Do people really say what they think?

Or do they often say what will make them look good to the person asking the question.

Something to think about when interviewing a client.

This is an amazing story.

The heart is a wonderful organ. And this article tells a wonderful story about an artificial heart implanted in a sixteen-month old baby girl, waiting for a transplant.

A Triumph Of The Heart

By AARON SHAROCKMAN

c. 2007 St. Petersburg Times ;Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

Alastair Thomas, 23, kissed his daughter, sixteen-month-old Alyssa Thomas, during a press conference at All Children's Hospital in Florida, Monday, May 21, 2007.

A mechanical device called a “Berlin Heart” was used to keep the infant alive long enough to get a heart transplant.

When Alyssa Thomas' tiny heart failed three months ago, a piece of German machinery kicked in. Called a Berlin Heart, the device kept Alyssa alive for 75 days until she received a new donor heart.

Click here to read the entire article.

Medical science makes geat strides.

A Blank?

Yes, this day's blog entry is a blank.

So much out there, but nothing to write about.
Typical after the long weekend.


Oh well ...

Lawsuit filed: Discrimination Against People with Disabilities?

Hotels.com faces lawsuit over accessibility; Plaintiffs claim that Hotels.com will not guaratee that wheelchairs can get into hotel rooms.

By Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

On Tuesday, two people accused online travel agency Hotels.com in a lawsuit of discriminating against people who use a wheelchair.

The plaintiffs claim discrimination against disabled people by refusing to guarantee travel reservations for hotel rooms that are wheelchair accessible.

In a class-action lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court, Judith Smith of Oakland and Bonnie Lewkowicz of Berkeley, both of whom use wheelchairs and helped found Axis Dance Company in Oakland, said Hotels.com treats accessibility as an optional "amenity," such as a king-size bed or a room with a view.

Despite making reservations online and contacting Hotels.com's customer-care representatives, the women found that wheelchair-accessible rooms aren't guaranteed, the lawsuit says. Smith and Lewkowicz use wheelchairs and tour the state and country as part of a troupe of dancers with and without disabilities.

"Thus, if an individual who depends on a wheelchair or other assistive device makes a reservation through Hotels.com, she runs a real risk that -- despite having prepaid for the room and made the reservation well in advance -- she will literally not be able to enter or use the room once she arrives at the hotel," according to the suit.

The suit seeks class-action certification and an injunction requiring Hotels.com to modify its policies and practices so that it will guarantee reservations for accessible hotel rooms.

In a statement Tuesday, Hotels.com, a subsidiary of Expedia.com of Bellevue, Wash., said, "We are aware that a lawsuit has been filed. As of this time, we have not been served or reviewed a complaint and cannot provide comment."

The suit could have nationwide implications for the online consumer travel industry, which generated $79 billion last year, said Sid Wolinsky, an attorney with Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley, which filed the complaint with a private firm and Public Justice of Oakland.

"If people with disabilities can't use the Internet, they miss out on every possible economic opportunity," said Wolinsky, who noted that no damages are sought in the suit. "This should be a no-brainer for Hotels.com because there's a huge market of people with disabilities who want to travel just like everybody else."

The complaint alleges violation of state laws protecting the disabled and the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits businesses from discriminating against their customers on a variety of grounds.

Click here to read the article.

Who was Blackstone?

Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780) was a contemporary of the framers of the U.S. Constitution. An English judge who went on to become the first Vinerian professor of law at Oxford University, Blackstone is best known for his Commentaries on the Laws of England, the original foundation for legal education in America.

In these Commentaries, Blackstone explained that the basis upon which English Common Law sits is a higher law, the law written by God and found in His scriptures. Because of this, man has no authority to write a law that contradicts God’s law. In fact, this was the basic premise of the Declaration of Independence: the King had violated rights granted to man by God.

Click here to read more about Sir William Blackstone from the ADF website.

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/whatwedo/training/default.aspx?cid=3149

Telemarketing fraud targets the elderly

Telemarketing fraud, once limited to small-time thieves, has become a global criminal enterprise preying upon millions of elderly and other Americans every year, authorities say. Vast databases of names and personal information, sold to thieves by large publicly traded companies, have put almost anyone within reach of fraudulent telemarketers. And major banks have made it possible for criminals to dip into victims’ accounts without their authorization, according to court records.

Click here to read the whole article.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/business/20tele.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=3d900bfabcfd346b&ex=1179892800&adxnnl=0&adxnnlx=1179756335-rbYlNT4QTyxSc2UM8SVvNg

Pet Trust? Or Custody Battle?

Finally: no more scoffing at the idea of setting up a trust to care for a loving pet after you’re gone.

