November 2011
56 posts
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Remember how I complained about how confusing this statement was and how the NYT didn’t explain it?
Good news! NPR did.
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“The Fed, the E.C.B., the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan...”
– The New York TImes’s news alert informing me that six central banks did… something. Look, NYT, I’m not saying you have to speak to me like I’m in third grade, but as someone who makes an effort to stay up on news and could actually tell you what collaterized debt obligations...
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“Advocates of the “p.c. egalitarianism” theory, such as Andrew,...”
– I love Andrew Sullivan, and I also love watching Ta-Nehisi Coates completely take him down, as above.
Also, Andrew - pc egalitarianism? Seriously?
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“I don’t want to live in a fucking commune. I don’t want to blow shit up. I want...”
– Max Berger, an Occupy Wall Street organizer, quoted in John Heilemann’s really phenomenal New York Magazine story explaining OWS. I highly recommend reading the whole thing.
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“The SEC gets to claim that it is exposing wrongdoing on the part of the Bank of...”
– Judge Rakoff of the Southern District of New York, in an opinion released today. The SEC sued Citigroup for securities fraud, and the SEC and Citi proposed a settlement of 285 million where Citi neither admits nor denies wrongdoing.
Rakoff appears to have quite a bit of disdain for this...
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What happens when your CivPro prof worked at a...
CivPro Prof: The facts of this case are just a plaintiff's lawyer's dream - they're just beautiful - the guy had his grandkids in the back seat! Think about their emotional distress and the likelihood they'd be harmed!
Class: *silence*
CivPro Prof: Deposing kids, though - I had to depose a six-year-old once, and it was -
Class: *audible gasp*
CivPro Prof: Oh relax. We gave him some candy. And they got a huge settlement.
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Big Banks Got Trillion Dollar Secret Loans →
I doubt any successful lawsuits will come out of this. Certainly not any private lawsuits. Problem is that for there to be a lawsuit there has to be injury. Stockholders who bought or owned stock during the time period have to prove that they were harmed because the bank executives lied, and they were actually probably helped by the lies. Usually the way you prove harm in securities fraud cases is...
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“In Britain, even the satirical weekly Private Eye has weighed in, proposing last...”
– NYT. Well, you can mark it - this is the point where the unthinkable becomes the inevitable.
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My sister, grandpa, and dad all sent me this link.... →
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I'm starting to think the kid of someone on the... →
Because this is getting ridiculous.
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Once more, only more vague
There’s a line in this really famous case (International Shoe v. Washington) where the court says that a court may take personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant if defendant has “sufficient minimum contacts” with the state and if the suit does not offend “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.”
Okay, so a couple of things.
1. What the...
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“You really do need to wear makeup. Sorry. Keep your makeup understaed and...”
– - From a workshop given by Duke University Law School’s Career and Professional Development Office and Women Law Students Association. Excuse me, I’m now going to go screech about how a) law students (even women law students) are not morons and will almost certainly shower prior to going...
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“I said to his physician assistant, I said, ‘That sounds foreign’—not that I had...”
– Herman Cain, telling an audience at a Christian-themed amusement park about his battle with cancer and the concerns he had upon learning that his doctor’s name was “Dr. Abdallah.” (via officialssay)
Cain is just lucky I wasn’t that physicians assistant, because my “don’t...
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“President Obama consistently polls ahead of every Republican candidate for...”
– Democratic Pollsters Write the Same ‘Obama Shouldn’t Run for Reelection’ Op-Ed Every Year
Jamelle Bouie calls Schoen and Caddell’s piece “The Worst Political Column of All Time,” and correctly points out that “Patrick Caddell and Doug Schoen have built a name for themselves as ‘Fox News Democrats’...
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Good Ole Question-As-Argument
CivPro Prof: And what is the court's rationale here?
Student: Well, it's based on Merrell Dow theoretically, but -
CivPro Prof: Theoretically?
Student: Yeah, well, isn't the court really just changing its test? And overturning Merrell Dow? Aren't they really just doing what seems more fair to them? Is there really any good rationale?
CivPro Prof: *pause*
Student: I mean, isn't it the case that judges are just figuring out what seems most fair to them and then coming up with reasoning for it, and so it makes sense that their rationale might change?
CivPro Prof: Are you asking me if all law is just judges making it all up?
Student: Well - I mean -
CivPro Prof: Don't back down now! Make your argument!
Student: Yeah, I guess that's my question.
CivPro Prof: I think that's your point, actually, not a question.
