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LAW PUNDIT Tuesday, November 30, 2004 11/30/2004 05:03:00 PM [Home]
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Swiss and Latvian Television Programming
Swiss and Latvian Television Programming
A posting by Viking Pundit on Swiss TV confirms that he who controls the news media controls the world, and of course he who controls the money controls the news media. Oil, anyone?
For a similar experience, the Law Pundit was just in Latvia and was astonished to see that almost all TV programming is made in Moscow and in the Russian language, even though the Latvians have their own TV channels - but apparently not yet the financial means - to produce sufficient programming in their own language.
Much has, however, changed in Latvia in recent years, while Riga is once again becoming the Paris of the East, but more about that later.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/30/2004 05:03:00 PM
Swiss and Latvian Television Programming
Swiss and Latvian Television Programming
A posting by Viking Pundit on Swiss TV confirms that he who controls the news media controls the world, and of course he who controls the money controls the news media. Oil, anyone?
For a similar experience, the Law Pundit was just in Latvia and was astonished to see that almost all TV programming is made in Moscow and in the Russian language, even though the Latvians have their own TV channels - but apparently not yet the financial means - to produce sufficient programming in their own language.
Much has, however, changed in Latvia in recent years, while Riga is once again becoming the Paris of the East, but more about that later.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/30/2004 05:03:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Wednesday, November 24, 2004 11/24/2004 08:05:00 PM [Home]
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Managed Books in Academia - The Harvard Cases
Managed Books in Academia - The Harvard Cases
Two cases of alleged plagiarism by reputable professors at Harvard have led to some published statements about the matters, the core of which must be corrected.
The Instapundit Posting
Glenn Reynolds has posting about "managed books" in academia at:
Instapundit.com
"IT'S NOT PLAGIARISM -- they're 'managed books:
'Managed books,' Professor [Howard] Gardner [of Harvard] said, 'are a recent phenomenon in which some academics rely on assistants to help them produce books, in some cases allowing the assistants to write first drafts.'
I don't think that's good."
Managed Books - A Good Thing?
Sorry, Glenn, but in the opinion of LawPundit, you are wrong on this point.
"Managed books" are nothing new. The label may be new but otherwise students have been helping professors to write books without authorial attribution for quite some time. There is in my view nothing wrong with this long-standing practice as long as the authoring professor or professors retain and fulfill their responsibility for the content and accuracy of the final manuscript.
Managed Books are Nothing New
As a law student at Stanford Law School between 1968-1971 - over 30 years ago - I worked for a total of five professors as a student assistant. Let me say that this was one of the great experiences of my life, adding a quality to my law school education shared by very few students and being immensely useful to me personally in the ensuing years. I am thankful to all of these men for having given me such a great opportunity.
One of those professors, the late Professor John Kaplan (obituary November 27, 1989 in the New York Times), was an extraordinarily brilliant man and good friend. Obviously, John Kaplan did not need me to help him write his books in any way, but in the course of my assistantship he offered me the opportunity to help with the creation of two of his books. It was an opportunity which I gladly accepted and fulfilled. Any law student of promise would have jumped at the chance.
Kaplan knew precisely what he wanted in his books. He just needed someone to help him do some of the time-consuming footwork.
Managed Books and the Role of Assistants
It was quite clear that my contributions as a "researcher" and "editor" were being made without any attribution as an author, which would have been absurd. After all, Kaplan was at that time a leading authority in his field and I had not yet even graduated from law school. Still, there were numerous ways in which I was able to save him a lot of valuable time, and that is one reason why student assistants are hired. I wrote and selected a minimal amount of "draft material" on which Kaplan always had the final word and on which he did the final editing. From my point of view, I was thrilled: I was being paid for work which I was enjoying immensely, and from which I was learning a great deal.
I would write MY books...later.
After all, it was HIS book, not mine. It was HIS reputation that was on the line when his authored books were published, not mine. It was HIS responsibility that all materials be properly selected, and accurately written, cited, and footnoted. It was HIS intellect that was the guiding force behind what was being produced: in fact, Criminal Justice (which John co-authored with a professorial friend), one of the books that I initially helped to edit and put together, became a leading college textbook bestseller which at its peak was used in more than 300 colleges and universities.
Even though my actual role may have been only something like 5%, I like to think that not only did I play my small part in making that book appropriate in style and content to the requirements of the ultimate users, but I really think that my contribution was useful in making the book popular - and John was smart enough to see that. We were constantly asking - what ideas are we trying to get across and what material will get those ideas across in the most interesting manner to the young people John was trying to reach. The result was that we threw out a lot of boring material and put in things which were fresh and exciting.
John knew what he was doing. Indeed, I would imagine many professors could use a second or third voice in the selection of text and materials for textbooks and other publications. Allowing young people to help put educational books together puts a dynamics into the equation that might otherwise be missing.
In any case, many written documents in our modern society are "team" efforts, often worked on by many people who do not get "authorial" attribution. Major law firms are full of law associates who do tremendous amounts of quality work, all supervised or "managed" by junior or senior partners, who ultimately put their John Henrys or law firm seals of approval on documents. This is neither unusual nor undesirable.
The New York Times spends time on a Simple Oversight
In the case of the November 24, 2004 New York Times article by Sara Rimer, "When Plagiarism's Shadow Falls on Admired Scholars", this is the kind of journalism that should ordinarily be criticized for making mountains out of molehills.
Obviously, in the cases of Professors Charles J. Ogletree Jr. and Laurence H. Tribe, one has accidentaly left out the proper citations to TWO paragraphs in Ogletree's book and one 19-word sentence in Tribe's book. No one would intentionally plagiarize such small amounts of material in books running to nearly 400 pages. It was obviously a scholarly oversight and as the New York Times article writes: "The two professors said their errors were accidental, and no scholar has suggested otherwise...."
Teaching - not Scholarship - is the Core Activity of a University
What Professor Howard Gardner writes, that "Scholarship - the core activity of the university - cannot be delegated to assistants," is completely at odds with the realities in the academic world where e.g. teams of laboratory assistants do the work, supervised by a major guru. Why should it not be the same in law? It is simply more efficient, and efficiency is economically desirable.
Moreover, Professor Gardner is greatly in error in stating that "scholarship" is the core activity of the university. Scholarship is the core activity of tenured professors and those wishing to get there. The major job at a university is passing on knowledge - i.e. TEACHING - and that too is done increasingly by assistants in the form of "assistant" professors, lecturers, fellows, adjuncts, etc. So why should research and ultimate publication be any different?
Was This Plagiarism? - Hardly
In a profession where precedent and stare decisis rule, we are bound by what has been written before us and are in fact obligated to use it. We just have to cite it properly. The instant alleged "cases" of plagiarism are insubstantial as compared to the corpus of the entire book materials. It was obviously not intentional.
Much too much noise is being made about these cases, it is all a bit of the sound and the fury signifying nothing. When students turn in entire papers as their own, but which in fact are copied from the internet, THAT is plagiarism, but that is an entirely different problem, and one should not mix that situation up with what has happened in these two "managed books".
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/24/2004 08:05:00 PM
Managed Books in Academia - The Harvard Cases
Managed Books in Academia - The Harvard Cases
Two cases of alleged plagiarism by reputable professors at Harvard have led to some published statements about the matters, the core of which must be corrected.
The Instapundit Posting
Glenn Reynolds has posting about "managed books" in academia at:
Instapundit.com
"IT'S NOT PLAGIARISM -- they're 'managed books:
'Managed books,' Professor [Howard] Gardner [of Harvard] said, 'are a recent phenomenon in which some academics rely on assistants to help them produce books, in some cases allowing the assistants to write first drafts.'
I don't think that's good."
Managed Books - A Good Thing?
Sorry, Glenn, but in the opinion of LawPundit, you are wrong on this point.
"Managed books" are nothing new. The label may be new but otherwise students have been helping professors to write books without authorial attribution for quite some time. There is in my view nothing wrong with this long-standing practice as long as the authoring professor or professors retain and fulfill their responsibility for the content and accuracy of the final manuscript.
Managed Books are Nothing New
As a law student at Stanford Law School between 1968-1971 - over 30 years ago - I worked for a total of five professors as a student assistant. Let me say that this was one of the great experiences of my life, adding a quality to my law school education shared by very few students and being immensely useful to me personally in the ensuing years. I am thankful to all of these men for having given me such a great opportunity.
One of those professors, the late Professor John Kaplan (obituary November 27, 1989 in the New York Times), was an extraordinarily brilliant man and good friend. Obviously, John Kaplan did not need me to help him write his books in any way, but in the course of my assistantship he offered me the opportunity to help with the creation of two of his books. It was an opportunity which I gladly accepted and fulfilled. Any law student of promise would have jumped at the chance.
Kaplan knew precisely what he wanted in his books. He just needed someone to help him do some of the time-consuming footwork.
Managed Books and the Role of Assistants
It was quite clear that my contributions as a "researcher" and "editor" were being made without any attribution as an author, which would have been absurd. After all, Kaplan was at that time a leading authority in his field and I had not yet even graduated from law school. Still, there were numerous ways in which I was able to save him a lot of valuable time, and that is one reason why student assistants are hired. I wrote and selected a minimal amount of "draft material" on which Kaplan always had the final word and on which he did the final editing. From my point of view, I was thrilled: I was being paid for work which I was enjoying immensely, and from which I was learning a great deal.
I would write MY books...later.
After all, it was HIS book, not mine. It was HIS reputation that was on the line when his authored books were published, not mine. It was HIS responsibility that all materials be properly selected, and accurately written, cited, and footnoted. It was HIS intellect that was the guiding force behind what was being produced: in fact, Criminal Justice (which John co-authored with a professorial friend), one of the books that I initially helped to edit and put together, became a leading college textbook bestseller which at its peak was used in more than 300 colleges and universities.
Even though my actual role may have been only something like 5%, I like to think that not only did I play my small part in making that book appropriate in style and content to the requirements of the ultimate users, but I really think that my contribution was useful in making the book popular - and John was smart enough to see that. We were constantly asking - what ideas are we trying to get across and what material will get those ideas across in the most interesting manner to the young people John was trying to reach. The result was that we threw out a lot of boring material and put in things which were fresh and exciting.
John knew what he was doing. Indeed, I would imagine many professors could use a second or third voice in the selection of text and materials for textbooks and other publications. Allowing young people to help put educational books together puts a dynamics into the equation that might otherwise be missing.
In any case, many written documents in our modern society are "team" efforts, often worked on by many people who do not get "authorial" attribution. Major law firms are full of law associates who do tremendous amounts of quality work, all supervised or "managed" by junior or senior partners, who ultimately put their John Henrys or law firm seals of approval on documents. This is neither unusual nor undesirable.
The New York Times spends time on a Simple Oversight
In the case of the November 24, 2004 New York Times article by Sara Rimer, "When Plagiarism's Shadow Falls on Admired Scholars", this is the kind of journalism that should ordinarily be criticized for making mountains out of molehills.
Obviously, in the cases of Professors Charles J. Ogletree Jr. and Laurence H. Tribe, one has accidentaly left out the proper citations to TWO paragraphs in Ogletree's book and one 19-word sentence in Tribe's book. No one would intentionally plagiarize such small amounts of material in books running to nearly 400 pages. It was obviously a scholarly oversight and as the New York Times article writes: "The two professors said their errors were accidental, and no scholar has suggested otherwise...."
Teaching - not Scholarship - is the Core Activity of a University
What Professor Howard Gardner writes, that "Scholarship - the core activity of the university - cannot be delegated to assistants," is completely at odds with the realities in the academic world where e.g. teams of laboratory assistants do the work, supervised by a major guru. Why should it not be the same in law? It is simply more efficient, and efficiency is economically desirable.
Moreover, Professor Gardner is greatly in error in stating that "scholarship" is the core activity of the university. Scholarship is the core activity of tenured professors and those wishing to get there. The major job at a university is passing on knowledge - i.e. TEACHING - and that too is done increasingly by assistants in the form of "assistant" professors, lecturers, fellows, adjuncts, etc. So why should research and ultimate publication be any different?
Was This Plagiarism? - Hardly
In a profession where precedent and stare decisis rule, we are bound by what has been written before us and are in fact obligated to use it. We just have to cite it properly. The instant alleged "cases" of plagiarism are insubstantial as compared to the corpus of the entire book materials. It was obviously not intentional.
Much too much noise is being made about these cases, it is all a bit of the sound and the fury signifying nothing. When students turn in entire papers as their own, but which in fact are copied from the internet, THAT is plagiarism, but that is an entirely different problem, and one should not mix that situation up with what has happened in these two "managed books".
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/24/2004 08:05:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/24/2004 06:04:00 PM [Home]
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To be...or not to be...Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
To be...or not to be...Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
What does the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court actually do?
Frederic R. Abramson at his law blog Law, Current Events and Culture links to a somewhat unusual November 16, 2004 article by Dahlia Lithwick at Slate under the unnecessarily provocative title "Talk About Your Overrated Job: Why would anybody want to be chief justice?"
The article covers a current topic of great legal interest since present Chief Justice William Rehnquist may have to step down for health reasons, although no one knows this for sure.
See also in this regard the November 11, 2004 remarks of Theodore Olson at the CNN reported AP article "Former solicitor general predicts tough going for next justice." Olson is not an uncontroversial figure but is regarded to be among the top prospects for the position, should it become open.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/24/2004 06:04:00 PM
To be...or not to be...Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
To be...or not to be...Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
What does the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court actually do?
Frederic R. Abramson at his law blog Law, Current Events and Culture links to a somewhat unusual November 16, 2004 article by Dahlia Lithwick at Slate under the unnecessarily provocative title "Talk About Your Overrated Job: Why would anybody want to be chief justice?"
The article covers a current topic of great legal interest since present Chief Justice William Rehnquist may have to step down for health reasons, although no one knows this for sure.
See also in this regard the November 11, 2004 remarks of Theodore Olson at the CNN reported AP article "Former solicitor general predicts tough going for next justice." Olson is not an uncontroversial figure but is regarded to be among the top prospects for the position, should it become open.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/24/2004 06:04:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/24/2004 04:39:00 PM [Home]
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Trademarks, Brands, Law and Reality
Trademarks, Brands, Law and Reality
Wendy Seltzer at Legal Tags, The Blog in her posting "Trademark Law Gone Bad" refers to some excellent discussion on trademarks, brands, law and the real world at James Surowiecki's "The Decline of Brands" and BoingBoing.
Surowiecki's main thesis is that trademarks and brands have historically provided a protective shield for companies, a legal protection whose power is disappearing:
"That sense of protection is eroding in industry after industry, and instead of a consumer economy in which success is determined in large part by name, it's now being determined by performance. The aristocracy of brand is dead. Long live the meritocracy of product."
The LawPundit does not doubt that some of what Surowiecki writes is true, but the power of trademarks and brands is still substantial, otherwise the world would already be in economic chaos with pure product quality deciding retail purchase decisions. The fact is that vast masses of humanity cling to the idea that "Nomen is Omen" (The Name Speaks for Itself, The Name Says it All). Just look at what the younger generations wear.
In any case, should you disbelieve this, just answer the following questions:
NAME one example of each of the following:
A Direct Computer Seller -
A Computer Operating System -
One Internet Browser -
A Software Manufacturer -
A Hardware Manufacturer -
One Blog Hoster -
Blog Software -
The odds that any of your answers are "no-names" is very small. Brands still rule the roost, although of course there can also be fairly rapid fluctuation or displacement among old and new coming brands. But all things still must have a name - and that name is important, because the name affiliated with any product accumulates "good will" as an asset.
Just look at the blog and domain name scene and at your own bookmarks or links.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/24/2004 04:39:00 PM
Trademarks, Brands, Law and Reality
Trademarks, Brands, Law and Reality
Wendy Seltzer at Legal Tags, The Blog in her posting "Trademark Law Gone Bad" refers to some excellent discussion on trademarks, brands, law and the real world at James Surowiecki's "The Decline of Brands" and BoingBoing.
