2022 Environmental crimes and protection conference

Kind reminder of the 2022 Environmental crimes and protection conference will take place tomorrow, Friday, on March 18th and the attendance is free of charge this year. A particularly interesting topic (to me) is "The collision of cyberspace and outer space"; other topics include "The Right to Healthy Environment: Indian Perspective during Covid-19", All that glitters is not Green. Electric vehicles and environmental injustice", "Climate Justice and the Green Crime of Ecocide", and "Farm to Plate – The transition of world food system and emerging embedded climate issues around" and much more!
The program starts at 9:45 EST / 14:45 CET, with a small break for discussion from 10:45 – 11:15 AM EST/ 15:45 - 16:15, upon which I will be holding my presentation at 11:45 EST / 16:45 CET. Each and every lecture will last for only 15 minutes this year so you can enjoy a broad variety of topics by experts around the world. This is the program here: https://www.actwithus.org/2022-ecpcprogram/
You will be able to attend if you register via this link: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fus02web.zoom.us%2Fmeeting%2Fregister%2FtZIkc-utpzojGtwnOW37X8UQUAmaOPx6_c_-%3F_x_zm_rtaid%3D1pIyPAD8Scm31c80mGLcuA.1647186950193.2b5d85688fe36007117a8c9f2335bfc2%26_x_zm_rhtaid%3D951%26fbclid%3DIwAR3t2t8ieVnCrkN7m96qrgK8KdM_K1216jizLv93u5XW_1lI-cRSAZZEgOQ&h=AT1xvsVVuHcrSZS8g1-R03xgFGsJOvWVQnbRnT6cCfNvMeZJAfxREM00RmmBdqs0XfM3kGgwwJ7Ac0zmEFQqsTLCAFY7jm7E2tNH1CGqk_Qc6Hw69Jbr-RWTbk6A79tm1Q&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT3tbZkSVIpcOBulMwX0zDNO04gzNfDOdFWPdi3GFV2YvyiuAP_4bc2lLRvevJ6Z19516iTD-aLdkRe8p6zWggafoDqUroQIn_PLs8HE5tSc5kIjsjIyPgKxodFjdeXo4JWxMzbNuohZ3_ZmC3CnDBN-uk4
Please feel free to forward this to whomever you think might be interested.
(This is a project of the Common Good Foundation, supported in part by the Washington State Bar Association's World Peace Through Law Section)

Moot Court Presiding Judge Day

 Today I served as Presiding Judge at a Moot Court session of the Emerald City Open at University of Washington School of Law.

It's a grand title but the major qualifications are to be a lawyer and to volunteer for the gig. I was happy to do it, because the student contestants need people to fill the roles. I am quite competent firmly and succinctly directing the counselor-contestants to be seated, begin, state their objection, respond, and to allow a reasonable amoung of debate (because debating objections is a major part of the competition) and then giving a quick ruling. I am very pleased that the Scoring Judges, who had actual trial experience, told me that my rulings sounded reasonable.

This was a thoroughly positive experience. These young students (undergraduates, not in law school) are thorough, quick and smart. We got to chat some afterwords and I was able to share some tips based on my speaking experience. I also learned who valuable it was to mention my WPTL work, since one of the Scoring Judges basically offered to talk about his practical human rights work. It pays to talk proudly about these things!

Three Achievements

 

Today I achieved my 3-month goal of walk/trotting up the hill to the Highpoint Watertower, the highest point in Seattle (sea level+520 feet), without feeling out of breath at the top, thanks to the encouragement of my walking buddies and the promise of a coffee break at the top. This convinces me that improvement is possible; I just have to put in the time and enjoy the process. What's next?

---

My next priority today was the 11AM CLE that I hosted, 

"The Nexus Between Environmental Law and Space Law" ”, hosted by the World Peace Through Law Section of the Washington State Bar Association, and featuring Attorney Tamara Blagojević calling us from her office in Belgrade, Serbia. I had been greatly cheered to have gotten the speaker's powerpoint a week before the event (most speakers have been slower despite the timeline sent them in the First Contact letter). The night before, we chatted by email to nail down the time (Belgrade is on CET which is UTC+1, Seattle is on PST which is UTC+8. I had figured that there must be a UTC 0 so we were 10 hours apart, but all the calculators said only 9 hours, as was confirmed by the times on our email. Oh well! The worst that could happen is that she'd call in early.

