f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

In case you’re new to f/k/a, we wanted to point out that we’re not always cranky and dissatisfied around here. Here are a few positive things we saw online today:

Prof. Mark Liberman at Language Log, while discussing

concocted debates and some nasty stereotyping of scholars

(explained by White Bear in “are academics bitchy?“), gives

us all a great reminder of what it takes to make good conver-

sation. Mark says he appreciates discussions — even if

virtual — that have “the characteristics that Russell Baker

identifies as ‘classic conversational etiquette’:”

 

“Both participants listen attentively to each other; neither

tries to promote himself by pleasing the other; both are

obviously enjoying an intellectual workout; neither spoils

the evening’s peaceable air by making a speech or letting

disagreement flare into anger; they do not make tedious

attempts to be witty.”

Mark concludes with a point that the the f/k/a Gang needs to

keep firmly in mind: “The blogging format tends to encourage

speechifying, I guess; but otherwise, the people that I respect

come out pretty well according to this standard of evaluation.”

 

 

Linda Greenhouse reports on a much less argumentative and less

stressful tone at the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts

(NYT, “In the Roberts Court, More Room for Argument,” May 3, 2006)

The justices are so much more patient with counsel and eachother

in court sessions, that: Practitioner Carter G. Phillips notes “You have

to be ready now to make some kind of affirmative presentation” in the

opening minutes of an argument, he said.

 

 

While we’ve been lamenting the failure of leading politicians to call

for energy conservation, it is very good to see that consumers (at least

the ones who can afford to buy or lease a new car) are doing something

about it: See Washington Post, “Car Buyers Scaled Down Last Month:

With Gas Prices Soaring, Small Cars Trump SUVs,” (May 3, 2006):

“Consumers reacted sharply to rising gasoline prices last month

and turned away from large sport-utility vehicles and other trucks

in favor of small cars and gas-electric hybrid vehicles.”

The Vatican, in what is clearly a gracious act of charity and

other-check-turning, is doing everything it can to make the movie

version of the book The DaVinci Code a huge success. (Reuters/Yahoo!,

“Boycott DaVinci Code film”: top Vatican Official, April 28, 2006) [Ed. note:

Prof Yabut snuck this blurb into this post.]

amazon.com DaVinci Code Store

If you came here today hoping to improve your lawyering at depositions,

while thoroughly enjoying yourself, you win: learn about court reporter

Lucius Friedli in Jacob Stein’s latest “legal spectator” column for the

Washington Lawyer Magazine (May 2006). Weblogger heads-up: you’ll

find lots of quotable material in Stein’s column (as usual).

 

 

update (May 3, 10 PM): This is too good to wait until tomorrow: You can get a

sneak peak of “Antitrust in the USA, A Primer,” by Albert Foer, president of the

American Antitrust Institute, at the AAI website (AAI Working Paper No. 06-04,

May 3, 2006). The Working Paper is a draft chapter in a book to be published by the

Indian consumer organization CUTS – CCIER (Consumer Unity & Trust Society

— Centre for Competition, Investment and Economic Regulation), to be titled

Competition Regimes of the World – A Civil Society Report (Pp 670, Rs.1500/

US$150, ISBN 81-8257-064-6). The book “is a compilation that maps out com-

petition regimes around the world from the civil society perspective.” It covers

more than 100 countries. (brochure)

 

“quotemarksRS”

Foer’s 12-page (pdf.) AAI Working Paper provides an introductory overview of

antitrust in the U.S.A. [You can find annotated links to many other antitrust

primers in the AAI’s Guide to Antitrust Resources on the Web, at its Primers

Page].

 

 

 

 

spring rain
a bruise on my arm
from donating blood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lengthening shadows
a stray dog
joins the picnic

 

 

 

 

 

cherry blossoms
today the courage
to speak to her

 

 

 

 

 

almost dusk
an open door
to the lighthouse

 

 

 

long shadows
many places
to cross the creek

 

 

paul m from The Heron’s Nest

“sping rain” (April 2004)

“lengthening shadows” – (May 2004)

“cherry blossoms” (April 2003)

“long shadows” (Dec. 2003)

“almost dusk” (Dec. 2003)