tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63545914394871481502024-03-08T07:37:50.215-08:00Living the DreamMIpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16156638694521749561noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354591439487148150.post-33572947038153447162010-09-21T18:17:00.000-07:002010-09-21T18:23:52.798-07:00Thoughts on Sports<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">I need to write about sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There are a few very unrelated things that have been weighing on my mind:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">#1:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Rafael Nadal.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest tennis players to ever play the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He is a competitor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think that’s why I like him so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He plays every point like it is match point.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">I’m not writing this to say that Nadal is the greatest tennis player ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In fact, if you twisted my arm, I would probably have to say it is Federer—notwithstanding Nadal’s overwhelming dominance in head-to-head matches (14-7 overall; 5-2 in slam finals).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m writing this to say that the year Nadal is having is the best year that any player has ever had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You’re probably screaming at the computer screen right now saying, “What about Rod Laver in 1969!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sure, Laver is the only man to have won all 4 majors in the same calendar year, but he was a grass guy and back in ’69, three of the four majors were played on grass.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">Nadal won three of the four majors this year:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the French Open on clay, Wimbledon on grass, and the US Open on hard courts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That has never been done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That speaks volumes about both his ability and his work ethic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Just two years ago he was seen as nothing more than a clay court specialist who could never win on hard courts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He was a defensive worker who couldn’t cope with the pace on hard courts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He had a very below average serve and usually just spun it in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now how’s he doing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He has one of the strongest serves on tour, he’s the favorite in any tournament regardless of the surface, he won three majors this year, and he just stormed through the hard courts of the US Open dropping only one set the entire tournament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>With that win at the US Open, Nadal became just the seventh man to win all four majors…and he’s only 24 years old.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">Another reason why I like Nadal is because of his humility in all of his interviews. Nadal always deflects the praise, focuses on the task at hand, compliments his opponents, and is very polite to everybody around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m a Nadal fan.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">#2:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Derek Jeter.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">One of my roommates is a huge Yankees fan (he does have redeeming qualities though).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I watched a couple innings of their game last week (1 of 162) and saw something that really caught my eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Derek Jeter, a noted “classy” guy in the MLB, was up to bat and there was a pitch high and inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Instinctively, Jeter flinched back to get out of the way of the ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In doing so, the ball struck the butt of the handle of bat and then went into foul territory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The correct call is obviously a foul ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>However, Jeter was hunched over in feigned agony pretending that the ball hit him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The ump decided that it did hit Jeter and subsequently awarded him first base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The opposing team was irate and, after the game, Jeter admitted that it should have been a foul ball.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:17.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana;font-size:11.0pt;color:#262626;">What really grabbed my attention was the praise that Jeter got for his “smart” play, “quick” thinking,” “gamesmanship,” “do-whatever-it-takes attitude,” etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think up until recently I would have agreed with the praise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Wally Matthews on ESPN said that those words are starting to simply become code words for bad sportsmanship and the kind of behavior that would not be tolerated in any other line of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m starting to agree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think baseball would have been better off if Jeter told the ump that the ball didn’t hit him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Basketball would be better if Manu Ginobli & Co didn’t flop every time down the court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Football has things like this too though I don’t find them as egregious (receivers trapping the ball claiming they caught it, players wrestling for a ball after the whistle at the bottom of a pile).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Maybe they don’t bother me as much in football because replay rules generally produce the right call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That’s why tennis is the best sport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>None of this goes on in tennis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There is no flopping in tennis…except in <a href="http://br.esportes.yahoo.com/colunas/no-tenis-tambem-e-possvel-simular-um-golpe-esportes-696.html">this clip</a> that Hiller sent me. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->MIpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16156638694521749561noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354591439487148150.post-86091617010149009592010-09-17T18:44:00.000-07:002010-09-17T18:45:58.271-07:00A Taste of Law School<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">(Disclosure:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This post is probably very boring to most of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I don’t expect anyone to read it, let alone enjoy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m writing it mostly because Jason said that he thought it might be interesting to see what goes on in law school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This entry is basically a synthesis of readings I did today on contracts made under duress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Point being:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I haven’t been to class to discuss it so it might be ‘completely opposite’ what I should have gotten out of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Take it for what it’s worth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m writing on this not necessarily because I find it particularly interesting but simply because I just finished reading it.)</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Assuming that the form is correct, courts are not in the business of controlling contracts (generally).