Speakers never call in at call-in time (30 minutes before the show) so I was not worried. After at T-20 I emailed a reminder. The speaker got onto the On24 site and asked why the voice was not working. This is not especially unusual; we are so used to Zoom and other sites integrating voice and internet that it sounds strange to run the audio channel by phone. I provided the USA number and oooops the caller's plan didn't extend to the USA.  There was no backup number to Serbia (something I should have checked!) but Hungary's not that far away, and she was able to call in that way. However she was concerned about charged since it was a borrowed phone; using my strongest Cheerful Voice I assured her we'd cover the costs but she was worried (...and so was I; it wasn't now clear whether she'd called Hungary or the USA, and what the charges would be....). I suggested Google Voice, but that didn't work; sounds like it wasn't available in her area??? Finally she said she had an app and would try it, and hung up.

Did I mention it was T Minus 1?

A sigh can be just a deep breath. At T=0 I did something I'd never done before: I waited to start the show. After all, starting at 11:00 and 59 seconds is still starting at 11:00 - sort of. But once it got to T+1, I knew I had to start. "Welcome, everyone", I announced in my best radio voice ... "...to today's webinar...." and so on through the program introduction, 60 seconds of explaining how viewers could manipulate the screen controls, and 60 seconds of speaker introduction. I spoke S-L-O-W-L-Y you can be sure! And halfway through, the Speaker popped on the line. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes Attorney, we're glad the technical issues have been solved, supporting your call from halfway around the planet from many of our listeners. What a wonderful world we are in..."  and the show went on, pretty much without a hitch from there.
It was really helpful to have practice and coaching on remaining calm. This made all the difference between what could have been an unpleasant experience and one that was merely a challenge.

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This evening I had agreed to Toastmaster our Club 832 (West Seattle) Toastmasters meeting, but I had not had much success recruiting speakers and other roleholders. My excuse is being distracted by the holidays and so forth, but maybe I'm just low on gas as the days grow dark. Luckily Karen powered ahead and helped recruit, and we did have one speaker, so onward we go. I liked the theme "Gratitude" as it seemed both seasonal (close to Thanksgiving) and helpful, in this difficult year of 2020, but for my opening address I couldn't feel inspired - my ideas just seemed treacly.
I consulted Google, and got a bunch of quotes on gratitude and - ahha! - hit upon the idea of using the quotes themselves to construct a speech. With minor changes (removing unnecessary gender references, and using the more personal "we" instead of "you", I got:

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Our theme today is Gratitude.

As others have written:

Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift,

It is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.

We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.

When we arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.

When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.

If we see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in ourselves.

[SING ALONG]Got no checkbooks, got no banks, still I’d like to express my thanks. I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.[/SING]

'Enough' is a feast.

We are wise not to grieve for the things we do not have, but to rejoice for the things that we do have; how much of what we have now was once something we only hoped for!

It’s a funny thing about life, once we begin to take note of the things we are grateful for, we begin to lose sight of the things that we lack.

The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful and unhappy at the same time.

Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes, 

And because all things have contributed to our advancement, we should include all things in our gratitude.

True forgiveness is when we can say to someone, 'Thank you for the experience.'"

If, like Groot, we can say only one thing, and the only thing we can say is "thank you", that is enough.

What separates recognizing our privilege from feeling an entitlement is gratitude.

When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether we take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

Reflect upon our present blessings, of which we all have plenty; not on our past misfortunes, of which we all have some.

The soul that gives thanks can find comfort in everything; the soul that complains can find comfort in nothing.

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.

Thanking others can make their day, even change their life;

All that is necessary is our willingness to put it into words.

--

Thank you Cicero, Buddha, Tecumseh, Irving Berlin, Epictetus, JFK, Epicurus, Germany Kent, Douglas Wood, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oprah, Meister Eckhart, Henry Ward Beecher, Brené Brown, G.K. Chesterton, Hannah Whitall Smith, Thornton Wilder, A. A. Milne, Margaret Cousins and the great Willie Nelson for these wise words

And thank you all, dear readers, for your continuing gift of companionship, encouragement and support

In this best of times and worst of times

2020.

