Current Affairs

Judge: “Tell Congress to Go to Hell”

This is one of those judges who's appointed for life, but my guess is he'd say what he wants to say regardless. On his blog Hercules and the Umpire, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf (D. Neb.) explained a couple of weeks…


School Bans Fun

Recess itself is still allowed, for now, but it appears that students will have to spend it standing quietly in one place: As CBS 2’s Jennifer McLogan reported Monday, officials at Weber Middle School in Port Washington are worried that…





Top Ten Notable Facts About the Gay-Marriage Decisions

First use of phrase "legalistic argle-bargle" since 1824's Gibbons v. Ogden In a footnote, Justice Kennedy overturns the outcome of last season's American Idol just to see if anybody is still paying attention Resolving an issue not raised below, Court rules unanimously that…



Does Eric Holder Know?

Nope. He does not:   Of course, neither did Alberto Gonzales, or if he did, he didn't recall:   Now, I don't know whether it's worse to not know anything or to not recall anything. I mean, if you don't…


Penalty for BlackBerry Use in Conclave Really Could Be Excommunication

Turns out that my speculation earlier about what changes Pope-Until-Friday Benedict XVI might make to the rules governing conclaves was a little behind the times, since he apparently has (very recently) already released an Apostolic Letter describing those changes. Looking at…


What Changes Will the Pope Make to the Conclave Rules?

@reuters, 20 Feb 2013: Pope may make changes to church law on rules governing conclave that will elect successor Here's what I'm hearing from my Vatican sources: Conclave can start early because of upcoming Holy Week Cardinals located overseas can…