A CLASSIC LAST MINUTE GIFT IDEA

GOOD SAMARITANS BEWARE

It may come as a surprise that, in this country, there's no duty to rescue. But can you be liable for a botched rescue attempt? Leave it to the left coast to answer that question in the affirmative.

The California Supreme Court ruled that Lisa Torti- a young women who pulled a co-worker from a crashed vehicle after bar hopping on Halloween- isn't immune from civil liability because she didn't render medical care. Torti allegedly worsened the co-worker's injuries by yanking her out of the car. The co-worker was rendered a paraplegic in the accident. The case turned on the interpretation of language in a California Health and Safety code that states "no person who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency care at the scene of an emergency shall be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission.” The court majority said that legislation was meant to shield doctors and other healthcare professionals from being sued for injuries they cause despite acting with “reasonable care,” as the law requires. The dissent said that by making a distinction between medical care and emergency response, the court was placing “an arbitrary and unreasonable limitation” on protections for those trying to help. The dissenters argued that the aim of the legislation was clearly “to encourage persons not to pass by those in need of emergency help, but to show compassion and render the necessary aid.”

Which side do you agree with? Should rescuing be left to rescuers trained to rescue? Ha. Or not? Take the rescuer in the case above. She apparently yanked the person out of the badly wrecked car. I think most people know that yanking or jerking a presumably injured person is the worst thing that can be done. But what if the car was on fire? I say better yanked out of the car then burned alive. This California ruling is why people dislike lawyers and, sometimes, the law. The California court curbed common sense and goodwill. And it punished good intentions.

FLEET FOXES

I could not resist a Fleet Foxes post. They're my favorite band of the past year. The vocals in this band are unbelievable. And check out Macaulay Culkin on lead guitar!




Here is the song "Blue Ridge Mountains." I'll soon be in the Blue Ridge Mountains with my bro, so it seemed like a fitting post.

BCS DECLARES GERMANY WINNER OF WORLD WAR II

BCS computers were put to work and declared Germany to be the winner of World War II. U.S. ranked 4th.

"Germany put together an incredible number of victories beginning with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland and continuing on into conference play with defeats of Poland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Their only losses came against the US and Russia; however considering their entire body of work--including an incredibly tough Strength of Schedule--our computers deemed them worthy of the #1 ranking."

Questioned about the #4 ranking of the United States the BCS commissioner stated "The US only had two major victories--Japan and Germany. The computer models, unlike humans, aren't influenced by head-to-head contests--they consider each contest to be only a single, equally-weighted event."

German Chancellor Adolph Hitler said "Yes, we lost to the US; but we defeated #2 ranked France in only 6 weeks." Herr Hitler has been criticized for seeking dramatic victories to earn 'style points' to enhance Germany's rankings. Hitler protested "Our contest with Poland was in doubt until the final day and the conditions in Norway were incredibly challenging and demanded the application of additional forces."

The French ranking has also come under scrutiny. The BCS commented " France had a single loss against Germany and following a preseason #1 ranking they only fell to #2."

Japan was ranked #3 with victories including Manchuria, Borneo and the Philippines.

(This was taken off my law school discussion board. The source is unknown).

In yer face...

Here is Dead Confederate's new video featuring the song "Start Me Laughing." Enjoy.

Whales vs. The Navy

For Operation Iraqi Freedom it was the immediate threat of Saddam Hussein. For the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act it was the feared effect of the massive credit crisis. These are two examples where immediate threats or dire circumstances created pressure to make time-sensitive and, arguably, hasty decisions. Why? Because the threat from a foreign dictator and the instability of the financial sector both implicate national security. History shows that the policy favoring national security virtually preempts all others, which may be a good thing. However, maintaining national security often results in spillover costs. The solution to this problem may lie within the law of equity. In equity discretion is king and fairness is queen. Recently, the Supreme Court exercised its equitable discretionary powers as a result of the Navy's recent use of active sonar in training exercises off the coast of southern California. Environmental groups believe that the Navy's use of the active sonar causes irreparable harm to various marine mammals in the area. A divided Supreme Court sided with the Navy, reversing the lower court's enjoinment of the Navy's use of active sonar. The Court's main justification: national security. Was this the equitable result?

