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Climate Bills Are Self-defeating
Will 2007 be the year that the U.S. signs up for global warming regulation? After looking at the five climate bills being considered so far…
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Heart Stents and FDA Blockage
Is it another medical breakthrough gone unexpectedly bad? The drug-eluting heart stent is under increased scrutiny because of a complication…
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Green Distortions
It is, of course, political ritual for ideological factions to flog their own issue as one for which an elected majority was granted a…
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Bad Science Behind Al Gore’s ‘Truth’
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Al Gore's tireless efforts to promote global warming alarmism, backed by millions of dollars, have…
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Kyoto Hypocrisies
The president's annual State of the Union speech is guaranteed to disappoint. Even in far less troubled times, rare is the speech that doesn't…
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Big Labor’s Agenda for the 110th Congress, Part II: Card, Check, Trade Policy, and the NLRB
Last month, Labor Watch looked at the proposal to raise the federal minimum wage—a key item in the Democrats’ agenda for Congress. In this…
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Can Congress Tell a Virtual World from the Real One?
Some say online virtual reality operations like “Second Life” have attained the stage of evolution that blogging and the Internet itself occupied several years…
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Waxman’s Kyoto Strategy
On Tuesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, under the leadership of Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.), held a hearing on “Political…
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The Immorality of the Minimum Wage
The Democratic juggernaut has slowed. The House has approved a minimum wage increase as part of the “100 hours” agenda. But a filibuster has blocked…
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Clone: It’s What’s for Dinner
SAN FRANCISCO — California politics lately seems a parody of itself. Starting in February, San Francisco will become the first city in the country…
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Oh Boy, Alberto
If you were watching the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings Thursday, chances are you didn't see it coming. Senator Arlen Specter was questioning Attorney…
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Asbestos Fireproofing Might Have Prevented World Trade Center Collapse
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, I suggested in this column on Sept. 14, 2001 that many…
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The High Cost of Low Price
Should free market advocates oppose a plan aimed at lowering prescription drug costs? Generally, no. But, when such a plan involves the flexing…
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You Try Living with Ed’s Wife
Ed Begley Jr. had an image problem. Hollywood is lousy with so-called activists, but he's a genuine back-to-the-land environmentalist and something of a…
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Eco-Intimidation Bypasses Scientific Debate
Junk science traditionally has been pretty much of an in-your-face phenomenon. Activist-generated scary headlines that are followed by a hysterical rush to adopt new…
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The FCC’s challenge: Separating speech and state
WASHINGTON – With a stop-off in Nashville, Tenn., in December, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continues a series of hearings debating government’s role in determining…
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Why flying cars haven’t taken off— yet
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> A recent General Motors ad campaign is a real letdown.
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Mr. Green Was Doing Just Fine
Imagine that you are a social worker. You open the local paper the day after Christmas to find one of those stories that editors…
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The Democrats’ Favorite Target
Politicians always talk about promoting the public interest, but in practice that usually means helping your friends and hurting your enemies. The Democrats taking…
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Big Labor’s Agenda for the 110th Congress, Part I: The Minimum Wage
This month the first session of the 110th Congress begins with Democrats in control of both chambers for the first time since 1994. Control…
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Europe’s Kyoto Baseline Game
The higher the 1990 EU baseline the lower their violation in 2008-2012 from increased GHG emissions; as such, over time <?xml:namespace prefix…
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Trading Hot Air?
Hot air is often associated with politicians, but the new 110th Congress will try elevating that unflattering characterization to the status of a tradable…
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Be afraid of the dark: Misguided NIMBYs foster future of blackouts
The electric Reliability Organization (ERO), established with statutory authority after the widespread blackouts of 2003, has issued its first report. It makes for…
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Democrats: There Is Such a Thing as Too Much Regulation
As Democrats take power in Congress, speculation has swirled around the question of why Republicans lost. But there is a factor – a…
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Energy Diet for a Starving World?
