Harvard Law prof Alan Dershowitz — who certainly does not shy away from defending difficult positions — displays that capacity again in this tirade toward the late and not-yet-buried Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
Professor Dershowitz is a reflection of the fact that intelligence does not equate with good judgment.
Allan Sloan in his Washington Post column has an interesting take on the Justice Department’s decision not to indict KPMG over the firm’s involvement in the creation and promotion of allegedly illegal tax shelters:
The government didn’t dare file criminal charges against KPMG because an indictment alone would have driven it out of business, leaving us with too few big accounting firms to go around. KPMG was in this strong bargaining position because of the collapse of Enron’s accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, which the government foolishly indicted on criminal charges three years ago.
Houston has a particularly rich golf heritage that is reflected by the fact that such golf notables as Jack Burke, Jr., Jimmy Demaret, Dave Marr, and Claude Harmon, Sr. lived here for much of their lives. The Chronicle’s Steve Campbell notes one of the more low-profile Houstonians that has contributed to that rich tradition with this piece on golf instructor and golf course design expert, Jim Hardy, who has become sort of a last hope for several professional golfers who are struggling with their swings and ready to give up competitive golf.
This NY Times article provides a good summary of the response of the Houston business community to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the business opportunity that it represents. The article focuses on the short term business opportunities, although the more signficant economic impact to the overall Houston economy would be the potential population and job growth that could result from the exodus of New Orleans citizens to Houston. Nevertheless, the article is an interesting read of how Houston businesses are responding to the aftermath of Katrina, so check it out.
Update: Tory Gattis has good insights into the probable long-term economic impact of the hurricane on Houston’s economy.
Following on this earlier post and Joe Carter’s post noted in the post below regarding the failures of the federal government in the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, former state legislator Bob Williams — whose district was the most impacted by the Mount St. Helens eruption — lays the wood to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin in this equally devastating Opinion Journal op-ed
The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his/her emergency operations center.
The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.
Although one whould caution against jumping to conclusions before facts are established, tongues will nevertheless be wagging across the United States today in the face of this devastating Wall Street Journal ($) article that lists the incidents reflecting lack of organization and preparedness in the federal government’s response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including the following:
The U.S. Army has a large facility, Fort Polk, in Leesville, La., about 270 miles northwest of New Orleans. Officials at Fort Polk, which has nearly 8,000 active-duty soldiers, said their contribution so far has consisted of a few dozen soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division manning purification equipment and driving half-ton trucks filled with supplies and equipment. The first contingent of soldiers didn’t receive orders until Saturday afternoon.
The Librarians’ Index to the Internet has put together a terrific web resource center for Hurricane Katrina-related information, including information on volunteer opportunities, legal matters, displaced students, charitable giving, animal rescue, missing persons, temporary housing, flood control, levee management, gas prices, environmental factors, news sites, maps and images, and much more. Moreover, LII.org continually updates their webpages, so check back from time-to-time to review the resources added to the Hurricane Katrina webpage.
Man, those librarians sure can organize, eh? ;^)
Awhile back, I participated with local bloggers Tory Gattis, Anne Linehan and Kevin Whited, Laurence Simon, Owen Courr?ges and several others on a lively thread regarding the causes and effect of the public policy choices that Houston is making in regard to Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority and its light rail system. One of the points that I tried to make in that discussion was the political factors often prompt people who need mass transit the most to vote in favor of transit plans — such as Houston’s light rail system — that really do not really address their needs, and that such choices often have long-lasting and unintended consequences.
Along those same lines, Randal O’Toole, senior economist at the Thoreau Institute, points out here that the public policy decisions regarding mass transit in New Orleans played a large part in the loss of human life that will result from Hurricane Katrina and the storm’s aftermath:
It’s not everyone who can make this type of contribution to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort:
Greg Norman is lending his personal helicopter to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, just as he did after last year’s destructive hurricane season.
Norman sent the helicopter to the greater Louisiana area Friday, and said it will remain in service for as long as a month. His pilot, Gary Hogan, will fly medical supplies and other items into the region.
“Our thoughts and feelings go out to everyone over there,” Norman said.
Norman’s estate on Jupiter Island, about 90 miles north of Miami, was damaged by hurricanes Frances and Jeanne last year. He lent his helicopter – which can carry about 1,000 pounds of supplies and shuttle small groups of patients and medics – to the recovery effort.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency contacted the helicopter’s manufacturer in recent days seeking help, and word eventually got to Norman. FEMA will coordinate Hogan’s flights and supply fuel.
“They need as much airlift as they can get,” Norman said.
Showing my usual lack of prognostication ability with regard to Supreme Court appointments, President Bush this morning nominated the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist‘s former clerk John Roberts to replace Mr. Rehnquist as the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Inasmuch as the nomination of Judge Roberts for Chief Justice requires another nomination by the President, the confirmation hearing on the prior nomination of Judge Roberts — which was supposed to commence tomorrow — will be delayed for a couple of weeks.