Incidentally, I read Crime and Punishment in my 20s and didn’t like it much. When I told that to a Russian guy, he assured me that I must have read a bad translation. A year ago I read a different translation and didn’t like it much. So there you go. It’s weird to start a […]
Archive | Law
Guns!
photo credit: fauxto_digit There are exceptions, qualifications, and confusions, but in general, we all probably know that the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the government from infringing on the right to bear arms. For most of American history, that prohibition has been against the federal government. States and localities could restrict however they […]
I posted before about the questions around images of children having sex when the images are purely imaginary. That is, they’re drawn or computer-generated and no child was involved at any stage. I’ve also posted about a guy in Australia who was convicted of owning a cartoon satire of underage Lisa Simpson having sex. Now […]
Roundup
By weeklyrob on January 20, 2010 in Famous People, Language/Lit, Law, Miscellany, Politics, Religion, Science and Such
— The Britannica blog calls a spade a spade. Robertson and Limbaugh are: “…two men who have made a very good thing in this life of saying very stupid things that excite an audience of equally stupid people.” [LINK] — Freakonomics wonders: Do Bike-Helmet Laws Discourage Bicycling? — The Why Files: Fish cheat and get […]
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
I watched part of the first episode of this season’s TV show “Scrubs.” Which I heartily do not recommend. I’m not reviewing the show. I’m reviewing one line in the show. A doctor says something along the lines of: Due to insurance companies and malpractice lawyers, this profession is soul-sucking. I won’t address the insurance […]
Lawyers Are Allowed to Lie
So, you know, Roman Polanski is in prison. Polanski’s lawyers are asking that the Swiss court release him on bail [link]. Here’s the quote that made me choke and splutter while trying innocently to drink some cool water: “One of the lawyers, Herve Temime, added that Polanski did not pose a flight risk.” Seriously? Are […]
Religious Law
So here in Atlanta, a Hindu temple filed for bankruptcy. This means that creditors are supposed to be allowed to do an inventory of all the temple’s assets. But the Hindus at the temple are in the middle of a “216-day period of ritual cleansing” in which non-Hindus aren’t supposed to enter the temple. So […]
Sexual Harassment: No Sexual or Harassment Needed
This is Not Nice
Cop beats the crap out of a 15 year old girl. She did sort of seem to kick her shoe at him a little bit. So obviously she’s dangerous and needs to be beaten. However, after being thrown to the ground (by her hair), she didn’t seem to struggle at all, so the two punches […]
Ecstasy and the UK
I listen to the very well-done and amusing Science Weekly podcast from the Guardian (and you should too: Subscribe here). Recently, they discussed the following: The UK will not reclassify the drug ecstasy from “class A” (heroin, crack) to “class B” (amphetamines and such), even though the government’s own Advisory Council on the Misuse of […]