The University of Wyoming Law School is trying to get funding for a moot courtroom as part of the new “Cheney Center for International Affairs”(I am not making that title up). Amenities would include: judges’ chambers, a jury deliberation room, a detention area and other facilities. As UNC Law Professor (and former Wyoming law faculty member) Eric Muller points out: Huh? A “detention area?” For a law school’s moot courtroom? Does a law school courtroom really...

The highly respected Shi’ite moderate is done trying to be a political figure, and says he can’t stop the slide into civil war. I hate to say it, but this could be the deathblow to Iraq’s chances at stabilizing and forming a cohesive state. This is the worst news–from a long-term perspective–I’ve heard in a long time.

Parliamentary inquiry to say anti-Semitism is “endemic”, urges immediate action to counter the growing tide of hateful and violent acts towards Jews (often mixed with anti-Israel messages).

Apparently, some folks are pissed at the kidnapped Fox News journalists for not taking a bullet in lieu of “converting” to Islam.

The New Republic has announced the end of Lee Siegel’s “Culture” blog and has suspended him from writing for the magazine: After an investigation, The New Republic has determined that the comments in our Talkback section defending Lee Siegel’s articles and blog under the username “sprezzatura” were produced with Siegel’s participation. We deeply regret misleading our readers. Lee Siegel’s blog will no longer be published by TNR, and he has been suspended...

Slate via The Plank: As the mayor answered the last of the three questions from reporters, he talked about the root causes of terrorism: “oppressive governments that demagogue and blame and project their problems other places and do nothing to solve the problems of their own people.” “Sounds like the Democrats,” shouted a man. The crowd roared. It was the kind of stupid remark candidates usually ignore. They either agree but can’t show that they do, or they don’t...

[Note: This post got "lost" when we did some reshuffling, so I've temporarily bumped it to the top. --DS] Why is it that whenever a centrist gets angry at President Bush, it’s assumed that they’ve gone liberal? Maybe centrists are angry at Bush not because they’ve radicalized, but because he has–that he’s betrayed centrist values, not liberal ones.

A tense situation in Tel Aviv, as a Palestinian informer requesting asylum in Europe infiltrated the embassy, then holed up with what appeared to be a gun. Israeli anti-terrorism units stormed the embassy. The gun turned out to be plastic, and nobody was hurt. The Palestinian man was an informant for Israel who was told by Palestinian terror groups that he’d be killed if he went back to the West Bank unless he took part in attacks on Israel. He refused, and plead for asylum.

Two new additions to my (not the TMV) blogroll get their own personal introductions. “Doing Justice” by K.C. Sheehan, a leftist feminist law professor at Southwestern University. “Security Dilemmas”, by Seth Weinberger, an international relations and political philosopher at the University of Puget Sound.

According to the Family Research Council, marriages in which multiple pre-adolescent girls (as young as ten) are forcibly conscripted into plural marriages are bad. But gay marriages are far worse. Ugh.

A look at how Israel’s targeted assassination policy operates–and how it came into being.

I land an exclusive interview, and then I put up a broken link to it! It’s fixed now. I’ve moved the post back to the top temporarily–there will again be newer stuff below. –DS (TMV NOTE: We’ll be keeping this post on top and a bit out of order for some of today. Please scroll down because some NEWER posts will be BELOW it.) Earlier this week, I posted the first part of my exclusive interview with New York Times columnist Tom Friedman. I am delighted to present the...

A man poses as a HUD official to give a major speech on Katrina reconstruction.

You can get Chris Bowers’ mid-term predictions here (PDF). He’s a Democratic partisan, and admits he might be a touch optimistic, but it’s got a lot of info. Upshot: He’s predicting a net gain of 16-25 seats for the Democrats.

(TMV NOTE: We’ll be keeping this post on top and a bit out of order for some of today. Please scroll down because some NEWER posts will be below it.) The first part of my exclusive interview with New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is now available at my blog. You can access part one here, focusing on the Israel/Lebanon conflict and its fall-out.

Nasrallah admits he miscalculated and would not have launched his attack had he known the extent of the Israeli retaliation. Meanwhile, exciting news, TMVers. As I allude to in the post, I just conducted an interview with New York Times columnist Tom Friedman. I’ll be posting the first segment of it on Monday. And when I do, you all will be the first to know.

On a visit to Kenya, U.S. Senator Barack Obama took a public AIDS test, using his celebrity status there in the hopes that he might inspire others to get tested in the AIDS-ravaged region. Iowa Law Professor Adrien Wing applauds his efforts (as do I), and wonders if a similar gesture in America might also act to encourage African-Americans to get tested–as AIDS is devastating that community as well. In any event, it is wonderful to see a U.S. Senator use his media power to further an unquestionably...

Several former Israeli diplomats are trying to sue Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the ICC for just that crime.

They are “doing the same thing as Hitler” or “perhaps even worse.” Venezuela, for the record, is running for a seat on the UN Security Council.

How to decode a neo-conservative policy proposal.