Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

More On Sign Theft

I'm told there was a spate of K-E sign thefts — well over a hundred stolen — earlier this week just south of me, in Pinecrest.

The Washington Post says that sign theft is running at normal levels nationwide, except for Ohio and Florida, where it's stratospheric (and, says the Post, bipartisan).

The all-time best sign stealing story, however, is this one:

A Republican in Colorado fell flat on his face trying to steal campaign signs touting John Kerry and other local Democratic candidates.

According to Wheat Ridge Police spokesperson Officer Lisa Stigall, Randal Wagner was already wanted for questioning about a rash of campaign-sign thefts when he was discovered lying unconscious across a stolen sign Oct. 13.

Earlier that evening, a homeowner reported to police that he saw Wagner, 50, cutting down a campaign sign bolted to his fence. The sign was in support of a local Democratic candidate running for Congress.

The man confronted Wagner, who allegedly fled in a truck with his wife. The man gave the vehicle's plate number to police.

While police located the Wagners' home, Wagner was busy at work on another sign put up by a store in the business district, Stigall said.

But he encountered resistance.

“He already had the sign in hand and was running out of the parking lot when he tripped over a low chain that blocked off the driveway,” Stigall said.

Wagner fell flat on his face and was knocked unconscious.

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | 2 Comments

TaxProf Blog on WSJ’s Sloppy Coverage of Heinz-Kerry Tax Return

You would think the WSJ, a very fine paper, would get something this basic right. But apparently not. See TaxProf Blog: Schmalbeck Criticizes Wall Street Journal's Reporting on Teresa Heinz Kerry's Tax Return for the numerators and denominators. See also TaxProf's summary of Michael Kinsley's defense of her investment strategy.

Posted in Econ & Money | Comments Off on TaxProf Blog on WSJ’s Sloppy Coverage of Heinz-Kerry Tax Return

My Kerry-Edwards Sign (II)

In Part One I described the first day of our ownership of a Kerry-Edwards sign. In this part two, I report the sign's untimely demise.

Orcinus reports there have been a number of violent incidents around the country in which people with the temerity to display a Kerry-Edwards sign have suffered for it. My story is much tamer: someone took the sign a day after I put it up.

I called the cops to report a theft, thinking that if this was not a unique event, it would help build a record of it. This being Coral Gables, a cop was dispatched within minutes to investigate the theft of a $5 sign. Unfortunately, we'd been out much of the day, and couldn't even tell him about what time it likely happened. The cop was very polite. I got the sense he had views about the election and was disciplining himself not to utter them; he was professional enough that when he left I wasn't even sure which side he was on. (Just in case you are thinking white male Florida stereotyped cop, forget it: this was a trim, no-accent, black man I'd guess in his 30s.) His main advice was that if we got another sign, not to put it on the swale (the strip of city-owned land between the sidewalk and the street), but rather on our property. Material on the swale, he instructed us, can be considered abandoned and thus anyone can take it. (My own opinion is that this rule does not apply to yard signs that are clearly fixed in place, even on the swale, but why believe me, I'm not a member of the Florida Bar. Anyway, it's the law on the ground that counts.)

So we went to get another sign. This was not easy as there was a national shortage of Kerry-Edwards yard signs. But we got one, put it up, and it's still there. Unfortunately, the shortage is so acute that the Kerry folks wouldn't even sell me a spare for me to give to Ms. 'Morales' across the street (see part one).

Meanwhile, however, the street has sprouted two other K-E signs … and one Bush sign.

Posted in Personal, Politics: US | 5 Comments

My Ballot Was Delivered

As I'm returning too late next Tuesday to vote, I voted absentee. It's a very long ballot, with many constitutional amendments (most, but not all, bad ones) and bond issues (hard choices – they lump good projects with bad ones to make several choices very debatable); I predict very long lines at the polls. I paid extra to have the ballot “tracked” when I mailed it, and the USPS gave me tracking number 0302 0980 0000 2813 9838. According to the USPS web site,

Your item was delivered at 12:13 pm on October 26, 2004 in MIAMI, FL 33102.

That doesn't prove they will count it of course.

Posted in Personal | 4 Comments

The Power of Belief

Belief, faith, call it what you will, it can be a powerful thing. Indeed, this powerful confession of belief by Thomas Schaller, Executive Editor of the Gadflyer, explains in a fashion even I can understand Why I Believe in Our President. Yes, there's much to ponder there.

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | 3 Comments

The Meat Market Beckons

Tonight I leave for a week in the UK, a trip that will mix busineess with pleasure. My plan is to look up old friends in London and Cambridge as well as do the work that brings me there.

When I get back to Miami, I get almost two days to reorganize myself and then it's off to the AALS 'meat market' — the annual law professor hiring fair. It's only my second time there, and my first as a buyer rather than attending as a seller.

Michael Madison has a nice post on his blog about the Meat Market, which links to other helpful accounts aimed at sellers. Now if only someone would write helpful tips for neophyte buyers…

Posted in Talks & Conferences | 5 Comments