Surowiecki's main thesis is that trademarks and brands have historically provided a protective shield for companies, a legal protection whose power is disappearing:
"That sense of protection is eroding in industry after industry, and instead of a consumer economy in which success is determined in large part by name, it's now being determined by performance. The aristocracy of brand is dead. Long live the meritocracy of product."
The LawPundit does not doubt that some of what Surowiecki writes is true, but the power of trademarks and brands is still substantial, otherwise the world would already be in economic chaos with pure product quality deciding retail purchase decisions. The fact is that vast masses of humanity cling to the idea that "Nomen is Omen" (The Name Speaks for Itself, The Name Says it All). Just look at what the younger generations wear.
In any case, should you disbelieve this, just answer the following questions:
NAME one example of each of the following:
A Direct Computer Seller -
A Computer Operating System -
One Internet Browser -
A Software Manufacturer -
A Hardware Manufacturer -
One Blog Hoster -
Blog Software -
The odds that any of your answers are "no-names" is very small. Brands still rule the roost, although of course there can also be fairly rapid fluctuation or displacement among old and new coming brands. But all things still must have a name - and that name is important, because the name affiliated with any product accumulates "good will" as an asset.
Just look at the blog and domain name scene and at your own bookmarks or links.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/24/2004 04:39:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/24/2004 03:51:00 PM [Home]
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The Concept of a "Social Minimum" and Poverty in the United States
The Concept of a "Social Minimum" and Poverty in the United States
Lawrence Solum at the Legal Theory Blog has a posting on "White on the Social Minimum" referring to Stuart White's new entry "Social Minimum" on the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, quoting White:
"'People should not be allowed to starve in the streets.' 'No one should be denied access to a decent minimum of health-care.' 'Every citizen should be able to meet his or her basic needs.' These statements all express a widespread view that a political community should seek to ensure that its members are all able to enjoy at least a minimally decent standard of living. They assert the importance of what is often called the social minimum."
As a political centrist with more right-wing leanings than left, the LawPundit definitely agrees that the concept and the realization of a "social minimum" in modern society is essential to avoid social discontent in the short term and political revolution in the long term.
To take one example, as we have written elsewhere on LawPundit:
"During the Great Depression, Hjalmar Schacht, Governor of the German Reichsbank, 'played a crucial role in bringing the Hitler regime to power' as 'citizens were expropriated, and their living standards brutally lowered', leading to a right-wing dictatorship. The same thing is happening now [in Germany]."
There is in fact absolute empirical evidence that a judicious redistribution of wealth achieves the goal of a social minimum and we find that proof in a publication of The Century Foundation (TCF) entitled The New American Economy: A Rising Tide that Lifts Only Yachts. This publication shows that equitable distribution of wealth is the only viable solution to poverty:
"When considering only household earnings (before taxes and transfers), the United States does not have an unusual proportion of its population living in poverty. However, as the figure illustrates, after considering the effects of public policies, the proportion of the population in the United States that remains in poverty is significantly higher than that for other nations.
[See Figure 7].
As the figure makes clear, other countries do not wait for economic tides to turn, but rely much more than the United States does on active tax and transfer policies to lift families out of low-income status....
Policy decisions affecting income and wealth distributions are complex, both politically and substantively. Some income and wealth inequality is necessary to provide incentives for efficient allocation of time, labor, and capital. But for most Americans, the prospect of these ever-widening income and wealth gaps, coupled with little improvement in the economic well-being of the majority of the population, surely must provoke unease. Is this really the America we want?"
As always on tough questions, the right answer on the question of wealth redistribution is generally a question of degree, not of absolutist proportion. However, "a social minimum" must be achieved, otherwise - as history shows in untold cases - revolution and destruction of the system surely await one down the road. In other words, the redisitribution of wealth to achieve a "social minimum" for all is not - as many believe - a political, religious or moral question, but rather a simple issue of survival, not merely the survival of the have-nots, but also survival of the haves.
In other words, achieving a "social minimum" is a symbiotic "Solomonic" solution. As in the famed Solomonic judicial instance of the child claimed by two mothers, the child - here the society - is not cut into two halves (haves and have-nots), which leads to the death of both halves, but rather, reason prevails and the child survives intact.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/24/2004 03:51:00 PM
The Concept of a "Social Minimum" and Poverty in the United States
The Concept of a "Social Minimum" and Poverty in the United States
Lawrence Solum at the Legal Theory Blog has a posting on "White on the Social Minimum" referring to Stuart White's new entry "Social Minimum" on the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, quoting White:
"'People should not be allowed to starve in the streets.' 'No one should be denied access to a decent minimum of health-care.' 'Every citizen should be able to meet his or her basic needs.' These statements all express a widespread view that a political community should seek to ensure that its members are all able to enjoy at least a minimally decent standard of living. They assert the importance of what is often called the social minimum."
As a political centrist with more right-wing leanings than left, the LawPundit definitely agrees that the concept and the realization of a "social minimum" in modern society is essential to avoid social discontent in the short term and political revolution in the long term.
To take one example, as we have written elsewhere on LawPundit:
"During the Great Depression, Hjalmar Schacht, Governor of the German Reichsbank, 'played a crucial role in bringing the Hitler regime to power' as 'citizens were expropriated, and their living standards brutally lowered', leading to a right-wing dictatorship. The same thing is happening now [in Germany]."
There is in fact absolute empirical evidence that a judicious redistribution of wealth achieves the goal of a social minimum and we find that proof in a publication of The Century Foundation (TCF) entitled The New American Economy: A Rising Tide that Lifts Only Yachts. This publication shows that equitable distribution of wealth is the only viable solution to poverty:
"When considering only household earnings (before taxes and transfers), the United States does not have an unusual proportion of its population living in poverty. However, as the figure illustrates, after considering the effects of public policies, the proportion of the population in the United States that remains in poverty is significantly higher than that for other nations.
[See Figure 7].
As the figure makes clear, other countries do not wait for economic tides to turn, but rely much more than the United States does on active tax and transfer policies to lift families out of low-income status....
Policy decisions affecting income and wealth distributions are complex, both politically and substantively. Some income and wealth inequality is necessary to provide incentives for efficient allocation of time, labor, and capital. But for most Americans, the prospect of these ever-widening income and wealth gaps, coupled with little improvement in the economic well-being of the majority of the population, surely must provoke unease. Is this really the America we want?"
As always on tough questions, the right answer on the question of wealth redistribution is generally a question of degree, not of absolutist proportion. However, "a social minimum" must be achieved, otherwise - as history shows in untold cases - revolution and destruction of the system surely await one down the road. In other words, the redisitribution of wealth to achieve a "social minimum" for all is not - as many believe - a political, religious or moral question, but rather a simple issue of survival, not merely the survival of the have-nots, but also survival of the haves.
In other words, achieving a "social minimum" is a symbiotic "Solomonic" solution. As in the famed Solomonic judicial instance of the child claimed by two mothers, the child - here the society - is not cut into two halves (haves and have-nots), which leads to the death of both halves, but rather, reason prevails and the child survives intact.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/24/2004 03:51:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Tuesday, November 23, 2004 11/23/2004 11:44:00 PM [Home]
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Perfect10.com sues Google for IP and other Violations
Perfect10.com sues Google for IP and other Violations
John Palfrey at the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School has a November 20, 2004 posting entitled "Pornographer sues Google on 12 grounds".
Obviously, the case will get a lot of attention because it will give everyone a good excuse to look at Perfect10.com - perhaps that is the major intention of the suit. The LawPundit had never heard of this website prior to this legal action. Sex sells. Perfect10.com has its place of business in Beverly Hills, surely not the low rent district. Hollywood has a lot of starving starlets who never make the top billing in the few blockbuster movies out there, so that we imagine that there is a good market for photo models.
We should add that the use of the word "pornographer" is probably "politically incorrect" as the plaintiff states in the complaint that its business "consists of the design, creation, production, marketing, promotion, and sale of copyrighted adult entertainment products."
For the law side, read the legal complaint and Palfrey's analysis of the complaint and see also Copyfight and Legal Tags (with a very good summary of things) which also post on this topic.
The Law Pundit does not think that Perfect10.com has the ghost of a chance of winning this case.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/23/2004 11:44:00 PM
Perfect10.com sues Google for IP and other Violations
Perfect10.com sues Google for IP and other Violations
John Palfrey at the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School has a November 20, 2004 posting entitled "Pornographer sues Google on 12 grounds".
Obviously, the case will get a lot of attention because it will give everyone a good excuse to look at Perfect10.com - perhaps that is the major intention of the suit. The LawPundit had never heard of this website prior to this legal action. Sex sells. Perfect10.com has its place of business in Beverly Hills, surely not the low rent district. Hollywood has a lot of starving starlets who never make the top billing in the few blockbuster movies out there, so that we imagine that there is a good market for photo models.
We should add that the use of the word "pornographer" is probably "politically incorrect" as the plaintiff states in the complaint that its business "consists of the design, creation, production, marketing, promotion, and sale of copyrighted adult entertainment products."
For the law side, read the legal complaint and Palfrey's analysis of the complaint and see also Copyfight and Legal Tags (with a very good summary of things) which also post on this topic.
The Law Pundit does not think that Perfect10.com has the ghost of a chance of winning this case.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/23/2004 11:44:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/23/2004 11:03:00 PM [Home]
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Good Advice for Law School Applicants
Good Advice for Law School Applicants
Christine Hurt of Marquette University Law School in her posting
So, You Want to be a Law Student?
has some very sound advice for law school applicants. Indeed, much of what she writes applies to all kinds of applications - seen through the eyes of one person who makes the decisions.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/23/2004 11:03:00 PM
Good Advice for Law School Applicants
Good Advice for Law School Applicants
Christine Hurt of Marquette University Law School in her posting
So, You Want to be a Law Student?
has some very sound advice for law school applicants. Indeed, much of what she writes applies to all kinds of applications - seen through the eyes of one person who makes the decisions.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/23/2004 11:03:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/23/2004 10:11:00 PM [Home]
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Public vs. Private Interest Law - a Matter of Money?
Public vs. Private Interest Law - a Matter of Money?
ambivalent imbroglio comments in depth on a posting by Jeremy Blachman about not going to work for a large law firm, discussing therein the demands on time made by large law firms and the monetary differences between jobs in public and private interest law.
amibivalent imbroglio writes in his posting "Public Interest Law: It's Not About You":
"And a good way to see the difference is to stop asking what a particular job can do for you, and ask instead what a job could allow you to do for other people. That makes the differences more clear for me, anyway."
To which the LawPundit would add three rhetorical questions:
Is it not a fact - by definition - that the MORE we are paid, the MORE we are doing for others?
Is it not a fact that the MORE we do "our own thing", the less we are generally paid?
Do not some idealistically inspired people (doing their own thing "100%") even work for nothing? (Bloggers come to mind).
There is a common misconception that people who get paid well are working MORE for themselves and those who get paid LESS are working more for the community. But this is simply not true. Generally, the reverse applies.
There is a general wisdom about getting rich: "Go out and observe your fellow men and then give them what they want or need and you will be wealthy". And also this is true.
He who follows his "own" path will generally not be rewarded for it by others, unless somewhere down the road other people observe that the selfishly chosen path also provides THEM with a benefit, e.g. iconoclastic inventors, pioneering entrepeneurs, the rare genius, etc.
Some artists, for example, become rich and famous in the course of their careers for doing their thing (very seldom), but most are starving, whereas "commercial artists" make a good living. Indeed, many of the great masters painted portraits of the rich and the famous - for cash - during their lifetime.
The trouble with work for large law firms is that one has to GIVE a lot to GET a lot. That is all.
That's life.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/23/2004 10:11:00 PM
Public vs. Private Interest Law - a Matter of Money?
Public vs. Private Interest Law - a Matter of Money?
ambivalent imbroglio comments in depth on a posting by Jeremy Blachman about not going to work for a large law firm, discussing therein the demands on time made by large law firms and the monetary differences between jobs in public and private interest law.
amibivalent imbroglio writes in his posting "Public Interest Law: It's Not About You":
"And a good way to see the difference is to stop asking what a particular job can do for you, and ask instead what a job could allow you to do for other people. That makes the differences more clear for me, anyway."
To which the LawPundit would add three rhetorical questions:
Is it not a fact - by definition - that the MORE we are paid, the MORE we are doing for others?
Is it not a fact that the MORE we do "our own thing", the less we are generally paid?
Do not some idealistically inspired people (doing their own thing "100%") even work for nothing? (Bloggers come to mind).
There is a common misconception that people who get paid well are working MORE for themselves and those who get paid LESS are working more for the community. But this is simply not true. Generally, the reverse applies.
There is a general wisdom about getting rich: "Go out and observe your fellow men and then give them what they want or need and you will be wealthy". And also this is true.
He who follows his "own" path will generally not be rewarded for it by others, unless somewhere down the road other people observe that the selfishly chosen path also provides THEM with a benefit, e.g. iconoclastic inventors, pioneering entrepeneurs, the rare genius, etc.
Some artists, for example, become rich and famous in the course of their careers for doing their thing (very seldom), but most are starving, whereas "commercial artists" make a good living. Indeed, many of the great masters painted portraits of the rich and the famous - for cash - during their lifetime.
The trouble with work for large law firms is that one has to GIVE a lot to GET a lot. That is all.
That's life.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/23/2004 10:11:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/23/2004 01:35:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Marshall Plan Fund in Danger under German Chancellor Schroeder
Marshall Plan Fund in Danger under German Chancellor Schroeder
Introduction
A MyrtleBeachOnline.com Sun News post of October 17, 2004, contains the article, Marshall Plan dollars still at work in Europe: Businesses benefit in Germany, by Tom Hundley of the Chicago Tribune (registration required). More below.
The Marshall Plan monies are covered from a different perspective at the June 26, 2004 Guardian article under the title "Democratic Deficit" in which it was reported that:
"Nearly 60 years after the Marshall plan was launched to reconstruct Europe after the second world war, its funds are still bailing out the Germany economy. Hans Eichel, the German finance minister, wants to use €12bn left over from the Marshall plan to stealthily privatise his government's stakes in Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post, to allow the government's public sector development bank to buy its shares."
Thankfully this plan at that time failed - it was just another of the wild plans of the incapable Schroeder administration. See in this regard the Law Pundit postings here and here.
The Current Problem
As the Guardian writes:
"For the past decade - with the exception of 2000 - the German economy has spluttered rather like a misfiring Volkswagen, during a long period of sluggish growth that reached its nadir with a mild recession in 2003. The government has seen its attempts to maintain fiscal rectitude fall victim to over-optimistic forecasts, leading to a string of deficits. While combined federal, state and local tax revenues have been static, government spending has ballooned, resulting in a €79bn deficit last year - the third time in the past three years that Germany's shortfall has breached the 3% of GDP limit set by the eurozone's stability pact."
The issue of the Marshall Plan Fund has again surfaced, as found in a Welt am Sonntag, November 21, 2004, article reporting that German Finance Minister Hans Eichel now wants to appropriate the current "Marshall Plan Resource Fund" (in German known as "Marshall-plan-Mittel" or ERP-Sondervermögen) in order to keep the federal deficit from exceeding 3%.
Apparently the Schroeder administration has not considered using the Marshall Fund for the purpose for which it was intended, i.e. to get the economy moving by loaning the money out.
Based on the above events, there appear to be no bounds to the apparently desperate financial perfidies of the Schroeder administration.
Of course, there is method in this madness. The coming generations of voters - indeed, probably most of the voters who put Schroeder into office - generally have no better than passing knowledge or understanding of the role that the United States played in bringing freedom to Europe and in reconstructing post-War Germany after WWII. Rather, the anti-American views of the uninformed are those views which Schroeder and his administration nurture and use to stay in political office based on the ephemeral events of today.
People who still recall the Marshall Plan, support US efforts to bring democracy to Iraq and the Middle East. The young, softened and spoiled generations, who have little clue as to source of their freedom - also won by deposing tyrants - generally oppose the USA efforts in Iraq, apparently much to the delight of Schroeder and Co.
