Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Nov 5, 2011, 7:36 pm
California Lawyer (November 2011) has an excellent interview with Justice Ruth Ginsburg.  Below is my favorite part:  Q. I'd like you to talk a little bit about the cases that I've spent my life studying, the key gender cases that began in the 1970s, which you litigated and wrote amici briefs for...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Oct 23, 2011, 1:00 am
Adam's Rib (1949): "Lawyers should never marry other lawyers. This is called inbreeding, from which comes idiot children and more lawyers." "What is marriage? Tell me that. It's a contract. It's the law. Are you going to outsmart that, the way you've outsmarted other laws?" (Spencer Tracy to Katheri...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jun 28, 2011, 10:01 pm
Last year, I attended Marvell Technology Group Ltd.'s (MRVL) annual shareholder meeting and praised President/CEO/Chairman Dr. Sehat Sutardja. Dr. Sutardja is Chinese-Indonesian, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, and seems both calm and dapper at the same time. One doesn't see...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jun 17, 2011, 11:18 am
Justice Hugo Black, concurring opinion, joined by Justice William Douglas, New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) 403 U.S. 713, 717: The guarding of military and diplomatic secrets at the expense of informed representative government provides no real security for our Republic...aramount among th...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Apr 18, 2011, 1:40 am
Chief Justice George, as quoted in California Litigation, Vol. 20, No 1 (Kenneth Babcock, 2007): The availability of affordable legal assistance even for the middle class is often an illusion, and access to legal assistance for those at the bottom of the economic ladder too frequently is viewed as a...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Apr 9, 2011, 10:33 pm
At the end of some my letters, I sometimes include the following passage from Steinbeck: “Where does discontent start? You are warm enough, but you shiver. You are fed, yet hunger gnaws you. You have been loved, but your yearning wanders in new fields. And to prod all these there’s time, the bas...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Apr 4, 2011, 4:00 am
On voting: Her: "I don't want my taxes to be raised. Who do I vote for? (showing me Democratic absentee ballot form) Me: "Then you have to vote Republican." Her: "No! I won't vote Republican! They take our money and destroy their families. They don't have values or morals. Who was that man who w...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Apr 2, 2011, 11:58 pm
From California Lawyer, "A Thousand Cuts" by Thomas Brum: In February 2010 the Pew Center on the States reported that, in the next 30 years, state governments would be on the hook for $3.35 trillion for pensions. Two months later the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research reported that Cali...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 27, 2011, 2:08 pm
What is patriotism? To me, it's utilizing the freedom to think for yourself and to comment on matters involving your government without fear of reprisal from government employees. Mark Twain seems to agree: I said that no party held the privilege of dictating to me how I should vote. That if part...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 21, 2011, 2:18 pm
President Eisenhower, speech, November 23, 1953: Why are we proud? We are proud, first of all, because from the beginning of this Nation, a man can walk upright, no matter who he is, or who she is. He can walk upright and meet his friend—or his enemy; and he does not fear that because that enemy m...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 18, 2011, 1:09 pm
One of the best articles ever written on any subject is by J. Harvie Wilkinson III, "Toward One America: a Vision in Law." (The Green Bag Almanac and Reader, published 2009; see also 83 NYU Law Review 323) A 4th Circuit judge laments America's growing divisiveness and presents seven solutions. I'm ...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 18, 2011, 12:26 pm
"Let no young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to the vague popular belief that lawyers are necessarily dishonest. Resolve to be honest in all events; and if, in your own judgment, you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occ...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 17, 2011, 6:52 am
Found an old book of Robert Frost poems: "And if an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own: I had a lover's quarrel with the world."
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 16, 2011, 3:25 am
The poem below--one of the most beautiful I've ever read--is inscribed in a piece of art in downtown San Jose. If you are ever in downtown San Jose and want to see the poem, go to the Fairmont Hotel on South First Street. It is inscribed on a medium-sized, industrial-looking tableau between the Fa...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 15, 2011, 9:45 am
According to PLI's news capsules, State pensions are recovering as the stock market improves, but they still have a long road to financial health, says a recent report. State pension systems had a funding ratio of about 69% for fiscal 2010, an increase from the previous year's ratio of 65%, reports ...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 14, 2011, 3:13 am
"The best defense against extremist ideologies is social inclusion and civic engagement." Shameful that some people smeared Mohammed Salman Hamdani and recanted only when confronted with his dead, heroic body. More from Rep. Keith Ellison here: Ellison's transcript of prepared remarks for March 10,...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 12, 2011, 12:57 pm
The journey of self-realization is long, windy, but worthy: "All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for ...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 11, 2011, 2:38 pm
From Czesław Miłosz's "Hymn": "The most beautiful bodies are like transparent glass." I don't know why, but that line from his poem strikes me as indelibly beautiful.
