Author Archives: tedbrassfield

Why Privacy Matters. . .

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Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the 9th Circuit, co-authored an excellent piece mourning the death of the 4th Amendment. His principle observation? We have voluntarily joined loyalty card programs, online retailer account programs, electronic toll passes, and smartphone accounts. Consequently, all information regarding our shopping, travel habits, even web history is considered “public.” This enables police to mine this data willy-nilly.

But wait, you say: Judge Kozinski is crying wolf, the only people with anything to fear are criminals. Actually, Judge Kozinski is one of the most intelligent, technologically savvy people on the bench today. I can only imagine that his co-author & law clerk, Stephanie Grace, is like minded. They mention a case in 2004 where police arrested firefighter Philip Scott Lyons for arson “after discovering he purchased a fire starter with his Safeway Club Card. The charges weren’t dropped until someone else confessed; not everyone will be so lucky.”

I have no qualms about marketers having a better understanding of who I am so that they can target me with more appropriate products. I am greatly concerned about the police–or other people who I have not specifically authorized–accessing the same.

Perhaps it is time for me to update my “reasonable expectation of privacy.”

American Exceptionalism’s Leftward Turn

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President Obama offered a compelling narrative at tonight’s State of the Union. He did not mince words when discussing the challenges that we face today: joblessness, division, and crumbling infrastructure. America can no longer take for granted our economic stature. If we fail to out-innovate and out-perform, globally mobile workforce and labor-demand will continue to deemphasize the United States. Add in radical environmental change, crushing debts, and unmentionable shifts in American demographics.

He called this our Sputnik moment. An apt allusion. America could have crumbled at the challenge presented by the terrifying object launched on 4 October ’57. Instead, the Federal Government created DARPA, the agency that brought us the Internet and GPS.

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One Week After: Moving Forward Part II

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While flying to Asia, President Obama made more than 100 phone calls to incoming GOP Senate and House legislators. Using his flight time to reach across the aisle demonstrates his commitment to overcoming the challenges confronting our nation.

Veterans Day: a day to celebrate and give thanks to men and women who sacrifice so much on our behalf. In the past nine years, more than two million Americans have deployed overseas. Like generations of soldiers before them, they left spouses, children, friends and family to risk everything to serve our country. Their courage and sacrifice humbles me.

I hope that the President’s calls will lay the groundwork to ensure that our Veterans have the support and resources that they deserve: before, during, and after their service. Surely this is an investment we can all support.

Beyond rhetoric, what can you and I do to support the men and woman who have and will continue to sacrifice so much for our country?

Arianna Huffington makes a compelling case for a national day of service.

A phenomenal organization to help make that first step? Mission Serve. Find a service project close by and get involved.

And for rhetoric with an impact? Talk with a veteran. Have a conversation. Saying thank you is a good start, but we could all benefit from building closer communities. I spent this evening learning from a man I greatly admire. After he left the Navy, he joined the fire department where he and his fellow firefighters risked life and limb daily. One of his happiest memories of those days? Cooking with his crew. Tragic? Having to wear a heavy and hot bullet proof vest under his fire suit because some people (and I use this term loosely) found it amusing to take aim at these public servants with firearms. Inspiring? When the city-led by the entire public workforce and joined by residents of all stripes-began taking to the street, block by block, on October 30th to ensure that the senseless and disgusting violence against emergency personnel ceased.

Together, we can make an incredible force for good.

The Day After: Moving Forward Part I

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Americans are frustrated. We thought that January 20, 2009 would be an inflection point for the country. But the job market hasn’t recovered, the economy hasn’t rebounded, and most importantly, it feels as though opportunity continues to slip away. We expected (unfairly, though perhaps appropriately given the rhetoric) overnight transformation and forgot that the momentum of a massive economy doesn’t turn on a dime. And we failed to perceive much of the progress that Candidate Obama had promised and the Democrats in Washington delivered (especially the House), or to understand the real and positive impact of many of these policies. Americans were frustrated and we voted. What next?

