Legal Commentary

SportPundit has Final Pre-Bowl College Football Rankings and Ratings by YPPSYS 2010/2011 NCAA FBS (Division I-A) after Week 14 of Play

Posted on December 07, 2010
SportPundit has put up the Final Pre-Bowl College Football Rankings and Ratings by YPPSYS 2010/2011 NCAA FBS (Division I-A) after Week 14 of Play

Yahoo Rivals Reports that NCAA Enforcement Chief says the NCAA Errs on the Side of Athletes : THAT Would be a New Policy

Posted on December 06, 2010
Yahoo Rivals Reports that NCAA Enforcement Chief says the NCAA Errs on the Side of Athletes : THAT Would be a New Policy Enforcement chief: NCAA falls on athlete's side - College Football - Rivals.com The current NCAA decision in the Cam Newton case is is the ONLY correct decision...

Accreditation of Foreign Law Schools Shelved by the ABA as a Proposal Requiring More Study

Posted on December 05, 2010
At the ABA Journal Law News Now, Edward A. Adams on December 4, 2010 reports that the ABA Puts Off Decision on Accreditation of Foreign Law Schools, writing:"ABA Puts Off Decision on Accreditation of Foreign Law SchoolsBy The Council of the ABA?s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar on Saturday put off a decision on whether to accredit foreign law schools, saying the matter needs more study...

When Tyrants Rule: Husker Fans Maligned by Big 12 Conference as Dallas Police Deny Investigations: A Conference Commissioner and the NCAA Death Penalty in College Athletics

Posted on December 04, 2010
Divide and conquer. It is an old primitive strategy and people still fall for it. Read a past inside report here about an incident last season that was clearly the day some Huskers may actually have "left" the Big 12 Conference internally. We can not escape the feeling that the Big 12 Conference made a gigantic mistake in hiring as its commissioner three years ago someone who had previously been the head of enforcement at the NCAA, whose previous investigations allegedly led to the unforgivable imposition of the so-called NCAA death penalty against SMU in the late 1980's, and who apparently brought his personal tyrannical police mentality with him to the Big 12...

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German Economy Thrives While Other Economies Struggle: What is Germany Doing Right?

Posted on November 30, 2010
Why is Germany thriving while other countries are struggling?How Germany got it right on the economy is Harold Meyerson's title of a November 24, 2010 article at the Washington Post where he writes inter alia:"Germany's economy is the strongest in the world...

Facebook to Trademark the Generic Word Face via a Faceless USPTO

Posted on November 27, 2010
Wikipedia: A portrait of a human face* visage (Mona Lisa) *trademarked (until further notice, use of the word "face" isprohibited without express consent of the USPTO) Are you a part of the FACEless masses? Let's FACE up to the truth. If so, you may soon have to FACE the music and wear a FACEmask in order not to lose FACE, your FACE...

Mental Preparedness and College Football Officiating: The Nebraska at Texas A&M Game 2010

Posted on November 23, 2010
Law and financial people are everywhere, including the world of sports referees. This posting is about college football referees, but let us get a bit of related background information about the world of officialdom and how it works. How about the world's best football referee of all time? Pierluigi Collina, otherwise a financial advisor by profession, was awarded the title of "world's best referee" numerous times in his career in association football (soccer), as reported by Jason Horowitz at the New York Times in A Soccer Superstar Prepares to Hang Up His Whistle...

Texas A&M 9 Nebraska 6: Prosecutors Need to Look Into This Game for Violations of Law

Posted on November 21, 2010
The stadium at Texas A&M featured a logo "The 12th Man", apparently intended to mean the Aggie fans, but in fact it was the officials who were the 12th man in this game, as the subsequent video clearly proves. The officiating in Nebraska's referee-enabled 9-6 loss to Texas A&M was awful and cost the Huskers the game...

Coke and the Defense of Liberty: The Rule of Law as Superior to Royal or Religious Absolutism

Posted on November 15, 2010
The Rule of Law in modern civilization and especially in Western Civilization is today in many quarters under siege from new absolutists, masquerading under the cloak of the many faces of religious fundamentalism. Many of these sects and religions seek to propagate antiquated dogmas and enforce their selfish religions under the guise of law, thereby endangering the rule of secular law and modern democracy...

