Monthly Archives: April 2004

You Get Used to the Monsoons

Posted on April 14, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

A UM first year encounters a local meterological phenomenon:

I like the weather in Miami — it's usually sunny and warm — which is a distinct difference from anywhere else I've lived for nine months of the year. The problem? There's this particular tendency for it to monsoon, sometimes out of the clear blue, that lasts for thirty minutes and then totally clears up. It's perfectly tropical.

I think I prefer snow to this.

You do get used to it. And it usually ends before the end of the work day, which is convenient.

Posted in Miami | 1 Comment

Listening to Bush

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Did I hear this wrong? If I heard right, at one point Bush says that he looks forward to the election because it will give him the chance to show the American people that he has a (secret? at least currently undefined…) plan to win the War on Terror.

UPDATE1: Here's the text of this part from the AP transcript: “I don't intend to lose my job. Because I'm going to tell the American people I have a plan to win the war on terror.”

Then a few minutes later, Bush notes that people sometimes ask if you can win the War on Terror, and says that of course it's not a war that has an end.

The two statements are of course completely consistent, but it's rare to have a politician speak so frankly about his plan to lie to the public.

I must have heard it wrong. Maybe the second one was that you can win? (Although in fact it is very very hard to win a 'war' against an 'ism'. It can be done — see e.g. 'Communism' — but it takes generations.)

Update2 I heard it wrong, although in context I also heard it right: “We are in a long war. The war on terror is not going to end immediately. This is a war against people who have no guilt in killing innocent people. That's what they're willing to do. They kill on a moment's notice, because they're trying to shake our will, they're trying to create fear, they're trying to affect people's behaviors. And we're simply not going to let them do that.

“And my fear, of course, is that this will go on for a while, and therefore, it's incumbent upon us to learn from lessons or mistakes, and leave behind a better foundation for presidents to deal with the threats we face. This is the war that other presidents will be facing as we head into the 21st century.

“One of the interesting things people ask me, now that we're asking questions, is, can you ever win the war on terror? Of course you can.”

So, the War on Terror will go on through multiple presidencies, but has an end somewhere.

One thing I know I heard right — no apologies, no suggestions that any mistakes were made. Colors nailed to mast.

To be updated as necessary once the transcript is fully online.

Posted in Politics: US | 2 Comments

Fascinating Account of Baboon Mores (or Memes!)

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

The NYT has a fascinating article on Baboon mores, No Time for Bullies: Baboons Retool Their Culture. When a freak illness killed off the most dominant and aggressive males, the tone of the whole troop became, well, kindler and gentler. Amazingly as new males joined the troop they got socialized into the dominant culture. Two generations after the die-off, the troop was still operating on a lower stress, higher happiness level.

The implications for faculty politics are left as an exercise for the reader.

Posted in Science/Medicine | 1 Comment

National ID Card Issues in a Nutshell

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Here's a story that implicates a vast number of the isses about national ID cards all in one debate. Florida's own Gov. Bush lobbies for drug-tracking database.

The stated goals for this propsal are pretty laudable: to crack down on prescription drug abuse, e.g. the Rush-style doctor shopping.

The actual details of the proposal make it clear that the project has no chance of achieving its stated goals, since participation by pharmacists and doctors will be optional. If you are a pill mill, you won't play. Plus, it won't provide answers in real time, and will use old data, so it won't be very effective in the best of circumstances. (Sounds pretty boondoggle-like … these are solved problems.)

No one knows what it will cost or how to pay for it.

The proponents are trying to push it through the legislature in a rush.

So far, this is all pretty standard for all too many ID card proposals.

Bonus Florida angle: if the proposal does make it through the legislature, it will be open to attack on the grounds that the legislature is now functus officio.

Posted in ID Cards and Identification | Comments Off on National ID Card Issues in a Nutshell

More On Privacy and Court Records

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Just a few semi-random notes from the meeting I'm attending in Tampa on privacy and court records.

  • Florida's open records law doesn't apply to judicial committees. Thus, although the meetings are open to the public and there's even a court reporter here writing down everything said during the two days (hired by a private law firm for its own benefit; I guess it's cheaper than sending a lawyer), groups of us are allowed to dine together socially without violating the law. Executive branch committees can't do that in Florida without violating the Open Meetings laws. Alas, it was raining last night so a group of us dined in the hotel. Good food, but no way the state's per diem will cover the bill.
  • The Committee has an impressive amount of expertise. Many of the members are veterans not just of the bench and of judicial administration reforms but of several previous court committees on high tech subjects. One thing that I can’t help noticing, however, is how the dominant presentational style is North or Central Florida, rather than the South Florida I'm used to. That means people are frequently soft-spoken, vaguely Southern, almost always over-modest. Even the judges are remarkably kind and pleasant, which is not inevitable in my experience (is this a side-effect of an elected bench? Or just smart selecting by the committee organizers?).
  • One of the speakers, Susan Larson, pointed us to a comprehensive web site she maintains on Public Access to Court Records, which looks like a treasure trove of material about what other jurisdictions are doing.
  • I am not very impressed with the abilities of many of Florida's politicians. I am impressed with the quality of the state (not local!) bureaucracy. My dealings with people in the Secretary of State's office a few years ago on digital signature matters was a happy surprise. The people from the Supreme Court Clerk's office are even more impressive.
  • The problems that the committee is charged with solving are even more complicated than I feared, especially given the thicket of relevant federal and Florida constitutional provisions (and separation of powers issuess…), statutes, rules of court, and issues of relations between courts and regional court clerks (who are separately elected and powerful local officials).
Posted in Law: Privacy, Talks & Conferences | Comments Off on More On Privacy and Court Records

Cover-Up Mode

Posted on April 13, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Orcinus summarizes recent developments on other briefings to GW Bush besides the infamous smoking memo. Most interesting to me is the stuff at the end, discussing how the administration is abusing the classification procedures. The national interest certainly may be damaged by the release of sensitive information about the content of a briefing. But once the info is out, how is the national (as opposed to political) interest hurt by releasing the names of the recipients of a memo?

Posted in Politics: US: GW Bush Scandals | Comments Off on Cover-Up Mode