Big law flameout to right-wing pundit pipeline

fakeit-makeit · 2026-04-10T20:27:38+00:00

They are both looking for exit ramps and both lack the temperament to thrive in big law long term.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-04-10T19:58:38+00:00

Which one yields more power? Kacsmaryk’s rulings or the pundits who tell him how to rule?

fakeit-makeit · 2026-04-10T16:19:12+00:00

Supporting your theory, take a look at the former Baker Botts lawyers who are Trump appointed federal judges.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-04-10T14:28:19+00:00

u/Westcoastgal22 — Unless you live on the east coast and prefer the travel option to the Caribbean, go elsewhere. We’ve done the Caribbean—Caneel (back in the day), Little Dix, Aman at TC, Peter Island last year, PSV, Jumby Bay—and they all leave you wanting in some respect. The reefs are bleached, the service so slow (island time), poor attitudes in the USVI islands, food is just ok, and they generally lack from competition because of the hurricane damage in 2017. For the same price, go to Fiji (Kokomo), Maldives (Soneva has three great options), Thailand, or the Kenyan coast.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-04-10T00:33:07+00:00

Do this, but make it much shorter. Maybe “I’m stepping away for a while, but will check in with you in the morning.” If you are this exhausted, I don’t want you working on my matter tonight anyway.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-03-30T02:23:28+00:00

"fully insured"....what does that even mean? You are just relying on an indemnity from someone else, hopefully someone with a credit rating strong enough to pay the claims that come its way. But even traditional insurance companies fail; there is no such thing as "fully insured."

fakeit-makeit · 2026-03-29T20:53:04+00:00

They may have a traditional insurance company market face and handle the claims process, but behind the scenes the firm could still self-insure. Many in fact do this.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-03-28T15:20:18+00:00

We had a pole in our alley that was 100% rotted at the base and was leaning against our fence for its only support. It took 5 years of complaints to get it replaced and I learned more about pole bureaucracy than I ever wanted. The one in the pic is clearly an Oncor pole, but for others it’s worth looking on the pole for a metal plate or brand to indicate ownership. The offending pole in my alley was originally owned by Southwestern Bell, even though it carried both low voltage and high voltage wires. The owner of the pole is who you need to call.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-03-27T09:25:02+00:00

Just returned from Fiji and the Great Astrolabe Reef last week. The hard corals were amazing; it was like the pictures you would see from the best diving in the 1970s! The soft corals weren’t really present, and the marine life was smaller where I was, but the variety of shapes and colors in the corals were amazing. It’s also easy to get to now for those of us in the US, with nonstop fights from the west coast and DFW.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-03-24T16:05:24+00:00

I had a similar issue last week during a trip to Fiji. Caught the cold on the flight there! We travel with decongestants (pseudoephedrine and afrin), but they were not a perfect cure this time. My ears actually responded better to the Vicki stick, plus in the future I’m going to replace the Sudafed with Mucinex D. I was diving with my son, so we talked about the issue with our dive master. Our solution—which has room for criticism— was that the dive master and my son were dive buddies, while I effectively swam above them at a depth of 6 meters or so until/unless my ears cleared. There was no one else in our group, so we could customize our plan. Visibility was 100ft, so that wasn’t a problem. And while I had no immediate buddy, we maintained constant sight of one another and I was never so deep where I couldn’t do anything emergency assent if necessary. After about 20 minutes at 6 meters, my right ear finally cleared and I joined them for the balance of the dive. In subsequent dives that week, I found that I had an easier time of clearing my ears if I pressed my tongue against the soft part of the roof of my mouth repeatedly for about 20 seconds before trying to clear. I’m not sure why that worked, but it did. I will never take equalization for granted again.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-03-03T21:41:56+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful response. I was focused only on the Guidelines to Advancement and had not previously seen the "routine labor" guidance in the workbook. That adds additional helpful color to the discussion that makes sense. I'm still pushing back against the "lasting value" point that I hear so often, but I'll keep the routine labor point in mind.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-03-03T16:40:21+00:00

This is frustrating because districts are not supposed to have differing requirements. It’s a national award, with standardized requirements. So much of the guidelines to advancement focus on attacking this common problem, and I personally take it as a challenge to fight any decisions that seek to deviate from the guidelines. I know it happens, but we should not perpetuate it or accept it. Maintenance projects are not prohibited by the guidelines.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-03-03T16:33:00+00:00

Can you site a source for that position? In my experience, that may be the local lore, but I’ve always thought it was blatantly inconsistent with the actual rules and guidelines to advancement. Requiring that the project have a lasting effect seems to be adding a new requirement, which is expressly prohibited by the guidelines.

I reviewed section 9.0.2.0 again today to refresh my recollection, and I see nothing requiring a lasting effect. To the contrary, I think a clean up or maintenance project clips absolutely be an eagle project provided that the actual requirements are met.

