Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Feb 7, 2012, 2:19 pm
9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling striking down Proposition 8
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Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Feb 5, 2012, 6:13 pm
After Newt Gingrich's defeat in Nevada yesterday, the candidate outlined a new strategy, heavily dependent on racking up additional delegate gains in upcoming southern state primaries, while facing the fact that his chances appear to be declining in most of the rest of the country. While the candida... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Feb 5, 2012, 5:27 pm
Anyone who has still been following budget negotiations in Congress has no doubt noticed that they have reached another interesting stage. Recall that last summer Congress struck a deal in which Republicans agreed to go along with raising the debt ceiling, in exchange for appointing a super commit... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Feb 3, 2012, 2:46 pm
Here's a chart from TPM, attempting to explain the reasons for the president's decline and rebound in popularity. I would probably also factor in economic worries, including the last few months' perceived improvement in the economy, as another explanation for the rebound. But certainly we should be ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Feb 2, 2012, 2:26 am
I'm trying to imagine the conversations candidate Mitt Romney is having with his senior staff after another one of his unfortunate misstatements.
A staffer might say, "Mitt, what the heck did you mean by saying you're not concerned about the very poor. Do you see how bad that sounds?"
Romney replies... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 30, 2012, 11:35 pm
Saul Alinsky, the great Chicago community organizer who died in 1972, was required reading for people involved in or sympathetic to the student and anti-war protests of the 1960's and 1970's. I remember buying my copy of Rules for Radicals sometime when I was in college. The book store manager, who ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 29, 2012, 2:01 pm
I was talking about capital gains taxes with a tax lawyer friend, who reminded me about the 1986 Tax Reform Act, promoted and signed into law by President Reagan. The law lowered the top income tax brackets, making the system somewhat less progressive, but it also closed many tax loopholes enjoyed b... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Jan 28, 2012, 1:42 pm
Ryan Lizza's article, "The Obama Memos," in this week's New Yorker, contains some inside information explaining how candidate Obama's promises to usher in a new style of politics, ran into the realities of a Congress that is more partisan than ever before. Commentators like Paul Krugman have jumped ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 25, 2012, 2:55 pm
What did you do after President Obama's State of the Union address last night? I'm sure a lot of people continued to watch the pundits on the cable news channels dissect the speech. Probably even more people changed the channel to more conventional entertainment. Personally, I wrote a blog post abou... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 25, 2012, 1:52 am
Ryan Lizza's article in the new New Yorker contains some good inside information explaining how candidate Obama's promises to usher in a new style of politics, ran into the realities of a Congress that is more partisan than ever before. Commentators like Paul Krugman have jumped on the bandwagon, ch... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Jan 24, 2012, 7:25 pm
When we use a phrase like "alternative dispute resolution," we are usually referring to alternatives to bringing a lawsuit. Those who practice in the ADR field are often trying to persuade litigants to give up the right to sue, on the ground that the alternatives to court are better, cheaper or fast... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 24, 2012, 2:52 am
For those wondering, "what has the president has done for me lately?," here's a video to answer that question: Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 24, 2012, 2:00 am
Watching the Republican primary campaign, it's no longer so much about the ups and downs of the race, or the scandals and gaffes that have plagued various candidates. What changed this week is that the two perceived front-runners, Gingrich and Romney, have fully abandoned their previous pleges to ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 22, 2012, 11:39 pm
The White HouseOffice of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release January 22, 2012
Statement by the President on Resignation of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
Gabby Giffords embodies the very best of what public service should be. She’s universally admired... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 22, 2012, 2:59 am
While the media rain attention on the results of the South Carolina primary, I want to record that the real action took place at the Nevada Democratic caucuses today, where the winning candidate captured more than 98% of the vote, and where more than 12,000 intrepid Democrats braved some pretty bad ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 21, 2012, 4:38 pm
  Â
The New York Times has an interesting discussion on this video and the contrast between Clinton's and Obama's approaches to the State of the Union message in the year of their respective re-election campaigns. While Clinton conceded substantial ground to the Republicans, announcing that the "... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 20, 2012, 3:45 pm
We saw a remarkable change in Congress this week, when coordinated action by a number of internet services like Wikipedia and Craigslist brought the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills to a halt. The graphic below illustrates the magnitude in the shifts in Congressional voting positions. This chart could b... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Jan 19, 2012, 7:38 pm
As anyone who has made it through my four part series of posts on Aeschylus already knows, I've spent a little time thinking about the evolution of our legal system from earliest times. One can trace the history of our system of justice from a cycle of revenge killings, to a divinely-inspired system... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 17, 2012, 11:48 am
about Betty White. The President asks to see a copy of her long form birth certificate, because he doesn't believe she can really be 90 years old.
