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Interesting Reading 2011-03-20

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  • Google search for bdp gaslighting - From the movie gaslight, telling someone over and over that reality is not what really happened, causing them to question their sanity.

Caterpillar Drive Submarine

  • Mentioned in "The Hunt For Red October" - The film adaptation of The Hunt for Red October popularized the magnetohydrodynamic drive as a "caterpillar drive" for submarines, an undetectable "silent drive" intended to achieve stealth in submarine warfare. In reality, the current traveling through the water would create gases and noise, and the magnetic fields would induce a detectable magnetic signature. In the novel, of which the movie was an adaptation, the caterpillar was a pumpjet.
  • Site from an inventor claiming to have invented water powered motor - http://sites.google.com/site/waterpoweredengines/HPWPE
  • Magneto Hydrodynamic Drive - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetohydrodynamic_drive
    • Although some working prototypes exist, MHD drives remain impractical and exist mostly in the world of science fiction.
    • In 1991, another prototype, the Yamato 1, was completed in Japan by the Ship & Ocean Foundation (later known as the Ocean Policy Research Foundation). The ship was first successfully propelled in Kobe harbour in June 1992. Yamato 1 is propelled by two MHD thrusters that run without any moving parts

Toys I would like to have

Readynas storage

  • $599 diskless - http://www.frys.com/product/6506283?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
    The RNDU4000 is Netgear's newest 4-Bay multimedia desktop storage system with both NAS and iSCSI SAN support. It provides 2X the performance of the current NV+ models (over 80 MB/s), X-RAID2 automatic volume expansion, secure drag-and-drop remote access (ReadyNAS Remote), optional online backup and recovery service (ReadyNAS Vault), and RAID 0/1/5 for data protection. It will also include some new software applications from TiVo, Orb and Skifta.
  • Notes:
    • While copying from a SNAP server to an NVX, saw a maximum throughput of 9MB/sec
    • Copying from NVX to itself, not much faster
    • Passing through Netgear Fast Ethernet Switch FS105 10/100MB - 100MB on both devices. - In this context, it means 100 MBits/sec, windows shows Megabytes per second.

http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&query_string=readynas&cat=0

Some less expensive options:

Requirements

4 Hot Swappable HDD in a small 8 inch high
desktop design (2 HDD included, 2 open slots
for future expansion)

HDD are initialized and system is pre-configured
in X-RAID mode for immediate use

X-RAID™ technology plus RAID 0, 1, 5

Legal articles

  • Warning signs about who you choose as a client
    From the American Bar Association Journal, November 2010

    http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/warning_signs/

    Unless you have a very sheltered career, you’re going to end up dealing with a prospective client who is, as New Britain, Conn., lawyer Adrian Baron puts it, “a few pages short of a legal brief.”
    Baron, who writes most days at the Nutmeg Lawyer blog, recently ruminated about the red flags that help him recognize when he might be getting into a bad attorney-client relationship...
    "Key tells for me are such words as my first lawyer and conspiracy. I look at the degree of anger manifested and the overall attitude of the prospective client, references to the opposition as “all crooks.” Strangely, I have found that--almost universally-school-teachers at any level are difficult to deal with. (They are always vested with superior wisdom and are always right.)" --JHSLAW

  • Lack of Ellipses Leads to Public Reprimand for Massachusetts Lawyer - link
    • Example of what it is like to be in a paralegal program

      Papa Bear
      Mar 9, 2011 11:54 AM CDT
      Please tell me that law students are required to take courses in which they prepare briefs which are corrected for proper form, grammar and punctuation. I know law school is post-grad and the writing should be learned in HS and under-grad programs. I also know from my paralegal courses that many bachelor’s level grads simply can’t write for crap!
      A lawyer who can’t write well isn’t going to get much respect from the courts. I’d be one pissed off lawyer if I got through law school only to find out I wasn’t taught proper legal writing!
      I’m in a paralegal program and I had to write two appellate briefs in legal writing - one for each point of view. Then there is civil procedure and litigation.
      Between civil procedure and civil litigation classes, we actually did the correspondence and pleadings for both sides all the way from retainer agreements to appeal as if handling an actual case. In procedure, sem.1, we learned all of the rules and formats. In litigation, sem. 2, we put it all to work with substantially shorter filing deadlines than real life. It was a really fun 32 weeks!
      I would hope lawyers are doing at least this much in law school, although I’ve heard from both attorneys for whom I’ve worked and instructor-attorneys that this isn’t the situation.

    • fake one-sentence movie reviews Sony got busted for a few years ago.
  • Michigan Atty Gen. backs student who refused to counsel gay patients link
    • Former graduate student Julea Ward, of Eastern Michigan University, contends she could not counsel a gay client because of her religious beliefs that homosexuality is immoral, according to AnnArbor.com and the Detroit Free Press. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has filed an amicus brief in her case, pending before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati.
    • Reader comment: The attorney general made the right call. Anyone in the student’s position should have the right of conscience to opt out of providing advice in a situation with which they don’t agree. This is similar to doctors not having to form abortions if they don’t want to do so.
    • Another reader agreed:

