Insurance Claim1

In the beginning when the smart people of the world said the world was flat and the earth was the center of the universe, everyone believed them.  When television was new, if someone said it on the TV, everyone knew it had to be true.  Fast forward a few decades and we get Facebook.  Turns out there are people who believe if it's on Facebook, it must be true .   Have you ever heard something and thought, "That can't be true?"  Turns out there are a whole lot of things being said all the time that are, eventually, shown to be true. For example: The NSA is tapping your phone lines There is cancer in your vaccines Asbestos is dangerous The CIA pays for false testimony (as in they encourage it) The FBI poisoned alcohol during prohibition The Gulf of Tonkin incident never really happened  (launching the Viet Nam War) The military is conspiring to instill fear in the populace Cell phones cause cancer County law libraries are open to the public Wait, what?!

Have you ever wondered why Hitler had that funky little mustache?  I was wondering that today as I started shaving.  See, I was sick for a couple days and ha d n't shaved.  When that happens, the hairs on my face grow a bit long and since I'm too cheep to buy a new razor, it can really hurt when I start to shave my chinny chin chin. So, picture it, Hitler comes in from days on the front line and starts to shave.  I can imagine the pain he's feeling having to shave with a knife or an old Schick blade.  OUCH!  Then he gets to that part just under the nose annnnnnnnd says "der Teufel mit diesem Mist, Ich werde es einfach herauswachsen lassen!"  And thus was born the funky little mustache we all know and love. Of course, this got me thinking about all the painful/scary things people do (or choose not to do) in law.  Like not responding to a complaint when they get served process (i.e. notice that you are being sued).  As painful and scary as an

Many moons ago when I was young(er), I loved to watch Romper Room .  OK, I liked to watch Wonderrama , too, and I just knew I could win those great prizes if only my folks would take me to be on the show.  Never happened.  Anyway, there was this one part on Romper Room where the lady whips out this mirror that was magic.  Well, it had to be magic because when she looked in it it got all funky swirly and then it went clear and doggone it if she couldn't see kids from all over the world and actually talk to them.  Dang but she must have been a Librarian.  I mean she wouldn't just say their name but she'd tell them stuff that they should (and shouldn't) be doing.  Yep, she must have been a Librarian because she knew so much. The thing is I can really relate to the woman on Romper Room because I know lots of stuff, too.  As an omnipresent Law Librarian, I, too, know what you need and how to help you (or when to back off).  In fact, Librarians know so much because we wo

Have you ever been sitting in your cubicle and thought that there has to be more to life than just sitting here in my cubicle?  H ave you ever wondered how Indiana Jones or Lara Croft got their start as archaeologists (or tomb raiders, as the case may be)?  Have you ever thought that you were meant for more that doing whatever you are doing right now?!? So, picture it.  You’re helping your dog dig in the backyard looking for a bone when you come across a 14-foot long thigh bone of the dreaded Cratarackatus from the late Crustacean Period .  How do you preserve your find?  More to the point, how do cash in with your find and protect yourself at the same time?   Well, you are in luck, my friend.  See, not 10 minutes ago I was lost in the jungles of our federal collection and just when I was about to shoot up a flare for help, I came across our copy of Archaeology, Relics, and the Law .   The thing is, this is not just your ordinary work of fiction.  No, this book actual

Picture it.  You've been dreaming of a contraption for years and having just received a B.S. degree in engineering, you finally understand that that contraption is a new mousetrap.  A mousetrap? Really!?! Well, some people dream of mousetraps, some dream of flying .  Tomato, tomaaaaato. So, you build the mousetrap and submit for a new patent. Yeah, that's what you do - because you need to protect your dream.  Turns out, your dream mousetrap isn't so dreamy since the patent office declines your patent request because it wasn't novel enough. Wait, not novel?  What does it mean that a thing is "novel?" Well, as it turns out, according to Black's Law Dictionary , NOVELTY is defined as: Trade secrets .  The newness of information that is generally unused or unknown and that gives its owner a competitive advantage in a business field. Patents . Newness of an invention both in form and in function of performance; the strict statutory requirement that th