Actual proof that kids today have it worse.

Normally when I hear someone talk about how much better children have it today than in previous generations, I think that the speaker is spewing nonsense. But I do not tell the speaker that they are spewing nonsense because I do not have any proof to back up this thought.  Now I have proof.

Farewell to a wonderful historian.

The New York Times reports that historian Edmund S. Morgan has died at the age of 97. One of my favorite biographies is his book The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop. If you are looking to learn a little bit about the early history of New England, check out one of his books. You won't be disappointed.

Two new saints

This is not a post about football. Let's get that out of the way first. If you are ever in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, you might want to stop by the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. It is a beautiful church and has statues of two people in the news today.

The New York Times has the story that Pope Francis has named two new saints. One of them, Pope John-Paul II, was expected. The other, Pope John XXIII, is something of a surprise as only one miracle has been attributed to him. Normally a person needs two miracles attributed to them to become a saint. However, the Times reports that Pope Francis waived the two miracle requirement for Pope John. I did not realize this requirement could be waived. But I guess rules are made to be broken.

Cat vs. machine.

Ralph Waldo Emerson supposedly said that if you "build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door." However, the employees at the Henderson County, North Carolina courthouse have discovered that the best way to get rid of a rat infestation is not a trap but  a cat. The Hendersonville Times-News carries the story of how the courthouse rat infestation was solved by a cat named Mr. Jingles. The story does not mention how Justice Thomas feels about this form of capital punishment. From what I can tell neither Alexander Hamilton nor James Madison ever built a mousetrap. Perhaps that makes it likely that the Framers  were pro-cat.

A weighty (yet virtually weightless) issue.

Our Reader(s)™ might be excused for thinking that all Mr. Torvik and I do is discuss weighty matters like D-Day and domestic surveillance. However, as this Conversation™ demonstrates, we occasionally have a lighter touch here at the Gillette-Torvik Blog.

Rest in peace No-Show

America has lost one of its great singing voices.  George Jones died today.  As Waylon Jennings once put it, "If we all sounded like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones."  Given his propensity for skipping concerts during part of his career, Mr. Jones probably kept a lot of lawyers busy on breach of contract claims.

Here's a clip of Mr. Jones from the old Johnny Cash Show. 

No Pope Torvik for now.

The Roman Catholic Church has a new pope and it is not Mr. Torvik.  Instead, the Conclave of Cardinals went with Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina.  According to Slate, Cardinal Bergoglio (who adopted the name Francis I) is the first pope to: (1) to take the name Francis; (2) be a member of the Jesuits; (3) be from the New World; (4) to have only one lung.

40 years in the wilderness? Can this be true?

Smithsonian.com has an incredible story about a Russian family that lived by themselves in the Siberian Taiga for over 40 years with no contact with the outside world.  Given the details, one is tempted to think it is a hoax but apparently it is not.  Depending on your point of view it is a testament to or indictment of the power of religion.  

For every topic there is someone who sees a conspiracy to cover up the truth.

There is a stereotype that professional baseball players are not very smart.  It may be that this stereotype exists because baseball players, unlike may athletes in other professional sports, do not have to attend college for any period of time.  It is not uncommon for baseball players to be drafted out of high school, play a few years in the minor leagues, and then join a major league team.

Some might say that Deadspin's recent story about Washington Nationals outfielder (and former Minnesota Twin) Denard Span is an example that proves the stereotype.  Mr. Span has apparently been watching videos on YouTube that make him question whether there is a conspiracy to cover up information related to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut.

Maybe one should not be surprised that there are people questioning the events around the shooting.  As P.T. Barnum supposedly pointed out, "there's a sucker born every minute."  The corollary to the statement is that this means there are an awful lot of suckers walking around. 

When pettifogger is not good enough

Next time you are looking for a pejorative for lawyer, you might try one of these:

Nigmenog;
Bowyer: or
Snaffler.

How did I learn of these words?  A world famous lawyer was once called them.  Specifically, Charles Schulz used them in a Peanuts comic strip on this date in 1981.  You can read the strip here.  A snaffler is one who purloins by devious means.  A nigmenog is a silly or incompetent person.  I am not sure tell why a bowyer-evidently a maker of bows-is an insult for lawyers but I assume that Mr. Schulz knew what he was talking about.

When did America decide it wanted more Star Wars movies?

I missed the meeting when we voted on this but it turns out that there will be "at least" three more Star Wars movies.  The Onion AV Club has the scoop. 

A source of shame?

The New York Times reports that the BlacBerry is so passé that it has become a source of shame and derision.  This may be evidence that people have a misplaced sense of shame nowadays. The article also points out that complaints from associates about being given BlackBerrys at Covington & Burling led to the firm agreeing to offer its lawyers an iPhone option.  I guess because it is totally rational to pick a lawyer based on what kind of mobile handheld device they use.

Is any publicity good publicity?

