May 6, 2009

5-6-09—An internal Justice Dept. inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums that authorized brutal interrogations, but ... they would stop short of the criminal referral sought by some human rights advocates, who have suggested that the lawyers could be prosecuted as part of a criminal conspiracy to violate the anti-torture statute. NYTA1
--In a split decision on Tuesday, the German Constitutional Court upheld a ban on married people combining already-hyphenated names, forbidding last names of three parts or more. NYT A6
--Here’s a Wall Street solution to Wall Street’s problems: Let’s offshore trading operations to land where ethics are more highly esteemed—Norway, for instance. And while we’re at it, let’sreplace our gold-plated, Lear-jetting American CEOs with thrifty Europeans , who may not write management books but who will do the work better, and for a fraction of the cost.—Frank, WSJ A13