I start off the New Year (January 2010) on the right foot (or the 3rd wheel) with Traffic Week at the Oregon Legal Research blog.
Stay tuned for posts on texting, roundabouts, turn signals, cows, pedestrians, bicyclists, traffic tickets, joggers with death wishes, auto insurance, and more.
For a preview, check out the New Oregon Traffic Laws webpages: ODOT and OSP (click on OSP Spotlight and Latest News).
There is an old joke about a nervous guy on an airplane and his seatmate who talks about how the plane won’t crash because it’s his lucky day. The nervous guy retorts, “what does it matter how lucky you are if one of the other passengers is unlucky?” (There are other variations on this joke, so just bear with me here.)
Librarians, lawyers, and others who answer Other People’s Questions, or anyone who shares a computer, may be dismayed about this Google Personalization “feature,” although I’m sure it is neither the whole story nor the end of the story.
Google’s Personalized Results: The “New Normal” That Deserves Extraordinary Attention, Dec 7, 2009, by Danny Sullivan
If you need access to this document before the 9th Circuit updates their website, read on:
We had a question recently about the Ninth Circuit (U.S. Court of Appeals) “Standards of Review,” but when the attorney and I went to the Ninth Circuit website, clicked on Attorneys, and then clicked on “Standards of Review,” nothing happened.
So, I got on the phone with my Ninth Circuit Law Library Guru and asked the question posed in one of those wonderful Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar jokes:
The text of Measure 66 and Measure 67 (from the official 2010 Oregon Secretary of State Voter’s Pamphlet)
More:
1) Nov 13, 2009: Oregon Supreme Court decision on ballot title
The intranets, and agony aunt columns (e.g. Ask Amy), are filled with tales of roommate woe:
My roommate won’t pay his share of the rent on time.
Our roommate is driving us crazy – with cleanliness.
My roommate never locks the front door.
My roommate ….
My roommate …. (I’m sure there’s a song in there somewhere ….)
There may be legal solutions in some instances, e.g. if you all signed the lease or if the conduct is illegal, but in many instances, the problems fall into the “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” or “you should have thought of this ahead of time” category.
Lots of information and links in this OregonLive article:
Jails to limit inmate mail to postcards only, by Bill Oram, The Oregonian, December 29, 2009
Excerpt: ‘… “The quality of the letters are so touching because they’re looking to establish relationships with anyone who will listen to them,” said Boghosian, the executive director of the New York-based National Lawyer’s Guild, which publishes the Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook.
The Law Librarian Blog has a post about blogging as “scholarship”, but the eye-opening news is at the end of the blog post. I’m not sure if I’m more astounded at a blogger (of SCOTUS Blog) spending (assuming this is correct) $150,000 on his blog (though perhaps I should be surprised at the paltry sum spent given the quality and substance of the blog) or am more tickled by a blogger and his blog being translated into a TV show, which will cost (and pay) way more than that $150,000, so I’m sure no one is complaining:
“Blogging as Thinking Out Loud Sometimes“
Excerpt: “…Or how does one turn blogging into a TV pilot? The Washingtonian is reporting that NBC is developing a TV series based on the life of SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein. A partner at Akin Gump who has argued 21 Supreme Court cases, Goldstein spends about $150,000 a year of his own money to fund the excellent and rarely off topic SCOTUSblog….” (read full LLB post)
Pacific Northwest Paralegal Association (follow the Seminars link) starts off their 2010 continuing legal education season of seminars with:
“Workplace Investigations of Employment Issues,” to be held Wednesday, January 20, 2010. The Speaker will be Carolyn Walker, a Partner at the law firm of Stoel Rives, LLP.
A bench guide to FAPA (the Family Abuse Prevention Act):
“A Benchguide for the Family abuse prevention act, Office of the State Court Administrator, c2006
Revised and updated in 2006 / by the Honorable Maureen McKnight and the Honorable Merri Souther Wyatt, with the assistance of the FAPA Benchguide Revision Workgroup of the State Family Law Advisory Committee’s Domestic Violence Subcommittee comprised of Robin Selig, Oregon Law Center; Ari Halpern, Legal Aid Services of Oregon; Camilla Thurmond, Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Bonnie Braeutigam Department of Human Services; and BeaLisa Sydlik, Oregon Judicial Department; Cheryl A. Fowler, Education and Training”
It’s a lot of fun watching the Oregon Encyclopedia grow (and see their What’s New page). Browse topics such as the Coin Machine Men, the Death Penalty, the Votex I Music Festival, and Bobby the Wonder Dog.
And, think about becoming a contributor if you have an Oregon History area of expertise.
