I Voted Today: For America, Against #Romnesia

I was happy to put my ballot in the mail today.

• No waiting line!
• The leisure to ponder the issues at the kitchen table, and look up a few things on the internet while deciding.

Most of the contests were pretty easy to decide.

• President: I'm proud to support Obama and Biden, the team that took over while our economy was in a nose-dive, and got it leveled out, even heading up slightly. Knocking of bin Ladn and most of Al Qaeda, while helping the Arab Spring but mostly staying offshore, showed a smarter approach to foreign policy than the previous band of war pigs. I was amused to see the large number of alternative candidates (Justice! Constitution! and TWO kinds of Socialism!) but the main opponent is a man whose actual views on any subject no-one knows, because he changes them to fit his audience. This might have worked before YouTube, but Mitt is a comic figure now; he can't remember his own positions on most issues. It's funny to call his condition "Romnesia" because it really does seem like he's a sick man who just blurts out whatever his current audience wants to hear, but the presidency is too serious for that. As president, he'd be a disaster because no-one, absolutely no-one could trust him; diplomacy of any sort would be nonsense.
• Senator: I'm also proud to support Cantwell, a very good senator both for our state and for our nation. Her opponent is a no-name who attacked her for being childless: classy (not!)
• Representative: Jim McDermott's office has excellent constituent service that I've used to get help for several people. And I admire a guy who released a tape to the press proving Newt Gingrich was breaking the deal he'd made with Congress to avoid prosecution, even if that decision got Jim sued by John Boehner, who was in on the corrupt deal.
• Governor: I went with Inslee over the guy who tried to knock out Obamacare. The national GOP is opposed to the plan they proposed in the 1980s, and I can't be impressed with any candidate  who won't stand up to them. McKenna's opposition to marriage equality ... or lets be honest, his stand in favor of sex discrimination ... is also a disqualification.
• Lt. Governor: This was a difficult race. Both candidates accuse each other of corruptly taking money from lobbyists, and I believe both of them. Ordinarily I'd go with the Democrat, but he's anti-choice so forget it.

There were plenty of down-ticket races, and I have to admit I don't really know one judge from another, so I mostly went with the Progressive Voter's Guide.

Let's not forget that four years ago, our economy was in a power dive straight into the ground, losing 700,000 or more jobs every month.
Obama may be criticized for many things, but under his leadership we are now gaining 100,000 jobs a month and more. Why change pilots now?
Especially when the other guy thinks it's a good idea to keep exporting jobs; he not only is opposed to ending the tax breaks that help pay for job exports, he denies that there exist any such tax break, which is an obvious lie: any businessman knows that business expenses are deducted from income before calculating taxes.
For example, when Bain Capital cruelly forced workers at Sensata, in Freeport Illinois, to train their Chinese replacements, Bain could deduct as a business expense the cost of flying the Chinese workers to America, housing them while here, and sending them and the manufacturing equipment to China. In effect, American taxpayer subsidized the export of those jobs. Isn't that crazy?
I think we should stick with the guy who's turned us around from a negative 700,000 jobs a month to a positive 100,000 jobs a month.

Binders Full Of Women (open post) #binderFullOfWomen

The whole Binders Full Of Women thing is amazing.

• Katherine's question was about gender-based pay inequity. How does hiring a few women address pay inequity?
• Who the heck uses binders anymore? Hasn't Romney ever heard of computers?
• It turns out, Romney's claim (irrelevant and stupid as it was) was a lie. Surprise!
• I want to be as positive as possible, because it's good for my health. So here's my take on the issue, meant to elicit a chuckle:

Happy Thought: #Obamacare Means You Can't Be Dropped For Getting Sick

Be happy!

It used to be that if you got sick, your insurance company had the chance to drop you when you got too expensive. Yearly limits and lifetime limits were buried deep in the contract. And of course, if your insurance was through your employment, it's not as if you could negotiate the terms anyway.
That's changed, thanks to Obamacare. Even if an insurer starts losing money on you, they can't drop you.
Insurers who wanted to "do the right thing" were at a disadvantage; their competitors could be more profitable by dropping people when they got sick. Think about that for a minute: the system was set up so that people who wanted to do the right thing would be flushed out of the marketplace!
Let's think about what a good thing this is, for us as individuals, for our families, and for our nation!

