« June 05, 2011 - June 11, 2011 | Main | June 19, 2011 - June 25, 2011 »
June 18, 2011
You thinkin' Evil?
Posted by JD Hull at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
Posted by JD Hull at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)
Posted by JD Hull at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2011
Say Cheese, Guys: Rep. Weiner, Close Friend Say Goodbye.
Good call, finally. See in yesterday's The Economist "So Ends A Cocky Tale". Excerpt:
As his congressional colleagues distanced themselves and others called for his resignation, some liberals pushed for him to stay. They have not been defending his despicable behaviour, but his political reputation.
He was, to be fair, a tireless advocate for liberal causes. He defended Obamacare when few others did, and went to bat for NPR when its funding was challenged. He enjoyed verbally jousting with Republicans, and he was good at it. His impressive oratory was the initial draw for at least a few of his online pen pals.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:43 PM | Comments (2)
Real Fathers Day: Nature, Unreconstructed Men and The Wolf's Mannish Boys.
Steve Winwood in 1967: "Well my pad is very messy and there’s whiskers on my chin."
Posted by JD Hull at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2011
Lucerne.
March 2011 Carnival in Lucerne, Switzerland (Sigi Tischler/EPA)
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2011
Sensitive Litigation Moment No. 26: Discovery and Leading Questions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 30.
Trial lawyer-writer Evan Schaeffer is always worth reading. See Rule 30 and then read "When Are Leading Questions Permitted During Federal Court Depositions?" at his Trial Practice Tips. Schaeffer is right to remind us: the starting point for lawyers who notice and conduct depositions is knowing it's a direct exam. Therefore, no leading questions are permitted. However, as he notes, most witnesses in depositions, especially for discovery, are adverse, or "hostile". So lead them (as everyone generally does anyway). Use shorter, more "loaded" questions.
But know what you're doing--and why.
Above: In some U.S. firms, squads of generic dweebs who learned "how to think" for three years in law school are deployed to help plan depositions in the business disputes of important clients. Summer clerks--generally law students, and even more dangerous--may work in those same firms May through August.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
"Being in London is getting to me."
From Duncan Campbell King at his soulful and introspective Wrath of a Sumo King.
Posted by JD Hull at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2011
The Great American Tocqueville Discovery.
Was young Alexis a stud or what? Three years ago, on the Sunday editorial page of one of the most conservative papers in America, we applauded Alexis de Tocqueville for that young Frenchman's uncanny prediction in his Democracy in America of a U.S. president exactly like George W. Bush. We had argued that "W", warts and all, and whether you like him or not, is indeed the "new man" Tocqueville kept seeing during his nine months here in 1831.
No American should have been too surprised to wake up in November of 2000 and learn that such a creature got the top job. Tocqueville has been getting high marks for prescience from Americans and Europeans in the last 30 years after being ignored for the first 150 years.
The interesting thing about the reactions to the article is that everyone along the politcal spectrum who read it seemed to like it. Americans are comfortable with "non-egghead" leaders. Every few elections cycles, we even give militantly anti-intellectual, the poorly-traveled and the hopelessly "uncurious" a shot.
You want more W's? We've had them before and have them waiting in the wings. Examples:
1. Warren Harding
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Sarah Palin
All 3 are "One of us".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)