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Monthly Archives: March 2008

Some people will try anything

March 31, 2008 – 6:14 pm

I thought I’d seen all the pathetic excuses possible for trying to get out of legal proceedings (including seceding from Australia, declaring the Court to be a hotbed of Freemasons and/or claiming that the Constitution is invalid for spurious reasons). But this is one of the best: Richard James Howarth was remanded to appear in the [...]

By Legal Eagle | Posted in Fark!, Law, Religion | Comments (4)

Updates

March 31, 2008 – 5:29 pm

Update 1: Thomas Towle, the Mildura driver who killed 6 teens and seriously injured 4 others, has been sentenced to 10 years in gaol. I told you it would be interesting to see what his sentence would be! Although Towle was convicted of dangerous driving (a lesser offence), he will be serving more time than [...]

By Legal Eagle | Posted in Animals, Law | Comments (0)

Earth Hour – what a crock

March 30, 2008 – 10:13 pm

I am very pleased that I managed to avoid Earth Hour: what an absolute crock. In fact, I was at a Chinese restaurant at the relevant time. “I wonder if they’ll turn out the lights?” mused my husband. Not a chance, and thank goodness for that. I didn’t see much evidence of participation on the [...]

By Legal Eagle | Posted in Environment, Religion | Comments (14)

Public Service Announcement: Fitna

March 29, 2008 – 3:21 am

For those who’ve been following the developing debate over Dutch film Fitna, it’s now finished up all over the internet (as I expected it would). Pommy over at the Australian Libertarian Society has a link, as does Saint at Dog Fight at Bankstown. Once I’ve watched it, I’ll update this post. In the meantime, your [...]

By skepticlawyer | Posted in Free Speech, Religion | Comments (38)

Be nice to nerds, you may finish up working for one

March 22, 2008 – 6:53 am

A friend of mine over here reckons that Oxford is the place where nerds go when they die. All the glorious eccentricities, social tomfoolery and obscurantist interests once repressed (or hidden) come to the fore. This is when we’re not being political junkies, finding cures for cancer or engaging in ‘other academic interests’. His comment [...]

By skepticlawyer | Posted in Feminism, Science, Skeptics | Comments (13)

Must be something in the water…

March 20, 2008 – 2:51 am

More than once at rowing training our crew’s been told off for – however inadvertently – putting our hands or feet in the water. This is the Isis, which, however distantly, is part of the Thames. We’ve always found it a bit funny, as during a bumps race – unless you’re really good, and we’re [...]

By skepticlawyer | Posted in Science, Skeptics | Comments (9)

Student evaluations

March 18, 2008 – 10:49 pm

I think I’ve mentioned the phenomenon of student evaluations before on this blog. Sometimes, as I’ve explained in the earlier post, I’ve received some very amusing ones. Most have been pretty positive although I have received some critical evaluations. Never anything really soul destroying…yet. Other times, the positive ones balance the negative ones exactly (eg, [...]

By Legal Eagle | Posted in Academia, Education, Law, Society | Comments (5)

Not just monkey business

March 16, 2008 – 10:36 pm

What happens if a person is brought up in a way that is more likely to cause them to act violently? Should they be criminally responsible for their actions? That’s a difficult enough question, but what happens if the perpetrator of a crime is a monkey? These questions are raised by the case of Chico [...]

By Legal Eagle | Posted in Animals, Fark! | Comments (5)

Chocolate (egg) bleg

March 16, 2008 – 1:45 pm

This is a very simple bleg, but one that I hope – if it’s going to expand our collective waistline – will be enjoyable. On Easter Sunday, my college MCR is holding an Easter chocolate sampling, board games and port session (it’s Oxford, forgive us our nerdish tendencies). Among other things, various people are in [...]

By skepticlawyer | Posted in General | Comments (19)

Sartorial style and the law

March 16, 2008 – 11:00 am

I was reading a post at Pete Black’s Freedom to Differ on the dress of law professors. It did make me laugh. Certainly, when I went to teach, I consulted a friend on what she thought I should wear. I was somewhat anxious. My initial plan had just been to wear the same suits as [...]

By Legal Eagle | Posted in Academia | Comments (3)