I tried to put this in the "Ten Second News" column but failed. No matter. This reminder of a remarkable moment in our history, made possible by our unique heritage and diversity and by the bravery of men who had every reason to be resentful of the nation which they nevertheless served with such distinction and effect, is worth a top line mention.
Nothing that follows this sentence is either a defense of Zawahiri nor a condemnation of our belated retribution against him. We are more than justified in having sought that retribution, even twenty-one years after the most grievous of many offenses he inflicted upon us. With that noted:
Do not celebrate death. It's bad for your soul.
Recalling the response to a drone strike killing Qassem Soleimani, the former leader of Iran's Quds Force, two and a half years ago, we were encouraged by our then-leaders to be exuberant in celebrating that death, and many people were. Iran's revenge came, in the form of missile strikes on a U.S. base killing several dozen soldiers, and there might have been more that happened in the shadows which we never heard about. But my point was not that we should have feared Iran's revenge so much as we chilled our relationship with an adversary that could have been steered towards detente, sullied our global reputation more than it had already been, and most of all we debased ourselves morally by dancing on a grave we'd filled ourselves.
When someone who has done very bad things gets the justice that they have earned, nod in recognition that the cosmic scales have moved closer to balance. (I think that's more or less what the OP does.) Let whatever strategy and diplomacy needs to happen be done by the people whose job it is to do that strategy and diplomacy; let us maintain plausible deniability for our dirty deeds where we can; and most of all, let us not stoop to adopting the ethics and attitudes of those we call "our enemies. "
I'm sure I speak for Andrew when I say that it was very much our pleasure. Indeed, I don't think either of us really feel satisfied that we finished exploring the subject.
Word to that. I joked before that if Biden could make the auto warrantee robocalls end, he'd get re-elected in a landslide. This may be just what the Democrats need to blunt the damage of cruddy mid-terms, if only they have the guts to actually tout their own success!
The man was probably pretty fragile from a stability and safety standpoint to begin with, evidenced by his fear of social collapse and the building of a bunker. Then his daughter was murdered, precisely because someone wanted the safety he'd built for himself.
"Just like someone in a post-apocalyptic movie..." That was an apocalypse for him. His world really did end. Heartbreaking.
They can force specific performance but that can very easily mean "pay the liquidated damages for breach." A billion dollars for the privilege of not going through with it is enough money to sting a little bit for anyone; though as the OP points out, that may simply be the cost of Musk doing this sort of business.
In law school, I was taught that criminal justice has multiple aims:
1. Deterrence -- both general (meaning to prevent other people from committing crimes in the future) and specific (meaning to prevent someone who has already committed one crime from doing it again).
2. Retribution -- punishment, in some semblance of a proportionate way, someone who has done harm, as an inherent part of rendering justice.
3. Rehabilitation -- to help someone who feels impelled to commit a crime from succumbing to that impulse again (in a sense, that's partially specific deterrence).
4. Stability -- partially for what boils down to what Chip said above, which I agree with wholeheartedly, and partially to assert that the state holds a monopoly on the use of force and individuals who would usurp that monopoly do not do so successfully or at least so that their use of force is de-legitimated.
#4 was not taught in my criminal law class, although we covered #1-#3 before moving on to address other preliminary concepts like mens rea and actus reus. #4 was taught in the Critical Legal Theory phase of my Philosophy of Jurisprudence class. We then proceeded to spend a lot of time talking about the Talonic Law, reciprocity, retributive justice, and whether those concepts hold up in a world where human beings behave deterministically rather than if they possess what we normally label "free will."
Anyone else for the spy museum? I will buy tickets on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on preference and number (you can pay me back in some form when we get there).
The author of that Texas Law Review article was Jack Balkin, now the holder of tenure and an endowed chair at Yale Law School, and the founder and namesake of the legal blog Balkinization.
Although I'm not familiar with Rodell's work, it sounds like he was one of the first critical legal theorists in his own right, at least until the Warren Era.
I am in group #2. There is nothing anyone can say which would convince me to vote for a Republican. This is not the place for me to explain why that is the case; suffice to say, SCOTUS and other things make me unpersuadable.
