April 17, 2013 at 1:11 P.M. Printing is blocked, again, and NYPL computers at Morningside Heights have been hacked-into, also again. Attacks on the health of family members will not alter my views. Intimidation efforts directed against me are also unlikely to succeed.
John Eligion & Michael Cooper, "Blasts at Boston Marathon Kill 3 and Injure 100: Panic at Finish Line," in The New York Times, April 16, 2013, at p. A1.
David Able, "Boston Marathon: Amid the Shock, A Selfless Rush to Help Others," in The Boston Globe, April 16, 2013, at p. 1.
April 16, 2013 at 1:45 P.M. The print at my sites -- at least for me -- is so tiny that writing will be difficult. I do not know whether I will be able to print my work. If I am able to print my text, the size of the text may make it difficult to read the essay. I will do my best under these circumstances.
The "Shell Oil" truck image continues to confront me at computer #3, NYPL, Morningside Heights. Hackers into the library system engage in harassments and obstructions every day. I can only hope to be able to continue writing in this situation. The letter "B" has been loosened at this computer's keyboard.
Yesterday's bombing in Boston that has taken lives and injured many persons -- injured them severely and forever in many instances -- underscores the threat to Americans from what can only be described as terrorism. ("Civilization Against Terrorism.")
Several things are obvious from an examination of the facts which have been reported, thus far, in the media. I say this as someone whose loved-one might well have been among the wounded or killed: First, this event required military knowledge, planning and execution; second, the nature and placement of the bombs used suggests an INTENT to maximize human suffering, pain, loss of life. Someone both hates Americans and America as well as wishes to drive home to U.S. politicians the effects of drones upon "collateral victims"; roadside bombs in response to the U.S. occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan; in addition to the "instrumentalizing" of human lives as "tokens" in debates about policy.
It may be that a Right-wing, disgruntled American veteran wishes people to understand the madness and horror of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Far-Right always thrives on a climate of terror or heightened risk that will allow for the seizure of even more power.
This drone-killing issue is generating heated debate among intellectuals and young people throughout the world, many of whom see the cybercrimes, censorship, harassments, and plagiarism to which I and my writings (as well as many others) are subjected. ("Zero Dark Thirty.")
The pain and rights of billions of persons in the world -- like the innocent individuals standing at the side of the road in Boston -- continue to be ignored, denied, trivialized by disdainful and racist forces in our society and in the world.
Whoever committed these terrible crimes is surely on one of the various surveillance tapes created by dozens of cameras in the area where the incident occurred. Indeed, I venture to suggest that part of the "thrill" for the culprit or culprits (more than one person is probably involved) will be "starring in this mega-hit production." It is also likely that, whether or not the facts are revealed to the public, the U.S. authorities are aware of "factions" claiming credit for this attack. The persons responsible may be home-grown terrorists. ("American Hypocrisy and Luis Posada Carriles" and "Cubanazos Pose a Threat to National Security.")
Andrew Pollack, "Justices Weigh Issue of Patents For Human Genes," in The New York Times, April 15, 2013, at p. A3.
Attempts to patent human genes will also require, biologically, that certain genetic sequencing may be "owned" or made patentable. This will allow corporations also to "own" human genes and gene-treatments as well as the organic materials associated with diseases or cures and (analogously) genes associated with, say, genius may become "private property."
Other nations will not recognize such U.S. patent-claims -- such patents, if granted, may conflict with prior binding international conventions governing various forms of intellectual property, like copyright. Potentially, a corporation -- not YOU -- would come to own your own genetic material and information. This would bear on America's anti-slavery laws; privacy and abortion rights; to say nothing of the contents of your mind. It is indeed a Brave New World.
William Glaberson, "Courts in Slow Motion, Exhibit A: One Lawyer," in The New York Times, April 15, 2013, at p. A1.
