potluck
“Past due gray” If you’re a lawyer thinking about cashing in on the new bankruptcy laws,
by offering debt-reduction services to middle class consumers (who will be trying
to avoid bankruptcy), you might want to check out the Federal Trade Commission’s
press conference “to announce three law enforcement actions targeting deceptive
and misleading debt-related services.”
Also, see my suggestions on setting fees for debt-reduction to services.
Legal Reader pointed to a column by Mike Nichols (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
March 11, 2005) deriding pro se litigants as nutcases with “decoder rings.” Nichols didn’t
seem to have any actual information or insights to offer. Maybe he could check out
SelfHelpSupport.org, and even our post last year covering New Hampshire’s Report on pro se
litigants [Challenge to Justice, Jan. 2004]. The NH Task Force had a slightly different tone
than Nichols: “They come into their court, on their own, with a conflict or change in their lives,
and they expect a resolution. That is their constitutional right. . . . Our obligation is to give these
citizens the help they want, need and deserve.”
Just because Prof. Volokh has ignored our very good advice
concerning the application of conspiracy theory to his weblog, doesn’t mean
that you should. (It’s a slow weekend, feel free to scroll down this page.)
“tinyredcheck” JurisPundit Jeremy Moore has devoted a lengthy post to the conversation
provoked by my podriahs-podcasting post yesterday. The caste of characters involved in the
e-mail thread includes Evan Schaeffer, Kevin Heller, Robert Ambrogi, Jeremy Richey, J. Craig Williams,
and George Wallace.
“easterEggF” Whenever I’m seriously considering driving to my hometown — which
is usually the day before a holiday — I think of our Honored Guest, Tom
Painting, another native son of Rochester, New York, who still lives
there.
Tom is the well-known Rochester haijin (as opposed to your editor, the
neophyte). Thus, and to wit, you get a basketful of haiku from Rochester
(can you hear those flat a’s?), while I get a 4-hour drive, during which I hope
to have a memorable haiku moment or two.
Here’s your low-fat, no-calorie Easter treat from
the shores of Lake Ontario:
the cattails
lose their heads
march wind
divorced
he finishes
his sentence
sleepless night
snow to rain
by the sound of it
For Tom, Easter means the passing of one season
and the bright start of another:
the flyswatter
hangs from a nail
winter stillness
bases loaded
a full moon clears
the right field fence
“the flyswatter,” “the cattails” & “bases loaded” from the haiku chapbook piano practice
“sleepless night” The Heron’s Nest (March 2005); “divorced” – frogpond XXVII: 2
March 26, 2005
painting my hometown
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bad hare day
More precisely: Bad for the Hare Day.
While most of us are thinking good thoughts about the Easter Bunny
and hoping to find a basketful of yummy candies in the morning, I
thought you should know that there are evil people about who are badly
abusing Easter bunnies and their non-sectarian cousins (and that’s not
even counting the rabbit stew and rabbit feet folk).
Thus, in Bay City, Michigan, on March 18, 2005, “A 13-year-old attacked
an 18-year-old portraying an Easter bunny in the center of a shopping mall,
where the costume-clad man was waiting to pose for photos with children,
authorities said.” (AP/free press, March 21, 2005)
But, that may have been a copycat crime: The day before, right here in
Schenectady County, a shopping mall Easter Bunny was also attacked.
Don’t fear, though, it seems the culprit has been apprehended::
“David C. Velasquez, 16, was charged with third-degree criminal
mischief, a felony, and second-degree harassment, a violation, for
a March 17 attack on the Rotterdam Square Mall Easter Bunny,
police in Rotterdam announced Friday.
“Police said Velasquez jumped the bunny, causing $600 in damage
to the bunny’s suit. The man inside the suit, who has not been identified,
was uninjured. Police did not give a motive for the attack.”
(Newsday, March 26, 2005, from Schenectady Gazette; and see
CapitalNews9) I’m happy to be in retirement and unavailable to represent
young Mr. Velasquez, no matter what his sad tale might be. Fedster are you
available?
As shocking those two events were (who knew you could do $600
damage to a bunny suit?), last year’s flogging of an Easter Bunny by
members of a Pennsylvania Church seems far uglier.
For a lighter treatment of man vs. bunny, see this retelling of
the Tale of Jimmy Carter and the “Killer Rabbit,” complete with
photos.
If you know someone who is thinking of buying a cute live bunny or chick as an
Easter gift, please have them read Real Animals Don’t Make Appropriate Easter Gifts
and these tips to consider. If your kids want a dog, let them practice caring for one
at virtualdog.com.
easter morning
the
sharp report
of
a handgun
good friday
the scarecrow gets
a new straw hat
ed markowski
from dagosan
giant chocolate bunny!
solid
or hollow?
when we were kids
it smelled bad —
decorating easter eggs
[March 26, 2005]
“ChocBunny” You know, you never outgrow your need for
. . . milk chocolate Easter bunnies.
I’m happy to say that Lissa & James encountered an
Easter Bunny last year, and left the poor creature intact. original photo.
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