Student: Fine. Yes, I think all law is just judges making things up.
CivPro Prof: Welcome to law school!
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In Which the NYT Continues Its Attempt to Convince... →
Some of this is undoubtedly true. On the other hand, I’m a little confused as to how so many law students graduate without real world experience. Most law schools have clinics, where you basically practice law under the supervision of real attorneys, and pretty much everyone holds a legal job during the summer.
This is, though, one of the reasons I love that one of my professors just left...
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New York Times auto-refreshing liveblog of the N17... →
So this is important.
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“Look folks, law school exam fact patterns, much like people, can pretty much...”
– - The absolutely inimitable and delightful Professor Volk, at a here’s-how-to-take-law-school-exams talk for 1Ls
I’m telling you, the professors at this school are not #1 for nothing.
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“The enforcement action you are requesting raises serious First Amendment and...”
– A letter from the National Lawyers Guild representing the Occupy Wall Street Protestors to New York City counsel. The only problem is NLG isn’t quite sure how First Amendment applies to these public private spaces, nor whether these rules are content-agnostic. This is a fascinating legal...
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It shouldn't be this hard. →
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Handy ProPublica explainer re: extent to which... →
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Good News!
So guys, if you ever either:
1. Are injured on Illinois government-owned property that is intended or permitted to be used recreationally, and willful and wanton conduct may be the proximate cause* of your injury, and you want to sue, but are concerned about the Tort Immunity Act,
OR
2. You break into a city hall (or a handful of other government-buildings) to save homeless people from freezing...
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They should rename law school "At the Margins"
CivPro Prof: *provides interesting hypothetical fact pattern*
Student: *pause* Does anyone actually think about this? Like, in real life?
CivPro Prof: Course not. This is what people think about in law school.
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“The C.I.A.’s so-called “vengeful librarians” — a secret team of analysts armed...”
– The C.I.A. Has a Special Twitter and Facebook Unit — Daily Intel (via lolololori)
Hm. Maybe I’m way off here, but I think when you invite an AP reporter into your CIA unit and provide her with on-the-record interviews, the unit becomes not-so-secret. On the Media talked with the reporter...
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Something about this is weird, right?
Doesn’t it seem off that Perry’s campaign would be derailed by the fact that he forgot the name of one of three cabinet level offices he wants to get rid of rather than the fact that he wants to get rid of *three cabinet level offices*?
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WatchThis is just utterly delightful to watch.
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“The biggest threat to Romney, I think, is his hair.”
– The New Yorker
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Eggshell skull rule: "It doesn't matter if they're...
legal-savvy:
How my friend explains it.
Funny, that’s also how my torts professor explains it!
I'm trying to understand Penn State students...
On the one hand, because he kept his mouth shut kids were horrifically traumatized, raped, and assaulted.
On the other hand, Penn State did pretty well with him at the helm.
Yeah, sorry, students. Not even close. You’ll regret protesting this (I hope).
“I know, I agree with you about the distribution of wealth and all that - I’m in...”
– An extremely elderly woman on the train is having an extremely earnest conversation with some Occupiers. They are perhaps not the best and brightest representatives of the movement but she is being very patient with them.
I like living in a place where it’s so acceptable to talk to strangers on...
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“Since so much has already been written by our sister circuits about the issues...”
– - The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, upholding the government’s motion to dismiss a facial challenge to the Affordable Care Act. Pro-tip: if a court says it will be “sparing in adding to the production of paper” instead of saying it will “be brief,” it’s probably...
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Notes Quotes
I’m deep in outlining/review mode now, and I have written some truly nonsensical things over the semester:
“SCOTUS says, ‘Look, Notebeart only said he did something illegal ONCE. He said he didn’t do something illegal lots of times. Lots of time > once.”
“Baxter thinks this judge applies res ipsa willy-nilly. Who does that?”
“Note: may be what...
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“If this case is confusing to you, it’s because the court is doing justice,...”
– My contracts prof
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Boehner Attacks Obama on Jobs, Defends GOP on... →
theoval:
Huntsman: Romney running for the ‘waffle house’
Boehner: Obama Waging Class Warfare
Hutchison: We Need the Super Committee to Succeed
Read More
Oh, he’s going to attack Obama on JOBS? That’s shocking. I was thinking he might go after his Oval Office redecoration skills.
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“The ranks of America’s poorest poor have climbed to a record high - 1 in...”
– The AP. It’s rough out there, folks.
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An Open Letter to Planet Money →
