IN TODAY’S NEW YORK TIMES, Mark Helprin argues for perpetual copyright. I don’t think his analogy to real estate works, though, unless copyright holders are put at risk of losing their copyrights unless they pay an annual tax on their property, or face easements by prescription, or, well, you get the idea.

At any rate, Rob Merges and I wrote an article a few years ago on why perpetual copyright — and in particular Congressional action to extend existing copyrights and patents — runs afoul of the Constitution. I should note that the Supreme Court didn’t agree with us, but I see that as the Court’s error, not ours, and hope that it will be corrected in time.

Anyway, you can read the article, which draws on both common-law notions of monopoly and intellectual property, and enumerated-powers Constitutional theory, by clicking right here.

EARLIER I LINKED TO AN ITEM ABOUT INCOMPETENCE AT THE CPA, and “hidden” information from a Word file. Here’s a post saying that there’s less to that story than advertised.

RANDY NEAL got 65.9 miles per gallon in his Prius, and he’s pretty happy about it.

“F*** YOU: The inside story.”

TO FACILITATE DISCUSSION, N.Z. Bear has put the immigration bill online in an annotatable, linkable form. More background on what he’s done, and how to use it, here.

IN RESPONSE TO OUR PODCAST ON THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS, quite a few readers have emailed to suggest that this is the real article. I think that Conn Iggulden would agree, actually.

Meanwhile, various people want to know if there are similar books for girls. I’ll see what I can find. It’s not the same kind of thing, but this book worked out pretty well for the Insta-Daughter.

AN INTERESTING STORY AT USA TODAY on a swath of misery in newly liberated Europe:

A bleak picture springs with stark immediacy from typewritten reports by the Allied officers, found in the massive archive of the International Tracing Service in the central German town of Bad Arolsen. The Associated Press has been given extensive access to the archive on condition that identities of victims and refugees are protected.

Far from scenes of joyful liberation that should have greeted the end of Nazi oppression, the files reveal desperation, loss and confusion, and overwhelmed and often insensitive military authorities.

Many had nowhere to go, their families among the 6 million Jews consumed in the Holocaust, their homes destroyed or handed out to new occupants. Those who wanted to get to Palestine were shut out by a British ban on Jewish immigration to the Israeli state-in-waiting.

“Owing to ill treatment by the Germans, most DPs have a distrust and fear of the Allied authorities,” said a September 1945 report signed by British Lt. Col. C.C. Allan. “Many DPs have sunk into complete apathy regarding their future.”

Read the whole thing. (Via Bruce Webster).

BRINGING BACK “traditional play” for children.

RON PAUL LEADS IN INTERNET POLL: Heh. I keep getting emails from Ron Paul supporters asking why I’ve taken him off my poll, which is odd because he was in my poll. He’s dropped out of the Pajamas Media poll, because he’s at less than one percent in Gallup and that’s the cutoff they use. I also note that nasty emails and spamming don’t help his cause, but seem popular among some of his supporters. (Though given the spamming, I suppose it could be just one of his supporters, really . . . . ) To be fair, there was some Tommy Thompson spamming, too, which somehow strikes me as even sadder.

PAUL GEARY THINKS THAT PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT are getting unhinged over the immigration bill.

There’s definitely some of that. On the other hand, there’s also a lot of rational dismay about the GOP leadership’s efforts here, which have produced yet another self-inflicted wound.

UPDATE: Reader John Lynch emails: “So many people in the Republican party are coming unhinged because they are being ignored.” I think that’s right. He continues: “I favor massively increasing legal immigration (my wife and mother are immigrants.) Illegal immigration simply can’t continue like this- people will freak out. That’s happening before our eyes. What’s amazing is that the political class is so deaf to the concerns of their constituents.” Yes, they seem to regard the law on the books as a sort of opening bid, which I’m afraid accurately reflects the way it guides their own conduct, but which is infuriating to people who have a somewhat less . . . flexible attitude.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Hugh Hewitt has read the entire bill and put up a series of posts. Here’s one with links to all the others.

MORE PROBLEMS WITH TAINTED CHINESE IMPORTS:

Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical.

Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics.Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria.

Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.

These were among the 107 food imports from China that the Food and Drug Administration detained at U.S. ports just last month, agency documents reveal, along with more than 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic Chinese cosmetics and counterfeit Chinese medicines.

For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught — many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry. Now the confluence of two events — the highly publicized contamination of U.S. chicken, pork and fish with tainted Chinese pet food ingredients and this week’s resumption of high-level economic and trade talks with China — has activists and members of Congress demanding that the United States tell China it is fed up.

This has potentially dramatic economic ramifications.