" ... the Bronx courthouse features procrastinating prosecutors, sluggish jailers and unhurried judges. But the true masters of delay are the defense lawyers. For them, muddled memories and lost witnesses -- the passage of time itself -- are the ingredients for getting their clients off."
It is often the defense lawyer's job to obstruct, delay, or make it difficult to convict defendants by ensuring that Constitutional and other procedural protections have been observed. In a state with a legal profession and judiciary complicit in so much corruption and crime, like New Jersey, this problem is much greater than it could ever be in New York. Generally, such comments about defense counsel are trivial attempts to change the subject in Trenton. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Abbott-Koloff, "Seminar Trips by Judges Raise Some Concerns," in The Record, April 2, 2013, at p. L-1.
Is it a good idea for state and federal judges, or other public officials, to attend so-called corporate-sponsored "seminars" at locations like Las Vegas or the beaches of San Juan, Puerto Rico or to join Dr. Melgen in the Dominican Republic for a little R.&R.? ("Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes" and "Menendez Goes to Bat For a Croney.")
"Three New Jersey-based judges were among more than 185 federal judges across the nation who attended seminars sponsored by private groups, many of them companies or conservative organizations with a political agenda, according to an investigative report by the Center For Public Integrity."
David Foster-Wallace's Infinite Jest features a near-future America "brought-to-you-by" corporate sponsors. The days of the year are named for commercial products and, hypothetically, rather than celebrating Christmas or Hanukah, Americans are invited to hold holiday parties for "Scott Tissue" toilet paper or "handy wipes." Fiction seems to have become fact.
There are some public duties and responsibilities that should transcend the ethos of the marketplace. ("Richard A. Posner On Voluntary Actions and Criminal Responsibilities" and "Ronald Dworkin's Jurisprudence of Interpretation.")
" ... 11 percent of the nation's federal judges participated in 109 seminars over a 4&1/2 year period that were sponsored by large foundations and companies. They included the Conservative Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and Companies in the oil and pharmaceutical businesses."
Shell Oil, perhaps? Allegations that rulings by judges in matters involving these same corporations may be altered or shaped by trips and other hospitality experienced as "gifts" miss the point.
It is unlikely that most federal judges will KNOWINGLY be bribed or influenced, directly, based on corporate hospitality. Most judges are conservatives, white, upper-middle class, former prosecutors and corporate lawyers, sharing an elitist, First-World perspective on all issues. Judges' views will be even more deformed by unrealistic and self-serving corporate versions of so-called "reality." This distortion is only worsened by judges partying on the corporate dime.
Judicial education for life is essential. Judges are often poorly-informed on most non-legal matters where their decisions are crucial, like genetic engineering and bio-chemistry. They frequently fail to understand relevant and important developments in the sciences and philosophy of law as well as the humanities. Sometimes, they are equally ignorant of the law. Continuing education at the post-graduate level and at public expense is crucial for state and federal judges.
Seminars at corporate pleasure and similar invitations are much more ethically suspect. Corporate presentation of discussion and selection of experts may convey a distorted perspective concerning an academic field, especially when such distortions are convenient for corporations doing the hosting.
In several instances judges who have attended corporate-sponsored seminars have ruled in favor of the same host corporations when they have appeared as litigants in their courtrooms. This creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest (if not the reality of such a conflict) and renders judicial proceedings "ethically suspect." All of these problems are enhanced in America's most corrupt and inept jurisdiction, New Jersey. ("New Jersey's Unethical Judiciary" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
New Jersey's embarassing spectacle of greed, heinous incompetence (several of the judges referred to in this article did not return phone calls to reporters!), corruption among judges (who are often late for court!), as well as much worse offenses, can only be described as a sad and humiliating additional example of what is clearly a disastrously failed jurisdiction. ("New Jersey's Corrupt Judges" and "New Jersey Supreme Court's Implosion" then "New Jersey's Failed Judiciary." Sadly, a fish always stinks from the head, as it were: "Stuart Rabner and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" then "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?" and "No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!")
