Monthly Archives: February 2006

This Sounds Scary

Posted on February 11, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Bird flu has been identified in Greece, Italy and Bulgaria as well as Nigeria. Which means it’s Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

Yikes.

Posted in Science/Medicine | Comments Off on This Sounds Scary

Decreasingly Hypothetical Questions

Posted on February 10, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Here are three genuine, not utterly hypothetical, questions inspired by the revelation that Libby fingered Cheney as the person who instructed him to leak information from a National Intelligence Estimate hyping Iraq’s supposed efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction. I really don’t know the answers; all I have are guesses at best.

  1. Does Vice-President Cheney have the legal authority to declassify material single-handedly?
  2. And even if he does, if Cheney proved also to be the source of an instruction to leak information about Valerie Plame, does his legal authority extend to the exposing the identity of a covert CIA agent?
  3. And if the answer to either question above is “no” does that amount to an impeachable offense?

My guesses–and they are only guesses–below. Make your own before peeking.

Continue reading →

Posted in National Security | 13 Comments

Plame Scandal for Beginners

Posted on February 10, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Juan Cole explains the Plame scandal in pictures. Simple enough for anyone to understand.

Posted in Politics: The Party of Sleaze | Comments Off on Plame Scandal for Beginners

I Used to Live at ‘No Mother’

Posted on February 10, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Fun Anagram Map of the London Tube (via Boing Boing).

We lived at ‘What Stampedes’ and ‘No Mother’ while worked near ‘Spicular Dicyclic’. Caroline usually walked to work from ‘Lob Horn’. (Ordinary tube map for comparison.)

Posted in UK | Comments Off on I Used to Live at ‘No Mother’

For Federal Jurisdiction Mavens

Posted on February 10, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Constitutional law and federal jurisdiction mavens (but not too many others?) will definitely want to read Steve Vladeck’s latest post on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, inspired by a special concurrence in the 11th Circuit’s consideration of the Schiavo case.

Ordinarily, I’d worry about junior faculty pouring out so much smarts into ‘mere’ blog posts, but Steve has so much to spare….

Posted in Law: Constitutional Law | Comments Off on For Federal Jurisdiction Mavens

Lech Walesa at UM on Monday

Posted on February 9, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Former Polish President Lech Walesa will be speaking on campus on Monday.

And I’m going to have to miss it. Yes, he has turned out to be something of a reactionary as a post-liberation public citizen. But still a great figure of courage and an inspiring reminder that regular people can move mountains (with enough help from their friends). So I would have liked to go.

Posted in U.Miami | Comments Off on Lech Walesa at UM on Monday