DanKohn.com

“The public, the court wrote, has deputized the press “as the guardians of their liberty.”‘ And we’re lucky to live in a country where that press can witness immigration trials, at least if they’re in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. I had assumed that it would take years for the courts to undo all of the damage to the Constitution that Ashcroft has wrought, but perhaps federal judges can keep overturning these absurd, embarassing, self-defeating Justice department dictates almost as quickly as they’re issued. One more quote: “A government operating in the shadow of secrecy stands in complete opposition to the society envisioned by the framers of our Constitution.”

Not an oxymoron: Here is a fascinating piece on demographics from the Economist. “Higher fertility rates and immigration produce not only a larger population but a society that is younger, more mixed ethnically and, on balance, more dynamic…. The contrast between youthful, exuberant, multi-coloured America and ageing, decrepit, inward-looking Europe goes back almost to the foundation of the United States.”

Great front page NYT piece on the enormous success of DVDs, which are the fastest adopted technology in history. Of course, this is great news for Pixonics, which is the only company offering a technology for backward-compatible high definition DVDs.

Arnold Kling argues that “bond market vigilantes” may be more powerful than the Fed. This seems true, but I’m not sure that the relative influence is changing over time.

People are worried than when Habeas sues spammers, there won’t be anything to collect. Of course, this will sometimes be the case, but we can still force the spammers out of business. But as a counterexample, these spammers had “$30 million in luxury real estate and a herd of Mercedes-Benzes, Rolls Royces and a Lamborghini”.

The NYT reports on the potential for a “Mesopotamian Stalingrad”. Don’t believe it (though, of course, it’s an awesome turn of phrase). The Iraqi military will crumble, as soon as US psyops broadcast an amnesty offer over loudspeakers.

Superb Findlaw review of the Hamdi case: “If the government’s view prevails, and it alone decides who is an enemy combatant, then there is nothing to stop it from declaring anyone–you, me, or Tom Daschle–an enemy combatant who can be detained indefinitely without trial.” And another one. Versus the Japanese internments in WWII, “The main distinction is that Ashcroft’s camps are smaller in scale.”

Hell freezes over, and I agree with James Baker’s foreign policy. Even if the UN hasn’t lived up to our expectations, it’s better to make an effort to get security council agreement (and probably fail to do so) before attacking, which I support.

This is the first counter-FAQ I’ve seen. The MPAA published a misleading FAQ about the broadcast flag and the EFF gives their own (much better) answers.

Great article on cryptographer Bruce Schenier in the Atlantic. I’ve been a subscriber to his newsletter Cryptogram for the 5 years he’s been writing it. The article includes some superb advice about the inability for technology to replace human judgement, which is one of the themes of Habeas.