It appears that the Supreme Court ignored the well-established five-factor test for granting or denying a preliminary injunction. The specifics of the test are not relevant for the purposes of this blog. What is relevant, though, is the Court's refusal to apply each element of that test. Instead, the Court based its decision to side with the Navy solely upon the public interest element. Arguably, basing a decision on public interest alone is OK where that interest is of vital importance. And surely national security meets that standard. So maybe the Court did properly apply the injunction test; the court exercised broad discretionary powers per equity. Looking forward, it's clear the environment has taken a back seat behind economic and national security issues. Under President Obama, however, the environment may squeeze its way into the middle seat.

The old and the new...

Check out the Charleston, SC band The Explorers Club. By creating harmonic pop songs that scream the Beach Boys, The Explorers Club is yet another indie band to invoke music's old, to sound new.

Here is an awesomely bad video:

The Explorers Club - Do You Love Me?

Ryan Adams = WSP

I couldn't help but think of Widespread Panic after hearing Ryan Adams' new song "Fix it." Just sayin'.....

The better part of rap...

This band is the source of the hook from Jay-Z's 2007 hit single "Roc Boys."

It doesn't get much tastier than this....

eMusic

I've recently discovered an online music store called eMusic. eMusic has 4,500,000 tracks available for download. Most of eMusic's contracts are with independent labels, giving the service a reputation for primarily offering indie rock, indie pop, punk rock, jazz and classical music (this suits my music taste but may not suit yours). And the files are in mp3 format, so you can download the songs to your ipod or burn them to a cd. The plans vary, but all require a monthly payment. I chose the 30 song per month plan, which runs for $11.99 a month (40 cents per song). This beats paying 99 cents per song on itunes. So I recommend eMusic to anyone who enjoys a steady flow of new music but can't always foot the bill. Of course, none of this applies if you steal all your music.

Dead Confederate on Conan O'Brian

Athens, GA rockers Dead Confederate released their debut LP-Wrecking Ball this past September. I think NPR said it best: “Dead Confederate’s wall of sound feels cinematic and atmospheric, loud and beautiful."

For fans of: Nirvana, Pink Floyd, My Morning Jacket, Sonic Youth

DC played an abridged version of "The Rat" on Conan:



Dead Confederate's website
Dead Confederate's blahg

3 albums

Here are three new releases that may be worth a listen:


Blitzen Trapper-"Furr"

-This is by far the best of the three albums in this post. It's much more consistent than their previous album "Wild Mountain Nation." "Furr"  has a timeless quality to it, very Dylan-esque.

Here is an irrelevant video with the title track "Furr" playing in the background:




Sleepy Sun- "White Dove"
-Reminiscent of the psychedelic rock band Black Mountain, this album contains long, dramatic songs that are sure to induce head swaying. The album's main problem: predictability. Actually, I'm already getting bored with it.

Here is a grainy clip of the song "White Dove":

Kings of Leon- "Only By the Night"
-In the same vein as their previous album "Because of the Times," this album leans towards stadium pop rock. Their old stuff is better. But ask a 17 yr old girl what she thinks and you will likely get a different opinion.

Enter the dragon

Actually, its just me. This is my new blog.  Not sure how this will evolve or how much I'll post, but it should be interesting. I hope. 

Stock in Law goes up

So everyone knows Bob Dylan is a lyrical sage.  Of course, no human on God's green earth can understand everything his says.  But we shouldn't feel incompetent.  According to Dylan, "you can't expect to know the meaning to every word in every song. Because you can't know what was going through the artists' head at the time."  Thanks for the bone Bob.  

While some of Bob Dylan's words will forever float meaninglessly above our heads, a few of his more discernible lyrics have caught the attention of an unlikely audience: Judges.  As a law student, this excites me.  Even stiff, dull Judges can dig Dylan.  Yes.  And according to Alex Long, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, Dylan is the most cited popular artist in legal opinions, having been cited over 100 times.  Apparently, Judges are substituting meaningful, relevant lyrics for binding legal precedent.  Long has written an entire law review article tracing the use of quotes from the likes of Bob Dylan to, yes, the Wu Tang Clan.  Word.  And you know the judiciary's head honcho had to get in on the action:  John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, has cited Bob Dylan, too. 

My chosen field suddenly seems a little bit cooler.