The Personal Democracy Forum provided plenty of food for thought to masticate, but one bit that’s stuck in my craw is the way the phrase “citizen journalism,” which should denote an important concept, seems to be turning into a marketing buzzword for mediocre writers. Back in high school, I was friendly with an English teacher […]

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So, I’ve been to see Brian, and can confirm that he is, modulo “shot repeatedly,” doing well. But it looks like insurance will only cover part of the costs of treatment, so Spencer Ackerman has set up a PayPal fund, if anyone feels like chipping in; just click through to his site and hit the […]

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I’ve got a writeup at Ars Technica of an important ruling in yesterday in a suit against the government stemming from extralegal NSA wiretapping. Short version: Yes, FISA really is the “exclusive means” by which the government can do foreign intelligence wiretaps in the U.S., assertions of magical “inherent authority” notwithstanding. And no, you can’t […]

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I feel like I ought to say something about this, now that the news is apparently out, but for the moment everything’s coming out as a string of profanities. So I’ll limit myself to this: (1) Brian Beutler is awesome. If you read his phenomenal reporting, count yourself lucky. If you know him, count yourself […]

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Anyone else notice the uncanny resemblance between pop singer Robyn (best known for pressing trigger, as opposed to people button) and Doctor Blight (best known for being voiced by Meg Ryan and battling Planeteers)? I want to put it down to coincidence, but they’ve even got the same pink spandex jumpsuit.

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Ramesh Ponnuru writes: [Barack Obama] says he opposes [gay marriage]. But he also thinks that a constitutional amendment in California to block it is “divisive and discriminatory.” I think the only way to square these positions would be for Obama to say that he opposes same-sex marriage as a religious or moral matter, but supports […]

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I can see why Mike Masnick is worried about the implications of the Heller decision for copyright jurisprudence, but in the unlikely event the Supreme Court did show some inclination to reign in transparent rent-seeking by content producers, I think they’d have ample grounds for distinguishing. Here’s the text of the Copyright Clause: The Congress […]

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