Kindly Ignore This

I’m posting this as an experiment in counter-search engine optimization.  It has nothing to do with you.

In fact, I don’t particularly want anyone to read it.  Go away.  Or try some posts from other blogs that I’ve recently enjoyed.  If you came here to read something, these should do nicely:

• What would you think of a medical school that graduated “physicians” who’d never treated or diagnosed a living patient?  If you’re like me, not much.
• Say what you will about Subway’s failed ad campaign featuring Jared, the Sandwich Artist.  It wasn’t as stupid as McDonald’s attempt to patent the art of sandwich assembly. So far as I can tell, the difference between this and non-patented methods lies in McDonald’s use of a special garnish-spreading tool, in other words, a knife.
• “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
• State pension benefits for volunteer service?  Sign me up!

Again, none of these links has anything to do with the point of this post.

Pay No Attention To That Man Behind The Curtain!

Ironically…

Today is the highest traffic day I’ve ever had.

In Which I Retire

One of many things that I learned during my stint as a guestblogger at Overlawyered is the importance of having a steady stream of content, something that I am simply unable to provide at certain times because this is a hobby which must take a back seat to more important concerns such as work and family.  Often when I do attempt to provide it the quality of the content seems to suffer because I’m getting it out in a rushed fashion, rather than holding it or deleting it.  (I still end up deleting about about half of my posts before publishing them.)  That is unsatisfactory to me.  I believe that this could be a better blog if I had that time, or if I had co-bloggers who could pick up the slack.

Fortunately, I do have that option, at one of the sites listed on my blogroll, Popehat (”A Group Blog of Games, Politics, Humor, and Snark”).  I have written there in the past, under the name “Patrick” and have decided that Popehat is a better vehicle for my writing, because it gives me the option to hone posts, or to delete them, without worrying that traffic will fall off in the event that I’m not able to keep pushing out the product for a few days.

To be honest, I’m not sure why I left Popehat in the first place to set up this shop.  It had nothing to do with any of my co-authors, principally Ken and Ezra, who are friends whose writing and views I enjoy and respect.  Nevertheless, I’ve decided that you can go home again, and am doing so.

I’m not going to pull this blog down or delete any content.  Some of it may wind up being cross-posted at Popehat at some future time.  But this site is now likely dead.  I shall continue to own the domain, as well as various email accounts associated with it (I’ve very much enjoyed corresponding with some of you), but will be blogging at the Hat from now on.

A few of you who are bloggers have been kind enough to add this site to your blogrolls.  When I’m aware of you, I’ve returned the favor.  If you enjoy what I write here, I might suggest replacing this site with Popehat, where I’ll be adding your sites to the blogroll if they aren’t already there.

Thanks.

Beware Of The God

Norse deity Thor not only swings a hammer, calls down thunder on giants, and battles world-circling serpents.  He fights crime!

I Won’t Watch It. … By Hook Or By Crook, You Will!

To promote a modern remake, starring “Jesus” from “The Passion of the Christ,” AMC has made every episode of the classic 1960s British spy series “The Prisoner” available online, in unedited high quality video.  While I’m not about to chuck my dvd collection of the series, I heartily recommend this version of the show to those who’ve never seen it.

At one time, at another website, I had planned to blog my way through the entire series.  That project got sidetracked and abandoned because of a trial, but the first post, in which I try to explain my love for this show, can be found here.

I’d Better Alert My Blogging Malpractice Insurer

It seems that in Texas, giving “the impression of one having an exaggerated sense of self-importance and a feeling of superiority to other people” is a tort.  Since I’ve yet to figure out how to deny Texans access to this site, I’ll begin blogging about flowers and puppy dogs, and adopt a milder tone.  Just as soon as I finish this post.

Amy Modica, a serial litigant from Beaumont Texas, is suing Dr. Howard Wilcox of the same town, alleging that the doctor tried to kill her with sarcasm.  Specifically, she alleges that Wilcox’s bedside manner was so poor that it caused her to experience a heart attack in his office.  In addition to money damages, Modica demands that Wilcox provide her a handicapped parking access card, and be ordered to undergo psychoanalysis.

It’s difficult to do justice to this pro se complaint, which in addition to cut’n'paste verbal images which look like a ransom note, contains allegations such as “To have a physician deny me HANDICAPPED ACCESS is the most CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT that a dying person can have. This is undeniably MEDICAL ABUSE.” So difficult, in fact, that I’ll just reproduce it here: modica-v-wilcox

While I have no knowledge about Dr. Wilcox, and can guess a few things about Amy Modica (who has also sued her attorney for assault by sarcasm, and George W. Bush for better handicapped access), her sad complaint brings to mind a point.  I assume that Dr. Wilcox is a considerate, polite, and friendly doctor, but not all medical professionals are so nice or considerate.

