The reason I can't stand Neal Katyal is that he embodies that way that elite lawyers pervert a sound concept - everybody deserves quality legal representation in criminal cases, and lawyers who defend scumbag clients shouldn't be seen as endorsing those clients - to enrich both their reputations and bank accounts.
I don't think Katyal should be pelted with fruit when he goes out in public because of some his clients (well, mostly), but I also don't think we're obligated to think he is a good guy for earning hourly 4 figures for defending the richest most evil assholes on the planet.
Defending an indigent accused pedophile pro bono - which I *do* think is noble work even if said pedophile is completely guilty - is not the same as defending Global Evil Megacorp on your way to your $100 million fortune.
Generally highly paid high profile law - representing rich and famous scumbags - is largely about out of courtroom antics. You know, PR and discrediting the accusers. Taking your case to the media. Intimidating witnesses and getting away with it. Wining and dining Supreme Court justices. It isn't simply making the best case you can in front of a jury. It isn't really "law" as is understood.
Wednesday, September 06, 2023
Geezer Rock
We called the Stones and similar that way back in 1990 and earlier (this was dumb, just observing). Certainly would not have predicted "new album in 2023, when Mick is 80."
Saw Mick in a NYC hotel bar once, and Ronnie Wood wandering around the Prado museum in Madrid.
Never the biggest fan, but don't argue with their place in the pantheon.
Guess I never saw them in concert.
Saw Mick in a NYC hotel bar once, and Ronnie Wood wandering around the Prado museum in Madrid.
Never the biggest fan, but don't argue with their place in the pantheon.
Guess I never saw them in concert.
Tuesday, September 05, 2023
Tuesday Evening
Might have - *might have* - solved a seemingly unsolvable bit of tech hell. We'll see!
Scared Chicks
It isn't precisely the same, but I do think people consistently fail to realize that the Republican Man of the Day is always completely replaceable. Nobody cares about Tucker anymore as nobody cared about O'Reilly when he was gone.
A little nudge from the rest of the Republicans after Jan. 6, and "no one" would've remembered liking Turmp, either.
Sure president isn't quite the same as media personality, but I remember when W. went from Second Coming to Mr. 26%.
A little nudge from the rest of the Republicans after Jan. 6, and "no one" would've remembered liking Turmp, either.
Sure president isn't quite the same as media personality, but I remember when W. went from Second Coming to Mr. 26%.
Go For It
Elon's pronouncements have less weight than Trump's, but, sure, man, sue The Jews (the ADL).
Greenblatt spent months sucking up to Elon and, as with Trump, always a mistake.
That's Him, There, Officer
We all have a Trump problem, but in some ways Republicans do more than the rest of us.
The finger-pointing among Donald Trump’s inner circle has begun.Senate republicans could've cauterized the wound and they just didn't.
And as his four criminal cases march toward trials, some of his aides, allies and co-defendants are pointing at the former president.
"Congress"
This issue is described as "a Washington budget battle" and an issue for "Congress" until we get to paragraph 5 which more accurately describes it as "[hinging] on House Republicans, who recently have tried to slash WIC funding."
A federal program that helps poor families afford healthy food could see substantial benefit cuts starting in October, raising the prospect that roughly 6 million low-income Americans could become some of the earliest victims of an unresolved Washington budget battle.It isn't the worst example, but budget fights are often obscured this way. It's pretty simple - Biden and the Democrats want 'X' and the House Republicans don't. The first paragraph should reflect that.
The College Experience
This piece isn't particularly offensive unlike many of the pieces which speak about college as if there are only about 10 universities (the ones the writer and all their friends went to), but it still isn't reflective of the university experience of a large number of students.
This wasn't because they had the wrong attitude about their time there - wherever that attitude might have come from - it was because that was the structure of the place and the need to pay the bills.
Whatever university should be in some idealized sense, it just is not that for large numbers of students. They don't all go at 18, they don't all go full time, they aren't all in residential colleges, many have to work during the semester and certainly summers to support themselves.
American universities are constantly being written about from a particular perspective which is just not a universal one.
But the expectation that college will help them land a job has led too many students to approach college like a job in its own right: a series of grim tasks that, once completed, qualifies them to perform grimmer but better-paid tasks until retirement. That’s a shame, because this mentality leaves no room for what college should primarily be about: not work but leisure.My tenure track job was at UC-Irvine. Not a flagship UC school, but still in the UC system. At that time it mostly wasn't a residential college (I think that's changed, somewhat). Students commuted to school, most (or it seemed, I don't have the numbers) had other jobs. School was, for them, in many ways, "a job." Their first or second job, depending on their perspective.
College is a unique time in your life to discover just how much your mind can do. Capacities like an ear for poetry, a grasp of geometry or a keen moral imagination may not pay off financially (though you never know), but they are part of who you are. That makes them worth cultivating. Doing so requires a community of teachers and fellow learners. Above all, it requires time — time to allow your mind to branch out, grow and blossom.
This wasn't because they had the wrong attitude about their time there - wherever that attitude might have come from - it was because that was the structure of the place and the need to pay the bills.
Whatever university should be in some idealized sense, it just is not that for large numbers of students. They don't all go at 18, they don't all go full time, they aren't all in residential colleges, many have to work during the semester and certainly summers to support themselves.
American universities are constantly being written about from a particular perspective which is just not a universal one.
Monday, September 04, 2023
The Jews Wot Did It
The ADL is not beyond criticism, of course, in fact I'd criticize its current leader for spending the past year sucking up to Musk!
Your Moment Of Zen
I cannot unsee this image of Neal Katyal, the Supreme Court attorney who among other things successfully defended a company’s use of overseas child slave labor, at Burning Man. https://t.co/Dv9JmR10UR pic.twitter.com/QBiJm8nlp5
— Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) September 3, 2023
Epstein's Calendar
All these guys just accidentally scheduling dozens of meetings with Jeffrey Epstein.
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