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Bring an Unlikely Voter to the Polls Today

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Today is Election Day. Go vote. Don’t know your polling place? Google “polling place.” Or go here. Encounter a problem voting? Call the DNC Voter Protection Hotline at 800.311.8683 (800.311.VOTE). And please–don’t use a touch screen when you have another option, but if you do: check the receipt on the machine before  you leave to verify that it matches the votes you attempted to cast. If it does not, contact an official poll worker immediately.

And if you really want to make your vote count and make our country better today? Convince someone who did not intend to vote with you to the polls today. How? Continue reading →

Vote.

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The Sanity rally is over. What did the event that-attracted-a-far-greater-number-of-people-than-Glenn-Beck-and-Sarah-Palin’s signify? Why did nearly a quarter of a million people (Argh! broken link. The new Fox News article doesn’t try to do a crowd estimate.) come to a rally-without-a-cause? Most of the crowd couldn’t even see or hear anything on stage, let alone make it to a portopotty.

What brought everyone together? What did the rally mean? Continue reading →

On the Rally: Go Vote!

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Update: No, I just watched the end of the ‘moment of sincerity.’ Stewart did not call people to vote.

Update: I was corrected by a friend at dinner. Although you could not hear it from our vantage point, Stewart’s last word was “vote.”

Phew! Glad to learn that the civic opportunity wasn’t overlooked. And while those of us at the rally may not have heard the request, we will. Viewers at home? The encouragement/reminder may help. And that could be the best possible outcome.
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Inspiring A New American Dream

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Fareed Zakaria provides good insight into the opportunity to restore America’s “can do spirit.” We need, as a community, to re-engage, rethink, and recommit ourselves to a new path, and he offers some solid proposals to get us started.

What new path? He sees a potential American future driving global innovation, but only if we invest and commit ourselves. “There are solutions, but they are hard and involve painful changes — in companies, government programs and personal lifestyles. For more than a generation, Americans have been unwilling to make these adjustments.” I think he may be overly optimistic.

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Vote GOP = Vote for Change (BAD CHANGE)

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A lot of Americans are unemployed. More Americans are underemployed. And almost all of us are dissatisfied-even mad-about the economy.

Channel that anger. Demand better–not just different–policies from Washington and our State Legislatures.  We will each face a choice on Tuesday, November 2nd.  Democrats offer a vision of a better tomorrow. Republicans offer the same rehashed “pledge,” talking points that haven’t changed in 30 years. But what worked for Dutch won’t work today–instead we’ll find ourselves in the position of the Commies, blowing what remains of our economy on missiles we can’t afford.

Not all change is good change. The GOP offers bad change; examples follow. Continue reading →

ABA may require job prospect transparency, other professions?

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Interesting news from Karen Sloan over at the National Law Journal:

“A lot of attention has been focused on employment data, and our subcommittee will be proposing much more rigorous requirements,” said David Yellen, dean of Loyola University Chicago School of Law and chairman of the standard 509 subcommittee. “The current standard is very general — you could even call it vague. People have been comparing apples to oranges because schools report what they want.”

For example, schools have to disclose to the ABA what percentage of their graduates are employed nine months after graduation. They don’t have to disclose whether students have part-time jobs, full-time jobs, jobs paid for by their law school or jobs that don’t require a J.D., Yellen said. Much of his information is already collected by the National Association for Law Placement, and should be required and disclosed by the ABA, he said.

Of course, nothing has been adopted and these are merely proposals, but it is welcome news. As with a great many things, disclosure will help people make well-informed decisions. It is reassuring to have a self-regulating industry such as the legal profession start moving in this direction (of course, it would be even better if the Association of American Law Schools or the National Association for Legal Career Professionals came out with their full-throated support.)

What about undergraduate schools? Other graduate programs? President Obama is a huge believer that a well-educated citizenry is essential to our long-term vitality as a nation. A belief that many of us share. But as part of his reform program, ought we not call for more transparency in this vital industry?

If the rest of ‘em won’t self-regulate, ought not Elizabeth Warren get involved?