BUT
The options matrix leaves out choice #4, which is what you'd actually do if you encountered someone a little bit like me. What you want to do is take away my motivation to vote, so that I don't vote at all. That's not as good as me voting for your guy, but it's WAY better than me voting for my guy.
And actually you've done an okay job of attempting that. For me? I need ANY Democrat in there possessed of enough brain cells to appoint non-conservatives to SCOTUS. But someone with different priorities than me? Maybe you can demotivate them to opting out of the electorate altogether.
Concur. Which is a shame, as Camden Yards is still a gorgeous ballpark, I think one of the first of the "new style" parks and Boo's BBQ there is tasty and you can see the plaque they put up out on the concourse where Griffey hit that massive dinger.
I am booked and looking forward to meeting up with everyone! I will pass on seeing Hamilton (seen it live here in PDX) but it's a great, great night out if you can do it.
I would very much enjoy visiting the International Spy Museum in L'Enfant Plaza. I see that they book tickets 45 days out and are expected to sell out for the weekend. Anyone who wants to go do this with me, let's coordinate and book our tickets now, because we'll have to book a week from today (posting on Tuesday, 12 July 2022).
Am also quite interested in a visit out to the countryside for grape juice (particularly the fermented variety) and a crawl of local craft brew in DC/NoVA, as well as the usual commemorations of national greatness in and around the Mall.
Stoller is a big name out here, almost as big as Ponzi. Have been to the Dundee Hills campus twice. Elaborate, beautiful facilities should you come to visit. IMHO whoever is determining the price point is just a wee bit proud of their product but that's a pretty common phenomenon in and around Dundee and someone's gotta pay for the elaborate and beautiful grounds.
If y'all like the more floral pinots, I suggest you seek out a label named Raptor Ridge, from the nearby-to-Dundee community of Newberg, which has uncomfortably been much in the news recently because of conflicts on its school board. But there's nothing bad to say about the wine from there!
So many western movies (or movies needing to depict desolation) use the Owens Valley for it. Owens Valley was one of my playgrounds as a teen and young man and I still periodically visit there even after moving out of California. My mom is buried within a couple of miles of the locations used for this movie.
Recognizing Los Angeles or New York locations is one thing. Owens Valley locations feel special to me, more personal.
Invite goes for you too. I owe you a return of hosting hospitality from hanging out with you in Austin. I still reminisce about how tender that barbeque was.
It is Willamette, Damnit, and it's packed to the gills with pinots. Some hearty and robust (my preference), some delicate and floral and subtle. This ought not be a surprise. The valley spans about two degrees of Earth's latitude, from 43° 45' at its southern end south of Eugene to about 45° 45' in Hillsboro. This is approximately the same span of latitude as France enjoys between Toulouse to the south and Clermont-Ferrand or Limoges to the north. Or between Florence to Como in Italy.
Head on out when you're able, and shoot me a message. I'd enjoy sampling some grape juice with you.
Elon will wind up paying Twitter $1B for the privilege of not buying it, having likely learned nothing from this experience. Twitter returns to where it was before all of this started with a billion dollars less whatever it paid its lawyers.
On “Navajo Code Talker Samuel Sandoval Passes; Only Three Code Talkers Remain”
Got it. I'll... I'll try harder next time.
On “First of the Month”
Cartoon must be a hundred years old and while some of its specifics are a bit dated, I think we've all been where this guy is.
On “Navajo Code Talker Samuel Sandoval Passes; Only Three Code Talkers Remain”
I tried to put this in the "Ten Second News" column but failed. No matter. This reminder of a remarkable moment in our history, made possible by our unique heritage and diversity and by the bravery of men who had every reason to be resentful of the nation which they nevertheless served with such distinction and effect, is worth a top line mention.
On “Zawahiri Is Finally Dead, or Justice Delayed Just Doesn’t Feel The Same”
Nothing that follows this sentence is either a defense of Zawahiri nor a condemnation of our belated retribution against him. We are more than justified in having sought that retribution, even twenty-one years after the most grievous of many offenses he inflicted upon us. With that noted:
Do not celebrate death. It's bad for your soul.