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 10, 2011, 11:35 am
Over at Popehat, Ken has delivered yet another awe-inspiring post: A Day in the Life of a Defense Lawyer. Enjoy. Bonus: http://militaryunderdog.com/
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 9, 2011, 12:32 pm
This month's Metro quotes Kevin Poulsen, who discusses the most pressing credit card issue of our time: "The financial institutions made a decision that the cost of fraud is acceptable. They decided against replacing the magnetic strip with a chip and a PIN because it would be too expensive." If yo...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 8, 2011, 2:27 pm
Dating is so difficult. A man usually thinks about exactly how he will be able to support a family. He realizes big city society favors two income couples and wonders whether a woman will continue to work after she has children and/or if he will be able to provide as the sole breadwinner. Women tend...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 7, 2011, 3:36 am
Some people are quoting President Eisenhower to express their support of public sector unions. As I've said over and over again, there are major differences between public and private sector unions. To compare them together as a unified, single entity is foolish, and quoting President Eisenhower i...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 5, 2011, 4:14 am
I am against unchecked, concentrated power in all forms and permutations. In other words, I am an American who understands the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 4, 2011, 1:35 pm
Below is a snippet from an old November 2009 LAO report--but boy, does it have amazing data. Here is one particularly juicy excerpt: In General, the Legislature Retains Power Over the Budget. Some observers of the California budget process have asserted that—due to voter–approved propositions, ...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Mar 3, 2011, 3:27 am
Ralph Waldo Emerson, from his 1844 lecture, "The Young American": Trade was the strong man that broke it down, and raised a new and unknown power in its place. It is a new agent in the world, and one of great function; it is a very intellectual force. This displaces physical strength, and insta...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 16, 2011, 1:00 pm
Most California local school workers--everyone from gardeners to teachers--are eligible for pensions after just 5 years, as well as lifetime medical benefits after 15 yrs. Meanwhile, most corporate employees must wait until 67 years old to get benefits that are worth much less than those provi...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 15, 2011, 9:05 pm
The NIH has some excellent webpages. Here's one on captioning: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/caption.asp Please support online captioning so all of us, including the hearing-impaired, can participate on the internet. Thank you.
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 15, 2011, 1:29 pm
Below is a very controversial debate on Facebook regarding religion. Of course, correlation does not equal causation. Remember that when you hear anyone call a particular religion violent or peaceful. AC: In the last 250 years, has anyone who openly subscribed to a religion caused more deaths than ...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 14, 2011, 3:20 am
In this dribbling drill, the kids have to go around sitting teammates in a weaving fashion. It's fun, especially when the kids try all kinds of "modifications" to stymie the ballhandler. One kid sitting on the edge actually moved next to the wall to prevent anyone from passing him. I thought of t...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 14, 2011, 12:10 am
Is Christianity the religion of peace? Christianity's founder is on record as saying, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Even if Jesus Christ meant an ideological conflict, it's interesting to note that Christian-majority countri...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 11, 2011, 2:02 pm
In my 20's, I would have chosen a different song to characterize my love life; in my early 30's, "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" (Patty Smyth featuring Don Henley) is it. I wonder if in my 40's, it will be "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" by Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera. As long as my theme s...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 10, 2011, 6:06 pm
I occasionally post conversations between my mom and me, where I gently and lovingly mock my Mom's interesting use of the English language. Here's one example, relating to the Super Bowl. And here's the most recent one, shortly after the Super Bowl event: Me, on telephone, leaving someone a messag...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 9, 2011, 2:48 pm
Fred Siegel has an interesting article in the WSJ (January 25, 2011) on liberals and government unions: Liberals were once skeptical of public-sector unionism. In the 1930s, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia warned against it as an infringement on democratic freedoms that threatened the ability of g...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 8, 2011, 3:28 am
Interesting data on interracial marriage from the Pew Center: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1616/american-marriage-interracial-interethnic Basically, according to the Pew Center report, 26% of Hispanic women, 9% of white and black women, and 40% of Asian women marry outside their race.