UPDATE: Reader Brian Gates writes — actually, I think, in relation to an earlier post on this topic: “I’ve heard for years that the best thing that could be done to end developing world poverty is free trade, especially in agriculture. I’m not sure what ag interests in the US and EU have done to argue for protectionism in the past, but I’m pretty sure what they do in the future will mention Chinese food exports killing people.” Yes.

A SUGGESTED POLL QUESTION from Mickey Kaus.

LASHAWN BARBER WAS ON RELIABLE SOURCES TODAY talking about milblogging. Report and video clip here.

IN THE MAIL: Stephan Talty’s new book, Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws’ Bloody Reign. Looks very cool.

MICHAEL YON sends another email about how boring things are for him in Iraq:

Boring day today, Sunday. Very quiet. But I see the news and it looks pretty bad. Did long meeting with USMC and Iraqi Police Chiefs today. Was about the most tedious meeting I’ve been to in Iraq — and that means it was glacial. I hope we can make the rest of Iraq like this.

Indeed. If you missed Michael’s email from Anbar yesterday, it’s here.

HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR MOTHER, BABY, STANDING IN THE SHADOWS? Mark Steyn looks at the no-back-taxes provision in the immigration bill and observes:

Whenever folks use this “living in the shadows” line, they assume that these 12-20-30 million people all have a burning desire to move out of the shadows and live under the klieg lights of officialdom. But, in fact, if you wanted to construct the perfect arrangement for modern life, it would be to acquire:

a) just enough of an official identity to be able to function – open bank accounts, etc – and to access free education and health care; but

b) not enough of an official identity to attract the attentions of the IRS and the other less bountiful agencies of the state.

The present “undocumented” network structures provide this. For these Z visas to “work” (in Washington terms), they have to be attractive enough to draw sufficient numbers out of “the shadows”. Right now, “living in the shadows” is a pretty good deal. Somerset Maugham famously called Monte Carlo a sunny place full of shady people. Undocumented America is a shady place full of sunny people.

Instead of attempting to draw the undocumented out of the shadows, it might be fairer to allow the rest of us to “live in the shadows”, too. My suggestion is that, on the day this bill comes into effect, all 300 million US citizens and legal residents should apply for a Z visa.

At a more serious level, however, this captures the disconnect between Washington officialdom’s view of citizenship, and the view held by actual citizens, something that I think is at the core of the immigration debate. More than hostility to illegal immigrants, I think a lot of the backlash is driven by the sense that Washington insiders don’t really value what ordinary law-abiding people do by way of living their lives and, you know, abiding by the law. A voter scorned, and all that . . . .

NIGERIA UPDATE: “The newly elected government is generally considered illegitimate, because of the rigged recent elections. No one expects the corruption and weak economic growth to go away. But the corrupt leaders believe they can keep the game going, by buying the support of some, and using violence to keep everyone else in line. This works in Africa, except in places where the opposition get enough money to buy lots of guns. The Niger delta bandits, however, are piling up lots of cash from kidnapping and theft (mainly of oil). A lot of that money goes into buying guns, cars and speed boats. That might seem scary for the politicians, except that the oil producing region only contains fifteen percent of the nations population. The rest of the country would meet violence with violence is it came to a fight over the oil. This is not speculation. There have been civil wars in Nigeria before, and the outnumbered rebels lost.”

They were exceptionally ugly wars.

ILLEGAL GUN CONFISCATIONS IN KANSAS? I don’t know the guy making this report about the aftermath of the Greensburg, Kansas tornado, but he gives FEMA generally bad marks. I can believe that, but there’s also this:

In the immediate recovery after the storm, FEMA and local police not only worked to find survivors and the dead, but also any firearms in the city. As you pass by houses in Greensburg, you notice that some are spraypainted with how many weapons were recovered from the home. This is central Kansas, a region with extremely high legal gun ownership. Of the over 350 firearms confiscated by police immediately after the storm, only a third have been returned to their owners. FEMA and the police have systematically disarmed the local population, leaving the firepower squarely in control of the state.

If this is true, it violates federal law, which provides:

“SEC. 706. <> FIREARMS POLICIES.

“(a) Prohibition on Confiscation of Firearms.–No officer or employee of the United States (including any member of the uniformed services), or person operating pursuant to or under color of Federal
law, or receiving Federal funds, or under control of any Federal official, or providing services to such an officer, employee, or other person, while acting in support of relief from a major disaster or
emergency, may–

“(1) temporarily or permanently seize, or authorize seizure
of, any firearm the possession of which is not prohibited under

[[Page 120 STAT. 1392]]

Federal, State, or local law, other than for forfeiture in
compliance with Federal law or as evidence in a criminal
investigation;
“(2) require registration of any firearm for which
registration is not required by Federal, State, or local law;
“(3) prohibit possession of any firearm, or promulgate any
rule, regulation, or order prohibiting possession of any
firearm, in any place or by any person where such possession is
not otherwise prohibited by Federal, State, or local law; or
“(4) prohibit the carrying of firearms by any person
otherwise authorized to carry firearms under Federal, State, or
local law, solely because such person is operating under the
direction, control, or supervision of a Federal agency in
support of relief from the major disaster or emergency.