History of the Marshall Plan
After WW II, the United States assisted the reconstruction of shattered European economies through the "Marshall Plan", named after then Secretary of State George Marshall who introduced the plan at a June 5, 1947 speech at Harvard University.
Under President Truman and the Marshall Plan (the European Recovery Program - ERP), the United States provided $13.3 billion (about $90 billion in today's dollars) in economic aid to 16 European nations, most going to Britain, France and Italy with Germany as the 4th-largest recipient obtaining about $1.39 billion (about $9.4 billion in today's dollars).
On December 15, 1949, the Marshall Plan monies in Germany were transformed into so-called "special fund" (ERP-Sondervermögen) also known as the Marshall Plan Resources Fund - monies which are specifically independent of normal German government budgetary assets, as written by the International Monetary Fund (IMF - p. 15 of that .pdf-source):
"The mechanisms for the coordination and management of budgeted and extrabudgetary activities are well defined.... The only exception is the Marshal [sic] Plan Resources Fund (ERP-Sondervermögen), whose budget is approved separately by the parliament, including an entitlement for debt."
These monies are intended to be used to as loans to finance revolving credits for business and industry:
"'We're not allowed to spend this money, only to lend it. That's the whole trick,' said Hermann Faas, director of small business financing for the ERP.
Since its inception, the ERP has made about $150 billion worth of loans to German businesses. In the ERP's offices, there are no U.S. flags, no bronze busts of Gen. Marshall, but according to Faas, the United States still gets credit for its postwar magnanimity."
In any case, it is noted that:
"The Marshall Plan is revered as the wisest and most successful foreign policy initiative undertaken by any U.S. administration".
It would seem to clearly define the dishonest nature of the Schroeder administration that the Marshall Plan monies are now up for grabs as a despicable monetary trick to help keep this incapable administration in political power.
As a matter of law, there is an interesting question as to whether US approval would be required for this kind of an extra-appropriation of the ERP monies. As reported in Welt am Sonntag:
"Das Wirtschaftsministerium ist strikt gegen das Vorhaben.... Auch sehen die Experten seines Hauses völkerrechtliche Schwierigkeiten. Bei dem Vorhaben hätten die USA ein Mitspracherecht. "
The Law Pundit translation of the above is as follows:
"The Ministry of Economics and Labor is strictly against this proposed plan.... In-house experts envision international law problems. The USA would have a right to a say in the proposed plan."
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/23/2004 01:35:00 PM
Marshall Plan Fund in Danger under German Chancellor Schroeder
Marshall Plan Fund in Danger under German Chancellor Schroeder
Introduction
A MyrtleBeachOnline.com Sun News post of October 17, 2004, contains the article, Marshall Plan dollars still at work in Europe: Businesses benefit in Germany, by Tom Hundley of the Chicago Tribune (registration required). More below.
The Marshall Plan monies are covered from a different perspective at the June 26, 2004 Guardian article under the title "Democratic Deficit" in which it was reported that:
"Nearly 60 years after the Marshall plan was launched to reconstruct Europe after the second world war, its funds are still bailing out the Germany economy. Hans Eichel, the German finance minister, wants to use €12bn left over from the Marshall plan to stealthily privatise his government's stakes in Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post, to allow the government's public sector development bank to buy its shares."
Thankfully this plan at that time failed - it was just another of the wild plans of the incapable Schroeder administration. See in this regard the Law Pundit postings here and here.
The Current Problem
As the Guardian writes:
"For the past decade - with the exception of 2000 - the German economy has spluttered rather like a misfiring Volkswagen, during a long period of sluggish growth that reached its nadir with a mild recession in 2003. The government has seen its attempts to maintain fiscal rectitude fall victim to over-optimistic forecasts, leading to a string of deficits. While combined federal, state and local tax revenues have been static, government spending has ballooned, resulting in a €79bn deficit last year - the third time in the past three years that Germany's shortfall has breached the 3% of GDP limit set by the eurozone's stability pact."
The issue of the Marshall Plan Fund has again surfaced, as found in a Welt am Sonntag, November 21, 2004, article reporting that German Finance Minister Hans Eichel now wants to appropriate the current "Marshall Plan Resource Fund" (in German known as "Marshall-plan-Mittel" or ERP-Sondervermögen) in order to keep the federal deficit from exceeding 3%.
Apparently the Schroeder administration has not considered using the Marshall Fund for the purpose for which it was intended, i.e. to get the economy moving by loaning the money out.
Based on the above events, there appear to be no bounds to the apparently desperate financial perfidies of the Schroeder administration.
Of course, there is method in this madness. The coming generations of voters - indeed, probably most of the voters who put Schroeder into office - generally have no better than passing knowledge or understanding of the role that the United States played in bringing freedom to Europe and in reconstructing post-War Germany after WWII. Rather, the anti-American views of the uninformed are those views which Schroeder and his administration nurture and use to stay in political office based on the ephemeral events of today.
People who still recall the Marshall Plan, support US efforts to bring democracy to Iraq and the Middle East. The young, softened and spoiled generations, who have little clue as to source of their freedom - also won by deposing tyrants - generally oppose the USA efforts in Iraq, apparently much to the delight of Schroeder and Co.
History of the Marshall Plan
After WW II, the United States assisted the reconstruction of shattered European economies through the "Marshall Plan", named after then Secretary of State George Marshall who introduced the plan at a June 5, 1947 speech at Harvard University.
Under President Truman and the Marshall Plan (the European Recovery Program - ERP), the United States provided $13.3 billion (about $90 billion in today's dollars) in economic aid to 16 European nations, most going to Britain, France and Italy with Germany as the 4th-largest recipient obtaining about $1.39 billion (about $9.4 billion in today's dollars).
On December 15, 1949, the Marshall Plan monies in Germany were transformed into so-called "special fund" (ERP-Sondervermögen) also known as the Marshall Plan Resources Fund - monies which are specifically independent of normal German government budgetary assets, as written by the International Monetary Fund (IMF - p. 15 of that .pdf-source):
"The mechanisms for the coordination and management of budgeted and extrabudgetary activities are well defined.... The only exception is the Marshal [sic] Plan Resources Fund (ERP-Sondervermögen), whose budget is approved separately by the parliament, including an entitlement for debt."
These monies are intended to be used to as loans to finance revolving credits for business and industry:
"'We're not allowed to spend this money, only to lend it. That's the whole trick,' said Hermann Faas, director of small business financing for the ERP.
Since its inception, the ERP has made about $150 billion worth of loans to German businesses. In the ERP's offices, there are no U.S. flags, no bronze busts of Gen. Marshall, but according to Faas, the United States still gets credit for its postwar magnanimity."
In any case, it is noted that:
"The Marshall Plan is revered as the wisest and most successful foreign policy initiative undertaken by any U.S. administration".
It would seem to clearly define the dishonest nature of the Schroeder administration that the Marshall Plan monies are now up for grabs as a despicable monetary trick to help keep this incapable administration in political power.
As a matter of law, there is an interesting question as to whether US approval would be required for this kind of an extra-appropriation of the ERP monies. As reported in Welt am Sonntag:
"Das Wirtschaftsministerium ist strikt gegen das Vorhaben.... Auch sehen die Experten seines Hauses völkerrechtliche Schwierigkeiten. Bei dem Vorhaben hätten die USA ein Mitspracherecht. "
The Law Pundit translation of the above is as follows:
"The Ministry of Economics and Labor is strictly against this proposed plan.... In-house experts envision international law problems. The USA would have a right to a say in the proposed plan."
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/23/2004 01:35:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Monday, November 22, 2004 11/22/2004 09:53:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
The World's Highest Bridge - In France
The World's Highest Bridge - In France
Towering over the Eiffel Tower? - not quite, but nearly
Clive Davis points in his posting "A NEW BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY?" to a remarkable French architectural and engineering achievement.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/22/2004 09:53:00 PM
The World's Highest Bridge - In France
The World's Highest Bridge - In France
Towering over the Eiffel Tower? - not quite, but nearly
Clive Davis points in his posting "A NEW BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY?" to a remarkable French architectural and engineering achievement.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/22/2004 09:53:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Sunday, November 21, 2004 11/21/2004 08:45:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Wayback Machine's Internet Archive Admissible as Evidence
Wayback Machine's Internet Archive Admissible as Evidence
Via The Speculist we are directed to the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society (CIS) and their cyberlaw newsletter Packets Vol. 2, No. 3 containing the topic "Internet Archive’s Web Page Snapshots Held Admissible as Evidence".
As written at CIS about the case Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite Corp., 2004 WL 2367740 (N.D.Ill. Oct. 15, 2004):
"In a pretrial evidentiary ruling, a magistrate judge [Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys] in the Northern District of Illinois held that “snapshots” taken by the Internet Archive that depict web pages as they appeared in the past are admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence. The court rejected the arguments of plaintiff Telewizja Polska USA that the archived pages constituted hearsay and that the Internet Archive was an “unreliable source.”"
The Wayback Machine is described in the Stanford newsletter as follows:
"The Internet Archive (IA) is a non-profit effort to preserve Internet sites and other digital media and make them available online. IA’s spiders regularly crawl the World Wide Web, making copies of web pages and storing them permanently in an enormous digital archive. Using the “Wayback Machine”, one of the Archive’s popular services, users can input the address of a web page and call up a series of dated copies, allowing them to see what the page contained at the times it was accessed by the IA spider."
There are currently 30 billion pages archived from 1996 onward.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/21/2004 08:45:00 PM
Wayback Machine's Internet Archive Admissible as Evidence
Wayback Machine's Internet Archive Admissible as Evidence
Via The Speculist we are directed to the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society (CIS) and their cyberlaw newsletter Packets Vol. 2, No. 3 containing the topic "Internet Archive’s Web Page Snapshots Held Admissible as Evidence".
As written at CIS about the case Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite Corp., 2004 WL 2367740 (N.D.Ill. Oct. 15, 2004):
"In a pretrial evidentiary ruling, a magistrate judge [Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys] in the Northern District of Illinois held that “snapshots” taken by the Internet Archive that depict web pages as they appeared in the past are admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence. The court rejected the arguments of plaintiff Telewizja Polska USA that the archived pages constituted hearsay and that the Internet Archive was an “unreliable source.”"
The Wayback Machine is described in the Stanford newsletter as follows:
"The Internet Archive (IA) is a non-profit effort to preserve Internet sites and other digital media and make them available online. IA’s spiders regularly crawl the World Wide Web, making copies of web pages and storing them permanently in an enormous digital archive. Using the “Wayback Machine”, one of the Archive’s popular services, users can input the address of a web page and call up a series of dated copies, allowing them to see what the page contained at the times it was accessed by the IA spider."
There are currently 30 billion pages archived from 1996 onward.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/21/2004 08:45:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/21/2004 05:50:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Roland Collection of Videos & Films on Art
Roland Collection of Videos & Films on Art
We ran across this website by chance.
The Roland Collection of Videos & Films on Art is a tremendous "pay to buy" collection of art films and art videos - all titles are available for sale - but the site also offers free viewing of 450 complete films on-line. Available by art period are:
Early Cultures
First Civilisations
Africa
Pre-Columbian America
Romanesque and Gothic
Renaissance and Mannerism
Northern Renaissance
Rembrandt
Baroque and Rococo
Neo-classicists and Romantics
The Victorians
Impressionists and Post Impressionists
Art Nouveau
Expressionism
Cubism and Futurism
Into Abstraction
The Bauhaus and De Stijl
Dada and Surrealism
Modern Masters
Modern and Contemporary Sculptors
Contemporary Painters
New Directions - New Dimensions
Modern Architecture and Design
Unfortunately, surely in order to urge the viewer to buy the original quality video or film, online quality is only top at "100%" - a very small screen size (though the films and videos are also viewable at e.g. 300% or larger screen size). Pull the right lower edge of the RealPlayer display to play with size.
Still, it is terrific stuff, e.g. take a look at Tassili N'Ajjer - Prehistoric Rock Paintings of the Sahara.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/21/2004 05:50:00 PM
Roland Collection of Videos & Films on Art
Roland Collection of Videos & Films on Art
We ran across this website by chance.
The Roland Collection of Videos & Films on Art is a tremendous "pay to buy" collection of art films and art videos - all titles are available for sale - but the site also offers free viewing of 450 complete films on-line. Available by art period are:
Early Cultures
First Civilisations
Africa
Pre-Columbian America
Romanesque and Gothic
Renaissance and Mannerism
Northern Renaissance
Rembrandt
Baroque and Rococo
Neo-classicists and Romantics
The Victorians
Impressionists and Post Impressionists
Art Nouveau
Expressionism
Cubism and Futurism
Into Abstraction
The Bauhaus and De Stijl
Dada and Surrealism
Modern Masters
Modern and Contemporary Sculptors
Contemporary Painters
New Directions - New Dimensions
Modern Architecture and Design
Unfortunately, surely in order to urge the viewer to buy the original quality video or film, online quality is only top at "100%" - a very small screen size (though the films and videos are also viewable at e.g. 300% or larger screen size). Pull the right lower edge of the RealPlayer display to play with size.
Still, it is terrific stuff, e.g. take a look at Tassili N'Ajjer - Prehistoric Rock Paintings of the Sahara.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/21/2004 05:50:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Saturday, November 20, 2004 11/20/2004 03:15:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Media Law at the Guardian
Media Law at the Guardian
Mediaguardian.co.uk is the Guardian's media news site, including its Media Law site (free registration required). For example, a recent November 1, 2004 article there by Charles Boundy, group legal director of Random House and partner at Fladgate Fielder, writes about the actual publishers' problem of publishing photos (e.g. of celebrities or politicians) which include children. The article is entitled "The age of enlightenment: When is a child responsible enough to agree to their photo being taken?". Boundy presents an important legal issue in the modern internet age, at a time when photography albums of all kinds are being posted to the internet.
What about the related issue of privacy law? As written by Ciar Byrne in "Government rejects call for privacy law":
The right to a private life is enshrined in article eight of the Human Rights Act. However, separate privacy legislation does not currently exist in English law.
Another example of a law article at the Guardian's Media Law is the October 11, 2004 "No hiding place for pirates" by Andrew Hobson, head of IP (intellectual property) at the law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, who discusses how "the British music industry is to clamp down on illegal file swappers" and what "legal routes ... could be pursued".
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/20/2004 03:15:00 PM
Media Law at the Guardian
Media Law at the Guardian
Mediaguardian.co.uk is the Guardian's media news site, including its Media Law site (free registration required). For example, a recent November 1, 2004 article there by Charles Boundy, group legal director of Random House and partner at Fladgate Fielder, writes about the actual publishers' problem of publishing photos (e.g. of celebrities or politicians) which include children. The article is entitled "The age of enlightenment: When is a child responsible enough to agree to their photo being taken?". Boundy presents an important legal issue in the modern internet age, at a time when photography albums of all kinds are being posted to the internet.
What about the related issue of privacy law? As written by Ciar Byrne in "Government rejects call for privacy law":
The right to a private life is enshrined in article eight of the Human Rights Act. However, separate privacy legislation does not currently exist in English law.
Another example of a law article at the Guardian's Media Law is the October 11, 2004 "No hiding place for pirates" by Andrew Hobson, head of IP (intellectual property) at the law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, who discusses how "the British music industry is to clamp down on illegal file swappers" and what "legal routes ... could be pursued".
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/20/2004 03:15:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Friday, November 19, 2004 11/19/2004 02:10:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Motors banned on the Ridgeway prehistoric road during Winter
Motors banned on the Ridgeway prehistoric road during Winter
Bravo. Who says there is no good news on the news.
One of the amazing things about humanity is that the supply of Yahoos (in the Jonathan Swift sense) is endless. The story below is once again evidence for the necessity of laws. Here - as is usually the case - voluntary codes simply do not work because there are always people who do not abide by them.
