Although shunning overt politics today, I’m going to try to pen an entire posting sans
the letter of the alphabet that follows “v” (and then look ahead to a similar Inauguration
Day come January ’05).
My baseball-loving, parent-poet-teacher friend from Rochester, NY, Tom Painting,
has a pair of haiku that fit this artifice:
bases loaded
a full moon clears
the right field fence
the toddler
runs to third base
first
(Bottle Rocket Press, 2004)
first night at her place -
three-dog gal
no-dog guy
[Oct. 26, 2004]
one-breath pundit
Is linking by big-name bloggers a negative externality? Read Prof. Grace. (no guilt here)
Bravo to the federal 3rd Circuit appeals court for fining Janice Haagensen $45K for
case but reminds me of a question I’ve often had: Does an indigent defendant have
the right to a frivolous appeal? It sure looks like it in practice.
Here’s one for my TISK! page: f/k/a is result #2 in a Google Search for
vacation on continuing legal education courses>. (Don’t tell Carolyn)
does this count? 
get sticker here
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one-breath pundit
At Legal Underground, today, you can meet an extraplanetary observer from Og who’s trying to figure out
what makes American lawyers tick
on various stem cell issues to St. Peter. We’ll leave what makes a good Catholic to other commentators.
But, we think St. Peter might have questions for religous “fundamentalists”:
Why do you think that only the religion that you were born into or have chosen has all
the answers? Can’t we distinguish “faith” in a relationship with God from adherence to
church-made dogma?
Can a religion that excommunicated those who said the world was round and revolved
around the sun be a good judge of the appropriateness of scientific research?
Do you guys think you were given wonderous, curious, creative brains and a world
filled with problems, so that you could find all the answers in one ancient book that’s
filled with gossip, ambiguous metaphors, war crimes and ethnic hatred?
Ernie is seeking good taglines for Windows, in response to Apple’s “Think Different”. Mr. Svenson suggests: “I’ll just do it the hard way.” We offer: “Think Difficult” and “Don’t think, just update.”
- The other by immigration lawyer Alan Lee gives the Bush Administration poor
marks on immigration policy and execution, and notes that “As of September 30,
2003, the number of pending cases at the U.S.C.I.S. stood at a record 6 million plus.”
I’ve been thinking that the best part for me about Yusuf Islam landing in the news is my digging out old Cat Stevens’ albums. However, the worse part is that some of his tunes
are so darn catchy, I can’t keep them out of my head and I’m singing them everywhere (to
the chagrin of many, who are surely taking their various lord’s names in vain.)
Today, the
Tampa Tribune has an article that spotlights what lawyers in Florida think about lawyer ads.
Now it’s time for some quiet haiku from our Honored Guest/Friend paul m.:
migrating whales
all our footprints
wash away
spring rain
the measured step
of a sandhill crane
canyon echo
sky-colored asters
among the rocks
credits: “migrating whales” – The Heron’s Nest, Feb., 2003, Readers’ and Editors’ Choice — Poem of the Year [2002]
”spring rain” and “canyon echo” – The Heron’s Nest, Feb. 2002, Readers’ Choice Popular Poet Award, Runner-Up
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For half a century, it wasn’t only the horses racing to the finish line in Saratoga Springs, NY,
the trendy “summer place to be.” Tourists enjoying the city’s main park often discovered
too late that no public restrooms were available there.
The Albany Times Union reported yesterday, however, that ”Public facilities are
due to open before the summer tourist season in a $180,000 project at Congress Park. “ (Oct. 24,
naturally, raised the “potty parity” issue, which ethicalEsq discussed last year.
University of Chicago law professor Mary Anne Case, creator of the Toilet Survey, has been
studying the issue for years, and explains that separate facilities are not always equal, as equal
square footage does not produce equality. Thus, she says:
“What are you equalizing: excreting opportunities, or are you equalizing waiting time?
I’m not being frivolous when I say these are important questions to debate.”
As the home of liberal Skidmore College, and proud of both its traditions and its progressiveness, I’m
counting on Saratoga Springs to help clarify, and maybe solve, many of these issues.
Finding a public toilet was apparently a frequent problem for travelling haiku poets in
often bringing humor to the topic. For example:
mountain village–
a temporary toilet
in blossom shade
where piss dribbles,
dribbles down…
irises
get ready to see
my piss waterfall!
croaking frog
Cute Caleb Lemley doesn’t seem bothered by the lack of restrooms in Congress Park.