Health Care Law Plusses and Minuses

Posted on November 14, 2010
There are both plusses and minuses to the new health care law.Read e.g.Health care law gives booster shot to premiums-by Michael O'Connor

No Longer Necessary to Beat Teams on the Field, Beat them in the Courtroom: FoxSports Reports on Potential Cam Newton Recruiting Issues

Posted on November 13, 2010
Would anyone care about Cam Newton if the Auburn Tigers were 0-10 instead of 10-0? Fox Sports reports that Mississippi State confirms it notified the SEC about Cam Newton [possible recruiting violation] issues already in January but that it had not provided any documentation until July because it was too busy with other things...

Net Neutrality Regulations on Ice at the European Union

Posted on November 11, 2010
See E.U. Sees No Need for Net Neutrality Regulations at the New York Times by Kevin J. O'Brien.

Law and Language: The Origin of Is "Is": The Concepts of Everything, All, Are, Is, I, Being, Self in Proto-Indo-European based on Bantu and Other Evidence

Posted on November 11, 2010
Law is language and an understanding of words and meanings is essential. Hence, although this is a bit "linguistic", we post it here for general interest. This is crossposted from Lingwhizt. __________ The Origin of Is "Is" -- begins a series of postings titled PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS, suggesting how certain terms developed in proto-Indo-European...

Extra, Extra! Google Instant Previews! Fresh Off the Press!

Posted on November 10, 2010
Fresh off the press! Google Instant Previews were just launched about one hour ago and we came upon them by chance - just click the magnifying glass symbol to the right of Google search result titles to see how this works. This will put a greater priority on website design than has been the case previously as users start clicking the magnifying glass first and not the title...

"Jackpot Justice" YouTube Documentary Film Series About Lawsuit Abuse from the Pacific Research Institute (PRI)

Posted on November 09, 2010
LawPundit passes on the following press release as a public service regarding a legal issue of interest to everyone: lawsuit abuse. ____________ For Immediate Release: November 8, 2010 PRI Press Office: Kelly Gorton at 415-955-6136 New: Jackpot Justice 5-Minute Film Series?Shows the costs of lawsuit abuse to families and businesses? San Francisco?The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, released a three-part series of short documentary films exploring lawsuit abuse in America's civil-justice system...

United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron tells China to Embrace the Rule of Law

Posted on November 09, 2010
Take a look at this.... David Cameron tells China: embrace freedom and the rule of law by Patrick Wintour and Phillip Inman in Beijing for The Guardian. Cameron is quoted as saying: "Of course we shouldn't be lecturing and hectoring but it is right we have a dialogue on these things...

Quantitative Easing and the Fed: Shaping Up the American Economy in the Face of Fierce Resistance

Posted on November 08, 2010
Paul Krugman does it again at the New York Times in The Fed - Doing It Again. Hat tip to CaryGEE.

UK: United Kingdom Copyright Reform: Laws to be Reviewed to Make them Fit for the Internet Age : Announcement Prime Minister David Cameron : BBC News

Posted on November 05, 2010
This is quite brilliant. Some good news about "creative innovation" in America as a model for the UK legal system. BBC News UK reports that United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that UK copyright laws to be reviewed: "Speaking at an event in the East End of London, at which he announced a series of investments by IT giants including Facebook and Google, Mr Cameron said the founders of Google had told the government they could not have started their company in Britain...

Newton scandal shows game stays same - College Football - Rivals.com

Posted on November 05, 2010
In our opinion, Dan Wetzel at Yahoo Sports Rivals.com writes some of the best sports commentaries, and this one is a really good one. Read Newton scandal shows game stays same - College Football - Rivals.com. It is time that anachronistic and outdated ideas about "amateurism" be locked up in some drawer in the back stacks of the library, and that Congress and the NCAA draft an "amateur" law that provides some sensible leeway for players and all the other small fish involved in the "big business" of college football and all other so-called "amateur" sports which no longer are as in "the good old days" before the commercialization of sports...

EU European Commission to Revise Competition Rules to Foster Technical Standards in Cross-Border Trade in Digital Goods and Services

Posted on November 05, 2010
Out-Law.com at Pinsent Masons LLP reports that: Commission to revise rules on agreements among rivals to foster technical standards | Pinsent Masons LLP: "The European Commission will revise its rules on agreements between competitors to help companies to agree on technical standards, it has said...