The BBC carries a November 12, 2004 article reporting that:
"Motorbikes and 4x4 vehicles which were damaging one of Britain's oldest roads have been banned from the [Ridgeway by a] ... temporary order ... imposed by a number of district councils on parts of the Ridgeway National Trail in south Oxfordshire during winter months.
In previous years the 6,000-year-old trail has been churned up by trail bikers and off-road drivers. The ancient chalk ridge route, used by prehistoric man, runs across the Chilterns and the Wessex Downs.
This ban is excellent news for all walkers, horse riders and cyclists who wish to enjoy the Ridgeway in peace.
A council spokeswoman said: 'We have undertaken extensive surface repairs and drainage improvements on the trail over the last two years. I am pleased to say that the condition of the Ridgeway is improving. However, we need to protect the most vulnerable sections from unacceptable levels of damage over the winter.'
Ian Ritchie, chairman of the Friends Of The Ridgeway, said: 'A voluntary code of respect has been in operation on the Ridgeway for 10 years but has plainly not been working. This ban is excellent news for all walkers, horse riders and cyclists who wish to enjoy the Ridgeway in peace, free from the ruts and mud that make the trail hazardous and unpleasant.' "
This is also the kind of legal sanction that needs to be imposed in many other places and countries where ancient sites are being destroyed by ignorants. Nazca in Peru is another example where joyriders are ruining the ancient Nazca lines and figures. (For more information on Nazca, see LexiLine.com).
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/19/2004 02:10:00 PM
Motors banned on the Ridgeway prehistoric road during Winter
Motors banned on the Ridgeway prehistoric road during Winter
Bravo. Who says there is no good news on the news.
One of the amazing things about humanity is that the supply of Yahoos (in the Jonathan Swift sense) is endless. The story below is once again evidence for the necessity of laws. Here - as is usually the case - voluntary codes simply do not work because there are always people who do not abide by them.
The BBC carries a November 12, 2004 article reporting that:
"Motorbikes and 4x4 vehicles which were damaging one of Britain's oldest roads have been banned from the [Ridgeway by a] ... temporary order ... imposed by a number of district councils on parts of the Ridgeway National Trail in south Oxfordshire during winter months.
In previous years the 6,000-year-old trail has been churned up by trail bikers and off-road drivers. The ancient chalk ridge route, used by prehistoric man, runs across the Chilterns and the Wessex Downs.
This ban is excellent news for all walkers, horse riders and cyclists who wish to enjoy the Ridgeway in peace.
A council spokeswoman said: 'We have undertaken extensive surface repairs and drainage improvements on the trail over the last two years. I am pleased to say that the condition of the Ridgeway is improving. However, we need to protect the most vulnerable sections from unacceptable levels of damage over the winter.'
Ian Ritchie, chairman of the Friends Of The Ridgeway, said: 'A voluntary code of respect has been in operation on the Ridgeway for 10 years but has plainly not been working. This ban is excellent news for all walkers, horse riders and cyclists who wish to enjoy the Ridgeway in peace, free from the ruts and mud that make the trail hazardous and unpleasant.' "
This is also the kind of legal sanction that needs to be imposed in many other places and countries where ancient sites are being destroyed by ignorants. Nazca in Peru is another example where joyriders are ruining the ancient Nazca lines and figures. (For more information on Nazca, see LexiLine.com).
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/19/2004 02:10:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Thursday, November 18, 2004 11/18/2004 01:22:00 AM [Home]
[Print]
100 Things That Are Still Better in the USA
100 Things That Are Still Better in the USA
Many Germans still love many aspects of America.
We just happened to chance upon this list of
"100 Things That Are Still Better in the USA"
via HalleysComment to Caroline van Oosten de Boer to MetaFilter
to the German newspaper TAZ (die tageszeitung)
and their list of "100 Dinge, die besser bleiben"
which means something like "100 things, that are still better" (in the USA)
No, we are not going to translate them for you,
but a good number can be understood without translation.
"Hollywood" stays "Hollywood".
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/18/2004 01:22:00 AM
100 Things That Are Still Better in the USA
100 Things That Are Still Better in the USA
Many Germans still love many aspects of America.
We just happened to chance upon this list of
"100 Things That Are Still Better in the USA"
via HalleysComment to Caroline van Oosten de Boer to MetaFilter
to the German newspaper TAZ (die tageszeitung)
and their list of "100 Dinge, die besser bleiben"
which means something like "100 things, that are still better" (in the USA)
No, we are not going to translate them for you,
but a good number can be understood without translation.
"Hollywood" stays "Hollywood".
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/18/2004 01:22:00 AM
LAW PUNDIT Tuesday, November 16, 2004 11/16/2004 11:00:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
The Mores of Trade - Roots of Capitalism
The Mores of Trade - Roots of Capitalism
In spite of all the recent talk about moral values, has really anything much changed in past centuries?
Freespace quotes de Tocqueville on the "mores of trade". It begins....
"I know nothing more opposed to revolutionary morality than the moral standards of traders...."
Go to Freespace to read the rest.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/16/2004 11:00:00 PM
The Mores of Trade - Roots of Capitalism
The Mores of Trade - Roots of Capitalism
In spite of all the recent talk about moral values, has really anything much changed in past centuries?
Freespace quotes de Tocqueville on the "mores of trade". It begins....
"I know nothing more opposed to revolutionary morality than the moral standards of traders...."
Go to Freespace to read the rest.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/16/2004 11:00:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Monday, November 15, 2004 11/15/2004 03:22:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
The Ubiquitous Instapundit
The Ubiquitous Instapundit
Glenn Reynolds made it into our Ubiquitous Pundit ranks with this statement:
Instapundit.com: ".... I'm all for open wifi in libraries, etc., but I agree that trying for ubiquitous wifi as a city project is probably silly, especially when you can already get free wifi at car washes and fast food places. Not to mention breweries and pizza joints."
Do we need any more proof than these words of the Blogfather that man's activities are principally involved with cars, food and booze?
After all, you put WiFi where the action is. Ah you lucky Staters, where WiFi is still but a fata morgana in much of Europe.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/15/2004 03:22:00 PM
The Ubiquitous Instapundit
The Ubiquitous Instapundit
Glenn Reynolds made it into our Ubiquitous Pundit ranks with this statement:
Instapundit.com: ".... I'm all for open wifi in libraries, etc., but I agree that trying for ubiquitous wifi as a city project is probably silly, especially when you can already get free wifi at car washes and fast food places. Not to mention breweries and pizza joints."
Do we need any more proof than these words of the Blogfather that man's activities are principally involved with cars, food and booze?
After all, you put WiFi where the action is. Ah you lucky Staters, where WiFi is still but a fata morgana in much of Europe.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/15/2004 03:22:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Saturday, November 13, 2004 11/13/2004 08:53:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
SEC Proposal to Overhaul Securities Offerings - Paul, Weiss Comments
SEC Proposal to Overhaul Securities Offerings - Paul, Weiss Comments
My alma mater law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has a recent publication online entitled SEC Proposes to Overhaul Various Aspects of the Securities Offering Process in the United States.
See the recent October 27, 2004 SEC press release on that reform.
Paul, Weiss writes:
"The SEC has proposed major modifications to the offering process for raising capital under the Securities Act of 1933. The proposals address communications related to registered offerings of securities, delivery of information to investors and registration and other procedures in the offering and capital formation process.
The proposals are the most recent initiative in a long line of attempts to modernize the offering process and to refocus the registration process on the disclosure regime under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The proposals represent incremental changes in the regulatory structure and offering process, and are designed to further integrate the Securities Act and the Exchange Act (in part by taking advantage of the recent enhancements to Exchange Act disclosure, thus allowing the SEC to rely on these reports to a far greater degree as a cornerstone of reforming the offering process)"....
See the Paul, Weiss site for a detailed discussion (a 48 page .pdf). The Law Pundit sees that Richard S. Borisoff, with whom the Law Pundit used to work, is one of the authors of the publication. In case he should see this posting, greetings.
The LawPundit used to write SEC registrations so that we understand well what is involved in these regulations and proposals. Hence, it is certain that all corporate attorneys involved in SEC work should take a look at this publication.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/13/2004 08:53:00 PM
SEC Proposal to Overhaul Securities Offerings - Paul, Weiss Comments
SEC Proposal to Overhaul Securities Offerings - Paul, Weiss Comments
My alma mater law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has a recent publication online entitled SEC Proposes to Overhaul Various Aspects of the Securities Offering Process in the United States.
See the recent October 27, 2004 SEC press release on that reform.
Paul, Weiss writes:
"The SEC has proposed major modifications to the offering process for raising capital under the Securities Act of 1933. The proposals address communications related to registered offerings of securities, delivery of information to investors and registration and other procedures in the offering and capital formation process.
The proposals are the most recent initiative in a long line of attempts to modernize the offering process and to refocus the registration process on the disclosure regime under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The proposals represent incremental changes in the regulatory structure and offering process, and are designed to further integrate the Securities Act and the Exchange Act (in part by taking advantage of the recent enhancements to Exchange Act disclosure, thus allowing the SEC to rely on these reports to a far greater degree as a cornerstone of reforming the offering process)"....
See the Paul, Weiss site for a detailed discussion (a 48 page .pdf). The Law Pundit sees that Richard S. Borisoff, with whom the Law Pundit used to work, is one of the authors of the publication. In case he should see this posting, greetings.
The LawPundit used to write SEC registrations so that we understand well what is involved in these regulations and proposals. Hence, it is certain that all corporate attorneys involved in SEC work should take a look at this publication.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/13/2004 08:53:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/13/2004 08:25:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
To Every Man his Colt (or should we say) Smith & Wesson
To Every Man his Colt (or should we say) Smith & Wesson
Gun politics is an issue worldwide.
Via Keith Devens,
Dave Kopel has published the draft of his forthcoming law review article on THE LICENSING OF CONCEALED HANDGUNS FOR LAWFUL PROTECTION: SUPPORT FROM FIVE STATE SUPREME COURTS.
Former US President Theodore Roosevelt is often quoted as having used the West African proverb "speak softly and carry a big stick".... although that could be amended in our day, according to the above article, to "speak softly, because the man you are talking to may be carrying a big stick...."
Actually, the LawPundit is for the granting of permission to carry concealed handguns for protection because it seems to work against crime and criminals. See here. However, we support gun control worldwide on military weapons beyond handguns and hunting rifles - there is a substantial difference as to the use for which such weapons are designed. On the other hand, if every man had his own personal armored tank in his backyard, we might be a bit more civil to one another ....
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/13/2004 08:25:00 PM
To Every Man his Colt (or should we say) Smith & Wesson
To Every Man his Colt (or should we say) Smith & Wesson
Gun politics is an issue worldwide.
Via Keith Devens,
Dave Kopel has published the draft of his forthcoming law review article on THE LICENSING OF CONCEALED HANDGUNS FOR LAWFUL PROTECTION: SUPPORT FROM FIVE STATE SUPREME COURTS.
Former US President Theodore Roosevelt is often quoted as having used the West African proverb "speak softly and carry a big stick".... although that could be amended in our day, according to the above article, to "speak softly, because the man you are talking to may be carrying a big stick...."
Actually, the LawPundit is for the granting of permission to carry concealed handguns for protection because it seems to work against crime and criminals. See here. However, we support gun control worldwide on military weapons beyond handguns and hunting rifles - there is a substantial difference as to the use for which such weapons are designed. On the other hand, if every man had his own personal armored tank in his backyard, we might be a bit more civil to one another ....
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/13/2004 08:25:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/13/2004 06:45:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Deadline on Monday
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Deadline on Monday
Alan Meckler, CEO of Jupitermedia, has a blog posting entitled Sarbanes Oxley Is Kafka's Dream complaining about the company costs caused by SOX, the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act (the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002" summarized inter alia at the AICPA and SEC FAQS), which was passed in response to corporate scandals such as Enron and MCI.
Via Real Corporate Lawyer we are directed to two news articles at the Business Week Online and the New York Times indicating that many public companies are nowhere near meeting SOX deadlines. As noted in the November 12, 2004 InternetNews.com article by Sean Micheal Kerner:
"Monday [November 15, 2004] is the day that Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, "Management Assessment of Internal Controls," comes into effect for U.S.-based companies with market capitalization greater than $75 million....
Section 404 demands that companies put in place an adequate internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting, and holds corporate management accountable for inadequate controls. To ensure compliance with Section 404, enterprises must have data retention and retrieval processes in place, as well as solid documentation of all financial records."
As that article indicates, SOX also has the advantage of bringing better business practices to regulated companies:
"In the view of vendors, SOX has actually served to bring to the fore priorities that should have been at the forefront to begin with.
'Things like cleaning up your files, consolidating, backup and protection was kind of on the back burner and was not a high priority from the business side,' said HDS's Hu. 'This now gives IT people the opportunity to implement those types of procedures. All this really adds up to better IT practices.'
'This will actually help end users in the near term by putting in place some critical infrastructure that will make managing and accessing electronic records in a secure way much easier and more effective,' said EMC's Lair. 'Properly leveraging a corporation's information assets is definitely a 'win' for end users.'"
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/13/2004 06:45:00 PM
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Deadline on Monday
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Deadline on Monday
Alan Meckler, CEO of Jupitermedia, has a blog posting entitled Sarbanes Oxley Is Kafka's Dream complaining about the company costs caused by SOX, the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act (the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002" summarized inter alia at the AICPA and SEC FAQS), which was passed in response to corporate scandals such as Enron and MCI.
Via Real Corporate Lawyer we are directed to two news articles at the Business Week Online and the New York Times indicating that many public companies are nowhere near meeting SOX deadlines. As noted in the November 12, 2004 InternetNews.com article by Sean Micheal Kerner:
"Monday [November 15, 2004] is the day that Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, "Management Assessment of Internal Controls," comes into effect for U.S.-based companies with market capitalization greater than $75 million....
Section 404 demands that companies put in place an adequate internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting, and holds corporate management accountable for inadequate controls. To ensure compliance with Section 404, enterprises must have data retention and retrieval processes in place, as well as solid documentation of all financial records."
As that article indicates, SOX also has the advantage of bringing better business practices to regulated companies:
"In the view of vendors, SOX has actually served to bring to the fore priorities that should have been at the forefront to begin with.
'Things like cleaning up your files, consolidating, backup and protection was kind of on the back burner and was not a high priority from the business side,' said HDS's Hu. 'This now gives IT people the opportunity to implement those types of procedures. All this really adds up to better IT practices.'
'This will actually help end users in the near term by putting in place some critical infrastructure that will make managing and accessing electronic records in a secure way much easier and more effective,' said EMC's Lair. 'Properly leveraging a corporation's information assets is definitely a 'win' for end users.'"
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/13/2004 06:45:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/13/2004 04:34:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
The European Constitution and the EU Referendum blog
The European Constitution and the EU Referendum blog
A poll by EOS Gallup Europe, FLASH EUROBAROMETER 159/2 “ The Future European Constitution ”, shows that 79% of EU citizens are favorable to an adoption of a Constitution for the European Union, including 81% in Ireland (IE) but only 51% in the United Kingdom (UK). 69% of EU citizens are of the opinion that a Constitution is essential for EU institutions to function well and not to end in deadlock.70% favored a Minister of Foreign Affairs for the EU. 80% of those questioned preferred regional and local debates on the EU Constitution.
The blog EU Referendum was founded "To discuss issues arising in relation to the UK referendum on the constitutional treaty".(See also Prof Anthony Coughlan).
One major posting in this regard is found at the EU Referendum blog at
The constitution - an analysis.
Although the EU Referendum blog is anti-Constitution (whereas the LawPundit is definitely pro-Constitution), their quite lengthy and detailed legalistic analysis is of substantial interest to the international legal community.
One example of information value - useful for legal commentators - is:
"Protocols: The 36 Protocols or agreements on particular topics attached to the Treaty now become part of the EU Constitution and are as legally binding as its substantive text. They include Ireland's Abortion Protocol (No.31), which generated controversy at the time of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. They also include the Eurotom [sic] Protocol (No.36). The Euratom Treaty, which supports nuclear power, was due to end in 2007 after being in existence 50 years. It is now given an indefinite lease of new life by being made part of the EU Constitution. In addition there are 48 Declarations, which are not legally binding but are statements of political intention by the States making them."
