Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Only In Florida

Posted on November 29, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Forget about South Florida corruption. Up north a ways, in Central Florida, they bring weirdness to new heights.

I mean, where else but Florida could you ever get this fact pattern:

Deputies: Man on crack when alligator attacked. LAKELAND — A man who was attacked by an alligator this morning was naked and smoking crack at the time, Polk County deputies who rescued him said today.

Lest you should be tempted to try this at home, I should add that the victim got chewed pretty bad:

Apgar, 45, of Polk City, suffered a broken arm, partially amputated left arm and trauma to his left leg. Doctors are trying to reattach the arm at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where [he] was listed in critical condition.

“We don’t know whether he’ll make it or not,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

It was pretty dark, but Sheriffs think they have identified the perp:

Posted in Florida | 2 Comments

Cooliris: A Fun Firefox (etc.) Extension

Posted on November 29, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Once in a while Lifehacker’s Download of the Day is something neat. Today is one of those days, as they have Cooliris Preview (IE/Firefox/Safari):

Simply mouse over any link or thumbnail image, then point to the little Cooliris icon that appears next to it. In a second or two you’ll see a pop-up window containing the page, image, or even video. This isn’t just a screenshot, however you can actually play the video or interact with the page, clicking links, filling out forms, etc.

Best. Extension. Ever? It might just be. Cooliris changes the way you interact with the Web, and for the better. Cooliris Previews 2.0 is free for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari browsers.

Get Cooliris for firefox here. I’m having fun with it.

Posted in Software | 1 Comment

Major Ruling (Partly) Limiting Abusive Presidential Power

Posted on November 28, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Judge strikes down part of Bush anti-terror order.

A federal judge in Los Angeles, who previously struck down sections of the Patriot Act, has ruled that provisions of an anti-terrorism order issued by President George W. Bush after September 11 are unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins found that part of the law, signed by Bush on September 23, 2001 and used to freeze the assets of terrorist organizations, violated the Constitution because it put no apparent limit on the president’s powers to place groups on that list.

…

“This law gave the president unfettered authority to create blacklists, an authority president Bush then used to empower the Secretary of the Treasury to impose guilt by association,” said David Cole of the Washington-based Center for Constitutional Rights.

I’m looking forward to reading this decision. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet been able to find a copy on Westlaw or elsewhere. Meanwhile, here’s some background on the litigation.

Interestingly, the judge’s preliminary observations on the case, several months ago and prior to an additional round of briefing, indicated a leaning towards upholding the statute.

Posted in Law: Constitutional Law | 1 Comment

We’re #1! More’s the Pity.

Posted on November 28, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

South Florida has been awarded the coveted #1 ranking as the public corruption capital of U.S..

Between 1996 and 2005, a record-setting 576 people were convicted of federal corruption charges in the district that extends from Key West to Sebastian, according to the agency’s most recent annual report.

Actually, the award is a bit of a misnomer — given that it is awarded for the most public officials convicted of corruption, it could easily mean that we’re the leader in dumb and corrupt public officials. Maybe in Chicago or DC they are smarter at covering their tracks. Or maybe we have better prosecutors.

In any case, I would like to go on record as saying that this award is unfair to both of the smart, honest, hard-working public officials in South Florida.

I’m sure that there are at least a couple.

Posted in Miami | 3 Comments

It Seems There is a ‘Great Firewall of Canada’ Too

Posted on November 28, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Slashdot has the info on The Great Firewall of Canada.

I smell a trend.

(Related item on The Great Firewall of Britain )

Posted in Internet | Comments Off on It Seems There is a ‘Great Firewall of Canada’ Too

Larry Lessig Has a Good Idea

Posted on November 28, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

OK, so the headline is a bit like, “Dog Bites Man”.

But I really think this idea of Larry Lessig’s deserves take-up: CARE packages for Iraq as means to reduce post-war Iraqi anger at the US.

The only problem I can see offhand is that from what I read, the real problems in Iraq are infrastructural, e.g. the electricity keeps going off and people are trying to blow up the pipelines. That stuff won’t fit in a CARE package. But perhaps there are real shortages of things we could fit in a box. And, even if there are not shortages, perhaps it is the thought that counts.

And, of course, we need to get to the post-war…

Posted in Iraq | 8 Comments