Staring at Strangers

Wi-Fi Signals as Prostitutes Spoof

Watch this one all the way thru - it's got a very cute ending. 

Technorati Tags: Wi-Fi, prostitutes, humor

Close Encounters of the Cell Phone Kind

A powerful PSA produced in the UK demonstrating the dangers of texting while driving.  Heck, having phone conversations while driving is a distraction and dangerous as well.  I think that every driver should watch this, notwithstanding how disturbing it is.

Technorati Tags: texting, drving, PSA, UK, danger

Why is the ABA Selling Skateboards?

It’s yesterday’s news that membership in the American Bar Association has fallen. Maybe  lawyers no longer find it relevant, maybe they can no longer afford to belong, or maybe they’re really don’t fully appreciate the importance of bringing law to Borneo. There are mutterings and mumblings, sotto voce, here and there, about positions eliminated, hiring freezes, and belt-tightening measures in America’s august legal association, but that’s nothing new. But that hasn’t stopped the tide of meetings in exotic off-shore venues that many members can’t afford to travel to, even if the travel just might be tax-deductible, black-tie events, and initiatives less relevant to the everyday lawyer than Sarah Silverman’s Jesus is Magic.

But why is the American Bar Association now peddling skateboards? Oh, I get it now. It’s a ploy by the the ABA’s magazine to develop some stories and recruit readers.

Technorati Tags: lawyer, American Bar Association, Legal Rebels, attorney

R.I.P. The Billable Hour

The front page of today's Wall Street Journal reports on how large law firms are being pressured into flat fee arrangements by companies that have the muscle to "lay down the law," so to speak, on law firm billing arrangements. 

Most of this article is behind a subscription wall, but you can view the full video below, in which Amy Schulman, Pfizer's general counsel, describes the flat fee arrangements she requires from each of Pfizer's 16 law firms. 

The scariest phrase used in this interview is not "flat fee" but "metrics."  For those unfamiliar with metrics, it involves the measuring of the success of a particular program. 

Ms. Schulman describes a system whereby each law firm rates the other law firms in the "Pfizer Legal Alliance" as to their ability to work collaboratively with the others.  Can you imagine the partner meetings where a law firm decides how to rate the other law firms on their effectiveness in working with others? 

Think of the conflicts inherent in such a process.  Rate the other firms too high and you may comparatively lower your own firm's rating (Ms. Schulman says that to insure effectiveness, this system will "reward good behavior and punish bad behavior").  So the whole process is susceptible to becoming highly political. 

I don't know all the details, so perhaps there are some safeguards, but I would think that it would be very difficult to eliminate all of the political aspects in such ratings. 

The bottom line: big firm senior partners will have to get used to receiving annual incomes of less than $10,000,000.

Technorati Tags: law firm, billable hour, fixed fee, collaboration, Pfizer

No Dog Left Behind

You are ready for the Rapture. All of your affairs are in order; you’ve been preparing for this big event ever since your first conscious moment. But what about your Best Friends Left Behind? The folks at Eternal Earth-Bound Pets are there to help.

Credit goes to IncaKolaNews for this one.

 

Technorati Tags: rapture, IKN, pets

Comparing Obama To Hitler

This is a perfect example of what has been taking over U.S. politics for sometime, leading to more confrontations and less real solutions that might actually do some good.  See my original post, How to Destroy the United States of America.

And yes, I'm willing to post an example of a Democrat making an asshole out of himself or herself.  You think that there is any shortage of these jerks from either of the two major political parties?

From the Youtube post:

At a Barney Frank town hall meeting in Dartmouth, MA, a constituent asks, "Why are you supporting this Nazi policy?"
Frank responds: "On what planet do you spend most of your time?" He then calls her approach "vile, contemptible nonsense." He closes by saying: "Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table."

Technorati Tags: politics

Coke is #1 for Lawyers

You went to college. You did drugs. Which did you prefer—pot or coke? If you became a lawyer, the odds overwhelmingly indicated that you preferred Bolivian marching powder over Acapulco Gold. So reveals a series of studies Richard Florida analyzes in The Atlantic.

Credt goes to Robert Ambrogi at Law.com for giving us this lead on the obligatory law-related post.

 

Technorati Tags: cocaine, marijuana, legal profession

How to Destroy the United States of America

For me the recent appearances of "angry citizens" at town hall meetings demonstrate what is worst about the current U.S. political process, and something that I believe could destroy this country. 

When a strategy is formulated whereby disruptive participants in town hall meetings get the media attention they desire, thereby dominating the public discourse on important issues, they may be helping their cause, but they are not helping this country.  Energy that could be used to solve problems is being directed to derailing the other side's agenda.  When both sides employ the same tactic you are guaranteed that no useful solution will be achieved, only more turf wars, as the waters slowly rise and the ship eventually sinks.

Let me be clear, I don't care how valid your position may be or which side you are on, employing adversarial techniques, whether in town hall meetings or in the U.S. Congress, does not solve any problems, so in the end we all become the losers.

Technorati Tags: angry citizens, politics, town hall meetings

The Best Diner in the World

Joe Jr's Restaurant was my NYC diner.  During law school I often had breakfast there.  The food was cheap and good.  Located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 12th Street in Greenwich Village, this small establishment had lots of character, and they would greet me as a decades younger law student with the nickname "professor." 

"Hey professor, how ya doing?"

I almost always sat at the counter and not at the tables.  Within minutes of my butt hitting the stool, a plate with two eggs scrambled and home fries would clatter down in front of me.  

After law school I wasn't in the neighborhood as much, and I lost touch with Joe Jr's and it's unique style of NYC charm. 

Then one evening about a month ago I was watching the local news on television, and there was Joe Jr's again, except this was a story about how it was closing in less than a week.  Seems the landlord no longer wanted a restaurant in his building.  I felt like someone was taking a brick out of my personal history. 

The amazing thing about this broadcast was that it went on for about 10 minutes, which is a length of time more typically given to government coups, assassinations of heads of state, or the world economic crisis.  Stories like the closing of a local restaurant usually get about 2 minutes of airtime. 

When I did a search online for the restaurant I found out why.  I wasn't the only one who found Joe Jr's special - web sites had many personal reviews that extolled the virtues of this eatery, such as "hands down best diner in NYC," "There simply is no overall better diner on the face of planet earth," "NO place is more NYC than Joe Jr.'s," "Simple life and a great atmosphere!," "I was in there when the Yankees won one night and it was free dessert for all!," "A national landmark," and "you are not a genuine New Yorker unless you've eaten here 10 times."

I decided that I had to pay one last visit to my favorite diner.  Turns out that my daughter was around that weekend morning and so I took her with me.  We brought my camera with me, so I've included here a couple of pictures of me enjoying my last meal at Joe Jr's.  

My daughter had never been to Joe Jr's even though she attended the nearby New York University.  Once she discovered it she was sorry that she hadn't known about it sooner. 

As I sat down I wondered whether current reality would match my memories from 30 years ago.  After all, how special could scrambled eggs be?  I took a forkful of eggs into my mouth, and I'm not sure what it was, but they were just as special as I remembered them.   Joe Jr's still made the best diner breakfast I have ever had. 

Technorati Tags: Joe Jr's, closing, diner, eggs, breakfast

Portuguese Not Necessary

Thanks to The Grande Enchilada for the Department of Newfangled Etiquette. (I’m just happy when others flush paper instead of thinking they’re being polite by putting it in the bote—and when the other half of the species puts the seat and lid down.)

Technorati Tags: shower, micturation, green, water conservation