ASI TIENEN QUE SER LAS CONTRIBUCIONES A LAS CAMPAÑAS

 

Click here to contribute by mail or phoneClick here if you are an American living abroad

CONTACT INFORMATION

First Name:

Last Name:

Address:

City:

State:          AK     AL     AR     AS     AZ     CA     CO     CT     DC     DE     FL     GA     GU     HI     IA     ID     IL     IN     KS     KY     LA     MA     MD     ME     MI     MN     MO     MP     MS     MT     NC     ND     NE     NH     NJ     NM     NV     NY     OH     OK     OR     PA     PR     PW     RI     SC     SD     TN     TX     UT     VA     VI     VT     WA     WI     WV     WY                                  

Zip:

Phone:

Email:

EMPLOYMENT

To comply with Federal law we must obtain your employment information.

If not employed, enter "none"

Employer:

Occupation:

SELECT A TYPE AND AMOUNT

One-time contribution

Recurring monthly (what's this?)

$5	$50	$250	$1000	$4600
$25	$100	$500	$2300	Other $

CREDIT CARD INFORMATION

Card Number:

Expiration:                                                                                  1                                         2                                         3                                         4                                         5                                         6                                         7                                         8                                         9                                         10                                         11                                         12                                                                                                                    2008                                         2009                                         2010                                         2011                                         2012                                         2013                                         2014                                         2015                                         2016                                         2017                                 

Security Code: (what's this?)

CONFIRM YOUR ELIGIBILITY

By checking this box, I confirm that the following statements are true and accurate:

1. This contribution is made from my own funds, and not those of another.
2. This contribution is not made from the general treasury funds of a corporation, labor organization or national bank.
3. I am not a Federal government contractor.
4. I am not a foreign national who lacks permanent resident status in the United States.
5. I am at least 18 years of age.
6. This contribution is made on a personal credit or debit card for which I have the legal obligation to pay, and is made neither on a corporate or business entity card nor on the card of another.

Having a problem with your contribution? Contact Us

Consulten, opinen y escriban
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RSE DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile

 

Consulta por cursos, charlas  en RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL, LOBBY- BIOCOMBUSTIBLES- A NIVEL INTERNACIONAL - Y PARA CHILE DISPONIBLES  OTEC, OTIC, UNIVERSIDADES.

Green is good

reen is good 
By Greg Johnson

Photo credit: Candace diCarlo

 

Earth is dying slowly from the effects of global warming, water shortages, deforestation, desertification and other man-made killers.

Fortunately, there are those who are working diligently to educate the masses and find a cure. Former Vice President Al Gore is one. Eric W. Orts, director of the Wharton School's Environmental Management Program, is another.

He has no Academy Award, but Orts, both a corporate and environmental lawyer, is certainly doing his part to spread knowledge of the topic: He has written numerous articles and chapters on environmental law, helped create innovative proposals for reforming environmental regulations, and co-edited the 2001 book, "Environmental Contracts: Comparative Approaches to Regulatory Innovation in the United States and Europe."

In November, he accompanied Penn President Amy Gutmann to the Global Colloquium of University Presidents at New York University, serving as her faculty expert, and here at Penn, is the founding director of Penn's recently launched Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL). This Wharton-led, cross-disciplinary endeavor has been designed to sponsor research addressing some of the planet's most pressing environmental ills.

Q. Have you always been interested in the environment? 
A. I guess the roots of my interest in the environment go back to early childhood experiences, going hiking, camping, that sort of thing. One of my early teachers at Oberlin College developed an early course in environmental political theory. I actually didn't take that course but I was always interested in that topic. I then went into law school and was a corporate lawyer for a while. My main area is corporate law and corporate governance. Coming out of my interests in issues of corporate and social responsibility and corporate governance, I became interested in issues of how corporate law relates to environmental kinds of problems. Very few people were doing work that crossed those two areas. You pretty much were either an environmental lawyer and an administrative law type, or you were a corporate lawyer and a private law type. I started to have an interest in the environmental law side. The big turning point for me was that I heard about the Earth Summit that was coming up in Rio de Janeiro [in 1992]. Attending the Earth Summit was one point also where lots of business interests started to realize that this was an issue that the business sector had to take a leadership role in. And so seeing and meeting some folks who had that perspective helped to also convert me to the idea that this was something I was interested in.

Q. Do you view green initiatives as a passing fad or something people are genuinely concerned about?
A. I would say that there has been some indication that interest in environmental issues has a cycle to it. It's certainly true that if you are heading into a recessionary economic period, or even a depression, that it's much more difficult for people to have the environment very high on the agenda. It's also been a challenge if you look at developing countries and policies in developing countries. It's very difficult to get traction on environmental issues in those countries where they're really struggling day to day just to basically feed themselves and to develop. So I think there's always been a challenge for environmentalists in that respect but my general feeling is that there is an increasing interest. And so even though they'll be some ups and downs in the ability of the population, or the media, or the politicians to focus on environmental issues, the general trend is upward.

Q. Does any one environmental problem outweigh another in terms of severity? 
A. The most serious problem sometimes depends on who's asking the question, and where you are. If I lived in a very heavily air polluted Chinese city and you would ask me, 'From where you're sitting right now, what's the biggest environmental problem?' I'd probably say, 'The immense amount of air pollution right in this city.' Probably climate change is something else that's going to happen, but for those people right there, right now, this huge industrial air pollution is the biggest problem. I think it depends on what your perspective is and where you live and what you're focusing on.

