TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (134)... The Sequel's Sequel!

This week's extra bonus joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper (from Monday, September 24; link good at time of posting):

Members of Khobar's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice [Saudi Arabia's Regious Police] were the victims of an attack by two Saudi females, Asharq Al-Awsat can reveal.

According to the head of the commission in Khobar, two girls pepper sprayed members of the commission after they had tried to offer them advice.

Head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the Eastern province Dr. Mohamed bin Marshood al-Marshood, told Asharq Al Awsat that two of the Commission's employees were verbally insulted and attacked by two inappropriately-dressed females, in the old market in Prince Bandar street, an area usually crowded with shoppers during the month of Ramadan.

According to Dr. Al-Marshood, the two commission members approached the girls in order to "politely" advise and guide them regarding their inappropriate clothing.

Consequently, the two girls started verbally abusing the commission members, which then lead to one of the girls pepper-spraying them in the face as the other girl filmed the incident on her mobile phone, while continuing to hurl insults at them.

[Previous TGIS]

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (134)... The Sequel!

This week's bonus joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Lowering the Bar blog (from Monday, September 24; link good at time of posting):

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents do not seem to have been too concerned originally about Leroy Carr. True, they did notice him crossing the Canadian border four different times this year, each time carrying thousands of dollars in cash. They also noticed that he was carrying night-vision goggles and a "GPS device programmed with coordinates for a well-known drug-smuggling trail."

. . . .

In August, though, Carr called them. According to a complaint filed this week, Carr called the agency and told agents that he had stashed two blue backpacks containing 68 pounds of cocaine, likely intended for Lindsay Lohan, by the entrance to a camp near the Canadian border. He said he had returned the next day to find they were gone. Apparently, Carr was having some trouble convincing the "organization" he was working for that the backpacks had actually been stolen, and by someone other than Leroy Carr. So he had called to ask whether the agency would put out a news release saying that federal agents had found the drugs and confiscated them, thus putting him in a (slightly) better position with his employers.

. . . .

A Boy Scout found the backpacks two weeks later, and, being a Boy Scout, called the authorities. Finally having the evidence they needed, customs agents arrested Carr last weekend and charged him with possession with intent to distribute.

[Previous TGIS]

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (134)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of Reuters (from Monday, September 24; link good at time of posting):

The wife of former Australian cricket champion Shane Warne says their marriage reconciliation is over after he mistakenly sent her an incriminating text message.

Simone Callahan, who reunited last December with the spin bowler known also for his womanizing, told a woman's magazine she caught Warne cheating on her while he was in London.

As Callahan got the couple's three children ready for school in Melbourne, a text dropped into the inbox of her mobile phone, she told New Idea magazine.

"Hey beautiful, I'm just talking to my kids, the back door's open," the message from Warne said.

"You loser, you sent the message to the wrong person," Callahan sent back.

[Previous TGIS]

"it's what imagination means"

Stephen Fry is so good at everything I've seen him do that I really shouldn't be surprised that his new blog is worth adding to my "Fifty Recommendations" blogroll over in the sidebar after only his second post. Today's entry is worth whatever length of time it takes you to read it.

For him, the following passage was but a passing thought, but I suspect I'll remember it for quite a while:

Much of success in life comes from being able to put yourself in the shoes of another: in the shoes of a prince or a pauper, a dictator or a dick-head, a burgomaster or a burger-flipper, regardless of degree, status or esteem, it’s what imagination means – the ability to penetrate the consciousness and experience of another.

GNU Kids on the Block

Sara Harrington, Suzanne Bell, and Adit Khorana, partners in the technology transactions practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Silicon Valley have an excellent post up at the TechLaw Forum offering an overview of the new third version of the GNU GPLs -- the General Public Licenses (there's a "Lesser" version and a not-so-lesser version) from the Free Software Foundation. If you deal with open source software on a regular basis, this overview is worth some of your time and attention.

Twelve out of twelve angry men agree: this is a great Blawg Review.

Blawg Review's continuing success is due in considerable part to the creativity and expertise of its hosts week after week, but when you really get down to it, the carnival's raison d'être is primarily to showcase outstanding posts elsewhere in the legal blogosphere; notwithstanding, when a particular Blawg Review is a destination in itself, a post which educates and rewards time spent reading and considering, what a treat that is! Blawg Review #127, hosted by Anne Reed at her Deliberations blog, is just such a treat, as she offers seventeen tips for selecting a jury:

We talk a lot about jury selection here, and one message comes up over and over. To get good at voir dire, you need to set aside your assumptions, and instead see the real men and women in the jury box. It isn't easy; your brain on autopilot is a pushy creature. But if you're trying to really see, the world is your classroom. Everything from your morning paper to your office politics is a chance to practice.

