Futurelawyer

The World Is Going Insane - Now, You Can't Say A Prohibited Word While Teaching A Law School Class

What kind of lawyers are being created by our educational system? Is the U.C. Irvine School of Law educating lawyers or triggered, self loathing, weaklings? A law professor, teaching about hate speech, and the legal questions surrounding it, quoted (you know "") the n word in her lecture. Immediately, demands were trumpeted to remove her, and she was barred from teaching 1L classes. From the post at Instapundit:

"law students will become lawyers, and will have people depending on their lawyerly brains and judgment for their lives and liberty. If they can’t hold it together in the face of a bad word, they need to find another job. So too do administrators who throw their faculty members under the bus at the least threat of complaint."

This sounds a lot like having a neurosurgeon performing brain surgery; but, you can't allow any blood on the table! I am very seldom speechless at the idiocy of this current higher education system; but, I am truly unable to properly vocalize how insane this is. This is my shocked face.

 

The Infantilization Of The American Mind.

It is slow. It is insidious. It is glacial in its corruption of the American mind. This interview with Jonathan Haidt, co-author of "The Coddling of the American Mind", is brilliant. We have raised a generation of Americans who are "triggered" my "micro-aggressions", and need "safe spaces" to avoid having their soft, malleable brains from being psychically injured by the words of others. How did this happen? Haidt traces it to around 2014 and 2015, and has an insight that struck me. My generation fought the restrictions on free speech of an entrenched bureaucracy. The coddling conspiracy has its origins in the millennials whom we have coddled their entire lives. Is it a surprise that these young people, who have been given "participation ribbons" just for showing up to competitions, feel entitled to be protected from all hurt and anguish? We need a new curriculum, a boot camp for young minds, at which we assault them with opposing ideas, and require them to formulate an intelligent response before they can pass. How will the next generation defend itself from evil in the world if they can't tolerate hostile rhetoric? 

YourPhone - Control Your Phone From Your PC Screen.

Microsoft YourPhone App. We spend a lot of our working lives in front of a PC screen. We carry those lives with us when we leave home or the office. Texts and emails are now a principal connection between us and the rest of the world. The YourPhone app allows me to bring up my phone screen anytime I am at my desks, and to view my phone as if it were in my hand. I can leave it cradled until I have to leave the home office or regular office, and never miss a call or text. Notifications on the notebook or big screen are nice; but, actually using the phone from the office setup is very efficient and fun. Here is a grab of the YourPhone screen on my notebook computer.

#PoetryFriday - Fame.

Fame.

He used to give tours of the house,

guiding his guests

along the hallways

and into the rooms

filled with trophies and awards.

The ribbons, and medals were neatly arranged

in shadow boxes

made from wood and metal

that shone in the morning light

coming through the windows.

In the halls were photographs

of his conquests

and his ceremonies.

They were filled with more trophies

and awards,

testimonies to his career

and his past glory.

He loved bragging about his past

while he spent his present

reminding everyone of what he had been.

These days,

others give the tours;

but, they do it in a graveyard,

telling all who will listen,

about the great man buried here

who once was famous

and great

and who collected medals and trophies.

The medals and trophies

are sitting in dusty boxes

in pawn shops and the bedrooms of his fans

who live their lives in his shadow

and measure their happiness

by his accomplishments.

I Didn't Invent The Internet, But I Helped Lawyers Understand It.

Diane accidentally gave me the idea for this post this morning when she came out to my man cave that used to be a garage and cast her eye on the graphic sitting on top of a bookcase behind my desk, asking what it was, and why was it crooked. It was ironic that she asked about it, while I was using the Internet and scanning the news of the world and checking social media, and checking email and making connections all over the globe, all while sitting in my garage on a Sunday morning. The graphic, I explained to her, was the graphic used by the Florida Bar at the 1994 Bar Convention, at which I was educating Bar members about this new thing called the World Wide Web, and telling them how it would change their lives. At that time, only a few people believed me. What a difference 25 years makes. I don't ascribe magical powers in possessions, and the only ones I value are computer or gadget related; but, this graphic panel holds a special place in the FutureLawyer's memory. Now, get out there and "Surf The Net!"

KrystalCrete Quartz Pool Finishes -

Quartz Pool Finishes - KrystalCrete Our new pool finish is cobalt blue tile and a Quartz finish by KrystalCrete. It is really stunning, and almost done. 

Neuralink Puts A Rechargeable Computer In Your Brain.

Elon Musk's Neuralink Is Like A Fitbit In Your Brain. Science Fiction is becoming reality, thanks to the innovative Mr. Musk. In less than an hour, a battery powered device can be implanted in a brain (it is being demoed in a pig) and promises to provide immense benefits to the disabled. The device has promise to allow the paralyzed to actually be restored to movement. Watch this video.  Ultimately, we will all have wireless access to the world of information, and will be able to monitor our body and increase our capacity.

The Antidote To Anger And Outrage

Whenever I start feeling the non Stoic emotions of anger and outrage, I look to the left of my desk, and consider the fact that there are solutions to some problems. Of course, I am also immediately overwhelmed with a deep sense of inadequacy when I consider how many golf balls I have contributed to alligators and tree frogs. The good thing is that I have probably sent a dozen young men and women to college on the money they made diving in the lakes for my errant shots. See, you don't feel angry or outraged anymore.

Anger And Outrage Are Easy - Too Easy

Anger And Outrage Are Easy. It is way too easy to be outraged these days. Anger at those who, in our opinion, mishandle a crisis. Outrage at those who commit violent acts crimes. Anger at those who allow racial hatred to grow and fester. Outrage at disrespect for authority. Anger at those who don't share our opinions. Outrage at those who use words of which we disapprove. But, these things are not virtuous. Anger and Outrage are not character traits that will lead us to a place of happiness. Most of all, they are useless tools against the things we hate. In fact, they are the tools of ignorant children who,in infantile frustration, are unable to see a better way to live their lives. That is what we adults are supposed to be teaching our children. I have a modest proposal. Let's, each of us, cast off our anger and outrage, and calmly reflect on the only thing over which we have control. Suppress the useless emotions of anger and outrage. Be the light. Don't snuff it out.

Memento Mori - Sometimes Death Is A Good Thing.