Not a Potted Plant

John Howard Griffin asks:

What is your (general/specific) advice to a person-of-color who finds themselves enmeshed in the U.S. legal system (on either/both sides), in regards to choosing counsel? Specifically, advice on choosing counsel; how do you get the best, considering your (less than perfect) circumstances.

And, a follow up:

Is your advice different, in regards to civil v. criminal? Are there any differences for different states (assuming a State case)?

Of the many good questions my solicitation brought out, this one has to be my favorite. It’s a topic that since I started looking at the bench as a career option I’ve become quite sensitive to. People who don’t look like me don’t look at the institutions in which I work the same way I do. People whose skin is darker than mine don’t trust the legal system as much as I do — they assume that it is biased against them and their experiences within the system are both seen through that lens and tend to reinforce that assumption. Which is the cause and which is the effect is a question I will leave for others to consider. For my purposes, it’s a phenomenon that exists.

The big issue for a person of color is, given the presumption that the system is biased against her, how can she find someone within that system that she can trust? So in part, I’m translating this question to something that is probably to a degree universal-izable: how do I find a lawyer I trust? But I’ll return to the particular issue of a person of color towards the end of the essay. Continue Reading →

One of the first things I learned about the extreme cold is that stuff stops working in it. Camera batteries die. Old cars refuse to start up and our new car gets nine miles to the gallon. The power jack in my car doesn’t effectively charge the bluetooth earpiece I put in there. Cigarette lighters stop working. Pay-at-the-pump stops working. Cell phones randomly turn off. You just can’t count on anything in the Great Blue Outside.

Back when I lived in the South, it was a really big deal whether the temperature would go below freezing and stay there for the better part of three or more days. It happened every other year or so. When it did happen, it would kill off most of the fleas that tortured our poor pets. If it didn’t, it would mean more scratching for them and more work for us.

I used to think that below a certain temperature, cold was cold. Once you hit, I dunno, twenty degrees or so, then it was mostly a matter of humidity and wind. I mean, how cold can it really get?

Our jaunt in Arapaho has taught me different. At twenty, you don’t want to stay out very long because you will get uncomfortable. At zero, you don’t want to stay outside very long because it will be painful. At ten below, it’s painful almost from the get-go. You just don’t want to go out at all. The whole town goes relatively silent. Places remain open, but the community just kind of retreats into itself, for the most part.

It reminds me a little bit of Gulf Coast summers. Except that Gulf Coast summers don’t seem as bad.

When I first moved up north, I told myself that at least with cold weather, you can keep putting layers on. If you tried to find the appropriate level of clothing for southern summer, you’d be arrested for public indecency (or you’d be Robbie Williams in this music video). That may be true if I would bite the bullet and order long johns. Given my odd dimensions (I’m tall, but with normal legs and a long torso), that would be a task.

I am proud of myself for one thing. I have a bucket hat that was too large (which, given my substantial cranial endowment, is impressive). I have a headwarmer that I don’t like how it looks. But I can put the bucket hat over the headwarmer and it creates something workable. The next step is to be able to wear a mask without fogging up my glasses. For my toes, however, and for my hands, there is no cure. On the latter part, the cold actually coopts my gloves and rather than keeping the head in, it simply acts as a cold blanket around my hands.

I have come to understand what northern transplants meant when they would say, “At least down here, you don’t have to shovel snow!” How much work could that be, I asked. It turns out, a lot. I understand how people can die doing it. The snow had started falling before we got back from our trip down south, but fortunately someone took care of it for us. The first day back, and every day since, I’ve been out there shovelling the sidewalk and freezing my toes off. Legally, we don’t have to shovel it until the snow stops and since the snow has been non-stop, I am theoretically okay. However, I learned the hard way two winters ago that if you don’t take care of it after it falls, it starts packing in, freezing on itself, and becoming much tougher.

This winter we have it easy. We were told to vacate the garage the week after Lain was born. We figured if we weren’t going to have the garage, we’d just park out front. Which is really handy because we have a winding driverway that I no longer have to shovel. So, that’s a victory at least.

Of course, when we got home from our trip, our heater was broken. The house was freezing. But then it would work sporadically. Basically, it would work when the serviceman was here and then stop working ten minutes after he’d leave. This happened three times until we determined that it was a part that was burning out when it was kept on “too long.”

Back home, if you are a landlord, you can be held civilly or even criminally liable if you do not have air conditioning in a unit you are renting out for certain months of the year. Up here, of course, it’s heat. The house we will be moving into doesn’t have air conditioning. Nor did our house back in the Pacific Northwest. But all of them have heat, I can tell you that. As do we now, when the repair man fortunately found a replacement part double-quick.

Clancy will be returning to work, and I will be at home alone with the baby for 10-15 hours.

Gulp.

Kolohe asks:

If the over/under for new US Constitutional amendments ratified by 2050 is 1.5, do you take the over or the under?

I’ll take the under. If the over/under by 2050 were .5, I’d still take the under. An actuary will tell you that my life expectancy is such that 2050 is getting into the neighborhood of when I can expect to kick it. On this score, then, I expect that I will never see a Twenty-Eighth Amendment. There is simply not enough consensus needed on anyting to reach the supermajority necessary to amend the Constitution, nor any reasonable likelihood of such a supermajority forming.

I hear lots of talk from the right side of the aisle about using the constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, ban abortions, and so on. But those are partisan ploys and more to the point, they are substantive lawmaking. As far as I can tell, this is big talk intended to use the Supreme Court as a whipping boy for fundraising purposes, and even the proponents of these policy positions aren’t particularly serious about them but rather are rhetorically venting the white-hot passion for the righteousness of their positions.