More:
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/06/obamacare-supreme-court-regular-americans

4freeCLE: Your Free CLE Newsletter! October 14, 2012

4freeCLE: Your Free CLE Newsletter! October 14, 2012
In This Issue Webcasts In California In DC In Florida In Georgia In Illinois In Massachusetts In Michigan In Minnesota In New Jersey In New York In Ohio In Oregon In Pennsylvania In Texas In Washington State On-Demand Recordings Past Issues Hardship Application Form for National Academy of Continuing Legal Education The National Academy of Continuing Legal Education, a commercial provider of dozens or hundreds of continuing legal education, offers ahardship waiver for tuition. This may be a great help to qualifying attorneys. Learn More!	Webcast CLE Share these free events at your desktop, and by forwarding this newsletter to your colleagues!    October 16: The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) Litigation Landscape. More than $350 trillion (yes, that's with a "T") in derivatives and other financial instruments are reportedly tied to LIBOR. By LexisNexis.  October 17: Faith, Freedom, and the Family: The New Challenges of Faith-Based Family Laws in Western Democracies. Also presented in-person (Cleveland). By Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). October 18: Construction Site Fall Protection. By TASA.  October 18: What's Next? Understanding the Supreme Court's Decision on the Affordable Care Act. Also presented in-person (Cleveland). By CWRU. October 24: Criminal Law and Immigration Intersection 101. Best practices for assisting immigration clients who are facing criminal charges. By LexisNexis.  October 24: Using Legal Skills To Protect Voting Rights. For voting protection volunteers. Also presented in-person (Chicago). By Chicago Bar Association.  October 25: Improving the Quality of Health Care: Where Law, Accreditation, and Professionalism Collide. The sometimes conflicting role of law and other approaches to quality improvement in health care. Also presented in-person (Cleveland). By CWRU. October 25: Non-Parental Custody Brown Bag. Also presented in-person (Seattle). Training for and by the Washington State Bar Association Moderate Means Program (MMP)  October 29: Boolean (Keyword) Search for Lawyers. By Fastcase.  November 5: Introduction to Fastcase. By Fastcase. November 7: Advanced Tips for Enhanced Legal Research on Fastcase. By Fastcase. November 8: Attorney-Client Privilege in the Global Corporate Setting. Differing rules of attorney-client privilege for various foreign jurisdictions. By LexisNexis. Ethics Credit!  November 8: Cloud Based Escrow Protection for SaaS: Protecting Subscribers against the What-If's. Contingency planning and escrow agreements for Software as a Service (SaaS). By Virtual Legal Tech.  November 14/Cleveland: Judicial Use of Fear in Terrorism Cases. The social science on how fear affects the thinking of people including judges. Also available in-person (Cleveland). By CWRU.  In-Person CLEs State-by-State In-person events are often eligible for credit in other states, either by reciprocity or upon attendee application, especially when the subject matter is primarily federal, such as voter protection. If you know of an event offering free CLE, tell us! California    October 16/San Francisco: Views From the Bench on Domestic Violence and Technology. By Queen's Bench Bar Association. October 17/San Francisco: Introduction to Family Law training. By BASF. October 23/San Francisco: AABA/ALC Voter Protection Training. By Asian American Bar Association (AABA) and Asian Law Caucus (ALC).  October 24/San Francisco: Pre-Child Custody Training. By BASF. October 29/San Francisco: Gender Identity Bias in the Workplace. By AIDS Legal Referral Program (ALRP).  November 5/San Francisco: Employment Law: Wage & Hour Claims. By ALRP. District of Columbia    October 24/Washington, DC: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By Asian American Poll Monitoring Project (AAPMP).  Florida    October 16/Miami: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By AAPMP.  November 2/Miami: Law Tech Miami. By Daily Business Review. Georgia    October 17/Atlanta, GA: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By AAPMP. Illinois    October 18/Chicago: Discovering the Cloud - What's the Forecast for Cloud-Based eDiscovery? By BlueStar Case Solutions. October 22/Chicago: Representing People With Disabilities. By Chicago Bar Association (CBA).  October 24/Chicago: Series LLCs and Delaware Law Update. By National Corporate Research. October 24/Chicago: Using Legal Skills To Protect Voting Rights. For voting protection volunteers. Also webcast. By CBA.  Massachusetts    October 22/Boston: Intro to Guardianship of Minors - VLP Training. By Volunteer Lawyer Program (VLP).  October 25/Boston: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By AAPMP.  October 26/Boston: Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program 2012 Training Seminar. By Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program.  October 30/Boston: VLP Training - Family Law 101. By VLP.  Michigan October 21/Dearborn + Ann Arbor: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By AAPMP.  October 26/Auburn Hills: Introduction to Domestic Violence Family Law. Also webcast to Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Lansing. By State Bar of Michigan Domestic Violence Committee.  Minnesota  October 24/Saint Paul: Baseball and the Rule of Law. By Hamline University.  October 24/Stillwater: Washington County District Court eCourt Orientation. By Washington County Courts. October 26/Minneapolis: The Naturalization Project CLE Training. By Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. October 30/Saint Paul: Mayan Indigenous Rights in Belize. By Hamline University.  November 7/Minneapolis: New Volunteer Orientation / Working with Pro Bono Clients. By Volunteer Lawyers Network. November 13/Minneapolis: Searching Westlaw.com and Searching WestlawNext. By Hennepin County Law Library.  New Jersey October 15/Newark: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By AAPMP. October 30/New Brunswick: 2012 Pro Bono Conference: The Year of the Provider. By New Jersey State Bar Association. New York October 22/NYC: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By AAPMP. October 24/NYC: Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program 2012 Training Seminar.By Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program and Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP. October 30/NYC: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By AAPMP.  Ohio October 17/Cleveland: Faith, Freedom, and the Family: The New Challenges of Faith-Based Family Laws in Western Democracies. Also webcast. By Case Western Reserve University (CWRU).   October 18/Cleveland: DNA Exonerations: How to Reform the Criminal Justice System to Avoid Convicting the Innocent. By Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (CMCL).   October 18/Cleveland: What's Next? Understanding the Supreme Court's Decision on the Affordable Care Act. Also webcast. By CWRU.  October 22/Cleveland: Foreclosure Litigation MCLE for Pro Bono Attorneys. By Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.   October 25/Cleveland: Employment and Labor Law Lecture: The Fair Labor Standards Act at 75. By CMCL. October 25/Cleveland: Improving the Quality of Health Care: Where Law, Accreditation, and Professionalism Collide. Also webcast. By CWRU.  October 26/Cleveland: Immigration Law Practice and Procedure: Mock Hearing. By Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.  November 1/Cleveland: Public Service as a Lawyer's Calling and the Challenges of Poverty Legal Services. By CMCL. November 14/Cleveland: Judicial Use of Fear in Terrorism Cases. Also webcast. By CWRU.  Oregon November 13/Salem: Child Abuse Reporting. By Marion County Bar Association. Pennsylvania October 23/Philadelphia: Asian American Poll Monitoring Project. By AAPMP  Texas October 22/Dallas: Taking a Case With Human Rights Initiative. By Human Rights Initiative of North Texas and Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. October 25/Houston: Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Training. By Lone Star Legal Aid. October 26/Dallas: Family Law Issues in Pro Bono Cases. By Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program.  Washington State October 15/Seattle: Supreme Court Review & Preview Panel. By UW/Law.  October 25/Seattle: Non-Parental Custody Brown Bag.Also webcast. By WSBA Moderate Means Program.  November 7/Seattle: A Guide to Parenting Evaluations. By McKinley Irvin.  On-Demand CLE  Every week, take a little time to "sharpen your saw" with these free On-Demand Programs.  Introduction to Auto Fraud. The statutory claims available to California consumers. By Legal Aid Association of California.  Unbundled Legal Services: Ethics & Best Practices. Incorporating unbundled services into your practice, including ethical considerations. Ethics Credit!  4freeCLE's List of On-Demand CLE. Several dozen CLE you can take now - free! About 4freeCLE 4freeCLE is delivered weekly and will always be free!Please forward to your fellow professionals so they may benefit; if this was forwarded to you, get your own subscription for free by signing up now!