Those of us who consider our pets as our “children,” need to make specific arrangements for their care after we are gone.

And stipulate exactly how the care is to be carried out.

Stipulations in the will or estate plan are essential.

Read this story sent to me via ABA ejournal.

Canine Case Is Doggone Tough

Tennessee lawyer is guardian to pet caught in a custody battle

By Stephanie Francis Ward

You could say counseling the parties in a particularly contentious Tennessee probate dispute is like herding cats—except their disagreement involves a dog: a 13-year-old golden retriever named Alex, to be exact, who has his own lawyer.

Alex’s owner, Ronald W. Callan Jr., committed suicide on New Year’s Day. The man’s divorced parents, Esther Snow Gnall and Ronald W. Callan Sr., both wanted custody of the dog and what they think is a fair share of their son’s estate, valued at more than $2 million. Callan Sr., the administrator of his son’s estate, would not let his ex-wife see the dog. So her lawyer asked the court to appoint a guardian ad litem for the dog to determine its best interest. In March, Paul Royal, of Memphis, Tenn., was lucky enough to get the nod.

* * *

Belcher, a partner at McGuireWoods, says clients don’t like to consider their pets as property, even though they are under the law. Pets weren’t recognized as valid trusts in most jurisdictions until the advent of the Uniform Trust Code in 2000, he says.

“I have not seen an increase in pet trusts since then,” he says.

But Belcher has handled pet care requests for clients. One couple in their 60s with no children but three cats asked that he create a trust to be administered by a friend. They wanted a stipulation that the cats not have tattoos on their lips.

“And I said, ‘Who would do that?’ ” Belcher recalls. “Well, say I’m the trustee and paid to handle the cats—how do you know you’ve got the same cat you started with?”

His clients, who lived on the East Coast, also directed that in the event of their deaths, the cats would be sent to live at a California cat hotel. Their will left specific shipping instructions.

The couple actually outlived their pets, Belcher says, but such a will shows how much people care about their pets.

“Most people treat their animals like children, and the court treats them like toasters,” says Kristina A. Hancock, who chairs the animal law committee of the ABA’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section. Hancock, senior counsel with Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps in Del Mar, Calif., applauds the court’s ruling for Alex the dog.

“Whenever we see an animal treated better than a toaster, we think that’s progress,” Hancock says.

Click here to continue reading.

By myself? Yup.

"You must run the race by yourself."

-- comment by Jim McKay, during his coverage of 1973 marathon runner Frank Shorter, during the Munich, Germany, Olympics, in 1972.

Law is a business.
Marketing is a necessary function of a business.
No one else will market my business.
Thus, I must run the race by myself.

Something to think about ...

The Top 10 Mistakes Businesses Make Online

This article was sent to me via my LEXIS subscrition.

The Top 10 Mistakes Businesses Make Online

Source: TruePresence
May 2007

By now, businesses ought to know that a good website means good business. However, thousands of business sites miss mark.

The web is a powerful tool that should be used to Find, Get, and Keep customers.

Here are the most common mistakes businesses make online, according to Joel Fisher, Vice President and Creative Director of national Internet marketing firm TruePresence.

10. Going with the Old "Slap Something Up There" Approach

Letting your 17-year-old computer whiz nephew build your site might save money in the short term, but the result is very unlikely to achieve any business goals. Think of it this way; if you wanted to build a house, would you let your nephew build it simply because he happens to own a nail gun?

There are numerous tools on the market that can be used to build websites, however leave the heavy lifting to a professional.

9. Companies Talk to Themselves Instead of Their Customers

Too many business sites are built from the inside out rather than from the outside-in. Every business needs to look at its website from the perspective of the customer or the potential employee, and talk to them, in their language. Cut down on industry jargon and talk about what you can do for the customer, not about yourself. You are not your target audience.

8. Failing to Optimize for Search

Everything about a business site -- content, structure, links -- should be built with search engine optimization in mind. If your site is invisible to search engines, it may as well have no content at all. With the help of web professionals, start by determining what keywords your audience is searching for, (which may include concepts beyond the obvious) and build content around them. Keep in mind that most people search for a business category, not a company name.

7. Cool for the Sake of Cool

In the rush to create a standout website, companies often make the mistake of loading it with bells and whistles that serve little purpose. Though they may look cool and seem impressive, in reality they only frustrate visitors with slow load times and poor navigation. With business sites, less is more.

6. "Latest News" Dates Back to the Clinton Administration

Stale content gives the impression of a stale business. If the customer arrives to see nothing's been updated in a month, a year, or more, they may assume your company has been idle for the same amount of time. Fresh content, on the other hand, adds relevance and credibility.

