Monthly Archives: July 2007

Fischl on the University of Miami Strike

Former colleague Michael Fischl, now of the University of Connecticut School of Law, has a new article up at SSRN, The Other Side of the Picket Line: Contract, Democracy, and Power in a Law School Classroom which will appear in 31 New York University Review of Law & Social Change (2007).

Abstract:

This essay – from a forthcoming symposium on “teaching from the left” in the NYU Review of Law & Social Change – offers an account of the successful union organizing campaign among custodial and landscaping workers at the University of Miami during the 2005-06 academic year, focusing in particular on the role played by faculty during the course of the campaign. It examines a fractious debate generated by faculty who held classes off campus in order to support the striking workers and the author's own decision to put the question of whether to honor the picket line to a vote of his students. It offers an analysis of the pattern of argument that emerged – with opponents of off-campus classes invoking the rhetoric of contract and supporters invoking the rhetoric of democracy – and of what that pattern may reveal about the nature of ideological conflict in contemporary campus culture.

An engaging and thoughtful essay that will be of interest to contracts teachers, labor lawyers, and union supporters generally.

Also of interest is the post-posting history of this article, in which anti-union Google ads appeared automagically on SSRN alongside the article. See Google Ads on SSRN—and Some Odd (shall we say) Juxtapositions for details.

Posted in U.Miami: Strike'06 | Comments Off on Fischl on the University of Miami Strike

Bush Administration *Literally* Makes Americans Sick

The Gavel » Blog Archive » Oversight Hearing on “Toxic Trailers” in the Gulf Coast

Henry Waxman is having hearings about FEMA's provision of toxic trailers to Katerina victims.

Another FEMA official wrote, the office of general counsel has advised “We do not do testing, because it would imply FEMA's ownership of this issue.” Early in the process, due to the perseverance of a pregnant mother with a four month old child, FEMA did test one occupied trailer. The results showed that their trailer had formaldehyde levels 75 times higher than the maximum workplace exposure levels recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The mother evacuated the trailer. FEMA then stopped testing other trailers.

They knew, and they knew they didn't want to know.

Much more, with videos, at The Gavel.

Posted in Unspeakably Awful (Katrina) | Comments Off on Bush Administration *Literally* Makes Americans Sick

Judicial Fireworks in Broward

It's an old Miami saying that we live in the only part of the country where you have to go north to get to the South.

Evidence of the truth of that aphorism can be found in the judicial dust-up currently unfolding in Broward County, the county just north of us. Broward county judges have had a bad patch recently, what with one being busted for smoking pot in a park, and various ethical transgressions emerging, one of which led to the resignation of the Chief Judge.

We though things might be looking up this week when the election for a new Chief Judge appeared to have gone off without either allegations of vote tampering or mayhem, but in fact this was just the calm before the storm.

And what a storm. It seems that during the brief interregnum, Acting Chief Judge Mel Grossman eviscerated a diversity committee chaired by Judge Elijah Williams, the only black male judge to be appointed in Broward in the last two decades. And Judge Williams, to his credit, isn't taking it lightly.

The full fireworks can be seen at the rather active unofficial Broward lawyers' blog at A Calculated Scorched Earth Policy or a Simple Case of Al Haig Disease? Judge Elijah Williams Has Had Enough!. See also Miami-Dade's own Rumpole, enjoying a few moments of schadenfreude.

Posted in Florida, Law: Everything Else | Comments Off on Judicial Fireworks in Broward

What is Your Nightmare Job?

What would be the most unattractive job in the regular economy? I'm not talking about the objectively least-well paid or statistically most dangerous, or most unpopular (car salesman?). I mean, what job would you least like to have. No fair saying subsistence farmer in Darfur either — I mean in the US (or other developed economy).

For me, I think the worst job I see around me easily has to be toll booth attendant: Breath fumes all day. No real human contact. Uncomfortable reaching. Half in and half out so your body is a mix of too hot and too cold depending where and when. Much worse than the worst job I ever had (for a week) of (attempted) selling books by phone.

What's your worst nightmare of a job?

Posted in Etc | 20 Comments

R. Milhous Giuliani

R. Milhous Giuliani — that's how Michael Gerson characterizes the current GOP front-runner, and I think he nails it on substantive, stylistic, and not least emotional grounds.

As president, Nixon was a talented man without an ideological compass, mainly concerned with the accumulation of power. … And, as with Nixon, Giuliani's combativeness, on occasion, blurs into pettiness.

Richard Milhous Giuliani. Just trips off the tongue…

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | Comments Off on R. Milhous Giuliani

Short and Sweet

Sentenc.es – A Disciplined Way To Deal With Email

The Problem

E-mail takes too long to respond to, resulting in continuous inbox overflow for those who receive a lot of it. The Solution

Treat all email responses like SMS text messages, using a set number of letters per response. Since it’s too hard to count letters, we count sentences instead. five.sentenc.es is a personal policy that all email responses regardless of recipient or subject will be five sentences or less. It’s that simple.

– See also: two.sentenc.es, three.sentenc.es, and four.sentenc.es.

Posted in Internet | 1 Comment