Recalling the response to a drone strike killing Qassem Soleimani, the former leader of Iran's Quds Force, two and a half years ago, we were encouraged by our then-leaders to be exuberant in celebrating that death, and many people were. Iran's revenge came, in the form of missile strikes on a U.S. base killing several dozen soldiers, and there might have been more that happened in the shadows which we never heard about. But my point was not that we should have feared Iran's revenge so much as we chilled our relationship with an adversary that could have been steered towards detente, sullied our global reputation more than it had already been, and most of all we debased ourselves morally by dancing on a grave we'd filled ourselves.
When someone who has done very bad things gets the justice that they have earned, nod in recognition that the cosmic scales have moved closer to balance. (I think that's more or less what the OP does.) Let whatever strategy and diplomacy needs to happen be done by the people whose job it is to do that strategy and diplomacy; let us maintain plausible deniability for our dirty deeds where we can; and most of all, let us not stoop to adopting the ethics and attitudes of those we call "our enemies. "
On “Video: Burt Likko and Andrew Donaldson Talk Rights in America”
I'm sure I speak for Andrew when I say that it was very much our pleasure. Indeed, I don't think either of us really feel satisfied that we finished exploring the subject.
On “From CNN: The FCC is cracking down on ‘auto warranty’ robocalls”
Word to that. I joked before that if Biden could make the auto warrantee robocalls end, he'd get re-elected in a landslide. This may be just what the Democrats need to blunt the damage of cruddy mid-terms, if only they have the guts to actually tout their own success!
On “What Is The Point of Criminal Justice?”
The man was probably pretty fragile from a stability and safety standpoint to begin with, evidenced by his fear of social collapse and the building of a bunker. Then his daughter was murdered, precisely because someone wanted the safety he'd built for himself.
"Just like someone in a post-apocalyptic movie..." That was an apocalypse for him. His world really did end. Heartbreaking.
On “Betrayed by the Doge King: Elon Musk, Twitter, and Tesla”
They can force specific performance but that can very easily mean "pay the liquidated damages for breach." A billion dollars for the privilege of not going through with it is enough money to sting a little bit for anyone; though as the OP points out, that may simply be the cost of Musk doing this sort of business.
On “What Is The Point of Criminal Justice?”
In law school, I was taught that criminal justice has multiple aims:
1. Deterrence -- both general (meaning to prevent other people from committing crimes in the future) and specific (meaning to prevent someone who has already committed one crime from doing it again).
2. Retribution -- punishment, in some semblance of a proportionate way, someone who has done harm, as an inherent part of rendering justice.
3. Rehabilitation -- to help someone who feels impelled to commit a crime from succumbing to that impulse again (in a sense, that's partially specific deterrence).
4. Stability -- partially for what boils down to what Chip said above, which I agree with wholeheartedly, and partially to assert that the state holds a monopoly on the use of force and individuals who would usurp that monopoly do not do so successfully or at least so that their use of force is de-legitimated.
#4 was not taught in my criminal law class, although we covered #1-#3 before moving on to address other preliminary concepts like mens rea and actus reus. #4 was taught in the Critical Legal Theory phase of my Philosophy of Jurisprudence class. We then proceeded to spend a lot of time talking about the Talonic Law, reciprocity, retributive justice, and whether those concepts hold up in a world where human beings behave deterministically rather than if they possess what we normally label "free will."
On “Leaguefest 2022: More Info”
Maybe next year we could do Leaguefest Los Angeles?
"
Yes. Count me in for that as well!
"
I have a total of six (6) tickets available for 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, 03 September 2022. Definitely looking forward to it!
"
Last call -- is it just gonna be Greg in AK, his wife, and I?
"
Anyone else for the spy museum? I will buy tickets on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on preference and number (you can pay me back in some form when we get there).
On “Fred Rodell and the End of the Supreme Court”
The author of that Texas Law Review article was Jack Balkin, now the holder of tenure and an endowed chair at Yale Law School, and the founder and namesake of the legal blog Balkinization.
