Happy Birthday, DG!

Today, some small but unknown number of years ago, the world was blessed with the birth of the Ditzy Genius. All good people rejoiced, and said rejoicing continues to this very day. We treasure her wit and wisdom, and hope to never do anything to merit a mention on her enemies list. ;-)

Posted 12:46 PM | Comments (1) | life generally

Hope Is On the Way?

John Edwards gave a pretty fine speech last night (text of speech); I watched the last half or so and I'll admit he had my attention. A lot of it was simply style; the man knows how to captivate an audience. But he said many things that I do hope we'll have a chance to hold him and John Kerry to beginning next January when they're sworn in as the next President and Vice President of the U.S. One of those things was about health care:

We can build one America where we no longer have two health care systems. One for people who get the best health care money can buy and then one for everybody else, rationed out by insurance companies, drug companies, and HMOs — millions of Americans who don't have any health insurance at all.

It doesn't have to be that way.

We have a plan that will offer everyone the same health care your Senator has. We can give tax breaks to help pay for your health care. And we will sign into law a real Patients' Bill of Rights so you can make your own health care decisions.

This had special resonance for me because I'd just gotten off the phone w/L., whose father is currently in the hospital. It looks like he's going to be ok, no thanks to our brilliant system of "managed" care. Long story short, he came much too close to dying Tuesday when his HMO tried to tell his doctor how to care for him. The doctor said L.'s dad needed emergency surgery, and that he needed to do it at a larger, nearby hospital. The HMO said, no, that hospital is not part of our network; you'll have to ship him 50 miles away to another hospital where he'll be assigned a new doctor not familiar w/the case. The doctor argued w/the HMO and finally told it, "Fine, I'll move him where you want him to go. But he's going to die on the way and I'm going to help his family sue you."

The HMO backed down. The doctor moved L's dad to the closer hospital, did the surgery, and L.'s dad is now recovering—finally. He's not out of all danger yet, but things are looking much better.

I'm tell this story because it's shocking, horrifying, and absolutely common. People are dealing with this kind of obscene greed from HMOs every single day, and I'm sure people die or suffer needlessly every day because they're not lucky enough to have a doctor who will stand up to the HMO, or because the HMO won't bend no matter how livid the doctor gets. I'm sure all too often the HMO does its cost-benefit analysis and decide, hey, the chance this patient will die is X, and even if this patient dies and we get sued, that will cost less than if we had to do this doctor-recommended procedure for every patient who needed it; therefore, lets gamble w/this patient's life and we'll make more money in the long run. That's the bottom line: Your HMO will murder you if there's money in it. Can you say "pathological pursuit of profit"? If you weren't yet sure what "purely self-interested, incapable of concern for others, amoral, and without conscience" meant, now you know.

And this kind of obscene immorality is happening to everyone—it's probably happened to you, or to someone you know and love. And we put up with it. We swallow it. We complain about it, but we don't demand change. Aren't you proud to be an American?

But it's even worse than I ever knew because this isn't a story about someone w/out a health care plan, or a story about someone w/a low cost, bare bones plan; L.'s dad has (or was supposed to have) one of the best health care plans in the country. He was a lifetime employee of a major corporation and he's got "great" insurance. So we have millions of Americans w/out health care of any sort, we have more millions with really bad budget plans, and now even if you have money, if you have top-of-the-line insurance, you're still not safe from HMOs.

So John Edwards is promising that hope is on the way. He and John Kerry have a plan for health care; they claim they will:

lower family premiums by up to $1,000 a year, cut waste from the system, lower the cost of prescription drugs to provide real relief to seniors, and use targeted tax cuts to extend affordable, high-quality coverage to 95 percent of Americans, including every child.

I don't see how any of that will change the control HMOs have over care or reduce their incentives to trade my health for their profit. Yeah, maybe the Kerry/Edwards plan would make us better off than where we are now, but it seems to me that health care in this country will remain tragically unjust until we put doctors back in charge of health care and take the profit out. Hope may be on the way, but real hope for a real solution still seems a long way off.

