billionaires with hearts...

I was excited to read that Warren Buffett will be giving billions of dollars to charitable organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

It's nice to see billionaires who care, isn't it?

the 3 commandments

Check out this post from Finding Rhythm, about a Congressman who really wants the Ten Commandments displayed in public buildings.

Why send a resume? Just put a link to your blog.

The Career Services Office at my school just sent me a link to this article in the NY Times. The issue it addresses is potential employers looking first at your resume and then at your myspace, Facebook, etc. sites to get a more rounded picture of who you are before deciding if they want to hire you. Naturally, we all try to put our best foot forward in resumes and interviews and save our not-so-presentable sides for our friends and family (who are often the people we tailor our blogs and personal websites for). So employers can use these sites to see what we are like in real life before deciding if they want to interview/hire us. So take that as a word of caution if you are currently in the job hunt - you may want to spell check your blog and avoid posting pictures of yourself at last Friday's frat party.

The internet is this new and strange animal in the legal world that no one really wants to deal with (see this previous post). The problem is that we enjoy the fact that we can share the details of our lives with millions of people in a manner of seconds through blogs and personal websites. We also (or at least I do) like the fact that we can read the ideas and thoughts of random people all over the world, even though they have not been published or completed x number of degrees in x field.

On the flip side, there are things we want to share with our close friends and families, but not necessarily with potential employers, government officials (hope you're reading this, NSA), or the sexual predator who lives across town. This has perplexed many parents who are trying to decide if they like the fact that their child is on myspace and talks about what high school they go to or where they hang out. Now it is an issue for those of us who are in the job hunt, as well.

There are potentially privacy rights issues involved in this, but it will likely take years for the legal world to deal with the internet. And by the time they do, there will probably be some new technology that is dominating the landscape anyway. Never the less, we will have to watch and see how this issue is dealt with in the coming years.

By the way, if you are a potential employer and are reading this, one of my big strengths is my ability to discuss an issue quickly and thoroughly through use of the written word. My weaknesses include...

First sign of shift...

The first sign of the conservative shift on the Supreme Court was felt today in a decision that likely would've come out differently with Sandra Day O'Connor on the bench. The court ruled that evidence seized after police entered a home without knocking was admissible. The officers did have a warrant, but previously, they had to knock and then wait a "reasonable" amount of time before entering the home, unless they were invited in.

This particular decision is not really going to change the world much, but it will be interesting to see if law enforcement officials are continually given more and more leeway to act however they please under the new court makeup. Then again, if law school has taught me anything, it's that police can pretty much do whatever they want anyway. I mean, even if this case had come out differently, the only ramifications would be that the evidence the officer's recovered would be inadmissible. I'm sure the officers would be upset about that for about, oh, 3 seconds. They would then move on with their lives and forget it even happened.

Life is a journey, enjoy the trip...

Leah and I went to see the movie "Cars" this weekend with Leah's sister and 3 of our nieces. It's yet another typical, family-friendly, animated film with good life lessons from Pixar...which is to say that it's really good. The animation is absolutely amazing, the story is excellent, and the movie made me laugh out loud over and over.

So if you have the money to catch a film in the near future, skip MI3, Da Vinci Code and The Breakup and see Cars.

soccer polling...

So ESPNsoccernet is asking internet users who will win certain groups in the World Cup. For example, I answered the poll asking who would win Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, or Tunisia. At this point, the poll is around 70% for Spain, 25% for Ukraine, 4% for Saudi Arabia, and 1% for Tunisia.

While this may be an accurate representation of who is most likely to win this Group, it more than likely also represents the percentage of internet usage in the respective countries. How pointless is this poll?

new job...

I start my summer job at Marshfield Clinic tomorrow (Monday, June 5). I have the typical feelings of apprehension, but am excited to have an internship this summer working in the legal field with people I respect. Also, I will hopefully get to spend some time with my friends, Jason and Amy.

Only downside is that I will be leaving my wife in Madison during the week and only seeing her on the weekends. Hopefully the time apart will only draw us closer.

Wish me luck!

coffee shop etiquette

So I'm trying to read in a local coffee shop and there is a lady near me calling schools all over the state trying to set up interviews for Elementary School teaching positions. She hasn't sent out resumes or anything. Rather, she is just calling and asking to speak to the principal about setting up an interview.

I'm sorry, but this annoying on several levels. First of all, can't she make these phone calls from home so I don't have to listen to the same banter over and over again? "Hi, I was calling about Elementary School teaching positions and was wondering if I could speak to the principal about setting up an interview?" Second, isn't this the wrong way to go about the process? Don't you send your resume first and then call? If I was the principal, I wouldn't set up an interview with anyone unless I knew whether they had the proper experience for the job (which you find out from the resume). It would be an absolute waste of time to set up an interview with a person who wasn't properly qualified for the job in the first place. Finally, this is annoying because she's sitting near me. See, everyone else in the coffee shop is wondering the same things I am wondering and looking at this person. But in order to look at this person, they basically have to look through me, so I am getting looked at all the time because she is doing this. I don't like being looked at.

UPDATE (ten minutes later): This college-educated woman has now called someone (her mother? a friend?) to ask them questions about how to fill out an application. "When it says 'Education,' do they want to know where I went to school?" And she's looking for a position teaching America's youth.

FINAL UPDATE: She leaves and the minute it's quiet enough to really enjoy my book, the barista throws on some terrible music that reminds me of Duran Duran.

"Oh God. I feel like a refugee from a Douglas Coupland novel."

This is the opening line from JPod, Douglas Coupland's latest novel. Yes, Coupland's incessant references to pop culture now include himself. And rightfully so.