Vote Democratic Tomorrow

Boy, the brainiacs at the Prince William County Republican Party aren’t too swift. If you recall, two weeks ago, they decided to put their garbage under my doormat, since I didn’t explicitly tell them not to do that, I only told them to not stick stuff on my door. My notice is posted here. I griped about the Republicans then. That posting got mentioned by the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, and then on the Virginia Political Blogs collection.

I held my tongue when I met Rep. Davis last week. That was a mistake, he wanted to meet the voters, I should have taken him up on and asked why their canvassers are trying to annoy people.

But today, the day before the election, this just takes the cake. Check out my neighborhood. Look closely at the doors of my neighbors.

Here’s my next door neighbor.

Notice the maroon car with a door hanger under the windshield wiper. One guess whose car that is. . The canvasser consciously chose to put something on my car when it is very clear I was not interested in their stuff on my door. What good would putting stuff on my car do? No one else’s car in the neighborhood had stuff on them. I just called and left a message with the County Republicans. We’ll see if they choose to respond. (Update: they never did. Losers.)

Two Years Ago

Two years ago something happened to me and my wife that will probably be a part of us for the rest of our lives. I know it will probably define our relationship for a good while to come. It still hurts to talk about it, but we don’t talk about it often. It is amazing how memories will pop up in my head of the events from two years ago. I catch myself wondering how things could have turned out differently.

I met Rep. Tom Davis this morning

This morning I was standing at the slug line in Woodbridge, and as I got to the front of the line I saw walking down the sidewalk several people carrying political flyers and wearing nametags. It turns out the first person was my U.S. Representative, Tom Davis. We shook hands, he worked the whole line, his campaign staffer tried to give me some literature (I politely declined). I also resisted the urge to ask Rep. Davis why Republicans can’t follow instructions.

When I got into the car for my ride into DC, the driver mentioned that the Republicans must be getting desperate if the candidates have to go person-to-person on the slug line. She also mentioned she can’t wait until the elections next week as then the stupid negative advertising will stop. I can’t agree more.

I talked with my mother-in-love last evening. She mentioned that they were going to vote for the third-party candidate in their US House election, but the candidate dropped out. She mentioned that they have no idea what the big name candidates’ views are, so wanted to vote for someone that would at least send a message that the Democrats and Republicans are out of touch.

My wife and I voted in the Democratic primary this summer. I voted for one candidate, she voted for the other. So our votes cancelled out, but we took the time to vote. When only 3.45% of eligible voters (Source: Virginia State Board of Elections) turn out for a primary, it seems that the parties need to do something to get people back involved in politics. I would guess that many people see politics and politicians as a waste of time, so why bother trying to get involved?

Vote Democratic in Two Weeks

I rarely get political here, but the Republicans in my home county make me sick. I have a clear notice on the front of my home that I don’t want junk stuck to my door. So what do the Republicans do? They stick two sets of brochures under my doormat. If they can’t follow my express desire for privacy, why should I think they can respect my implied desire? So, fine, I’m voting for the Prince William Democrats. I encourage you to do the same.

  • James H. “Jim” Webb Jr for US Senate (VA)
  • Andrew L. Hurst for US Representative (VA-11)
  • Sharon Pandak for Prince William County Chairman of the Board
  • What! No is running against the incumbent for the 51st District of the Virginia House of Delegates? For shame! There should always be a challenger for an election.

Update: The Quote of the Day: “Hell, I never vote for anybody, I always vote against.” – W. C. Fields

Telemarketing Call from Morton Penni Mortgages

I just received a blatant pre-recorded telemarketing call to my home phone number from a mortgage company in Pennsylvania. Caller ID told me it was from the phone number 215-364-9789, identified as Morton Penni. A Google search shows their information as Morton Penni Mortgages; address as 2 Bustleton Pike; Feasterville Trevose, PA 19053-6343; and their phone number as 215-364-8380. A complain has been filed with The Federal Trade Commission, via The Do Not Call Registry; and Who Called Us.

Re: What’s the mission of the law reviews?

Susan Crawford shares an interesting story about a talk about the value of making law review articles available to a wider audience, mainly via the web.

“But I’m not sure that the current system of innumerable student-reviewed law journals is sustainable.”

Why not? I’m not a lawyer, so maybe I’m not understanding the law review system. But it seems to me that there are thousands of laws on the books that could be written about. The Supreme Court hears dozens of cases a year, lower courts must hear thousands (millions?) of cases a year. If law schools are intent on turning hundreds (thousands?) of new lawyers out on the streets of America each year, surely there are enough laws and legal theories that can be discussed in law reviews.

According to the American Bar Association, in 2005-2006 there were 42,673 J.D. or LL.B. degrees awarded. Does every law student have to write or collaborate on an article for their school’s law review? Maybe they should.

On The Legal Theory Blog, Lawrence Solum says in Should Academics Have an Ethical Obligation to Publish in Open Access Venues?:

In particular, legal academics (who have special “early awareness” of the issue) can begin to foster a professional norm against publication in closed-access, proprietary rights venues.”

This is exactly right. Both the authors and readers need to stop supporting closed publication systems. But until even publications with wider audiences, such as the Chronicle of Higher Education stop keeping their articles behind a closed door, we really can’t expect publications with narrower audiences to open up. Salon Magazine got grief with their decision to post a commercial before you can read a complete article, but at least the article is available easily. Law school reviews could readily make their articles available.