(original photo by Times Union photographer Cindy Schultz, Oct. 24, 2004, no longer available at the site)
- You know, Caleb is almost as cute as Denise‘s Little Baggage Tyler: “Tyler swinger”
toilet seat up -
bedroom
suddenly chilly
[Oct. 25, 2004]
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No, not more lupine or aquiline presidential campaign ads, but more haiku from our Canadian friend,
car dealership
the tuneless whistle
of a salesman
a silent magpie
flies across the valley –
leafless willows
from “something to sing about”, pawEprint 58 (March 2003)
late October –
tv on
sound off
[Oct. 24, 2004]
one-breath pundit
Last night I was forwarded an email stating that Theresa Heinz Kerry’s “ownership” of Heinz corporations in scores of foreign nations would keep a President Kerry from stopping outsourcing. Snopes.com has the facts, plus well-reasoned arguments concerning the premise of the message. One very important fact:
“The Heinz family trust which Mrs. Kerry inherited sold most of its shares of Heinz stock back in 1995 and currently holds less than a 4% interest in the company.”
Maureen Dowd cooks everyone’s goose skewering the antics and ads of our presidential candidates. (silly geese are everywhere!)
his position on the issue. Lord knows, we’ve tried to pry it out of him — here, here, there, and even there. I’m disappointed and have to wonder if it has something to do with trial lawyer contributions, or the hope thereof, in the homestate of Madison County’s “judicial hellhole.”
As mentioned on this page this weekend, I can’t wait for the election to be a fait accompli.
Has anyone else noticed that Blawg Republic‘s new format of “most linked” weblawgs is far less useful than its original hourly update of postings? Now, the page is virtually unchanged for hours at a time, AND it shows items that are many days old (without even giving the date). Couldn’t they at least show the newest posts from a subset of their directory – maybe the top 30 or 40 weblawgs? Better yet, let’s urge them to return to the original format.
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I’m always a little skeptical when politicians talk about their children. . . . 
But, some of my favorite haiku feature the poet’s kids.
summer’s end –
my children try to teach me
how to smile
winter sickness
my daughter tucks me in
for the first time
an old resume
my son colours in
his rainbow
just one glass of wine -
Google keeps asking
“did you mean ______ ?”
[Oct. 23, 2004]
another stray dog
finds
her
[for e, Oct. 23, 2004]
one-breath pundit
hatred, 17th Century anti-blasphemy laws remain on the books, which
penalize anyone who challenges the truth of Christian doctrine or the Bible.
Interesting NYT Op-ed today (free reg. req’d):
“It just so happens that America is evenly divided about what sort of leader we need: the Republican who leads with his soul or the Democrat who leads with his judgment. Even the events of the past four years have not altered that disagreement.”
Longing to get away from presidential politics? How about joining the COMPLETE
project — a collaboration among researchers in five countries aimed at fully mapping nearly
1,000 square lights years of star-forming material in the Milky Way galaxy. [Let's see,
5,880,000,000,000,000 square miles. Do they have tv election ads out there?]
A little reality check for my fellow Democrats: If we fail to win the Presidency, it will largely be because the leadership of our Party:
did the politically expedient thing and gave the then-popular President blanket authorization to start a war against Iraq
did the politically expedient thing and failed to point out early how disorganized our efforts were in Iraq after the swift “military victory”
did the politically expedient thing and started attacking the war when John Dean’s anti-war rhetoric was popular
did the politically expedient thing and sought “anybody but Dean” because they feared Dean’s approach to politics and/or thought he would surely lose the presidency if nominated
did the politically expedient thing and backed off on the anti-war talk as soon as the Kerry folk feared the swing voters would be turned off
etc., etc.
My point: If Democrat leadership had voted and acted wisely and courageously on issues relating to the Iraq war, we would almost surely be closer to victory right now (and the nation and world a safer, better place). Therefore, I’m hoping the Party (even those politicians for whom honesty does not come naturally), will learn the lesson that doing the right thing can be good politics, and feels better, too.
