LICENSE PLATE LIBERTIES
‘IRISH’ Gets a Pass, But Other Sentiments Are Banned
BY DAVID L. HUDSON JR.
Carol Ann Martin is proud of her Irish heritage—so proud that she’s had Irish-related license plates for seven years. But when the dual citizen Irish-American went to get a vanity plate reading simply "IRISH," Vermont’s Department of Motor Vehicles tried to stop her. The DMV prohibited plates referring to ethnic heritage.
Undaunted, Martin took her case to court. She even wore a headband to the state supreme court that had a leprechaun on it with shamrocks.
"I also had a button that read, ‘I’m not stubborn; I’m just Irish,’ " she says. . . .
Monday, February 24, 2003
This is not very charitable either!
> Subject: Ahhh, the French!
>
> Q: How many French troops does it take to defend Paris?
> A: No one knows. It's never been tried.
> Q: What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up?
> A: The Army.
> Q: How many gears does a French tank have?
> A: Five. Four in reverse, and one forward gear (in case the enemy
> attacks from
> behind).
> Q: What will France's greatest war contribution be to Iraq?
> A: Teaching them how to surrender.
> Q: What's the difference between a Frenchman and an onion?
> A: Nobody cries when you cut up a Frenchman.
> Q: Why are the streets of Paris lined with trees?
> A: So the Germans, or any other invaders, can march in the shade.
> FOR SALE: French rifles...never fired, only dropped once.
> Subject: Ahhh, the French!
>
> Q: How many French troops does it take to defend Paris?
> A: No one knows. It's never been tried.
> Q: What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up?
> A: The Army.
> Q: How many gears does a French tank have?
> A: Five. Four in reverse, and one forward gear (in case the enemy
> attacks from
> behind).
> Q: What will France's greatest war contribution be to Iraq?
> A: Teaching them how to surrender.
> Q: What's the difference between a Frenchman and an onion?
> A: Nobody cries when you cut up a Frenchman.
> Q: Why are the streets of Paris lined with trees?
> A: So the Germans, or any other invaders, can march in the shade.
> FOR SALE: French rifles...never fired, only dropped once.
Below is the information on where to locate Tax Liens
You can find records of Federal and state tax liens against individual and corporate taxpapers by searching ...
a. Lexis http://www.lexis.com/ in the LIENS library and/or
b. ChoicePointOnline http://www.choicepointonline.com/ and/or
c. KnowX.com http://www.knowx.com/ and/or
d. Westlaw http://www.westlaw.com/, which has records only for corporations and only in selected states.
Filing Offices: To find out where a Federal tax lien notice would be filed for a particular location, see the chart at Paragraph 38160.205 of the the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter.
You can find records of Federal and state tax liens against individual and corporate taxpapers by searching ...
a. Lexis http://www.lexis.com/ in the LIENS library and/or
b. ChoicePointOnline http://www.choicepointonline.com/ and/or
c. KnowX.com http://www.knowx.com/ and/or
d. Westlaw http://www.westlaw.com/, which has records only for corporations and only in selected states.
Filing Offices: To find out where a Federal tax lien notice would be filed for a particular location, see the chart at Paragraph 38160.205 of the the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Senator Clinton and her driver were cruising along a country road one evening when an old cow loomed in front of the car. The driver tried to avoid it, but couldn't and the old cow was killed.
Hillary told her driver to go up to the farmhouse and explain to the owners what happened. She stayed in the car making phone calls to lobbyists.
About an hour later, the driver staggered back to the car with his clothes in disarray. He was holding a bottle of expensive wine in one hand, an expensive Cuban cigar in the other and was smiling happily, smeared with lipstick.
"What happened?" asked Hillary.
Well," the driver replied, "the farmer gave me the wine, his wife gave me the cigar, and their beautiful twin daughters made mad passionate love to me."
"My God, what did you tell them?" asked Hillary.
The driver replied, "I said 'I'm Hillary Clinton's driver, and I just killed the old cow.'"
Hillary told her driver to go up to the farmhouse and explain to the owners what happened. She stayed in the car making phone calls to lobbyists.
About an hour later, the driver staggered back to the car with his clothes in disarray. He was holding a bottle of expensive wine in one hand, an expensive Cuban cigar in the other and was smiling happily, smeared with lipstick.
"What happened?" asked Hillary.
Well," the driver replied, "the farmer gave me the wine, his wife gave me the cigar, and their beautiful twin daughters made mad passionate love to me."
"My God, what did you tell them?" asked Hillary.
