Start the new year with Justice Bedworth, who cuts to the chase, and the chuckle, when it comes to electing judges.
“Electoral Processpool,” by Justice William W. Bedsworth
Excerpt: “…I’m pleased that my friends(2) have been impressed by the margin of my victory. With no opponent, I received 73.3% of the vote. Just call me Landslide Bedsworth.
Every blogger has a “Comment” policy, written or unwritten. As “public sector” bloggers, we have responsibilities (to readers and employers) beyond our own narrow personal preferences.
I really like the Rules for Commenting that are posted at the Multnomah Law Library’s Social Software Policy for Multnomah County Library Users, and generally adhere to them myself:
Excerpt: “Rules for commenting
Protect your privacy. Do not post personally identifying information. Young people under age 18, especially, should not post information such as last name, school, age, phone number, address.
As if bibliophiles didn’t have enough to do in December, here are more things to do FOR or WITH the bibliophiles in your life:
1) Museum of Contemporary Craft, exhibit: Object Focus: The Book (through Feb 26, 2011)
2) Holiday Author Event, Oregon Humanities, December 20, 2010: Ursula LeGuin, Brian Doyle, Guy Maynard, Live Wire, etc., etc., etc.
(If you want to call your federal and/or state Legislator(s), use the Find Your Legislator tool at the Oregon Legislature’s website.)
I always wince a bit when I hear people say that someone in “Washington D.C.” steals their tax dollars. Yes, sometimes it’s true that a crime against us taxpayers has been committed, but sometimes our communities get a lot of those dollars back, though only after Congress takes out money for fighting wars, national security, diplomatic missions, economic development, social security, medicare, corporation subsidies, international medical aid, etc., etc., etc.
If you’re at all curious about which states get how much “return” on the federal tax dollars sent to federal coffers, here are a few places to start off your research. More serious and thorough research will take more work:
1) Federal tax dollar to D.C. and federal tax dollar back to Oregon: The Tax Foundation has this chart that shows Oregon, in 2005, received back $.93 of the federal tax dollars they paid in federal taxes.
Life, which is not Black or White or On or Off, and that may or may not be “as it is written,” gives us much to think about if we are so inclined.
In Law: Anyone who teaches law, thinks about law, or is faced with the law has to think about the “What Ifs” in life.
Here is a simplified example of “What if” dialogues – and anyone who has taken a criminal law class or thought about crime and punishment in the face of actual crimes committed by actual people is familiar with this mental gyration:
Justice Bedsworth, in his Criminal Waste of Space column in the OC Lawyer Magazine, gives litigants some advice from the bench (and the stadium sidelines):
December 2010: “Take Me Out to the Pre-Trial,” by Justice William W. Bedsworth:
Excerpt: “…I have a particular interest in continuances. I’ve gone all over the world urging lawyers to devote less time to their practice and more time to their family. My remarks on this topic have been cited to me more than once in continuance requests. It’s difficult—though, I should warn you, not impossible—to turn down a continuance when you are the primary authority cited in support of the request.
Sometimes we just need a little help from an e-friend:
Brainstorming crowdsourcing, from Gigaom: 18 Tasks you can Crowdsource
(Thank you to iLibrarian for the lead.)
Help a Library-School Student:
NW Tattooed Librarian Calendar
From the Emporia students: “Help support Emporia State University’s School of Library and Information Management students! We created this calendar as a fundraiser for our graduation and it turned our really well. You can buy the calendar online for $25 from this link:
Maybe arguing about traffic law isn’t fun, but learning about traffic law just might be:
I love reading consumer news, whether it’s sad stories or great tips in my local newspapers, consumer lawyer websites, or the multitude of consumer protection sites offered up by state and federal governments, e.g. Oregon’s DOJ and the U.S. FTC.
You always learn something, though in the process you may become a bit jaded. But, better jaded than a sucker!
Here are some additional links I’ve collected recently from reading or listening to a few of my favorite consumer law sources:
Oregon Legal Research Blog