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Every user of Adobe Acrobat or the Adobe Reader knows that PDF files can include bookmarks as navigational aids. The bookmarks can be nested in tree structures, with parent and child relationships which can be collapsed or expanded as desired, in order to help the reader see and understand the organizational structure of the document.
Although this tool is well known to users, it seems that few PDF authors know how to use it. An estimated 90% of documents appearing online in PDF format are posted with no bookmarks at all.
Most word processors include a "Publish to PDF" menu item, which can be used to create PDF files without the use of Acrobat. Both Word and ~WordPerfect include in this tool an option to create bookmarks. Under Word, headers have to be formatted using the section header style. Under ~WordPerfect, the desired headers have to marked with an explicit bookmark.
~FinePrint's [[pdfFactory|http://www.fineprint.com/products/pdffactory/index.html]] (Standard $50/Pro $100) is a utility which can print to PDF from any application. (See the [[ShortTake|http://www.llrx.com/extras/shorttakes3.htm]] item at LLRX for more information about pdfFactory.) It has a number of features that set it apart from the PDF print driver installed with the full version of Acrobat. The one we will examine here, available only with the Pro version, is its ability to create true section bookmarks ''from any text-based file'', regardless of whether the section headers have been formatted using a style. The only requirement is that the section headers use a format which is distinguishable from the body of text.
In order to use this function, it is important to examine the source document to determine how it distinguishes each section and subsection header. If the document's text is in 12-point Times Roman, it may use the 14-point Times Roman bold for first-level headers, 12-point Times Roman italic for second-level headers, etc.
The bookmarks to be created will be displayed in the preview pane after printing to the virtual driver. The document's fonts are automatically detected by pdfFactory Pro when the preview screen displays. Using the bookmarks tab on the preview screen, the user can then identify the typeface used for each and associate it with the appropriate bookmark level. The selections can be saved for later use with similar documents - see the Save and Load Formats buttons.
[img[Image 1|pff01.jpg]]
Make sure both the "Automatically create Table of Contents" choice and the "Detect Headings" choices are selected.
Previewing the list of bookmarks before generating the PDF allows the user to ascertain that the resulting PDF file will carry the bookmarks desired. This allows for deletion of "false positives" - text entries that were listed as bookmarks because they bear the same formatting as a subject header, but which are found in the text instead. (The example shown below includes two non-header items that were included because the text to which they point was in bold typeface. After deletion, only the desired bookmarks remain.)
|[img[Image 2|pff02.jpg]]|[img[Image 3|pff03.jpg]]|
The bookmark creator within Word's Convert to PDF tool will of course work only on Word documents. By contrast, the bookmark creator under pdfFactory Pro will work with any text-based document, no matter where or how created. Even HTML pages, when printed from the browser using pdfFactory Pro, can have bookmarks automatically created from subheading text. Caution: some complex HTML pages may use numerous typefaces, and it can be difficult to determine which ones display the desired headers. That is where the ability to preview the list of bookmarks in advance of creating the file really stands out as a productivity enhancer.
This capability can even be used to retrofit an existing PDF file to add the desired bookmarks. An open PDF file can be printed (or reprinted) to pdfFactory Pro, and then the selection of header fonts can be made just as with any other document. Again, though, a bit of caution is warranted. Some documents are quite complex, and use a large variety of fonts and styles. Trying to use this feature on case reports downloaded from Westlaw, for example, can quickly deplete computer resources. Limit the use of this function to the simpler PDF documents.
''A bonus - bookmarking case citations''
Have you ever wished that you could use a software tool to quickly find and list citations to reported cases in a given PDF document? The same technique allows you to do so if the case names are displayed using italics. Use pdfFactory Pro to create a PDF file, as discussed above, and choose the appropriate italic font for creation of the bookmarks. Choose a special file name (to avoid overwriting a PDF file that might contain your "real" bookmarks) and save. You will now be able to find all case names using the bookmark pane. They will not be sorted, of course. If you then use a product such as ~IntelliPDF's [[Print Bookmarks|http://www.pdfstore.com/details.asp?prodid=694]] ($99) or [[HyperSnap|http://is.gd/krOI]], you can copy the list to another document where such additional manipulations can be done.
If your document uses underlining for case citations, however, you are out of luck. The pdfFactory Pro bookmark tool apparently does not recognize underlined versions of a font as separate from the normal text, as it does with their bold and italic versions.
The use of a mix of upper and lower case characters to create a link in the wiki environment.
A headline I never thought I would see: [[U.S. uses Viagra to woo Afghan warlords|http://is.gd/dOZX]]. And I didn't want to read it. But I did, and it turned out to be an interesting story.
The tribal chief in question is in his 60s, and married to four younger women. The story continues:
>His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity and reached in his bag for a small gift. Four blue pills. Viagra.
>"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.
>The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes—followed by a request for more pills.
>The CIA has a long history buying information with cash, but the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives to gain support in some of the country's roughest areas, according to officials involved in such operations. . .
>According to the retired operative who was there, the man was a clan leader in southern Afghanistan who had been wary of Americans—neither supportive nor opposed. The man had extensive knowledge of the region and his village controlled key passages through the area.