The only foreseeable amendment I can even conceive of as having a realistic chance of even making it to the floor of Congress for debate is repealing the Electoral College and selecting future Presidents with a first-past-the-post popular vote. And that won’t pass because every time such a proposal is made, the question will be “Will this advantage the Republicans or the Democrats?” and then the party that thinks it’ll be on the losing end of that equation will oppose it, and each party controls about 40% of the electorate, and therefore enough votes in Congress and in state legislatures to block an amendment.

Oh, I suppose something amazing or awful might happen between now and then. One or the other party might break up. We might all realize that we’re all Americans and hold hands and sing a song together while amending the Constitution to elimiante filibusters or something. We might go to war and need to change things. But based on what I can see, what I can predict, I’ll have died (hopefully of old age) before the Constitution is ever amended again.

Mike Dwyer asks:

What’s your go-to dish to cook when trying to impress someone?

To impress someone with food, you need three things. First, it has to have visual appeal. Second, it needs to be something that they can compare your food to, so go classic instead of exotic. (Not a lot of people are going to say “That’s the best grouse kidney fricassee I’ve ever had” when it’s the first time they’ve had grouse kidney fricassee.) Third, it must be full of flavor.

So the answers will sound simple: Continue Reading →

Randy Harris asks:

Is it unethical* to own a radar detector?

That’s a neat little question. First of all, Zic’s answer is not far from my own. But there’s an additional nuance to the device worth a rumination. A radar detector is like Napster. Sure, you can use Napster to distribute files legally. But the reason most people get it is so they can steal music from the artists who make a living selling it. Or, you might use a device like this to smoke tobacco or some other legal product. But let’s get real. Continue Reading →

[A] Christian Science Monitor takes a look at growing and declining religions. The mainline protestant denominations are having trouble as people drift either towards more rigid or demanding denominations or away from religion entirely, it helps explain the increased religious polarization.

[B] Pew has a breakdown of the religious inclinations of the incoming congress.

[C] The future worth of RGIII, the apparently very marketable Redskins QB. Speaking of the Redskins, the mayor wants the name to go.

[D] I recently posted on Putin’s decision to sign off on legislation to ban adoptions to the US. Slate’s William Dobson makes the case that this is indicative of Putin’s weakened grip on his country.

[E] In addition to shaking things up with ending phone subsidies, T-Mobile is offering free 4G for tablets. Very limited data, likely, but that’s still really cool.

[F] Utah recently celebrated its anniversary of statehood. Here’s the story of how it happened.

[G] I’ve long complained about the uselessness of the FAA regulations on in-flight electronics. Nick Bilton argues that they’re not just useless, but hazardous.

[H] Most rightist Israelis support a two-state solution. If only they can figure out how to get from here to there.

[I] The UK’s NHS is going after “inefficient doctors” who are prescribing brand name drugs. This only makes sense, as far as I’m concerned. Except when the cheaper alternatives don’t work or present complications. When my wife was pregnant, we had to jump through a lot of hoops for coverage of a pregnancy-friendly anti-histamine.

[J] If you place a preference for your preferred food preparation instruments over the death of women and children, do you have blood on your hands? It only makes sense, from what I hear.

[K] It’s funny how for a while Sweden became the exemplar of liberal governance, when there are more than a couple things that conservatives can point to. Or would be able to point to if they were interested in developing a health care plan. Or will be pointing to if they continue to lose this debate.

[L] A look at the legal ramifications of self-driving cars. There is some skepticism, but I think the comment “lowtechcyclist” almost perfectly nails it. At least up to point 8 or 9.

[M] The Missouri Synod has reportedly been making some serious gains among minority groups with some impressive outreach generally.

[N] This makes me think of the little gauge on my car that tells me what mileage I am getting and how it makes me a more fuel-efficient driver. (I swear I had a post of mine on this to link back to, but I can’t find it.)

[O] The Power of Negative Thinking. Also, the healthy upside to neuroticism.

[P] Is democracy striking back at the technocracy?

[Q] China is spending bunches trying to boost its music industry. That seems a difficult for a country that has such issues with intellectual property rights. And kind of hard to impose on the top down.

[R] The Washington Post looks at the coal situation in India. One of the reasons that I don’t have a whole lot of hope that anything significant will happen with regard to global warming is that few developing countries are going to hinder their development for the sake of the environment. But India is an interesting situation.

[S] A pixar animator is looking to create a new superhero for each day of the year. The girl in the confederate outfit jumped out at me.

[T] Megan McArdle tackles the eternal question of whether government workers are overpaid or underpaid. The difference in skill sets makes comparisons difficult. So often, it depends on what they do. My wife would take an enormous pay cut to work for the government. Others get a raise.

[U] Debtor prisons in 2012. (and in 2011)

[V] Will online schools cause collegiate bankruptcies?

[W] The genesis of the McNugget! Also, of the McRib! I love it when restaurants, markets, and science all combine to deliver a something that tastes acceptable and is more affordable than the alternatives. Keep it coming!

LATE ADDITION:

[X] I previously linked to an article about how Jay Rockefeller (and Democrats in general) may be in trouble in West Virginia. Rockefeller has announced that he will not seek re-election.

Pierre Corneille asks:

Is there anything prettier than a cloud?

Damn right there is. My wife, when she’s laughing.

Thanks for the softball, Pierre. Your check is in the mail.

Go ahead, ask me anything. You get only one question. I’ll pick five or so questions to answer in subsequent posts.

Sports trash talk masquerading as questions should be directed here.