« January 13, 2008 - January 19, 2008 | Main | January 27, 2008 - February 02, 2008 »
January 26, 2008
And NYT endorses McCain.
"...the best choice for the [Republican] party’s presidential nomination". [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2008
Chicago girl makes good.
NYT edit board endorses HRC. Well, if you're her, it's almost the ultimate--and you'd be celebrating, duck-walking, and doing the antler dance. The New York Times is the Democratic Party, and it just endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Goldhammer: The French nuke model.
At his wry French Politics, Art Goldhammer briefly comments on the future of nuclear power, inspired by a Roger Cohen NYT piece two days ago that we missed: Why America needs Atomic Anne. Cohen: "It's not often that I find myself recommending a French state-owned industry as the answer to major U.S. problems, but I guess there's an exception to every rule." Ah, the energetic but impressionable Yanks.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:43 PM | Comments (0)
The Environment: China still talking the talk.
"To be clean is glorious--but you won't make the Big Bucks." The Economist: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air.
China's environmental bureaucrats...readily admit that pollution is poisoning the country's water resources, air and soil. They acknowledge that carbon emissions are soaring. If only, they lament, the government would give them the means to do something about it.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
Tax-based stimulus package "robust".
AP: President Bush likes it. Hill leaders like it. Now, get ready--and worry about too little too late. We need a $150 billion shot in the arm three weeks ago. If WAC? gets a rebate, we'll hit Target's Great Books section in Aisle 26A.
WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders announced a deal with the White House Thursday on an economic stimulus package that would give most tax filers refunds of $600 to $1,200, and more if they have children.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2008
Loathing on the campaign trail: "All life is junior high".
Presidential elections--beauty contests--dweeb wars. NYT: Romney Tops In Ill Will Among GOP Rivals. "Within the small circle of contenders, Mr. Romney has become the most disliked . Actually, we like Mitt, and think he's immensely talented; we just think he's way creepy. And how about those mini-me staffers he's got?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Watch your clients' damn stock price.
I don't love technology; it's rarely the main event, and it shouldn't be. Technology doesn't make you a better lawyer, lover, house painter or ad exec. But it is a great tool. You CAN use it to daily check your clients' stock prices. MSN and others let you do it. They have watchlists. Daily. Clients like you better when you love what they love, and worry how they worry. It's just a click away.
Posted by JD Hull at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2008
Wall Street: Quite A Ride.
AP: "Wall Street tumbles for a second day".
NEW YORK - Stocks extended their decline Wednesday, with investors uneasy after reports from big names like Apple Inc. and Motorola Inc. dashed any notion that the Federal Reserve's emergency rate cut could in short order patch up the economy. Bond prices rose but pulled back from their highs after stocks pared their steepest losses.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
"Is excellent client service at an all-time low?"
"Just take a look around today’s high-paced, low-loyalty and skilled-labor-shortage economy, and you’ll see that the level of client service is quickly diminishing." RISMedia and Stuart Crawford: "Slow down and serve" to earn client loyalty.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
Wall Street: Now, whiplash.
AP: "Stocks Plunge, Then Post Big Gains ".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
I haven't been to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan yet.
But I'll get there. In the meantime, our friend, heroine and spiritual leader Maryam at My Marrakesh has--and she took photos, and wrote about her trip. This happy human gets around.
Posted by JD Hull at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)
Election 2008: "Say it ain't so, Fred..."
AP: Thompson drops out of race.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)
"Prospects"
At FreelanceSwitch, an excerpt from a book by Ilise Benun: "10 Things You Need to Know About Your Prospects".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 04:03 PM | Comments (1)
Is going green really good business--and is it even happening?
See Environmental Protection, the Stevens Publishing magazine for environmental pros.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2008
Southern Winter
Associated Press: "Freeze Follows Snow in South, Gulf Coast"
"...put some bleachers out in the sun/And have it out on Highway 61".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
The Year of the Bull
TOKYO (AP) - Global stock markets extended their shakeout into a second day Tuesday, plunging amid worries that a possible U.S. recession will cause a worldwide economic slowdown. [more]
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
2008 election: Can Wild Bill dance?
Last night's Myrtle Beach, SC Dem debate: personal, feisty and a bit childish. No one looked too good to us. A John Edwards night--but an Obama crowd and an HRC set-back. See Chicago Tribune. Highlight of evening was question: How "black" a president was Bill Clinton? Obama, using dancing as the criteria, hits it out of park. Note that WAC? dances way better than Bill, Obama--and especially Clarence Thomas. And we do the Philly Dog New Breed, picked up from spectacularly drunk lawyer-friends who are partners at the Philadelphia firm of ______ after a 3rd Circuit argument last year. Those Penn Law boys got Rhythm.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2008
Real Lawyer Stuff: MLK Day at Blawg Review
Blawg Review #143 is up. It's thoughtful, graceful and first-rate. It's hosted by Gideon at Public Defender Stuff.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
Mr. Huckabee's Bible-based America: "Have a magnificent Christmas".
Does Huckabee still believe that his narrow version of Christianity must dominate every detail of human existence in this country? He doesn't like to answer hard questions about the intersection of his faith and his politics, but it is long past time that somebody demanded a straight answer.
Joe Conason in "Holy Constitution", Salon
Granted, Salon's writers are generally "liberal"--but that doesn't mean that they are always wrong, or trying to get your kids to try out Satan-worship instead of Pep Club after school. And here at WAC?, by the way, there are no known athiests, some of us attend conventional services, and we all like the holiday season, including Christmas. But Mike Huckabee's now famous charming, pandering, anti-secular, First Amendment-rattling "Christmas message" made WAC? question both his smarts and his character. Just as bad, hardly anyone except Ron Paul called him on it for more than a day. Bad, bad form--by Mike, and by all of us. Moreover, you'd have to be blind or an LSD/glue/nitrous oxide casualty not to believe that the intersecting white bookcase edges behind him in that spot were not deliberately intended to represent The Cross. So what's Happy Mike thinking? Our take: If you don't get the Establishment Clause, Mike, that's not good, of course. (Remedial high school U.S. history and government classes might help.) If it's an election ploy, hey, you old fox, that's wickedly clever, but it's sad and cynical to pander to those who would not or could not comprehend the primacy of the church-state division in American history, law and tradition. That, folks, is sacred.
Un-American, Mike. Bad dog.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:59 AM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2008
The Framers meet Rodney Dangerfield.
My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr. (1900-1965), speech in Detroit, Oct.7, 1952
Even Adlai Stevenson's political enemies looked up to him. The highly-respected Illinois governor, diplomat and lawyer never got to be president--he lost to crowd-pleaser Eisenhower twice--but a lot of people wanted him to have that job. He liked ideas. American ones. People called him an "egghead" a lot. Ever wish that as a lawyer you did something genuinely worthwhile, important and part of a great American ideal? Something difficult, often unpopular and that reflects hard choices we've made as a society? Or are you just another lawyer dependent on the insurance companies for dough who wants to read a great blog every now and then? Tomorrow's host for Blawg Review is Public Defender Stuff. "Indigent defense news, delivered fresh daily". The guy's name is "Gideon".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Overheard in Los Angeles: Club Ned
In the Starbucks on Sunset in Brentwood, a woman to her man about what to wear to an event on Saturday night: "Honey, just wear a black turtleneck! Even Ned Beatty looks good in a black turtleneck."
Ned at home relaxing, planning Georgia fishing trip with buddies.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)