>The retired operator began to probe for ways to win the man's loyalty. A discussion of the man's family and many wives provided inspiration. Once it was established that the man was in good health, the pills were offered and accepted.
>Four days later, when the Americans returned, the gift had worked its magic.
The CIA officer was, of course, careful to establish that the man was in good health.
* [[P&G Satanic Rumors Case Settles|http://www.onpointnews.com/081216.asp#Rumors]] - After an epic 13-year legal battle, four Amway distributors who spread a rumor linking Procter & Gamble to Satanism have dropped their appeal of a $19.25 million jury award and have reached a settlement with the consumer products giant.
* [[Mooove it on over!!|http://cbs3.com/local/officer.robert.melia.2.706410.html]] - New Jersey police officer has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty after allegedly engaging in sex acts with cows between June and December of 2006.
Ernie the Attorney has an excellent post at PDF for Lawyers called [[Digital Signatures - Advanced class|http://www.pdfforlawyers.com/2008/12/digital-signatures-advanced-class.html]], with detailed instructions on how to substitute a graphic of your penned signature for the stuff that Acrobat inserts by default when using "Sign and Certify". If you follow his directions, you will have a digital signature that looks like a handwritten signature, and thus satisfies those who need such a look, but which also contains the technology necessary to validate the document as coming from you, one of the two hallmarks of a "digital signature".
Whether it will satisfy the other part - verification that the document has not been modified since it was digitally signed - is still not clear.
[John McCain] invented the Blackberry in his spare time, top McCain adviser and spokesman Douglas Holtz-Eakin told the press.
"He did this," Holtz-Eakin said, pointing to his Blackberry and referring to McCain's role in developing the U.S. telecommunications industry. "The premier innovation in the past 15 years comes right through the Commerce committee. So you're looking at the miracle John McCain helped create and that's what he did."
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/12/2008-foot-in-mo.html - announcement of several winners of the Foot in Mouth award for 2008
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[[Forget the economy: Killer asteroids could pose real danger|http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/v-print/story/58025.html]]
>Apophis was discovered in 2004 about 17 million miles from Earth on a course that would overlap our planet's orbit in 2029 and return seven years later. Observers said that the asteroid — a massive boulder left over from the birth of the solar system — is about 1,000 feet wide and weighs at least 50 million tons.
>After further observations, astronomers reported that the asteroid would skim by Earth harmlessly in 2029, but it has a one in 44,000 probability of slamming into our planet on Easter Sunday, April 13, 2036.
//(Title [[ripped off from Dave Barry|http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1012/p12s02-bogn.html]])//
''Update:'' An HD [[video enactment|http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=-zvCUmeoHpw]] is available on YouTube, with inspired musical accompaniment - Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky".
[img[earth.jpg]]
This site is based on [[TiddlyWiki|http://www.tiddlywiki.com/]], a javascript-driven client which combines a wiki (based on plain text with markups) with CSS, HTML, and javascript to present one or any number of panels at a time, all of which are collected in one single HTML file.
Unlike a standard weblog, this tool does not use a static display, showing entries in reverse chronological order. The entries are displayed only when they are chosen by a link or by a search.
Each individual entry can be hidden or displayed. Choose a link to display it. Hit "close" to remove it from the display.
Certain key tags and entries are linked at the left.
''One good way to navigate this site is to use the four panels just to the right of this message ==>''
* The @@color(red):Timeline@@ lets you view the most recent items posted.
* @@color(red):Tags@@ will show you items organized by subject matter.
** The [[journal]] tag will display links to (almost) all substantive entries, in alphabetical order.
The search box is very powerful. It will incrementally display responsive items in real time, without the need to hit the Enter key.
(The weblog formerly linked from this site is still found at [[Camera Lucida|http://cameralucida.wordpress.com]].)
User name: <<option txtUserName>>
Wendell Jamieson in [[today's New York Times|http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/movies/19wond.html?_r=1&8dpc]] on the James Stewart Christmas classic:
>“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife. It is also a nightmare account of an endless home renovation.
And he engages in a little amateur lawyering, with an enabler:
>And what about that banking issue? When he returns to the “real” Bedford Falls, George is saved by his friends, who open their wallets to cover an $8,000 shortfall at his savings and loan brought about when the evil Mr. Potter snatched a deposit mislaid by George’s idiot uncle, Billy (Thomas Mitchell).
>But isn’t George still liable for the missing funds, even if he has made restitution? I mean, if someone robs a bank, and then gives the money back, that person still robbed the bank, right?
>I checked my theory with Frank J. Clark, the district attorney for Erie County upstate, where, as far as I can tell, the fictional Bedford Falls is set. He thought it over, and then agreed: George would still face prosecution and possible prison time.
>“In terms of the theft, sure, you take the money and put it back, you still committed the larceny,” he said. “By giving the money back, you have mitigated in large measure what the sentence might be, but you are still technically guilty of the offense.”
>He took this a bit further: “If you steal over $3,000, it’s a D felony; 2 ½ to 7 years is the maximum term for that. The least you can get is probation. You know Jimmy Stewart, though, he had that hangdog face. He’d be a tough guy to send to jail.”
