Futurelawyer

When So Called Professors Start Trashing The Constitution, It Is Time To Speak Up.

Professor Runs Movement To Trash The Constitution. Packing the Supreme Court for more political power, or to fight against decisions you disagree with. That stupid idea has been around for a long time. Thankfully, it hasn't gotten much traction. The so-called movement to trash the Constitution, however, has some heavyweight allies. Where did these people go to law school? Why would so called intelligent persons want to dismantle the basic document that retains the power of self government in the people of a country? Why would so called intelligent persons want to dismantle the document that has created the most powerful, successful, just, society that has ever existed on planet earth? I can only conclude that these short-sighted idiots learned nothing in school, and have closed their eyes to human history. Sure, political ebbs and flows will always affect constitutional interpretation. Government will always seek power, and will sometimes find it in Justices who assist by finding power in the "penumbra" of Constitutional provisions. But, destroy the document itself? Replace it with what? A monarchy? A government controlled by the powerful elite? I don't think so. The Constitution and free speech are all that protect us from dictatorship and tyranny. If you want another Civil War, this is the way to do it.

9/11 - Never Forget

911memorial.org As I sit in my garage/den this morning, I am recalling a day 23 years ago, sitting in the same place, and watching the news unfold that changed everything. There are, thank God, precious few of such days; but that doesn't lessen their power. We still live in a dangerous world, and we have learned to stay vigilant. I tend to worry less as I age, realizing that my days are numbered; but the power of fate and evil to destroy lives is an ever present threat. Let's all resolve to try to make the world better in our own small way today. And, never forget.

Free Speech Is An Existential Issue.

Longtime readers know that I am apolitical. I don't care for some Republican and some Democrat ideas; but I don't argue politics online. I think everyone deserves to say what they want in a free society. When you can't say things that others find offensive, you are no longer free. So, yes, I am a free speech absolutist. There is no other way to guarantee freedom without violence. We are taught that the U.S. was born in order to pursue that freedom. So, when I see the E.U. and countries like Brazil pass laws to restrict freedom of speech, I thank God we live in the U.S., where freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution. But, that freedom only lasts as long as those in power are forced to recognize and support it. So, I support popular protests like this one in Brazil, and I support X. I don't care what your politics are. But, I support your right to argue for them in your own way. The only restriction on speech is that which advocates violence. There was a time in our history when vile Nazis were allowed to march in Skokie, Illinois. And, the ACLU supported their right to do it. When did free speech become a violation of law? Brazil free speech protests.

Recyclling Is A Control Play.

John Stossel has a way of punching holes in conventional wisdom. This take on the uselessness of recycling is a perfect example. Hey, if you feel better doing it, great. But, listen to the guys and gals who take the recycling and dump it with the regular trash. And, show me the science that says that it is anything other than virtue signaling. I feel about this the way I feel about carbon tax credits. Give me a break. How arrogant are we humans to believe that anything we do is going to change the ultimate result of plate tectonics, and weather. This ranks up there with the power trip during the Covid 19 pandemic when masks and social distancing were mandated, and people lost their jobs and more. We now know it was all useless, and not science related at all.

Plastic recycling is a DIRTY LIE.

So why do so many green activists push it?

“I think they get a charge out of telling people what to do,” @JohnTierneyNYC tells me.

More than ever… recycling is garbage. pic.twitter.com/nQt8LVbq4E

— John Stossel (@JohnStossel) September 5, 2024

Rudyard Kipling Was A Stoic.

The famous 19th century poem, "If", by Kipling, is powerful. Since we are heading into football season, this reading by John Facenda, of NFL Films is a great version, and carries one of my favorite lines: "If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same". One of the bedrock Stoic principles is to expect disaster, and treat it the same as success. Never expect success to continue, and prepare for the worst. Concentrate on being your best no matter what happens. It is the choices we make in the present that count. It is our reaction to these varied events that we control, and nothing else. In its imitation of reality, football embodies conflict and resolution, success and failure, and what a famous broadcaster used to call "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat". But, the key is to control our reaction to these twin results, and not to wallow in defeat, or become sanguine about victory. If you can control these impulses, "you'll be a man, my son".

