Well, maybe. The Philosorapter wanted us to take out Saddam in Gulf 1 but now he’s not as happy as he might have been then:
So no, I’m actually not in ecstasy about Saddam’s capture. It’s not that I don’t despise the guy, and it’s not that I don’t recognize how wonderful it is that he’s history.
Go read the whole thing to see what’s bothering Winston.
Via Nurse Ratched.
But not until after 9/11.
Read Jesse’s piece Misplaced Priorities: Why We’re Not As Safe As We Could Be.
Via Matt at Not Geniuses.
For doing this good deed:
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that prosecuting these medical marijuana users under a 1970 federal law is unconstitutional if the marijuana isn’t sold, transported across state lines or used for non-medicinal purposes.
Volokh blogger Randy Barnett argued and won this case and he provides technical details and more links here.
We need more like this:
The decision was a blow to the Justice Department, which argued that medical marijuana laws in nine states were trumped by the Controlled Substances Act, which outlawed marijuana, heroin and a host of other drugs nationwide.
No, what we really need is for the myriad local, state and federal drug laws to be eliminated.
Via Talkleft.
Alex Knapp is right on with this:
Don’t the cops in Cleburne have anything better to do with their time? Well, don’t get me wrong–I don’t really blame the cops. They’re just doing their job. It’s whoever assigned them to the damn job that deserves the blame.
He is referring to this story from Cleburne, Texas:
A Texas housewife is in big trouble with the law for selling a vibrator to a pair of undercover cops
You’d think Texans would have learned something from Lawrence v Texas (PDF). On the other hand maybe this one will go to the supremes as well and they will eliminate another bunch of laws that are both unconstitutional and unacceptable in a free country.
On the lighter side my first reading of Alex’s post had me wondering about the context of this police scam: were they raiding an adult products store? Or what?
You guessed it! I’ll bet both husbands and wives might find the demonstrations quite interesting:
For the past year, Webb has sold the company’s line of vibrators, gels, lubricants, strawberry-flavored nipple cream and “edible passion puddings.” The merchandise is offered for sale in private, Tupperware-style parties to women who may be reluctant to visit an adult novelty store.
I wonder if these sales folks use any special techniques to maximize audience participation.
Update (12/16): Howard Bashman has been covering this in detail and I learn from him that we don’t need this case to go to the supremes as there is already an Alabama case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Go check out Howard’s posts.
Mark Kleiman has finished Quicksilver and writes about it. Worth reading no matter where you are in the Quicksilver Process. Me, I’m in hiatus at 180 pages…back to it soon.
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, much maligned on certain talk radio spews, has stood up for the citizens of the US in ruling unconstitutional portions of the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. See How Appealing and Talkleft for details.
Good Night!