5. Sloppy or Clumsy Navigation

With 80 million websites competing for increasingly short attention spans, your site must be user friendly. With navigation, the big word is intuitive -- elements of a site should be located where a visitor would think they would be located. Everything should be clearly labeled and easy to find.

4. Missing the Point

Whether you are a local business or a global corporation, your website should help build and extend your brand. Be yourself online and remain true to your principles. Too many businesses forget this fact or try to be something they are not. If your brand is all about customer service, make it easy to contact and interact with support teams through the website. Although it seems simple and obvious, too many businesses have websites that don't do anything to support their brand proposition.

3. Forgetting Step Two -- Getting People to Visit

What's the use of throwing a big party and forgetting to send invitations? That's what most businesses do online. Gone are the days of "build it and they will come." That worked in Field of Dreams, not online. A business must market its site and maximize ways to reach potential customers.

2. Not Starting with Clear Objectives in Mind

What are we doing here again? When you launch a site, you should do so with specific objectives in mind. Whether your business hopes to simply educate prospects or become an all-in-one commerce portal, you'd better know why you got started in the first place in order be successful.

1. No Call to Action

If your website is just a brochure, then you may as well print a brochure. The main goal of a good business website is to Find, Get, and Keep customers. Interaction is the name of the game. This doesn't have to be complicated; it can be as simple as a printable coupon, a form to fill out, or a newsletter to sign up for. The Internet is a communication vehicle; make sure your site sparks an ongoing conversation.

Has it already been settled?

Black's dictionary defines RES JUDICATA:

res judicata: [Latin: "a thing adjuducated"]
1. An issue that has been definitively settled by judicial decision.
2. An affirmative defense barring the same parties from litigating a second lawsuit on the same claim, or any other claim arising from the same transaction or series of transactions and that could have been - but was not - raised in the first suit.

The three essential elements are:
(1) an earlier decision on the issue;
(2) a final judgment on the merits; and
(3) the involvement of the same parties.

So, when can a party raise the same or similar issue? Hmmmmmm.
From that definition, it seems that there are very few opportunities.

Tips for Writing a Good Grant Proposal

According to Simon Peyton Jones and Alan Bundy, writing a good research grant proposal is not easy.

Their article offers a number of. suggestions about what makes a good proposal, and also a list of possible shortcomings in grant proposals.

What follows is a brief outline of the article.
Click here to read more.

APPROACHING A PROPOSAL

The first and most obvious thing to do is to read the advice offered by your funding agency. In the case of EPSRC, the primary funding body for computing science research, there is a "Guide to EPSRC Research Grants".

CRITERIA FOR A GOOD GRANT PROPOSAL

Most funding agencies apply similar criteria (major and secondary criteria) to the evaluation of proposals. It is important to address these criteria directly in your case for support. A proposal which fails to meet them will be rejected regardless of the quality of its source. Otherwise, there is a danger of discriminating unfairly in favor of well-known applicants.

COMMON SHORTCOMINGS, and some of the ways in which proposals often fail to meet these criteria.

http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/papers/Proposal.html

Perhaps these suggestions will help someone to write better grant proposals, and hence to be more successful in obtaining funds for research.

Tips On Writing a Grant Proposal to a Federal Agency

According to the EPA, Grants are sums of money awarded to finance a particular activity or facility.

Generally, these grant awards do not need to be paid back. Federal agencies and other organizations sponsor grant programs for various reasons. Before developing a grant proposal, it is vitally important to understand the goals of the particular Federal agency or private organization, and of the grant program itself.

This can be accomplished through careful analysis of the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), Request for Initial Proposals (RFIP) or Request for Applications (RFA) and discussions with the information contact listed in each resource description.

Through these discussions an applicant may find that, in order for a particular project to be eligible for funding, the original concept may need to be modified to meet the criteria of the grant program.

In allocating funds, programs base their decisions on the applicant's ability to fit its proposed activities within the program's interest areas.

Click here to continue reading.

http://www.epa.gov/ogd/recipient/tips.htm

And Good Luck! Wring a good grant proposal is not easy. That much we know.

What's up with the Horse's Mouth?

In the wake of the recently run Kentucky Derby, I thought it would be appropriate to investigate the old saying, "the horse's mouth."

The phrase was used in the days when the horse was the sole means of transportation. A buyer of a horse needed to know the true age and health of the horse; thus, this essential knowledge could be determined through a dental exam. If the buyer of the horse had a reason to distrust the veracity of the seller's claims, the truth could be determined from "the horse's mouth."

Since those days, the old saying has come to mean going straight to the source to get the true information.

