Begging the Question: Miscellaneous

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Miscellaneous Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Miscellaneous

Begging the Question

Two anonymous lawyers discuss law, politics and pop culture (in a manner reminiscent of the Foreign Service Board cheating scene in the classic 1985 Cold War spoof "Spies Like Us").
By "Milbarge" and "Fitz-Hume"

Post Frequency: 1.9/day

Last Entry: March 19, 2010 at 00:00:01

Homeward Bound

Posted on February 14, 2009
When I was a kid, I wore out my cassette tape of Simon & Garfunkel's 1981 Concert in Central Park. I still remember them introducing the band, including "Gerry Niewood on saxophone." That's why I instantly recognized the name when I heard that Gerry Niewood died this week...

Use Your Allusion

Posted on February 11, 2009
Here's a question: Let's say you read a book, and then a few months later discover that the book's title was a reference to a song you'd never heard. Do you re-read the book?Bonus points for guessing the book/song.

The 13th person to read this post wins $1 million*

Posted on February 09, 2009
I've written a few times -- here and here and here -- about these insane radio or tv personalities who sponsor fake contests with fake prizes but real contestants. Like the radio station that promises to give away "100 Grand," and the "winner" thinks that means dollars but in fact it means the eponymous candy bar...

The verdict is in: Chief Justice Roberts has a sense of humor

Posted on January 28, 2009
I wrote the other day about the kerfuffle over Chief Justice Roberts's stumbling during his recitation of the oath of office during last week's presidential inauguration. The matter is still pinballing around the legal media, and will undoubtedly spawn four score and seven law review articles...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

The times they are a-changin'

Posted on January 26, 2009
In January 1961, some people met up at a lunch counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The blacks and whites did not know each other. The blacks sat down and requested service, and got thirty days in jail for their trouble. The whites showed up to hurl taunts, insults, eggs, and fists...

Affirm Believer

Posted on January 22, 2009
So President Obama took the oath of office again, after the little flub he and Chief Justice Roberts made during the big ceremony. All over the blogosphere, pundits were putting off their angels-on-pinheads counting to debate whether Obama was technically the president, since he didn't recite the oath precisely as it's written in the Constitution...

Lolkatz

Posted on January 21, 2009
Big news from the Supreme Court today on the issue of qualified immunity, in a case called Pearson v. Callahan. Here's a summary from Prof. Kerr at Volokh, and more from Prof. Althouse and Steve Minor. The Court, in a much-anticipated move, overruled the 2001 case Saucier v...

Con Air 2: Operation Gitmo Drop

Posted on January 15, 2009
President-elect Barack Obama has promised to close the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but doing so presents the complex question of where to put the 250 or so detainees. Unsurprisingly, politicians representing the possible destinations tend to say, "Yes, please close Gitmo, and no, please don't send them here...

Better Get the Led(better) Out

Posted on January 14, 2009
Via How Appealing a few days ago, I came across this bizarre rant in the Connecticut Law Tribune by one Karen Lee Torre (background on her here via Simple Justice). It's about the case of Lilly Ledbetter, and it just totally misses the point.Ledbetter was an Alabama factory worker who believed she had been the victim of gender-based wage discrimination...

File this under "D" for "Duh!" and "Disappearing"

Posted on January 13, 2009
I saw an interesting story in the New York Times about a blue-ribbon task force study concluding that the supposed threat to children from online sexual predators is vastly overblown, if not a myth approaching moral panic status. I wonder how often police from different jurisdictions end up talking to each other in chat rooms...

Doubting Tucker

Posted on January 08, 2009
Via Feddie, an odd little anecdote from pundit Tucker Carlson. According to Carlson, he had drifted away from his childhood religion, but was reading a book as a teenager when he heard a voice saying "I exist." Naturally, Carlson assumed the voice came from God (absent any other evidence), and "took him at his word...

Workplace Moment of Zen

Posted on January 07, 2009
I think faster than I type, and I'm not a great typist to begin with, so I make a lot of transposition errors. One I've noticed myself making recently has been to refer to someone's conviction as his "convictino." I like that. It always makes me smile: He's not a big bad convict; he's a little convictino...

Run for the Borders

Posted on January 06, 2009
I'm working on posts about my book reading in 2008 and 2009, and it got me thinking about bookstores. Specifically, Borders. The company's stock price has plummetted, and rumors have been swirling that Borders will declare bankruptcy or even go out of business altogether...

Christmas Cat Blog

Posted on December 30, 2008
I took this expression to mean that I couldn't come in unless I was bearing presents.

Peeve of the Year

Posted on December 24, 2008
Prof. Desai at the Co-Op has a perfectly ranty post about the cell phone business model. You know, the notion that you can't buy a new phone without starting a whole new contract and all. This kind of thing has kept me from giving lots of money to the phone companies over the years...