Though it's probable that the vast majority of Blawg Review's readership is somehow involved in the legal profession as a practitioner, student, or academic, the fact is that few of us frequently, if ever, see the inside of a courtroom, and we are even less likely to ever face a jury, except perhaps as a defendant following a particularly boisterous evening. As such, Reed's Blawg Review was particularly fascinating for me. I suspect, however, that even if you're an experienced courtroom practitioner, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more succinct and valuable list of voir dire considerations than is present in Blawg Review #127.

All this is not to imply that Reed has shorted us on what we've come to expect from Blawg Review -- links to the best legal blogging of the past week. Highlights in this issue include a roundup of the social directors of the blawgosphere, guidance for understanding Generation Y, and a whirlwind survey of science fiction in the legal world, from a consideration of the political structure of Star Trek's federation to a report on the petty criminal activities of an Earth-bound Sith lord.

Ireland-based Lex Ferenda hosts next week's Blawg Review #128.

Why work when you can hire this guy?

In the course of my work, I often have occasion to (attempt to) explain the concept of a "work for hire" to non-lawyers. Try as I might, I've never done it as clearly and succinctly as Brett Trout has. From here on out, I'm just going to print and offer his post whenever the topic comes up.

A Useful and Non-Obvious Patent Reform Overview

The PHOSITAns have outdone themselves this week with their multi-part overview of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four). Honestly, if you work with patents on a regular basis, you'll do yourself a disservice not to spend some time with their tremendous analysis.

UPDATE: Part Five is now available as well.

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (133)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Associated Press (from Thursday, September 20; link good at time of posting):

Firefighters had to tear though a wall to rescue an intoxicated man who became stuck while trying to climb down a chimney into the residence of his former girlfriend.

Alejandro Valencio said he was drunk when he got into the chimney about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"Everyone do stupid things sometimes when they're drunk," he said.

Firefighters requested assistance from police after arriving because they said Connie Deweese was hampering the rescue effort by blocking the fireplace.

"I told them to leave him in the chimney and let him die," said Deweese, who received misdemeanor citations for disorderly conduct and interfering with a firefighter.

. . . .

"I've dated a lot of psychos in my life, but nobody like that," Deweese said.

[Previous TGIS]

Against the Day, we all must fail

Shaun Mullen at The Moderate Voice relates:

I started reading Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon’s latest magnus opus, in early May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 13,136, the New York Mets led the National League East and 3,361 Americans had died in Iraq.

By the time I got to the 1,085th and final page the other day, the Dow stood at 13,423, the Mets led the National League East and 3,776 Americans had died in Iraq.

I can certainly empathize. I started Against the Day in early summer and my drive to finish what is undoubtedly a worthwhile novel waned a month or so later. I love Pynchon, but good lord, the man's writing is dense. Excellent, worthwhile, and rewarding, but dense.

With the exceptions of Crying of Lot 49 and a couple of others, I don't think I've ever managed to finish one of his books in one stretch. They're like a rich, multi-course meal; most likely, you'll enjoy it, but you may not be able to comfortably finish everything you're served and even if you can, you probably don't want to eat like that night after night for an extended period.

Pynchon should be savored, so when reading his work becomes like... well, work, I put it down without hesitation.

What did I pick up in its stead? Books one through six (thus far) of the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series. It's pretty much the same thing as Against the Day, but with lightsabers.

Blawg Review Continues an Upward Trend

The trend at Blawg Review over the past few years has been toward increasing relevance, creativity, and utility in the weekly carnival of legal blogging. With Blawg Review #126 at Anita Campbell's Small Business Trends site, that positive trend continues. Highlights in this edition include a consideration of licensing arrangements and franchising laws, possible down sides to alternative billing arrangements and how these alternate arrangements might make lawyers and their clients worse off, and hiring MBAs to manage the business side of your law firm. Anne Reed hosts Blawg Review #127 at her Deliberations blog next week.

Meow

From today's Best of the Web Today column by James Taranto:

We were intrigued by the headline on this story from CNSNews.com: "September 15 Anti-War Protest to Be 'Unlike Any Other.' " The first paragraph repeats the point:

Organizers of an anti-war protest scheduled for Sept. 15 said Wednesday that the demonstration will be "unlike any other" as activists gather to demand an immediate end to the war.