Some folks say that there is no such thing as bad publicity.  A Wisconsin attorney is evidently trying to find out if that is true.  As reported everywhere on the Internet, Kenneth Krause wrote to La Crosse, Wisconsin television personality Karen Livingston to tell her she was fat.  Ms. Livingston regarded Mr. Krause's communication as a form of bullying and did an on-air piece about it.  The result was that the story went viral and that most people seemed to conclude that Mr. Krause had been out of line.  Mr. Krause, perhaps recognizing that his fifteen minutes of fame were running, doubled down on his comments instead of apologizing. 

As a result of this controversy, a google search for "Kenneth Krause Wisconsin Attorney" yields mostly hits on the story rather than links to a website where one might find Mr. Krause's contact information if a person decided that a lawyer who calls a local celebrity fat is the sort of lawyer a person needs.  Thus, one might wonder if Mr. Krause is going to see a benefit to the story going viral.  What do you think Mr. Torvik will Mr. Krause's business pick up as a result of this story?

They took away recess and they brought it back?

Slate.com has an article about how schools in Chicago-and elsewhere-are bringing back recess for kids in school.  I was surprised to learn that recess was making a comeback in public schools.  Mostly because I had no idea that recess had ever left.  

"Your best move is to curl up into a ball and wait for help."

Slate's advice on how to survive a kangaroo attack is here.  I hope this advice is better than Slate's predictions on Supreme Court rulings.

The Olympics

In an attempt to further Mr. Mothershead's goal of discovering "Truth, both Ancient and Modern, one post at a time", I am excited to point out that the peculiar combination of things "both Ancient and Modern" known as the Olympics starts this weekend.

If you like the Olympics (and what right-thinking person does not like the Olympics?), then Slate has an interesting and entertaining feature by which you see how Olympic heroes from various Olympic games would fare in competition against each other.  The feature is here.  Everything from this point on will be a spoiler for that feature.  Consider yourself warned. 

"Leave goat man alone. He's done nothing wrong."

Time saves the best quote for last.  Goat man is more apparently more like pigman than, say, Spiderman.

Who wouldn't want to own someone else's coffin?

In his short story The Rich Boy, F. Scott Fitzgerald made the observation that the rich are "different than you and me."  The Notorious B.I.G. may have been making a similar point in Mo Money Mo Problems. 

Thought(s) on Wisconsin's Recall.

I am writing this on the morning of the Wisconsin recall election.  However because I want to make that nothing suppresses the vote of our Reader(s)™, I am not posting it until midnight.  By then, I assume everyone will have voted.  

The folks at the 538 election blog are not officially predicting that Governor Scott Walker will win but are suggesting that it seems likely that Governor Walker will win.  This strikes me as a good result.

I do not think that it is a good result because I think that Governor Walker has good policies.  Actually, I think he has bad policies.  To be fair, I do not know every one of Governor Walker's policies so there may be some that are good policies.  I can say that Wisconsin's state government has done a lot of things since Governor Walker took office that made me glad I no longer live in Wisconsin.  Also, there are allegations which suggest that Governor Walker's stint as Milwaukee County Executive involved breaking the law and that Governor Walker is the target of criminal investigations.  So, between bad policies and possible law breaking, if I were still living in Wisconsin I would probably not vote for Scott Walker.  In the interest of full disclosure, I did vote for Scott Walker when we were in college together.  That did not work out too well for him.

Given this, why would I think a win by Governor Walker would be a good thing?  Mostly because I think that recalling elected officials because you disagree with their policies is no way to run a state.  Elections are supposed to have consequences.  If they do not, because the losing side simply starts a recall effort as soon as possible, governments will be paralyzed from taking any action ever.  Presumably even the most ardent advocates of limited government would agree that there are some circumstances where action needs to take place.  Wisconsin's recall craze calls to mind California's obsession with ballot propositions.  As the Economist notes, this sort of direct democracy has been disastrous for California.  At a certain point, people need to let their elected representatives govern.

According to this, there have only been 3 recall elections of governors in U.S. history.  Does anyone think that if Tom Barrett won this election, the number would not change to 4?  A Mayor Barrett win would encourage people unhappy with that result to start a recall election of him as soon as they are allowed to do so. Wisconsin taxpayers are paying $18 million to fund this recall and would undoubtedly be paying a similar amount in 2013 or 2014 if Governor Walker loses.  Wisconsin has better ways to spend its money.

While a loss by Governor Walker will undoubtedly lead to another recall, I suspect that if Governor Walker wins, then the recall mania in Wisconsin will stop.  In the long run, Wisconsin will be better off with that result.

Justice Stevens = Bob Dylan (or vice versa)?

Is it just me or does it seem strange to you that Bob Dylan and John Paul Stevens won the same award this week.  While both are widely respected in their field of endeavor, I cannot say I ever thought of them in the same sentence before.