In his global warming scare-you-mentary film, “An Inconvenient Truth” (AIT), which was recently released on DVD, former Vice President Al Gore declares global…
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One Flu over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Flu fearmongers must be quite depressed these days. Seasonal flu is late. Bird flu—despite all the headlines—hasn't gained much traction among humans. And…
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Polar Bear Meltdown?
This week the Bush administration proposed to list the polar bear as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. It’s a futile gesture that only…
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Ford Tough
Most obituarists portrayed President Gerald Ford as a humble man with few ambitions, a great conciliator, a political moderate, an all around nice…
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Stop Bushing the Envelope
President Bush has several strengths, but negotiating with Congress isn't one of them. He wants to come across as the Goldilocks president. As he said…
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One Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Flu fearmongers must be quite depressed these days. Seasonal flu is late. Bird flu – despite all the headlines – hasn’t gained much traction…
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Bad Politics at a Minimum
It's a cliche of politics that the name of a proposed bill or initiative depends largely on its name. (More on this later.)It's…
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Will Democrats Kill Their Golden Goose?
To the naked eye, a hike in the federal minimum wage looks like a done deal. Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi will include it in the…
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Only You
Nearly 7 million copies of Time magazine's annual “Person of the Year” issue are set to arrive in mailboxes and on newsstands in…
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Time for a virtual games Declaration of Independence
Some say online virtual reality operations like “Second Life” have attained the stage of evolution that blogging and the Net itself occupied several…
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Animal cloning no barnyard bijou
There was a time when you would be labeled a right-wing extremist for demanding the Food and Drug Administration base decisions on morality…
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Top Ten Junk Science Moments for 2006
It’s time again for JunkScience.com’s review of the most notable junk science events of the year – a “top 10” list that may sometimes…
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Proposed trans fat ban based on a lot of junk science
Dear Chicago Restaurantgoer: Ald. Ed Burke (14th) proposed last July that the Chicago City Council ban restaurants from serving foods made with vegetable oils…
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Should We Restrict Ourselves to the War of Ideas?
Economic liberalism faces a multi-front assault, an assault that has been underway for decades but that has intensified in recent years. As discussed in the…
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New York City Bans Science
The New York City Board of Health this week banned the use of trans fats by restaurants. The decision is directly traceable back to…
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Love Global Warming
What's wrong with mild winters, anyway?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> When talk turns to global…
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Freedom Fighter
The war to advance economic liberty will last forever. The effort is frustrating and often discouraging. Many freedom fighters burn out, retire from the field,…
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The Case Against Racial ‘Balancing’ Schemes
The editorial “A Different Race Case” argued that Seattle’s use of race in assigning students to schools should be upheld by the Supreme Court…
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Eco-Censorship: The Effort to Thwart the Climate Change Debate
<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml” /><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /><?xml:namespace prefix = w ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word” />Eppur si…
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Unleash the media
With a stop-off in Nashville on Dec. 11, the Federal Communications Commission continues a series of hearings debating government's role in determining the…
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The Case of the DDT Deniers
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Stern went beyond global warming alarmists’ ‘consensus’
Sir, Martin Wolf's attempted defence of the Stern report (“After the arguments, the figures still justify swift climate action”, November 15) completely fails to…
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Al Gore is Captain Planet
The DVD version of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth is released this week. In addition to the movie, the DVD will feature a…
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Unhappy Days Are Here Again
“The American people voted for change and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction,” said a triumphant Nancy…
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Friedman’s Legacy
Though I never met him, Milton Friedman, who has died aged 94, was one of the earliest influences on my political development. In…
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Junk Cinema
Fast Food Nation kicks off with a suit-clad fast food chain boss telling one of his executives to investigate a meat packing plant rumored to…
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No Beef to Breast Cancer Scare
“Breast cancer risk linked to red meat, study finds,” headlined the Washington Post’s front page last Tuesday. “Younger women who regularly eat…
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The Unboring Pundit
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> John Tierney's Tuesday column began innocently enough. He…
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America’s Lights Go Out?