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 7, 2011, 3:22 am
My mom and I watched parts of the Super Bowl together. Here's one of our conversations from that day: Mom: every touchdown is 7 points? Me: it's 6 points, and if you make a free kick, it's 7. Mom: you mean if it goes through that thing? Me: Yes. If it goes through the thing, it's an extra point. Mo...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 2, 2011, 3:32 am
Here's a bone to the Democrats--a fantastic 1998 skit that eviscerates the GOP: http://snltranscripts.jt.org/98/98crepublicans.phtml Henry Hyde: Recently, the Republican Party has been accused of conducting a witch hunt aimed at overhrowing an elected President. Some even say we're in the midst of a...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Feb 1, 2011, 3:34 am
Is Ash Kalra a government union puppet? You decide. Below is our discussion, copied from his Facebook wall, on January 27, 2011: San Jose City Councilmember Ash Kalra: Me: Palin may be a moron, but at least she would never vote to give public sector unions bonuses during a recession :-) Private...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 31, 2011, 5:00 pm
Though not for the squeamish, every American adult ought to watch Taxi to the Dark Side (2007). I also recommend watching 2010's documentary, The Oath, before watching Taxi to the Dark Side. Both documentaries present mostly unfiltered information from first-hand sources, including frontline mili...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 30, 2011, 11:18 pm
Dear President Obama: Mohammed ElBaradei has given you a gift--your first chance to support a new Middle Eastern leader popular both with the majority of U.S. insiders and his own people. Do not screw this up. http://twitter.com/ElBaradei P.S. We didn't elect you b/c we thought you were an economic ...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 29, 2011, 11:17 am
Dwight Howard on raising kids: "“My son is 3. Right now he’s getting to the age where anything he sees he reacts to it and he wants to do it. You have to be aware of everything you say, anything you watch, the people you have around because he watches all that and he learns from that." I'm hap...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 28, 2011, 7:01 am
"One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric." -- Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 25 (1971)
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 27, 2011, 5:20 am
“All of a sudden I’ve become this caricature,” said Burry. “I’ve always been able to study up on something and ace something really fast. I thought it was all something special about me. Now it’s like ‘Oh, a lot of Asperger’s people can do that.’ Now I was explained by a disorder.�...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 26, 2011, 3:22 am
I recently received 23andMe DNA results. There's nothing earth-shattering in the report. For example, I have a 1% chance of a heart attack over the next decade. Also, as of January 2011, my carrier statuses indicated that all of the relevant variants were absent for the selected disease categories...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 25, 2011, 3:16 am
Data from Pew Center on American demographics: http://pewsocialtrends.org/2008/12/17/u-s-migration-flows/ Check out California--people have been moving out. If anyone has info on jobs in San Marcos, TX or Nashville, TN, please email me. Bonus I: Grading the States. Bonus II: Data on Immigration (2...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 24, 2011, 3:13 am
I attended a legal seminar on civility where a judge said something I didn't hear. Whatever the judge was saying, I hadn't heard or seen the words used in the same way before, so I wasn't able to process the words. (Most people who know me understand I am severely hearing impaired, but if you don'...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 21, 2011, 12:18 pm
I attended Intuit's annual shareholder meeting on January 19, 2011. CEO Brad Smith was his usual effervescent, charismatic self and handled the informal presentation. Shareholders were treated to Peet's coffee, Odwalla juice, slices of cake, scones, and fruit as well as a complimentary Quicken 201...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 21, 2011, 12:32 am
On November 6, 2010, here's what I wrote about Kevin Foster: "#21 (Kevin Foster) will be the x-factor. He is blessed with an excellent wingspan and incredible athleticism, but seems a little raw." Well, Foster was the x-factor tonight--and much more. He shredded Gonzaga and scored 36 points, inc...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 20, 2011, 4:34 pm
Jason Kelly has a really interesting perspective on toxic assets--he thinks we are the most toxic asset, or more specifically, the financially illiterate amongst us: Financially stupid people are America’s most toxic asset. They fail to see the money-trap society around them. They live in a world ...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 19, 2011, 10:23 pm
If you missed Jeff Rosen's public swearing-in ceremony on January 19, 2011, don't worry about it. The event was poorly planned, leaving many people waiting outside, unable to get in. Security guards and event personnel locked the doors while the event was happening, leaving me to try the balcony v...
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Matt R. posted an article on Quiet Highway: Saga of a Gentleman - Jan 19, 2011, 3:54 am
When empires fall, the signs are there, but everyone ignores them. Consider this Facebook conversation with a highly educated woman (from one of the best liberal arts colleges on the West Coast) in her mid-20's: Teacher: Me: this isn't anything new--the world has always had extremely poor people, a...
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