Law & Society Blog

The ABA blue ribbon commission gets it exactly right this time.Presidential signing statements that assert President Bush’s authority to disregard or decline to enforce laws adopted by Congress undermine the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers., according to a report released today by a blue-ribbon American Bar Association task force.

Check out David Robertson’s post Rethinking DRM Dystopia over at the ever excellent Freedom to Tinker blog. David’s conclusions are relatively similar to my initial observations.

Mark Frauenfelder links to this study of the amount of caffeine contained in popular drinks:Hershey’s milk chocolate almond bar, 6 oz 25 mgEspresso, 1-oz shot 40 mgBrewed tea, 8-oz cup 50 mgCoca-Cola, 20-oz bottle 57 mgRed Bull energy drink, 8.3-oz can 80 mgExcedrin pain reliever, 2 tablets 130 mgBrewed coffee, 12-oz cup 200 mgMountain Dew, 64-oz Double Big Gulp 294 mgHere’s the list, sorted by caffeine/ounce:coffee.jpgEspresso wins hands downBased on that dataset, espresso clearly wins in terms of most caffeine per ounce.

What makes a legitimate democratic government? The administration believes that as long as it means well and seeks to protect us, it cannot lose legitimacy. But isn’t it the restraint on the government’s actions placed by the constitution and by the rights of citizens, a restraint that operates whether the government means well or not?
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This might be slightly off-topic, but if you are at all interested in contemporary science fiction, check out Nicholas Whyte’s amazing meta review site for all entries to this year’s Hugo award. Great job, Nicholas.

I just discovered Library Thing, which is a community-enabled book catalog.

I just got back from a brief vacation in Toronto, which is a confusing and exciting place.