Viral Marketing in Law? Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn?

Posted on November 05, 2010
Viral Marketing in Law? Should Lawyers be Playing with Social Media?Law Firms: Should You be On Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn?asks Liza Salazar at 3 Geeks and a Law Blog.Nice read. You decide.

Germany is Wunderbar (Wonderful) : A New UK Website (in English) for Tourism and Travel in Germany

Posted on November 05, 2010
Germany is Wunderbar writes: "Germany is Wunderbar is a new kind of website for people who want to see more of Germany, and who are looking for good ideas."Check it out if you are taking a vacation to Germany or otherwise traveling there for business or pleasure: German travel, tourism guide - Germany is Wunderbar

Funding Religion Via Tax Credits: Violating the Constitutional Provision Against the Establishment of Religion with Impunity: Will SCOTUS Stop It?

Posted on November 04, 2010
So, so, so. The Supreme Court's faulty decisions of the past are coming back to haunt SCOTUS in the religious sphere, as Adam Liptak reports at the New York Times in Supreme Court Revisits Issue of Government Aid for Religious Schools. In our view, all of the special tax benefits and non-profit exceptions that are granted to religions are prima facie violations of the First Amendment "establishment clause" of the U...

WHAT will change EVERYTHING? Edge Festival Live Streaming Video Saturday November 6

Posted on November 04, 2010
SEEEdge 331: GENOA SCIENCE FESTIVAL HORIZONSWHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING? (COSA FARÀ CAMBIARE TUTTO?)Stewart Brand, Clay Shirky - Moderator: John BrockmanWhat will change everything? The web as a revolution of thought. Explained by three guru[s] of contemporary thought: Stewart Brand, John Brockman and Clay ShirkyThis looks to be outstanding, a streaming video on the influence of "the NET" on our thoughts -- far more pervasive and ubiquitous in influence on all of us than we think.

USA Justice Department Intelligently Shifts Stance on Gene Patents, Finding they Should Not Be Patentable

Posted on November 03, 2010
Andrew Pollack at the New York Times in Gene Patent Ruling Is Criticized by Industry refers to a major shift at the U.S. Justice Department (bravo!), now rejecting gene patents: "[T]he Justice Department declared in a court filing late Friday that genes should not be eligible for patents because they are products of nature...

Fast Track to Inequality - NYTimes.com

Posted on November 03, 2010
Bob Herbert has an op-ed at the New York Times titled Fast Track to Inequality, where he reviews a new book, Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer ? and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class, by Jacob Hacker of Yale and Paul Pierson of the University of California, Berkeley,"?Over the last generation,? the authors write, ?more and more of the rewards of growth have gone to the rich and superrich...

Drug Laws: Legalizing the Recreational Use of Marijuana Rejected in California as Proposition 19 is Defeated by Votes of Moderate Voters

Posted on November 03, 2010
John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times reports in Youth vote falters; Prop. 19 falls short that: "After taking a serious look at legalizing marijuana, Californians voted Tuesday to reject Proposition 19, which would have made the state the first to allow the drug to be sold for recreational use...

Ted Sorensen Passes Away: An Important Figure of the 20th Century

Posted on November 02, 2010
Ted Sorensen, Top JFK Aide, Dies at 82 - TIMEMay this great man rest in peace.I had the pleasure to work with fellow Nebraskan, Ted Sorensen, briefly on an intellectual property project while I was an associate straight out of Stanford Law School at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, an international law firm headquartered in New York City, where Ted was a partner and I one of numerous young associates...

America: From the German Spiegel Online International: A Superpower in Decline: Is the American Dream Over?

Posted on November 02, 2010
The heavyweight German periodical Spiegel has a troubling analysis of America at:A Superpower in Decline: Is the American Dream Over?"America has long been a country of limitless possibility. But the dream has now become a nightmare for many. The US is now realizing just how fragile its success has become -- and how bitter its reality...

Happy Halloween from the Great Pumpkin 2010 !

Posted on November 01, 2010
HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2010 ! Each year we carve a pumpkin for Halloween and this year is the first time it is a pumpkin we have grown in our own garden -- so we gave it a friendly "human" face:

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