I am thankful for these things (part 2)

Given that this post should appear directly above part 1 of this series, I am just going to jump into the second half of list.

I am thankful for these things (part 1)

In July, writer Joe Posnanski wrote a blog post about 50 things that make him happy. The concept of the post was to list 50 “non-cynical” things that, obviously, make Mr. Posnanski happy. I enjoyed reading the post a lot. Since imitation is the greatest form of flattery, here is my list of 50 things that make me happy. I am not going to say my happiness is cynical or non-cynical. Cynicism is in the eye the beholder, after all. What I will say, is that these things make me happy regardless of context.  Mr. Posnanski says his things are listed in no order. I suppose that is true for my list too. Mostly because I do not want to have to rate things that make me happy. But, it is fair to say that these things are generally listed in the order that they occurred to me. That may indicate a ranking of a sort. Reader(s)™ might notice that this list does not include many people I know and love. That is because most long-term relationships contain a mixture of emotions, sort of like we see in the movie “Inside Out.” Put another way, if you are not on the list, it is because you were 51.

Earth 1 and Earth 2.

So the New York Times published a story about how movie executive Harvey Weinstein has allegedly been sexually harassing women for many years. I could link to a number of other news reports about other powerful men allegedly doing similar things. Without resorting to Google, Bill O'Reilly and Roger Ailes lost their positions at Fox News recently for similar allegations. Moreover, I think everybody knows about the allegations against Bill Cosby by now.

Don't buy the myth

As is my custom, I did not look at the news Monday morning before I walked to work. So I was in a good mood when I passed the security guard in lobby of the building where I work. My mood got even better when I noticed the guard had set out sugar cookies with pink frosting. When I asked why the cookies were out, the guard said they were to remind folks that October is breast cancer awareness month. I took a cookie and ate it. It was delicious.

Things I learned on my recent trip to North Dakota.

I was in Bismarck, North Dakota, for a couple of days this week. Bismarck, as Reader(s)™ may know, is the capitol of North Dakota. One thinks of North Dakota as being flat and treeless, but Bismarck has more hills than Minneapolis and a lot of trees. Here is a picture I took from a hill on the eastern edge of town.

Not so long ago, really.

Yesterday, Joe Posnanski tweeted this:

This is astonishing. We talk about Emmett Till as if it was long ago. He would have been the same age as Marv Albert and Digger Phelps. https://t.co/UQ5AOj8C0w

— Joe Posnanski (@JPosnanski) July 25, 2017

Be candid but not too candid.

Merriam-Webster provides four definitions of the word candor, They are: (1) whiteness, brilliance; (2) freedom from prejudice or malice; (3) kindliness; and (4) unreserved, honest, or sincere expression.  The first and third definitions are described as obsolete and archaic, respectively. In other words, no one means the first or third definitions when they use candor in a sentence. The third definition is not discussed in Garner's Modern American Usuage and if anyone ever meant kindliness when they used the word candor in communicating with me, I am unaware of it. The fourth definition is the one with which most people are familiar.

The example Merriam-Webster uses for the fourth definition is a quote from Aldous Huxley, "the candor with which he acknowledged a weakness in his own case." It is kind of amusing that the example mentions a weak case because a lawyer offering an opinion on their case can get into all kinds of trouble.

The news, like rust, never sleeps.

Since January 20, I have been trying to avoid the daily national news cycle because the national news frequently has the effect on me of creating a lot of anxiety and if I am going to worry about things I can't control, I would rather worry about things closer to home (which I also can't control but that is a separate issue).  This tweet by Dana Linzer explains why following the daily news cycle can be exhausting.

Is President Trump really any different than President Obama?

The answer to the question in the title, is 'yes, of course he is."  But there is one area one key area, where it might appear that President Trump and President Obama are perfectly aligned.  Specifically, just like President Obama, President Trump has inexplicably failed to make either Mr. Torvik or me a federal judge.

More nitwittery on Twitter, this time concerning the Supreme Court

If my post yesterday were not enough evidence that I need to stop looking at Twitter, I think today's post will provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Will nitwits rule us all?

I moved to Minnesota during an election year. I was not particularly thrilled about the results of that particular election on either a nationwide or statewide level. Most of the candidates that I liked lost that year. But since I had not done much work on any candidates' election, I figured that I should not complain about the results given that I had not put any effort for my folks to win.

Good press for a good friend.

I have a big post coming but in the meantime, please take a look at this post at Minnesota Litigator. It discusses a big win for a good friend of Mr. Torvik's and mine, Martin Fallon.  It's nice to see one great person/lawyer (i.e., Seth Leventhal grand poobah of Minnesota Litigator) write about another great person/lawyer.

Wait. . . What?

I really want to share my thoughts on the whole United Airlines passenger removal fiasco, and I have a post about human resources that I think will be better than the subject matter implies (a low bar, but a bar nevertheless). But I am pretty busy at work so those will have to wait because I learned something today that captures the attention in a way that those future posts may not.

Ted Cruz will never be President of the United States of America

Astute Reader(s)™ of this blog undoubtedly noticed that we went over a year without posting anything. One of my regrets about that period is that I had a draft post about how Ted Cruz will never be elected President of the United States.  There are many reasons for why Senator Cruz will never be elected, I will address two.

The Supreme Court and abortion: how has the plan to overturn Roe been working so far?

For reasons that I prefer not to ponder (cough-age-cough), I am not very well informed about popular culture.  For example, I do not know which political commentators are popular and which are not. Prior to Monday, I had never heard of Tomi Lahren. In fact, I had never heard of the "digital network" TheBlaze, where Ms. Lahren apparently hosts a nightly show in which she acts as a "liberal agitator."

Bracket, rankings, and money oh my!

So the NCAA 2017 Division One Men's Basketball Tournament began this week. As computer-based workers stop doing their jobs and start watching basketball, it seems like a good time to look at another famous ranking that came out this month. I refer to the US News and World Report's annual ranking of Best Law Schools.