Ignorantia Juris

I saw no reason to comment on the fact that some TSA officials demanded that a well-endowed women wearing an underwire bra submit to a fondling to clear security.  Perhaps I’m suffering from outrage fatigue.  Well, not “perhaps.”  I am.  The announcement of “most recent dumb thing the TSA/DHS/Security-of-whatever-variety does to support security theater” is almost a bi-weekly occurrence, alternating with “the word ‘terror’ is used in an completely inappropriate context” and “taking a picture of child, even your own, is evidence of pedophilia.”

But Scott Greenfield of Simple Justice makes this point, one of those that lurks in … Continue Reading

Following last week’s cyanide mystery and Monday’s mailbox that shouldn’t be there, today we have:

Bomb Squad responds to Suspicious Package.

McCain’s Office in Colorado receives threat (and powder).

Do I think anything is going to happen?  No.

Do I think that there are going to be a series of low grade panics?  Oh, you betcha.

UPDATE

And they were both false alarms.

I seldom watch television news, but this evening I ended up doing so.  And what do mine eyes see?  A segment on how the FAA has banned all model airplanes within a 30 mile radius of the DNC for the duration.

Of course, no credible threat is mentioned.  And commercial airplanes can still take off and land.  But small pieces of plastic with about a quarter mile control range, those are a threat.

The highpoint of the segment was the statement from an FAA official to the effect of how we have to put up with some inconvenience for security.  … Continue Reading

John McCain delivered a speech advocating the use of Surge-style tactics to fight crime.

This is by far the scariest thing I’ve read in the last few months.  And I read World War Z in July.
You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control. And you provide them with a stable environment and then they cooperate with law enforcement.
And you frighten innocent people.   And you waste resources.  And you piss all over the concept … Continue Reading

In a past life, I went to a wonderful little university in London (not the one in the article, just a shameless plug).  Many of my compatriots and the faculty were studying terrorism in one form or another.  Which makes this all the more disturbing to me.
Academics have no “right” to research terrorist materials and they risk being prosecuted for doing so, the vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham has told his staff.

In a statement issued to the university last week, Sir Colin Campbell says: “There is no ‘right’ to access and research terrorist materials. Those who do … Continue Reading

Bruce Schneier has a post on The Continued Cheapening of the Word Terrorism, to which I am incapable of adding much.  It is, however, worth reading, just to keep in mind.  Terrorism is not a simple tactic, it has consequences and repercussions and causes that already require deep examination.  Using it as a synonym for “things I don’t like” can only distract.

I’m uncomfortable with mandatory binding arbitration as well as choice of law statutes, but this just takes the cake.  Blackwater is trying to get a wrongful death claim tried under Sharia law, and I’m sure this is just a coincidence:
If the judge agrees, it would essentially end the lawsuit over a botched flight supporting the U.S. military. Shari’a law does not hold a company responsible for the actions of employees performed within the course of their work.
via BoingBoing.

George Bush has signed a special bill to get Nelson Mandela off the terrorist watch list.  It would be nice if it were that easy for everbody who was placed on it wrongly.

That is the question posed by Esquire in a fascinating article on John Yoo.

Read the whole thing, it’s worth it.

I got an email from the American Freedom Campaign, urging me to send a helpfully pre-printed letter to the University of California, Berkeley demanding that they fire John Yoo.

Welcome to the intersection of rule of law and freedom of speech.  I abhor Yoo’s theories and his memo of some repute, they are the antithesis of American jurisprudence and morality, in my humble opinion.  But to demand that a man be fired for expressing his deeply, deeply flawed opinions is equally beyond the pale.

Thankfully, I somehow doubt he is getting a lot of traction among the Berkeleyites.

EDIT:  … Continue Reading