>He paused, and then added: “You really have a cynical sense of humor.”
It goes on, folks.
I got a Kindle as a Christmas gift. One of the advantages is that classics can be downloaded for a very modest price. I got a collection of works by Dostoevsky for $4.95, and I downloaded a copy of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" for 25 cents.
Using the Search function, I found a passage that I long remembered from reading the book for the first time, perhaps 45 years ago. This passage has always stood out in my memory, as a stark lesson in Mississippi racism circa the 1830s. Huck Finn has shown up at the home of his friend Tom Sawyer's Aunt Sally, who mistakes him for Tom. Huck has to make up a story about why he was delayed, and tells her that he was on a boat that had encountered trouble:
>. . . Now I struck an idea, and fetched it out:
>"It warn't the grounding - that didn't keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinder head.
>"Good gracious! Anybody hurt?
>"No'm. Killed a nigger.
>"Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt. . ."
As I said, it has stayed with me since that time. And the effect would have been completely lost if someone had Bowdlerized the work to remove the offensive word, as some have proposed.
Huckleberry Finn is on the American Library Association's list of [[The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000|http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.cfm]].
As I arrived home, I took off my jacket and tie and went to the refrigerator for a cold beer. It was 94 degrees according to the bank thermometer across the street, and even though it was now 6:30, there had been no relief from the stifling heat any time that day.
Moving to the bedroom, I took off my shirt and enjoyed the relief of a slight breeze on my chest. I then removed my pants, wishing that I had a job that allowed me to wear shorts in the summer months. As I raised them to put them on a hanger, my trusty USB flash drive fell out of the pocket and fell to the floor. Thinking nothing of it, I picked it up and put it on the dresser.
Later that evening, after supper and watching a bit of TV, I got the flash drive to get some work done on my novel. I inserted it into the USB socket and navigated to the folder containing the file I wanted. Imagine my surprise when I opened it up and found that all of the o's were missing from the page. I scanned the 23 pages, and every instance containing an "o" was now empty space!
I paged through the other documents on the drive, and the story was the same for each one: every "o" in every document was missing.
As I was looking through a number of folders, I noticed in my Explorer window a quizzical-looking file. Using my favorite file viewer, I took a peek, and there, inside the file, were my o's. I counted them: 323,878 o's were piled up at the bottom, like eggs in a silo. The first few lines read:
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Addendum: After writing this incident up, intending to add it to my blog, I went back and shook the USB drive. I could not hear any o's rattling around, but maybe that was because they were safely locked up inside that rogue file. I reopened the file containing the blog entry, and sure enough, it had also been affected:
L sing my 's
As I arrived h me, I t k ff my jacket and tie and went t the refrigerat r f r a c ld beer. It was 94 degrees acc rding t the bank therm meter acr ss the street, and even th ugh it was n w 6:30, there had been n relief fr m the stifling heat.
M ving t the bedr m, I t k ff my shirt and enj yed the relief f a slight breeze n my chest. I then rem ved my pants, wishing that I had a j b that all wed me t wear sh rts in the summer m nths. As I raised them t put them n a hanger, my trusty USB flash drive fell ut f the p cket and fell t the fl r. Thinking n thing f it, I picked it up and put it n the dresser.
Later that evening, after supper and watching a bit f TV, I g t the flash drive t get s me w rk d ne n my n vel. I inserted it int the USB s cket and navigated t the f lder c ntaining the file I wanted. Imagine my surprise when I pened it up and f und that all f the 's were missing fr m the page. I scanned the 23 pages, and every instance c ntaining an " " was n w empty space!
I paged thr ugh the ther d cuments n the drive, and the st ry was the same f r each ne: every " " in every d cument was missing.
As I was l king thr ugh a number f f lders, I n ticed in my Expl rer wind w a quizzical-l king file. Using my favr ite file viewer, I t k a peek, and there, inside the file, piled up like a miniature game f black and white Tetris, were my 's. I c unted them: 323,878 's were piled up at the b tt m, like eggs in a sil . The first few lines read:
Eminent tags:
[[journal]]
[[science]]
[[tech]]
[[constitution]]
[[law]]
[[society]]
We keep hearing this mistake: "metadata is data about data". This is a wrong formulation.
In general, “data” describes that which is contained in a document. Data may include words, ideas, arguments, conclusions, opinions, analyses, numbers, or any other kind of information. The document is the container in which the data is found.
''Metadata is data about the document'', not data about data. The commonly-created metadata includes identifying information, such as:
* author
* date and time
* subject
* keywords
This is all data about the document. It is independent of the data contained in the document. It is also usually innocent and will not spring traps for the unwary, although there have been reported instances where the inadvertent inclusion of this information has tripped up a user.
"Data about the data" would be such things as total word count, or the total number of occurrences of a certain word or phrase. It is usually findable but is not usually recorded within the document.
"Metadata" is also commonly used to refer to
* hidden information - text that is deliberately hidden but intended by the user to remain within the document, such as hidden text, hidden rows or columns in a spreadsheet, or hidden comments;
* unintended remnants of information – i.e. text that is inadvertently left within the document after a deletion or edit.
In this sense, metadata is neither data about the document or data about the data. It is simply additional data, tucked away in a place not immediately visible or accessible to the viewer.