Thanks to John Rosemond, "Living with Children," the Washington Times, May 6,02007.

Is your Child's Car Seat Safe?

Unsafe car seats recalled . . .

A recent report by Consumer Reports on the safety of child safety seats has raised questions about these seats' performance in crash tests. Though the report has been disputed and partially recalled, Consumer Reports stands by its recommendation of an immediate recall for the Evenflo Discovery car seat.

If You've Been Affected . . .

If you've been affected by an inadequate or defective car seat, contact an experienced products liability attorney immediately. Your car seat lawyer will help you assess your claim and may help you file a lawsuit to recover damages for injuries, medical care, and/or other costs associated with a car seat injury.

Perhaps you should contact the Huggins and Huggins Law Firm.

Click here to read the article.

Internet Fair Use Policy

Jerry Garfunkel, a long-time friend and fellow educator, has identified 3 separate environments each of which requires its own specialized version of an Internet Acceptable Use Policy (IAUP). These three environments are:


(a) in schools (which in turn can be further subdivided into K-12, university, private, public, et al) - Student use;

(b) in the workplace - Employee use;

(c) in public facilities (libraries, et al) - Citizen use.


In researching AUP's he reviewed several AUP models. Among the best for students was the Monroe County Indiana Schools AUP and for employees, the Department of Interior's Internet Acceptable Use Policy. He recommends adopting language for an AUP, non-copyrighted taken from a reputable IAUP model, such as MCCSC and the DoI's .

Click here to read the entire Report.

http://jeromegarfunkel.com/

When you find yourself in a panic ...

"A Carro entornado, todos son caminos"

To an upset wagon, all ways are roads.

Ecuador proverb

http://www.ecuador.com/proverbs/

To say, "A Carro entornado, todos son caminos" (To an upset wagon, all ways are roads), would mean that to someone who is in a state of panic, who is gullible or corrupt, any alternative option is acceptable.

Click here to read more.

The Six Components of a Grant Proposal

North Carolina's Center for Participatory Change proposed the following valuable information.

Most of the items listed below are part of every application for foundation, corporation or government funding. Sometimes they will be listed as several items, sometimes they will be asked as questions, and sometimes you will need to cover them in a written narrative--but these are the standard building blocks you'll use.

1. THE STATEMENT OF NEED OR OPPORTUNITY. Here you outline the current situation that your project will address. If you’re trying to solve a problem or build on an opportunity, you have to define it first. Be as specific as you can. Don’t assume that the reader knows anything about your community or the situation. But don’t dwell on the negative; don’t portray the problem as one that’s too overwhelming to solve. When you define a problem, define it in a way that it’s clear that your group can actually address the problem. Finally, it’s best if this section is brief — just quickly, yet concretely, describe the situation that you’ll be addressing.

2. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. This section outlines what you hope to achieve with your project. Goals refer to the general things that you want to accomplish — for example, “We will start an after-school program for children from our community,” or “We will try to help people earn more income through the creation of a cooperative business.” Objectives are outcomes, more specific things that can be easily measured — for example, “Reading ability for 65 children will be improved; we will show this improvement by comparing before and after scores on a short reading test,” or “People who participate in this cooperative will show an increase in their income after one year .”
For both goals and objectives, be as specific as possible. This is key.

3. PROJECT ACTIVITIES. Once you have defined what you’re going to do (in the goals and objectives section), you need to define how you’re going to do it. These are the project activities, where you explain in the nuts-and-bolts of how you’re going to carry out your project. This section should be as specific and detailed as possible too; it should also include a timeline that shows when the activities will be carried out.
For example, the project activities for an after-school program might include: “We will have 65 children between the ages of 7 and 10 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3 to 5 pm. Children will work with a volunteer, who will read stories with them and ask questions that test their comprehension. Sept - Dec, 2000.”

4. EVALUATION PLAN. An evaluation plan outlines a plan for showing that you met the goals that you set for your project. Evaluation does not have to be complicated — getting people to tell stories about how the project has benefited them can be one of the best ways to evaluate your work. More information on evaluation can be found in CPC’s brochure entitled, “Self-Evaluation for Grassroots Groups.”

5. ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION. Somewhere in the proposal, you will need to outline your organization — its history, accomplishments so far, structure, qualifications of key people, and so on. Use this section to explain why you are the right group to do this project.

6. ATTACHMENTS. In most proposals, you will be asked to attach several things, including a budget (anticipated income and expenses both for your project and your organization as a whole), a copy of the letter from the IRS about receiving your tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status (if applicable), and a list of your board of directors with professional and community affiliations.

Click here to read this article.