Posted 07:00 AM | Comments (8) | election 2004 general politics

Quick Democratic Nation Notes

CSPAN is calling its Democratic convention coverage "Democratic Nation." A few quick convention highlights from where I stand:

• A star is born: Barack Obama delivers a huge speech
• Howard Dean Takes Back the Scream
• Michael Moore Raises Democrats' Temperature
• Everything Joshua Micah Marshall is writing at Talking Points Memo, especially this little snapshot:

  Among Democrats, the rejection of this president is so total, exists on so many different levels, and is so fused into their understanding of all the major issues facing the country, that it doesn't even need to be explicitly evoked. The headline of Susan Page's piece in USA Today reads: "Speakers offer few barbs, try to stay warm and fuzzy." But the primetime speeches were actually brimming with barbs, and rather jagged ones at that. They were just woven into the fabric of the speeches, fused into rough-sketched discussions of policy, or paeans to Kerry.

  I think that's true. I hope it is.
• And of course there are always the aggregators if you have time to sift through the snippets at Technorati, CNN Blogwatch, and Convention Bloggers

On one hand, the convention is so meaningless as to be absurd, plus it verges on some sort of demagoguery to have such an expensive, elaborate, and lengthy rah! rah! event focused so much on one man (Kerry). Wouldn't it be great if the convention was a four-day national discussion about how to improve health care, protect the environment, improve the lives of workers, and create real peace in the world? Oh yeah, that would be great. Wouldn't it be great if we could just hop into a parallel universe anytime we wanted to? Yeah, it sure would.

Posted 06:15 AM | Comments (1) | election 2004

MT Plugin Winners

Six Apart has announced the winners of its Movable Type developer's contest. I'm thrilled to see there's going to be a new MT Blacklist that will be compatible with MT 3.x. Blacklist deserves the first place it won. I had to delete 54 spam comments today alone; something that I never had to do when running MT 2.6 w/Blacklist installed.

One of the second place winners, XSearch/Plus, also looks like a great addition. Even if no one ever uses it besides me (which I think is the case) the search function built into MT leaves a lot to be desired. This new plugin sounds like it will fix a lot of the weaknesses.

I'll also be installing one of the 3rd place winners, Multiblog, which allows you to include content from one blog in another. This should will finally solve a technical annoyance I've had for some time, which is that you don't see updates to the sidebars on this site (ambivalent images and ambits) until I rebuild this page, meaning I can update those "blogs" a zillion times but you'll never know it until I update this one. You hadn't noticed? Yeah, well, it's annoying to me, and that's really what this is all about, isn't it?

Finally, one of the competitors that didn't actually win looks like it should have. TypeMover is a plugin that lets you back up your entire MT installation—comments, trackbacks, templates, everything—rather than just the xml of your posts, which is what MT currently allows. I'll definitely be installing this soon.

Multiblog and Typemover appear to be available now. The others will be coming soon in a "plugin package" with all or several of the winning plugins packaged together. I'm looking forward to it.

Posted 05:59 AM | meta-blogging

Shove It

You know, I'd sort of like to watch the Democratic Convention, but CNN and MSNBC are far more interested in talking about Theresa Heinz Kerry telling a reporter to "shove it!" last night.

Yeah, that really matters. How about this: F#^% yourself, CNN and MSNBC.

If you, too, tire of the tv coverage, you might get more from Convention Bloggers.

Posted 08:46 PM | Comments (1) | election 2004

Blawging Around

For some time (19 weeks, it seems), Notes from the (Legal) Underground has featured a nice little weekly column its esteemed author, Evan Schaeffer, calls the "Weekly Law School Roundup." The latest edition is chock-full of terrific links, such as a list of blawgers who have recently expressed an interest in working as criminal lawyers, including Ichiblog, DG, ambulance chaser, and law v. life. Don't miss it!

Now, in the spirit of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, I hereby present a little tour around some of the blawgs I've read recently.

First, Evan also notes that legal weblogs are starting to get more non-web press. As an example of new developments in legal blogs (or "blawgs"), he links to The Blawg Channel, a group blawg written by attorneys who are already prominent blawgers in their own rights. Could be interesting. I'm wondering if my little story is going to seem stale by the time it comes out (probably months from now). I guess that's just how these things go.