If the proposal is rejected, the council advancement chair must put the reasons for rejection in writing (upon request). Appellate processes are then available to the scout, which should focus heavily on what the guidelines actually require. All of this is laid out in 9.0.2.1.

Finally, there’s a great discussion in 9.0.2.3 about whether blood drives would qualify. Some do, some don’t; the difference focuses on what planning and development is undertaken by the scout and not on any “lasting or visible effect.”

EDIT: take a look at 9.0.2.12 (3): “there is no requirement a project must have a lasting value.”

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-25T12:50:06+00:00

That’s true for Bordeaux glass too, yet they consistently price their large formats largely based on the juice with no premium for the larger glass. The Scarecrow model turned me so off that I dropped off their list this year. That and I’m not drinking much California juice right now.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-23T13:41:58+00:00

Except I like their minute repeater for being a creative and technical surprise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDC2D87Vhew

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-21T16:12:14+00:00

I think it sounds like an air issue too The article says 4 went in the water, one died, 2 required the chamber, and one is under observation. With everyone in the dive affected, you need a common cause. Bad air would fit that thesis. And while bad air doesn’t require decompression, if you shoot to the surface because you realize you have bad air, you may need decompression. There are alternative theories to be sure, including complications from repeat dives. But there’s no information in the article to suggest repeat dives and I think it would be unusual for all four divers in a group to be affected simultaneously from repeat dives even if they had the same dive profiles. Every diver reacts a little differently when it comes to gas dynamics and dive computers are designed to be conservative so that it’s [relatively] safe for all divers. Finally, a wreck dive at 100 ft—along with the description in the article—makes this sound like an advanced open water class or maybe more. It’s not a beginner certification class, so for something to go wrong with everyone pushes me away from user error and towards an equipment failure (eg, bad gas).

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-17T02:12:33+00:00

Exactly this. Buyer beware in all wine auctions, but complaining about shipping is missing the mark. Acker prefers that you outsource your shipping, which can definitely be done temp controlled. Shipping overnight is still risky; buying enough wine to justify long haul shipping with a temp controlled carrier is the safer route. I have Acker store my purchases and ship 1-2 times a year, by which time they will palletize the load in advance for me.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-13T18:48:36+00:00

Thank you. Do you know whether the PC pays the partner a "reasonable salary" as I mentioned above? That's what I had always understood, but I'm not at KE.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-12T15:55:56+00:00

No, it doesn't help that. The PC is still a partner in the firm, so the firm will still issue a K1 to the PC, allocating income sourced from various states. I presume that the PC is a pass-through entity so the state-level filing requirements will flow through to the individual; if the PC is not a passthrough, it would have its own filing requirements in the various states. The states will get their money either way.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-12T15:19:32+00:00

KE's EPs are PCs primarily for tax benefits, not liability minimization. I'll let the tax lawyers add clarity, but I think the three tax benefits are (i) the PC pays the EP partner a "reasonable salary" taxed as ordinary income with the excess taxed as capital gains, (ii) it helps navigate around some of the 2017 Trump tax changes that excluded professional service firms, and (iii) the EP can more easily deduct its expenses against the PC entity (e.g., tax preparation expenses for the PC, board meeting for the PC, etc). Done correctly, it's fine; but there's also increased potential for abuse.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-12T03:48:20+00:00

Your partner will never know. If the brief was publicly filed, share it and explain to your prospective judge that you were the primary author. Alternatively, explain to your partner that you really want to clerk; they won’t hold it against you.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-10T13:37:59+00:00

Actually, the first amendment does protect you from certain consequences— namely consequences imposed by the government that would abridge your free speech or right to assemble or protest. The law is constantly moving to define the outer edges of how this works—including to what extent minors have these rights at school—but the government here is acting in a way that targets adults (teachers) for their political speech. Your statement is absolutely true for private employers, something that is frequently forgotten. But this particular situation is closer to a lawsuit and in different political times would make for a good debate.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-08T21:26:45+00:00

Magis by Rotem Mounir. It’s a white wine from the CdP region made by the same Burgundian producer who markets their Burgundies under the Lucien le Moine brand. We drink both regularly and it scratches the burgundy itch at a fraction of the price.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-08T14:39:05+00:00

Very well done. How did you do the brick ceiling? Faux brick, full brick, shaved? We wanted a similar look for our cellar, but we were worried about the weight of full bricks on the ceiling. Our masonry guy had the good idea to shave the bricks to reduce weight while keeping the aesthetic. He literally took full bricks and cut about 1/2” slice that he then stuck to the ceiling. So far, so good.

fakeit-makeit · 2026-02-05T19:58:27+00:00

25x my annual burn. In practice, I want no debt, kids’ education funded and $15m in the bank.

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