Wow, unlike any other! What could that mean? Are they going to take showers before marching? Are they going to demand that the enemy give up rather than our side?

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (132)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of CBS (from Thursday, September 13; link good at time of posting):

[S]uspect Ivan Lavar Edwards, 29, tried to rob a house in [Miami]. According to police, he broke a window to gain entrance but a woman inside screamed and he took off running.

He eventually made his way to the home of Marta Suarez, an 85-year old grandmother. She was walking out her front door when Edwards suddenly pushed her back inside, grabbed her purse and ran back outside across 14th Street.

But Suarez, who used to be a Cuban track star in the 1930s, simply ran off after the suspect.

Moments later, Officer Wilfredo Perez, who was in the neighborhood investigating the original attempted burglary report, spotted Edwards running and the elderly Suarez was in hot pursuit.

Edwards jumped into a car he had apparently parked outside the St. Peter and Paul Church. Officer Perez chased after Edwards, who was spotted tossing a purse out the window. A block later, Perez caught him.

The purse, which contained $300, was retrieved.

Police say Edwards has a long rap sheet. He’ll be charged with stealing Suarez's purse and attempted breaking and entering.

[Previous TGIS]

How-To Blawg Review

In this week's Blawg Review #125, Kevin O'Keefe, who has demonstrated that he knows a thing or three about legal blogging during his tenure as proprietor of LexBlog and Real Lawyers Have Blogs, suggests that the legal blogging community look beyond the legal blogging community to become better legal bloggers. Amongst the many blogging luminaries he highlights are Doc Searls, Dave Winer, Robert Scoble, and Shel Israel. The Anonymous Blawg Review Editor notes that O'Keefe's #125 does not mean that there's a shortage of legal blogging insight within the legal blogging community and cites a few examples from real lawyers who have blogs. Anita Campbell hosts next week's carnival at her Small Business Trends blog.

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (131) . . . The Sequel!

This week's bonus joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of Reuters (from Friday, September 7; link good at time of posting):

A corrupt senior Chinese official was denounced by his 11 mistresses after some of their husbands were sentenced to death for graft, state media said on Friday.

The news comes just days after a senior provincial Communist Party official was executed for blowing up his mistress with a car bomb.

. . . .

Pang Jiayu, 63, former deputy head of the provincial political advisory body in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, was sacked and expelled from the Communist Party for graft, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Pang did not expect that he would be brought down by his own 11 mistresses," the official People's Daily said in a report carried on its Web site.

. . . .

The Party's discipline inspection commission said in July that they would deal with the case severely.

"What awaits Pang Jiayu is severe punishment," the report said.

[Previous TGIS]

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (131)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Associated Press (from Friday, September 7; link good at time of posting):

A man trying to call a news station to complain about not getting a FEMA trailer after Hurricane Katrina accidentally dialed 911 and was charged with making methamphetamine after police arrived, authorities said.

Curtiss Randall Coleman was trying to get the number for Biloxi's WLOX-TV on Wednesday just before the 6 p.m. newscast, investigators said. He misdialed when trying to reach directory information and called 911 instead of 411.

When he hung up on the emergency dispatcher, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department was sent to the home to see if anyone was in need of assistance.

Deputies said that when they arrived at Coleman's house, no one answered the door. Officers broke in and allegedly found a methamphetamine lab.

Coleman, 53, and four others were arrested, including Coleman's son, Christopher, 30. A fifth suspect remains at large.

"It was a calamity of errors on Mr. Coleman's part," said Sgt. Curtis Spears, commander of the Narcotics Task Force of Jackson County.

[Previous TGIS]

Now showing at the much better theatre down the block...

There's a very worthwhile discussion going on over at the Technology Liberation Front blog amongst Braden Cox, Tim Lee, and a number of commenters concerning copyright First Sale doctrine and the software industry (see here, here, and here). It's a particularly interesting exchange at a blog where nearly every post has something intelligent to offer.

Labor of Love

History buffs and Labor Day aficionados alike should make their way to this week's Blawg Review #124, hosted by George Lenard at his George's Employment Blawg. Having hosted a couple of times myself, I can hazard a guess as to the amount of time Lenard devoted to putting together an engrossing history of labor in America. Kevin O'Keefe advises that "lest you think Blawg Reviews are going to continue at that length and depth, forget it. I'm up next week."