Recently a close relative underwent a horribly invasive surgical procedure at a fine medical institution I won’t name.  My relative received generally excellent medical care, which is why she’s alive and relatively healthy today.  I am thankful for the care she received.  However, I wasn’t at all thankful for the bedside manner at this institution: things like the nurse who refused to assist my relative in getting to the toilet, and told her to go on her own (I ended up driving to the hospital at 1am to assist her myself); and the surgical waiting room staff who lied to us about why a scheduled four hour surgery turned into a fourteen hour operation, when they could have replied, “We don’t know. We’re sorry. We’ll get you some information.”  I was suing mad at several points during my relative’s hospitalization, and unlike Amy Modica, I know lots of people who can draft a good medical malpractice complaint.

Even when nothing goes wrong, there are some very strange and touchy people walking around in the world today.  People who, like Amy Modica, sue for sarcasm.  Experts within the medical field posit that good bedside manner prevents lawsuits regardless of the quality of care delivered.  Experts outside the field agree.  Only certified professionals, like bloggers, should engage in sarcasm at will.

The Return Of Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMBY

One thing I’ve missed over the past eight years is the schadenfreude that comes from reading stories of wealthy or well-connected environmentalists complaining that projects they would ordinarily support are “inappropriate” on spurious grounds that boil down to “It’s too close to me.”  If we’re not investing in infrastructure or alternative energy, no one can scream “NIMBY!”

But with the incoming administration’s devotion to new infrastructure, WPA-like programs, and green energy, we’re sure to have a resurgence of Kennedy-like calls for more wind farms, as long as they’re located anywhere except Martha’s Vineyard (because local sea bats would be endangered by turbine blades).  As a foretaste of the coming NIMBY resurgence, Coyote has a doozy on Minnesota Public Radio’s opposition to a light rail project, which just happens to pass right by the studios of … Minnesota Public Radio:

MPR has published any number of light rail stories about budget and approval battles that were thinly disguised cheerleading for light rail.  Take this article for example, which discusses how light rail might be saved from trouble, but because it only quotes light rail supporters, a reader can’t even figure out why the trouble exists.

Basically, MPR is saying “please put the rail line, which we support, near someone else who may hate it being nearby as much as we but don’t have the access to the media and the political process to make a big stink about it.”   Already, the line has apparently made an expensive accommodation for just one organization — the University of Minnesota, a state agency.  The arrogance of this is staggering.  It reminds me of the NY Times and Columbia University, both of whom claim to be advocates for the underdog, except when the underdog gets in the way of their real estate deal and eminent domain grab.

But, think of the children of Lake Woebegone!

MPR complains that light rail isn’t supposed to pass near “noise sensitive areas” such as recording studios and concert halls.  Of course, my house is a noise sensitive area, but I can hear the train whistle over a mile away as I write this.  That same train, which is not light rail, passes within yards of a venerable historic theater, which contains a concert hall and a recording studio, but I’ve never heard of complaints because the theater invested in sound baffling equipment back in the days when the railroads took whatever they wanted.  And Coyote has plenty more examples of theaters, studios, and recording facilities which, unlike MPR, don’t advocate for light rail, but also don’t complain about its proximity to them.

Expect many more of these stories over the next four years.

Subject line hat-tip.

“You Can Have It Back As Soon As I’m Finished Using It.”

Dr. Richard Batista of Ronkonkoma New York is a reasonable man.  Naturally that would extend to his divorce from his soon-to-be ex-wife Dawn.  All that the good doctor is asking for is weekend visitation with the kids, a fair division of the proceeds from the couple’s house, and sole custody of his left kidney.

Dawn Batista, on the other hand, is a perfect example of how conniving women use the justice system to wreak havoc on men.  Oh she’s fine with the visitation.  She’ll negotiate on the house.  But she absolutely refuses to return the kidney, which was given to Richard by his parents, on the spurious ground that she’s still using it.

When his wife needed a kidney transplant, Dr. Richard Batista gave her one of his, attorney Dominic Barbara said.

Now that Dawnell Batista has filed for a divorce, Richard Batista wants his kidney back as part of his settlement demand. Or, Barbara said Wednesday, his client wants the value of that kidney: An estimated $1.5 million.

Sadly for Dr. Batista, law schools these days no longer require aspiring attorneys to study Latin.  Evidently Batista’s attorney, Dominic Barbara, has fallen afoul of this trend.  Had Barbara studied Latin, he would know that “donate” derives from the Latin “donum,” which, in plain English, means “gift.”  There is a legal maxim which applies here:  De indiangiveris non curat lex. “The law does not concern itself with Indian givers.”

