Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food
Law & Business
The Boycotters Glass Houses
Dave Hoffman: I was thinking more overnight about the absurd proposed AALS boycott being pushed by the Legal Writing Institute. The LWI, like the AALS, is a large organization of law professors, with “over 2,100 members.” Like the AALS, the LWI …Continue Reading...
Goodbye to SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins
Jay Brown says good riddance: Atkins, in his six or so years on the Commission, managed to be on the opposite side of almost every shareholder friendly initiative of any great importance. Stoneridge? Against the position taken by shareholder. Access? Against …Continue Reading...
Links to Blog Discussion of AALS Boycott Effort
Paul Caron has put together a collection of links to the wide ranging discussion in the law blogosphere.
An Open Letter to AALS Executive Director Carl Monk
AALS executive director Carl Monk’s email address is publicly available on the AALS website, as are those of other AALS officers. Using those addresses, I’ve sent Monk and other top AALS officers the following letter by email: As you know, the …Continue Reading...
What’s Behind the AALS Boycott?
Larry Ribstein asks some great questions about the AALS annual meeting kerfuffle and finds out why the activists are really doing this: What if Mr. Manchester didn’t contribute money to oppose same sex marriage cause, but supported it vocally? Of course …Continue Reading...
Privileging One Point of View: The AALS Annual Meeting Kerfuffle
NLJ: Organizations representing thousands of legal educators say they will boycott the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting in January if it is held at a San Diego hotel owned by a foe of same-sex marriage. The four groups made …Continue Reading...
Henry Manne on Corporate Philanthropy
An email from Henry: I have just been reading your blog comments on corporate philanthropy, and, as usual, you are perfectly correct. However, I would like to add an intellectual complication to your formulation, particularly as it relates to the business …Continue Reading...
PB.com Beats Volokh Conspiracy
In news related to the preceding post on Leiter’s study of faculty scholarsly impact, David Bernstein blogs that: If the Volokh Conspirators Were a Law Faculty: Using Brian Leiter’s methodology, counting those who post at least semi-regularly (me, Eugene, Paul, Orin, …Continue Reading...
Wine & Food
Newton Claret (Napa Valley) 1999
Prior notes in 2/2005 and 11/2003 praised this remarkable wine. I bought it upon release at a mere $19/bottle. At age 9, it is still going strong and has outperformed many more expensive wines. In 2005, I noted: “Leather, pencil shavings, …Continue Reading...
Couly-Duthiel Clos de L’Echo (Chinon) 2002
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is a modest wine without much to be modest about. Inoffensive, but inconsequential. Thin bodied, light in flavor. Probably better younger. Grade: C-
Price and Enjoyment
A new study, Do More Expensive Wines Taste Better? Evidence from a Large Sample of Blind Tastings, by Robin Goldstein, Johan Almenberg, Anna Dreber, John W. Emerson, Alexis Herschkowitsch, and Jacob Katz finds that: Individuals who are unaware of the price …Continue Reading...
Schramsberg J. Schram (North Coast) 1999
When previously noted in 12/2006, I gave this Chardonnay-based méthode champenoise a grade of A-/A. Two and a half years later, it is still drinking well. Apples, biscuit, and brioche toast. On the finish, there’s a suggestion of vanillin and Cognac. …Continue Reading...
Jayson (Napa Valley) 2005
Jayson is Pahlmeyer’s second wine. It is assembled from lots originally intended for their Merlot or Red meritage blend but that were declassified for one reason or another. Even so, many Napa wineries (and not a few from Bordeaux) would be …Continue Reading...
Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandel (San Luis Obispo) 2001
When last noted in 3/07, it was in its prime. Now it’s just a tad over the hill. The flavors are not quite as bright and the armoas are a bit more muted. The blackberry and black cherry fruit are a …Continue Reading...
Dark Horse Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley) 2005
A friend of ours who’s an investor in this new-ish winery served it at dinner tonight. It’s a rich, well-balanced, and fully integrated wine, but has an unusual flavor profile for what I’m told is a 100% zinfandel. I tasted chocolate, …Continue Reading...
Wine Prices
Harvey Steiman tackles a perennial issue: Last week Steven D. Levitt, the economics professor, made a pretty bold assertion in his Freakanomics blog for the New York Times. He basically said it’s better not to learn too much about wine because …Continue Reading...
Punditry
Criticizing Judges
Dan Slater of the WSJ reports: On Friday, the Law Blog will moderate a panel at the annual ABA program entitled, “Judicial Criticism: Judges Under Fire.” We were looking for current case studies to discuss on the panel, when the following …Continue Reading...
Sign Jackson and other Fantasy News
ST Louis Rams’ RB Steven Jackson’s houldout continues. Why do I care? Because Jackson is the #1 RB on one of my fantasy football teams and I’m counting on him for a lot of points. So I take heart from Peter …Continue Reading...
Thoughts on the Tony Soprano School of Management
Robin Hanson asks: Most people want to succeed, but most also have moral qualms about doing whatever it takes. People with unusually strong ambitions or weak qualms, however, should be willing to do much more, even murder. And at the top …Continue Reading...
Tom Smith
I hereby nominate Tom Smith as the least politically correct law professor in the United States. Background on the AALS fight can be found here.
Hijacking Scholarly Organizations to Advance Left-Liberal Agendas
One of the adverse consequences of left-liberalism’s takeover of the academy is that scholarly organizations with no partisan identification or agenda are now routinely hijacked by activists to advance the left-liberal political agenda. Case in point: Activist law professors are trying …Continue Reading...
Taking the Warfare out of the War on Drugs
J.D. Tuccille: Police in Prince George’s County, Maryland, are conceding that, just maybe, last week’s violent raid on the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, during which officers killed two dogs, was a mistake. ... Police burst into Calvo’s home …Continue Reading...
Judges and Refs
During Chief Justice John Roberts’ confirmation hearings, he compared the role of judges to that of umpires. Eric Lillquist ponders that analogy, concluding “when you compare NFL officials and judges, you have a lot more reason to trust the competence of …Continue Reading...
More on Why Obama Isn’t Blowing McCain Out
From Huffington Post of all places comes that observation that Obama presents himself as being “as authentic as a pair of designer jeans.” Ouch.