Discourse.net

I Went to a Party

2009-11-21T11:07:06-05:00

Here's what I did this afternoon:

More details at Soul of Miami and Sex and the Beach.

It was a good party - met Mustang Bobby and saw the Miami Beach 411 crowd — always the life of the party. Plus I met the Genius of Despair (but not, alas, Gimleteye, with whom it seems I may have a few things in common.

There was a loud band, which I would enjoyed more under other circumstances. The folks at Graziano's were pouring lethal rum-and-cokes; I haven't seen ratios like that since college. One glass and it was canapes for me, trying to soak up the booze. And they were good canapes too, especially the beef. I've only ever been to the Graziano's on Bird Road, which I recall for excellent, if pricey meat. Judging from the samples, the excellence is repeated at the Brickell location.

And then I came home to watch the taped second half of the UM game. But the DVR stopped taping with only a few minutes left in the game. I saw the bad call(s) that deflated Duke. I saw Berry run and and run and run to score. And I saw Hankerson pull it in. But apparently I missed a great interception and scoring run by Sharpton. At least it was on the ESPN highlight reel.

Jonathan Simon on the Real Target for California Protestors

2009-11-20T23:01:26-05:00

Jonathan Simon writes that California's protesters should Strike Against Prisons not Education.

(Note: Jon wrote this before the latest round of protests.)

A Problem for 'Plain-Meaning' Advocates

2009-11-20T22:38:33-05:00

Advocates of a 'plain meaning' approach to constitutional interpretation may have to conclude that Texas accidentally banned all marriage, as described in this McClatchy report, Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.

The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that “marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.” But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

“This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively “eliminates marriage in Texas,” including common-law marriages.

She calls it a “massive mistake” and blames the current attorney general, Republican Greg Abbott, for allowing the language to become part of the Texas Constitution. Radnofsky called on Abbott to acknowledge the wording as an error and consider an apology. She also said that another constitutional amendment may be necessary to reverse the problem.

“You do not have to have a fancy law degree to read this and understand what it plainly says,” said Radnofsky, who will be at Texas Christian University today as part of a five-city tour to kick off her campaign.

Being given to a more of a purpositive approach, I'd be willing to invoke the infamous Holy Trinity decision, and say this clause meant what the voters obviously thought it meant. But would someone who believed in a pure 'plain meaning' approach — like Justices Thomas and Scalia claim to — be able to reach that conclusion?

Super Lawyers Puts UM Law at #20

2009-11-20T16:43:26-05:00

US News rankings are biased in ways that hurt the U. Miami Law; here's one I would guess is biased in our favor: 2010 Super Lawyers U.S. Law School Rankings by Super Lawyers magazine. They say we are #20 in the country. Would it were so.

I suggest you split the difference between the 71st ranking at USN and this one (71+20)/2 = 45.5. That's probably closer to the truth than either of the other two numbers.

I'm Back

2009-11-20T10:48:49-05:00

Had a very good time at the OII, had an especially fun seminar with some of the students.

Now I'm back, wading through huge stacks of things that piled up while I was away. No bloggy substance till I make a dent in the piles.

OII

2009-11-17T19:31:20-05:00

I gave my Oxford-sponsored talk in London today; people said nice things after, so I guess it was OK. I had forgotten how much more US audiences indicate by noise and body language whether they like talks. A British audience is far more polite, but also far more reserved; words like “stoic” and “immobile” come to mind. There were interesting questions from the audience; I wish there had been time for more.

I'm going to be at the Oxford Internet Institute on Wednesday, then Thursday I head back home.

Meanwhile, in the British News

2009-11-16T17:55:26-05:00

The UK papers are all, ahem, a-Twitter, about this story: Scientist announces that she is call girl and blogger Belle de Jour.

It seems that one of the leading 'sex bloggers' in the UK took up the oldest profession in order to pay for her 'education habit'—her Ph.D.

Magnanti said she was working on a doctoral study for the department of forensic pathology of Sheffield University in 2003 when she began her secret life. “I was getting ready to submit my thesis. I saved up a bit of money. I thought, I'll just move to London, because that's where the jobs are, and I'll see what happens.

“I couldn't find a professional job in my chosen field because I didn't have my PhD yet. I didn't have a lot of spare time on my hands because I was still making corrections and preparing for the viva and I got through my savings a lot faster than I thought I would.”

Unable to pay her rent, Magnanti's mind turned to other things. She told the Sunday Times she wanted to start doing something straightaway, “that doesn't require a great deal of training or investment to get started, that's cash in hand and that leaves me spare time to do my work in” Her solution was prostitution.

Full Sunday Times story here.