The blog posting identifies as follows:
"ELEVEN KEY FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NEW EU
1. PROVIDING THE NECESSARY CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS FOR AN EU STATE....
2. EU POWERS AND COMPETENCES ... THE EU COURT DECIDES THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN EU AND NATIONAL POWERS....
3. EU LAWS TO BE BASED MAINLY ON POPULATION SIZE, WHICH ADVANTAGES THE BIG STATES....
4. MEMBER STATES TO HAVE NO EU COMMISSIONER FOR ONE-THIRD OF THE TIME....
5. A NEW POLITICAL PRESIDENT, AN EU FOREIGN MINISTER AND DIPLOMATIC CORPS, AND AN EU PUBLIC PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE....
6. AMENDING THE EU CONSTITUTION WITHOUT NEED OF FURTHER TREATIES OR REFERENDUMS....
7. "LOYAL" SUPPORT FOR EU FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY... EU DEFENCE MOVES FROM "MAY" TO "WILL"....
8. THE EU CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS GIVES THE ECJ POWER TO DECIDE OUR RIGHTS....
9. THE EURO TO BE CONSTITUTIONALLY THE EU CURRENCY....
10. EXTENSIVE EXTRA POWERS FOR THE EU....
11. AN IDEOLOGICAL CONSTITUTION...."
Read the EU Referendum blog for their analysis of those eleven features.
Although we see the legal analysis of the EU Referendum blog as quite useful, we find the conclusions made therefrom to be politically flawed. The LawPundit would opine that the EU Referendum blog does not place sufficient emphasis on the already visible and inevitable globalization taking place in a world of 6 billion people and a continuously growing world population, which presents global problems never before faced on our planet, problems that are hardly solvable by mini-states.
Whereas countries such as the United States unified their States long ago, creating the tremendous political, economic and military advantages which come through economies of scale, the nation-states of Europe have not advanced sufficiently beyond the days when every provincial baron had his own customs and tax collectors in his own little kingdom - and the arguments that the EU Referendum blog raises against the new European Constitution are not substantially different in tenor than the arguments raised by the local barons in ancient days to try to prevent the creation of those European nation-states.
Especially the British Isles have been the target for attacks and invasions of all kinds - and, without global US military might - the British Isles would today probably be a province of Germany. The United Kingdom and Ireland do not exist as free countries today by the grace of God, but by the grace of the "United" States of America, with the key emphasis on the word "united".
Whatever else the United States may stand for, it most certainly stands for the idea that political, economic and military unification of large geographic areas and populations is the key to world power and security. The history of modern Europe, by contrast, is marked by constant war and struggle for hegemonial domination - all without any long term success. Obviously, the political solution now being followed by European nation-states is the correct road to achieving the long due unification of Europe, which in the long term promises a more potent and powerful union with greater security for all.
That there are problems to this unification - as the EU Referendum blog emphasizes - is clear, but these problems are and indeed must be surmountable if Europe is not to sink into provincial impotence on the world scene, sacrificing economic welfare and military security for old-fashioned notions. And it most surely can not be the case that cheap labor or European monies are allowed to benefit Member States - see also here - who would otherwise be unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities in strengthening the European Union.
United we stand and divided we fall. The principle is universally applicable, but especially to Europe, which must be able to compete against rising world powers in other regions of the globe. In the modern era, "Big Brother" USA has been the only thing standing between a free Europe and an enslaved Europe. It is time that Europe began to act with the responsibility of an adult among nations, and this means the timely ratification of the European Constitution by ALL Member States.
Then Europe can move forward, as indeed it MUST.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/13/2004 04:34:00 PM
The European Constitution and the EU Referendum blog
The European Constitution and the EU Referendum blog
A poll by EOS Gallup Europe, FLASH EUROBAROMETER 159/2 “ The Future European Constitution ”, shows that 79% of EU citizens are favorable to an adoption of a Constitution for the European Union, including 81% in Ireland (IE) but only 51% in the United Kingdom (UK). 69% of EU citizens are of the opinion that a Constitution is essential for EU institutions to function well and not to end in deadlock.70% favored a Minister of Foreign Affairs for the EU. 80% of those questioned preferred regional and local debates on the EU Constitution.
The blog EU Referendum was founded "To discuss issues arising in relation to the UK referendum on the constitutional treaty".(See also Prof Anthony Coughlan).
One major posting in this regard is found at the EU Referendum blog at
The constitution - an analysis.
Although the EU Referendum blog is anti-Constitution (whereas the LawPundit is definitely pro-Constitution), their quite lengthy and detailed legalistic analysis is of substantial interest to the international legal community.
One example of information value - useful for legal commentators - is:
"Protocols: The 36 Protocols or agreements on particular topics attached to the Treaty now become part of the EU Constitution and are as legally binding as its substantive text. They include Ireland's Abortion Protocol (No.31), which generated controversy at the time of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. They also include the Eurotom [sic] Protocol (No.36). The Euratom Treaty, which supports nuclear power, was due to end in 2007 after being in existence 50 years. It is now given an indefinite lease of new life by being made part of the EU Constitution. In addition there are 48 Declarations, which are not legally binding but are statements of political intention by the States making them."
The blog posting identifies as follows:
"ELEVEN KEY FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NEW EU
1. PROVIDING THE NECESSARY CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS FOR AN EU STATE....
2. EU POWERS AND COMPETENCES ... THE EU COURT DECIDES THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN EU AND NATIONAL POWERS....
3. EU LAWS TO BE BASED MAINLY ON POPULATION SIZE, WHICH ADVANTAGES THE BIG STATES....
4. MEMBER STATES TO HAVE NO EU COMMISSIONER FOR ONE-THIRD OF THE TIME....
5. A NEW POLITICAL PRESIDENT, AN EU FOREIGN MINISTER AND DIPLOMATIC CORPS, AND AN EU PUBLIC PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE....
6. AMENDING THE EU CONSTITUTION WITHOUT NEED OF FURTHER TREATIES OR REFERENDUMS....
7. "LOYAL" SUPPORT FOR EU FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY... EU DEFENCE MOVES FROM "MAY" TO "WILL"....
8. THE EU CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS GIVES THE ECJ POWER TO DECIDE OUR RIGHTS....
9. THE EURO TO BE CONSTITUTIONALLY THE EU CURRENCY....
10. EXTENSIVE EXTRA POWERS FOR THE EU....
11. AN IDEOLOGICAL CONSTITUTION...."
Read the EU Referendum blog for their analysis of those eleven features.
Although we see the legal analysis of the EU Referendum blog as quite useful, we find the conclusions made therefrom to be politically flawed. The LawPundit would opine that the EU Referendum blog does not place sufficient emphasis on the already visible and inevitable globalization taking place in a world of 6 billion people and a continuously growing world population, which presents global problems never before faced on our planet, problems that are hardly solvable by mini-states.
Whereas countries such as the United States unified their States long ago, creating the tremendous political, economic and military advantages which come through economies of scale, the nation-states of Europe have not advanced sufficiently beyond the days when every provincial baron had his own customs and tax collectors in his own little kingdom - and the arguments that the EU Referendum blog raises against the new European Constitution are not substantially different in tenor than the arguments raised by the local barons in ancient days to try to prevent the creation of those European nation-states.
Especially the British Isles have been the target for attacks and invasions of all kinds - and, without global US military might - the British Isles would today probably be a province of Germany. The United Kingdom and Ireland do not exist as free countries today by the grace of God, but by the grace of the "United" States of America, with the key emphasis on the word "united".
Whatever else the United States may stand for, it most certainly stands for the idea that political, economic and military unification of large geographic areas and populations is the key to world power and security. The history of modern Europe, by contrast, is marked by constant war and struggle for hegemonial domination - all without any long term success. Obviously, the political solution now being followed by European nation-states is the correct road to achieving the long due unification of Europe, which in the long term promises a more potent and powerful union with greater security for all.
That there are problems to this unification - as the EU Referendum blog emphasizes - is clear, but these problems are and indeed must be surmountable if Europe is not to sink into provincial impotence on the world scene, sacrificing economic welfare and military security for old-fashioned notions. And it most surely can not be the case that cheap labor or European monies are allowed to benefit Member States - see also here - who would otherwise be unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities in strengthening the European Union.
United we stand and divided we fall. The principle is universally applicable, but especially to Europe, which must be able to compete against rising world powers in other regions of the globe. In the modern era, "Big Brother" USA has been the only thing standing between a free Europe and an enslaved Europe. It is time that Europe began to act with the responsibility of an adult among nations, and this means the timely ratification of the European Constitution by ALL Member States.
Then Europe can move forward, as indeed it MUST.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/13/2004 04:34:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Friday, November 12, 2004 11/12/2004 10:35:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
BCS college football rankings, Colley Matrix and Presidential polls
BCS college football rankings, Colley Matrix and Presidential polls
The BCS college football ranking system has come under a lot of criticism over the years, but in fact, it may be the best thing out there.
Wesley L. Colley Matrix (CM) Rankings is one of the BCS computer rankers and recently applied a simple mathematical system to prediction of the US Presidential election. As one can read at Colley Rankings, the method that Colley Rankings used resulted in a correct prediction for every state exept Hawaii.
In other words, Colley did substantially better in their Presidential election prediction than the specially designed systems normally used by others.
Take a look at the current Colley Matrix rankings.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/12/2004 10:35:00 PM
BCS college football rankings, Colley Matrix and Presidential polls
BCS college football rankings, Colley Matrix and Presidential polls
The BCS college football ranking system has come under a lot of criticism over the years, but in fact, it may be the best thing out there.
Wesley L. Colley Matrix (CM) Rankings is one of the BCS computer rankers and recently applied a simple mathematical system to prediction of the US Presidential election. As one can read at Colley Rankings, the method that Colley Rankings used resulted in a correct prediction for every state exept Hawaii.
In other words, Colley did substantially better in their Presidential election prediction than the specially designed systems normally used by others.
Take a look at the current Colley Matrix rankings.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/12/2004 10:35:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/12/2004 09:05:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Veterans Day 2004 - In Flanders Fields
Veterans Day 2004 - In Flanders Fields
Anthony Cerminaro at Bizz Bang Buzz has a memorable posting on "We Honor the Fallen on Veterans Day" containing the superb poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae, including an explanation of the use of "poppies" in the poem. Why poppies? Take a look at the posting to find out.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/12/2004 09:05:00 PM
Veterans Day 2004 - In Flanders Fields
Veterans Day 2004 - In Flanders Fields
Anthony Cerminaro at Bizz Bang Buzz has a memorable posting on "We Honor the Fallen on Veterans Day" containing the superb poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae, including an explanation of the use of "poppies" in the poem. Why poppies? Take a look at the posting to find out.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/12/2004 09:05:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/12/2004 06:17:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
The Modulator's Menagerie
The Modulator's Menagerie
The Modulator has a "Friday Ark" posting (a play on Noah's Ark) in which he states:
"I'll post links to sites that have Friday (or shortly thereafter) photos of their chosen animals as I see them (no photoshops and no humans).
Leave a comment or trackback to this post and I'll add yours to the list. If there is interest I'll keep this as a weekly feature."
We add here an everyday photo of our Siamese cat Lucas, who is named after Luca Signorreli (also known as Luca da Cortona, or Cortene), a Renaissance painter who we rank among the first truly naturalist painters and who has been called "the first to illustrate our own house of life". Bernard Berenson (see also here and here and here) called him the "grandest illustrator of modern times". We have a copy in oil of Signorelli's Portrait of a Man, which we regard to be art's best male comparable portrait to Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Mona Lisa. (Portrait of a Man is found in original in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany and the Mona Lisa of course is in the Louvre in Paris, France).
We think that there is no doubt that man evolved from primate apes, but the interesting question is what preceded them? We think it is cats - and this may account for the special relationship between the felines and humanity, a close tie recognized as far back as the Ancient Pharaonic culture in Egypt and beyond. The cats are reflections of ourselves and to our knowledge are the only other animal to turn their backs on humans and pout when offended.
.
Crossposted to ArtsPundit.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/12/2004 06:17:00 PM
The Modulator's Menagerie
The Modulator's Menagerie
The Modulator has a "Friday Ark" posting (a play on Noah's Ark) in which he states:
"I'll post links to sites that have Friday (or shortly thereafter) photos of their chosen animals as I see them (no photoshops and no humans).
Leave a comment or trackback to this post and I'll add yours to the list. If there is interest I'll keep this as a weekly feature."
We add here an everyday photo of our Siamese cat Lucas, who is named after Luca Signorreli (also known as Luca da Cortona, or Cortene), a Renaissance painter who we rank among the first truly naturalist painters and who has been called "the first to illustrate our own house of life". Bernard Berenson (see also here and here and here) called him the "grandest illustrator of modern times". We have a copy in oil of Signorelli's Portrait of a Man, which we regard to be art's best male comparable portrait to Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Mona Lisa. (Portrait of a Man is found in original in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany and the Mona Lisa of course is in the Louvre in Paris, France).
We think that there is no doubt that man evolved from primate apes, but the interesting question is what preceded them? We think it is cats - and this may account for the special relationship between the felines and humanity, a close tie recognized as far back as the Ancient Pharaonic culture in Egypt and beyond. The cats are reflections of ourselves and to our knowledge are the only other animal to turn their backs on humans and pout when offended.
Luca Signorelli II
.
Crossposted to ArtsPundit.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/12/2004 06:17:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/12/2004 05:04:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
European Union Constitution - Lithuania 1st EU Member State to Ratify the Constitution of Europe
European Union Constitution - Lithuania 1st EU Member State to Ratify the Constitution of Europe
[Text of European Constitution, Protocols and Annexes I and II, Declarations on the Treaty, Protocols and Annexes]
[Wikipedia entry for a Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe]
A Fistful of Euros via a BBC article reports:
"The US state of Delaware uses the name 'The First State' because it was the first of the original 13 states to ratify the US Constitution and today, Lithuania earned itself the possible title of 'First Country' in years to come as it became the first country to ratify the European Constitution. Unlike the battles in other countries, this was a comparatively easy, and perhaps even popular, decision...."
Scotsman.com praised Lithuania for its swift move in ratifying the Treaty establishing a Constitution of Europe which was signed by European leaders on October 29, 2004.
The BBC has a very "quick guide" to the EU Constitution as well as a short detail of "what the EU Constitution" says.
A history of the treaties which led to the EU Constitution is found at the University of Zaragoza site.
The Text of the European Constitution is found at the EU site.
[Text of European Constitution, Protocols and Annexes I and II, Declarations on the Treaty, Protocols and Annexes]
The Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
(18.07.2003) was prepared by the The European Convention
Statewatch has a legally-oriented annotated text of the EU Constitution draft, writing:
"A unique series of annotated texts of the proposed EU Constitution have been prepared for Statewatch by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex. Each of the text is annotated to compare the current Treaties, practice and case law to the proposed Constitution - and in the case of decision-making the present division of powers to those proposed (including new powers)."
Update, November 15, 2004:
The EU Law Web Blog - which we have now added to our blog roll - had a timely posting on the EU Constitution.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/12/2004 05:04:00 PM
European Union Constitution - Lithuania 1st EU Member State to Ratify the Constitution of Europe
European Union Constitution - Lithuania 1st EU Member State to Ratify the Constitution of Europe
[Text of European Constitution, Protocols and Annexes I and II, Declarations on the Treaty, Protocols and Annexes]
[Wikipedia entry for a Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe]
A Fistful of Euros via a BBC article reports:
"The US state of Delaware uses the name 'The First State' because it was the first of the original 13 states to ratify the US Constitution and today, Lithuania earned itself the possible title of 'First Country' in years to come as it became the first country to ratify the European Constitution. Unlike the battles in other countries, this was a comparatively easy, and perhaps even popular, decision...."
