General

Space Lawyers and the UN, a Heinlein Special Edition

The UN Secretary General ... circa 2050, Earth, talking with Kip who, along with Peewee, has just saved the Earth from invading aliens who were using the Moon as a forward base:

"Russell, I heard on your tape that you plan to study engineering - with a view to space." "Yes, sir.  I mean, 'Yes, Mr. Secretary'." "Have you considered studying law?  Many young engineers to want to space - not many lawyers.  But the Law goes everywhere.  A man skilled in space law and meta-law would be in a strong position." "Why not both?"  suggested Peewee's Daddy.  "I deplore this modern overspecialization." "That's an idea," agreed Mr. van Duivendijk.  "He could then write his own terms."

A couple of notes on this classic juvenile sci-fi book by Robert Heinlein from the 1950s, Have Spacesuit Will Travel.  Already proposing joint degrees!  What's "meta-law" supposed to be, anyway?  What about women skilled in space law and meta-law by 2050?  Do we like "to space" as a verb?  Does "the Law go everywhere"?

The Physics of Battles in Space

I do realize that Copenhagen is still underway, so this is a little like whispering in church (I'll put it mostly under the fold) ...

Red herrings in debates over climate finance

One gets a new perspective on climate negotiations when your toes are about to fall off! It took me 8.5 hours of standing in sub-zero temperatures to get registered at the Bella Centre (and this is after I was only about fiftieth in line, showing up at 6.45am). There were thousands of people behind me when I last looked back....

A Senior Job Opening in International Law

I'm not usually in the habit of posting on job openings, but I thought this one might warrant wider exposure and expect it will be of interest to some of our more experienced readers (particularly those who've always dreamed of living in Vienna).  The IAEA is looking for a new Director for its Office of Legal Affairs.  Here's how the IAEA...

Is the U.S. Public Both “Realist” and “Uninformed?”

Dan Drezner's take at Foreign Policy on the latest Pew Research Poll on U.S. foreign policy attitudes uses a more provocative term than "uninformed," but the point is the same.  Can the public be "realist" in its attitudes to the world when those attitudes are based on factual assumptions that don't exactly align with reality? Lots of interesting comments...

Colonel Sanders at the United Nations

With the kerfuffle over the White House gate-crashing gaining all the attention, another flap over gate crashing is flying below the radar. It appears that Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame returned from the dead to meet with Ali Treki, President of the United Nations General Assembly. As reported here: A spokeswoman for Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general,...

The Conscience of a Conservative

Charles Johnson, founder of the conservative blog Little Green Footballs, has announced that he has parted ways with the right-wing in the US.  His list of ten reasons is remarkable for its honesty and its perspicacity: 1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.) 2....

Congratulations to Vicki Jackson on her Constitutional Comparativism Book

Several times in the last couple of years I've had the privilege of appearing on panels with Georgetown law professor Vicki Jackson, talking about constitutional comparativism.  She is always a pleasure to listen to and engage with on this topic.  It's been a hot topic in the last few years, and several OJ'ers have weighed in, including Roger and me....

Copenhagen and Collective Action

Let me leave aside for the moment all the leaked memos and stuff.  I have a question about Copenhagen that predates all of that.  I'm not being snarky - taking on assumption all the climate problems as they have been stated, I do not understand how this exercise manages to overcome the collective action failure problems that have been encountered...