Soon after the widespread blackouts of 2003, the Electric Reliability Organization was established, and it recently issued its first report. That report makes for grim…
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What will we do when America’s lights go out?
Soon after the widespread blackouts of 2003, the Electric Reliability Organization was etablished, and it recently issued its first report. That report makes…
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Lifestyles of the Ethical Consumer
Recently, the celebrity gossip blog, DMZ, took a swipe at celebrities “who claim they’re green, but guzzle gas”. George Clooney, among others,…
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Trans Fat Hysteria Could Be Lawsuit Bonanza
The takeover of Congress by Democrats could result in a big payday for trial lawyers at the expense of the feckless food industry.
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Enviro fog calculus
A new report by the World Wildlife Fund says if current trends continue, the Earth will be too small to sustain humanity. “Pressures on the…
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Gambling with freedom
Your after-tax income belongs to you. You are free to spend it, invest it, waste it, burn it, or tithe it away—and none of…
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The Snowe-Rockefeller Road to Kyoto
In a recent letter to ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson, Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John Rockefeller (D-WV)…
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Voters don’t care about the environment
Barring the invention of a time machine, no one can know exactly what will happen on election day. The best that experts can do is…
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Celebs Mislead Californians on Air Pollution Threat
What do Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts know about air pollution and health in California? The answer can only be “not much,” based on…
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Is Fairness Doctrine on Its Way Back?
This election season, much of the GOP’s difficulties stem from the disaffection of conservative talk radio. For the past two years, while supporting…
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And Now a Word From Our Critics
FridayBalance is an important conceit of American journalism. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, previously partisan newspapers edged toward respectability and…
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What’s the Doughboy Afraid Of?
WednesdayVermont is cold. That message will be repeated several times Wednesday night but it's bleeding obvious from the minute I step out of…
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Business Bankrolling of the Left
Big business primarily supports right-wing advocacy groups, right? Think again. A recent report from the Capital Research Center shows Fortune 100 corporate foundations…
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Rules of Ridicule
“Ridicule is man's most potent weapon,” says the fifth rule of Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals, Saul Alinsky's classic…
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Blunting the greenhouse panic
A new study provides experimental evidence that cosmic rays may be a major factor in causing the Earth's climate to change. Given the…
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Fishy Dietary Advice
Researchers announced this week that the health benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks. But as far as the data indicate, the scales are…
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The Man for All Seasons
Life really can imitate art. Leon Hesser's straightforward yet gripping biography of Norman Borlaug, the plant breeder known as the Father of the…
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Big business loses a buddy with Mark Foley resignation
WASHINGTON – We’re still figuring out who knew what and when about former Florida Rep. Mark Foley’s behavior toward pages, but the disgraced…
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A Nobel Prize For Pinpointing U.S. Greatness
America is now five for five in the Nobel Prizes this year. And the announcement of Edmund Phelps as the economics recipient is…
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Are Bad Drugs Coming to a Pharmacy Near You?
In “The Third Man,” the brilliant, shadowy, 1949 film, Orson Welles' character, Harry Lime, is a morally bankrupt, cynical racketeer and dealer of…
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Petronoia
As the price of oil and gas rose to 1970s oil crisis levels over the past year, pundits flew out of the woodwork…
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Israel’s New Northern Friend
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> While the antics of Canada's left-wing, anti-Israel ideologues have been…
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Day of Reckoning for DDT Foes?
Last week’s announcement that the World Health Organization lifted its nearly 30-year ban on the insecticide DDT is perhaps the most promising development in…
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Aaron Sorkin VS. the Moralists
No one would ever accuse The West Wing of being anything but a defiantly liberal show. And in many ways, that was part…
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Credit card ricochet
“Partners in plunder.” That's how an intriguing new book describes the hidden relationship between big government and big business. <?xml:namespace prefix = o…
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Back to Business School
It’s the beginning of the fall semester and MBA programs across the world are preparing students to become good business leaders.
