« February 08, 2009 - February 14, 2009 | Main | February 22, 2009 - February 28, 2009 »
February 21, 2009
McDonald's saves Germany.
In "No Crisis Here", Hermann the German, our friend and Berlin-based stringer, notes that the company is opening 40 new restaurants in Germany. Up to 2000 jobs may be created. "You know how people eat when they’re under stress sometimes?", Hermann asks. Most WAC? contributors have lived in the American Midwest. Stressed out or not, entire towns are Powerless over Twinkies and Big Macs. We know.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2009
Binge Drinking in Albion.
But is it good for America, too? Before answering read Charon QC's 2009 piece, "Binge Drinking is Part of Our National Zeitgeist". Consider also below photo taken in 1978 of terminally fogged-up Limey notable, now deceased, known to have had self-destructive lifestyle, being either a Mr. Keith Moon or one GeekLawyer, with regular weekend mistress on lease.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2009
Arizona's Budget Cutbacks: Speed cameras backfire, kill work ethic.
Subduing the driven, rewarding the Slackoiesie. According to our friend Dr. Michael O'Neil, political consultant and pollster with Tempe, Arizona-based O'Neil Associates Inc., and frequent television news commentator, that's exactly what speed cameras--part of Arizona's solution to its current budget crisis--are doing to the state's citizenry. Along with other states, Arizona is grappling with its largest state budget shortfall ever. New governor Jan Brewer is doing all she can. We are all moved by Arizona's grit and resolve.
But speed cameras?
It's a hidden and "pernicious" tax, O'Neil argued one Sunday morning on an NBC affiliate with the buzz-saw precision of Clarence Darrow on his best roll. Speed cameras were slowing busy Arizonans down. Stifling achievement in Type As. And lulling the laid-back and lazy into deeper sloth-like comas. We agree. And of all states, this artifice comes from the one that gave us the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, Moses of the American Right, an inspired no-nonsense candidate for President in 1964 who urged Americans to get off their sofas, stand up, and get out there and inherit a chain of department stores, like he did? Say it ain't so, Arizona.
Mike O'Neil explains the unintended consequences of the Arizona speed camera tax in his NBC commentary here.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2009
Superfund: Woburn winding down.
Never as infamous as Love Canal, but equally as disturbing in its harm to human beings and property, the Woburn Superfund site got the rapt attention and genuine concern of even the most industry-oriented environmental lawyers, and their clients. Woburn, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, also received more than its fifteen minutes as the subject of Jonathan Harr's book A Civil Action, which later became a popular movie. Due to the litigation described in the book, and the threat to the local public water supply, EPA in 1983 designated 330 acres of Woburn a Superfund site (Wells G and H site).
Like other New England sites, Woburn was a hazardous waste site for well over 100 years. After another 25 years of litigation, discovery, EPA enforcement activity, remediation and mega-publicity, the clean-up effort at Woburn continues. About four more years to go. See The Boston Globe of February 12: "After 25 years, Superfund site cleanup nears final phase". If you are interested in a slightly jaded but concerned view of what Superfund (or CERCLA) achieved, and did not achieve, read "A Dark Legacy's Impact", which appeared three years ago in Water & Wastewater News.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
GM and Chrysler want a few billion more.
At Dow Jones's MarketWatch, see "GM, Chrysler request up to $39 billion in loans". The lead:
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, both drowning in debt as car sales continue to spiral downward, submitted requests to the U.S. Treasury late Tuesday that, if granted, could provide up to $39 billion in emergency loans to keep the automakers from falling into bankruptcy.
As the Wall Street Journal notes, GM also has outlined a "bankruptcy contingency" plan, which it said would require up to $100 billion in financing from Treasury should GM take the conventional Chapter 11 route. In any event, GM will also
shut five more factories on top of the closures it had already planned. In addition, it plans to eliminate thousands of dealerships and slash 47,000 jobs this year around the world, leaving it with a work force of about 200,000.
All of the above is true. WAC? has not made anything up yet today.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:48 PM | Comments (1)
You think?
It would be personally and judicially disrespectful to the United States Supreme Court and its justices for me to proceed in this or any other matter involving Massey.
--West Virginia Chief Justice Brent Benjamin
Okay, be hard on yourself, if you must. We almost missed this one on an issue that interests us, and should interest you, too. Especially if, like us, you'd rather spend your time reading the five cases cited in your brief than picking out a really boss Mickey Mouse tie on the morning of your next appearance before a popularly elected state court jurist. The Associated Press reported on February 2 that "West Virginia Justice Bows Out Of Massey Cases Amid Scrutiny".
Apparently, Brent Benjamin's memo announcing the "bowing out" was dated January 30, 2009. In mid-November of last year, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari on whether Benjamin's past refusal to recuse himself from a Massey case, after Massey's CEO had contributed $3 million to Benjamin's successful election campaign in 2004, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In that West Virginia case, Benjamin had voted with the majority to overturn a $50 million jury verdict against Massey. Reform, anyone?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2009
The Republic of Bennett
WAC? loves Texans, Texas, Houston, Texas, Archie Bell and the Drells, ZZ Top, Shelley Duvall, the late Bob Eckhardt (8th District Congressman, 1967–1981), and criminal defense lawyers. Always have. And we admire everything about Mark Bennett's first-rate Blawg Review #199 at his outspoken and useful-as-hell Defending People. We admired this sentence, too: "The lesson for trial lawyers is that the way we ask our questions affects not only the answers we get, but also whether we get answers at all." Tighten up, y'all.
Robert Christian "Bob" Eckhardt. Lawyer, editor and lawmaker (1913-2001). One authentic human.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:30 PM | Comments (1)
China Corruption Happens.
And it's okay to talk about it. At China Law Blog, see "China Law And Corruption. You'd Better Know Which Way The Wind Blows" by Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson. Excerpt:
The [China] economy is trending down and paying bribes is illegal. You knew that already. What you probably do not know is that downward trending economies...always seem to expose things that upward trending economies do such a good job of hiding.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2009
Several EU nations compete for worst recession.
Sort of. In "The European Countdown to Poverty", Joerg Wolf at the Atlantic Review is collecting "downer" economy stories by economist Edward Hugh at A Fistful of Euros, another site reporting on European business, government and politics. This past week, Spain was clearly in the lead--but at WAC? we have our money on Estonia.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)
Jim Hassett: More on alternative fees.
Got some best practices for you right here. We still like the billable hour due to its flexibility in the hands of honest and client-centric American and European law firms--all eight or nine of them--but we listen to other ideas and regimes. See Alternative Fees (Part 5): Discounting at Jim Hassett's consistently thoughtful and insightful Legal Business Development. "Best practices" updated every Wednesday.
Life's short. WAC? likes to take stands and just tell you what to do. Here is our advice. If you are struggling with how to position your firm with clients in the "new" era of uncertainty that leers at each of us every morning--especially with corporate clients--hire Jim. You can read his blog and his books. You can listen to his arresting no-b.s. tapes. But skip all that--and just hire him.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:22 AM | Comments (0)