A semi-puff piece on the different experiences Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had in Yale and Harvard’s law schools, respectively. I say semi-puff because it is somewhat relevant to understand the choices each made within and coming out of two of the most privileged institutions in the United States.

Judge Posner:

The most serious drawback of the carbon-offsets movement is that it is likely to make the problem of excessive carbon emissions more rather than less serious, and this for three reasons.

Read on. I think his argument his sound, but I disagree with him on the public awareness issue he discusses in the final paragraph.

Slate is right: this Rolling Stone article on how America lost the War on Drugs is one of the best articles I’ve read on the subject, and a general example of excellent journalism.

We continue to treat marijuana as a major threat to public health, even though we know it isn’t. We continue to lock up generations of teenage drug dealers, even though we know imprisonment does little to reduce the amount of drugs sold on the street. And we continue to spend billions to fight drugs abroad, even though we know that military efforts are an ineffective way to cut the supply of narcotics in America or raise the price.

Latter-day Saints revere the Bible. They study it and believe it to be the word of God. However, they do not believe the Bible, as it is currently available, is without error. -LDS.org, an official Mormon website

The New York Times quotes the above, suggesting that the questioner who asked about Bible literalism in the YouTube/CNN Republican debate was targeting Mitt Romney. I never knew about this aspect of the LDS church until now. (via andrew sullivan)

Presidential candidate Mike Gravel continues to entertain, this time with a spoken word music video that’s light on substance. I’ve come to appreciate his sentiments but his approach is all wrong (except for my own amusement). (via andrew sullivan)

As we continue to celebrate the return of Futurama this week, here are two interviews with co-creator David X. Cohen, and here’s a longish Wired story about the series’ return.

Another interesting analytical post from film blogger (and rogerebert.com editor) Jim Emerson, this one on No Country for Old Men , the Coen brothers adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel. I saw it this past weekend and thought it was excellent, although I thought the ending suffered a bit from its disparate tone.

The UN Committee Against Torture concluded last week that the use of Taser guns constitutes a “form of torture” and also recognized its lethal capabilities. I feel like the tide is beginning to turn on this issue, although I’m not convinced that there isn’t an ethical and legal way for police departments to use tasers – but I am convinced that whatever that way is, it’s not yet a matter of policy. (thx, flea)

The music video for Buckethead’s “Spokes On The Wheel of Torment” is an animated version of the “Hell” panel of Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights. Enjoy. (thx, greg)

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is teaming up with legal writing expert Bryan Garner to write a book on “the art of persuading judges.” I own the excellent Garner’s Modern American Usage (based on David Foster Wallace’s rave review), and have admired the prose (but usually not the arguments) of Scalia’s decisions – so although I have no professional need for this book, I still think it will be an interesting read.

A year later than usual due to his hospitalization, Roger Ebert releases his best movies of 2006.

A secret underground temple, occupying nearly 300,000 cubic feet, has been outed and taken over by Italian police, who were investigating the owner for tax evasion. Built underneath a normal-looking house near Turin, Italy, the underground building is made up of nine ornately decorated temples sprawled over nine levels.

[T]he ‘Temples of Damanhur’ are not the great legacy of some long-lost civilisation, they are the work of a 57-year-old former insurance broker from northern Italy who, inspired by a childhood vision, began digging into the rock.

(via bb)

“Ron Paul is Snakes on a Plane.”

“Time Piece” (1965), an experimental, 9-minute short film by and starring Jim Henson. (thx, jonmay)

Two reasons to hate on CNN for the Democratic debate they hosted last night in Las Vegas: Wolf Blitzer’s line of questioning was manipulative sound bite mining, and they planted the offensive question about diamonds and pearls.

Did an academic outsider figure out the Theory of Everything, the holy grail of physics? Maybe. Maybe not. One thing for sure, though, is that the theory is pretty. (thx, jesse; video via rw2)

FOX News Porn. Amusing, but I’m sure it could be done with any TV channel. But the more amusing part? DIGG has banned and YouTube has age-restricted the content of the site.

Update: DIGG has reversed their ban.

A video game-themed half time show put on by the Cal marching band. The best parts are the beginning and the end – a Tetris game in action and the Mario castle flag animation, respectively. (thx, josh)

I’ve been missing The Daily Show already, and am afraid that we might have to go through the primary season without it. In the meantime, enjoy this YouTube-only special episode of Not the Daily Show, hosted by one of Jon Stewart’s writers (and with a special guest).