Big plans

Having graduated, I think it's time to revamp and renew this blog. In the fine tradition of the slightly-irritating Julie Powell, I'm off to document my travels through dancing, law, and literature.

Currently, dancing means Argentine tango, the dance that teaches you to walk. Over the next four years I intend to get damn good at it, and along the way see if I can improve still further by adding five more sports to the mix: running, biking, swimming, boxing, and tai chi. When the study of each starts to improve the others, that'll be a magical moment. Ultimately, of course, the goal is to box three rounds in the early morning, run a triathlon during the day, cool down with tai chi, and then dance the night away.

Law means both lessons learned in my work and the study of various legal classics. Making Section 3 proud since 2009. I've promised away at least 4 more years of my life to this profession, and I'll be damned if I don't make a good show of it. For good measure, I might include the study of chess and Go in this category -- the cut and thrust of mental combat.

As for literature, I don't think it shows too much hubris to think I could get through the Great Books and the Library of America series by the time I'm 30. The Great Books of the Western World series is 54 volumes (I may eventually pick up the others from the second editions), and the Library of America series is around 200 at the moment. That's roughly a book, or 900 pages, per week for five years. Tricky -- to actually pull off that pace, I might not be able to read much else for a bit, but even if I don't quite make it in under the time, I'll still get through quite a chunk by 30. I've already read quite a few of them, and the worst-case scenario is that I don't get through some of the lesser American novels.

To life, and its many deaths.

Unusual Law School Celebrations

A very classy list of the hijinks happening on law campuses around the country...

The best post by far is post 5:

• Each year the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University honors the memory of Rascal, the only recipient of the Doctor of Canine Jurisprudence degree at the annual Rascal Memorial Procession. According to Cumberland tradition, Rascal was a mongrel pup who faithfully attended classes at the law school’s former home in Lebanon, Tennessee, beginning in 1933, and in 1937 he was presented the rare degree of Doctor of Canine Jurisprudence. Rascal passed away in 1940, and was buried with much ceremony beneath the window where he attended classes. When Cumberland moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1961, Rascal’s tombstone and a few spadefuls of dirt were brought to the Samford Campus, and again interred at Blackacre, on the west side of Robinson Hall. This year, on, Thursday, March 6, students, faculty, and friends of the law school--and their pets processed from the foot of Samford’s Centennial Walk to the Blackacre patio area. After a eulogy by Professor Howard Walthall, mourners and pets enjoyed a hotdog lunch served by Cumberland faculty, plus awards and party favors were given.

Ben Stein

An excellent article by Ben Stein calling for government regulation of CEO compensations.

Classy -- Magic Cards make a comeback

http://ifoughtthelaw.cementhorizon.com/archives/005861.html

New copyright developments

Big things going on in NY Fed Courts. Until I read the update at the bottom, I was blown away, since the decision in Hotaling v. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (4th Cir) has been pretty good law since 1997 standing for the proposition that a library, once it's made the materials available, is liable for any improper copying regardless of whether any copying actually took place.

But after reading the update, it looks like the judge hasn't forgotten all his copyright law, and is just adding onto the Hotaling doctrine by requiring that the plaintiffs prove "offer to distribute," an element that wasn't particularly important in the Hotaling case (libraries, by existing, imply an offer to distribute), but has become ever more important in the Internet age.

Nagin

Not law-related, but this is probably one of the more interesting politician videos I've seen in a while. Nagin has a point -- he may or may not make the right decisions all the time, but the media needs to lay off the personal attacks on him.

Encryption

This article from Wired.com explains how all disk encryption is crackable if the cracker has access to the physical machine. Amazing.

Legally, this probably has huge ramifications: for those who remember the child porn case of a few months back where the police were unable to decrypt the man's drive without the encryption key, you have to wonder whether every police department in the country is going to start hiring crackers so deal with these kinds of issues. In that case, they had to bring him to court to litigate whether forcing him to divulge his key was considered compelled speech -- in the future, they won't have to bother.

Of course, when it comes to child porn, it's hard to find many who would object to police efforts to catch offenders. But as with all of the exclusionary rule doctrines, it's overbreadth that is the real concern -- we don't want innocent people's lives dragged through the fishing net as well.

Anyways, it's food for thought.