Mitt Romney has an article on National Review Online titled [[A Republican Stimulus Plan - Act now|http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTdlNDlmMGYzYWJlMzFkMDhiOTE4YWMyYmUyNDA4ZTQ=#more]]. He says there:
>There are some things that Republicans should insist on. . . The first is that tax cuts are part of the solution. Harvard professor and economist Greg Mankiw points out that recent research confirms that tax cuts have a greater multiplier effect than new spending — more economic bang for the federal buck. We should lower tax rates for middle-income families and eliminate their tax on savings altogether — no tax on interest, dividends or capital gains. Let’s also align our corporate tax rate with those of competing nations. These actions will rapidly expand consumption and investment, and right now, time is of the essence.
Beyond the clarion call for more tax cuts, what I see is are two proposals without much detail or substance being provided.
His first idea is to eliminate all taxes on savings - interest, dividends, and capital gains. This may have some real promise to provide a significant boost to personal savings for those who are financially able to save, if properly applied. Romney does not tell us how the proposal should be structured. A new law passed today that removes all taxes on capital gains recognized after today would give a break to those who sell assets that they already own, and which have appreciated since they were purchased, but at this point there may not be many who would qualify. A better idea would be to provide that any asset ''purchased'' after today would be free from capital gains taxes whenever that asset is sold, even if it is 20 or 30 years in the future. ''That'' is how we should encourage current investment.
Romney's next recommendation is that we should "align our corporate tax rate with those of competing nations". Stated on its own, this makes almost no sense at all. He does not tell us how other "competing" nations tax corporate income or profits, or how or why we should "align" ourselves with their rules.
A politician who provides more detail would have more credibility and persuasive power. One who provides bromides and generalizations will get the expected responses from the choir, but not much else.
A classic, penned by three young punks from London
<<<
It is the evening of the day,
I sit and watch the children play.
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me,
I sit and watch as tears go by.
My riches can't buy everything,
I want to hear the children sing.
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground,
I sit and watch as tears go by
<<<
Today's selection is from "The Voice", Vern Gosdin:
<<<
You ran cryin' to the bedroom
I ran off to the bar,
Another piece of heaven gone to hell,
the words we spoke in anger just tore my world apart,
And I sat there feeling sorry for myself.
Then that old man sat down beside me
and looked me in the eye,
and said "Son, I know what you're going through,
You ought to get down on your knees
and thank your lucky stars
that you got someone to go home to.
"You don't know about lonely,
Or how long nights can be,
Till you lived through the story
That's still livin' in me,
And you don't know about sadness
'til you faced life alone,
You don't know about lonely
'til it's chiseled in stone"
<<<
MP3: http://is.gd/gld6
Today's offering is from Merle Haggard himself, the rightful Minister of Misery in any administration.
<<<
Rollin' with the flow
Going where the lonely go
Anywhere the lights are low
Going where the lonely go. . .
I've got to keep rollin'
I can't lay down
Sleep won't hardly come
When there's loneliness all around
I've got to keep goin'
Traveling down this lonesome road
I'll be rollin' with the flow
Goin' where the lonely go.
<<<
MP3: http://is.gd/eDsI
Today we return, as we must, to Merle Haggard.
Haggard is one of country music's true "outlaws". Unlike Waylon or Willie, who playfully adopted the title, Merle spent 1957 to 1960 at San Quentin prison for robbery. It is said that he saw Johnny Cash perform there, and later told him "I enjoyed your show at San Quentin." Cash said "Merle, I don't remember you bein' in that show." Merle Haggard said, "Johnny, I wasn't in that show, I was in the audience."
Haggard hails from Bakersfield, California, and the "mighty Kern River" indeed flows near that town.
This has always been one of Merle's most haunting songs.
<<<
I'll never swim Kern River again.
It was there that I met her.
It was there that I lost my best friend.
Now I live in the mountains.
I drifted up here with the wind.
And I may drown in still water,
But I'll never swim Kern River again.
I grew up in an oil town,
But my gusher never came in.
And the river was a boundary,
Where my darlin' and I used to swim.
One night in the moonlight,
The swiftness swept her life away.
And now I live on Lake Shasta,
And Lake Shasta is where I will stay.
There's the South San Joaquin,
Where the seeds of the dust bowl are found.
And there's a place called Mount Whitney,
From where the mighty Kern River comes down.
Now, it's not deep nor wide,
But it's a mean piece of water, my friend.
And I may cross on the highway,
But I'll never swim Kern River again. . .
<<<
MP3: http://is.gd/s69P
Cover by Emmylou Harris - http://is.gd/s6c0
By the incomparable Townes Van Zandt:
<<<
Sometimes I don't know where
this dirty road is taking me
sometimes I can't even see the reason why
I guess I keep a-gamblin'
lots of booze and lots of ramblin'
it's easier than just waitin' around to die. . .
