of the United States — a former law professor, of all things — disgraced himself and his office, made a mockery of our legal system and exacerbated racial tensions in our country, making them worse than they have been in years. This is the work of a reactionary, someone who consciously/unconsciously wants to push our nation back to the 1950s.” Have you noticed that there seems to be a lot of fifties-nostalgia among today’s left? Forward — to the past!

Plus: “Of course, they aren’t the only ones. Almost everyone is a victim in this case that should never have been tried. George Zimmerman will never live a normal life. The American public has been polarized with emotions stirred up for absolutely no reason. Racism is essentially manufactured, as if it were a commodity.” For some political organizations, it’s a necessity.

And: “Congratulations to the jury for not acceding to this tremendous pressure.” Yes, they stood up to the organized pressure better than Chief Justice Roberts.

Related: It’s the 50′s again Black Man Acquitted of Murder Powerful & Influential outraged!

LIKE I SAID, EVEN A FLATWORM IS SMART ENOUGH TO TURN AWAY FROM PAIN: Germans Re-Thinking “Turn” to Green Energy.

In the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the German government made the much-heralded decision to close all the country’s nuclear reactors as part of its Energiewende, or “energy revolution.” The “revolution” also included government mandates and massive subsidies for renewable energy.

While Germans gleefully embraced the “Nuclear Power? No Thanks!” movement and global greens pointed to Germany as the future of the Green Economy, the sheen is starting to come off the German revolution. The last few months have been a slaughter for the German solar energy. Amid talk of a trade war with China over cheap imported solar panels, the giant German engineering firm Siemens shuttered its solar division after hemorrhaging more than a billion dollars in just two years.

Now Forbes reports that the rest of the German solar industry isn’t following far behind: two of the country’s biggest solar firms, Conenergy and Gehrlicher Solar, both filed for insolvency last week. Another engineering titan, Bosch, has also decided to get out of the solar market.

Meanwhile, the country’s other major green energy project—off-shore windfarms in the Baltic and North Sea—is also threatening to turn into a boondoggle. The massive projects off the northern coast of Germany are supposed to supply 9% of the country’s energy needs by 2023 and were a cornerstone of the government’s plan to abandon nuclear power. Yet engineering challenges, uncertainty around future energy prices and NIMBYs who object to overhead high-tension wires passing through their neighborhoods all threaten to make the project a dangerous white elephant.

These programs look more like crony capitalism than workable alternative energy.

DERSHOWITZ 1, ANGELA COREY 0: FLASHBACK: Exclusive – Prosecutor Angela Corey letter claiming libel by Florida Times Union. “Yesterday, Alan Dershowitz alleged that Corey threatened to sue for libel based on Dershowitz’s criticisms of Corey’s handling of the Zimmerman case, particularly the decision to charge 2nd Degree murder and the alleged failure to disclose material facts in the Affidavit of Probable Cause submitted to the court.” With public officials, there’s usually an inverse relationship between competence and thin-skinnedness.

Related: State Never Proved Its Case, Legal Analysts Say.

HEH: “I wish Zimmerman had never sent that telegram.”

YA THINK? Transparency Troubles: Secrecy concerns mount for Obama in 2nd term.

AT AMAZON, Weekend Deals in TV & Video.

Also, today only: ProForm Power 995c Treadmill, $799 (60% off).

SPYING: Timeline: How the World Was Misled About Government Skype Eavesdropping. “Since it was purchased by Microsoft in 2011, Skype has been extremely evasive on the issue of government surveillance. Now, a string of leaked secret details from the National Security Agency reveal why.”

IT’S NO BETTER HERE: Spy Chief: We Risk A Police State. “Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.”

FRED BARNES ON THE STATES: Republican attorneys general: the unsung heroes in challenging the Obama agenda.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? SEIU working forward with U.S. Chamber for immigration reform.

THE HILL: In a blow to Democrats, Schweitzer bows out of Senate race in Montana.

Schweitzer’s decision comes as a major blow to Democrats’ efforts to keep the seat to be vacated next year by retiring Sen. Max Baucus (D).

“There are all kinds of people that think I should be in the U.S. Senate,” Schweitzer told the AP. “But I never wanted to be in the U.S. Senate. I kicked the tires. I walked to the edge and looked over.”

Well, that’s to his credit. But also, as a pro-gun Democrat, he probably figured Mike Bloomberg would be running ads against him.

