Reflections on the First Week

Today marks my first full week of employment. I am very happy with my job so far - I like my colleagues, the work is somewhat fulfilling, and I generally come home satisfied if not very tired. I am still adjusting to the work schedule, after such an extended period of unemployment.

What amazes me, although perhaps it shouldn't, is the depth and breadth of the stupidity of the credit companies. I don't think I need to elaborate on the general "bad idea" of racking up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, but someone at the credit companies need to grow a brain.

The credit company model is little more than a pyramid scheme - it almost requires its "customer" base to be morons. If someone uses credit ideally, by paying off any balances monthly, the credit company will make about 3% on each transaction, since it only pays the merchant ~97% of the receipt price. That margin is not, by any means, a high profit area, and certainly not enough to warrant some of the monster corporations that extend credit.

Instead, the typical and bad users build a house of cards, of sorts - using credit to buy necessities and luxuries in equal measure with almost no regard for the eventual payback. Instead, the credit card becomes another monthly bill, like a telephone or internet. However, instead of some useful service, the credit company provides only a space of time to hold back on its collections.

It is a racket, separated only from the loan shark model by a matter of degree, not in nature.

The Circle is Now Complete.

Fifteen years ago, my parents were divorced. It was a messy affair, and if it wasn't for a legal aid attorney who helped my mother get custody of my sister and me, I think my life may have been radically different. (Not to say my father is a bad person, but rather that he was going through a difficult time and not handling it in a constructive manner.)

I still remember sitting outside the courtroom in the Daley Center in Chicago, looking down out of the windows onto the street below.

Today, I went to the Daley Center as an attorney, and looked out those same windows, onto the same street below.

Life is funny sometimes.

Law School Debt

I saw this article on Slate a few days ago, and I meant to comment on it, before I got involved with the new job. The gist of it are the options one has regarding public service work with a law degree, in light of the substantial debts that are generally associated with a legal education.

As it stands now, I'm in a similar position - my total debt is somewhere around $100k. However, my first issue was getting a job, let alone finding a job that fits my own personal ideas, goals, wants, needs, and whatnot. Paying the rent seems like a good first start :).

There are a lot of great public service jobs - and Income-contingent repayment combined with loan forgiveness, with the excellent benefits some of the non-profit organizations provide, make public service a tempting, tempting career option. Of course, the dozen or so resumes and letters I sent out to the various public service jobs were largely in vain.

As horrible as the $100k debt trap sounds, it doesn't seem that horrible to me. Sure, I'm not "living large" right now, but I never wanted to. My goal is to repay my loans within 10 years - a noble goal, and perhaps only partially naive. My student loan debt is a rather high priority, especially the private loan that covered my summer classes and BarBri (and it's 11% interest).

And anyway, the 7% or so I'm paying on my federal loans, that gave me the chance to really make something of myself, is cheap at the price.

Good News!

Today, I was offered a job at the firm of David M. Siegel & Associates. I start tomorrow.

In what likely amounts to one of the strongest understatements I have ever made, I am pleased.
Thus, my "Days Unemployed:" count ends at 174.

Double Post Tuesday

Two bits of news.

First, I had a job interview today, and I'm hopeful. I did very good, hit on my strengths, and I generally feel I impressed the interviewer. I like the firm and the practice area, and the commute isn't bad. Overall, a very good fit for me.

Second, congratulations to Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. There isn't much that hasn't been said about him, and it is hard to underestimate the scale of what he has to accomplish, but if anyone can do it, it's Obama.

Strip Searches and the Supreme Court

On friday, January 16, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case of Redding v. Safford School District. For those unfamiliar with the case, a 13 year old girl was strip-searched for prescription-strength ibuprofen based solely on a statement by her friend.

At trial and on the initial appealing, the court found for the school. On rehearing en banc, the court held for the plaintiff.

Basically, under T.L.O. v. New Jersey, there's a sliding scale - the need for the search, the impact on the student, and the degree of intrusiveness are all factors. Courts have generally found that strip searches for drugs are permissible.

