Category Archives: Uncategorized

Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s inspiring speech for ACS, calling for Americans to take positive action for ourselves and our communities. An excerpt:

“[M]y parents made it clear to my brother and me every single day – you did not get here on your own. ‘All the privilege that you have, young man, was paid for by someone else, you drink deeply from wells of freedom and liberty that you did not dig. You eat lavishly from banquet tables that were prepared for you by your ancestors. You have an obligation; you have a burden – a righteous, glorious burden, because this nation is not finished. We have so much work to do.'”

This is a very interesting talk about the nature of happiness by Daniel Kahneman, behavioral economist and Nobel Prize winner.

Some key points:

– People have two selves: (1) an Experiencing Self, i.e. YOU, as you are reading this, feeling the feelings you feel in real time; and (2) a Remembering Self, i.e. the self we are when we look backward or forward, and think about how satisfied we are about something we did or plan to do.

– Spending time with people we like is the biggest factor that causes happiness in our experiencing self.

– Money earned above $60,000 annually does not increase happiness, according to scientific studies.

– However, poverty definitely causes unhappiness, with a person becoming progressively unhappier the further he or she falls below the $60,000 annual income mark.

An example that comes to my mind that sums this up: BP’s CEO’s Remembering Self probably feels very satisfied (understandably so) with his life accomplishments and earnings. But his Experiencing Self, not feeling much support from other people right now, is probably not happy, notwithstanding his income being substantially higher than $60k.

These 7 tips describe very practical approaches and attitudes for life challenges. The quoted tip below reminds me of the Supreme Court, and all the confirmation-process talky-talk where Justices are described with labels like “activists” (bad label) or “umpires” (good label). Behind all the labels and analogies, as well as behind the intellectual rationalizations of complex legal decisions, there are concrete benchmarks– actions by the Justices– that are much more predictable and telling than what is said about and by the Justices. Is a Justice an “umpire,” as described, or do the Justice’s actions on occasion reflect idealism and contradict the umpire ideal? Not to pick on Justices. This is something we all struggle with, to make sure our actions constantly back up our stated ideals.

1. Andrew Carnegie on paying attention to the more important things.

“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.”

I have to agree, I pay less and less attention to what people say. Because in the end, what someone does is the most important thing. Talking is easy, but walking your talk is harder. And walking it consistently even though you fall, slip back into old habits and make mistakes is a huge part of success.

This State Bar video shows attorneys’ reactions to a talk by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor about problems with judicial elections and public perception of judicial integrity.

Justice O’Connor’s cause hits home, as Wisconsin’s more recent Supreme Court elections have generated controversy.

The WI Public Defender has launched a new blog, which is described as follows:

The Wisconsin State Public Defender distills the latest decisions concerning criminal law and tracks issues pending before the United States and Wisconsin Supreme Courts. For the Wisconsin criminal defense lawyer, this is an indispensable source for news and analysis of cases “On Point.

This article discusses the Chevron case, and the parties’ battle between two important principles: (1) journalists’ right to confidentiality for their sources/source info; versus (2) litigants’ right to access evidence that is important to their litigation.

The article also had an interesting quote about lawyers:

In a 1905 speech before the Harvard Ethical Society, Brandeis said, “Instead of holding a position of independence, between the wealthy and the people, prepared to curb the excesses of either, able lawyers have, to a large extent, allowed themselves to become adjuncts of great corporations and have neglected the obligation to use their powers for the protection of the people.