The Institute for Creation Research Graduate School has filed a lawsuit in the state of Texas over its inability to advertise master’s degrees in science that it is not accredited or permitted to offer in the state of Texas. An attorney evaluates their lawsuit and finds that it’s as crazy as their science, and doomed to dismissal. (Via Pharyngula).
CMI has taken down its AiG-critical material and posted a notice that reads: CMI and AiG are pleased to inform you that the dispute between the ministries has been settled to their mutual satisfaction. Each ministry is now focused on its respective mission, having put this dispute behind them in April of 2009.Nathan Zamprogno noted in a comment on my last blog post on this dispute that AiG still had some of its CMI-critical material about the case online, but it now appears to have been taken down as well.
This afternoon I had the pleasure of hearing writer Jeff Benedict speak about his book, Little Pink House, which is the story behind the Kelo v. New London case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. That case, which ruled that New London did have the right to use eminent domain to seize private property and turn it over to another private entity–effectively retranslating the Fifth Amendment’s use of the words “public use” into the meaning “public benefit”–was a case I thought I was familiar with. But Benedict’s talk revealed that while I was aware of some of the facts relevant to the legal case, I really had no idea about the whole story. In his short talk, he conveyed some of the events and details that did not make it to the national press, but which make the story all the more interesting. The political battles between state and city government, the plan to get Pfizer to stay in Connecticut when it was looking elsewhere, and the personalities involved made for a genuinely moving talk even when we already know how the story ends. I look forward to reading his book. ...
There’s FUD spreading about Sec. 14 of the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, maintaining that it amounts to an effective repeal of the 4th Amendment for the Internet. That’s not so–the scope is restricted to “threat and vulnerability information” regarding the Internet, which I interpret to mean network service provider knowledge about compromised systems, botnets, etc., much of which is no doubt already being voluntarily shared with the government as is permissible under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, when, in the course of a provider’s normal service monitoring, it becomes aware of possible criminal activity. I expect I’ll have more to say after I have a chance to read through the whole bill (PDF).
From the Philadelphia Daily News: ON A SWELTERING July afternoon in 2007, Officer Jeffrey Cujdik and his narcotics squad members raided an Olney tobacco shop. Then, with guns drawn, they did something bizarre: They smashed two surveillance cameras with a metal rod, said store owners David and Eunice Nam. The five plainclothes officers yanked camera wires from the ceiling. They forced the slight, frail Korean couple to the vinyl floor and cuffed them with plastic wrist ties. ...
Portugal decriminalized drugs in 2001, and Glenn Greenwald discusses the evidence that he says shows it has been “an unquestionable success, leading to improvements in virtually every relevant category and enabling Portugal to manage drug-related problems (and drug usage rates) far better than most Western nations that continue to treat adult drug consumption as a criminal offense.” Historical Comments Ktisophilos (2009-03-17): The Drug War Body Count by Debra J. Saunders supports your case, and cites some former Central and South Americans as well as The Economist ...
The U.S. government is negotiating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a treaty which imposes new controls over copyright, but refuses to let the general public know its specific content. In response to a Freedom of Information Act Request from Knowledge Ecology International, the Obama administration responded that the content is classified for national security reasons pursuant to Executive Order 12958, a Clinton order from 1995. As Declan McCullagh points out, the executive order “allows material to be classified only if disclosure would do ‘damage to the national security and the original classification authority is able to identify or describe the damage.’” He also points out that one of Obama’s first acts as president was to sign a memo that said that FOIA “should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure." The claim that this treaty cannot be disclosed for national security reasons sounds bogus, but if it’s so, what’s the purported damage being prevented? In the absence of a clear rationale, this treaty should be openly discussed and available to the general public.
Today’s Overcompensating makes a timely proposal. Just as the repeal of Prohibition during the Great Depression helped economic recovery and reduced associated criminal activity, repealing the drug war could do the same. Legalizing prostitution along the lines of the New Zealand model (adopted in 2003, and in 2008 in Western Australia) is also a good idea. Now that Attorney General Eric Holder has confirmed Obama’s campaign promise that the feds will not engage in drug raids against medical marijuana operations in states that have legalized such activity, the time is right. ...
I just read this email this morning, which has to win a prize for the best Nigerian 419 scam I’ve ever seen: Reply-To: [email protected] From: “Mrs. Mary S. Derrick”[email protected] Subject: Stop Contacting those people !!! Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:43:50 +0100 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 To: undisclosed-recipients:; X-NetStation-Status: PASS Attn: My Dear, I am Mrs Mary Susan Derrick, I am a US citizen, 48 years Old. I reside here in New Braunfels Texas. My residential address is as follows. 108 Crockett Court. Apt 303, New Braunfels Texas, United States, am thinking of relocating since I am now rich. I am one of those that took part in the Compensation in Nigeria many years ago and they refused to pay me, I had paid over $20,000 while in the US, trying to get my payment all to no avail. So I decided to travel down to Nigeria with all my compensation documents, And I was directed to meet Mr. Henshaw I. Anderson, who is the member of COMPENSATION AWARD COMMITTEE, and I contacted him and he explained everything to me. He said whoever is contacting us through emails are fake. He took me to the paying bank for the claim of my Compensation payment. Right now I am the most happiest woman on earth because I have received my compensation funds of $1,500,000.00 Moreover, Mr Henshaw I. Anderson, showed me the full information of those that are yet to receive their payments and I saw your name as one of the beneficiaries, and your email address, that is why I decided to email you to stop dealing with those people, they are not with your fund, they are only making money out of you. I will advise you to contact Mr. Henshaw I. Anderson You have to contact him directly on this information below. COMPENSATION AWARD HOUSE Name : Mr. Henshaw I. Anderson Email: [email protected] Phone: +234 802 739 4935 You really have to stop dealing with those people that are contacting you and telling you that your fund is with them, it is not in anyway with them, they are only taking advantage of you and they will dry you up until you have nothing. The only money I paid after I met Mr. Henshaw I. Anderson was just $580 for the paper works, take note of that. Once again stop contacting those people, I will advise you to contact Mr Henshaw I. Anderson so that he can help you to Deliver your fund instead of dealing with those liars that will be turning you around asking for different kind of money to complete your transaction. Thank You and Be Blessed. Mrs. Mary Susan Derrick.She’s being so honest about those other Nigerian scammers that ripped her off, so surely she must be honest about this compensation fund. The sad thing is that those who have been ripped off multiple times already will probably fall for this one, too. ...
Radley Balko at Reason magazine exposes video that shows Michael West in the act of falsifying evidence used to frame someone for rape and murder, by using plaster casts of the accused’s teeth to make bite marks on a toddler’s corpse. This is one of three cases in which Michael West and Steven Hayne provided evidence in the form of bite marks on a body to link a murder victim to an accused rapist and murderer–and in the other two cases, the alleged killers were subsequently freed when exonerated by DNA evidence which linked the cases to the actual murderer, who confessed when they were released. West and Hayne belong in jail, as does the judge who claimed that the referenced video contained “no exculpatory evidence favorable to the defendant." Hayne performed over 80% of Mississippi’s autopsies for the last 20 years, and was permitted to complete a backlog of 600 autopsies even after he was terminated as the state’s coroner as a result of Balko’s exposure of other misconduct. This misconduct and the state’s failure to hold them accountable brings every criminal case they’ve ever touched into question. (Previously on Hayne.)