The driver replied, "I said 'I'm Hillary Clinton's driver, and I just killed the old cow.'"
Friday, February 14, 2003
FIRST ENDOWMENT FOR SECOND AMENDMENT
NRA Foundation Hoping for ‘Scholarly Research’ on Right to Bear Arms
BY JILL SCHACHNER CHANEN
In what may be the first endowment of its kind, an arm of the National Rifle Association has pledged $1 million to create a professorship of Second Amendment law at George Mason University law school in Arlington, Va.
NRA Foundation Hoping for ‘Scholarly Research’ on Right to Bear Arms
BY JILL SCHACHNER CHANEN
In what may be the first endowment of its kind, an arm of the National Rifle Association has pledged $1 million to create a professorship of Second Amendment law at George Mason University law school in Arlington, Va.
THE MOST THANKLESS TASK
Paper Clips and Complaining Attorneys Make Office Managers Surly
BY THE RODENT
In a column I wrote for this publication a few months ago, I made a couple of possibly unflattering references to estate planning attorneys. I got a lot of mail out of that one. Now, I think it might be time to turn my attention to another member of The Firm’s cast of characters: the office manager.
It’s not that office managers are bad people. My guess is that most are formerly good people who have become unpopular by dint of what they do for a living.
Law office administrators have the most difficult job at The Firm. They have to decide which secretary works with which attorney, plan office functions, hire and fire staff, keep expenditures within The Firm’s budget and assign office furniture. While they may be able to escape being blamed for the commission of legal malpractice or the loss of a client (this is what junior associates are for), virtually any other problem at The Firm is pinned on the office manager.
One law firm chairman compared managing a law firm to "leading the opera with 75 prima donnas trying to sing at once." The office manager’s mission is to keep a large group of temperamental, demanding people with diverse interests happy and the office running smoothly.
Mission: Impossible.
As with any group of people, it would be wrong to say that office managers are all alike. They do, however, fit quite nicely into two categories within which gross generalizations can be accurately made.
The first type of office administrator is a former secretary, paralegal or recruiting coordinator who either distinguished himself in his former position or, as is more likely the case, was picked for the job on the spur of the moment when his predecessor either was fired, quit or otherwise was run out by law firm colleagues.
He isn’t trained to run an office, but he is bright enough to learn quickly. Besides, how hard can it be to do an impossible job? The most important thing is that people like him and his winning personality—just what The Firm needs to get over the person who previously held the job.
The second type of office manager holds a graduate degree in human resources, professional administration or some such. She has, very obviously, attended scores of leadership seminars and listened to a few too many motivational tapes.
Office managers, be they personable or Ph.Ds., enjoy a honeymoon of about a day and a half. It all begins to come crashing down after that first executive decision. The following scenario is typical:
The office administrator decides to purchase plastic paper clips instead of the cheaper metal ones the Firm has been using. A penny-pinching partner notices the additional expenditure and raises the issue at the next partnership meeting. Meanwhile, attorneys and staff complain about the new paper clips and begin to badmouth the manager and question his abilities.
After the paper clip debacle, the office manager is second-guessed on everything he does.
Fighting the good fight gets the embattled office administrator nowhere, and he starts to lose his battle for survival. The perennial smile disappears, and he is now disheartened and looks so depressed that people start mistaking him for an attorney.
By the time he actually leaves, he never wants to see another lawyer or law firm again for as long as he lives (except, of course, the lawyer and law firm he hires to sue The Firm upon his departure).
©2003 ABA Journal
Paper Clips and Complaining Attorneys Make Office Managers Surly
BY THE RODENT
In a column I wrote for this publication a few months ago, I made a couple of possibly unflattering references to estate planning attorneys. I got a lot of mail out of that one. Now, I think it might be time to turn my attention to another member of The Firm’s cast of characters: the office manager.
It’s not that office managers are bad people. My guess is that most are formerly good people who have become unpopular by dint of what they do for a living.
Law office administrators have the most difficult job at The Firm. They have to decide which secretary works with which attorney, plan office functions, hire and fire staff, keep expenditures within The Firm’s budget and assign office furniture. While they may be able to escape being blamed for the commission of legal malpractice or the loss of a client (this is what junior associates are for), virtually any other problem at The Firm is pinned on the office manager.
One law firm chairman compared managing a law firm to "leading the opera with 75 prima donnas trying to sing at once." The office manager’s mission is to keep a large group of temperamental, demanding people with diverse interests happy and the office running smoothly.
Mission: Impossible.