FREE SPEECH IN OBAMA’S AMERICA: In Today’s America, Consult Your Attorney Before Speaking Freely. Those who would crush speech — or simply annoy it out of existence with bureaucratic hassles — must be punished sufficiently that they won’t try it again. Even a flatworm is smart enough to turn away from pain. And they’re on about that level, for the most part.

WELL, THAT’S A RELIEF: Police: Mableton fatal assault not racially motivated.

The deadly assault of a Mableton man has become a national story, at least online, with several web sites and blogs claiming Joshua Chellew was killed because he was white.

Initially reported as a hit-and-run, police now say Chellew died June 30 after an attack by four black teenagers in Cobb County.

According to the arrest warrant, the 36-year-old victim was repeatedly punched and kicked by the youths outside a Chevron gas station. Chellew, badly beaten, eventually stumbled onto Mableton Parkway, where he was run over. He died at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Witnesses told police that the four suspects made no attempt to aid Chellew or stop the approaching vehicle that hit him. The driver of that car was not charged, said Cobb Police Sgt. Dana Pierce.

A brutal crime, no question, but not one fueled by racial animosity, according to investigators.

“This was not racially motivated,” Pierce told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Cobb County police are investigating this like any other crime.”

Read the whole thing.

BIG SIS: Napolitano’s move from DHS to California schools chief draws protests.

“University of California students can look forward to the same authoritarian management style Secretary Napolitano brought to the Department of Homeland Security, hardly a bastion of free speech and open government,” said Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a California Republican. “While I am pleased to see her leave Homeland Security, Napolitano’s views are entirely incompatible with the UC system’s history of civil liberties and the decision to appoint her is perplexing.”

Those views were echoed by immigrant-rights advocates who predicted Ms. Napolitano’s move to run the school system, expected in September, will be “met with protests.”

“UC should take the opportunity to thoroughly examine her record in Arizona and at DHS to see if it reflects the university’s values before they confirm her to this important post,” said Chris Newman, legal director for the Los Angeles-based National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

Given her problems with sexual harassment/discrimination at DHS, I hope that the University of California’s massive HR apparatus will instruct her on appropriate behavior.

YOU’RE GONNA WANT A REALLY GOOD MOUTHWASH AFTERWARD: Richard Grenell Chews On ThinkProgress.

LIFE IN OBAMA’S POST-RACIAL AMERICA: Twitter Lynch Mob Threatens To Kill George Zimmerman. I hope someone will report all these threatening tweets to the FBI.

UPDATE: On the other hand, as usual, people are behaving better in real life than they do on the Internet: “Note: No one is rioting. I heard predictions that there would be riots, and I always thought these predictions were unseemly (if not actively racist). After the verdict was announced, CNN had a reporter in the crowd outside the courthouse, seemingly looking for angry black people to interview — and not finding any.”

Well, they rioted in Oakland, but that’s hardly news.

TWEET OF THE DAY: “No matter how much contempt you have for the media in all this, you don’t have enough.”

SMART DIPLOMACY UPDATE: Tweet from Egypt: “Just TV-peeped at Cairo’s Rabia Al Adawiya – scathing anti-US slogans. Must be biggest openly anti-US demo in Middle East since 79.” He means Iran in 1979. Great.

ZIMMEMAN VERDICT REACHED: Not Guilty. This is a prosecution that never should have been brought — as, indeed, the responsible authorities had already concluded before the case was turned into a political circus. But count on Obama, Sharpton, et al., to use this to promote racial division.

UPDATE: “So a Hispanic shoots a black and is acquitted by women, but it’s still white men’s fault.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Heh.

ANOTHER GARY TAUBES SUCCESS STORY? Reader Brent Smith writes:

Just wanted to drop a line to say thanks for turning me on to Gary Taubes via Instapundit, one of my favorite sites on the interwebs. Just following basic Taubes advice I’m down 31 pounds in just over 4 months, going from 260 to 229. I’m tall (6′-5″) so I’m almost where I want to be, and it’s been so easy and by far the best “diet” I’ve tried. I still enjoy beer and wine too. It took a couple of years of you posting about Taubes before I looked into it, so keep up the good work getting the word out!

Oh, and I try to use the Amazon button whenever I can to help your site out. Seems only fair considering the amount of great info I glean from it every single day.

Slim and stylish.

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: Introducing the Debra Lafave Bad Teacher Award.

WILL THE FIRST TRILLIONAIRES COME FROM space enterprise? Well, either that or runaway inflation.