Although I'm not familiar with Rodell's work, it sounds like he was one of the first critical legal theorists in his own right, at least until the Warren Era.
On “JWST Unveils the Cosmos”
These are such awe-inspiring images. And they're going to answer so many questions, and let us ask so many more new and even better ones!
Science is beautiful.
On “Comment Rescue: A request for a sales pitch from Chip Daniels”
I am in group #2. There is nothing anyone can say which would convince me to vote for a Republican. This is not the place for me to explain why that is the case; suffice to say, SCOTUS and other things make me unpersuadable.
BUT
The options matrix leaves out choice #4, which is what you'd actually do if you encountered someone a little bit like me. What you want to do is take away my motivation to vote, so that I don't vote at all. That's not as good as me voting for your guy, but it's WAY better than me voting for my guy.
And actually you've done an okay job of attempting that. For me? I need ANY Democrat in there possessed of enough brain cells to appoint non-conservatives to SCOTUS. But someone with different priorities than me? Maybe you can demotivate them to opting out of the electorate altogether.
On “Leaguefest 2022: More Info”
Concur. Which is a shame, as Camden Yards is still a gorgeous ballpark, I think one of the first of the "new style" parks and Boo's BBQ there is tasty and you can see the plaque they put up out on the concourse where Griffey hit that massive dinger.
"
I am booked and looking forward to meeting up with everyone! I will pass on seeing Hamilton (seen it live here in PDX) but it's a great, great night out if you can do it.
I would very much enjoy visiting the International Spy Museum in L'Enfant Plaza. I see that they book tickets 45 days out and are expected to sell out for the weekend. Anyone who wants to go do this with me, let's coordinate and book our tickets now, because we'll have to book a week from today (posting on Tuesday, 12 July 2022).
Am also quite interested in a visit out to the countryside for grape juice (particularly the fermented variety) and a crawl of local craft brew in DC/NoVA, as well as the usual commemorations of national greatness in and around the Mall.
On “It’s Willamette, Dammit”
Stoller is a big name out here, almost as big as Ponzi. Have been to the Dundee Hills campus twice. Elaborate, beautiful facilities should you come to visit. IMHO whoever is determining the price point is just a wee bit proud of their product but that's a pretty common phenomenon in and around Dundee and someone's gotta pay for the elaborate and beautiful grounds.
If y'all like the more floral pinots, I suggest you seek out a label named Raptor Ridge, from the nearby-to-Dundee community of Newberg, which has uncomfortably been much in the news recently because of conflicts on its school board. But there's nothing bad to say about the wine from there!
Edit to add: Damn, I love living here.
On “Sunday Morning: “Bad Day at Black Rock” by John Sturges”
So many western movies (or movies needing to depict desolation) use the Owens Valley for it. Owens Valley was one of my playgrounds as a teen and young man and I still periodically visit there even after moving out of California. My mom is buried within a couple of miles of the locations used for this movie.
Recognizing Los Angeles or New York locations is one thing. Owens Valley locations feel special to me, more personal.
On “Lives Intersect And We Just Move On”
Man, that was some f***ed up s**t.
On “It’s Willamette, Dammit”
Invite goes for you too. I owe you a return of hosting hospitality from hanging out with you in Austin. I still reminisce about how tender that barbeque was.
"
It is Willamette, Damnit, and it's packed to the gills with pinots. Some hearty and robust (my preference), some delicate and floral and subtle. This ought not be a surprise. The valley spans about two degrees of Earth's latitude, from 43° 45' at its southern end south of Eugene to about 45° 45' in Hillsboro. This is approximately the same span of latitude as France enjoys between Toulouse to the south and Clermont-Ferrand or Limoges to the north. Or between Florence to Como in Italy.
Head on out when you're able, and shoot me a message. I'd enjoy sampling some grape juice with you.
On “Elon Musk Pulls Out Of Twitter Deal”
Elon will wind up paying Twitter $1B for the privilege of not buying it, having likely learned nothing from this experience. Twitter returns to where it was before all of this started with a billion dollars less whatever it paid its lawyers.