Liskula Cohen Forces Google to Reveal Anonymous Blogger
A Vogue cover model of whom I'd never previously heard and does not conform to my preconceptions of what a Vogue cover model looks like has won a lawsuit against Google over an anonymous former blogger who called her names on the Internet. A Vogue cover girl has won a precedent-setting court battle to unmask an anonymous blogger who called her ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 20, 2009 09:04
Jimmy Carter Quits Baptists (Again)
Former President Jimmy Carter quit the Southern Baptist Convention more than eight years ago because of its refusal to ordain women as pastors (rather odd, since the policy had been in place since the early seventeenth century origins of the Baptist faith based on the example of another follow with the initials J.C.). To make sure people noticed -- since ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 21, 2009 07:58
Wire Politics
Jonah Goldberg argues that conservatives should have embraced "The Wire" more than we did. This is a Democratic city, run almost uniformly by liberals. While many of the problems most prominently on display can certainly be traced back to racism, racism itself is not a central issue in The Wire (nor is racism an inherently or historically conservative phenomena). These drug ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 1, 2008 14:20
The Inevitable Profession
Economic researchers at Yale managed to successfully train Capuchin monkeys to understand and use currency. The result? The monkeys used their newfound currency to buy sex: Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic of money, after all, is its fungibility, the fact that it can be used to buy not just food but anything. During the chaos in the monkey cage, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 10, 2008 14:01
I Miss Karl Rove
Remember the good old days when everyday events were coordinated by Karl Rove? Today could have counted as one but, alas, Karl Rove is nowhere to be found. Child rapists can't be executed, Supreme Court rules The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that child rapists cannot be executed, concluding that capital punishment for crimes against individuals can be applied only ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 26, 2008 00:50
Fox Assistant Fired for McCain Worship
A young Fox News staffer was fired for telling John McCain she'd voted for him, Chris Ariens reports. Insiders tell us the assistant, identified as Jennifer Locke, was on assignment with a camera crew to cover the entertainment angle of the event. When Sen. John McCain walked by, the assistant said, "I voted for you in the primary, you're going to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 10, 2008 07:36
Prostitution as a Capital Crime in the Capitol
Megan McArdle is "physically sick" that the DC Madam has committed suicide, driven to do so by a state using its resources to hound a woman engaging in consensual commerce rather than tracking down violent criminals. James Poulos wonders why he should care that a lawbreaker has killed herself. Emotionally, I'm much closer to James than Megan on this one. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 2, 2008 09:44
How Whorable is Prostitution?
The Eliot Spitzer saga has reopened the debate as to why prostitution should be illegal. Reason's Kerry Howley has written several posts on the subject arguing that, while anti-prostitution laws are sold under the guise of protecting women, they're really just a form of "slut shaming" aimed at limiting women's sexual freedom. Anti-prostitution laws add a layer of legal sanction to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 14, 2008 13:49
Eliot Spitzer Resigns. Finally. For Real This Time
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has finally resigned. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is resigning following intense pressure to step down because of a prostitution scandal. Spitzer says his resignation is effective Monday. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. Gov. Eliot Spitzer has decided to resign, completing a stunning fall from ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 12, 2008 10:52
Elliot Spitzer Resigns in Prostitution Ring Scandal
New York Governor Elliot Spitzer is "involved" in a prostitution ring. Details are still sketchy. Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning. Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides inside his Fifth Avenue apartment early this afternoon, had hours ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 10, 2008 14:10
David Shuster Suspended for Chelsea ‘Pimped Out’ Remark
MSNBC's David Shuster has been suspended for his on-air musing, "Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" I saw the news yesterday evening and didn't find it particularly interesting but apparently I'm alone, in that it's getting the mega treatment at Memeorandum. Howie Kurtz, the media critics' media critic, gets page C1 ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 9, 2008 08:27
D.C. Madam Cites National Security
D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey is claiming a state secrets privilege because she provided services to Muslims, Carol Leonnig reports. The woman accused of being the D.C. Madam now argues that the fact that Muslim men used her elite, Washington-based escort service before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks might have played a role in the government's effort to prosecute her. Deborah ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 5, 2007 08:59
Why Arguing From A Single Example Sucks
Ace of Spades guest Jack M. links a two-and-a-half-year-old story about U.N. peacekeepers committing sex crimes in Congo as part 1 in a 5 part series on "International Law: Why it sucks, why people shouldn't buy into it, and why it should be abandoned." In that spirit, I will use his post as the first of an unlimited series on Logical ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 28, 2007 10:06
He Could Read My Mind; Wanted to Know The Tractors My Family Used
Consider this a follow-up to the post on how stupid our judicial system can be, at times...perhaps most of the time. Frederick Freeman was convicted of murdering Scott Mecklam (via Radley Balko). His conection to Mecklam? He dated a girlfriend of Mecklam's who got back together with Mecklam once Freeman was out of the picture (i.e. moved to the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 6, 2007 10:53
Vitter Outed in D.C. Madam Scandal
David Vitter, a conservative from Louisiana, was the first Member of Congress outed by the infamous "D.C. Madam." Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) apologized last night after his telephone number appeared in the phone records of the woman dubbed the "D.C. Madam," making him the first member of Congress to become ensnared in the high-profile case. The statement containing Vitter's apology said ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 10, 2007 07:38
