One of the scenes in a movie that makes me cry every time I see it is the very end of The Name of the Rose. The library full of books--painstakenly copied or written by hand--is engulfed in flame, and thousands upon thousands of pages of text are irretrievably lost. There's a similar scene written in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie ( Read more... )

I really loved how much Daubert was cited in this. The idea that science, data, rigor, publishing, peer review and academic credentials have merit over gut feeling and compilation of other people's ideas was refreshing in an era where educated "elites" are looked down upon ( Read more... )

In the winner of this year's "which writ of cert will the Supreme Court take that shocks 'stina the most" contest, the SCOTUS blog reported this tidbit this morning. The Supreme Court, taking on the emotionally charged issue of picketing protests at the funerals of soldiers killed in wartime, agreed Monday to consider reinstating a $5 million ( Read more... )

Ha!It's a link to an order imposing sanctions on Orly Taitz, the voice of the birther movement, by a judge who is sick and tired of her constant abuse of the legal system. She files motion after motion, and it's clear that there is no legal basis of fact. He fined her $20,000, wrote a 43 page opinion justifying the fine, and sent the order to the ( Read more... )

What the fuck???

It just kills me how many names I used to respect are on this list. I don't understand how it's possible to make the argument that a criminal conviction where the defendent plead guilty should not be persued. He didn't have bad legal counsel, and if the judge was somehow "out to get him" then there were remedies available ( Read more... )

Jesus Fucking Christ. This is a link to a press release by the ACLU about a filing an amicus brief in a case where a pregnant mother of two was having complications with her pregnancy. Her doctor recommended bed rest. She objected saying that there was no way that she could do that with two small children, the doctor went to court and obtained an ( Read more... )

Needless to say, lots of things at Burning Man are dangerous. You're in the desert in the middle of the summer and you are responsible for every single provision that could keep you a live. A lot of people build things, but there is no safety inspection, no city codes, nothing really but the occasional health inspector making sure that you're ( Read more... )

Tomorrow I have jury duty ( Read more... )

I made a contribution to Medical Students for Choice yesterday. It's an organization that promotes a complete education for students in medical school, especially in the ob/gyn specialties. Part of the reason there are so few providers of essential abortion services in this country is that the medical schools aren't teaching the procedures ( Read more... )

Two items to review ( Read more... )