Novalawcity

United Nations' International Day of Peace, September 21, 2009

Since 1981, the United Nations has been promoting an International Day of Peace (IDP) as a “day of global ceasefire and non-violence". This year, leading up to the September 21 observance, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon started a campaign with the slogan WMD - We Must Disarm. On the International Day of Peace website, you can sign the WMD declaration, share your top reasons for disarmament, and learn about current and previous IDP activities. You can also follow the WMD campaign on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

Financial Institutions Fight Creation of Consumer Financial Protection Agency - Wonder Where the Money in Their War Chest Came From?

The White House has sent a plan to create a new agency, to be known as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, to Congress.  Whereas now, the enforcement of consumer protection measures is fragmented among the agencies which regulate the various financial institutions, this agency would have sole responsibility for protecting consumers from practices such as predatory lending, arbitrary changes in credit card rates and other deceptive financial practices.  It would be charged with looking out for consumers' financial interests across the board, whether the financial institution involved was a bank or a mortgage broker or a credit union.  Predictably, the very financial institutions we are propping up with our collective taxes are opposed to anything that interferes with their ability to extract more profit from each individual taxpayer.  See this story in The New York Times.

Any Club that Would Have Someone Like Me as a Member

It's interesting, and somewhat cheering,  to read that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is having to defend her membership in an all-female networking club.  I was recently re-reading Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, and it begins by identifying the truth that women have historically been defined as the "other" ( and implicitly inferior) in relation to men.  Now it seems that men are chafing at being excluded from a club composed of powerful women - men feel excluded, discriminated against because of their sex.  What a heartening sign of women being regarded, finally, as card-carrrying human beings.     

Chapter 11, General Motors, and Law Library Sightings in the News

Thanks to my C-SPAN addiction, I found myself in thrall to this morning's Washington Journal, most notably a fascinating segment (starting at 32:32) regarding the General Motor's bankruptcy announcement expected on Monday.  Law Professor John Pottow from the University of Michigan Law School addressed the salient legal issues swirling around the failing automaker and answered viewer calls with intelligence and aplomb.  He even managed to inject a bit of levity in his comments despite the grim subject matter.  

For example, while discussing the breakdown of GM's future ownership, Professor Pottow pointed out that the U.S. Treasury will own more than 70% of the company if the bankruptcy proceeds as anticipated.  The punchline?  If the government uses taxpayers' money to attain this bailout, will they pay us dividends?  HAHAHA!  The man's not only Harvard-educated, he's a brilliant standup comic. 

But what is learned discourse and wry wit without an appropriate setting?  The stacks in the University of Michigan Law Library served nicely as a background for Professor Pottow.  Hey, there's no eye candy more alluring than credit and bankruptcy treatises in my humble opinion.  Then again, being a Technical Services Librarian, I have a soft spot for spine labels.

In any case, I strongly encourage you, faithful readers, to check out the program in its entirety as well as CreditSlips.  Maintained by Pottow and six of his colleagues, CreditSlips is an excellent blog devoted to the discussion of all things credit and bankruptcy.  I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Those who do not learn their lesson from past bailouts

Pro Publica has an intriguing site examining the history of government bailouts.  By means of varying sized circles, they compare the size of the bailouts, in today's dollars.  TARP wins, hands down, but the Savings & Loan bailout of  1989 comes in a respectable second.  From time to time, we the people get repaid.  The government made a profit the last time it bailed out a car company (Chrysler, 1980).  Those who vilify New York (1975 bailout) should note that it paid off all of its loans.

Are Florida Courts running debtors' prisons?

The Florida court system got a write-up in today's New York Times The courts have adopted a forceful policy to collect unpaid court costs and fines.  And by forceful, they mean jail time for failing to pay.  Florida courts are required to substantially cover their own operating costs, using the fees that the clerks collect.  In a related development, the Florida legislature tossed $80 million in court user fees into the general revenue fund in 2008 in an attempt to balance the state budget.  Two Tallahassee lawyers have filed suit in the Florida Supreme Court to stop the practice, which they claim amounts to an unconstitutional tax.  See the story in The Florida Bar News.    

Forget the stock market -- Invest in Libraries!

Don't believe me?  Then ask State Librarian of Florida Judith A. Ring who sent out the following stats in regards to the significant role that Florida libraries play in supporting the economy through services such as résumé building, online job searching, and free classes to name a few. 

In fact, Florida’s Return on Investment study reveals several interesting discoveries that tout the economic benefits of supporting libraries.  First of all, Florida's public libraries return $6.54 for every $1.00 invested.  For every $6,488 of public support (federal, state, and local), one job is created. With each dollar of taxpayer support for Florida public libraries, the Gross Regional Product increases $9.08.  And let's not forget that for every $6,488 of public support (federal, state, and local), one job is created.  Plus, for every dollar of taxpayer support for public libraries in Florida, income (i.e. wages) increases by $12.66.

Other states that have conducted similar studies include Indiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

 

 

Obama's March Madness Picks

 

See: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/18/March-Madness-At-the-White-House/

"Why Minnesota 2008 Is Not Florida 2000"

Edward B. Foley, director of Ohio State University's Election Law @ Moritz, has posted a very interesting analysis of the current contest between Norm Coleman and Al Franken for Minnesota's senate seat. Among other points, he argues that, unlike the decisions in Florida's 2000 presidential election snafu, Minnesota's "judicial rulings over the counting of ballots do not appear to be a partisan effort to tilt the legal playing field to assist a favored candidate."  To read the entire post, click here.

In Case You Feel Like Visiting Your Money

Pro Publica has created a map detailing which financial institutions have received TARP funds.  First Southern Bank, in Boca Raton, is definitely close enough for a day trip.  Hat tip to Et Seq.