Teapot Dome Scandal

Posted on December 22, 2008
We had our office holiday party the other day. We do one of those gift exchanges where everyone contributes a gift, then they draw numbers, and we go around with the option of taking an unwrapped gift or stealing someone else's already-opened gift. We call it a Yankee Swap, but it goes by other names...

Teapot Dome Scandal

Posted on December 21, 2008
We had our office holiday party the other day. We do one of those gift exchanges where everyone contributes a gift, then they draw numbers, and we go around with the option of taking an unwrapped gift or stealing someone else's already-opened gift. We call it a Yankee Swap, but it goes by a href="http://en...

Home Sweet Huh?

Posted on December 17, 2008
Let's say (hypothetically speaking) I were interested in buying a home, and let's also say (not hypothetically speaking), I have no idea how to go about doing that. Can anyone recommend a good guide (a book is fine; a website preferable) to buying a home? Here's a few hints as to the level of sophistication I need:Example A: I have no idea how to figure out how much home I can afford...

Home Sweet Huh?

Posted on December 16, 2008
Let's say (hypothetically speaking) I were interested in buying a home, and let's also say (not hypothetically speaking), I have no idea how to go about doing that. Can anyone recommend a good guide (a book is fine; a website preferable) to buying a home? Here's a few hints as to the level of sophistication I need:br /br /Example A: I have no idea how to figure out how much home I can afford...

The next Senator from Illinois...

Posted on December 09, 2008
I spent a lot of time today reading the amazing news of the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The blockbuster allegation is that Blagojevich sought political and financial favors in exchange for an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama...

The ADA Goes to the Movies, The Sequel: The ADAAA

Posted on December 08, 2008
I have written quite a few times (here and here and here and here and here) about the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to stadium-style movie theaters. (One of those posts discusses the same legal principles with respect to racetracks...

Be vewy, vewy quiet...the wabbits are hunting you

Posted on December 03, 2008
A couple of weeks ago there was a very thought-provoking article in Sports Illustrated about the decline of hunting in America. The premise of the piece is that the fall-off in hunting has led to a explosion in various wild animal populations. This isn't always good...

Number 5 is Alive!

Posted on November 26, 2008
Sorry for the lack of posting recently. I've had some work issues and some family issues. And nothing-to-blog-about issues. But I'm still here. In fact, it almost slipped by me again, but it's BTQ's anniversary. This blog is five years old! And I'm still excited about doing it...

Update on Shaq's Right to Possess a Gun

Posted on November 15, 2008
A few months ago, I posted about a story from Atlanta in which a woman had received a temporary restraining order against basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. I noted that if the order became a permanent restraining order after a hearing, then federal law would prohibit O'Neal from possessing a gun...

Coming Next Year: Sesame Street, Melrose Place, and Electric Avenue!

Posted on November 12, 2008
So I was drinking a McDonald's beverage the other day, and noticed that affixed to the side of the cup was a game piece for the restaurant's "Monopoly" contest. If you're not familiar, there are stickers on various food items, a few of which offer instant prizes, but most of which correspond to aspects of the classic Monopoly board game...

The Winner: America

Posted on November 04, 2008
It's been an exciting night. I'm not saying "America" is the winner because Barack Obama is being elected President of the United States. This isn't about whether he's the better option, although of course I have my thoughts about that question. Those will be for another day...

What's the matter with Ohio?

Posted on November 04, 2008
After the 2004 election Thomas Frank wrote the much publicized book What's the Matter with Kansas. He argued that much of middle America by voting Republican was voting against it's own economic interest.Now that Ohio and Pennsylvania have voted for a ticket where both candidates have openly advocated the federal goverment bankrupting the coal industry, I eagerly await his sequal lamenting the fact that states voted Democrat against their economic interest...

Notes From a Road Trip

Posted on November 02, 2008
The whole family recently took a cross country road trip. And here are a few observations after spending 4 days in a car with Mrs. Haff and a 2 year old.1. God bless the person who invented the in-car entertainment systems. I honestly don't know how people managed to not strangle their kids without these...

Billy Packer's Election Analysis

Posted on October 28, 2008
This video is a clip from last spring's men's college basketball championship semi-final game. Kansas demolished North Carolina right out of the gate. When the Jayhawks took a 26-point lead around twelve and a half minutes in, Billy Packer, the long-time basketball analyst, declared flatly, "This game is over!"Now, two interesting things happened after that moment...

Decoys?!?!

Posted on October 27, 2008
For the record, it did not escape my attention that tonight's episode of "Chuck" introduced a character, played by the inimitable Tony Hale, who went by the name "Emmett Milbarge." The show also once featured a listening device with the serial number GLG-20, another Spies Like Us reference...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Should I Sue? Examining the Complex Question and the Role Apologies Play in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
WBUR examines the medical apologies issue: On WBUR, a Boston NPR s...

The Question of the Political Season?
The Christian Science Monitor today asks if there is "too much rel...

Question for Greg
A question for Greg, prompted by his characteristically thoughtful...