Phil Valentine Off Base

Even though I am a liberal, I listen to the wackadoo conservative radio shows sometimes, often because I am tired of music and sometimes because I want to get my jollies. Lately, I have been wincing every time I listen to the Phil Valentine show because he is so wrong about courts. He discusses the Supreme Court's "precedents" as if they were something untoward. He says the court should interpret the Constitution and stop relying on precedents. Um....hello! Obviously, he is either ignorant about the Supreme Court and the Constitution, or he is relying on the fact that his audience is naive. The Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution is the law, and begets precedents. It is then decided law. I hope most of his listeners understand his mistakes. I think a civics lession is in store. I hate to think of all the misinformation he is spreading.

PMBR--Day 2--Property

The second day of the PMBR was scarier for me than the first. It was over property. I did very well in property in school, but it is one of the subjects that can vacate your head very quickly. The good news is the teacher said don't worry about studying about the Rule Against Perpetuities for the Bar Exam. Woo hoo! The bad news is there are lots of other property questions on the test. I did not do the practice questions before the review session, and that was a big mistake. After hearing the lecture, I did the practice questions and still missed 18 out of 50 questions. But the other good news is this is only the pre bar review session, so I will get to do it again in May. I disagree with all of those who I have heard say PMBR is a waste of time. It is a good review, and even better because I am doing it so far in advance.

PMBR--Torts and Snorts

I started the PMBR review this week and was looking forward to the first lesson, which was on torts. I really wanted the review: It has been 4 years since I had torts and I felt like I had forgotten most of what I learned. I got a C in the course so was afraid I never learned it that well to begin with. The course offered a wonderful collection of attractive nuisance, slip and fall, defamation, and other eclectic cases. While it was fascinating and often entertaining, it also had a reputation for flunking students out. And sure enough a large portion of our class succumbed. My goal was to shore myself up on the subject, to get rid of my deficiency there. But, who has time to revisit old courses when you are still taking new courses? So the PMBR review was the first look at torts for me in a long time. It felt good to get some of those concepts back in my head and get a better understanding of them. I know torts is traditionally offered in the first year of law school, but I really think I could have gotten more out of it if I had taken it in a later year.

Self Sabotage at Work--Fear of Progress Variety

There are a number of ways people sabotage themselves at work, and I have been very aware of one kind recently. I work for a business in a mature industry. That means we have to be on our toes and on the lookout for ways to grow in the future or we will become irrelevant. We have had a number of good ideas, and we get them started, and they.........all fizzle out. Or at least most of them. Why is that.? Because the projects linger on the owner's desk. It is very strange. He wants the company to grow and succeed, but then he doesn't follow through. Or he takes such a long time that all momentum is lost. He loses steam, and then people lose interest, and then he seems to wonder why things don't get done. And then he tends to blame other people for things not getting done.

Huh?

I can't figure out why he would do this. My only thought is that he is really afraid of the outcome. What if we get a lot more business? Or that we have to start thinking in other new ways? With our Website, people will now be able to access their own information rather than coming through us to get it. Does that wierd him out?

All I know is that I hope he will stop this soon or that I can shake him out of it. After all, it may be my company someday, and we need to stop just talking about the future and actually do something about it.

Eliot Spitzer's Wife

Tonight when I saw the press conference when Eliot Spitzer resigned over his dalliances with a prostitute, I just wished his wife had hauled off and slapped him on camera. He looked so unconcerned about her, even as he spoke his words of resignation.

PA Primary

Tonight after the Mississippi primary, the pundits were looking ahead to the Pennsylvania primary. There is no doubt that Pennsylvania is still the Keystone State. The whole Democratic nomination could hang on it. Howard Fine from Newsweek magazine was on MSNBC tonight saying that PA is "Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama (white Alabama) in between. Having lived in PA and loving PA and the people, I am afraid I might have to agree with that statement, at least a little bit. And that is a negative.

What Not To Say in Class

When you are taking an upper level law class, taught by a justice on the Supreme Court, it is probably best to not use vulgar language when addressing him. The other night in class, a student did just that, even though he meant no harm. In asking a question, the student used the word f*** (not that four letter word, but the one that means a bodily emission). The minute that word came out of his mouth, there was an audible gasp from a number of people and a faint titter that ran throughout the room. There was also a lot of wincing, including from the Justice. This goes under the category of "What were you thinking???"