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The North Face makes good on threat to sue The South Butt.
“A man claims a judge chased him down a road, had him handcuffed and threatened to have him shot after he broke up with the judge’s daughter.” (Via.)
Here’s why people don’t feel bad for downloading music illegally.
Take your pick for year-end lawyer lists. There’s the 10 most infamous lawyers or the top lawyers behaving badly in 2009. Personally, I like the latter.
A coalition of four Texas cities and 15 elected officials have filed a federal lawsuit claiming the state’s open meetings law violates the First Amendment by preventing them from speaking in private on issues facing the public. (Via.)
The Chinese government has declared a police officer a “martyr” after drinking himself to death at an official dinner. (Via.)
Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.
Justice Felix Frankfurter, dissenting in
Henslee v. Union Planters Nat. Bank & Trust Co.
There’s a few things I’m going to embark on for next year from both a personal and blog standpoint. One is reading challenges and the other deals with book reviews.
I joined four reading challenges in 2009, two of which I completed by the middle of the year. I completed the third August 1 and so started a new one. I’m halfway through it but it runs until July 31, 2010, so I’ve plenty of time.
As a result, I’m looking for 2010 challenges. I think I’ll stay with the Notable Books Challenge as Wendy, the founder, said it would be a “perpetual challenge.” Because I enjoyed it and it led to some excellent reading, I’m in for another six books this year. New challenges on the current short list are:
Now I don’t need to be challenged to read a book. But I figure a couple of these will add a little flavor to the reading I do anyway and can even perhaps broaden what might otherwise end up in my hands. I’m not going to do all of them and will be keeping my eye out for other challenges between now and the end of the year.
Another sort of challenge deals with book reviews. As I mentioned last weekend, Kirkus Reviews is ceasing publication after more than 75 years. In reading various comments about the magazine, I saw that it limited reviews to no more than 350 words. That calls for some awful tight writing. As a result, I’m going to try to do occasional “microreviews” of 350 words or less of books I’ve read but which I’ve not been assigned to review. I figure it will not only provide an opportunity to work on my writing and editing skills but to also provide a bit more review material for the blog.
Twitter is the first rough draft of gossip.
“Roland Hedley,” Doonesbury, Dec. 14, 2009
We all remember how eagerly we looked forward to Christmas as kids. Though our enthusiasm and fervor may diminish over the years, it often is because the focus has changed. As we got older, we anticipated Christmas break as much if not more than gifts. As we became parents, we thrived on the infectious excitement of our kids.
This year, though, I’m kind of back to the childhood fervor level. And it’s not specifically for Christmas itself; it’s for today.
Tonight all three daughters are scheduled to get home. Now having all three kids around for Christmas isn’t really that big a deal in and of itself because it’s happened every year. This year, though, is the first all three have been off to college. And, of course, all three are in different states (Missouri, Nebraska, Massachusetts). This Thanksgiving was the first in which not all three were home. This will be the first time the youngest has been home in more than three months.
So, while my wife and I have been coping with “empty nest” syndrome (and figuring out we still like each other after 24 years of focusing on our kids), the nest will be full again tonight. It’s a day I’ve been counting down to for a while and the forthcoming boisterous activity will be like music. The only creatures that may be more excited tonight are the dogs — but they don’t get to relish the anticipation.
I hope you all get what’s on your Christmas list. Mine arrives tonight.
The father of a daughter … is nothing but a high-class hostage. …when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, “Daddy, I need to ask you something,” he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan.
Garrison Keillor, The Book of Guys
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent to the Senate floor a version of the Free Flow of Information Act that appears to include bloggers.
Briefly stated, a shield law protects journalists from having to disclose sources to prosecutors unless certain requirements are met. One of the battles to date is who would be protected by a federal shield law. At one point, the Senate version of the bill was amended so as to protect only those working for the mainstream media. Last month, the committee adopted language that renders it applicable to certain bloggers. The three part definition of a “covered person” says the bill will apply to anyone who (1) “with the primary intent to investigate events and procure material in order to disseminate” news or other matters of public interest and “regularly” does so, (2) had that intent from the inception of gathering the information and (3) and obtained the information “in order to disseminate it[.]” Although the amendment does not define “regularly,” that is something that could be decided on a case-by-case basis rather than excluding all bloggers.
Last Thursday, by an 11-8 vote the committee defeated an effort by Senate Majority Leader Dianne Feinstein and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois to return to a mainstream media-type definition. Their proposal would have required a person be acting “for substantial professional gain.” That term, in turn, was defined as a student working for a college publication or an employee, contractor or agent of an entity that disseminated the information through newspaper, nonfiction book, wire service, news agency, magazine, “news website, or other periodical” or television, radio or motion pictures. While “other periodical” was not defined, the other items in that list would seem to indicate blogs would not be considered a periodical.
After rejecting the amendment, the committee adopted the the blogger-friendly bill by a vote of 14-5. In announcing the bill had come out of committee, Sen. Charles Schumer (D.-N.Y.) noted that “it also provides the potential for journalists publishing on blogs to be covered as well.”
When and if the bill will be debated on the Senate floor is anyone’s guess, as is whether it would pass in the current form. Even if it does, the House version of the bill requires that an individual’s work in journalism must account “for a substantial portion of the person’s livelihood or for substantial financial gain[.]” If and when the two versions are ever reconciled, the law would apply only to federal authorities, not state and local ones.
Some blogs have become the best check on monopoly mainstream journalism, and they provide a surprisingly frequent source of initiative reporting.
Harold Evans, WSJ, July 14, 2007
Bulletin Board
Blog Headlines of the Week
Blog Lines of the Week
Interesting Reading in the Interweb Tubes
- Jihadology (“Instead of lurching from one perceived threat to the next, U.S. policymakers should make a deep investment in knowing the whole world.”) (Via.)
- Who Let Pat Buchanan Out of His Padded Cell? (Actually, my reaction when I read Buchanan’s column in the local daily was wondering what planet he lives on.)
Bookish Linkage
Nonbookish Linkage
Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.
Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun
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Disclaimer 
Additionally, some links on this blog go to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. There is no additional cost to you. Contact me You can e-mail me at prairieprogressive at gmaildotcom.
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