A friend said he knew
where some easy money was
we robbed a man, and brother did we fly
the posse caught up with me
and drug me back to Muskogee
it's two long years I've been waitin' around to die
Now I'm out of prison
I got me a friend at last
he don't drink or steal or cheat or lie
His name's Codeine
he's the nicest thing I've seen
together we're gonna wait around and die
together we're gonna wait around and die
<<<
This Monday's presentation: Nina Simone's //Blackbird//
<<<
Why you wanna fly blackbird, you ain't ever gonna fly
No place big enough for holding all the tears you're gonna cry
Cause your mama's name was lonely and your daddy's name was pain
And they call you little sorrow cause you'll never love again
So why you wanna fly blackbird, you ain't ever gonna fly
You ain't got no one to hold you, you ain't got no one to care
If you'd only understand dear, nobody wants you anywhere
So why you wanna fly blackbird, you ain't ever gonna fly
<<<
[[MP3|http://www.amazon.com/Blackbird-LP-Version/dp/B00124HE70/ref=sr_f2_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1235962147&sr=102-1]]
Harlan Howard was a country songwriter who was born in Detroit, and to whom is credited the formulation of a good country song as "Three chords and the truth". He cowrote Pasty Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" and this one, which has been recorded by Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, among others. A Michigan classic.
<<<
The bills are all due and the babies need shoes but I'm busted
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound and I'm busted
I've got a cow that's gone dry and a hen that won't lay
A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day
The county's gonna haul my belongings away - I'm busted
I called on my brother to ask for a loan 'cause I was busted
Lord I hate to beg like a dog for a bone but I'm busted
My brother said there ain't a thing I can do
My wife and the kids they're all down with the flu
And I was just thinking of callin' on you - I'm busted
Now Lord I'm no thief but a man can go wrong when he's busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone and we're busted
The fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow
Me and my family's gotta pack up and go
Where I'll make a living the Lord only knows - I'm busted
<<<
[[MP3|http://www.amazon.com/Busted/dp/B000UBPQOO/ref=sr_f2_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1237158140&sr=102-1]] of Ray Charles version
Natalie Merchant was the lyricist and lead vocalist for 10,000 Maniacs from 1981 to 1993. Since then, she has been on her own. This month, SUNY New Paltz awarded her an honorary Doctor of Music degree as "a fitting way to acknowledge her commitment to our state’s artistic heritage and health [and] her direct contributions to the SUNY New Paltz community."
<<<
What's it like there outside
With the living, with the living
Here I'm falling from a place I can hide
From the living, from the living
'Cause I don't care to stay with the living
Oh, the bottle has been to me
My closest friend, my worst enemy
Oh afraid that I walked a fine line
Squandered it all and wasted my time
And I don't stand a chance among the living. . .
I don't think I'll remain with the living
And I don't care to stay with the living. . .
<<<
A bonus: Last December, [[we started|http://is.gd/E78P]] this recurrent topic with "To Love is to Bury" by the Cowboy Junkies, originally released in 1988 in The Trinity Session. The version found on 2007's [[Trinity Revisited|http://www.cowboyjunkies.com/exclusives/trinity/trinity.html]], done nearly twenty years later, features Merchant on lead vocals.
I am going to take a page from Glenn Reynolds and offer a pair of [Monday] song lyrics. The two that kick off this feature are among some of the most melancholy songs I know. And I'm a Merle Haggard fan.
The first is from Justin Rutledge, a Canadian songwriter who seems to be a virtual unknown in the U.S.
''Emily Returns''
Justin Rutledge
The Devil's on a bench in Stanley Park
She's a girl who looks like you
but only when it's dark
The January sun sets on her eyes
Collapses on a landscape filled with neon butterflies
The Devil wears a bracelet made of bronze
She offers me calligraphy
and puts the kettle on
out on Commercial Drive
it's growin' dark
the rest is rust and stardust
in a vacant Arctic Heart
Don't bury me
very far from where you'll be, Emily
no don't bury me
very far from where you'll be, Emily
Emily
The Devil has a hundred thousand names
These are girls who look like you
but only when it rains
So when I'm on the highway of the Lord
I have to take a shortcut
to the one that I adored
Don't bury me
very far from where you'll be, Emily
don't let them bury me very far
from where you'll be, Emily
Emily, Sweet Emily
CD: http://is.gd/cSrs
The next one is over twenty years old, but is ageless and magnificently dolorous.
''To Love Is To Bury''
Cowboy Junkies - Margo and Michael Timmins
I buried him down by the river
'cause that's where he liked to be
And every night when the moon is full and bright
I go there and weep openly
He and I were married
by the river 'neath this willow tree
and with God and friends witnessing
he pledged his life to me
To me he was earth, I rooted in his soil
I to he was sky vast and free
of the burdens from which he toiled
Then one night a terrible fight
words spoken better left unsaid
With his wedding vows ringing in my ears
he gave his life to me
They say to love is to bury
those demons from which we all hide,
but tonight by this river 'neath this willow tree
becoming one are earth and sky
MP3: http://is.gd/cSOU
!!! The economy and the profession
[[What a Legal Recession Looks Like|http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/what_a_legal_recession_looks_like]] - "You have to go back to the early 1990s to find the last time major law firms suffered through year after year of negative growth."
