- Quoting normally Republican friend, early in day: “Already have buyer’s remorse and he hasn’t even won yet.” [@asymmetricinfo] #
- “Milk. Allergy warning: Contains milk” [Flickr; h/t @petewarden] #
- Deer-vehicle collision at Connecticut & M, one of downtown D.C.’s busiest intersections? [Wood, ShopFloor] #
- Milberg case, highest-profile law firm prosecution ever, finally winds up; 11 convictions, $100 million givebacks [WSJ law blog] #
- Even expecting to disagree w/ many of his policies, it’s a great day when America can elect a black president [Megan McArdle] #
Archive for 2008
National Journal: bloggers on the White House race
Various well-known bloggers talk about how the blogs did this year in stimulating discussion, challenging errors and omissions in the general press, and so forth. I contribute a quote about how “when you sit out an election without backing a candidate, you become painfully aware of how easy it is for blogs turn themselves into an echo chamber for their side’s talking points. Not attractive.” Some blogs I turned to this fall for politics coverage in part because I couldn’t always guess ahead of time what line they’d take: Steve Chapman, Megan McArdle, Marginal Revolution, Culture11’s Confabulum, Ann Althouse, Virginia Postrel, Mickey Kaus (not an exhaustive list by any means).
“Cisco Turns Up Heat in ‘Patent Troll’ Case”
If, like Eric Albritton, you’re a successful Texas lawyer who wants to claim that critical postings on the Patent Troll Tracker blog caused you “embarrassment, humiliation, mental pain and anguish,” you might actually have to document that. (Molly McDonough, ABA Journal, Nov. 3; earlier).
November 4 roundup
- Thanks to guestbloggers Victoria Pynchon (of Negotiation Law Blog) and Jason Barney for lending a hand last week;
- Will the U.S. government need to sponsor its own motorcycle gang in order to hold on to trademark confiscated from “Mongols” group? [WSJ law blog]
- With a little help for its friends: Florida Supreme Court strikes down legislated limits on fees charged by workers’ comp attorneys [St. Petersburg Times, Insurance Journal]
- Stripper, 44, files age discrimination complaint after losing job at Ontario club [YorkRegion.com, Blazing Cat Fur via Blog of Walker] The stripper age bias complaint we covered eight years ago was also from Ontario;
- Federal judge green-lights First Amendment suit by college instructor who says he was discriminated against for conservative political beliefs [NYLJ] (link fixed now)
- Judge orders parties to settle dispute over noisy parrots after it reaches £45,700 in legal costs [Telegraph]
- How to make sure you’re turned down when applying for admittance to the bar [Ambrogi, Massachusetts]
- Questions at depositions can be intended to humiliate and embarrass, not just extract relevant information [John Bratt, Baltimore Injury Lawyer via Miller]
Nicotine addiction as a protected disability?
The courts have been unwilling to treat dependence on smoking as a disability requiring reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disability Act. Some are wondering whether that will change, however, with the new expansion of protected categories under the ADA Amendments Act. (Michael Moore, Pennsylvania Labor and Employment Blog, Oct. 29; Jon Hyman, Ohio Employment Law, Oct. 30).
Canadian Human Rights Commission vs. parliamentarian’s speech
Following the failure of the commissions to nail journalists Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn over such offenses as printing the Danish Mohammed cartoons and challenging Islamism in Maclean’s, the newest human rights hearing is over “bombastic” and outspoken materials sent by a Saskatchewan member of parliament to constituents in which he decried legal preferences for aboriginal (Indian native) residents and the high rate of crime in native populations. Terry ONeill of the Western Standard calls the investigation of former MP Jim Pankiw “an unprecedented attack on the speech rights of a sitting member of Parliament” (Nov. 3; Ezra Levant, National Post, Oct. 24; CanWest and more).
Microblog 2008-11-03
- Could AIG really have been THAT stupid in risk analysis? [Carney, more, Salmon] #
- Unexpected: NY Gov. Paterson appears before Congress and quotes Ayn Rand [Damon Root, Reason “Hit and Run”] #
- “I don’t know what Prop 3 is, but I’m voting against it because there were kids in that ad.” [@daveweigel quoting another] #
- Operatic: Terry Teachout and Leontyne Price among the Supreme Court justices [About Last Night] #
- Already a good blog out there on your topic? Don’t let that stop you [O’Keefe] #
- Obama Warns He May Cease To Exist Unless America Believes In Him [The Onion] #
- “The majesty of our jury system: remember, she made it past 2 sides’ voir dire” [@tedfrank on Anchorage Daily News coverage of Stevens trial juror] #
“South again leads nation in nasty, expensive judicial races”
Alabama, Mississippi and Texas all host hotly fought races with a strong plaintiff-vs.-defendant dimension tomorrow: Democrat Deborah Bell Paseur vs. Republican Greg Shaw in Alabama, three challengers vs. three incumbents on the Mississippi Supreme Court, and Democratic challengers Jim Jordan, Linda Yanez and Sam Houston in races for the Texas Supreme Court. (Tom Baxter, Southern Political Report, Nov. 3).
RFK, Jr. to Interior?
Someone in the Obama campaign seems to be floating the name of America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure® as a possible Secretary of the Interior. (Mike Allen, “Dems sketch Obama staff, cabinet”, Politico, Oct. 31). More: Stuttaford, NRO; and a new Politico piece quotes “Democratic officials” as saying the president-Elect is “strongly considering” the wayward scion to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
P.S. And now it seems by running this item I’ve killed the whole election buzz for Orac. Sorry!
“Sue Magazine, for women in litigation”
We didn’t make this up. Really, we didn’t. Well-known Loyola lawprof Laurie Levenson is listed among those involved. (via Above the Law).
More: AmLaw Litigation Daily suggests some spinoffs, including “Pat: For Women in Sexual Harassment Litigation.”