Please excuse my absence from this blog.  I've been on active duty with the Coast Guard Reserve in Washington and between snow, sleet, and a full email inbox, I've been busy.

Someone forwarded me this video and, although I don't speak Italian, I do understand the international language of military "get-your-butt-in-gear" – speak.

   

The Asian Carp.  It is an ugly fella.  Should the federal government be required to install block nets to stop these beasties from invading the Great lakes?  We’ll see if the Supreme Court thinks that is a question it should be asking.

AsianCarpFWS
Photo courtesy of the National Park Service.

The Asian Carp is an invasive

New maritime insurance case from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  The case involves a pollution insurance policy and coverage for an oil spill following a vessel explosion in Chicago.  The case is Egan Marine Corp. v. Great American Insur. Co., 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 23369 and the original opinion can be found here.

The

We were saddened to learn that Professor Jon Van Dyke passed away suddenly yesterday. His official accomplishments can be found at the University of Hawaii Law School’s website and the Star-Advertiser’s article

For UH Law alums, “JVD” was a constant presence.  His Constitutional Law I class was required curriculum and focused on the 14th

You know you have a backlog of cases to post when you see a cert petition appealing the un-blogged case….

So, to rectify that delay, let’s talk about what is a “vessel” – or if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, but can’t swim like a duck ….

Before we start –