In the land of law students, congratulations to Scteino, who is transferring to BC Law and has upgraded (by necessity, it seems) to MT 3.01D.

Congratulations also to new-to-me blawger and self-proclaimed member of the "vast right wing conspiracy" Jeremy Richey, who made the journal at his law school (Southern Illinois University)—congratulations! He also has a good tip on using Wordperfect w/Linux for only $2.49.

Parenthetical Statement is another new-to-me blawg written by a soon-to-be 1L at American University. He's not a cutter, but he is a Star Wars geek and he's supporting Kerry for President.

Learning of another new DC blawger reminds me: We really should try to get together sometime (DC blawgers, that is). Perhaps we could do it before Energy Spatula leaves town?

Speaking of Energy Spatula, she's getting hit on by creepy pizza guys and wondering if OCI is worth her time. I'd tend to say "No," but then, what do I know? Although, Fitz-Hume of Begging the Question offers some good advice along those lines:

Speaking as a government employee, if you are certain that you want to work in government rather than for a law firm, then spend your efforts and energies on something other than OCI and cover letters to employers you don't want to work for. Your time is too valuable to waste on useless cover letters, and the added stress is not worth it. Better instead to spend time working on your grades or trying to get on a law journal or doing well in moot court competitions - all those things that make you more attractive to Uncle Sam.

Sounds good to me. Oh, and speaking of Begging the Question, Millbarge has a great post over there about blog crushes and "speaking blog." How different are our blog (or "blawg") selves from our in-the-flesh selves? It's a good question, but I think others will have to be the judge of that. Oh, but Scheherazade at Stay of Execution posits that blog crushes are unlikely to turn into anything real, but has offered to go to dinner with anyone who would like to convince her otherwise. Something tells me she's going to have more than one taker for that offer.

And quickly:

• Musclehead is reviewing great books (I had no idea Coupland had a new one! I'm a diehard fan ever since Generation X and Microserfs), exposing Bush as a tax and spend conservative, and transferring to Emory Law. Congratulations!
• http://blog.qiken.org/">Letters of Marque takes off on a post from Three Years of Hell and somehow the conversation has something to do with "The Passion," libertarianism, communication, and being good in bed.
• A mi parecer is officially upgrading from 0L (pre-L?) to 1L. I'd recommend trying to enjoy the no-L status as long as you can, but hey, that's just me.
• Legislating Gremlins is selling houses and thinking of moving to Tibet (not seriously, I think).
• The L-Cubed fellas are taking the bar exam in three days, after which I'm guessing their "guest blogging extravaganza" may end. It's been fun, though.

Posted 06:47 AM | Comments (4) | law school meta-blogging

FIP Not For Me

In order to get a J.D. these days, most everyone jumps through a number of similar hoops—the LSAT, applying/selling oneself to schools, deciding which school to attend out of those who accepted you, the socratic method in classes, final exams, skills competitions (mock trial, moot court, journal, etc.), interviews for 1L summer jobs, and more. I've been through all of those now at least once, and many of them I'll have to hop through again inn the coming months. But there's one more hoop that I'm just reaching for the first time: The Fall Interview Program (FIP), also known as OCI (On Campus Interviews).

FIP/OCI is an interesting little ritual. The basic idea is that legal employers (mostly law firms of various sizes and persuasions) tell your school's career services office that they're going to come to campus to interview students for jobs. Some firms interview people for permanent positions, but most come to interview rising 2Ls (people who have completed only their first of three years of law school) for temporary summer jobs. Students compete intensely for these jobs because they're really like extended interviews; if you work in Firm X during your second summer of law school and you do well there, Firm X will often invite you back the following summer (after you've earned your J.D.) to begin a permanent position with the firm.

One way to look at this is that schools are paving the way for their best students to get high-paying jobs. Another way to look at is the schools are whoring their students out to the highest bidder. Oops! Did I say that? ;-)

But however you look at it, FIP/OCI is a big hoop for many students; it's the main reason they work hard their first year, because the firms that interview during FIP/OCI generally want only the creme de la creme.

That's one reason I've been torn about whether to participate in what our school calls FIP: My grades don't put me in the top 10-20 percent that many employers are looking for. Beyond that, I have very little desire to work in a law firm, and firms make up 99% of employers participating in FIP. After spending a few hours researching my options through FIP, I've decided not to participate.

