If we can get Congress and the electorate into a mind-set that says what the economy needs is stimulus of the electroshock variety, then all sorts of things become possible.
Here's one idea that has been floating around for years, whose time has come: Cash for clunkers.
The garbage can model of public choice decision-making describes organizations as places with 'solutions looking for problems'. I expect we might see lots of this sort of thing — and that's on the whole a good thing.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a reply brief yesterday in response to the federal government's and telecoms' motion for dismissal or summary judgment in an ongoing lawsuit against the telecoms for their (alleged) participation in illegal warrantless surveillance. The case is captioned “In re National Security Agency Telecommunications Records Litigation, Mdl No. 1791”.
This is the suit that motivated the immunity provisions of the FISA amendments. But they were drafted in a very very odd way that leaves some substantial daylight for challenges. And the great lawyers at EFF have done a first-rate job of running for daylight.
[Disclosure: In addition to serving on EFF's Advisory Board, I had a minor role in assisting the EFF legal team on one of the issues.]
Judge Orders Five Detainees Freed From Guantánamo
In the first hearing on the government's justification for holding detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, a federal judge ruled Thursday that five Algerian men were held unlawfully for nearly seven years and ordered their release.
…
Judge Leon, in a ruling from the bench, said that the information gathered on the men had been sufficient to hold them for intelligence purposes, but was not strong enough in court.
“To rest on so thin a reed would be inconsistent with this court’s obligation,” he said. He directed that the five men be released “forthwith” and urged the government not to appeal.
Judge Leon, who was appointed by President Bush, had been expected to be sympathetic to the government. In 2005, he ruled that the men had no habeas corpus rights.
I gather from people who were there that the Judge was fairly impassioned in his request to the government lawyers to let this case drop. That's really unusual, and suggests that they really had no case.
Judge Leon has issued an opinion (warning: 3.1 MB scanned .pdf), which skirts the actual evidence for security reasons, but is still good reading.
This is a historic moment — the rule of law grinds slowly, but maybe it's got some life in it yet.
When you have an online web presence, you get asked all sorts of things.
But this was a new one, which I reprint with the permission of Mr. Dennis W. Webb of Fort Worth, TX.:
I realize you're probably very busy, so I'll get right to my problem. Tomorrow I'm to begin writing summaries of a local lawyer's court cases. (Sorry, I'm not even sure what this is called.) I've read your “Legal Writing Tips,” which seems to be straightforward advice. Can you think of anything else that may be useful in my first day on the job?
Thanks.
Got any advice for Mr. Webb?
Free Monty Python on YouTube (spotted via Joho the blog):
For 3 years you YouTubers have been ripping us off, taking tens of thousands of our videos and putting them on YouTube. Now the tables are turned. It's time for us to take matters into our own hands.
We know who you are, we know where you live and we could come after you in ways too horrible to tell. But being the extraordinarily nice chaps we are, we've figured a better way to get our own back: We've launched our own Monty Python channel on YouTube.
No more of those crap quality videos you've been posting. We're giving you the real thing – HQ videos delivered straight from our vault.
What's more, we're taking our most viewed clips and uploading brand new HQ versions. And what's even more, we're letting you see absolutely everything for free. So there!
I think this should be a fertile source of ringtones….
Watch change happen.
Yesterday:
House: Waxman, Dingell look ahead to tomorrow's dramatic Democratic caucus vote:
Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) said on the pro-Dingell conference call that he did not think Democrats would uproot a seniority system that seldom trumps sitting chairmen. “If I was John Dingell, I'd be feeling very good right now,” Boyd said. “I can't imagine these rank-and-file caucus members replacing John Dingell as chairman.”
Today:
Waxman Defeats Dingell for Gavel – Roll Call
Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.) has ousted Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (Mich.), as Democratic lawmakers voted 137-122 Thursday morning to hand the gavel of the powerhouse panel to its second-ranking member.
Change is unimaginable to some…
Jotwell Blenderlaw