In my humble opinion, this case is a terrible abuse of school power. They made a 13 year old girl strip naked for a couple of Advil! They never suspected she had a weapon, or serious street drugs, or even serious prescription drugs. Here we have a fine example of over-reaching, power-abusing school administrators. There was never any indication of a threat to school safety.

Another interstin issue is whether they will find the administrators liable in their individual capacity - whether they abused their power to the level that they knew was impermissible. Otherwise, the administrators have immunity via loco parentis powers.

Overall, I think the en banc rehearing got the decision right, both on the facts and the policy. A strip search needs something more, some element of danger to the school population, that simply isn't posed by a few Advil - even prescription strength Advil. Given the variety of opinions involving school searches, some Supreme Court guidance on T.L.O.'s standard is welcome, if they'll give it.

So Say We All . . .

Time for my inner Geek to go into fanboy mode - I am very pleased with tonight's premiere of the final ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica. I have eagerly awaited the conclusion all these months, and if this first episode is any measure, we are all in for one wild ride.

I won't give away any spoliers, but if you haven't seen it yet, it should be on Hulu shortly.

Transitions and Changes

Hello friends;

It's official now - I've relocated to the greater Chicagoland area, due to exigent circumstances (that should be readily apparent). I hope the change, along with the new year, will provide me with greater opportunities to get my legal career into gear.

I have a couple of leads, although nothing definitive. I hope to make the most of them.

Happy (belated) New Year, and may this year be filled with hope and opportunity.

65mpg Ford - and the Realities of Economics

Taken from: "The 65-mpg car Ford won't sell in US" by BusinessWeek. In brief, the 2009 Ford Fiesta ECOnetic gets 65mpg, runs on diesel, is as clean as a gas engine, and won't be sold in the U.S.

It won't be sold in the U.S. because, with the strength of the pound v. the weak dollar, it would run $25,700. The engines are built in the U.K., so even if the cars were built in Detroit, Canada, or Mexico, the key technology for that wonderful MPG figure would still make it cost prohibitive.

The cost to build or retool to build diesel engines in the U.S. is a prohibitive $350 million.

I've long liked diesel engines - the fun, drivable torque, the throaty rumble, and the great mileage. They also adapt well to performance modification. Vehicles like the European Jetta TDI and the Audi A5 TDI are great examples of efficient, sporty vehicles.

In the U.S. though, diesels are largely limited to commercial freight trucks and heavy-duty pickup trucks. The higher particulate levels in emissions are also a worry,as is the higher cost per gallon (which is largely a result of higher taxes aimed at commercial trucks as opposed to non-commercial gas taxes aimed at everyday drivers).

So Ford, which along with Chrysler and GM have become the red-headed step children of the economic downturn, has the potential for green, efficient cars and trucks. Unfortunately, due to U.S. regulations on diesel, consumer prejudice, and general cost issues, the money tree doesn't balance out.

Roland Burris - Just Accept Him Already, Please

As a lifetime resident of the great state of Illinois and a former resident of Chicago (actually Cicero), the recent news of Gov. Blagojevich's indictment comes as absolutely no surprise.

In idle speculation, I wonder at what would have happened if this indictment had come to light prior to Nov. 4. I applaud whoever decided to sit on it until after the election.

Back to my first point though, Blagojevich has demonstrated some serious political savy in naming Roland Burris as Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate. Sixteen years in Illinois politics without a single corruption investigtion is quite the achievement. The rest of his credentials are equally sterling. He's a solid choice to represent Illinois in the Senate.

It seems pretty clear, based on the indictment at least, that Blagojevich is yet another corrupt Illinois official, tainted with the almost unavoidable smell of Illinois politics. However, he has made a solid choice in Burris. Just because Blagjevich is corrupt does not mean he cannot make a clean appointment.

Watching Harry Reid and Co. make fools of themselves in opposition to Blagojevich's pick for Senate is closing the barn doors after the horse has left. It is little more than a useless gesture in defiance at political corruption, which will only result in more hassel and fighting and probably no real progress.

Burris is qualified, free from the Blagojevich mess, and willing to do the job - so let him.

Also, please, can the powers that be stop wasting their time and effort over this, and perhaps start focusing on the things that matter, like, I dunno . . . Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Gaza/Isreal, and the economy? Don't we have better things to do?