Even the research for FIP is alienating—the firms give eAttorney very little information about themselves, and most say only that they want students with GPAs in the top 10-20% and who are on law review. The least they could do is tell us how much they plan to pay, since that's really what most law students seem to care about, anyway. At least then it's a bit more of a fair and honest deal. I tell you my grades and accomplishments, you tell me what you're going to pay me for them. You make no pretense of caring about me (or anything else) beyond how much money I can make for you; I'll make no pretense of caring about anything beyond how much money you'll pay me. As Tom Hanks kept trying to say in "You've Got Mail" (a crap movie, in most regards): It's just business.

But this business is my life, so I'm not actually that eager to sell it to the highest bidder. It's funny. I've spoken to many firm associates, most of whom are rather miserable. I've listened to career counsellors and experienced attorneys encourage law students to think carefully about their careers and their lives before signing up with a firm. I've watched some of my law school classmates work at firms this summer and quickly learn to hate the firm associate grind—even the pampered version of that most summer associates get. Yet, some huge percentage of law students seem to be working for nothing but the best-paying positions they can land at firms. They're like lambs to the slaughter, except lambs are innocent. How many of these students will wake up 3-5 years from now wondering what the hell they've done with their lives?

But whatever. It's tough to talk about this because so many people I know (and who read this site) are focused on careers in law firms, rather than in public interest law. I understand that different people want different things out of life, but I do wish our society did not constantly teach that money is the best or only arbiter of success and accomplishment. I wish law school required more students to actually work with real people who need help—criminal defendants, the homeless, people without health care, etc.—so that these people and their struggles would no longer be abstract. I think it would be harder to make the bargains required to work in firms then. But if wishes were fishes...

Of course, some people work in law firms and love it. Some also firms do great work that actually does help people and society. It's possible. It happens. I'm just not willing to do the research it would take to find those people and firms.

But I know most law students are going to participate in FIP or OCI or whatever their school calls it, and I wish them all luck. May you find the firm that pays well and does not destroy your soul. And if you find it, please let me know so I can apply there, too. Meanwhile, I'll be spending my time looking and applying elsewhere. For example, coming up with a project that might qualify for a Soros Justice Fellowship looks like a great way to spend some time.

Posted 06:17 AM | Comments (4) | 2L

Bistro Med & The Bourne Supremacy

Bistro Med: We didn't make eat at Pizzeria Paradiso because the wait was too long; instead, we went next door to Bistro Med. L. and I shared an appetizer of "Cigar Borek," which was little flutes of pan-fried phyllo dough filled with a feta-like substance. Good, not great. I also had the BMT Salad—balsamic vinaigrette/basil, fresh mozzarella, and tossed greens (it also featured roasted red peppers). Quite good, though perhaps not quite large enough to serve as a satisfying main course. Overall, it was good, but it didn't make such a great impression I'm in any hurry to go back.

The Bourne Supremacy: If you like action films, and especially if you liked "The Bourne Identity," I'm betting you'll like "The Bourne Supremacy." The film is intricately plotted so that the action fits neatly into the advancing story, rather than just being action for action's sake, as in too many films like this. It's a little predictable by about halfway through, and I don't think Damon does as well in this one as he did in the first—he somehow doesn't seem nearly as tortured and pained as he did last time, even though his character has every reason to be. Also, it's too bad Franka Potente doesn't have a bigger role. But those are minor complaints.

As good as it was, "The Bourne Supremacy" is still a movie you could probably wait to see on DVD. It would make a great Friday or Saturday night brain vacation this fall or winter.

I saw the film at the Georgetown Loews Cineplex, an easy two block walk from Pizzeria Paradiso and Bistro Med. The theater was huge, sold out, and overheated. Also, the sound was not working properly for all but about 10 minutes of the movie—instead of satisfyingly overpowering surround sound, we had to strain to hear even the action sequences because it seemed like the sound was only coming out of a couple of speakers behind the screen. Very disappointing. Next time I'll ask for a refund.

Posted 03:36 PM | Comments (2) | ai movies