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Drug Testing, Drug Hazards
A clinical trial that went badly awry at London's Northwick Park Hospital in March became the drug-testing community's worst nightmare. Six healthy volunteers ended up…
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White House Wobbles on Warming?
Rumor around Washington has it that the White House is about to change its long-established policy on global warming. It is hard to…
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The Ratings Game
It's a familiar experience for many moviegoers: You walk out of a theater scratching your head, wondering why a movie was given a…
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Lance Armstrong’s Self-Inflicted Cancer?
Did the use of performance-enhancing drugs cause seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong’s testicular cancer? That’s what a Sports Illustrated columnist suggested this…
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Green Leaders: Three chief executives who embraced environmental causes neglected their firms’ core business needs
Green CEOs and good business just don't mix. Witness this past week's embarrassing examples of Ford Motor Co.'s Bill Ford and BP's Lord John…
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BP’s mixed messages on core ‘old world’ activities
Sybil Ackerman (“BP is deserving of censure, but not a vendetta”, September 1) raises interesting points but fails to assign responsibility for BP's problems…
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Welcome to Washington, Wal-Mart
WASHINGTON – As liberal politicians, vocal unions and editorial pages argue that Wal-Mart underpays and mistreats its employees (The Boston Globe even implied that Wal-Mart…
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Why spurning food biotech has become a liability
Henry I. Miller, MD, Gregory Conko & Drew L. Kershen By rejecting gene-spliced ingredients in their products, some major food companies may be…
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Weathering Hurricane Hysteria
It’s peak North Atlantic hurricane season again and much is being made of a supposedly increased hurricane threat due to man-made global warming.
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Katrina and Her Policy Waves
Despite the lack so far of any hurricanes hitting America this hurricane season (at time of writing), environmental activists are using the memories…
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Turning MySpace into TheirSpace
Like a coffee shop or a mall, the Internet has evolved into a digital “third place,” a location we visit not only for…
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No, Rice Krispies Aren’t Bio-Toxic
If you listen to environmental activists these days, you might think that snap, crackle, and pop coming from your Rice Krispies is the…
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Boomers Targeted in New Waistline Scare
“Just a few extra pounds could mean fewer years, study finds,” headlined a front-page, above-the-fold story in the Washington Post this week. The…
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Judicial Activism in Overdrive: Massachusetts, et al, v. EPA
August 31 is the deadline for filing the petitioners’ brief with the Supreme Court in Massachusetts et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Plaintiffs, who…
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Politicized Science Produces Bad Public Policy
A new study about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Vietnam veterans once again spotlights the need to separate the process of establishing veterans’ benefits…
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EPA’s Never Ending Dioxin Scare
If ever there was an example of what’s wrong with the intersection of government and science, the Environmental Protection Agency’s 20-year campaign to scare…
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America the Parent?
Why is government trying to be our parent again? Congress’s latest effort is the campaign to regulate video game content. Yet this is…
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UNITE-HERE on the Attack: Pioneer of Corporate Campaigns Pushes Harder Than Ever
Full document available in PDF America’s national hotel chains are bracing for union trouble. The UNITE-HERE labor union thinks it has found…
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Ignoring Limits on Harassment Liability
Back in 1999, in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, the Supreme Court laid down a test for when sexual harassment rises to…
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Protection Against Unanticipated Lawsuits
On Monday, in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy, the Supreme Court limited the court costs recoverable under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…
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The High Cost of Petitioning
A radical pro-affirmative action group, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), joined by Detroit’s mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, have filed a Voting Rights Act…
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A License To Complain
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that a worker alleging retaliation for complaining about discrimination may sue even if she has not suffered a…