 

Be Curious, Not Judgmental.

White House Mystery. Execupundit ponders the mystery of Joe Biden's exit from the Presidential race, and whether he was "nudged", and by whom. He considers the amazing lack of curiosity of the Press Corps, and asks whether there is a Press Corps anymore. Journalism, as it has existed for two hundred years, is certainly disappearing, if it even exists anymore. The journalist's curiosity, as an agent of the rest of us, isn't there anymore, fed by a judgmental attitude that seems rather one-sided to independent thinkers. It recalls the caption phrase, often misattributed to Walt Whitman; but, who knows who said it first? My favorite recent use of the term is the excellent TV series, Ted Lasso, in which Ted recalls his father's advice to him, in order to teach a lesson to an antagonist. Never assume that your position is the only correct one. Always be curious. You learn a lot that way. It is the hallmark of a good attorney. As soon as we think we know it all, it is axiomatic that we are about to learn a tough lesson. 

 

Signal - It Is The Surveillance State's Worst Nightmare.

Signal. Every time I read, in the news, about another famous person, or political party, or other prominent entity, whose private inter company or personal messages are hacked, and made public, I think about Signal. This non-profit, encrypted message application is used my millions of people to keep confidential communications private. It doesn't surveil you, no one else can see your data, and it is free, since the entity is non profit. While such an application can certainly be used for evil purposes, in a free society, it is an essential tool for groups who have a legal interest in privacy. It is ideal for lawyers who much keep their clients' communications secure and private. The recent arrest of Telegram's CEO in France has highlighted the battle between governments who want to know everything, and those who don't want government intrusion into their privacy. As Generative AI becomes more entwined in the system, this battle will become more important. While we don't want governments to control our every action, it will be much tougher to fight against AI computers that can anticipate and block our every move. It is thus important to elect governments who are required, by law, to preserve our freedom of speech. Do you know what your candidate feels about this issue? Does the political party your support really believe in freedom of speech? Without freedom of speech, there is no real freedom. If the State can control speech, it can control everything.

 

Michael Wade Is Planning A SubStack Management Site.

"I will avoid inflicting arcane management theories but will pass along practical information that is easy to understand, and which can be put to immediate use."

What if you could read about decades of management wisdom in one place? If I had to pick someone to write it, it would be Michael Wade, who has been dispensing wisdom about management topics for some years. We follow each other, and have similar backgrounds as Army officers and lawyers who try to speak about modern topics in an understandable, common sense way. He is much smarter than I am, and I have learned from Execupundit about how organizations function in the real world. As he says in his introductory SubStack post, you don't have to write about arcane management theory. You can be wise and practical and make the concepts easy to understand. I respect that, and have tried to imitate it in my meanderings about Stoic philosophy at the FutureLawyer page. Congrats, Michael. I hope to be your first subscriber.

Shakespeare Wrote Situation Comedy And Drama In The Sixteenth Century.

When we look at the formal, stilted and dramatic conversations found in Shakespeare's plays, it is easy to assume that he was dressing up the language with his poetic and dramatic voice. However, when we actually listen to it with the eye of a modern citizen, we realize that he was writing in the vernacular, and that it can be compared to the conversations in a modern situation comedy or drama. He was writing for the TV audiences of his time, and not for language scholars. Listen to this instructive video about how people actually talked in the mid 1500s.

 

Every Day Is Another Day To Live.

Are you alive this morning? Be grateful. There are many who have preceded us in death. We hope they are in a good place. Believers put them in heaven. Non believers put them in another plane of existence. But, the truth is that, as humans, nobody knows what is on the other side of midnight. Be grateful you are still here, no matter your circumstances. I remember, being prepped for heart surgery nine years ago. I was wheeled into one more dark room with a huge machine. Outside the room, waiting, was a little girl, no more than 8 or 10 years old, with an obvious debilitating disease that caused her body to be contorted. She was smiling. I wasn't. At that moment, I realized that she was more alive than I was. Be grateful. Live right now. Think about something positive. Do something positive today. Every day should be Thanksgiving Day.