Ramsey Clarke to defend Saddam

December 29, 2004

Via Memeorandum via Aljazeera.net, Ramsay Clarke is joining the defence team.  The man has b*&^s of steel.

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More Good News on Regulatory Front for US VoIP

December 29, 2004

Via AP, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling to the effect that the Minnesota PUC may not regulate VoIP as a telecommunication service.  The decision tracks recently issued FCC rules.

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Music Downloading as a Matter of Conscience

December 29, 2004

Via Tech Law Advisor, a reference to an article on NorthJersey.com by James Gibson, who "teaches intellectual-property and computer law at the University of Richmond (Va.) School of Law, and who wrote a brief in which a group of law professors urged the Supreme Court to hear the Grokster case." Gibson makes the point that […]

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The Future of the Practice of Law

December 29, 2004

There is an interesting roundtable discussion in the ABA journal Law Practice Today about the practice of law in the future.

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Boston Globe on US Social Security Reform

December 28, 2004

Via Talking Points Memo, this piece in the Boston Globe:  "The run-up to President Bush’s plan to deal with Social Security is looking a lot like the run-up to his plan to deal with Saddam Hussein."  True enough, but the main point of similarity has been missed: scare the c%^$ out of the electorate. Predictably, […]

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Portfolio Diversification Without Mutual Fund Fees

December 28, 2004

Via Wired, an exceptional implementation of technology to increase the efficiency of retail investment.

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Missouri Supreme Court: OK to Pay Cash to Victim’s Family to Avoid Death Penalty

December 28, 2004

Via CrimProf Blog: The Missouri Supreme Court overturned Brandon Hutchinson’s death sentence in a case where co-defendant Freddy Lopez received 10 years based on ineffective assistance of counsel in the penalty phase.  However, the court also noted that during the trial, Lopez’s  sister won the lottery, and used $230,000 of her winnings to settle a […]

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Fight Bad Driving with E-mail

December 27, 2004

The Christian Science Monitor has a piece on a pledge by Washington State police to follow up on email reports of aggressive driving.  One email gets you a letter, any more and state troopers show up and jab you with pointy sticks.  Nice to see email stopping crime, and not being a crime.

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More on the Comair System Crash

December 27, 2004

Via Eweek, a story on the growing concern over system errors that have recently hit the airline industry.  Lots of furrowed brows and promises that this will either be taken very seriously, or has already been fixed and what’s the big deal anyway?  Culminating with Schneier chiming in and scaring the crap out of everybody: […]

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Alabama Judge has Embroidered the Ten Commandments on the Chest of his Judicial Robe

December 27, 2004

Another weird episode on the bench.  Next he’ll be asking the sheriff to anoint his feet with oil.  Southern judges – always with the Moses, they are.

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Wonkette Not Dead

December 27, 2004

I’m not really sure what the media frenzy over her blogging before the election has amounted to, but one thing remains certain.  Wonkette is funny.  Really funny.  Funnier even than, oh, something that is really, really funny.

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The Anonymous Lawyer, redux

December 27, 2004

Scheherazade’s observations about the Anonymous Lawyer’s unveiling are to the point and capture the mood of many.  In particular: Basically, the three big lessons for me are: 1) the blog as a medium has an inherent credibility.  2) Humans in general, and lawyers in particular, are amazingly susceptible to status and heirarchy — Anonymous Lawyer’s […]

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