The bad news: Today, I seem to have the attention-span of most
of my former (alleged) juvenile delinquent clients. As a result,
I’ve labored long — way too long — and am posting late.
The good news: You get a variety of (almost) one-breath
punditry.
Throughout my life, some of the nastiest words I’ve ever heard
were prefaced with “don’t take this personal” or “it’s only business, not
when he says, regarding the fight against the Miers’ nomination: “For my
part, it was always business, not personal. It was a matter of principle.”
Steve seems worried about offending his usual allies and says, “Here’s
hoping we’ll be on the same side of the next round.” For whatever my two
cents is worth, I say:
When you get mean and nasty, or gleefully link to
the poison pixels of others on the Net, you are getting
personal — especially when it comes to the collateral
damage done to individuals such as Harriet Miers. A good
rule of thumb: Mean is personal — even if the topic is
business (and since neo-cons hate anything in the middle,
it should be easy to avoid mean). Another good guideline:
Would you want your ten-year-old to read what you just wrote
about another human being?
“spiltwine” My NYS Attorney re-registration papers arrived in the mail
today. Inside was an insert about the NY Lawyer Assistance Trust.
It’s a good reminder to all lawyers and law students that there is plenty
of help out there for those who are struggling with alcohol or substance
abuse. The insert contains this helpful Questionnaire to help one
determine if she or he has a substance abuse problem. It being ADD
Friday, however, I want to make a much less lofty point. Hey, LAT,
reword the very first question, please. It asks:
1. Are my peers, friends or family alleging that my drinking
or drug use is interfering with my work? [emphasis added]
Is somebody trying to sound like a lawyer? “Allege?” Most of my “peers,
friends or family” eschew that “a”-word when discussing my actual
or probable flaws. When not “asking about” them, they tend to assert
or assault — they don’t worry about reasonable doubt and constitutional
rights.
Lying under oath: I don’t know if Lewis “Scooter” Libby is guilty
as charged (although every indication seems to be that he is). But,
I do believe that lying under oath is a very serious crime, no matter
the subject. We can usually assume politicians will distort the truth
when it is advantageous to do so. But, they have no leeway to do so
under oath. Which is why I supported impeaching Bill Clinton, despite
my party and political leanings.
The Ag-nonymous Editor of Blawg Review, wrote to me overnight,
concerned that I might not know the origin of one of my favorite words,
Agita: Heartburn, acid indigestion, an upset stomach or, by
extension, a general feeling of upset. The word is Italian-American
slang derived from the Italian “agitare” meaning “to agitate.”
That launched me on a lengthy tangent, in which I discovered a fuller
and fun discussion of agita at The Word Detective, which includes:
You won’t find “agita” in most dictionaries, although it is a
quintessential Italian-American slang word. Strictly speaking,
“agita” is a stomach upset or heartburn. But “agita” can also
mean that special kind of existential dyspepsia of the soul you
get when absolutely everything goes wrong. Comedian Jackie
Mason has explained “agita” as “when you have been aggravated
to the point where it feels like you have a serious migraine headache
throughout your whole body.” “Agita” is thus more or less the Italian-
American equivalent of the Yiddish “tsuris” (“misery”), an equation
not lost on Woody Allen, who made a song about “agita” the center-
piece of his 1984 film “Broadway Danny Rose.”
From The Word Detective, I careened around the Web, until I found lyrics to
one of the many ditties within Broadway Danny Rose about agita. I believe
they will help elucidate the concept:
“Agita“
(by Nick Apollo Forte)
Una two!
Agita
My gumba in the banzone
When I eat, he gets a treat
Like a canzone
He enjoys every meal
Every bite that I steal
Agita
My gumba in the banzone
Za da da da da|boom cha boom cha
Za da da dum|cha boom cha boom
Some people like their pizza,|some people like-a suffrite
And others like hot pepper|on everything they eat
You’ll hunger with a vuole|to taste that baccala
Then all at once you think,|”Will I answer to gumba?”
Ba ba ba ba bum|cha cha dum
Ba ba ba ba bum|cha cha dum
My lovely, lovely woman,|I hate to see her cry
But when I start to mangia,|I get the evil eye
My vuole’s getting stronger
Ah, the hell with my gumba
Then I get it from my woman,|che da botts a na sciatta
Agita
My gumba in the banzone
When I eat, he gets a treat
Like a canzone
He enjoys every meal
Every bite that I steal
Agita
My gumba in the banzone
Za da da dum|cha boom cha boom
Cornyn) say:
“Personal injury lawyer advertisements often use misleading,
inflammatory, and baseless claims to recruit plaintiffs to join
lawsuits. These deceptive claims can confuse and scare
consumers into thinking they have been harmed. This is
particularly a problem when irresponsible ads targeting
healthcare services and providers scare patients, causing
them to stop necessary treatments before consulting with
their physicians.”
“We urge the FTC to create stricter guidelines for disclosures
on personal injury lawyer advertisements.”
We’re not impressed. Beyond the fact that it is mostly a matter for
State enforcement, the f/k/a gang is pretty sure the FTC Act already
is more than strong enough to combat actual misleading, deceptive
and baseless claims. Like SoL, however, we do urge consumers
to talk to their doctors before stopping a medication featured in a
lawyer’s advertisement.
One of which invited you to enjoy a sneak preview of the Nov. 2005
edition of roadrunner haiku journal V:4. For now, I’ll just say it has
haiku from well over a dozen excellent haiku poets (and even from
that guy who keeps taking credit for dagosan‘s workproduct).
Here are two one-liners from Roadrunner V: 4 by jim kacian:
after the ambulance sirens still there
orig.
different again tonight the same stars’ wobble
from dagosan:
just baked my first pie –
not one poker face
in the whole darn family
[Oct. 28, 2005]
“tinyredcheck” Until some publisher is smart enough to collect and publish
the work of haijin Roberta Beary, I’m gonna to encore a few of
my favorites:
autumn breeze
the new smell
of my red jacket
school photo
the frown my sister
grew into
far from home
an empty swing
half my size
“school photo” – penumbra 2004 haiku contest, hon. men]
“far from home”: (for Anita Virgil) in Frogpond XIX:3 (1996)