!!!"Deep Recesses Mind" - A Google excursion
[[Life in the Crazy Lane|http://goosbynewsby.blogspot.com/2008/11/deep-recesses-of-my-pregnant-mind.html]]
[[Diatribe.net|http://www.thediatribe.net/2006/02/23/things-ive-learned/]]
An interesting one from [[Yahoo Answers|http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20061218234511AAUFWWz]] - The question posed: "How often do you visit the deep recesses of your mind? Or is that unchartered territory for you?"
The most intriguing answer was the last one posted: "Now it's closed territory since I had a stroke last year. Lost a lot of my mind on that one."
!!!He earned it
A number of years ago, my law partner's 81-year-old father was a resident of a local nursing home, and was being followed by a family physician. The FP had put him on a low-fat diet. After several weeks of this bland fare, his dad asked him to bring him a pizza from a local bar, which he missed. He finally was able to bring it in, but not after a lot of grief from the nurses - who were, after all, only following the doctor's directives.
My reaction was that his dad should be allowed whatever the hell he wanted, the doctor's restrictions be damned. At the age of 81, he ought to get whiskey and cigarettes if he wants. To my mind, putting an 81-year-old on a low-fat diet is an exercise in foolishness.
New climate-related items from Science Daily:
* [[Scientists Find Increased Methane Levels In Arctic Ocean|http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217203407.htm]] - methane from the "undersea permafrost" is thought to be leaking out
* [[Did Early Global Warming Divert A New Glacial Age?|http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217190433.htm]] - man-made climate change began thousands of years ago, not in the late 1800s
The DRI weblog has an article entitled [[Proposed Civil Rules Changes Deserve the Attention of the Defense Bar|http://is.gd/exQz]], highlighting three significant proposals. Two of them would make changes to Rule 56, governing summary judgment motions:
* Rule 56(c) would be amended to require that undisputed material facts be recited in detail in the motion, with a similar "point-counterpoint" required of the opponent in order to establish that genuine issues do exist.
* The 2007 amendment to Rule 56(a) would be modified to restore the mandatory requirement that the court grant the motion if it is established that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party is entitle to judgment on those facts.
The second of these is of particular interest because the bar and the courts were told by the Advisory Committee when the 2007 amendments were proposed, rewriting the Federal Rules to conform to "plain language" standards, that the revisions would not work any substantive changes at all. The revision to Rule 56(a), however, left us with the current language that says that, if the moving party establishes that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party is entitle to judgment on those facts, the court "should" grant the motion. The current proposal is to replace "should" with "shall", again making it mandatory that the court grant the motion if it is well-founded.
I frequently use the "print" icon on web pages, but not for printing. I often have the need to collect the text from a web page in order to save it for later reference and use. In most cases, the print icon will lead to a new page, where most (but not always all) of the extraneous crap is removed, and the text is reformatted for ease of use. The intent of the web designer is to present a stripped-down page for printing, but I use its reformitting to incorporating the text I want into my favorite text manager, discarding what I don't want.
Unfortunately, web sites are inconsistent when it comes to determining what happens when the print icon is chosen. Most pages will present the text, without the graphics and without the ads. Some will include some of the graphics. After displaying the alternative page, many will bring up the print dialog. Some ill-behaved web sites will simply display the print dialog, ready to send the page to the printer with all of its accompanying nonsense.
Enter [[Readability|http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/]]. Instead of server-side reformatting, that is, having the web site decide how its contents will be redrawn, Readibility offers a very useful and customizable client-side solution to the problem. It offers the user the opportunity to specify some details of how the text will display - margins, font size, and effects.
Readability sits as a bookmarklet in the web browser's bookmarks toolbar, and will reformat any given web page to offer only the text and the links it carries. It can then be read onscreen or - as I do - copied for use in other programs, as needed.
The writers at [[43 Folders|http://clips.43folders.com/post/83246143/cleaner-pages-for-reading-and-importing]] have ideas similar to mine on how Readability will be useful: "It’s also useful for cleaning up a page you want to send to Evernote, a text file, your Kindle, or any such text-centric inbox in your life."
[[Lifehacker|http://www.lifehacker.com]] notes that the Gawker sites (of which Lifehacker is one) do not render using this tool. But my brief experience suggests that Readability plays well with at least 90% of the sites I normally visit.
(Note - a [[comment|http://lifehacker.com/5163401/readability-bookmarklet-quick+formats-pages-for-smoother-text#c11102678]] on the ~LifeHacker page tells us that Opera, run in User mode, reliably handles this task.)
Readability is one of several experiments being run by [[Arc90|http://www.arc90.com/]].
A minor but powerful point: review [[arc90's weblog|http://blog.arc90.com/]]. A very simple and easy-to-read interface, using a soft gray background, undoubtedly highly engineered to be just that way.
It is almost worthless to engage in discussion of a "weak dollar" or a "strong dollar", because very few people know what it means. It is a pernicious form of "insider jargon" that helps to separate the ins from the outs.
The phrases are simply shorthand ways of expressing the relative value of U.S. currency as compared to the currencies of other nations. We provide here a quick chart to help to sort out what it means.
||Weak dollar|Strong dollar|
|Value|lower|higher|
|Price|higher|lower|
||||
|''If you want to. . .''|''it will be''|''it will be''|
|visit Europe|worse|better|
|sell to Europe|better|worse|
|buy a Toyota|worse|better|
|sell a car|better|worse|
Value - the price of the dollar, in comparison with other currencies
Price - the value of other currencies, in dollars
Visit Europe - Any travel in a foreign country is more affordable with a "strong" dollar. You can stay longer, upgrade to better hotels and restaurants, buy products.
