[January 10, 2001]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court struck down the so-called "glancing goose" rule, under which the Army Corps of Engineers asserted jurisidiction to regulate the filling of isolated standing water bodies - in other words, large puddles. The name "glancing goose" comes from the ridiculous justification for the rule - that such isolated water bodies were part of interstate commerce because they might potentially serve as habitat for migrating waterfowl. (In other words, and body of water that a goose might glance at during flight...)
This is a huge victory for property owners and anyone who believes in the limited powers of government. W
Concorde: an accident waiting to happen. For what it's worth, I won't ride in a Renault, either. W
Only ten more days until the end of the Interregnum. W
The Wall Street Journal traces the trashing of the Chavez nomination:
Look at the players. The neighbor who reported the conflicting account to the FBI, Margaret Zwisler, is a lawyer and registered Democrat. While Ms. Mercardo and Ms. Chavez each answered questions about their relationship, the accuser, Ms. Zwisler, quickly retreated behind her attorney. And what an attorney she found! Neil Eggleston, a former Clinton White House associate counsel who with George Stephanopoulos was part of the Whitewater spin team. And guess which network first reported the case? ABC, Mr. Stephanopolous's new home.
Overnight, those who told us that Presidential perjury was no big deal suddenly became sticklers for every jot of immigration law. The response was the "search and destroy" ethos Ms. Chavez denounced at her press conference. How predictable that it was Jesse Jackson would materialize to characterize Ms. Chavez's helping hand to Ms. Mercardo as "indentured servitude." From there it was a race to the bottom.
The next move will tell us a lot about how this administration will deal with Congress over the next two years. W
[January 9, 2001]
Perhaps, Jason, you should pick your spacebar up from the floor and re-insert it into your keyboard. W
The market renders a verdict: Salon sucks. Link poached from Kevin, as usual. W
If Ashcroft is a racist for opposing Ronnie White, what does that tell you about the people who forced Chavez to withdraw from consideration for Secretary of Labor? W
[January 8, 2001]
The Shuttlecocks rate the Ways To Leave Your Lover. Link from Amanda. W
Here's a cool story on MeFi about geocaching - described as: "Armed with a Global Positioning System (GPS) device and coordinates, you can locate treasures that others have hidden in unusual places." It is unclear whether the Hertz Neverlost system will also work. W
Weblogs were the next big thing back in Summer/Fall 1999. How long did it take the New York Times and U.S. News & World Report to catch on? Almost two years. Congratulations, investigative journalists, on your stunning scoop! W
Ms. Chavez, you're no Zoë Baird! John Fund decries the smearing of Linda Chavez, the Secretary-designate for the Department of Labor:
But before Democratic senators pounce on Ms. Chavez, they would do well to go back and read their floor statements and speeches on war-torn Guatemala from a decade ago and ask themselves if they would have preferred Ms. Chavez's guest be returned there at the time.
Let's give a warm "Welcome Back!" to the politics of personal destruction. W
[January 7, 2001]
Bookmark: all the news that's right to print can be found somehwere in the bowels of Reductio Ad Absurdum. W