Scotsman.com praised Lithuania for its swift move in ratifying the Treaty establishing a Constitution of Europe which was signed by European leaders on October 29, 2004.
The BBC has a very "quick guide" to the EU Constitution as well as a short detail of "what the EU Constitution" says.
A history of the treaties which led to the EU Constitution is found at the University of Zaragoza site.
The Text of the European Constitution is found at the EU site.
[Text of European Constitution, Protocols and Annexes I and II, Declarations on the Treaty, Protocols and Annexes]
The Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
(18.07.2003) was prepared by the The European Convention
Statewatch has a legally-oriented annotated text of the EU Constitution draft, writing:
"A unique series of annotated texts of the proposed EU Constitution have been prepared for Statewatch by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex. Each of the text is annotated to compare the current Treaties, practice and case law to the proposed Constitution - and in the case of decision-making the present division of powers to those proposed (including new powers)."
Update, November 15, 2004:
The EU Law Web Blog - which we have now added to our blog roll - had a timely posting on the EU Constitution.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/12/2004 05:04:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Thursday, November 11, 2004 11/11/2004 10:10:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Top 100 News Words
Top 100 News Words
See the top 100 news words
Via J.D. Lasica's New Media Musings, Steve Rubel's Micro Persuasion and David Krane's kraneland... we are ten-by-tenned at 10x10, a unique new way of pictorially presenting the top 100 news stories - hourly - ranked by a linguistic analysis of the top 100 words used by selected news media in their RSS feeds. As written at 10x10:
Every hour, 10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. After this process, conclusions are automatically drawn about the hour's most important words. The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories. At the end of each day, month, and year, 10x10 looks back through its archives to conclude the top 100 words for the given time period. In this way, a constantly evolving record of our world is formed, based on prominent world events, without any human input.
The 10x10 scrollbar looks like a world champion.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/11/2004 10:10:00 PM
Top 100 News Words
Top 100 News Words
See the top 100 news words
Via J.D. Lasica's New Media Musings, Steve Rubel's Micro Persuasion and David Krane's kraneland... we are ten-by-tenned at 10x10, a unique new way of pictorially presenting the top 100 news stories - hourly - ranked by a linguistic analysis of the top 100 words used by selected news media in their RSS feeds. As written at 10x10:
Every hour, 10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. After this process, conclusions are automatically drawn about the hour's most important words. The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories. At the end of each day, month, and year, 10x10 looks back through its archives to conclude the top 100 words for the given time period. In this way, a constantly evolving record of our world is formed, based on prominent world events, without any human input.
The 10x10 scrollbar looks like a world champion.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/11/2004 10:10:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/11/2004 06:27:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Ubiquity the Key in the Internet Age
Ubiquity the Key in the Internet Age
Jeremy Zawodny has quite a long posting on
Ubiquity in the Internet Age.
Zawodny claims that "ubiquity" is the key to winning the internet battle:
"The Internet is the new medium and it has the effect of leveling the playing field. While this isn't a new insight, let me say it in two specific ways:
1. The web enables infinite distribution of content without any special effort or infrastructure.
2. The web extends the reach of our apps and services as far as we're willing to let them go.
Both notions come back to ubiquity. If your stuff (and your brand) is everywhere, you win. The money will follow. It always does....
What to do? ...
1. do something useful really really well
2. put the user in control by allowing access to your data and services in an easy and unrestricted way
3. share the wealth "
For example, Zawodny uses Google's Blogger as an example of a company which does all three.
But of course, there are also technical requirements as well.
Interesting to note in this regard is the October 25, 2004 article, "The Road To Ubiquity" by David Haskin, Mobile Pipeline, InternetWeek, which outlines three requirements for wireless technologies becoming "winners":
"First, hardware must become readily available that handles them all. Second, mobile-access bundles that give users two or more of these wireless options are necessary, or enterprises and consumers won't be able to make heads nor tails out of all the connectivity choices. Third, Wi-Fi hotspot and wireless-broadband vendors must offer widespread roaming agreements."
But, caveat emptor. There is a dark side to ubiquity. Via TechnoTaste (Anthropology, Technology, Food and Wine) and the posting "Internet Withdrawal and Internet Ubiquity" we are led to Lester Haines at the Register and his 23 September 2004 article "Internet junkies in chilling cold turkey experiment", which shows that internet ubiquity can also lead to internet addiction.
Crossposted to LawPundit.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/11/2004 06:27:00 PM
Ubiquity the Key in the Internet Age
Ubiquity the Key in the Internet Age
Jeremy Zawodny has quite a long posting on
Ubiquity in the Internet Age.
Zawodny claims that "ubiquity" is the key to winning the internet battle:
"The Internet is the new medium and it has the effect of leveling the playing field. While this isn't a new insight, let me say it in two specific ways:
1. The web enables infinite distribution of content without any special effort or infrastructure.
2. The web extends the reach of our apps and services as far as we're willing to let them go.
Both notions come back to ubiquity. If your stuff (and your brand) is everywhere, you win. The money will follow. It always does....
What to do? ...
1. do something useful really really well
2. put the user in control by allowing access to your data and services in an easy and unrestricted way
3. share the wealth "
For example, Zawodny uses Google's Blogger as an example of a company which does all three.
But of course, there are also technical requirements as well.
Interesting to note in this regard is the October 25, 2004 article, "The Road To Ubiquity" by David Haskin, Mobile Pipeline, InternetWeek, which outlines three requirements for wireless technologies becoming "winners":
"First, hardware must become readily available that handles them all. Second, mobile-access bundles that give users two or more of these wireless options are necessary, or enterprises and consumers won't be able to make heads nor tails out of all the connectivity choices. Third, Wi-Fi hotspot and wireless-broadband vendors must offer widespread roaming agreements."
But, caveat emptor. There is a dark side to ubiquity. Via TechnoTaste (Anthropology, Technology, Food and Wine) and the posting "Internet Withdrawal and Internet Ubiquity" we are led to Lester Haines at the Register and his 23 September 2004 article "Internet junkies in chilling cold turkey experiment", which shows that internet ubiquity can also lead to internet addiction.
Crossposted to LawPundit.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/11/2004 06:27:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/11/2004 01:19:00 AM [Home]
[Print]
Infothought - Geolocation, the Influence of Blogs, the DMCRA
Infothought - Geolocation, the Influence of Blogs, the DMCRA
Infothought's Seth Finkelstein has a very interesting posting regarding his expert declaration in the case of Nitke v. Ashcroft, especially regarding the possibility and accuracy of determining the geolocation of website visitors. If persons are not actively trying to hide their geolocation, that geolocation can be determined fairly closely by websites such as IP2LOCATION - but not always accurately enough for criminal purposes. Try it out on your own location by clicking that link. On the other hand, if persons are trying to hide their geolocation, they are able to do so, according to Seth's expert declaration.
Seth's Infothought blog (which covers "DMCA, Google, censorware, and an inside view of net-politics") has many other interesting topics, including a posting which calculates that ordinary blogs have little political influence. We agree.
Another informative read in the intellectual property area is Seth's material about the DMCRA (The Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act). See here for a short summary of the act, for the bill itself, and for the hearing on the bill.
The hearing has informative material on the debate about copyright protection and the right to copy CDs, DVDs and software with statements by
LAWRENCE LESSIG, PROFESSOR OF LAW, STANFORD LAW SCHOOL; GARY J. SHAPIRO, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION; JACK VALENTI, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA; ROBERT W. HOLLEYMAN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE; HON. AL SWIFT, COLLING MURPHY; AND MIRIAM M. NISBET, LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/11/2004 01:19:00 AM
Infothought - Geolocation, the Influence of Blogs, the DMCRA
Infothought - Geolocation, the Influence of Blogs, the DMCRA
Infothought's Seth Finkelstein has a very interesting posting regarding his expert declaration in the case of Nitke v. Ashcroft, especially regarding the possibility and accuracy of determining the geolocation of website visitors. If persons are not actively trying to hide their geolocation, that geolocation can be determined fairly closely by websites such as IP2LOCATION - but not always accurately enough for criminal purposes. Try it out on your own location by clicking that link. On the other hand, if persons are trying to hide their geolocation, they are able to do so, according to Seth's expert declaration.
Seth's Infothought blog (which covers "DMCA, Google, censorware, and an inside view of net-politics") has many other interesting topics, including a posting which calculates that ordinary blogs have little political influence. We agree.
Another informative read in the intellectual property area is Seth's material about the DMCRA (The Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act). See here for a short summary of the act, for the bill itself, and for the hearing on the bill.
The hearing has informative material on the debate about copyright protection and the right to copy CDs, DVDs and software with statements by
LAWRENCE LESSIG, PROFESSOR OF LAW, STANFORD LAW SCHOOL; GARY J. SHAPIRO, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION; JACK VALENTI, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA; ROBERT W. HOLLEYMAN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE; HON. AL SWIFT, COLLING MURPHY; AND MIRIAM M. NISBET, LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/11/2004 01:19:00 AM
LAW PUNDIT 11/11/2004 01:00:00 AM [Home]
[Print]
First Felony Conviction for a Spammer
First Felony Conviction for a Spammer
As reported in
PC World
the first felony conviction for a spammer was made in Virginia under a Virginia law which took effect in 2003.
"The Virginia Computer Crimes Act's new antispam provisions make it the toughest such law in the United States, according to the governor's office.
Why Virginia?
Virginia Governor Mark Warner was quoted in 2003 as saying:
" 'Half the world's Internet traffic passes through the Commonwealth of Virginia, so it is appropriate that we give our prosecutors tools to go after this costly and annoying crime,' Warner said in a statement. 'Before this law, legal action was almost not worth the trouble for prosecutors--which is no message to send to our Internet industry in its fight against the spam invasion.' "
Without such rightfully draconic laws, there is also no way to protect the consumer, which should be the main consideration.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/11/2004 01:00:00 AM
First Felony Conviction for a Spammer
First Felony Conviction for a Spammer
As reported in
PC World
the first felony conviction for a spammer was made in Virginia under a Virginia law which took effect in 2003.
"The Virginia Computer Crimes Act's new antispam provisions make it the toughest such law in the United States, according to the governor's office.
Why Virginia?
Virginia Governor Mark Warner was quoted in 2003 as saying:
" 'Half the world's Internet traffic passes through the Commonwealth of Virginia, so it is appropriate that we give our prosecutors tools to go after this costly and annoying crime,' Warner said in a statement. 'Before this law, legal action was almost not worth the trouble for prosecutors--which is no message to send to our Internet industry in its fight against the spam invasion.' "
Without such rightfully draconic laws, there is also no way to protect the consumer, which should be the main consideration.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/11/2004 01:00:00 AM
LAW PUNDIT Wednesday, November 10, 2004 11/10/2004 10:39:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Globalization and Innovation
Globalization and Innovation
Innovation is the lifeline of progress in the modern world and can be viewed from many perspectives.
Take a look at the IdeaFlow blog and its posting and comments thereto on "What Drives Innovation?"
There is also a legal side to innovation: patent law and its enforcement. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has an October 2003 report "To Promote Innovation: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy" which begins:
"Innovation benefits consumers through the development of new and improved goods, services, and processes. An economy’s capacity for invention and innovation helps drive its economic growth and the degree to which standards of living
increase.1 Technological breakthroughs such as automobiles, airplanes, the personal computer, the Internet, television, telephones, and modern pharmaceuticals illustrate the power of innovation to increase prosperity and improve the quality of our lives."
The FTC article is a "must read" for all persons involved in the intellectual property field.
Innovation is so important for business that there are government sites devoted to the subject. For example, the government innovation site in the United Kingdom writes:
"The challenge for companies is to bring to the market a stream of new and improved, added-value, products and services that enable the business to achieve higher margins and thus profits to re-invest in the business.
Innovation – the successful exploitation of new ideas – incorporating new technologies, design and best practice is the key business process that enables UK businesses to compete effectively in the global environment."
The Federal Reserve Board has published online the remarks of its Chairman, Alan Greenspan on May 6, 2004 on the topic of Globalization and Innovation.
Greenspan's remarks included the following observations about the juncture of globalization and innovation:
"Globalization has altered the economic frameworks of both advanced and developing nations in ways that are difficult to fully comprehend. Nonetheless, the largely unregulated global markets, with some notable exceptions, appear to move effortlessly from one state of equilibrium to another. Adam Smith's "invisible hand" remains at work on a global scale....
In tandem with increasing globalization, monetary policy, to most observers, has become increasingly effective in achieving the objective of price stability. But because we have not experienced a sufficient number of economic turning points to judge the causal linkages among increased globalization, improved monetary policy, significant disinflation, and greater economic stability, the structure of the transitional paradigm is necessarily sketchy.
Nonetheless, a paradigm encompassing globalization and innovation, far more than in earlier decades, appears to explain the events of the past ten years better than other conceptual constructs."
Lastly, military innovation has been one of the driving forces for the development of human society ever since mankind has populated the planet. An interesting study is found at:
Philip T. Hoffman, California Institute of Technology, "Why is that Europeans Ended Up Conquering the Rest of the Globe? Prices, the Military Revolution, and Western Europe’s Comparative Advantage in Violence", August 8, 2004
Indeed, military innovation is quite a current topic and has been well analyzed by Air Vice-Marshal R.A. Mason in Innovation and the Military Mind (Adapted for AU-24 from Air University Review, January-February 1986).
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 10:39:00 PM
Globalization and Innovation
Globalization and Innovation
Innovation is the lifeline of progress in the modern world and can be viewed from many perspectives.
Take a look at the IdeaFlow blog and its posting and comments thereto on "What Drives Innovation?"
There is also a legal side to innovation: patent law and its enforcement. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has an October 2003 report "To Promote Innovation: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy" which begins:
"Innovation benefits consumers through the development of new and improved goods, services, and processes. An economy’s capacity for invention and innovation helps drive its economic growth and the degree to which standards of living
increase.1 Technological breakthroughs such as automobiles, airplanes, the personal computer, the Internet, television, telephones, and modern pharmaceuticals illustrate the power of innovation to increase prosperity and improve the quality of our lives."
The FTC article is a "must read" for all persons involved in the intellectual property field.
Innovation is so important for business that there are government sites devoted to the subject. For example, the government innovation site in the United Kingdom writes:
"The challenge for companies is to bring to the market a stream of new and improved, added-value, products and services that enable the business to achieve higher margins and thus profits to re-invest in the business.
Innovation – the successful exploitation of new ideas – incorporating new technologies, design and best practice is the key business process that enables UK businesses to compete effectively in the global environment."
The Federal Reserve Board has published online the remarks of its Chairman, Alan Greenspan on May 6, 2004 on the topic of Globalization and Innovation.
Greenspan's remarks included the following observations about the juncture of globalization and innovation:
"Globalization has altered the economic frameworks of both advanced and developing nations in ways that are difficult to fully comprehend. Nonetheless, the largely unregulated global markets, with some notable exceptions, appear to move effortlessly from one state of equilibrium to another. Adam Smith's "invisible hand" remains at work on a global scale....
In tandem with increasing globalization, monetary policy, to most observers, has become increasingly effective in achieving the objective of price stability. But because we have not experienced a sufficient number of economic turning points to judge the causal linkages among increased globalization, improved monetary policy, significant disinflation, and greater economic stability, the structure of the transitional paradigm is necessarily sketchy.
Nonetheless, a paradigm encompassing globalization and innovation, far more than in earlier decades, appears to explain the events of the past ten years better than other conceptual constructs."
Lastly, military innovation has been one of the driving forces for the development of human society ever since mankind has populated the planet. An interesting study is found at:
Philip T. Hoffman, California Institute of Technology, "Why is that Europeans Ended Up Conquering the Rest of the Globe? Prices, the Military Revolution, and Western Europe’s Comparative Advantage in Violence", August 8, 2004
Indeed, military innovation is quite a current topic and has been well analyzed by Air Vice-Marshal R.A. Mason in Innovation and the Military Mind (Adapted for AU-24 from Air University Review, January-February 1986).
