The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that MP Jason Wood is requesting an investigation into genetically modified orgasms. I support the member for McMillan's call for the government to conduct an independent broad-ranging scientific investigation into the genetic modification of food and biotechnology to assess not only the health of the crops and the food, but also the potential for contamination,...
The Fifth Circuit last week rendered a decision in Gomez v. Quarterman rejecting a claim that a forced confession should be thrown out because the defendant's VCCR rights were violated. This decision gives you a sense of where we are post-Medellin, with "no reasonable debate" about the status of the Vienna Convention as a vehicle to vindicate individual rights. With...
A lawyer, a philosopher, and a theologian went out for dinner. The topic under discussion was the concept of “sovereignty.” The lawyer discussed the sovereignty of the state, the philosopher highlighted the sovereignty of the individual, and the theologian underscored the sovereignty of God. Each understood the meaning of sovereignty, but each understood it in a different...
On the lighter side of international news this week, comes word that the international space station toilet has broken, leading to obvious difficulties for the station's inhabitants (not to mention plenty of toilet humor back here on earth). Now, toilets in space raise all sorts of logistical and engineering issues, nicely described by Jacob Leibenluft in today's Slate. ...
The Pew Research Center has a fascinating poll released earlier this month on Muslim perceptions of the United States. Here is a quick summary: Simply put, America’s image in much of the Muslim world remains abysmal. Iraq, the war on terrorism, American support for Israel and other key features of U.S. foreign policy continue to generate animosity in the Middle...
The British newspaper The Guardian is currently having Hay Festival, major book festival. With all these writers and public figures around, there are some fun possibilities. As the folks at The Guradian put it: Hay is full of the cleverest and sharpest minds, but if they could ask one person just a single question, who would they choose - and...
Nearly 100 nations have reached an agreement on a draft treaty to ban the use of cluster bombs within 8 years. This may or may not be a good idea. But since key cluster bomb producers and users like the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan are not signatories, the importance of this treaty, beyond...
We all know the adage that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it. In a recent op-ed, Mark Shulman of Pace Law School shows how if only the Bush Administration had remembered history, they may have repeated it. Shulman, who besides being a lawyer also has a doctorate in history and a particular expertise in military history,...
Well, gentle readers, my week of guest blogging at Opinio Juris is coming to an end. I've had a wonderful time, and certainly allowed my indulgences to get indulged in picking topics to write about. Hope you haven't found it too far adrift from international law. But I want to thank all the folks at Opinio Juris...
The Copenhagen Consensus is the brain child of self-described 'skeptical environmentalist' and statistician Bjorn Lomborg; housed at the Copenhagen Business School, it seeks to apply cost benefit analysis to the world's leading problems in development, poverty, the environment, etc., with the assistance of a range of leading economists, and come up with not just a list of issues, but a...
On Friday, the ICJ issued its judgment in Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia/Singapore). A summary sent by the ICJ stated thatit had found by 12 votes to four that Pedra Blanca/Pulau Batu Puteh, a granite island in the Straits of Singapore on which a lighthouse stands, belongs to Singapore and has done so...
Memorial Day for a long time in my life didn't mean much of anything; I came of age in the 1970s just slightly too late for the Vietnam war, remembrance of which was all too weird for a long time, and anyhow there weren't that many wars going on, at least not ones that I was aware of. So...