And speaking of birthdays, happy 48th to First Lady Michelle Obama! Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Jan 17, 2012, 2:49 am
Daniel Kahneman's book Thinking, Fast and Slow concludes with a discussion of the difference between the experiencing self and the remembering self. It seems logical to Kahneman that people should care more about the quality and quantity of time they are spending engaging in pleasant or unpleasant a... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 16, 2012, 4:52 pm
In the interests of historical accuracy, it would be a shame to lose the remarkable series of political advertisements produced by the Huntsman campaign. Huntsman's campaign was responsible for some of the highest quality work generated by any of the Republican candidates, work that for the most par... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Law Offices of Joseph C. Markowitz
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Jan 16, 2012, 2:36 pm
The right to jury trial in civil cases is fundamental. It is guaranteed in the Constitution. That right is becoming increasingly illusory, however. It is easily waived, and most litigants find themselves looking for alternatives to pursuing their rights to the end. Or they find they gave away those ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 15, 2012, 11:27 pm
I do not approve of all this unregulated political advertising that the Supreme Court has let loose, as readers of this blog should know. It is scandalous and unfair that we allow such unregulated content to be disseminated. We should not allow all kinds of irresponsible things to be said without an... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 14, 2012, 1:40 pm
First of all, a "momentous day" for the people of Burma, marked by the release of hundreds of political prisoners, and the recognition of the right of opposition political parties to participate in the process. And the hope of more political reforms to come, and a gradual end to the political and ec... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 13, 2012, 2:11 am
Protests marked the 10th anniversary this week of the prison set up for terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Many fault President Obama for failing to fulfill his campaign promise to shut down this stain on America's reputation in the world. Yet the president remains committed to closing this pr... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 11, 2012, 12:48 am
This month's Atlantic has an article entitled "Making it in America" that brings home the plight facing American manufacturing workers. The problem is not, as conventional wisdom would have it, that we don't make anything in this country anymore. We still make a great many things. The problem is t... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 10, 2012, 2:22 am
The opening rounds of the 2012 campaign are making me nostalgic for 2008. For one reason, because the Republicans are getting all the attention this year, and these Republican candidates are not particularly inspiring or uplifting. For another reason, because there is no rising candidate like the on... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 9, 2012, 9:51 pm
This is the supposed front-runner for the Republican nomination? A guy who says he likes firing people? That is what he wants to tell voters on the campaign trail who are worried about high unemployment, and looking for help in creating more jobs?
Nobody needs to explain Romney's point to me. I get ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Jan 8, 2012, 3:55 pm
Memo to Republican candidates: You cannot complain about proposed cuts in the Defense budget, as many of you did at last night's debate, and at the same time complain that the president or the Democrats in Congress are not doing enough to cut government spending. You have to be for cutting spending ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Dec 27, 2011, 3:29 am
There is a lot in Daniel Kahneman's book Thinking, Fast and Slow of interest to mediators and people involved in conflict. The book sums up a lifetime of work in psychology and economics, and serves almost as a catalog of cognitive biases we encounter in business, the legal system and elsewhere.
One... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Dec 17, 2011, 2:03 am
The recent decision by the Lakers player formerly known as Ron Artest to change his legal name to Metta World Peace opens up immense possibilities for sportswriters and commentators to add layers of irony and nuance to their coverage. I'm not sure the sports community is ready to rise to the challen... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Dec 9, 2011, 1:00 pm
 You know that mediation has hit the mainstream when the cover story of the Los Angeles Lawyer magazine (published by the Los Angeles County Bar Association) is about mediation confidentiality. The scope of mediation confidentiality is not only a hot issue in the field, but important to every law... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Dec 3, 2011, 3:02 pm
One of the touted benefits of ADR is that it allows parties to design their own dispute resolution process specially suited to their needs. Problems can arise, however, if a court is subsequently called upon to try to figure out what to call the process the parties have invented. A court might need ... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Nov 28, 2011, 11:57 pm
(Wikimedia Commons)Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York today rejected a proposed consent judgment and $285 million settlement of an SEC enforcement action against Citigroup. The SEC alleged that Citigroup had defrauded investors in a fund comprised of toxic assets, but was willin... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Nov 22, 2011, 1:36 am
Numbers are endlessly fascinating. Sometimes numbers take on mystical significance. Often numbers can mislead us. The number 99, for example, seems to be an order of magnitude less than 100, while a number like 22 seems almost equivalent to its neighbor 23 (even though the difference between the two... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Nov 10, 2011, 8:45 pm
As a new feature this year, the SCMA fall conference sponsored two institutes the afternoon before the traditional Saturday conference. The one I attended was on the interaction between collaborative law and mediation. I probably have no business writing a blog post on collaborative law, because I k... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Nov 6, 2011, 3:27 pm
Congratulations to my fellow SCMA board member, and new president Barbara Brown, for pulling off a very successful SCMA fall conference at Pepperdine this weekend!
Forrest (Woody) Mosten led a presentation yesterday called Mediation in the Year 2030, imagining what the world of ADR might look like 2... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Oct 31, 2011, 2:17 am
We have been talking about reducing America's dependence on foreign energy sources since at least the Carter Administration, but the share of energy supplied by foreign sources only seems to keep increasing. Has that trend finally been reversed? An article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, points ou... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Oct 29, 2011, 2:38 am
It's not too late to register for the SCMA fall conference at scenic Pepperdine Law School in Malibu, worth driving up to for the view alone. The program promises to be just as spectacular as the setting, with two institutes, on elder mediation and collaborative family law, scheduled for Friday, Nov... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Oct 27, 2011, 8:49 pm
People can keep occupying Wall Street if they want, and most of us sympathize with at least some of the goals of that movement, but you also have to give Wall Street some credit. Sometimes Wall Street seems to understand what is important better than the rest of us. Wall Street understands, for exam... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Oct 26, 2011, 1:13 am
We could learn a few things about appreciating democracy from countries that are relatively new to it. In Tunisia this week, something like 80 or 90 % of registered voters went to the polls, and peacefully went about selecting a new assembly. Meanwhile, legislators in the United States, which has sh... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Oct 24, 2011, 2:01 am
Today's New York Times Magazine had an article about the hazards of confidence, by Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman, adapted from his forthcoming book Thinking, Fast and Slow. Kahneman describes some team-building exercises he engaged in many years ago in the Israeli Army, that were use... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Oct 20, 2011, 7:02 pm
Dictator                                                    Cost to US of Removal (in billions)
BUSH:
Saddam Hussein                                                       $799
Taliban   Â... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Oct 19, 2011, 5:08 pm
500 blog posts should speak for themselves, but I'm taking the opportunity to commemorate the milestone anyway. It's a good chance to ask myself some basic questions such as, why am I still doing this? Do I have anything interesting left to say?
When I was about 8 years old, I put out my own newspa... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
hope and change
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Oct 18, 2011, 12:20 pm
Finally both political parties now seem to say they are in favor of reducing income disparities that have grown so large in this country over the last 30 years or so. This week Congressman Eric Cantor is planning a speech on this issue at the Wharton School (an interesting choice of audience). The s... Comment - Like
Joe M. posted an article on
Mediation's Place
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Oct 16, 2011, 4:39 pm
Last week I heard David Kennedy (author of the new book Don't Shoot) and LA Police Chief Charlie Beck talk at the Aloud Program about reducing gang violence. Kennedy's theory, which has been implemented successfully in a number of cities, including Los Angeles, sounds almost too good to be true. As ... Comment - Like
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