You have to wonder about a world in which a person decides that the optimal way to finance a Ph.D. in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science is hooking, however (apparently) happy. Even at £300 an hour.

(No idea if the fact that she went to high school in Florida is relevant.)

On her blog she says, yes, I paid my taxes. It seems that is what people wanted to know.

CDG Strikes Again

2009-11-16T10:52:19-05:00

Let me just say that I am never checking a bag through CDG again.

I had a 1 hour 40 minute connection, which became a little over one hour connection when the plane was late.

I made it. The bag did not. The very very nice and cheerful man at LHR said he was sure it would be on one of the many later flights and I'd have it today. Things used to be slow when they were busy, but they don't have so many travelers this year, so things are quick. (Moral of the story: lose bags in recessions?) Then he gave me a toothbrush and some basic toiletries.

Odds are increasing, though, that he was an optimist. I just spoke to the very perky phone person at BA baggage services. The good news is that the bag has been located. The bad news is that — two more missed flights later — the bag is still in Paris. If it makes the 5pm flight, I just might get it today if UK Customs are fast. Ha. Otherwise, I get it tomorrow. (I hope I get it before I check out.)

Off to London

2009-11-15T17:26:05-05:00

Because I'll Be Speaking in London on Nov. 17, I need to be in London.

So I'm currently at MIA (memo to self: never, ever take the terminal D security line no mater how short it looks in order to get to terminal E — longest detour in airport history), “enjoying” free wifi from Google via Boingo. It is very very slow, dialup slow. And unsecured, which makes me unwilling to check my email.

I have to change planes in Paris, because direct flights cost more than I was willing to make my kind hosts, the Oxford Internet Institute, pay. As it is the ticket seems rather expensive by recent transatlantic standards, but it was the best I could do.

I had some hopes I might go to the theater in London on Monday night, but the show I really wanted to see — the Alan Bennett play at the National — has been sold out for more than a month, and I won't land in time to queue for non-student day tickets. The other choices are either plays I've seen a good production of, American, or musicals, which I usually avoid. Back when we lived in London we were real theater hounds, and I miss it. But maybe Monday night I'll be fine tuning my presentation instead.

Tuesday I've lined up a busy day of seeing people and then I sing for my supper.

Read the Product Reviews

2009-11-14T13:38:23-05:00

The Houseguest points me to the customer reviews at Amazon for the Laptop Steering Wheel Desk: Electronics.

Many creative uses.

I've Been Elfed

2009-11-13T11:47:50-05:00

It seems that students in our first year section (IJ) just have way too much time on their hands.

(ElfYourself is a product of JibJab.)

The Rediscovery of the Need for An Exit Strategy

2009-11-12T13:36:44-05:00

I asked previously why no one was asking about an exit strategy for Afghanistan.

Well, it seems that someone important is asking that hard question.

Hannity Apologizes

2009-11-12T09:40:44-05:00

TMP runs the story of Hannity's apology as Cold Day in Hell.

Hannity claims it was an “inadvertent” error. (See Hannity = Dishonesty for background.)

Now on his program last night he mentioned that we had played some incorrect video on this program last week while talking about the Republican health care rally on Capitol Hill. He was correct. We screwed up. We aired some video of a rally in September, along with the video from the actual event. It was an inadvertent mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. So Mr. Stewart, you were right. We apologize. But by the way, I wanna thank you and all your writers for watching.

I find that hard to believe (how does fresh video get mixed up with archival stuff?), but there you have it.

How to Fix the Tweetdeck No Updates Bug

2009-11-11T20:15:57-05:00

I have a house guest who is probably one of the few teetotal geek folksinger freelance journalists in captivity.

The guest described to me a potentially useful feature of Tweetdeck that I didn't know existed (dividing people you follow into 'groups'), so I fired it up. (I don't use Twitter very often, life is too full already). It wanted to be synchronized and updated. Adobe Air wanted to be updated. I complied. The result was that all my Tweetdeck columns were blank - “no updates”. And I knew this wasn't true since the house guest was telling me of a recent Twitter post commenting on a visible feature of my family room.

Google to the rescue. It seems if you close all your Tweetdeck columns and then reopen them, all is well again. And so it was.

Hannity = Dishonesty

2009-11-11T08:38:31-05:00

The most amazing thing about this story is that I think no one will care.

Jon Stewart catches out Fox propagandist Hannity in a stunning piece of dishonesty, one that could not possibly be accidental. In any normal democracy with a well-functioning press and political culture, this sort of neo-Goebbelian manipulation of the news would produce some reaction, perhaps shunning, from the political and literary class. (And if his employer were honest, instead of Ailes, one would expect heads to roll.)

At least we get this:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Sean Hannity Uses Glenn Beck's Protest Footage