Thank you.

--rewinn

Busy Wednesday

On the schedule for today: Shop for FEEST, WPTL Executive committee meeting, Stage Time University.
The FEEST program is coming to an end; Jaime explained that they were transitioning into their summer camp program. One of the happy shoppers who I'd first shopped with said she was happy I'd come to this shop in Des Moines because we'd met there on our first shops, which I am sure is true but since most of my shops were in Burien Seattle I didn't form a strong memory of the person. She - as are they all - was very nice and 40 years younger than I, so I guess I'm a cheerful old man!
The WPTL/EC meeting went well over my cellphone as I drove home from dropping off the FEEST food in a trailer park that reminded me slightly of the trailer park I'd once lived in. This one had trees; I wouldn't call it nice but it was nicer.
I volunteered to look into WPTL getting its own Zoom license.
STU was a disappointment. They are rightfully focussing on virtual meetings but had a lot of problems working with technology. That was a lesson right there.

Raised Beds Repurposing Wheelbarrows

COVID-19 Victory Garden

Plant Crowd At Hardware Store

Little Free Library Matches Big Yellow House

Buddha In The Tree

Peace Birdhouse

King Frog Wears Mask

Road From Closed Bridge Is Closed

Road Open For Cats

I Like Bee Butts
And I Can Not Lie

Another Mask

Station 22

This Art Has Heart

When I Got Home,
They Were Finishing Pole Replacement

Thursday Miscellany

Today I did yoga and had the usual walk, hanging around and chatting with Julie afterwards, about gardening and stuff. I shopped FEEST with Leigh and a laid-off barista from Capitol Hill. I lent my weed whacker to a young couple from Buy Nothing.
I sent a suggestion to a couple of Snohomish County family members to recruit them to drive for the Snohomish Mask Brigade, but no response. I probably need to recruit more boldly.

Galen from work called; it had been 30 days since our last contact and he was just confirming I'm still employed and all that. There was talk of letting the seasonals go but since I accepted moving to permanent that doesn't affect me. There had been a lot of work to set people up to start working the phones from home but that got halted, so who knows? I heard a 3pm lecture by the Attorney action Club on IRS COVID-19 Relief Beyond The $1200 Check. It looks like they'll be doing weekly Zoom meetings and this one was pretty good; it was interesting to hear outsiders talk about IRS operations.

Ed Getting His Stuff

Ed called last night for permission to come get his wheelbarrow today. I told him that was fine and I also had a small box of his stuff he'd left behind. He came by with his friend and they loaded up. Ed assured me he'd been tested for COVID19 and was negative but he has 3 masks now that he used all the time - I was wearing it when he got the wheelbarrow. He mentioned our mutual friend Cyril being in the hospital. We wished each other well. I had not intended to kick him out immediately when I learned he was smoking (after cancer recovery) and drinking quietly in his truck, but it worked out ok because even if he is testing negative, I don't need to take a chance on him.

I probably got too excited about the Washington Legal Foundation's proposal to the section-leaders listserve that we use some of our section reserves to create a program to help attorneys struggling due to COVID19. My point was that charitable gifting unrelated to education was not within our bylaws and, even if we could figure out a way, the whole gifting process is too much work for too little impact when the best way to accomplish this worth goal is for the BOG to set up a Work Group to do much the same thing but including the whole bar. The proponent replied to the various criticisms by saying that someone from some sections had thought it was a good idea to repay the people who had contributed to whatever reserve the Section had, in particular by way of CLEs, which annoyed me since the nonmembers who contributed through CLE did it for credit not as a contribution, and it was impractical to make gifts only to those nonmembers who previously expressed a desire to make a charitable contribution, but mostly because this whole thing would be much better done via the BOG using economies of scale. Much of my reaction was due to prior attempts to convert Section balances to WSBA purposes, but also my experiment with cash gifts through DAV is that they frequently go astray; figuring out who has a claim we can help with, making sure the money goes to the purpose, and above all ensure that the recipient has a plan for avoiding this happening again is complicated, but necessary to keep this all from just being a gift to the mortgage bank.
I suppose I should have let a day go by, or not responded the 2nd time. Live and learn.