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If a contract is made, and there is consideration on both sides then typically that contract is valid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Courts enter the picture when one of the parties named breaches the terms established by both sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is not the role of the court (again generally) to determine which contracts are “fair.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>However there are some instances that that allow courts to say that a contract was not valid to begin with and, consequently, neither party is bound by the terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Duress is one such instance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The doctrine of duress (in the context of contracts) is an effort to establish the boundary between proper and improper advantage-taking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Individual freedom turns on having a large degree of choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Contracts entered under duress strain that individual freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If I point a gun at your head and threaten to kill you unless you make a contract, the resulting agreement is not an expression of free choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Not surprisingly, the courts refuse to enforce such a contract.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The above example is obviously an extreme example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What becomes difficult is establishing where to draw the line of duress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The classic doctrine says that a threat to do what you are legally entitled to do cannot be duress.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Case law has changed this standard over the last 50 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There was a case in Texas in which a truck driver named Mitchell for Herrin Transportation Company was injured in a car accident on the job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mitchell was not at fault but Herrin wanted to secure a prompt settlement of its claim for damages to the truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In the settlement negotiations, the insurance company of the other driver did not want to pay Herrin until it also received releases from Mitchell for any claim he might have arising out of the accident (apparently a common practice).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In its desire to close the settlement, Herron threatened Mitchell that unless he signed the release, he would be fired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mitchell signed but subsequently brought an action for his injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He asked the court to set aside the release on the ground that they had been secured through duress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>After a series of trials and appeals, it was determined that the release (a contract) was voidable because it was made under duress.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This case changed the standard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Before, the rule was that duress could only be established if there was a threat to do some act which the party threatening had no legal right to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mitchell was at employee at will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Legally, Herrin could fire Mitchell for any reason with or without cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The court determined that this type of threat can constitute duress if the threat to fire someone is employed as means to force an employee to sign a release of action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There have been several cases in addition to the Mitchell case that have similarly ruled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The rationale is that the parties are not on equal footing in such cases.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Was the court right and how far should they be entitled to go?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In Professor Dalton’s words, the problem is “isolating just those kinds of impairment [of bargaining power] that the law is prepared to redress without feeling that the whole structure of bargaining between unequals is put in jeopardy.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Restatement on Contracts (basically what respected scholars say case law is) says the test for duress turns on “unfair exchange,” “unfair dealing,” or “the use of power for illegitimate ends.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Those words seems like very uncertain measures of appropriate conduct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What should the rule be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Should we go back to the classic definition that hinges on legality?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Should we limit it to only illegal threats and threats of employment (though many hypotheticals could be thought up that are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">like</i> employment settings but not)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Or should we leave it up to the judge or jury to determine what is a “fair exchange,” and a “fair dealing”?</p> <!--EndFragment-->MIpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16156638694521749561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354591439487148150.post-73324550229757508482010-08-31T00:00:00.000-07:002010-08-31T00:01:19.975-07:00Socratic Method<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626">I had always heard that law professors principally use the Socratic Method in classroom settings. I only had a cursory (at best) understanding of what was meant by ‘Socratic Method.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I saw law school as a forum for learning laws, studying cases, and doing legal research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I never really considered how a teaching method could significantly influence the attainment of those objectives and, thus, didn’t spend more than two seconds learning more about the Socratic Method.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It meant nothing to me—I had no opinion of it nor any prognostic vision of how it would work in a classroom setting.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626">After a week or so of school, I have become a huge proponent the Socratic Method in classroom settings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It basically teaches students by asking a series of questions seeking to expose contradictions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In essence, it helps students to identify wholes in logic, thought, arguments, etc. by means of critical thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626">In law school, the professor “cold calls” a student and has a discussion about a particular statute, procedural rule, or case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The professor simply asks numerous questions about the issues, the ruling, the rationale, dissenting opinion, assumed assumptions, application of the law to specific cases, consistency (or lack thereof) in the interpretation of laws, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It takes so much more than an understanding of facts to get through one of these sessions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Professors do not let you off the hook if you can’t think through an issue—the whole class is put on pause until you can work through the question.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626">I love this style of teaching because, I think, it accelerates the learning process SO much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>First of all, you have to be prepared for class or else you’ll look like an idiot for 15 minutes in front of everybody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Never have I prepared so meticulously for classes (and yet, there are so many angles that I never even think of that are exposed in class).