Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Ridge Defends that Curious Yellow

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Former Homeland Security Czar Tom Ridge Defends Color-Coded Alert System.

Yellow alert forever?

Posted in 9/11 & Aftermath | 3 Comments

Social Security: ‘The Numbers Are Ugly’

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Brad DeLong, Why Oh Why Are We Ruled by These Fools? (Yet Another Social Security Edition):

Ah. It becomes clearer and clearer why nobody in the administration who knew anything about Social Security substance was trotted out the week before last to provide details on Bush's endorsement of Pozen's “progressive price indexing.” The numbers are ugly.

Jason Furman has the details. And they are indeed ugly.

Posted in Econ: Social Security | Comments Off on Social Security: ‘The Numbers Are Ugly’

Habermas on Faith-Based Politics

Posted on May 11, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

I suppose if I'm an -ian anything then I'm a Habermasian, at least when it comes to political theory. That doesn't mean, however, that I always agree with the great man's recent political writings; sometimes yes, sometimes no.

This translation by Brett Marston of a fragment of a recent statement by Habermas (in a debate with then-Cardinal Ratzinger, no less!), certainly makes it sound like this essay would be one of the ones I agree with. I'm very gratefull for this partial translation (Thanks, Bret!), and would love a pointer to a full translation of both parts of the debate if anyone knows of one.

It seems obvious to me that so long as there is belief there is a place for religion in politics. People should not check their ethical commitments before they reach the ballot box. But in a pluralistic society it doesn't follow that the state should be enlisted to enforce religious dictates. Nor does it necessarily follow, although here things get more complex, that an elected official should vote her constituents' wishes over her faith — or, for that matter, vice versa.

The tricky part of course is figuring out what are the basic moral commands that can't be compromised. For some, it's abortion, poverty in the face of plenty, the death penalty, pornography, or torture, and in my mind each of those views is worthy of respect — including the ones I disagree with. When they don't command consensus, and I think not even the ban on torture does any more, they should be discussed, as respectfully as possible.

Posted in Legal Philosophy | 5 Comments

LD’s Draft Howarth for Policy Review

Posted on May 10, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Well, the LD's don't miss much. Their leader announced a 'clean sheet' policy review, and picked a committee to run it. Included is the newly elected David Howarth MP. Details at Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Kennedy pledges policy overhaul. Which makes sense: David's very smart, a glutton for work, and has political smarts. What more could you want?

Posted in UK | Comments Off on LD’s Draft Howarth for Policy Review

Florida Remains Spam Central

Posted on May 10, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

No place can spam like South Florida reports the Sun-Sentinal.

That won't be news to veteran readers of this blog: Spam Comes From Florida? (Feb '04).

Posted in Internet | 2 Comments

Climate Change Follies

Posted on May 10, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

EnergyBulletin.net has a jolly little item about a little ice age about
to erupt on England:
Britain faces big chill as ocean current slows:

CLIMATE change
researchers have detected the first signs of a slowdown in the Gulf
Stream — the mighty ocean current that keeps Britain and
Europe from freezing.

They have found that one of the “engines” driving
the Gulf Stream — the sinking of supercooled water in the
Greenland Sea — has weakened to less than a quarter of its
former strength.

The weakening, apparently caused by global warming, could herald big
changes in the current over the next few years or decades.
Paradoxically, it could lead to Britain and northwestern and Europe
undergoing a sharp drop in temperatures.

…

Such a change could have a severe impact on Britain, which lies on the
same latitude as Siberia and ought to be much colder. The Gulf Stream
transports 27,000 times more heat to British shores than all the
nation’s power supplies could provide, warming Britain by
5-8C.

Wadhams and his colleagues believe, however, that just such changes
could be well under way. They predict that the slowing of the Gulf
Stream is likely to be accompanied by other effects, such as the
complete summer melting of the Arctic ice cap by as early as 2020 and
almost certainly by 2080. This would spell disaster for Arctic wildlife
such as the polar bear, which could face extinction.

As I recall, that makes sea
level rise one to three meters.
And Florida is — what? — a median of about six inches above sea
level?

Aw Heck! I had to go and ruin this nice scare story with facts.
The mean elevation of Coral Gables is not six inches–it’s ten
whole feet! We’ll be the New
Venice while it ‘s South Beach that
will be wholly submerged:

Total Area Florida covers 65,758
square miles, making it the 22nd largest of the
50
states.
Land Area 53,997 square miles of
Florida are land areas.
Water Area 11,761 square miles of
Florida are covered by water making Florida the 3rd wettest
state behind Alaska
and Michigan.
Highest Point The highest point in
Florida is
Britton Hill,
Lakewood
Park in Walton County and is only 345 feet above sea level. Walton
County is located in the Florida Panhandle.
 
Lowest Point The lowest point in
Florida is sea level where Florida meets the
Atlantic Ocean
and the
Gulf of Mexico.
Mean Elevation The Mean Elevation of
the state of Florida is only 100 feet above sea level

Posted in Florida, Science/Medicine, UK | 5 Comments