It’s said that married people should be careful about what they say and do, because some things simply can’t be taken back.  Unfortunately for Dr. Batista, a kidney is one of those things.

Turn That Frown Upside Down, Juan Valdez!

Colombian coffee growers, sensitive snowflakes that they are, have had it with being compared to narcoterrorists and revolutionary guerillas.  They’re businessmen.  So where a narcotics kingpin might give “Mother Goose and Grimm” cartoonist Mike Peters a Colombian necktie over this distinctly unfunny cartoon:

The coffee kingpins will salve their wounded feelings the way people do it in real countries: They’ll file a frivolous lawsuit.

The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation says it will sue “Mother Goose & Grimm” cartoonist Mike Peters “for damage and harm, detriment to intellectual property and defamation.”

The suit will be filed Friday, according to a note on the federation’s Web site.

I’m afraid I don’t think much of the legal claims.  Only a reader whose second language is English might take this as a literal statement that Colombian coffee, like Soylent Green, is made of people.  As for the use of “Juan Valdez”, while it’s true that the term is trademarked, this is is not an infringing commercial use.  I’ll note that in any case the term has a dual meaning: In Spanish speaking countries the name is the equivalent of “John Smith.”

Still, this is progress. The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation has taken Peters’ little strip and placed a new humorous spin on it.  The suit elevates a bad joke to high comedy.  And if other Colombians will only emulate this example, avenging petty slights with spurious litigation instead of machetes and AK-47s, perhaps one day Colombia will be admitted into the family of civilized nations.

(See here for more on this milestone in the ascent of Colombian culture.)

The Difference Between LA Law And FLA Law

In television Los Angeles, prosecutors know that they can’t eavesdrop on conversations between defendants and their counsel.  In Broward County Florida, that’s news to the staff of the county DA.

The Broward State Attorney’s Office plans to call on the help of the Florida attorney general after a judge kicked the entire office off a murder case because of the conduct of two prosecutors during trial.

Circuit Judge Susan Lebow decided Monday that murder suspect Luis O. Martinez’s right to a fair trial was violated when prosecutors listened to taped phone conversations Martinez had with his defense attorney, Chris Grillo. …

In her written order, Lebow … quotes from the opening of the television show, Law and Order, and wrote, ”Anyone who has turned on the television in the last 10 years knows” that such conduct would be a violation of attorney-client privilege.

Evidently Broward County is one in which jailhouse telephone conversations (whether conducted through visiting booths or an ordinary telephone) are taped.  That’s not uncommon.  It’s done in many counties across the nation and in many federal prisons.  The usual rule is that when it’s the defense attorney on the line, the taping stops.  There are of course a few exceptions, such as Guantanamo and other terrorist holding facilities, where a third party listens in to make sure that coded messages aren’t being passed to other terrorists.  But even in Guantanamo, the prosecutors responsible for the case aren’t allowed to listen to privileged conversations between counsel and client, and if they do by accident, they know to stop and disclose it to defense counsel and the judge.  Broward County, it would appear, is unique in this regard.

Brad Weissman and Julie Vogel, the prosecutors in question, contend that Martinez consented to have his telephone conversations taped.  No doubt he did, as that’s probably the only way he could have access to a telephone.  I rather doubt though, that he consented to have conversations with his attorney taped.  In any event his defense attorney, Chris Grillo, certainly didn’t consent to that, nor would it have occurred to him that his conversations would be overheard, as it’s almost unthinkable that any ADA would be so mindbogglingly stupid as to listen in on privileged conversations between defense counsel and the man he’s trying to put away for life or execute.

Or to fail to disclose it, if he had accidentally done so, as the judge found to be the case here.  Meanwhile, jurors in Martinez’s case, who have been serving since September already, have been told to recess for two months while the judge sorts out the mess.  Martinez himself continues to rot in jail, and may get a mistrial or go free.  That would be a shame if he’s guilty, but not as much of a shame as condoning violations of his right to communicate confidentially with his attorney.

All because a couple of prosecutors didn’t watch enough television to pick up what they should have learned in law school.

More Change You Can Believe In, At Least If Unsourced Journalistic Rumors Are True

Sony is weighing whether to become a “content” developer, eschewing the company’s focus on hardware.  Among other things, that may mean that the Playstation 3 is on the gallows.

The Playstation and Playstation 2 were moneyprinting machines.  I don’t put much credence in this, but on the other hand, I’m an early adopter of almost everything, and I still havn’t felt the need to own a Blu-Ray player.  How many more tech-obsessed early adopters are also holding off?