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Ultimate Screwdriver Showdown: Fall Cleaning Edition

This is Fall Cleaning Day, and my first job is vacuuming the air ducts in preparation to turning on the heat.
The  slowest part of the job is taking off and replacing the duct covers. They're just held on with screws, but over the years, screws must have gotten lost and replaced by whatever was on hand, because there are hardly two that match. This doesn't matter much, since no-one really notices, but it does slow me down to be switching constantly between flat-bladed screwdriver and Phillips wrench.

Which Tool Will Prevail?

Then Brilliance Struck - like a hot fist to a cold brain!
"Why not have the two screwdrivers battle royale, and let the victor rule!" thought I.
The Battle:
I set up the arena and decreed: "Two enter, one goes out!"
The Phillips wrench struck first. "Pick Me!" it said. "My self-centering design is clearly superior; as long as you maintain axial pressure, the tool will never slip off the screwhead!"
"Pick Me!" reposted the flat-bladed screwdriver. "I can double as a pry for the covers, when it's time to lift them!"
In the end, I gave thumbs-up to the flat-bladed, because I had an extra flat-bladed screw to work with.
The Economics:
I clean the vents and ducts every fall and plan to do that for 30 or 40 years.
If having a single screwdriver saves me 1 minute of time, I've just added more than half-an-hour of useful time to my life, once I subtract a few minutes for having made and implemented this decision. Unfortunately I have chosen to spend about a third of that time blogging about it; I won't start actually profiting from this move until about 2022. Perhaps I'm beginning to understand how the situation arose in the first place.
Next Year: 
Revenge of the Phillips Wrench!