Disagreements on how to deal with suspected or actual terrorists who are in our custody rest on some basic assumptions, legal and otherwise. The first of these is whether or not we are at war or the equivalent of war, … Continue reading →
Another week, another Sanity Squad podcast. Join Siggy, Shrink, Dr. Sanity and me as we discuss the use and misuse of science.
Continue reading →In the al-Marri case a Virginia federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that an alien who entered this country legally cannot be seized in the US, declared an “enemy combatant” without having been caught under battlefield conditions, and held indefinitely in … Continue reading →
Our legal system is remarkably flexible. No law, or set of laws, can foresee the future; the best the law can do is adapt to changing circumstances. How that adaptation occurs can vary; sometimes it’s through legislation and/or acts of … Continue reading →
This headline in the Alaska Report caught my eye as one of the featured stories on Google News: “Warmonger Joe Lieberman says bomb Iran now.” And what was it that Lieberman actually said? Take a look: I think we’ve got … Continue reading →
I don’t know about you, but this phenomenon doesn’t seem like much of an advance to me. For those of you who aren’t registered at the NY Times website, the article by Elizabeth Hayt is about the fact that middle-aged … Continue reading →
It’s a sign of the weariness of our times that
Continue reading →…back of my neck getting dirty and gritty. Well, not really. But maybe a little sweaty, and slick with suntan lotion. I’m in Brooklyn, New York, for the weekend, visiting my family—including my elderly mother—and it’s predicted to reach the … Continue reading →
Bloggers have been mean to Time’s Joe Klein. Awfully, awfully mean; read all about it in his alliteratively titled “Beware the Bloggers’ Bile.” Beware, indeed. The blogosphere is noted for the ooze of its free-flowing slime. Although I try to … Continue reading →
The laconic, elegant, deeply intellectual, and labyrinthine Jorge Luis Borges is one of my favorite authors, and “Funes, the Memorius” from his collection Ficciones is one of his best stories. Borges had a swell of popularity in the 60s. I … Continue reading →
An arrest has been made in the Kelsey Smith case, another almost unspeakably tragic murder in which an attractive young woman was abducted in a mall parking area and the incident was recorded by surveillance cameras. The facts of the … Continue reading →
This morning my doorbell rang at 6:15 AM. And rang. And rang and rang and rang. I don’t usually have visitors at that hour of the day, announced or un. I live in a quiet residential neighborhood and it’s rare … Continue reading →