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.

Interesting

I don't really have the time or inclination to comment now, but here's a link to follow up with later when I have the time.

Also, silly judges.

Eees and Wiis and Flying Machines

I have fallen into the trap that tempts all technology semi-junkies. My tech has become trendy and...(horror of horrors)...cutesy.

It all began when my brother and I bought our mother a Wii for Christmas. She had been talking about it for quite a while, and when we went to Wal-Mart to do some last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve (because I hadn't yet done any shopping), there it was -- three boxes left of the toy of the decade. (This was only the latest in good luck, beginning with a series of incredible train/ferry near-missed connections, followed by the U.S. government changing its passport policies apparently just so I could go to Canada for New Year's Day.) So on a complete whim, we bought one. And we played it (even my father). And it was incredible.

When I left Maine, and my mother's Wii, to go back to school, my hunger wasn't sated, but whetted. As it so happened, I found out by chance that a friend had a Wii that he was no longer interested in, so after thinking about it for half a day, I broke down and bought it. And played it. And it was great.

I swore to myself that this period of riotous spending was all over, but then calamity struck -- my laptop died. Fortunately, I've been taking most notes by hand this year (to good effect), so I wasn't left completely adrift, but it was still a bit of a shock. At three years old, it practically costs more to fix a laptop power supply (which involves some major-ish surgery) than it does to just buy a new laptop, so I started looking around for what I could get for under $400.

The more I looked, the more it seemed like I should just buy an Eee. An Eee weighs less than 2 lbs, is about the size of a small hardcover book, runs a customized variant of Xandros Linux that is incredibly intuitive (if not amazingly smart), and costs less than $400 (by one dollar). I already carry all my files on a flash drive, so it doesn't matter that it has minimal hard disk space, and I've been using Linux for almost two years, so running an "easy" version is even simpler. I don't need a PC for gaming anymore, thanks to the Wii and the Virtual Console feature, and all my applications are becoming Web 2.0-based, so the chances I'll ever need to download any Windows program again are minimal.

So I did buy one. And it was amazing. Go out and buy yours today.

***

Normally, I frown on this sort of post. But as I plan on exploring some more open-source and licensing legal issues in March, it seems appropriate to take a moment to mention my relationship with fun technology. I'm no techie, but I understand enough to get by, and enjoy being a power-user of interesting tech, even if I'll never be a coder.

Today's Selection

Wow. The city of Berkeley has passed a City Council item supporting the non-violent resistance of city schools and businesses to Marine Corps recruiting in the city limits. The city is, of course, being inundated with martial protesters, who are calling the item, issued in a time of war, "treasonous."

Most interesting, I think, is the comment by a councilmember who was a Vietnam enlistee: "We're not against the Marines per se," he said. "We're against this war. We're against the mechanisms that support this war and send our young people over there." Regardless of whether the item was a good idea or tactic, at least the council was intelligent enough to get a Vietnam vet on their side.

***

Lookin' Good for Jesus. Enough said - look at the article.

***

Apparently Yoko Ono is planning on suing a young artist who performs under the trademarked name "Lennon." Reportedly, the artist originally took all possible steps to make sure that she was doing this with the blessing of the estate, she has been careful throughout not to misrepresent herself as related to John, etc.etc. She has been performing for years, and only a few days before the statute of limitations, Yoko sent her a letter. Strangely enough, the letter was published both by her and by Julian Lennon, who thinks that his stepmother has gone far too far.


And why not add another copyright issue to the mix -- what do we do with the new doctrine that suggests publishing the letter may itself be a copyright violation?

New developments

For every live and loud controversy, there are always a few going on in the background, quietly changing the way the world works. Here are some updates on recent developments in privacy and bioethics.

RealID is causing all sorts of problems, running up against the First Amendment when it comes to people who can't have their image placed on an ID card because it violates their reading of the Bible or Qu'ran. The last time this issue came before SCOTUS, the justices felt that, on balance, the privacy / religious interest was sufficient to counter the government's public policy interest -- this time around, it seems likely that the court might rule the other way.

In the U.K., scientists have just created an embryo with three people's DNA. Likely to create all sorts of new ways for gays and transsexuals to reproduce via their own DNA, as well as providing many uses for hetero in vitro fertilization. Also potentially feasible to create all sorts of new reproductive relationships, dealing an awkward blow to the "it's wrong because they can't reproduce" argument (presumably, the argument will simply morph into "they're doing it wrong").

Super Tuesday

This being Super Tuesday, some relevant comment seems appropriate. While personally I'm leaning Obama and McCain to get the nods, there are worse things than Clinton, and the hate going around drives me nuts. So I really enjoyed this article from Prof. Stanley Fish on the Hillary-hating phenomenon.

Comment 30, which critiques and adds on to the article itself, is particularly good. Excerpted:

Will I vote for Hillary? No.

Do I hate Hillary? No.

But I think this article misses the point. It’s not the rabid hatred of Hillary that’s so effective. It’s the way the rabid hatred of her affects everyone else in the following two ways:

1) If you wanted to vote for her, you would have to face the reality that she’s deeply reviled by so many (I’m not listening to the media, just my own largely Democratic family) and so you would be moved to look for another candidate.