Sell to Europe - If you run Disney World, or a hotel or restaurant near an attraction, you will overall get more traffic from foreign tourism with a "weak" dollar, and less with a "strong" dollar. If you sell products overseas, you will likely sell more with a "weak dollars'. If you own stock in a company which does these things, it will generally increase in value.
Buy a Toyota - The price of a foreign car goes down as the dollar "strengthens". Good if you want to buy a Toyota made in Japan.
Sell a car - The price of an American car in Europe or China goes down as the dollar "weakens". Good if you own stock in a car company, or if you work for a car company.
The most significant point: it does no good to try to debate whether a "strong" dollar is "good". (The nomenclature would tend to suggest that it is. Strong is always better than weak, right?) The truth is that ''each is good for a distinct class of people''. A "strong" dollar is advantageous to those who want to spend money outside the U.S., whether on goods or travel. A "weak" dollar is better for those who sell products to foreigners, or who rely on foreign tourism in the U.S.
The principle of textualism states that a court is bound to follow a statute enacted by the Legislature just as it is written, without any room for the exercise of discretion or for the application of any judicially-created exceptions. So long as the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, the textualist says, it must be applied. Textualism is particularly favored by the four justices who, until the fast-approaching January 1, have constituted the conservative majority on the Michigan Supreme Court. One of the justices, Maura Corrigan, has espoused the extreme position that the language used by the Legislature must be applied even if it leads to an absurd result. //Maier v. General Telephone Company of Michigan//, 466 Mich 879, 645 N.W.2d 654 (Mich. 2002)(Corrigan, concurring). See also Maura D. Corrigan & J. Michael Thomas, //“Dice Loading” Rules Of Statutory Interpretation//, 59 NYU L Rev 231 (2003).
With the defeat of Clifford Taylor in the recent election, the conservative bloc will be reduced to three. They will be countered by three known liberals, and the "swing vote" will likely belong to Betty Weaver, a moderate Republican.
The conservative textualist position is based on the premise that only the legislature has the authority to consider and weigh the pros and cons of policy decisions. It will determine who will be advantaged and disadvantaged, how many cases may be affected by a rule that it applies, and the like. The courts do not have the same capability, nor are they chosen by the people to make these policy decisions.
But the textualist position is also based on the assumption that the legislators are carefully weighing the issues and crafting the language necessary to achieve their goals with precision and surgical care. The textualist position does not leave room for the reality that legislators may not appreciate the effect of the rules that they have adopted - to put it bluntly, they may sometimes just have been sloppy.
Let us take a look at section 5827 of the Revised Judicature Act, MCL 600.5827. This is a provision which defines the date of accrual of a cause of action. The date of accrual is the time at which the applicable statute of limitations begins to run. If I am hurt in an automobile accident, the date of the accident is the date on which my claim accrues. I have three years from that date to bring a lawsuit to recover for my injuries.
In most cases, the act of negligence immediately precedes the resultant injury. Sometimes, though, a negligent act predates the date of injury. If I am hurt as a result of a defectively designed stairwell, my injury may occur many years after the date that the design decision was made or the stairwell was constructed.
In Michigan, the policy decisions were weighed and considered, and the legislature duly came up with the following rule, adopted in 1961 and never amended since then:
>"Except as otherwise expressly provided, the period of limitations runs from the time the claim accrues. The claim accrues at the time provided in sections 5829 to 5838, and in cases not covered by these sections the claim accrues ''at the time the wrong upon which the claim is based was done regardless of the time when damage results''."
Under the common law, a claim did not accrue until the injury occurred. A product manufactured in 1982 may not cause an injury until 2002. If the statute were applied as written, many claims would be time-barred even before the injury happened.
Did the Legislature really mean to change the common-law rule? More likely, this was an example of less-than-thorough thinking about the effect of its language.
It is instructive to see what the Michigan courts did with this provision: they simply ignored it. The Supreme Court chose to “interpret” it as if the common law principle that the date of the injury is the date of accrual were grafted onto the statute, and it disregarded the phrase “regardless of the time when damage results” altogether. //Connelly v. Paul Ruddy's Equipment Repair & Service Co.//, 388 Mich. 146, 200 N.W.2d 70 (1972). The Court could have declared the statute unconstitutional, because it improperly nullified rights before they may be enforced, but it did not do so. It “resolved” the problem presented to it by simply ignoring the plain language of this section.
Even in recent years, the conservative bloc has been unwilling to reject //Connelly//. See, for example, //Trentadue v. Buckler Automatic Lawn Sprinkler Company//, 479 Mich. 378, 387, 738 N.W.2d 664 (2007), footnote 8.
(See [[this page|http://is.gd/eo45]] at the Florida Probate Litigation blog for another example of the failure of a state legislature to foresee all variables.)