      Agree w/JDJ #5. It’s not like a store or hotel refusing service, the therapeutic relationship is much more personal. Assuming she’s not refusing to be their therapist because they’re gay, but she’s refusing because her own personal beliefs make it impossible to have a good therapeutic relationship, she’s serving the prospective patients’ best interests. Same result, but motivation is different.
      Alternatively, I suppose she could say to every gay prospective patient, “As your therapist I am obliged to tell you that I think your behaviour is morally wrong and it offends me, but if you’re willing to work with me despite that I’m happy to be your therapist”?!
      I recall from a discussion of this from a therapist point of view at the time, it was rightly pointed out that any therapist who because of personal beliefs is unable to counsel someone is obligated not to counsel that person. For instance, if an atheist therapist felt unable to effectively counsel a devoutly religious patient, or vice versa, it would be unprofessional to try and “force” the therapeutic relationship. Someone who was a rape victim might feel uanble to effectively counsel a rape victim, obviously not because of any value judgment, but because of the duty to the patient to provide an effective therapeutic relationship. Etc.
      Some/many labor lawyers restrict their practice to union-side or management-side, for a variety of reasons. Many lawyers restrict their scope of practice at least in part out of duty to clients (not to practice in an area in which they are not competent), etc. Other professionals may have their own someone because of their life experiences or beliefs might feel unable to effectively counsel someone

    • Contrarian: Our freedoms of religion grant us the right to believe what we want and to not infringe on that belief. It does not guarantee me the right to perform any job I want, or to graduate from a program where I skip part of the coarse work. Being a counselor means you abide by the current medical science on the issue. This includes that homosexuality is not horrible and wrong or icky, but a natural part of human evolution. By saying “My religion prevents me from treating homosexuals as equals” she is denying the current medical science and the basis of her course work. This is no different then an earth science major demanding they get an A on their the earth is only 6000 year old essay. Once a student has turned their back on the proven coarse work they can no long expect to pass that class. If she wants to peruse her religions faith and counsel people she is free to become a minster, she is not free to become a licensed care worker.
      • But forcing doctors or other treating professionals to treat people with whom they have significant moral qualms about treating is bad policy because it leads to bad outcomes. There’s a reason why doctors can’t be forced to treat Medicaid patients (beyond emergency care). The courts and the legislature understand that the doctors will cut corners and do crappy jobs with patients that they don’t want to treat.
  • Law student to launch reverse auction site link
    • Shpoonkle, a playfully named website that allows attorneys and law firms to bid on legal requests submitted by clients.
    • On his New York criminal defense blog Simple Justice, Scott Greenfield said, “Any lawyer who signs up for this service should be immediately disbarred, then tarred and feathered, then publicly humiliated.” Calling the site the “eBay of lawyering,” Greenfield argues the service will lower the integrity of the legal profession.
    • Law students are excited about Shpoonkle, while experienced lawyers who charge hundreds of dollars an hour “don’t believe in the idea,” he said. “I would think lawyers would be happy.”
    • Alternatives: Numerous reverse auction websites for legal services--such as Tip-Mart and LawyerQuotesFast.com, which was also known as LawyersForLess.com--have launched in the past, Robert Ambrogi wrote at his LawSites blog. “If we have forgotten them, it is because they failed.”
  • ABAJournal.com post last year described how many in the middle class are stuck in legal limbo because they make too much money to qualify for legal aid, but not enough to afford an attorney. link
    • “You can hardly find a lawyer who charges less than $150 per hour, which is out of reach for most people," University of Southern California law professor Gillian Hadfield tells the Wall Street Journal.
    • The Wall Street Journal interviewed former law professor Laurence Tribe, who heads the U.S. Justice Department's Access to Justice Initiative. “The problem is growing for the middle class," he said.
      • “The whole system of justice in America is broken,” Tribe said. “The entire legal system is largely structured to be labyrinthine, inaccessible, unusable.” link
      • Reader comments:

        The problem is that many pro se litigants don’t see the value in paying for legal services until after they’ve lost in court. Even if lawyers lower their rates to $25 or $50/hour, some of these people would not want to (or cannot afford to) pay. The reality is that lawyers have to make a living so it cannot be all pro bono work. We need to educate the public about this reality - lawyers are expected to give more free services than doctors or any other professionals. How many nurses, physical therapists, accountants, or police officers do pro bono? How many teachers tutor for free after school nowadays? Yet, lawyers who spend a lot more money and time to get (and keep) our credentials give many hours of pro bono assistance. Lawyers are stressed out and financially strapped as well.

        • However, the distaste of the American public for hiring expert or professional help for anything, and particularly in hiring an attorney, rings true. After three years as a juvenile court public defender, I can tell you definitively that most people won’t even pay $25 for unlimited legal representation. It seems to be part of the Do It Yourself value system of our country that prevents people from consulting anyone who charges for professional skills, from plumbers to doctors.

        • I am a solo practitioner with specialized education and credentials and I do A LOT of pro bono work. I have done so much pro bono work that I have won community awards for it. I drive a 10 year old car, do not have cable or satellite TV, have a small house and do my own house and yard work.
          I say this because I think this article and the discussion about the affordability of legal services is yet one more form of lawyer bashing. The “middle-class” folks who ask (no demand) that I do legal services for them could afford legal services if they actually valued my services. They will pay $200 a month for a cell phone, $150 a month for cable, drive a brand new car with $500 a month car payments and live in a house that is bigger than they can afford and a payment to match. These are the foreclosure folks I see. If they had my cell phone plan, got rid of cable and drove a car like mine they would have $800 a month to pay their legal fees. (Honestly, they wouldn’t need a lawyer because they wouldn’t be in the serious trouble they are when they come to me.) Instead they come to me and whine about how they need free legal services.

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