2) Persons who have a mild dislike or ambivalence about her will be moved by the momentum of “Hillary hatred” to say the kinds of things I just heard at a dinner with my cousins last week: “Oh, God, anything but HILLARY” and “I can’t stand that woman,” and “the problem with Hillary is that she’s exactly the kind of person who thinks she’s smarter than you.”

When I responded that, like her or not, Hillary Clinton actually IS smarter than any of us who were at the dinner table, I was told that if she were really smart, she wouldn’t make everyone else in the room feel so stupid. They’ve got a point….

Conventions and the Oldest Profession

An amazing article about how the DNC is predicted to boost prostitution revenue in Denver this year. Best blurb:

Too bad for Watson and others like him that Denver didn't land the GOP convention instead, said Carol Leigh, a San Francisco prostitute "over 50" who has traveled to previous Democratic conventions in Los Angeles and Atlanta.

"It would be a lot better for the sex workers if it was the Republican convention," she said.

"We get a lot more business. I don't know if they're just frustrated because of the family values agenda," she said.

The Bear Hug

Most of the buzz about the proposed Microsoft / Yahoo! merger is kind of boring and tame. This, on the other hand, is an interesting look at the actual mechanics of the proposal: a not-so-veiled threat by Microsoft against Yahoo! that is just barely short of being hostile. Hence the name, "bear-hug" letter.

Dienstbier

For the past six months, Google has been sending me a daily update on the Czech presidential aspirations of my former professor, the crazy contrarian Jiri Dienstbier. Today's article in the Prague Post, however, is the fullest account thus far of whether he really has a chance as a dark-horse candidate.

Probably the most interesting part of the article are the quotes and commentary by leading Czechs on the right-hand side of the page. And an especially interesting snippet / poll:

• "In October, Dienstbier took a substantial lead in an informal poll on the presidency, sponsored by Aktualne.cz with 250,000 votes, compared to President Václav Klaus' 199,000 votes."

Go Jiri!

Romney

I've changed my mind about Romney. I used to hate him, but now . . . he's just amazing. In addition to the amazing "Who let the dogs out?" line of last week (old news), he is now the single most awkward politician ever to wear clothing. How can you hate such an amazingly funny person?

Ethics

Interesting Legal Ethics resources, for those who are interested.

Czechs are crazy

Mijuju vas, muj vazeni blazni Cesi. Doufam, ze budu v Praze jeste jednou nekdy brzy. Cestina nikdy bude moje materstina, ale Cechy vzdycky budou ma prijala vlast.

You remember the furor over those punks with the Adult Swim "bombs" in Boston? That's nothing. A bunch of punks over in the Czech Republic just hacked into the national news and inserted footage of a nuclear bomb going off in the Krkonos mountains (just north of Prague). And you know what? Only foreigners panicked -- the Czechs assumed (correctly) it was bullshit.

Of course, they're still putting them on trial, for "attempted scaremongering." But as no one was scared, it seems likely they'll get off easy. Remember, this is the city that brought you Kafka's (and Havel's, many decades later) "The Trial."

I love my people.

Legal antics

Dannon is in some deep yogurt. It's getting sued in a class action alleging that its "probiotics are great for you" campaign (associated with the very tasty Activia brand) has somehow caused consumers harm. Meh. Seems like there are more important class actions to bring.

This one's somewhat bigger and more serious: the 8th Circuit (no less) has just upheld an inmate's right to be bused out of prison for an elective abortion. Wow.

Bonds asks the judge to toss out the perjury charges against him on the grounds that the allegations are too vague and bizarre. Doubtful that it'll work, but who knows.

The first U.S. District Court (Idaho) has issued an opinion on whether there is a copyright interest in cease-and-desist letters: there is. This is a huge problem for First Amendment groups and for those who try to fight against bullying cease-and-desist letters by making them public -- the "shaming" theory of deterrence. I can't believe this will stand long-term, and it clearly isn't yet binding on anyone but the parties involved, but as with most things, it's anyone's best guess what'll happen.

A small group is setting up a test case to challenge campaign donation restrictions: so far, they've been rejected by the FEC, which is the first stage of getting standing (though it apparently might not count, as the full commission has yet to sit on the decision). Sigh.

What does "any" mean? Apparently it means that if you're in prison, the prison officers are able to steal and lose your property without being liable for suit. It's particularly bad if you're Muslim: they can take your Quran and prayer rug with no consequences. Considering that this is a hugely expansive textualist reading of the word "any," it's a particularly odd 5-4 split, too: Thomas, for the Court, joined by Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Ginsburg. Not sure where that last one came from.

Lawsuits galore.

This is America, so now that the shit's hitting the fan on the home market, there's only one reasonable path of action: Sue!

And some more mortgage lawsuit coverage from the Times.

Is it worth trying to tax illegal goods?

Padilla sentenced, gets 17 years in terrorism "dirty bomb" case.

The F.D.A. is going to begin requiring drugmakers to do comprehensive suicide studies on their drugs. Big deal: this is going to raise costs throughout the system, but hopefully will also bring many of the more serious problems to light. Of course, this, as with everything in the medical realm, will only make things worse overall.