1. Cold War-era loyalty oath remains popular among Illinois politicians 3 hours ago   permalink

Cold War-era loyalty oath remains popular among Illinois politicians
Www.publicbroadcasting.net

CHICAGO (St. Louis Public Radio) - The vast majority of candidates for statewide office in Illinois have signed what's called the "loyalty oath." It's an optional form that candidates in may file when they turn in their petitions to get on the ballot.

discussions

2. Unintentional Robo-Humor 7 hours ago   permalink

Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy

An unintentionally funny piece of compliment spam I just saw in our spam filter: last Friday I’ve just enter to search horny sluts and get your The Volokh Conspiracy » Blog Archive » Is Sex More Likely To Be Emotionally Traumatizing for 17-Year-Old Boys or Girls? post as a result! That’s what exactly what I need! [...]

3. Unintentionally Ironic Book Review of the Week 10 hours ago   permalink

David Bernstein / The Volokh Conspiracy

Professor Stephen Howe of Bristol University reviewed Shlomo Sand’s The Invention of the Jewish People in the Independent.  The review itself says nothing of particular interest, and any discussion of the origins of the demographic origins of modern Jews people that doesn’t reference the genetic evidence is doomed to be worthless. But here’ ...

related items

Www.independent.co.uk
Unintentionally Ironic Book Review of the Week The Invention of the Jewish People, By Shlomo Sand trans Yael Lotan   —  Shlomo Sand clearly intended his book as an explosive device, a big bang demolishing the myths of Jewishness on which both communal identity and Israeli state policies rest.

4. Some New York Counties Have Problems Using Optical-Scan Ballots for First Time 9 hours ago   permalink

Richard / Ballot Access News

This article in the Gouverneur Times details the problems St. Lawrence County, New York, appears to be having, counting the votes in the special U.S. House election of November 3, 2009. There are still no official tallies for that election.

5. Data Sharing and Climate Change Research 9 hours ago   permalink

Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy

I know next to nothing about climate change questions, which is why I almost never blog about them. But the recent discussion of the East Anglia CRU e-mails touches on a matter that I have studied a bit, though not much — standards related to the sharing of raw data by researchers. As I understand, [...]

6. North Carolinan Hopes to Be First Independent Candidate on Ballot for U.S. House 10 hours ago   permalink

Richard / Ballot Access News

North Carolina has had government-printed ballots ever since 1901, and no independent candidate for either House of Congress has ever appeared on such a ballot. Independent candidates for U.S. House need signatures of 4% of the number of registered voters, which is as much as 20,000 in some districts. Here is a story [...]

7. "Plaintiff's failure-to-warn claims against the manufacturers of metoclopramide, the generic version of ... 11 hours ago   permalink

How Appealing

"Plaintiff's failure-to-warn claims against the manufacturers of metoclopramide, the generic version of Reglan, [are] not preempted by federal law": The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today issued a ruling that the court's web site summarizes as follows: Plaintiff's failure-to-warn claims against the manufacturers of metoclopramide,

8. Birmingham: was the city council election held at the correct time? 12 hours ago   permalink

Edward / Votelaw

The Birmingham News reports: A Birmingham neighborhood president and former council member who unsuccessfully ran for city council this year said he filed a lawsuit this morning against the city because he wanted to bring it to the attention of...

related items

Blog.al.com
Birmingham: was the city council election held at the correct time? Birmingham City Council's pro tem vote for Steven Hoyt may be invalid   —  The Birmingham City Coun­cil's vote to select Steven Hoyt as president pro tempore may have violated the Mayor-Council Act and be invalid, city attorneys and at least one council member said Wednesday. (The Birmingham News files)The Birmingham City Coun­cil's vote to select Steven Hoyt as president pro tempore may have violated the Mayor- ...