I’m sure that I’m not the only member of the electorate who would rather vote enthusiastically for an honest politician who almost wins, than reluctantly for a cowardly, evasive, or shifty politician who almost wins. [Nov. 2 better come quickly -- "pithy poetry not prolix politics" is supposed to be our motto!]
speaking truth
the rainy season’s crack
of thunder
in poor soil
blooming courageously…
chrysanthemum
p.s. Please note that the Editor , David Giacalone, is solely responsible for all
commentary or opinion that appears in the postings on this weblog. The haiku
poets who generously appear here as Honored Guests do not necessarily — or even
presumptively – concur.
p.p.s. Post-election update post is here.
“bombfuse”
update (April 29, 2006): The folks at True Majority have started a campaign to
and that they stand up against the Bush Administration’s plans and arguments
for bombing Iran over its future nuclear weapons. Their Petition to Democratic
Leaders says:
Please, use all the influence you’ve got to convince Democrats to
find sufficient backbone to withstand any and all pressure from the
President or anyone else to go to war with Iran.
We wish would could agree that it was a lack of backbone and a problem
of believing bad information that got Democrats to vote to authorize the
Iraq War. It surely was the fear of losing votes from a public that appeared
to support the then very popular President. If Democrats do the “right thing”
now, it will surely be because voters are sick of war and its costs, and the
President is unpopular. I’d still prefer integrity to political expediency, but at
least politics should help prevent bombing and war this time, rather than
promote it.
FYI: you can find the sticker here
(see NYT) For some reason, this has inspired haikuEsq and friends to engage in a little foolishness.
big bridge–
the hunter is followed
by a goose
the departing goose
drops an enormous
crap
scrawny goose–
no partner flies north
with you
“Entering Goose Creek”
the candidate
covers his behind
behind the bush -
bishops
goose-stepping
goose
bumps – -
[Oct. 22, 2004]
honking at my window –
geese above
cabbie below
[Sept. 19, 2004]
down in front!
geese upstage the hawk’s
cameo
[dag, 06-05-04]
autumn here early
over a ridge of hills
geese-shaped clouds
geese gone
one white feather
settles on a reed
Exit Strategy revisited: Condelie R.: “But, sir, if we get the sovereign Iraqi government to demand, just before our Election, that we pull out all troops before their Election, we wouldn’t really have to . . . . . . . “
Republicans had No Candidate, because Bauer decided (selfishly) to run again for election
Troy Republicans quickly nominated Assistant District Attorney Robert Ahearn (Oct. 15)
Republican-dominated City Council chooses Ahearn to fill the vacant judgeship
Republican Mayor quickly swears in Ahearn as City Judge (Oct. 21, 2004)
Robert Ahearn gets to run as Judge Ahearn, incumbent
Only 7 days after starting his judicial election campaign and stating ”We’re going to try to visit every house in Troy in the next 18 days, ” Ahearn says “I intend to get to work immediately” as city court judge. I guess cleaning out his D.A. office will have to wait, for the busy new judge. [According to the 2000 census, there are 49,000 people and 19,996 households in Troy]
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As this consumer advocate mellows, he has discovered that being “welched”
can be a very pleasing experience:
twilight lingers . . .
from the wrecking yard
flash of a blowtorch
noon sun
picnic cheese
sweating
a table for one–
leaves rustle
in the inner courtyard
click here for full photo and poem . . . 
Etymology and political correctness both intrigue me. Why does the American Heritage Dictionary
say “origin unknown” for the verb “welsh/welch“, but notes that the verb ”gyp” is “Probably short for
Gypsy,” and “jew” is “From Jews’ supposedly extortionate practices as moneylenders in the Middle Ages”?
It’s official, as we reported yesterday, the Florida Bar has notified the State’s Supreme Court that it will
Our weblog friend UCL has announced that he’s switching his vote to President Bush, because he now appreciates the need to be decisive. Although UCL hasn’t persuaded me (decisively doing what is best for the wealthy and what you always wanted to do anyway, despite the facts – virtue or vice?), I’ll keep reading him — unlike a silly, anonymous Commentor, who supports Kerry and will now boycott UCL.
Not fun: kids getting welched out of Halloween — caving in to pressure from the wiccans and the religious.
first cold night–
smell of hot dust
from the vent
click here for full photo and poem from Michael D. Welch’s Open Window 
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They smell bad and give me indigestion (no, not my errant allies — see one-breath punditry below). Yet,
I always smile and think deep thoughts when Canadian haijin DeVar Dahl writes about them:
. . . 
