Posner on Literature

Judge Richard A. Posner has expanded the scope of his writing. We have previously known him as one of the leaders in law and economics. He is now moving into the field of law and literature. His offering is an article, Law and Literature: A Relation Reargued, which has been published in the Virginia Law Review. As one might expect, he performs intelligently. Posner is well read in literature; he displays a genuine love for that which he has read; and he writes with wit and grace. In short, in law and literature, as in law and economics, Posner is a force to be reckoned with. The evidence for these assertions can be found in the article: his comments on W.B. Yeats\u27 poems Easter 1916 (pp. 1363-64, 1366) and The Second Coming (pp. 1378-79) demonstrate his skill as a reader of poetry; his literary analysis of Justice Holmes\u27 dissent in the Lochner case (pp. 1379-85, 1389-90) shows that he can apply these literary skills to a reading of judicial opinions. However, I must utter a however. As I read Posner (and I would recommend others read him) he builds his analysis on the base of several dichotomies that seem to be drawn from ordinary common sense. One of the dichotomies is the distinction of pleasure versus instruction. Another is form (or style) versus content. Yet another is science versus rhetoric. These several dichotomies are linked into a logic that provides the structural underpinning for Posner\u27s analysis; my caveat is that the logic of these dichotomies limits rather than strengthens his analysis. This is my conclusion, so let me now start at the beginning

Best Management Practices to Enhance Water Quality: Who is Adopting Them?

This study investigates the determinants affecting producers’ adoption of some Best Management Practices (BMPs). Priors about the signs of certain variables are explicitly accounted for by testing for inequality restrictions through importance sampling. Education, gender, age, and on-farm residence are found to have significant effects on the adoption of some BMPs. Farms with larger animal production are more apt to implement manure management practices, crop rotation, and riparian buffer strips. Also, farms with larger cultivated acres are more inclined to implement herbicide control practices, crop rotation, and riparian buffer strips. Belonging to an agro-environment club has a positive impact for most BMPs.adoption, Bayesian analysis, best management practices, priors, runoff, water quality, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Q12, Q25, C11,

Need to integrate equipment for center pivot application of animal wastes, The

Presented at the 15th annual Central Plains irrigation conference and exposition proceedings on February 4-5, 2003 at the City Limits Convention Center in Colby, Kansas.Includes bibliographical references

Review of mechanized irrigation performance for agricultural wastewater reuse projects, A

Presented at the 2006 Central Plains irrigation conference on February 21-22 in Colby, Kansas.Includes bibliographical references

Selecting sprinkler packages for land application of livestock wastewater

Presented at the Central Plains irrigation short course and exposition on February 5-6, 2001 at the Holiday Inn in Kearney, Nebraska.Includes bibliographical references

Discovering a Judicial Story

We all know that stories create culture and that law creates culture; it may well follow (this is only a probabilistic judgment) that the stories that one finds in judicial opinions might be especially powerful in creating culture. There are two problems with the thesis that judicial storytelling can be powerful. The first problem is that ordinary citizens do not read these stories and could only hear about them through the mediation of television and the newspapers. This objection is factually correct; judicial opinions do not speak directly to the average citizen. However, the objection errs in supposing that the indirect is less powerful than the direct. In family life, the indirect influence of parental example is more important than the direct influence of parental instruction. So also in school, the direct instruction about proper conduct is far less important than the indirect absorption of the unspoken mores. Why could not the same be true for judicial opinions

West on Story and Theory

A Review of Narrative, Authority, and Law by Robin Wes