To a recovering graphic designer the ominous giant bold type on the census form looks like a cry for help. At the very least it’s a plea for legitimacy. The law in question is a plain, albeit rarely enforced penal statute found in 13 U.S.C.A. ยง 221. Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers:
(a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized
The Bluebook Rule 18 outlines the citation format for sources on the internet. It’s been a small dream of mine to have this blog somehow cited in a judicial opinion. The brass ring went to Prof. Doug Berman of the Sentencing Law and Policy blog long ago. A cite would entail a prospect both exhilarating and frightening – the image of a judge and/or his or her clerks huddled around a computer both (a) bothering to read this blog and (b) inexplicably considering it an authoritative source for a proposition of some kind; one can only imagine…
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Alejandro Escovedo mentioned the loss of a friend and musician Stephen Bruton the last time I saw him play in Houston. I knew the name but couldn’t really place it, much to my embarrassment now. I was reminded of it when I heard it again in Jeff Bridges Oscar acceptance speech. Bruton was responsible, with T-Bone Burnett, for much of the music on Crazy Heart. Allow me to humbly suggest, despite my poor example, that you check out the clips I found below and then go out and buy ever album he ever made or played on.
Stephen
Mark Herrmann, whose The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law is one of my favorites and a necessary read for anyone interested in practicing in a law firm, has written a keen for his misadventure in blogging in the ABA’s Litigation Journal, Memoirs of a Blogger (.pdf). At the time, Herrmann was still writing for the Drug and Device Law Blog. Since submitting the article Herrmann left Jones Day to go in-house at Aon Corp. and retired from the blogosphere.
As usual, it’s well-written and incisive – a good primer for anyone considering starting a blog,…
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My Houston Cougars, described as “dead men walking” by their coach Tom Penders, played their way from a No. 7 seed to a Conference USA tournament championship and a berth in the Big Dance.
The Cougars earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992 with a come-from-behind 81-73 victory against the UTEP Miners in the Conference USA tournament championship game on Saturday.
It’s a huge win for a program that’s struggled in the post-season and languished in the shadow of the Phi Slama Jama days of Hakeem Alajuwon and Clyde Drexler.
- Matt Miller,
In an interesting ruling, a British court has apparently ruled that Pink Floyd can enforce a clause in their contract to prevent their record company, EMI from selling individual tracks apart from the whole album.
As part of a broader lawsuit over royalty payments, Andrew Morritt, chancellor of the U.K. High Court, ruled Thursday that Pink Floyd’s 1999 contract with its record label, EMI Group Ltd., prohibits EMI from selling the band’s work in any configuration other than the original without the band’s permission. The contract dates from before the advent of digital music, when the arrival of online
- Psychic investor draws SEC lawsuit, http://ow.ly/1eGWX, obvious question – did he see it coming? #
- Houston Classic at Minute Maid park this weekend, cheap tickets for great seats to watch some fantastic college baseball, http://ow.ly/1eMVL #
- 20 years of Adobe Photoshop http://ow.ly/1f269 #
- Go Coogs! RT @campbellcoogs: UH pulls out 66-65 cliff-hanger vs. Memphis, advances to C-USA semis: http://tinyurl.com/ya6oudv #
I thought surely there was a little more to it than what the Houston Chronicle included in the headine – Judge grants motion declaring death penalty unconstitutional – nope, not really. Harris County Criminal Judge Kevin Fine, who ran on a campaign of personal experience with addiction, has apparently declared the death penalty unconstitutional, granting a motion by defense in a pretrial conference.
Click to continue reading the rest of this post.If anyone has a copy of the motion I would dearly love to see it. My friend Josh Zientek points out that the orders are available in all their glory on the recently revamped…
Photoshoped Rudy flashes
the ‘Coog’ hand sign
University of Houston Law Dean Ray Nimmer announced today that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now a partner in the New York office of Houston-based Bracewell and Giuliani, will deliver the commencement address at our law school commencement.
Although a commencement speaker doesn’t substantively add to the education you just received, it’s one of the few opportunities to celebrate your accomplishments with your family and it’s nice when it’s somebody your grandma can recognize.
Update:
Commencement speakers…
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Adobe Photoshop Cook from Lait Noir on Vimeo. via urlesque
Rob Cottingham’s Noise to Signal
XKCD: Honor Societies
Google ran the following heartwarming ad in the Super Bowl, telling the story of a romance in Paris through search queries.
The ad, of course, begs to be spoofed. See Hitler spoof meme for a preview of where this is headed.
David Dow is a law professor at the University of Houston Law Center and Litigation Director of the Texas Defender Service. His latest book The Autobiography of an Execution (Amazon) was just published last week.
He had a very interesting interview on Fresh Air on NPR 20 Years Of Defending Death Row Inmates (embedded below) Hat tip to Nancy Rapoport
Prof. Dow also had an excellent article in the Houston Law Review: The Last Execution: Rethinking the Fundamentals of Death Penalty Law, 45 Hous. L. Rev. 963 (2008) (pdf).
It’s probably not a good idea to sleep outside in one of these – especially not in Maine – certainly not in hunting season – or or mating for that matter. Still, a clever idea from designer Eiko Ishizawa.