. . .
it’s not swearing
it’s the only language
those cows understand
my best moo
all the cows
stop and look
harvest moon
somebody’s cow moos
and moos and moos
from the (wonderful) anthology A Piece of Egg Shell
(Magpie Haiku Poets, 2004, to order email
cover art by Ken Richardson
the stale air
of an old man’s home –
opening my front door
[Oct. 21, 2004]
one-breath pundit
An Admission by the Editor: I expect more integrity and fairness from my allies than my opponents. That has often left me quite disappointed, even if no longer surprised. Here are first examples that made big impressions on me:
+ The first time I ever saw the use of character assasination — fellow anti-Vietnam-War protestors, 1965.
+ The first time I ever saw closeup the skewing of a statistic to exaggerate the extent of a problem —
domestic violence opponents defining domestic abuse to include “verbal abuse” (a dozen yers ago)
+ The first time I ever heard hissing to drown out a teacher’s unpopular opinion — feminist law students, 1974.
Of course, I see more transgressions by liberals, since I hang around them more. Because I continue to hope my political allies will use evenhanded analysis and tactics, TalkLeft‘s decision to cut off only long-winded opposing views irks me –as does my web-buddy Mad Kane‘s decision, like TalkLeft‘s, to only post from the anti-Republican side of the “Mary Cheney debate” debate. Hat tip to Rick Klau for calling it likes he sees it. [Prof. B is also abashed by antics of his allies.]
I’m also embarrassed by the lefty Television Luddites who think it would be so cool to use the off-button-only, universal remote TV-B-Gone to turn off other people’s television sets. (interesting commentary and comments at Stupid Evil Bastard; via Inter Alia) The arguments of the anti-TV crowd about the value of TV content would equally apply to publication media of all types — seen any Best-Seller Book Lists lately?.
Pit Bull Update (6 PM): Marc Chandler reports that Pape & Chandler received notice today (Oct. 21) from the Florida Bar that it would seek review of the decision in Florida Bar v. John Pape and Marc Chandler. The stubborn and misguided Bar is being as tenacious (nasty?) as a pit bull.
Good News: Legal Reader posts on the $1.8 million dollar fine imposed on California lawyer Harpreet Brar for filing frivolous “nuisance suits” against small businesses under California consumer protection law. (details)
Denise Howell, Walter Olson and Martin Grace (who quotes Justice Douglas on trees, and frets over mosquitos in “Dang!“) I just finished Stephen J. Cannell’s Runaway Heart, which deals with the standing issue for non-humans, and features a rumpled, tree-hugger lawyer, his gorgeous paralegal daughter, bad-guy Big-Business and Government, a hard-boiled private eye, and more. Fun read. If Cannell got the standing law wrong, please let me know.
Have you heard the words battle ground and swing often enough this election cycle? It’s really not difficult to click on a thesaurus (e.g., Merriam-Webster, Roget II, or WorldNet.), but the American news media seems allergic to synonyms in this presidential campaign. And, we’ve been condemned to cliche hell.
Until recently, I couldn’t figure out why the two political parties were spending so much money to woo the 806 people living in Battle Ground, Indiana (Tippecanoe County), or even the 3700 folks in Battle Ground, Washington. And, believe me, Ken Burns and I might have picked Louisiana, Missouri or Illinois as “swing states,” but I could never have come up with all 19 states so-designated by the Bush and Kerry Campaigns for
this election cycle.
- According to Wikipedia, the Washington Post has defined swing states as those that were decided by less than three percentage points in the 2000 presidential election.
- Encarta informs us that a swing voter is called a floating voter in the U.K. That’s a nice alternative phrase, but it reminds me of hanging chads and the whole Election 2000 debacle.
very important role in this Presidential Election. Nevertheless, I have to assert my own constitutional rights
(the pursuit of happiness, not hackneyedness) and insist that synonyms are not sinful, wicked nor even un-right-eous.
Syn-o-nyms are not sin-words — very different etymologies (see here and there). Indeed, I’d say right
now that synonyms are heavenly, sublime, delightful — almost as enhanting as post-election silence will become by mid-November.
battle . . . 
