Cross Exam Heaven

This (scroll down to American Airlines Suit Alleges Web Site Pilferage) could not have happened to a nicer guy. ("During a temporary injunction hearing Thursday, AA.com's managing director, Scott Hayden, testified that his company would never use another Web site's content without its permission and would stop immediately if it learned that American did not have permission. Hayden also said that American would not display another site's content with an American frame around it. [...]")

I bet you can guess what happened next, but go read the whole thing anyway. You can make this stuff up (television tries), but experiencing it in person is rare. I'm looking forward to the first-hand account. Even in the absense of courtroom drama this is a fascinating case, with issues like those I wrote about awhile ago here. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has more in this article.

Topical Reading

Andrea Guerrero graduated from Boalt Hall in 1999, and published her book Silence at Boalt: The Dismantling of Affirmative Action last fall. Ms. Guerrero's timing is providential in light of two matters pending before the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the propriety of race as a consideration in the University of Michigan's admissions practices. Ms. Guerrero writes that race-blind admissions standards at law schools such as Boalt Hall (my alma mater) have led to precipitous drops in the enrollment of minority candidates. Some of her other thoughts on this subject are available here and here.

On the Reed Smith front, these issues also are at the heart of one of our first notable cross-country collaborations since the merger, in the form of an amicus brief authored on behalf of Carnegie Mellon University and thirty-seven other private colleges and universities. You can access the brief here (PDF), and read Carnegie Mellon's perspective here.

How Appealing and the SCOTUSBlog continue to provide excellent coverage of the ongoing news, commentary, court filings and online resources related to the University of Michigan cases as they unfold.

Goodbye, Dolly

Though Dolly the Sheep no longer is with us, her big fleecy self lives on in video with her "dad," Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute, at Tech TV's Big Thinkers. Dr. Wilmut describes current cloning techniques as "horribly inefficient," and thinks it's "really quite appalling" anyone would consider applying them to humans.

Common Talk

Movable Type now has full support for Creative Commons licenses. Scientific American includes an overview about CC licenses in its March, 2003 edition, and Dave Sifry has added a CC license to the Technorati indices and feeds. [all via the Creative Commons Weblog]

Gonzo Indeed

So, you think I'm kicking myself for not driving up Saturday for this? Though I wasn't there, I have a small story that says perhaps big things.

Before the event, I emailed Doc, in essence: "Wish I could go, long drive, weekend night and I do that commute all week [insert lame, old-beyond-my-years excuse of your choice here]. My FTP password for Blog*spot has gone missing, think you could mention it to Ev?" What happened in the next several hours is now the stuff of legend. Yet, in the middle of all the chaos and confabulation, before the next business day even had dawned, Ev and colleagues were personally in touch to help me solve my niggling FTP issue. ("Class Act, you know your old pals, Loyalty, Trust and Genuine Affection? Come on in and have a cheese puff.")

Thanks to their kind -- and in light of current events, mindblowingly unexpected -- responsiveness, Bag and Baggage should be getting a facelift soon (not to mention a few other nips and tucks; if you have an elastic garment to spare, do let me know). You won't have to do a thing to your bookmarks or blogrolls.