As with any group of people, it would be wrong to say that office managers are all alike. They do, however, fit quite nicely into two categories within which gross generalizations can be accurately made.
The first type of office administrator is a former secretary, paralegal or recruiting coordinator who either distinguished himself in his former position or, as is more likely the case, was picked for the job on the spur of the moment when his predecessor either was fired, quit or otherwise was run out by law firm colleagues.
He isn’t trained to run an office, but he is bright enough to learn quickly. Besides, how hard can it be to do an impossible job? The most important thing is that people like him and his winning personality—just what The Firm needs to get over the person who previously held the job.
The second type of office manager holds a graduate degree in human resources, professional administration or some such. She has, very obviously, attended scores of leadership seminars and listened to a few too many motivational tapes.
Office managers, be they personable or Ph.Ds., enjoy a honeymoon of about a day and a half. It all begins to come crashing down after that first executive decision. The following scenario is typical:
The office administrator decides to purchase plastic paper clips instead of the cheaper metal ones the Firm has been using. A penny-pinching partner notices the additional expenditure and raises the issue at the next partnership meeting. Meanwhile, attorneys and staff complain about the new paper clips and begin to badmouth the manager and question his abilities.
After the paper clip debacle, the office manager is second-guessed on everything he does.
Fighting the good fight gets the embattled office administrator nowhere, and he starts to lose his battle for survival. The perennial smile disappears, and he is now disheartened and looks so depressed that people start mistaking him for an attorney.
By the time he actually leaves, he never wants to see another lawyer or law firm again for as long as he lives (except, of course, the lawyer and law firm he hires to sue The Firm upon his departure).
©2003 ABA Journal
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Knowledge Management Research Center
How Siemens Keeps KM Blooming - Knowledge Management Research Center - CIO
While knowledge management (KM) programs may seemingly sprout up out of cracks in the sidewalk, they are in fact tender plants that require cultivation, care and feeding. Siemens, the huge German conglomerate with 426,000 employees in 190 countries, knows this and nurtures its KM with hands-on management and constant tweaking.
How Siemens Keeps KM Blooming - Knowledge Management Research Center - CIO
While knowledge management (KM) programs may seemingly sprout up out of cracks in the sidewalk, they are in fact tender plants that require cultivation, care and feeding. Siemens, the huge German conglomerate with 426,000 employees in 190 countries, knows this and nurtures its KM with hands-on management and constant tweaking.
KeyCite or Shepard's Citators? Which is better? How do they compare? Should I use one, the other or both? Is it still good law? What does the Lawgiver say?
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Feature Article:
Stop Worrying Yourself Out of Profits, Part Three, By Van K. Tharp
How to deal with worry
How do you manage worry? If you can discover how you worry, then a simple solution to the problem is to do something else. If the new solution doesn't work, then again do something else. Keep changing your approach until you find something that does work. This does not necessarily mean changing your trading system. If you execute a system poorly, you will execute a new system poorly. "Changing your approach" means to change how you think, how you make decisions, how you execute your system.
This solution is simple, but most people find it very difficult to accomplish because they are locked into certain patterns. Changing the way you think and perceive the world is not always easy. To change the way you think, you must first discover how you start the worrying process. Being objective about your own thinking is difficult while you are doing it, but much easier later when you can try two techniques to discover how you start worrying. The first exercise is to review a past, painful market experience. It is the quickest way to discover how you worry. You need only recall what happened just before the painful experience. You have no need to replay the experience itself.
Review the experience as if you are watching a movie of yourself. Sit back in a chair and feel yourself in that chair watching yourself on a movie screen. As you watch your movie, determine what started the worry experience. Was it something you saw or read? Was it something you heard or something someone said? Was it a feeling? What happened next? Did you start talking to yourself? Seeing pictures? Did your self-talk and pictures trigger the bad feelings? How did you do it?
When people worry they typically get themselves into a negative feedback loop. They talk to themselves, which produces bad feelings which results in more negative talk followed by more bad feelings and on and on. Others see images which produce bad feelings which make the images worse and so on. What kind of loop do you produce? Once you discover how you start to worry and what kind of negative feedback loop you produce, figure out some ways to change it. Disrupt your loop in some way. If you say negative things to yourself, practice following those phrases with a picture of something pleasant. Try changing the quality of the voice you hear. If you say negative things to yourself, say it in the voice of some well-known cartoon character. Be creative. Do anything that is different until you find something that works for you. If you have trouble discovering how you worry from your past memories, then a second exercise is to keep a worry diary. When you feel anxious or worried about an investment, make a note of it in your diary. Do so at the time you are worrying. Don't put it off. Be sure to include the following information: What were you doing when you started to worry?