. . . swing
Please, Media Moguls and Midgets: Find some alternatives to “battle ground state” and “swing state”
during the next two weeks. Even if you don’t like “floating,” how about variations of:
- oscillate, sway, rock, vibrate, fluctuate, undulate, waver, tilt, quiver, pulsate, to-and-fro
- skirmish, firefight, strategic, hard-fought, closely-contested, targeted
- important, significant, crucial, vital, decisive
[feel free, dear reader, to add more PG-rated suggestions through our Comment Box]
Maybe, soon, swing will again have connotations that I enjoy.
far from home
an empty swing
half my size
our kids on the swing
old enough to push each other
april evening
in English-Language Haiku (Jim Kacian, Dee Evetts, eds. Red Moon Press, 2001)
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Have you heard the words battle ground and swing often enough this election cycle? It’s not difficult to click on a thesaurus (e.g., Merriam-Webster, Roget II, or WorldNet.), but the American news media seems allergic to synonyms in this presidential campaign. And, we’ve been condemned to cliche hell.
Until recently, I couldn’t figure out why the two political parties were spending so much money to woo the 806 people living in Battle Ground, Indiana (Tippecanoe County), [click here to read all of this swinging post]
Maybe, soon, swing will again have connotations that I enjoy.
far from home
an empty swing
half my size
our kids on the swing
old enough to push each other
april evening
one-breath pundit
at Notes from the (Legal) Underground.
Bob Ambrogi has written a
follow-up on the issue of weblawgs and blogads; my
that he pen a State Haiku for Louisiana. David likes the “little sister” haiku that I
posted, and
also proposes:
hard Louisiana rain
indoors
in beer
Since
Ernie the Attorney got us started on this, I hope he gets in touch with Prof. Lanoue.
first date:
she groans with pleasure
at my pun
[Oct. 20, 2004]
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I offer to the new associates at Steel Hector & Davis the following simple rules: Practice law with
(1) Integrity, (2) Preparation (3) and Professionalism.
- Integrity: . . .Everything the legal profession does is done as a fiduciary — as a trustee in a special
relationship. . . . If lawyers are to be trusted and respected, integrity must pervade everything we do.
- Professionalism combines integrity with preparation so as to produce consistent competent performance.
Professionalism is the manner in which we carry out our roles as attorneys. It is the practical application
of the law to life. It is the practice of law.
- Finally, I try to emphasize to new lawyers that we as attorneys are in a sense the Chosen People, with
special duties, and thereby have special responsibilities to society to see that justice is done. The law is the
bulwark of freedom and the antidote for violence.
- Former Chief Circuit Judge Gerald Wetherington recently wrote about “A Lawyer’s Duty” in the Dade County Bar Bulletin. He noted: . . . “The motivation of a lawyer to do the right thing should come primarily from within as a matter of personal integrity, and not primarily from the fear of external compulsion. Internalized values are the most dependable and lasting ones.”
The firm of ethicalEsq & haikuEsq — with Kobayashi Issa, of counsel – want to add that clients need lawyers they can trust, and trust will come from integrity and competence, not from a self-important notion of “professional dignity.”
first snow falling
I trust in his hand…
bridge by the gate
on honorable Buddha’s
honorable nose
an icicle
thank you, Philip Bloom . . 
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The legal reform group HALT just emailed its October eJournal and, as usual, it is filled with interesting material, and points to more. For example:
You can find the very first HALT eJournal here, including a box to request the free monthly email edition. There is a pull-down menu in the righthand margin of the HALT homepage for quick access to the Archived eJournal.
swatting a fly
looking at
a mountain
they huff and puff
up the hill…
paper fans flitting
Issa, translated by Prof. David G. Lanoue 
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On this chilly autumn morning, I’m in the mood for some work product from “Recovering lawyer”,
expert deposition–
folding and unfolding
his surgeon’s hands
after the verdict
the tireless lawyer speaks
in falling snow
first murder trial–
the D.A. arrives
in new gloves
alongside
the silent crew scull -
coach’s angry bullhorn
[Oct. 19, 2004]
one-breath pundit
enthusing, “I love this blog world–you make a general statement and then some people
write a book for you about it.,” Granny opines on protectionism, Economists and “their
hunchbacked evil blogger assistants.”
MyShingle is wondering how any self-respecting young lawyer would accept a life of
humiliating grunt work as a “contract” lawyer for Big Law rather than solo practice. I bet
there are a lot of sad stories (financial need, misguided dreams, etc.) behind the phenomenon.
FYI: you can find the sticker here
from the haiku chapbook piano practice
credits: “summer’s end” – 
Apologies to any visitor who tried to click my broken link to the full version of “