This episode perhaps provides an object lesson about textualism and the relative roles of the Legislature and the courts. The legislative choice to set the date of accrual as the date of the negligent act, “regardless of the date of injury”, was no doubt a foolish decision, made without a full consideration of the impact it would have on certain future cases. But what are courts to do with foolish legislation? The Supreme Court’s ruling in //Connelly// no doubt rescued the citizens of this state from the negative effects of this poor legislative choice, but the result is (1) the statute remains on the books as written and (2) it is and remains a controlling principle of law in this state that a clear and unambiguous legislative enactment has been gutted by judicial “interpretation”.
A fearless textualist, faced with this statute, could have found it clear and could have applied it to bar any claim in which the injury took too much time to occur. If a series of rulings to this effect had been made, perhaps the Legislature would have eventually seen the error of its ways and taken steps to amend the provision in order to avoid that result.
This intrigued me:
[img[27eye.jpg]]
A new release by the [[Constitutional Accountability Center|http://www.theusconstitution.org/]] is entitled [[The Gem of the Constitution|http://www.theusconstitution.org/download.php?file=reports/10_Gem_of_the_Constitution.pdf]] (PDF). The introductory matter states:
>This narrative tells the sad story of the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was supposed to be the centerpiece of the Fourteenth Amendment and the critical constitutional language that guarantees the fundamental rights of all Americans. Instead, the Supreme Court wrote it out of the Constitution in 1873 and it has lain dormant ever since. The report argues for a reconsideration of the Clause and its critical role of protecting fundamental rights and liberties.
From what I can tell from the site, I would probably not support the CAC's politics, but I certainly agree that the Privileges or Immunities clause of the 14th Amendment should be resurrected and restored to its rightful position as one of the 14th's three "majestic phrases".
Compare a 19th-century jurist to the current crop:
>"To eulogize the common law is no part of our present purpose. Many of its features were exceedingly harsh and repulsive, and gave unmistakable proofs that they had their origin in times of profound ignorance, superstition, and barbarism. The feudal system, which was essentially a system of violence, disorder, and rapine, gave birth to many of the maxims of the common law, and some of these, long after that system has passed away, may still be traced in our law, especially in the rules which govern the acquisition, control, and enjoyment of real estate. The criminal code was also marked by cruel and absurd features, some of which have clung to it with wonderful tenacity, ever after the most stupid could perceive their inconsistency with justice and civilization. But, on the whole, the system was the best foundation on which to erect an enduring structure of civil liberty which the world has ever known. It was the peculiar excellence of the common law of England that it recognized the worth, and sought especially to protect the rights and privileges, of the individual man. Its maxims were those of a sturdy and independent race, accustomed in an unusual degree to freedom of thought and action, and to a share in the administration of public affairs; and arbitrary power and uncontrolled authority were not recognized in its principles. Awe surrounded and majesty clothed the king, but the humblest subject might shut the door of his cottage against him, and defend from intrusion that privacy which was as sacred as the kingly perogatives. The system was the opposite of servile; its features implied boldness and independent self-reliance on the part of the people; and if the criminal code was harsh, it at least escaped the inquisitorial features which were apparent in criminal procedure of other civilized countries, and which have ever been fruitful of injustice, oppression, and terror."
Thomas Cooley, Treatise on Constitutional Limitations, 7th edition, p. 50
The Wikipedia entry for [[Ashmun Bay|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashmun_Bay]], a body of water in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, discloses:
>Ashmun Bay is a small bay that is a part of the Upper St. Mary's River. It receives water from Ashmun Creek, which drains much of the interior Sault Ste. Marie. It is surrounded by the city of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, with a city access ramp for small boats on the north shore. It is very shallow due to low levels of Lake Superior. It is also the place where Bozo the Clown saved nine orphans from drowning after they fell off the International Bridge on September 20, 1985.
The revision history page tells us that this page was created in April 2008, and that the last sentence was part of the original posting.
See the [[TiddlyWiki|http://www.tiddlywiki.com]] site for more information.
Redirecting: [[Those LSSU scamps!]]
[[Bench Memos|http://bench.nationalreview.com/]] at National Review Online
The Wall Street Journal's [[Law Blog|http://blogs.wsj.com/law/]]
[[LLRX|http://www.llrx.com]] - Law and technology resources
One of my favorite online tools used to be [[PBWiki|http://www.pbwiki.com]], until they broke it. PBW was a service that would allow you to quickly create a set up a wiki, ready to use, on its server. You would have to get used to using the wiki markup code, but that was a small hurdle.
What broke it? Version 2.0 introduced a WYSIWYG interface, in the name of "easier editing". True, it allowed those unfamiliar with the wiki markup code to add content, but it made it much more difficult for moderately experienced users to use it. One of the familiar tools, the use of CamelCase text to immediately create a link and a new page, is gone. Now it is necessary to use a number of steps to create a new page and to link to it.
After a few days of the "new and improved" interface, I gave up on it. I took down two of the sites that I had created, and moved to other options.
Constitutional law
Constitutional history
Meaning and interpretation
The Journal tag (and item) is used to collect most if not all of the substantive entries that are posted here. Items in the list at left, though, are presented alphabetically. To see recent items, use the Timeline panel at right.
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