The 10th Circuit has just issued an order reviving the do-not-call list. I have to go teach a class, but I'll try to write up something about it late tonight.
California is voting today. As a supporter of democratic institutions to the maximum extent compatible with broadly republican government — in other words, as someone who is predisposed to like the institutions of ballot initiatives and petitions, and who thinks that recalls do have a place in a well-run representative democracy, I take away two and a half lessons from the California fiasco: The two main lessons are that the bar for a recall needs to be somewhat higher, but not too high, and that if ever there was on object lesson on the virtues of single transferable vote, this is it. (The half lesson is that I need to rethink the virtues and vices of postal voting.)
Zug is a bit hit and miss, but when it hits, it really hits. Commuters everywhere will love the new Turnpike Prank. But even that's not as funny as my all-time favorite: The Credit Card Prank, a hypo-filled joke that resonates especially well with law professors.
We are about to undergo a “Retreat” next weekend to discuss fundamental issues about the law school's future direction and advancement. This worries me.
I've only ever been on a workplace “Retreat” once before, and that one was badly organized—or rather it was not organized at all, and it ended in disaster. This one at least has a written agenda and professional, trained facilitators, who understand the academic legal environment. So there's some reason to hope that this one might not be a disaster. Nevertheless, I'd be very interested in any advice any Retreat survivors could point me to about what to do or not do, to hope for, or to fear.
I take it, for example, that I should not wear my demotivator t-shirt to the meeting, nor propose to decorate the meeting room with a suitable poster or two.
The People Speak: America Debates its Role in the World is a program to encourage public debates about foreign policy. The idea is that events should be held all around the country, primarily between the 5th and the 18th of October (i.e. now). You know they have to be doing something interesting if they can get the simultaneous endorsement of The United Nations Foundation, The Open Society Institute, The League of Women Voters, The American Enterprise Institute, The Jesse Helms Center [!!!], and lots of other do-good groups.
They've actually put together an ideologically balanced but nonetheless meaty debate package (MS Word document). And they offer micro-grants to groups that want funds to help stage an event.
Impressive.
Jotwell