What triggered the worry?
Was it someone's actions?
A memory?
A visual image?
A feeling?
How did you go about worry?
What kind of a loop do you set up for yourself. Is this a new or an old pattern?
Later, when the experience passes, make a note in your diary about what you actually did. What could you have done instead? Also comment on your original diary entry. After recording your worry diary for several weeks, you can study it objectively. What kind of irrational fears do you have? How does worrying affect you as an investor? Most importantly, you can determine how you trigger an episode of worrying and how you go about worrying.
When you have a good idea how you I start to worry, select some changes you can make, such as those just suggested with the past memory technique. Become aware of when you start to worry and immediately select one of your changes. Once you discover how you go about worrying and have selected some alternative behaviors, practice using I them. If you do so diligently, then the process will soon become automatic. Imagine yourself in some future situation where you would normally worry and practice some of the alternatives you have selected. Once you can feel at ease in an imaginary situation you I should be able to deal with the real situation. Investors who go through this process frequently comment, "It's just not the same anymore. I don't know what happened, but it's not the same anymore."
This article is taken from the book " How to Control Stress To Become A More Successful Investor", the second volume of Dr. Tharp's five volume course on how to develop peak performance in the markets.
Stop Worrying Yourself Out of Profits, Part Three, By Van K. Tharp
How to deal with worry
How do you manage worry? If you can discover how you worry, then a simple solution to the problem is to do something else. If the new solution doesn't work, then again do something else. Keep changing your approach until you find something that does work. This does not necessarily mean changing your trading system. If you execute a system poorly, you will execute a new system poorly. "Changing your approach" means to change how you think, how you make decisions, how you execute your system.
This solution is simple, but most people find it very difficult to accomplish because they are locked into certain patterns. Changing the way you think and perceive the world is not always easy. To change the way you think, you must first discover how you start the worrying process. Being objective about your own thinking is difficult while you are doing it, but much easier later when you can try two techniques to discover how you start worrying. The first exercise is to review a past, painful market experience. It is the quickest way to discover how you worry. You need only recall what happened just before the painful experience. You have no need to replay the experience itself.
Review the experience as if you are watching a movie of yourself. Sit back in a chair and feel yourself in that chair watching yourself on a movie screen. As you watch your movie, determine what started the worry experience. Was it something you saw or read? Was it something you heard or something someone said? Was it a feeling? What happened next? Did you start talking to yourself? Seeing pictures? Did your self-talk and pictures trigger the bad feelings? How did you do it?
When people worry they typically get themselves into a negative feedback loop. They talk to themselves, which produces bad feelings which results in more negative talk followed by more bad feelings and on and on. Others see images which produce bad feelings which make the images worse and so on. What kind of loop do you produce? Once you discover how you start to worry and what kind of negative feedback loop you produce, figure out some ways to change it. Disrupt your loop in some way. If you say negative things to yourself, practice following those phrases with a picture of something pleasant. Try changing the quality of the voice you hear. If you say negative things to yourself, say it in the voice of some well-known cartoon character. Be creative. Do anything that is different until you find something that works for you. If you have trouble discovering how you worry from your past memories, then a second exercise is to keep a worry diary. When you feel anxious or worried about an investment, make a note of it in your diary. Do so at the time you are worrying. Don't put it off. Be sure to include the following information: What were you doing when you started to worry?
What triggered the worry?
Was it someone's actions?
A memory?
A visual image?
A feeling?
How did you go about worry?
What kind of a loop do you set up for yourself. Is this a new or an old pattern?
Later, when the experience passes, make a note in your diary about what you actually did. What could you have done instead? Also comment on your original diary entry. After recording your worry diary for several weeks, you can study it objectively. What kind of irrational fears do you have? How does worrying affect you as an investor? Most importantly, you can determine how you trigger an episode of worrying and how you go about worrying.
When you have a good idea how you I start to worry, select some changes you can make, such as those just suggested with the past memory technique. Become aware of when you start to worry and immediately select one of your changes. Once you discover how you go about worrying and have selected some alternative behaviors, practice using I them. If you do so diligently, then the process will soon become automatic. Imagine yourself in some future situation where you would normally worry and practice some of the alternatives you have selected. Once you can feel at ease in an imaginary situation you I should be able to deal with the real situation. Investors who go through this process frequently comment, "It's just not the same anymore. I don't know what happened, but it's not the same anymore."
