Author: Burt Likko

July 15, 2013

Monday Trivia, No. 122 [Don Zeko wins!]

New York has, or has had, 16 of these. Massachusetts and Virginia has or has had 7 each. Pennsylvania has or has had 5. California, Delaware, D.C., and Maine: 3 each. Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio and South Carolina: 2 each. Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Texas: 1 each. This is a comprehensive list, and unique to the United States of America. (The total count is 68. Thanks to Mike Schilling for flushing out […]

The League

July 9, 2013

Unassailability: Meta Analysis

Did Rush Limbaugh really tell his caller, “Tony from Tampa,” to not watch FOX? No, he told his caller not to watch a particular panel of “liberals” on FOX Business Channel. As Mr. Limbaugh...

Law / The League

July 4, 2013

A Persuasive Argument

Many times in the past when I’ve written of the Declaration of Independence, I’ve emphasized that it is not law. The Constitution is law, but not the Declaration, which is a political document. This...

The League

July 2, 2013

Two Month Warning

Kickoff is September 5. Time to start thinking about your fantasy football team!

The League

July 2, 2013

The Best Video Game Ever: “Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord”

Note: This post is part of our League Symposium on the Best Video Games Ever. To see a list of all posts in the Symposium so far, please click here. I’m an RPG guy....

Law

June 26, 2013

Big Wednesday 2013

I thought this would only have been a one-day thing. But we’re here on the third day in a row of huge decisions from the Supreme Court. At last, we have rulings on the...

The League

June 25, 2013

Big Tuesday 2013

We got the Voting Rights Act case today, but not same-sex marriage. Please join the discussion at NaPP!

Law

June 24, 2013

Big Monday 2013

Today is the last scheduled day for decisions and opinions scheduled by the Supreme Court. In the comments to this post, I’ll be glossing the Voting Rights Act, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage cases.*...

The League

June 23, 2013

Hot But Dull

I really wanted Man of Steel to be fun movie. And at times, it was. It was worth the matinee price. [Continued at NaPP]

Law

June 19, 2013

For The Cold Case Files

Does the Fourth Amendment allow law enforcement to gather an arrestee’s genetic sequence and compare it with a large FBI database of genetic material gathered from old, unsolved crimes? [Continued at NaPP]

The League

June 11, 2013

How Metadata Could Have Squelched The Civil Rights Movement

Perhaps it would be of interest to the ongoing discussion about NSA accumulation of phone use metadata to see how some math gets mixed with metadata in a relatively simple universe. Professor Kieran Healy does...

American Politics / Politics / The League

May 25, 2013

Triaxial Epistemology

By way of Popehat, Arnold Kling on a root problem with contemporary political discourse, summarized in the Wall Street Journal: Mr. Kling’s three “languages” are ways of talking about politics and government, and they...

The League

May 14, 2013

The Text Is All We Have

Today’s story about the Justice Department obtaining two months’ worth of telephone records from the Associated Press, apparently without a warrant and without any sort of prior notice to the people or entity thus...

The League

May 10, 2013

1,776 Feet

Construction workers bolted a communications spire atop the New World Trade Center in Manhattan today, bringing the still-under-construction skyscraper to its final height of 1,776 feet. Rightly: New York has rebuilt, and are taller and better than before....

The League

May 8, 2013

Introducing Vikram Bath!

Not A Potted Plant is thrilled and proud to announce the arrival of its third contributor. Please drop on by and get to know Vikram Bath!

The League

May 8, 2013

Gun Printing: A Call To Inaction

Once something is published on the Internet, it’s too late to take it back. Ask Anthony Weiner. Pictured to the left is a 3D printer. As predicted here more than half a year ago,...

Food

May 8, 2013

Gastrodestination Portland

To the left is a meal I had in Portland, Oregon this weekend. It was not the best meal I had. But it was the gayest. (Read more at NaPP…) Burt Likko is the...

The League

May 2, 2013

Standing For Silence

Today marks the annual Congressionally-mandated ritual of disrespecting the Constitution in the name of pleasing the pious. [Continued at NaPP, with music video…]

The League

April 30, 2013

A Terrible Starting Point

From today’s Boston Herald (via memeorandum): The Tsarnaev family, including the suspected terrorists and their parents, benefited from more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded assistance — a bonanza ranging from cash and food stamps to Section...