What would Lincoln say?

ethicalEsq & haikuEsq...: home

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser -- in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough."

David Giacalone (a.k.a ethicalEsq.?) posted the above quote in his short history of Abraham Lincoln's law practice. Among the additional benefits of settlement are that the weaker party (whose success in a lawsuit may have as much to do with resources and the state of the law as justice) has the chance to emerge from the suit with a tangible and certain benefit, and the knowledge that the stronger party recognized some validity to his claim.

What would Lincoln say?

ethicalEsq & haikuEsq...: home

"Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser -- in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough."

Henry IV

My wife and I had a rare escape to the Shakespeare Theatre today, where we saw a very strong peformance of perennial favorite Henry IV pt. 1. Ted van Greithuysen, in a departure from his usual serious roles, played Falstaff; giving the fat knight a little more of an air of sophistication than usual, to great effect in such lines as "Banish not Falstaff thy Harry's company." One gets the sense from van Greithuysen's performance that Falstaff has a sense of what the future holds. Floyd King, whose usual line is clowns, fools, and buffoons, played Owen Glendower pretty straight, relying on Glendower's bizarre and pretentious mysticism to create its own comic effect. Finally, Andrew Long created a vigorous Hotspur with a biting tongue, and threatened to steal each scene he was in. Overall, the tavern scenes were most effective, whereas the fight scenes came across as perfunctory.

Wikipedia Bio of John Boswell

John Boswell - Wikipedia

"John Eastburn Boswell (March 20, 1947 - December 24, 1994), a gay historian, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and educated at the College of William and Mary and at Harvard University. He became a professor of history at Yale University, and helped organize the Lesbian and Gay Studies Center at Yale in 1987. He was chairman of the history department at Yale from 1990 to 1992."

Inexplicable

It is to Halley Suitt's credit that she doesn't get the fact that Andrew Sullivan gets hate mail because he writes about gay issues. She's right, it's a sad commentary on American prejudices, and too few people are willing to denounce this kind of bigotry. However, it is not surprising in a nation where the President is pushing an initiative to amend the Constitution in order to deny gays equal protection of the laws.

On a related note, I am almost finished with John Boswell's fascinating account of how general tolerance for gay sexuality in Classical times and during the Renaissance of the Twelfh Century gave way to vicious repression of gays -- and Jews, Muslims and religious dissenters -- in the thirteenth century, leaving Europe (and European culture) with a legacy of hate that persists to this day. Boswell admits that the question has been so little studied (and so misrepresented by modern scholars reluctant to come to grips with references to gays in Classical and Medieval literature) that any conclusions are tentative. Nevertheless, he hypothesizes that the growing repression in the thirteenth century was linked to the rise of absolutist monarchical states unwilling to tolerate any deviation from prevailing orthodoxies.

Military Justice?

Guantanamo Spy Cases Evaporate (washingtonpost.com)

"Some experts on military law and the men's lawyers say the prosecutions of Yee and Halabi have been riddled with inconsistencies and oddities that cast doubt on the government's original fears that a spy ring was operating in the high-security prison for alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters."

Nostalgia

I mentioned to a collegue that I took one programming course in college, in FORTRAN. First, he asked, "What's that?" His second question was "Does that go back to the punch cards?" I said I did not know, since I did not use punch cards. A quick Google search yielded the answer to his question: yes, FORTRAN does go back to the era of punch card programming.

Traveling Man

unbillable hours: On Bill Bryson and the Responsibilities of the Traveler

"I envy that man's career. Anyone who has the ability to travel - like Bryson, Ian Frazier, and Robert Kaplan - for a living has been given the most amazing gift."

I echo the sentiment, but the rare gift is the ability to describe the places the author visits in such a way that we see them in a fresh light. The best travel writers are able to share their voyage of self discovery as they move from place to place, and integrate their stories with the people they meet, the books they've read, the food they've eaten, and the other places they have been. In many ways, it is the stories that are magical more than the voyages.

Bought and Sold

Maybe it is all for the best, but I am somewhat saddened to learn that the Tall Ship Rose has become the property of Fox Studios and is now berthed at a museum rather than sailing under the auspices of the private foundation that restored her.

Sublime to Ridiculous

Having just finished John Livingstone Lowes' extensive discussion of the extensive literature on the living dead trapped on a ship of the damned, I was amused to find myself watching Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney's campy modern update of the ancient theme. The making of the ships is a story in itself.

Always at my back I hear

One suspects that Frank Gilbreth (the original Cheaper by the Dozen) became the father of Motion Study because he realized he did not have much time. (He died young of a heart attack, leaving behind a dozen fatherless children.)

The truth is, God has not given any of us much time, so we had better make the most of it, and take advantage of whatever efficiencies we can.

Unbelievable

Yahoo! News - Spam E-Mail Plays on Men's Deepest Fear

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - For many American office workers, the day begins with deleting spam. These days, a lot of electronic junk mail hits below the belt by seeking to profit from many men's deepest fear -- that their penises are too small."

Oh, please. Who can believe that anyone takes this kind of spam seriously?

Hatemongers

Plan to Supplant Episcopal Church USA Is Revealed (washingtonpost.com)

"Episcopalians who oppose the consecration of a gay bishop are preparing to engage in widespread disobedience to church law in 2004, according to a confidential document outlining their strategy."

It seems the Episcopal Church is going to pay a stiff price for doing the right thing by confirming Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The determination by this small band of hatemongers to wreak havoc on the Church is appalling. Obviously, it will be a real test of the Church's ability to live up to its best principles and meet hate with love. That does not mean that we should let the schismatics walk away with a dime, however.