Ernie The Attorney

Detroit's woes (woe unto itself)

Had lunch yesterday with my friend Brian Oberkirch, and we talked about the shifting economic sands. Today he passed along this great article by Umair Haque called Detroit's 6 Mistakes and How Not to Make Them. What's the first big mistake?

"Shifting costs onto others, while striving to internalize benefits. Detroit chose lobbying, marketing wars, and low-cost hardball - to always and everywhere try to socialize costs and privatize benefits. Never was this truer than Detroit's lobbying against public transport throughout the 20th century. Why does public transport in the States suck? Because Detroit's lobbying machine doesn't."

I never looked at it that way. Did Detroit really lobby against public transportation? I guess I wouldn't be surprised. Markets are supposed to be efficient, but what that economic bromide really means is that markets are more efficient if you hire lobbyists.

Lawyer cartoonery

My friend Charles Pincher is a both a lawyer and an artist. Naturally, he devotes a good deal of time to his art which now includes a commission to do a portrait of famed Constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky. If you want to check out Charles' website please do, and remember his pictures make great Christmas gifts for the lawyer in your family. Oh, and he does commission work, such as logos, which you solo and small firm lawyers might want to check into.

ABA survey of legal job market

The ABA Journal is surveying lawyers about the job market and the current state of the economy. If you're a lawyer click here to fill out a quick online survey.

Safety in the skies

Should you tell the pilot if you hear a really strange noise coming from the plane you're on? Apparently, the pilot says yes.

Voice-command information on my phone

I want this for my iPhone, and apparently I'll be able to get it tomorrow. For free. Thanks Google.

The 4 minute university

Today's lecturer will be Professor Pickens who will discuss our current energy situation. This lecture is free so please invite your friends to watch too.

Greatest Louisiana Law Blog

If you are a Louisiana lawyer you should bookmark Tad Bartlett's blog. And then you should read it regularly. In fact, even if you aren't a Louisiana lawyer, but you practice in the U.S. Fifth Circuit's jurisdiction, you should read it regularly.

Nota bene bloggers

The Economist reports: "blogging is dead." Long live the blogs.

Unemployment factoids

As I recall during the Great Depression the unemployment rate hit 24% at the worst point. Question: since then what's the worst unemployment rate we've had? Answer here. So now when you watch the news for the next few months you can see how close the number is getting to that number. Kind of like living in Missouri during the 2008 flood.

Hope the econ-gurus have enough financial sandbags at their disposal.

Obama on religion

From an interview given by Barack Obama four years ago, shortly after he'd be elected to the U.S. Senate:

"I retain from my childhood and my experiences growing up a suspicion of dogma. And I'm not somebody who is always comfortable with language that implies I've got a monopoly on the truth, or that my faith is automatically transferable to others."

Amen, brother.