Me and My Materialism

Isn't there anyone out there who'd love to give me a present? Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is available for pre-order right now on Amazon.co.uk. (I buy the UK versions of the books.)

As you can see, I am deep in that covetous emotion, colloquially known as "gimmegimmegimme". I am also deep into law school, and thus bereft of funds for such pleasures. (Oddly, Marbury v. Madison just doesn't have the same flow as Harry Potter. Alas.)

(Although, one might also take a moment to point out that the Prisoner of Azkaban movie is available on Amazon.com.)

Hey, Big Surprise!

No WMDs in Iraq!

Wow, what a shocker.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday's announcement was nothing new and that Mr Bush had referred to the end of the search last year when Mr Duelfer's interim report came out.

Scott Mouthpiece says that like it has any meaning, to try and downplay the fact that everyone, and I do mean everyone, knew full well going in that Iraq had no WMDs. And yet, that's the stated reason for invading -- 'cause Saddam was a Bad Man with Evil Weapons.

Queer Nation

A Queer Nation is Born

Although the declaration of independence has been dismissed as a stunt by practically everyone, the kingdom’s leaders believe they have a valid claim to the islands. Essentially, they argue their new home is appropriate compensation for the inequalities they have suffered as a result of the government’s stance towards same-sex marriage. This is based on the arcane legal principle in English law of unjust enrichment, which says that if something is unjustly taken, compensation must be made.

It's not an arcane legal principle, it's just got really old roots. It's time-honored, baby. Unjust enrichment is a living, breathing, viable principle in Anglo-American law today. It's an "equity" (fairness) argument, that it is unjust to permit someone to be enriched at another person's detriment, without compensating them for their detriment.