I think I am getting old and grouchy. On a recent trip I was struck by how intrusive into one’s own zone of privacy cell phones can be. I know this is not something unique for me and is probably overly sensitive on my part, but for some reason it was particularly bothersome on this trip. It started the evening before I left, when a woman decided to use some kind of cell phone with a two way communication device….
I’ve repeatedly complained about the outrageous amounts of money paid to CEO’s of corporations even when their service has been a failure. (3/21/07) There is no end to this insanity and we have another example in the case of Blackstone Group LP who just announced that their CEO Stephen Schwarzman was paid $400 million last year. That’s almost double the combined compensation for the CEO’s of Wall Street’s five biggest investment banks. Not only that, he can cash in as…
An E-mail from my friend, Seattle trial lawyer Jan Peterson, about retirement in response to my last post about it prompted me to search for this wonderful prayer which captures so well a healthy attitude about retirment generally: Prayer of an Aging Jesuit Dearest Lord, teach me to grow old gracefully. Help me to see that my community does me no wrong when gradually it takes from me my duties; when it no longer seems to seek my views Rid…
I was at a professional meeting the other night which included friends I’ve known since I started practicing law. A couple were older then I am, another my age and others a little younger. As I looked around the room from my view point of seventy two years of age I was aware of our aging together as fellow trial lawyers. I remembered an article I had read in the 1991 issue of California Lawyer about Melvin Belli entitled "Lion…
John L. Smith has written a book, Running Scared, about Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino king which I read on our recent trip. It’s not particularly well written and paints Wynn in an unfavorable light. In fact, the whole Las Vegas scene comes across as unsavory with a dark side most people don’t see. I wouldn’t recommend the book, but I was interested in a few sections. One dealt with the impact of the high roller "whales" from Japan…
Tom Standage has written a short book about an eighteenth century chess playing machine that was the hit of Europe. The Turk tells the story about a Hungarian nobleman Wolfgang von Kempelen who was an inventor during an age of great interest in clever mechanical devices. He created a machine which was named "The Turk" in 1769. It won almost all of the time in contests with human challengers. The machine was an instant success and it’s playing career extended…
A high school friend sent me an email with a story about marbles that I found useful to think about. In summary the story dealt with a man who calculated that the average person lives 75 years. He multiplied 75 times 52 weeks in the year and came up with 3900 weekends a person has available during an average life. He was 55 years old so he decided if he lived to be 75 years he had about 1000 weekends…
My New Year Resolution is expressed in the poem by Edgar A. Guest Lord, Make a Regular Man out of me: "This I would like to be – braver and bolder, Just a bit wiser because I am older, Just a bit kinder to those I may meet, Just a bit manlier taking defeat; this for the New Year my wish and my plea- Lord, make a regular man out of me. This I would like to be – just…
HAPPY NEW YEAR Hong Kong – New Year’s Celebration
"Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world" Miguel de Cervantes said in Don Quixote de la Mancha (1602). Quixote, accompanied by his loyal servant Sancho Panzo set out in search of adventure and battled injustice in this novel which has been translated into more languages then any other book other then the Bible. His philosophy is consistent with the ancients. In ancient Greek "Know Thyself" was inscribed at the entrance to…