This article is taken from the book " How to Control Stress To Become A More Successful Investor", the second volume of Dr. Tharp's five volume course on how to develop peak performance in the markets.
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Municipal Codes This page provides Links to city and county codes available for unrestricted searching on the World Wide Web.
(For state codes and related legal sources, see FindLaw's State Resources Indexes.)
Code Publishers
(For state codes and related legal sources, see FindLaw's State Resources Indexes.)
Code Publishers
Saturday, February 08, 2003
Kylie news segment on Australia's Current Affair discussing the launch of her lingerie line at Selfridges London, her vacation, and her American break.
Friday, February 07, 2003
Searching Patents on Government Databases on the Web"
By Ron Kaminecki
You have an idea that you wish to patent but are uncertain of how to conduct a proper search of the literature (a.k.a. a search of the prior art) so that you can determine if your idea is novel.
You may have heard that searching patents is difficult, but it is possible to do a reasonable search inexpensively on the Internet if you spend sufficient time at the appropriate websites and you know of some of the nuances of the patent system.
"Patent Searching Without Words - Why Do It, How To Do It?"
By Stephen Adams
In January 2002, Ron Kaminecki of Dialog wrote an article in Free Pint in which he described some of the basic principles and sources for patent searching. I would like to extend his work a little, and describe some alternative approaches.
In the commercial world, there are two important reasons why a company should consult the patent literature. Firstly, to be forewarned about the risk of accidentally infringing someone else's patent. Secondly, if the search draws a blank and it appears that no-one else has patent protection, this fact will help a patent attorney in the process of drafting your own application.
In both cases, our fundamental target is the same - to identify one or more patents which are 'about' the same invention. Our search strategy must try to describe the technology using search terms which will capture other documents with the same degree of 'about-ness'. To put it another way, we are looking for concepts rather than a mere match of words.
By Ron Kaminecki
You have an idea that you wish to patent but are uncertain of how to conduct a proper search of the literature (a.k.a. a search of the prior art) so that you can determine if your idea is novel.
You may have heard that searching patents is difficult, but it is possible to do a reasonable search inexpensively on the Internet if you spend sufficient time at the appropriate websites and you know of some of the nuances of the patent system.
"Patent Searching Without Words - Why Do It, How To Do It?"
By Stephen Adams
In January 2002, Ron Kaminecki of Dialog wrote an article in Free Pint in which he described some of the basic principles and sources for patent searching. I would like to extend his work a little, and describe some alternative approaches.
In the commercial world, there are two important reasons why a company should consult the patent literature. Firstly, to be forewarned about the risk of accidentally infringing someone else's patent. Secondly, if the search draws a blank and it appears that no-one else has patent protection, this fact will help a patent attorney in the process of drafting your own application.
In both cases, our fundamental target is the same - to identify one or more patents which are 'about' the same invention. Our search strategy must try to describe the technology using search terms which will capture other documents with the same degree of 'about-ness'. To put it another way, we are looking for concepts rather than a mere match of words.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
Kylie's million knicker
Looking after the bottom line ... Kylie at the launch of her underwear range yesterday
By ERICA DAVIES Fashion Editor
KYLIE MINOGUE showed off her sexy new underwear yesterday and shoppers were desperate to get them.
The Aussie singing sensation hopes to make a million with her undies and from the way they were selling that’s a sure thing.
We revealed the LoveKylie range in The Sun last week and here Page 3 girls Nikkala and Serena show them off at their best.
Kylie launched her lingerie at London store Selfridges where the range will be sold exclusively. . . .
Monday, February 03, 2003
Knowledge Management Study of Legal Profession Commissioned
January 13, 2003
The Legal Technology Institute at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law is commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Legal Research Center to conduct an international study of Knowledge Management in the legal profession.
January 13, 2003
The Legal Technology Institute at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law is commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Legal Research Center to conduct an international study of Knowledge Management in the legal profession.
Sunday, February 02, 2003
Tired of getting junk email?
Here is a handy script that you can add to your webpage to hide your email address from email robots (harvesters). Simply modify the address, domain and extension in the script below. Then paste it into your web pages anywhere you wish to have your email address appear on the page. Email Harvesters are then unable to read your email address - saving you from spam!
Here is a handy script that you can add to your webpage to hide your email address from email robots (harvesters). Simply modify the address, domain and extension in the script below. Then paste it into your web pages anywhere you wish to have your email address appear on the page. Email Harvesters are then unable to read your email address - saving you from spam!
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