If we are, Sony, which was once as dominant in electronics as General Motors was in cars, and which survived epic FAILs such as BetaMax and the highly touted MiniDisc, may go the way of Sega.  Here’s hoping the Nintendo Wiimobile gets good mileage and has low maintenance costs.

Via Game Politics.

You Wanted Change?

We give you change.  Specifically, Leon Panetta as Director of Central Intelligence (head of the CIA), and Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence (Intelligence “Czar” for lack of a better term), in the new Obama administration.

Both picks, on the surface, seem bizarre, while the Panetta (formerly Bill Clinton’s chief of staff) appointment leads to easy jokes about “Change.”  Panetta has no intelligence experience, while Blair, a retired admiral who was formerly commander in chief of the Pacific fleet, has not been involved in the war on terror since approximately 2002, as he was eased out due to political difficulties with Republican intelligence experts such as Donald Rumsfeld and John McCain.

But there may be method to the madness.  One thing Panetta is known for is his skill as a manager and his willingness to give brutally frank advice, something that’s been sorely lacking at the Agency for the past few years, perhaps decades depending on who one listens to.  Obviously, he hasn’t been involved with torture or extraordinary rendition (except perhaps to the extent the Clinton administration engaged in it - a dirty little secret most Democrats don’t want to think about).  The challenge for Panetta will be acquiring a background in intelligence, something he’ll have to pick up on the job.

With Blair, there’s no question of qualifications.  He ran the largest (geographically speaking) US military command, managing an organization that dwarfs all intelligence agencies combined, and which included military intelligence in its jurisdiction.  Earlier, he was a military intelligence liaison to the CIA, so he understands the Agency.  He is also a polymath, a Rhodes scholar fluent in Russian and Chinese.  (I can attest to this: in the spirit of full disclosure, while I don’t know the man, I have had a brief conversation with him, entirely in Russian.)  As a military man, he should liaise well with military intelligence, perhaps helping to bridge the divides between our numerous civilian and military intelligence establishments.

Blair’s problem will come from a minor (in my opinion) ethical lapse in which he served on the board of a corporation seeking to provide parts for the F-22 fighter jet while serving as president of an institute that advised the Pentagon on feasibility and procurement for the jet.  Though not involved in any of the decisions in question, Blair didn’t write “I recuse myself” on a piece of paper, as is preferred in such situations.  And did I mention that McCain hates him?  It should be an interesting confirmation. (Query: as an ex officio member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, will McCain have the right to sit in and question?)

One strength for Blair, in my opinion, is that during his tenure as CINCPAC Islamic terror in the Pacific and East Asia (which includes nations with large, and often radical, populations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand), was practically a nullity (with one serious exception).  Blair also seems to be of the opinion that over the past eight years our intelligence and diplomacy have completely taken the eyes off of a couple of very large, and threatening balls including Russia and China.  Witness the Russian invasion of Georgia, where American intelligence was caught flatfooted, and witness George Bush looking into Putin’s eyes and seeing his soul.  China, meanwhile, watches and waits, but in the end, while a trading partner, is far more dangerous and far more important, and yet far more useful, than any country in the Middle East.

Both choices do portend change in the national intelligence strategy.  Whether it’s a change for the better or for the worse remains to be seen.

Doctor Who Versus The Sharks

Readers of this site may be aware that I am a lifelong (well, since third grade) fan of the BBC’s epic serial science fiction program Doctor Who.  Fans of the show may be aware that David Tennant, the current actor playing the role, is stepping down at the end of an abbreviated season next year.  Doctor Who has, in its various forms, run even longer than Gunsmoke did and may be the oldest currently produced non-soap opera in television history.  In Britain, Doctor Who is the god of children and geeks, Captain Kangaroo and Captain Kirk rolled into one.  Actors playing the role change, because the Doctor, an alien Time Lord, can “regenerate” into a new form when mortally damaged or the current actor playing the Doctor fears typecasting.

After a few early bumps, I think Tennant did a fine job.  He is responsible for the second best story the show has ever produced (the best is this one), but Tennant, like most of the actors who’ve essayed Doctor Who, was an experienced actor before he took on the scarf.

Now the BBC has announced that the role is going to Matt Smith, a 26 year old actor who seems to have little experience, his most prominent role being a stage adaptation of “Swimming with Sharks.”  Good luck Mr. Smith.

It is an unfortunate fact, one to which past Doctors Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy could attest, that the BBC has a ruthless attitude toward Doctor Who and does not tolerate ratings failures lightly.  Coincidentally, according to the lore of the show, a Time Lord is limited to 12 regenerations.  The inexperienced Smith will be the 12th actor to play the character.

Hopefully Smith’s won’t be the final regeneration either for continuity or for real world business purposes, but I worry.

Second Best Twitter Evar

From a librarian who catalogs rare books.