9. Canada high court rules for Wal-Mart in union case 11 hours ago   permalink

Canada high court rules for Wal-Mart in union case
Hosted.ap.org

TORONTO (AP) -- The Supreme Court of Canada said Friday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was entitled to close a store in Quebec in 2005, seven months after workers voted to become the first Walmart store in North America to unionize.

discussions

10. Finally, Some War Tax Talk 12 hours ago   permalink

Finally, Some War Tax Talk
Www.tax.com

Will wonders never cease. After ignoring moral and economic imperaives for the better part of a decade, policymakers are finally talking about a war tax. New legislation proposed by Rep. David Obey, D-Wisc., would impose a modest, graduated surtax to help fund the war in Afghanistan. Obey offered an obvious -- and obviously compelling -- argument ...

discussions

11. ABC News: Tough Market for Law School Grads 12 hours ago   permalink

Paul Caron / TaxProf Blog

ABC News, Tough Market for Law School Grads: Law Students Across the Country Try to Adapt in a Struggling Economy, by Emily Watkins: For the first time in decades, the promise of a profitable law career for top students is uncertain, as law schools report significantly reduced hiring rates. ......

12. Flipping the Bird 13 hours ago   permalink

Tim Zick / PrawfsBlawg

Pittsburgh officials have tentatively approved a $50,000 settlement in the case of a motorist who flipped off a police officer (apparently not knowing at the time the offending gesture was made that the person was an officer). The motorist was cited under a state statute that prohibits obscene words and gestures. The county dropped the charges ...

13. Court Hearings Set for First Week in December 14 hours ago   permalink

Richard / Ballot Access News

Two lawsuits involving minor parties have oral arguments during the first week in December. One is Libertarian Party v Dardenne, 09-30307, being heard in the 5th circuit on December 3. This is the case on whether the Louisiana Secretary of State was correct last year when he refused to permit the ballot-qualified Libertarian [...]

14. A Fresh Look at Patents and Innovation - New York Times 16 hours ago   permalink

A Fresh Look at Patents and Innovation - New York Times
IP Newsflash

These headlines do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the patent law firm v. Kreisler Selting Werner. Please also review the disclaimer

15. “Saved or Created 4 Turkeys” 17 hours ago   permalink

Randy Barnett / The Volokh Conspiracy

Belated Happy Thanksgiving to Volokh readers. Although I probably should have posted this yesterday, here is a video of the President’s annual turkey pardon first initiated, as he notes, by the George H.W. Bush. In a moment of self-deprecating humor, he refers (at 2:20) to his having “saved or created four turkeys.” Copyright © [...]

16. White Collar Sentencing - In China 20 hours ago   permalink

White Collar Crime Prof Blogger / White Collar Crime Prof Blog

How much time is appropriate for a white collar criminal? What if the crime results in death to individuals? Is it no longer a white collar crime? In China it can mean a death sentence. See Sharon LaFraniere, NYTimes, 2...

17. Greenberg and A.I.G. Settle Legal Disputes 20 hours ago   permalink

Greenberg and A.I.G. Settle Legal Disputes
Www.nytimes.com

The American International Group said on Wednesday that it had settled long-running legal battles with Maurice R. Greenberg, the company’s former chief executive, in an attempt to move past years of costly fighting.

discussions

18. Walker & Fleischer: Book/Tax Conformity and Equity Compensation 21 hours ago   permalink

Paul Caron / TaxProf Blog

David I. Walker (Boston University) & Victor Fleischer (Colorado) have published Book/Tax Conformity and Equity Compensation, 62 Tax L. Rev. 399 (2009). Here is the abstract: Should we require companies to report the same amount of income to the IRS as they report to their shareholders? The idea behind "book/tax...

19. Tapscott on the UK Digital Economy Bill 23 hours ago   permalink

Tapscott on the UK Digital Economy Bill
Michael Geist / Michael Geist Blog

Don Tapscott, who notes that he coined the phrase digital economy, argues that the UK Digital Economy bill is deeply flawed.

related items

Michael Geist / Michael Geist Blog
Tapscott on the UK Digital Economy Bill UK Law Firm Planning to File Thousands Of P2P Demand Letters   —  The BBC reports that a UK law firm plans to file at least 15,000 legal demand letters earlier next year against people suspect of file sharing. The letters will threaten lawsuits but offer settlement terms of hundreds of pounds per person.

20. Christian Group Sues Over Alleged Denial of Right to Leaflet at or near Street Festival in Michigan Town 23 hours ago   permalink

Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy

That might sound like this case, in which an Arab Christian group sued over an anti-leafleting rule at the Arab International Festival on Dearborn (Michigan) city property. But the new case involves the Jews for Jesus, who allege that they were barred from leafleting and otherwise speaking in publicly accessible public streets — i.e., [...]