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 10:39:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/10/2004 07:22:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Copyrights, Fair Use And Derivative Works
Copyrights, Fair Use And Derivative Works
Ivan Hoffman in his online article Fair Use And Derivative Works discusses the copyright issues of fair use and derivative works as raised in the 8th Circuit case, Mulcahy v. Cheetah Learning.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 07:22:00 PM
Copyrights, Fair Use And Derivative Works
Copyrights, Fair Use And Derivative Works
Ivan Hoffman in his online article Fair Use And Derivative Works discusses the copyright issues of fair use and derivative works as raised in the 8th Circuit case, Mulcahy v. Cheetah Learning.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 07:22:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/10/2004 06:55:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Lakoff - Symbolism and Metaphorical Mapping
Lakoff - Symbolism and Metaphorical Mapping
"Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature." - George Lakoff
Do you want to better understand yourself, the world and the events of our times? Then you should make yourself familiar with the work of George Lakoff. See also Wikipedia and the embodied mind.
Lakoff's ideas also relate directly to the correctness of theories of law and society.
Be sure to read the following articles, which all relate, directly or indirectly, to events with which we are confronted daily in the news media.
Metaphors of Terror
Lakoff begins:
"1: Our Brains Had to Change
Everything we know is physically instantiated in the neural system of our brains.
What we knew before September 11 about America, Manhattan, the World Trade Center, air travel, and the Pentagon was intimately tied up with our identities and with a vast amount of what we took for granted about everyday life. It was all there physically in our neural synapses."
Lakoff is a left-winger, but based on the above article, his science can clearly also support the right-wingers, suggesting that the metaphors which have now been collected in the brains of Americans and many people in the Western world do not bide well for the antagonistic nations, religions and cultures of this world. Lakoff argues for a contrary direction, but we think that the symbolism and metaphor which he outlines point in an entirely different direction.
The War on Terror
"Linguistics professor George Lakoff dissects the "war on terror" and other conservative catchphrases" by Bonnie Azab Powell, who quotes Lakoff:
"The values, principles, and general directions are what people care about and what brings them together."
Framing Political Issues
"Framing the issues: UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics" by Bonnie Azab Powell, in an article which touches the questions:
"Why do conservatives appear to be so much better at framing? ...
Why haven't progressives done the same thing?"
The Theory of Cognitive Models, by Francis F. Steen concludes:
"Lakoff's notion of metaphor as a mapping from one cognitive domain to another as "one of the great imaginative triumphs of the human mind" has been echoed by the British paleo- anthropologist Steven Mithen (1996), who has suggested that the transition from Neanderthal man to Cro Magnon is marked precisely by the ability to "switch cognitive frames": the paleolithic blossoming in art may be correlated with the ability to think metaphorically."
Philosophy in the Flesh - We are Neural Beings: A Talk With George Lakoff,
introduction by John Brockman, states:
" 'Anything we can think or understand is shaped by, made possible by, and limited by our bodies, brains, and our embodied interactions in the world. This is what we have to theorize with.'
He then raises the interesting question: 'Is it adequate to understand the world scientifically?' "
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 06:55:00 PM
Lakoff - Symbolism and Metaphorical Mapping
Lakoff - Symbolism and Metaphorical Mapping
"Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature." - George Lakoff
Do you want to better understand yourself, the world and the events of our times? Then you should make yourself familiar with the work of George Lakoff. See also Wikipedia and the embodied mind.
Lakoff's ideas also relate directly to the correctness of theories of law and society.
Be sure to read the following articles, which all relate, directly or indirectly, to events with which we are confronted daily in the news media.
Metaphors of Terror
Lakoff begins:
"1: Our Brains Had to Change
Everything we know is physically instantiated in the neural system of our brains.
What we knew before September 11 about America, Manhattan, the World Trade Center, air travel, and the Pentagon was intimately tied up with our identities and with a vast amount of what we took for granted about everyday life. It was all there physically in our neural synapses."
Lakoff is a left-winger, but based on the above article, his science can clearly also support the right-wingers, suggesting that the metaphors which have now been collected in the brains of Americans and many people in the Western world do not bide well for the antagonistic nations, religions and cultures of this world. Lakoff argues for a contrary direction, but we think that the symbolism and metaphor which he outlines point in an entirely different direction.
The War on Terror
"Linguistics professor George Lakoff dissects the "war on terror" and other conservative catchphrases" by Bonnie Azab Powell, who quotes Lakoff:
"The values, principles, and general directions are what people care about and what brings them together."
Framing Political Issues
"Framing the issues: UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics" by Bonnie Azab Powell, in an article which touches the questions:
"Why do conservatives appear to be so much better at framing? ...
Why haven't progressives done the same thing?"
The Theory of Cognitive Models, by Francis F. Steen concludes:
"Lakoff's notion of metaphor as a mapping from one cognitive domain to another as "one of the great imaginative triumphs of the human mind" has been echoed by the British paleo- anthropologist Steven Mithen (1996), who has suggested that the transition from Neanderthal man to Cro Magnon is marked precisely by the ability to "switch cognitive frames": the paleolithic blossoming in art may be correlated with the ability to think metaphorically."
Philosophy in the Flesh - We are Neural Beings: A Talk With George Lakoff,
introduction by John Brockman, states:
" 'Anything we can think or understand is shaped by, made possible by, and limited by our bodies, brains, and our embodied interactions in the world. This is what we have to theorize with.'
He then raises the interesting question: 'Is it adequate to understand the world scientifically?' "
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 06:55:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/10/2004 03:28:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Tech Blogs at ZDNet - Did you say Lakoff? or UBL?
Tech Blogs at ZDNet - Did you say Lakoff? or UBL?
The following absolutely informative Blogs at ZDNet
are found at
blogs.ZDNet.com:
Between the Lines - "the blog for discriminating IT buyers" by Dan Farber and David Berlind. A recent posting suggest that the just released Mozilla Firefox 1.0 may be a safer, better choice for browsing than Internet Explorer.
We are staunch Microsoft IE (Internet Explorer) users so we remain skeptical about newbies on the browser landscape. Often the hype does not match the expectations. The first thing about Firefox that disturbs us is the non-intuitive placement of the integrated Google search box being in the far upper right hand corner of the browser. You might call this "mouse-stretching". We have the Google toolbar with a properly sized input box (much too small in Firefox) in IE and this is far preferable.
Steve Gillmor's InfoRouter has postings on the blogosphere and his recently coined term "podosphere" for podcasting.
George Ou has postings on security matters and writes about e-mail, spam, viruses and gateway protection as follows:
"...the number of unprotected e-mail domains that remain is shocking.
Unfortunately, too many IT geeks believe that users shouldn’t be so gullible and should learn to defend themselves. This is exactly what spammers count on to accumulate their hordes of zombies that are ready to launch spam or DoS (Denial of Service) attacks at their command, because there will always be a percentage of users who are completely helpless. If your organization or ISP doesn’t scan for viruses at the gateway, it’s time to demand change now."
Russell Shaw brings us IP Telephony and his November 9, 2004 posting on the just issued FCC ruling on VoIP:
"The Federal Communications Commission declared today that a type of Internet telephony service offered by Vonage Holdings Corp. called DigitalVoice is not subject to traditional state public utility regulation.
The Commission also stated that other types of IP-enabled services, such as those offered by cable companies, that have basic characteristics similar to DigitalVoice would also not be subject to traditional state public utility regulation."
Dana Blankenhorn and Joe Brockmeier keep us up to date on Open source, where and a recent post refers to the theories of Berkeley linguist, George Lakoff, according to which open source should try to get away from the term "intellectual property" since copyright infringement is less than that and actually has to do with "a limited right, granted for a limited term".
Hear, hear, all advocates! Lakoff's linguistic studies have led him to teach "that the way to win an argument is to control how the argument is described [framed]." This is no small potatoes, as a coming LawPundit posting on Lakoff will demonstrate.
Britton Manasco and Joe McKendrick present Service-Oriented IT and tell the e-business world on November 10, 2004 that:
"It’s official: UBL, or Universal Business Language, has been unleashed as a standard. On Monday, the standards group OASIS gave its final blessing to UBL, version 1.0, which functions as a standardized document format. As explained by CNET’s Martin LaMonica, UBL is meant to make it easier to turn paper records into electronic ones and, ultimately, easier to share documents, such as purchase orders, between organizations doing business online....
Some proponents, including Jon Bosak, distinguished engineer with Sun Microsystems and a founder of XML, says UBL 'could take over the world.' ...
UBL simply automates purchase orders and invoices – nothing more, nothing less, Bosak says...."
A UBL v1.0 package in ZIP-format can be downloaded here:
"The downloadable package for UBL Version 1.0 contains ca 244 files including: (1) XML schemas for eight basic business documents: Order, Order Response, Order Response Simple, Order Change, Order Cancellation, Despatch Advice, Receipt Advice, and Invoice; (2) a description of the generic order-to-invoice procurement process within which the UBL document types are designed to operate; (3) a library of more than 400 reusable XML data elements from which the UBL document schemas are constructed, complete with definitions based on the ISO/TS 15000 Core Components Technical Specification; (4) a description of the UBL 1.0 development methodology; (5) UML diagrams of the overall UBL data model and its constituent component packages — Address Package, Contract Package, Delivery Package, Document Reference Package, Hazardous Item Package, Item Package, Party Package, Payment Package, Procurement Package, Tax Package; (6) Document assembly diagrams showing the relationship between each of the UBL document types and its constituent components; (7) Excel and OpenOffice spreadsheets showing the data models of each of the UBL documents and the UBL component library; etc."
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 03:28:00 PM
Tech Blogs at ZDNet - Did you say Lakoff? or UBL?
Tech Blogs at ZDNet - Did you say Lakoff? or UBL?
The following absolutely informative Blogs at ZDNet
are found at
blogs.ZDNet.com:
Between the Lines - "the blog for discriminating IT buyers" by Dan Farber and David Berlind. A recent posting suggest that the just released Mozilla Firefox 1.0 may be a safer, better choice for browsing than Internet Explorer.
We are staunch Microsoft IE (Internet Explorer) users so we remain skeptical about newbies on the browser landscape. Often the hype does not match the expectations. The first thing about Firefox that disturbs us is the non-intuitive placement of the integrated Google search box being in the far upper right hand corner of the browser. You might call this "mouse-stretching". We have the Google toolbar with a properly sized input box (much too small in Firefox) in IE and this is far preferable.
Steve Gillmor's InfoRouter has postings on the blogosphere and his recently coined term "podosphere" for podcasting.
George Ou has postings on security matters and writes about e-mail, spam, viruses and gateway protection as follows:
"...the number of unprotected e-mail domains that remain is shocking.
Unfortunately, too many IT geeks believe that users shouldn’t be so gullible and should learn to defend themselves. This is exactly what spammers count on to accumulate their hordes of zombies that are ready to launch spam or DoS (Denial of Service) attacks at their command, because there will always be a percentage of users who are completely helpless. If your organization or ISP doesn’t scan for viruses at the gateway, it’s time to demand change now."
Russell Shaw brings us IP Telephony and his November 9, 2004 posting on the just issued FCC ruling on VoIP:
"The Federal Communications Commission declared today that a type of Internet telephony service offered by Vonage Holdings Corp. called DigitalVoice is not subject to traditional state public utility regulation.
The Commission also stated that other types of IP-enabled services, such as those offered by cable companies, that have basic characteristics similar to DigitalVoice would also not be subject to traditional state public utility regulation."
Dana Blankenhorn and Joe Brockmeier keep us up to date on Open source, where and a recent post refers to the theories of Berkeley linguist, George Lakoff, according to which open source should try to get away from the term "intellectual property" since copyright infringement is less than that and actually has to do with "a limited right, granted for a limited term".
Hear, hear, all advocates! Lakoff's linguistic studies have led him to teach "that the way to win an argument is to control how the argument is described [framed]." This is no small potatoes, as a coming LawPundit posting on Lakoff will demonstrate.
Britton Manasco and Joe McKendrick present Service-Oriented IT and tell the e-business world on November 10, 2004 that:
"It’s official: UBL, or Universal Business Language, has been unleashed as a standard. On Monday, the standards group OASIS gave its final blessing to UBL, version 1.0, which functions as a standardized document format. As explained by CNET’s Martin LaMonica, UBL is meant to make it easier to turn paper records into electronic ones and, ultimately, easier to share documents, such as purchase orders, between organizations doing business online....
Some proponents, including Jon Bosak, distinguished engineer with Sun Microsystems and a founder of XML, says UBL 'could take over the world.' ...
UBL simply automates purchase orders and invoices – nothing more, nothing less, Bosak says...."
A UBL v1.0 package in ZIP-format can be downloaded here:
"The downloadable package for UBL Version 1.0 contains ca 244 files including: (1) XML schemas for eight basic business documents: Order, Order Response, Order Response Simple, Order Change, Order Cancellation, Despatch Advice, Receipt Advice, and Invoice; (2) a description of the generic order-to-invoice procurement process within which the UBL document types are designed to operate; (3) a library of more than 400 reusable XML data elements from which the UBL document schemas are constructed, complete with definitions based on the ISO/TS 15000 Core Components Technical Specification; (4) a description of the UBL 1.0 development methodology; (5) UML diagrams of the overall UBL data model and its constituent component packages — Address Package, Contract Package, Delivery Package, Document Reference Package, Hazardous Item Package, Item Package, Party Package, Payment Package, Procurement Package, Tax Package; (6) Document assembly diagrams showing the relationship between each of the UBL document types and its constituent components; (7) Excel and OpenOffice spreadsheets showing the data models of each of the UBL documents and the UBL component library; etc."
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 03:28:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/10/2004 10:40:00 AM [Home]
[Print]
War-Crimes Trials at Guantanamo
War-Crimes Trials at Guantanamo
Civil Action No. 04-1519
Memorandum Opinion & Order Issued November 8, 2004 by Judge James Robertson
A November 9, 2004 article by Neil A. Lewis at the New York Times entitled
Judge Halts War-Crime Trial at Guantanamo
reports that James Robertson has
"ruled that President Bush had both overstepped his constitutional bounds and improperly brushed aside the Geneva Conventions in establishing military commissions to try detainees at the United States naval base here as war criminals."
Robertson is a controversial left-wing Clinton appointee who manifests the judicial problem which is leading the Bush administration to appoint counterbalancing right-wing judges, a development which we find to be an unfortunate, if understandable, reaction to the continued encroachment of the judiciary branch of government into legislative and executive spheres.
Robertson opined:
"The well-established doctrine that federal courts will “normally not entertain habeas petitions by military prisoners unless all available military remedies have been exhausted,” Schlesinger v. Councilman, 420 U.S. 738 (1975), is not applicable here."
It will be interesting to see if that opinion holds up under judicial review.
In addition, Robertson's 47-page memorandum contains the following conclusion:
"It is now clear, by virtue of the Supreme Court’s
decision in [...], that the detentions of enemy combatants at
Guantanamo Bay are not unlawful per se. The granting (in part)
of [the] petition for habeas corpus accordingly brings only
limited relief. The order that accompanies this opinion
provides: (1) that, unless and until a competent tribunal
determines that [the accused] is not entitled to POW status, he may be
tried for the offenses with which he is charged only by courtmartial
under the Uniform Code of Military Justice...."
The argument of the government to the contrary is that a terrorist is not a prisoner of war (POW) and that the accused in this case has been declared an "enemy combatant" and thus not to be a POW by the President of the United States in his capacity of Commander-in-Chief.
Robertson opines that this status must be determined by "a competent tribunal", writing:
"...the President himself has determined that [the accused terrorist] was a member of [a terrorist organization] or otherwise involved in terrorism against the United States. Id. Presidential determinations in this area, the
government argues, are due “extraordinary deference.” 10/25/04 Tr. at 38. Moreover (as the court was advised for the first time at oral argument on October 25, 2004) a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) found, after a hearing on October 3, 2004, that [the accused terrorist] has the status of an enemy combatant “as either a member
of or affiliated with [a terrorist organization].” 10/25/04 Tr. at 12.
Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention provides:
'Should any doubt arise as to whether persons, having committed a belligerent act and having fallen into the hands of the enemy, belong to any of the categories enumerated in Article 4 such persons shall enjoy the protection of the present Convention until such time as their status has been determined by a competent tribunal.'
This provision has been implemented and confirmed by Army Regulation 190-8, Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees, http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r190_8.pdf., [The accused terrorist] has asserted his entitlement to POW status, and the Army’s regulations provide that whenever a detainee makes such a claim his status is “in doubt.” Army Regulation 190-8, § 1-6(a); [...], 124 S. Ct. at 2658 (Souter, J., concurring). The Army’s regulation is in keeping with general international understandings of the meaning of Article 5. See generally Generals and Admirals Amicus Brief at 18-22.
Thus the government’s position that no doubt has arisen as to [the accused's] status does not withstand scrutiny, and neither does the government’s position that, if a hearing is required by Army regulations, “it was provided,” 10/25/04 Tr. at 40. There
is nothing in this record to suggest that a competent tribunal has determined that [the accused] is not a prisoner-of-war under the Geneva Conventions. [The accused] has appeared before the Combatant Status Review Tribunal, but the CSRT was not established to address detainees’ status under the Geneva Conventions. It was
established to comply with the Supreme Court’s mandate in [...], supra, to decide “whether the detainee is properly detained as an enemy combatant” for purposes of continued detention."
Of course, Robertson's logic is faulty. There is no doubt about the accused's status because the President has already made a decision that he is an "enemy combatant". Moreover, even if we were to follow Judge Robertson's line of reasoning, he begs the question (i.e. assumes the truth of the thing to be proved) and implicitly assumes that the CSRT - which is specifically called a Combatant Status Review Tribunal - is not "a competent tribunal" because it was not specifically established to address detainees' POW status under the Geneva Conventions - as if the Geneva Conventions could require sovereign governments to establish special courts just for the interpretation of its provisions. If the CSRT (constituted to accord with a decision of the United State Supreme Court) determines that a detainee is properly detained "as an enemy combatant" (hence, not a POW) - thus affirming the President's determination of the detainee's status, then there is "no doubt" about the accused's status and that should end the matter.
Update:
A November 22, 2004 posting at SCOTUS Blog by Lyle Denniston covers the newest developments in the above case.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 10:40:00 AM
War-Crimes Trials at Guantanamo
War-Crimes Trials at Guantanamo
Civil Action No. 04-1519
Memorandum Opinion & Order Issued November 8, 2004 by Judge James Robertson
A November 9, 2004 article by Neil A. Lewis at the New York Times entitled
Judge Halts War-Crime Trial at Guantanamo
reports that James Robertson has
"ruled that President Bush had both overstepped his constitutional bounds and improperly brushed aside the Geneva Conventions in establishing military commissions to try detainees at the United States naval base here as war criminals."
Robertson is a controversial left-wing Clinton appointee who manifests the judicial problem which is leading the Bush administration to appoint counterbalancing right-wing judges, a development which we find to be an unfortunate, if understandable, reaction to the continued encroachment of the judiciary branch of government into legislative and executive spheres.
Robertson opined:
"The well-established doctrine that federal courts will “normally not entertain habeas petitions by military prisoners unless all available military remedies have been exhausted,” Schlesinger v. Councilman, 420 U.S. 738 (1975), is not applicable here."
It will be interesting to see if that opinion holds up under judicial review.
In addition, Robertson's 47-page memorandum contains the following conclusion:
"It is now clear, by virtue of the Supreme Court’s
decision in [...], that the detentions of enemy combatants at
Guantanamo Bay are not unlawful per se. The granting (in part)
of [the] petition for habeas corpus accordingly brings only
limited relief. The order that accompanies this opinion
provides: (1) that, unless and until a competent tribunal
determines that [the accused] is not entitled to POW status, he may be
tried for the offenses with which he is charged only by courtmartial
under the Uniform Code of Military Justice...."
The argument of the government to the contrary is that a terrorist is not a prisoner of war (POW) and that the accused in this case has been declared an "enemy combatant" and thus not to be a POW by the President of the United States in his capacity of Commander-in-Chief.
Robertson opines that this status must be determined by "a competent tribunal", writing:
"...the President himself has determined that [the accused terrorist] was a member of [a terrorist organization] or otherwise involved in terrorism against the United States. Id. Presidential determinations in this area, the
government argues, are due “extraordinary deference.” 10/25/04 Tr. at 38. Moreover (as the court was advised for the first time at oral argument on October 25, 2004) a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) found, after a hearing on October 3, 2004, that [the accused terrorist] has the status of an enemy combatant “as either a member
of or affiliated with [a terrorist organization].” 10/25/04 Tr. at 12.
Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention provides:
'Should any doubt arise as to whether persons, having committed a belligerent act and having fallen into the hands of the enemy, belong to any of the categories enumerated in Article 4 such persons shall enjoy the protection of the present Convention until such time as their status has been determined by a competent tribunal.'
This provision has been implemented and confirmed by Army Regulation 190-8, Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees, http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r190_8.pdf., [The accused terrorist] has asserted his entitlement to POW status, and the Army’s regulations provide that whenever a detainee makes such a claim his status is “in doubt.” Army Regulation 190-8, § 1-6(a); [...], 124 S. Ct. at 2658 (Souter, J., concurring). The Army’s regulation is in keeping with general international understandings of the meaning of Article 5. See generally Generals and Admirals Amicus Brief at 18-22.
Thus the government’s position that no doubt has arisen as to [the accused's] status does not withstand scrutiny, and neither does the government’s position that, if a hearing is required by Army regulations, “it was provided,” 10/25/04 Tr. at 40. There
is nothing in this record to suggest that a competent tribunal has determined that [the accused] is not a prisoner-of-war under the Geneva Conventions. [The accused] has appeared before the Combatant Status Review Tribunal, but the CSRT was not established to address detainees’ status under the Geneva Conventions. It was
established to comply with the Supreme Court’s mandate in [...], supra, to decide “whether the detainee is properly detained as an enemy combatant” for purposes of continued detention."
Of course, Robertson's logic is faulty. There is no doubt about the accused's status because the President has already made a decision that he is an "enemy combatant". Moreover, even if we were to follow Judge Robertson's line of reasoning, he begs the question (i.e. assumes the truth of the thing to be proved) and implicitly assumes that the CSRT - which is specifically called a Combatant Status Review Tribunal - is not "a competent tribunal" because it was not specifically established to address detainees' POW status under the Geneva Conventions - as if the Geneva Conventions could require sovereign governments to establish special courts just for the interpretation of its provisions. If the CSRT (constituted to accord with a decision of the United State Supreme Court) determines that a detainee is properly detained "as an enemy combatant" (hence, not a POW) - thus affirming the President's determination of the detainee's status, then there is "no doubt" about the accused's status and that should end the matter.
Update:
A November 22, 2004 posting at SCOTUS Blog by Lyle Denniston covers the newest developments in the above case.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 10:40:00 AM
LAW PUNDIT 11/10/2004 01:21:00 AM [Home]
[Print]
Judges Barred from Law School Surveys?
Judges Barred from Law School Surveys?
Paul L. Caron,
Charles Hartsock Professor of Law and Director of Faculty Projects at the University of Cincinnati College of Law,
has a posting at TaxProf Blog entitled
N.J. Judges Told: Just Say No to U.S. News Law School Survey.
As Caron writes:
The New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts has issued a directive to all New Jersey state court judges to refrain from filling out the reputational survey for the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings...."
The acting director of the above-named office is Philip S. Carchman.
Ok, all you legal pundits, judges and justices out there, is this legal?
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 01:21:00 AM
Judges Barred from Law School Surveys?
Judges Barred from Law School Surveys?
Paul L. Caron,
Charles Hartsock Professor of Law and Director of Faculty Projects at the University of Cincinnati College of Law,
has a posting at TaxProf Blog entitled
N.J. Judges Told: Just Say No to U.S. News Law School Survey.
As Caron writes:
The New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts has issued a directive to all New Jersey state court judges to refrain from filling out the reputational survey for the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings...."
The acting director of the above-named office is Philip S. Carchman.
Ok, all you legal pundits, judges and justices out there, is this legal?
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/10/2004 01:21:00 AM
LAW PUNDIT Monday, November 08, 2004 11/08/2004 11:01:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Map of US Presidential Election 2004 by County
Map of US Presidential Election 2004 by County
HobbsOnline points to a link which has the results of the United States Presidential Election 2004 BY COUNTY. That map makes it clear that the broad heartland of America voted for Bush and that even in some of the States won by Kerry, Bush still won the majority of counties, while Kerry took the metropolitan areas, with the State of California being a good example.
Update, November 12, 2004:
In the comments section to this post, attorney Anthony Cerminaro of Bizz Bang Buzz points out a clearly better county map of the 2004 Presidential election, showing America not to be made up of "red" or "blue" opposing Democrats and Republicans but of more merging "purple" Americans. See his blog for the links.
Update, November 15, 2004:
And here is yet another map showing the ruban - rural dichotomy in the 2004 US Presidential Election. Via Johan Norberg.
And yet another set of maps, via Davos Newbies:
See "Maps and cartograms of the 2004 US presidential election results"
by Michael Gastner, Cosma Shalizi, and Mark Newman at the University of Michigan
which show the United States callibrated not for the geographic size of the States but by their population.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/08/2004 11:01:00 PM
Map of US Presidential Election 2004 by County
Map of US Presidential Election 2004 by County
HobbsOnline points to a link which has the results of the United States Presidential Election 2004 BY COUNTY. That map makes it clear that the broad heartland of America voted for Bush and that even in some of the States won by Kerry, Bush still won the majority of counties, while Kerry took the metropolitan areas, with the State of California being a good example.
Update, November 12, 2004:
In the comments section to this post, attorney Anthony Cerminaro of Bizz Bang Buzz points out a clearly better county map of the 2004 Presidential election, showing America not to be made up of "red" or "blue" opposing Democrats and Republicans but of more merging "purple" Americans. See his blog for the links.
Update, November 15, 2004:
And here is yet another map showing the ruban - rural dichotomy in the 2004 US Presidential Election. Via Johan Norberg.
And yet another set of maps, via Davos Newbies:
See "Maps and cartograms of the 2004 US presidential election results"
by Michael Gastner, Cosma Shalizi, and Mark Newman at the University of Michigan
which show the United States callibrated not for the geographic size of the States but by their population.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/08/2004 11:01:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT 11/08/2004 04:05:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Steyn Stones Europe in the Aftermath of the US Presidential Election
Steyn Stones Europe in the Aftermath of the US Presidential Election
Mark Steyn (see his site)
- in his November 7, 2004 article
"Believe it or not, it wasn't just rednecks who voted for Bush" published online at the Telegraph -
has a very strong criticism of European attitudes.
See this LawPundit posting for a European view of things.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/08/2004 04:05:00 PM
Steyn Stones Europe in the Aftermath of the US Presidential Election
Steyn Stones Europe in the Aftermath of the US Presidential Election
Mark Steyn (see his site)
- in his November 7, 2004 article
"Believe it or not, it wasn't just rednecks who voted for Bush" published online at the Telegraph -
has a very strong criticism of European attitudes.
See this LawPundit posting for a European view of things.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/08/2004 04:05:00 PM
LAW PUNDIT Sunday, November 07, 2004 11/07/2004 01:04:00 AM [Home]
[Print]
Why the Poor vote Republican
Why the Poor vote Republican
Kristoff at the New York Times - who we often disagree with - has a very sensible article entitled
Living Poor, Voting Rich
which tries to explain the paradoxical voting habits of poor Americans, who vote Republican in spite of the fact that it would probably be in their own economic interest to vote Democratic.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/07/2004 01:04:00 AM
Why the Poor vote Republican
Why the Poor vote Republican
Kristoff at the New York Times - who we often disagree with - has a very sensible article entitled
Living Poor, Voting Rich
which tries to explain the paradoxical voting habits of poor Americans, who vote Republican in spite of the fact that it would probably be in their own economic interest to vote Democratic.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/07/2004 01:04:00 AM
LAW PUNDIT Thursday, November 04, 2004 11/04/2004 02:29:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
The Guardian Unlimited Newsblog
The Guardian Unlimited Newsblog
LAW PUNDIT Wednesday, November 03, 2004 11/03/2004 01:34:00 PM [Home]
[Print]
Europe: Is the USA "Holier than Thou"?
Europe: Is the USA "Holier than Thou"?
In a recent discussion with a US expatriate here in Europe, he remarked that the reason for increasing world and European stand-offishness to the USA is America's "holier than thou" attitude, an attitude based upon an American history marked by Puritanism, Calvinism and religious fervor.
It is a dogmatic attitude which Europeans and many other Western nations not only do not share, but which they find to be an arrogant projection of a "we know better" state of mind.
Much of secular Europe has as much difficulty relating to Christian fundamentalists in the United States as they do in relating to any other religious fundamentalist groupings elsewhere, including the Muslims. Indeed, some Europeans regard religious fundamentalism to reflect a certain kind of mental ignorance.
Too often, it seems, that the typical religious fundamentalists, ever ready to forcibly convert the "non-believers" to their particular pet belief, have their particular "holy book" in one hand and "war and weapons" in the other hand, true to Voltaire's statement that "God is on the side of the heaviest batallions".
Many secular persons thus view the joining of the Church and the State to be an "unholy" alliance. Indeed, John Locke, upon whose principles America was founded, stated so expressly.
Given the increasing influence of religion in America - see this most recent Presidential election as an example - and the increasingly disturbing erasure of the line between church and state in the USA, we think that a further alienation of the United States from the countries of Western Europe, the European Union and much of the rest of the world is inevitable. Either that, or weaker nations will emulate the USA in again forming unholy alliances of Church and State. The entire current phenomenon of the rise of Muslim states shows the disaster for humanity which a combination of Church and State brings.
Update: Davids Medienkritik has a posting which shows that Americans, on the other hand, find European attitudes toward America to be "holier than thou" - so we see - in all fairness - that minds can differ.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/03/2004 01:34:00 PM
Europe: Is the USA "Holier than Thou"?
Europe: Is the USA "Holier than Thou"?
In a recent discussion with a US expatriate here in Europe, he remarked that the reason for increasing world and European stand-offishness to the USA is America's "holier than thou" attitude, an attitude based upon an American history marked by Puritanism, Calvinism and religious fervor.
It is a dogmatic attitude which Europeans and many other Western nations not only do not share, but which they find to be an arrogant projection of a "we know better" state of mind.
Much of secular Europe has as much difficulty relating to Christian fundamentalists in the United States as they do in relating to any other religious fundamentalist groupings elsewhere, including the Muslims. Indeed, some Europeans regard religious fundamentalism to reflect a certain kind of mental ignorance.
Too often, it seems, that the typical religious fundamentalists, ever ready to forcibly convert the "non-believers" to their particular pet belief, have their particular "holy book" in one hand and "war and weapons" in the other hand, true to Voltaire's statement that "God is on the side of the heaviest batallions".
Many secular persons thus view the joining of the Church and the State to be an "unholy" alliance. Indeed, John Locke, upon whose principles America was founded, stated so expressly.
Given the increasing influence of religion in America - see this most recent Presidential election as an example - and the increasingly disturbing erasure of the line between church and state in the USA, we think that a further alienation of the United States from the countries of Western Europe, the European Union and much of the rest of the world is inevitable. Either that, or weaker nations will emulate the USA in again forming unholy alliances of Church and State. The entire current phenomenon of the rise of Muslim states shows the disaster for humanity which a combination of Church and State brings.
Update: Davids Medienkritik has a posting which shows that Americans, on the other hand, find European attitudes toward America to be "holier than thou" - so we see - in all fairness - that minds can differ.
Permalink : Andis Kaulins : 11/03/2004 01:34:00 PM
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