Category: Current Events

THE WALK AND THE TALK

NOVEMBER 28, 2020 – Yesterday, as I approached the entrance to “Little Switzerland” (a nearby hilly park) and my daily hike, I saw a couple walking toward me up the sidewalk. To maintain social distancing, I hurried to reach the break-away point before the other two walkers. As I peeled into the closest “canton,” the …

AMEWRECKA

NOVEMBER 17, 2020 – On my walk yesterday evening I encountered a neighbor. In the cold air we stopped—about 20 feet from each other—to chat. The conversation started out with a light-hearted exchange of pleasantries but soon turned dark, as nightfall consumed the dusk and our conversation switched to . . . politics. We grappled …

THE “ACKNOWLEDGMENT KEY”

OCTOBER 29, 2020 – In the aftermath of Trump’s upset victory in 2016, people struggled to explain Trump’s draw. Misogyny and racism were among the explanations, which were indictments of the “deplorables” who voted for the Orange Man. But the more empathetic among reasonable people reached for a deeper explanation: folks who’d been “left behind” …

POLICY MATTERS: POLICY MATTERS!

OCTOBER 22, 2020 – Last night I finished reading Barbara Tuchman’s Stilwell and the American Experience in China – 1911 to 1945 (See my 9/3/20 post).  Her thesis: America’s wartime policy toward China was a failure, and the outcome would’ve been more beneficial to our long-term interests had we not continued to back “G-mo”—Generalissimo Chiang …

“LIGHTEN UP!”

AUGUST 30, 2020 – Last Thursday I drove home from the Red Cabin to host on our back porch, my five-member, monthly book club gathering. Soon after pulling into the driveway, however, I had to cancel—curfews had been ordered to prevent another night of looting. I stayed for two days to catch up on things. …

TIME TO RE-THINK

AUGUST 25, 2020 – By now we’ve all heard about The Contagion on college campuses. I’d hate to be among administrators right now. No matter what they do, they’ll be yelled at, maybe worse, when this is over. Atop news about Covid outbreaks and quarantines on campuses, we’re told about frat parties, beer bashes, and …

DYSTOPIA

JULY 22, 2020 – Yesterday I watched a webinar on advising start-ups about cyber security.  Like any cyber security consultant, the presenter scared the crap out of her audience.  I’d sat through such sessions before and was generally aware of the perils associated with security breaches. But one needs a periodic reminder that one’s devices …

DIFFERENCE

JULY 8, 2020 – Among my required triennial continuing legal education credits are two regarding “elimination of bias.” To satisfy this requirement I recently attended a webinar entitled, “The Impact of Bias in Negotiations and Mediation” by Nina Meierding, a nationally acclaimed expert. I hung on every word. Back in the day, “old school” lawyers …

THE SEVENTH SEAL

JUNE 27, 2020 – The more our world seems to descend into chaos, the more I descend into . . . a study of history. Currently I’m still working with the Renaissance, but that period keeps pulling me back to the Middle Ages and pushing me forward into the Reformation.  No matter where I land, …

SEQUEL (TO “MY RUN-IN WITH THE COPS”)

JUNE 22, 2020 – In my first year of practice, I handled “misdemeanor prosecutions” under my firm’s contract with a small suburb. Most cases involved traffic violations, though occasionally a bar scofflaw produced disorderly conduct charges. I usually negotiated deals but drove harder bargains in DUI cases. Several went to trial, which I relished for …

MY RUN-IN WITH THE COPS

JUNE 21, 2020 – Current anti-police sentiment reminds me of my own run-in with the cops eight years ago. My clients were the board members of a local mosque. They were battling a faction that had been previously ousted. My people—the “good guys”—were smart, reliable, educated, and struggling hard to make something of themselves here …