I hope that the firearms rights community will look into this, because if the report is correct both FEMA and the police are in violation of federal law. While the law is relatively new, it was signed six months ago, and there’s no excuse for FEMA, etc. not knowing about it. What’s more, the local police are covered by the law as working with FEMA, and, presumably, receiving some sort of federal funding. Note that the statute provides for a private right of action, and an award of attorney’s fees to an aggrieved party.

I’ve emailed FEMA’s public affairs office to ask about this account.

UPDATE: Wow, that was fast. Reader Eric Wilner points to this post that I had somehow missed saying that these reports are basically bogus — guns were collected, but they were unattended guns found in damaged homes and they’re now being returned to their owners.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Steve Granzow emails:

I just returned from Greensburg and just read your gun confiscation post and update. Guns are being returned to their rightful owners. They have an emergency broadcast AM station that even advises residents on how to reclaim their firearms from the local sheriff’s office. That is not to say that the ATF is not “very interested” in a few of the firearms recovered.

Thanks.

IT’S USUALLY A BAD IDEA TO MESS WITH BLOGGERS: Here’s another case: “A Tennessee State Trooper is on paid leave after allegations surface about sex at a traffic stop. The woman involved is apparently an adult video actress who lives in Knoxville. She has posted a vivid description of the incident on her personal website and blog.”

PROGRESS IN PARIS: Nidra Poller reports on Sarkozy’s start.

A LOOK AT THE DOMESTIC OIL INDUSTRY:

The American oil patch, once left to languish during an extended period of low oil prices, is on the rebound. Wildcatters like Mr. Bryant are ready to pounce. With oil prices now hovering around $60 a barrel — three times higher than they were throughout the 1990s — the industry is expanding at a pace last seen decades ago.

“The oil industry has changed dramatically in the last 20 years,” Mr. Bryant says. “Barriers to entry have dropped significantly. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in the business 100 years or 100 days.”

Easily available capital and technology, once the preserve of traditional oil companies, are reordering the business. Investors are lining up to finance energy projects while leaps in computing power, imaging technology and collaborative online networks now allow the smallest entities to compete on an equal footing with the biggest players.

What an interesting phenomenon. Someone should write a book about it! But seriously, read the whole thing. I’ll just note that with corrupt and incompetent governments likely to seriously damage the oil production of Venezuela, Iran, and Nigeria, it’s probably a good time to be in the domestic-oil business.

IS IT FRED’S WATERSHED?

PHIL BOWERMASTER HAS THOUGHTS on goals for friendly Artificial Intelligence.

We need progress fast, especially as natural intelligence appears to be in diminishing supply.

JEEZ, ANDREW’S AT IT AGAIN.

I never understand what sends him off on these tears. I kind of think he actually wants me to be pro-torture, though he certainly knows better. Sullivan’s certainly not above torturing the record to get the answers he wants, though to be fair he more often simply ignores it.

But while Sullivan is calling me a “traitor” and a “torture-monger,” I think that Tom Maguire was right to note that McCain is not, in fact, against torture in all circumstances. He’s merely against a rule allowing torture, assuming that if circumstances are exigent enough — the infamous “ticking bomb” scenario, for example — people will engage in torture anyway. (This is also Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton’s position. I said something similar once, but as a descriptive, not a prescriptive statement — I didn’t say I was ready to authorize it, but then, I’m not running for President. Anyway the worst you can say about me is that I agree with Sullivan’s hero, McCain, who as Maguire notes, doesn’t live up to Andrew’s expectations. But then, who does, for long? And, in the update, see Tom Maguire’s response to Sullivan.) If Sullivan thinks it’s an injustice to point this out about McCain, then what kind of injustice is Sullivan doing to me?

A sad and predictable one, I guess, made sadder by Sullivan’s failure even link my post, allowing him to put a rather dishonest spin on my alleged beliefs. I’ve tried, honestly, not to get in these pissing matches with Andrew, but apparently he can’t help himself with this stuff. But to be clear: I’m against torture. I’m also against moralistic, dishonest, self-righteous preening about torture. Andrew is a repeat offender in the latter category, and it’s gone beyond embarrassing to pathetic.

Various people in and out of the blogosphere have wondered exactly when, how, and why Andrew lost it. But lost it he has.

MARK STEYN: “A true Flight 93 memorial would honor courage, action and improvisation, but reflection, healing and wetlands are the best we can manage. Go to any Civil War memorial on any New England common, and marvel at how they managed to honor their dead without wetlands and wind chimes.”