who do you want Columbus to be?
It’s real Columbus Day! Who was the real Columbus? What was his real name?
The Florida Museum of Natural History has an informative page about Christopher Columbus.
In his article Columbus: Hero or Heel? (Vista, March 1991) , author William F. Keegan concludes:
“For over 500 years there has been only one answer to the question, who was
Columbus? . . . Who do you want him to be?“
Picking one’s own biographer can sometimes be a wise career move; but we have little control of our
image over the centuries. Sorry, Bill and Hillary. (Thanks to Martin Grace for the reminder and pointer
to LOC’s Oct. 12 page.)
rain all day
my son flips
the etch-a-sketch
Indian summer
honey flows
into the tea
by W.F. Owen, from frogpond XXVII: 1
by dagosan:
Columbus Day trip
red and yellow crayons
turn into stubs
[Oct. 12, 2004]
Speaking of crayons (and Domino’s), Evan Schaeffer spotlights the “ill-conceived” child support poster program in Michigan. Please pay your child support, and don’t put your Children in the Middle.
There is a very thoughtful article in Law Practice Management magazine for lawyers interested
in alternative billing, whose clients are “less sophisticated” buyers of legal services – i.e., consumers
or small businesses: Alternative Billing for the “Main Street Lawyer” (by James A Calloway and Mark
A. Robertson, Sept. 2004). Its conclusion:
This quest can lead to an office where the clients are more informed and more certain about
the fees they will pay, where more information about the progress of a matter flows regularly
to the client, where the client is given realistic goals and expectations by which to measure the
lawyer’s delivery of services, where the lawyer is more confident that matters are being handled
efficiently, and where the lawyer is rewarded for efficiency by increased profitability.
Asked to comment on lawyer dignity and the (800) PIT-BULL controversy, Scheherazade has replied with her usual blend of insight, common sense and personality. Thanks, Shez!
