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Word Of The Month For July 2018: Obscene

Gambar
Once upon a time someone told me that everyone has a book inside of them.  Well, you might have a book in you, but getting someone else to read it is a whole nuther problem. Such was the case with an enterprising young lady.  Seems Lady had caught the vision and started writing a book about farm animals.  The first few editions were stories about raising and caring for farm animals.  Apparently, there were a whole lot of books on the raising and caring for farm animals and so her book wasn't selling very well. Not getting the reviews (or sales) she had hoped for, she started writing about the darker side of owning farm animals.  Specifically, she wanted to write an exposè, of sorts, on the...uh...love and...um...affection certain humans have had with farm animals. Yeah, that's one way to describe it.  Not something I'd want to read but, apparently, there's a market for that sort of stuff. The next edition got better reviews (and sales) from her ...

Discount Movie Tickets

Gambar
In 2004, I was hired as a Librarian.  At the time, I was informed that I had the option (pay attention to that word "option;" it will come back to haunt you, later) to join the union.  I chose not to join. Three years ago (so, eleven years after I was hired), SEIU came knocking on my employers' door and informed us that we were required to be union members; that we never actually had the option not to join.   You WILL be a union member and you WILL pay union dues.  I don't like being compelled to do things so I really did not want to join. What bothered me most was the heavy handed tactics employed by the union.  As Justice Alito noted in the majority opinion: The plaintiff argues that he is not a free rider on a bus headed for a destination that he wishes to reach but is more like a person shanghaied for an unwanted voyage. ...and that's exactly what it felt like.  Union comes in and starts pushing everyone around.  You will do this;...

The Little Guy

Gambar
When people look at me today, they see a 6'5" giant of a man.  Confident, strong, and the life of the party. When I was a kid, that wasn't so much the case.  Heck, when I was a kid, I got beaten up all the time (which was probably why I eventually got into law). I remember this one group.  They thought they were the cock of the walk and would shake kids down for their lunch money. No kid dared to tattle on them because, as we learn from television and government in general, people who tattle end up wearing cement shoes.  So, the rein of terror continued.   One day, I was playing marbles with a friend and this group of thugs came over and started pushing him around. Honestly, I don't know what came over me because I stepped my 60 pound, 4 foot nothing frame between the bully and my friend and told them to push off .   You'd have thought an atomic bomb went off because the entire playground froze.   Kids hundreds of yards away felt a disturban...

Be A Leader

Gambar
Do you people even read my blog?  Looking at how many followers I have (all of 7), you'd think that no one pays any attention to the scripture falling from my fingertips. Actually, I was thinking about my seven faithful followers just the other day when an older, seasoned attorney came into my law library. Seems attorney was dealing with a settlement in a family law case. As he walked up to me, he handed me a dozen copies of various posts from my blog ( Legal Research is Easy ) and said, "I have scoured your blog and not once have you posted anything relating to QDROs." For those not in the know, a QDRO (or " Q ualified D omestic R elations O rder") works as a settlement order in a divorce case dividing retirement or pension plans by recognizing marital ownership by both parties (husband and wife).  So, when the pension is ready to be distributed, both husband and wife get their marital share.  It's a bit more complicated than that but that's ab...

You Gotta Keep 'Em Separated

Gambar
In today's news is the story about a woman who got gored (as in killed) by a bison in Yellowstone National Park .  How in blazes did someone get killed by a typically docile animal?   Well, she walked right up next to it.  She got inside its "safe zone," irritating the poor animal to no end and it did the only thing it could do - shake it's head (and, subsequently, tore the woman from crotch to nose). Ouch! You know, if people were a bit more considerate of other animals (humans and otherwise), maybe there wouldn't be so many problems in the world. Take, for instance the couple that came into the library the other day.  Seems couple has a neighbor who has a dog.  Every day for the last 3 years, neighbor walked dog over to couples front lawn, had the dog do its dooty on couple's lawn, doesn't pick-up said dooty, and goes back to her house.   She could have done it on her lawn but being the raging hag (and a bad neighbor) that she was, ...

Word Of The Month For June 2018: Respondeat Superior

Gambar
Have you ever run into someone who was looking for a lawsuit?  I'm betting you have but just didn't know it. Here's a tip: they are critical of everything and hang on your every word. Heck, they might even write down everything you say (and hold it against you later). Such was the scenario I had the other day. Lady comes in hotter than Arizona asphalt in August. Seems Lady's neighbor has a wiener dog that barks "all the time; day and night."   At wits end, Lady is mad as Hades, isn't going to take it anymore, and is looking to exact some righteous retribution against neighbor.   Right off the bat, I start thinking out loud and she starts writing down what I'm saying and demands I slow down. "Repeat what you just said," she screeched .   While most things that come out of my mouth is pure scripture, I'm not about to repeat anything that can be used against me and so I said I can't remember (which is kinda true; I mean, who...

This Is The Guy You Want On Your Team

Gambar
As a law Librarian, I deal in problems and am a purveyor of solutions.  If you've got a problem, I know where you can go to solve it.   Small claims? I know four resources that can help you. Bankruptcy?  Pick your chapter and I've got answers. RICO, unlawful detainer, criminal, appeals (civil OR criminal), military justice, estate planning, family law, tax, federal, UCC, real property (commercial or otherwise), contracts, personal injury.  Whatever you need, answers I've got. So, the other day, a newly minted attorney came into my law library hoping I was all I was hyped up to be.  Turns out he had just accepted a rather messy case.  I mean, it was one of those cases that if he won, it would put him on the map.  If he lost, well.... So, being newly minted and not knowing the ways of the legal world, I introduced him to the world of Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) and showed him all the great things they offered like: California Civil D...