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Second, it forces you to remain attentive during class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Third (maybe a corollary to two), you put yourself in the shoes of the person on the hot seat and see how you would respond in the situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Fourth, it makes you think on your feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Fifth, it allows you to develop arguments and presents a forum for presenting them.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626">I really wish that my undergrad and even high school classes had employed principles of the Socratic Method for the reasons listed above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I really think that I would have learned and retained much more.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;mso-bidi-font-family:Verdana; color:#262626">P.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Another great thing about law school is the law library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Unbelievable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>While it pales in comparison to BYU’s main library, Oregon’s Law library is a spacious, 4 story library, with (among countless other legal resources) actual attorneys who work as the librarians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And print jobs are $0.01.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That’s one cent per job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I compiled a bunch of cases into one document yesterday; 150 pages=one cent. </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->MIpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16156638694521749561noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354591439487148150.post-67994431130173022172010-08-04T23:45:00.000-07:002010-08-04T23:49:35.381-07:00Why Political Science?People tend to have a laundry list of questions ready to ask whenever meeting new people. I don't blame them for asking these questions--I do it too--though it often leaves an unmemorable, rote conversation as a first impression.<br /><br />Frequently, one of the initial questions asked of me is "What are you studying?" or "What did you study at BYU?" I always hesitate to answer this question because I believe (mistakenly or otherwise) that there is a stigma attached to poli sci majors. By saying that I study(ied) political science I feel that people develop an image of me as 'political science guy'--a flamboyant, obnoxiously opinionated, loud, and sometimes holier-than-thou follower of politics.<br /><br />The conversation would then shift to deeper questions, like "Where are you from?" or "If you could be any head of a three headed squirrel, which would it be?" I would always let it progress to the next question on the list without quenching my desire to say, "Yes, I study political science but I'm not 'political science guy'."<br /><br />One of the reasons I studied political science was because of the "low hanging fruits" it offers. There are so many research questions that nobody has ever spent time exploring. Almost every topic has avenues that have yet to be studied.<br /><br />I offer one example to illustrate the point. There has been tons of research done (with various conclusions) on the impact of partisan pressures on congressional behavior. Some scholars maintain that the partisan influence on legislators is negligible because party is merely an element of the preferences of members of Congress upon entering office. That is, legislators are driven primarily by personal and constituent opinions--members of Congress of opposing parties tend to act differently not because of partisan pressures but because these opinions are different. A competing group of scholars assert that partisan pressures are real and significant in shaping the behavior of legislators. The "low hanging fruit" in this example is to analyze the partisan influence on members of Congress in differing stages of their political careers. It's not necessarily 'do parties matter' but rather 'for whom do parties matter.' Do higher office seekers need the support of their party more than other congressmen and are, therefore, more influenced by partisan pressures? Have retiring members of Congress completely dissolved the partisan link? What about newly-elected legislators? etc.<br /><br />These questions aren't necessarily hard to come up with either. Jason's <a href="http://depositories.blogspot.com/2010/07/mechanized-creativity.html">Mechanized Creativity</a> entry can be applied to creating a research question (items on the list being democracy level, corruption, gdp, etc.). I find the resultant questions very interesting. The amount of research yet to be undertaken is one of the reasons I studied political science.<br /><br />I don't know why this has been on my mind nor do I know why I posted it. To those who have read this whole post: I apologize if your eyes are glazed over out of boredom. I think that's why I never took the conversation described above in this direction. I mean, who really wants to hear about political science research questions? Instead, I would stick to the meaningful get-to-know you conversation: "I would definitely want to be the middle head of the squirrel and let me tell you why..."MIpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16156638694521749561noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354591439487148150.post-10933910136541439452010-08-04T22:31:00.000-07:002010-08-04T22:32:29.013-07:00Scratching my HeadI was listening to the radio on the way into work today enjoying country music--a great way to start off any day. The station that I was listening to needed to break for commercials and I left the radio untouched rather than switch to another station. I heard a commercial that struck me as both annoying and ironic. Although I don't remember the words verbatim, it basically unfolded as follows.<br /><br />Little Girl: "Daddy, what are you doing?"<br /><br />Dad: "I'm reading about my investments."<br /><br />Little Girl: "What's an investment?"<br /><br />Dad: "An Investment is like owning small part of a company. Mine are going up; that's good."<br /><br />Little Girl: "How do you know what companies to invest in?"<br /><br />Dad: "Because like you, I do my homework."<br /><br />Little Girl: "So would you say sending me to Challenger School was a good investment?"<br /><br />Dad: "Yes, that was a great investment."<br /><br />The commercial then proceeded to inform listeners of the benefits of sending children to Challenger School over public schools.<br /><br />I found it odd because I have no idea how that little could conclude that sending her to Challenger School was a good investment given the definition of investment proposed by her father. To the little girl, an investment is simply owning a small piece of a company yet she reasoned that going to school somehow fell under that umbrella. Either Challenger School is doing wonders for that little girl enabling her to make that jump or Challenger School needs to rethink the logic in its commercials (not good when the product offered is an alleged unmatched education).MIpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16156638694521749561noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354591439487148150.post-62087011633629049412010-08-04T22:27:00.000-07:002010-08-04T22:28:17.292-07:00Inaugural EntryConsider this the grand opening of my blog (even if it's not so grand). Never thought I'd be a blogger, but here I am. I am doing this--in large part--because of Jason Bell. Though I never saw myself doing this, he pointed out many of the merits of doing so. I mostly just want to keep in touch with old roommates and friends. This provides a way to write what is on my mind, and--by reading and making sarcastic comments on their blogs--I'll be able keep up-to-date on their lives.<br /><br />I don't really know what I will post here. I'm sure it will mostly be thoughts about sports, school, people, and random events/ideas. Read it if you want. Skip it if you want. Let me know if it is boring you to tears.MIpsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16156638694521749561noreply@blogger.com1