Q. Are there any environmental areas where we have made progress?
A. I think there are some issues that look to be success stories, and probably the ozone layer depletion problem is one of them. You probably don't hear about it so much because I think the common understanding right now is that the problem was recognized by scientific observation. The cause of the ozone layer depletion was identified. It was basically specific chemicals that were being produced by companies for refrigerants and other things. Basically, it's a success because there was a ban on those chemicals. There seems to be some evidence that the depletion is slowing down and that we have avoided a catastrophe. I think there are some success stories out there. You can look at the Schuylkill River. Most people would still not want to swim in it but actually it's a lot better than it used to be. So if you look at the general quality of water in the United States over the last hundred years or so, we've really had a huge success.

Q. Among the business community, do you think green initiatives are sincere or just a marketing ploy? 
A. I think sometimes it's difficult to tell. I've talked to a number of corporate leaders and I think that it is real at some companies. Companies are not in business if they don't see that they're going to be able to make profits, so the principle focus for companies today— and I think it's a legitimate focus—is making money and making profits. But I think that there are companies out there that understand that [making money] is not the only objective. I think that many companies have seen that environmental issues are one of a set of other ethical issues that are out there that you have to care about to some extent. The other thing that is changing companies' views is that there is a connection between profits and your environmental reputation. I think there are companies out there that are not serious, that are just doing it for the marketing or just doing it for the reputational benefit and it's not real. I think, increasingly, companies had better be careful when they do that because [non-government organizations] are watching, their shareholders are more interested in this issue, employees care about these issues. I think, for those reasons, the number of companies that are [phony] are playing a dangerous game. And you see more serious players who are getting into this and really believe what they're saying.

Q. Exxon Mobil earned a reported $40.6 billion last year, or $77,213 per minute. How would you persuade its investors that going green would benefit the company?
A. Exxon Mobil is a case of a company that is making a lot of money in the petroleum business and, to some extent, the burning of petroleum is going to cause certain kinds of environmental problems. At the same time, you can't really imagine our current economy running without oil, so the transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to an economy that is not producing greenhouse gases to that extent and also other kinds of air pollution problems is not a short term transition. You don't look at these companies and say, 'Well, you shouldn't be making this kind of profit.' That's the nature of the world we're in. I do think there's a responsibility, though, for those companies to see that they're a part of these overall general problems, and then taking a position about progressive policies of where they're going to go. So with respect to oil companies, you could ask questions like, 'What is Exxon Mobil's strategy for diversifying its energy portfolio?' It's a huge company; it can make a huge impact if it decided to put significant resources into developing new alternative sources of energy. I think it is doing so already to some extent, but the question for them would be how far are you really going on that? 

Q. Is solving these issues more of a problem of changing laws or changing personal behavior?
A. I think it's a combination. I'm a lawyer and so I tend to be skeptical of the view that the market will change everything. There are some academics and policymakers out there who think that the government should just get out of the way and there will be a green revolution and business will lead it and everybody will sign up. I disagree with that. I think that there are significant problems that, to solve them, will cost money and require sacrifices in maybe your lifestyle or other things. And for those kinds of problems, you do have to have legislation. Now, at the same time, I say both because I think there's a lot of power in consumers and markets and that shareholders have to influence where the economy goes. I think you see that already with organic foods. It's been a huge growth industry that I think surprised a lot of people.

Q. You mentioned that Europe has much tougher environmental laws than the United States. Why is the U.S. trailing in this area?
A. I think that if you look at environmental law, the earliest mover was the United States in the 1970s. And I think the explanation was the Civil Rights Movement and the environmental movement of the 60s and 70s helped to propel the first major legislation at the federal level—the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and some of the other federal legislation. I'm not sure what happened. I think, to some extent, there's probably a political explanation, that there was a cyclical fallback, that maybe there were a lot of regulations and the regulations pinched very deeply, and so you had a lot of businesses saying, 'Wait. This is way too much.' And they're pushing back and so you had some political shifts against regulation. There are different explanations about why green issues came to be so dominant in Europe. One answer is that the green parties were much stronger in Europe, particularly in Germany. There were some major crises. There was what was called the death of the forest in Germany and some other political events. There was a stronger anti-nuclear movement in Europe than in the United States. So there were some political forces that were responsible.

Q. Are you confident that the next President will institute policies to tackle some of these issues?
A. I think it's likely. It always depends on who it would be. Right now, it looks like [Arizona Sen. John McCain] has a very good chance of being the Republican nominee. McCain has a bill that's already sponsoring climate change regulation so he certainly has a much different view about this issue than George Bush has had. And all the Democrats basically are in favor of some sort of climate change regulation. I think right now, looking at the tea leaves, it looks like we're going to have a President who's in favor of some kind of legislation.

Q. What role can colleges and universities play in addressing global environmental issues? 
A. It's a place where you get creative ideas about how to approach a problem. Understanding environmental problems requires science and those who do science are based in the universities, so the universities are basically the place where you can best identify what the problems are and what the various dimensions of the problems are. Climate change, for example, is a very complicated problem. We don't know all of the answers to how the climate works. And the solutions aren't simple either. But I think that those are the main reasons why universities are one of the principle places. That's where new ideas come from, that's where the science is basically produced, and also, that's where the future generations are being educated.

Q. What sorts of environmental programs exist at Penn?
A. We have an Environmental Management Program at the Wharton School. That's designed for students who are already certain that they're going to go into this field in some business capacity. The new program that we're very excited about is IGEL, the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership. It's also involved with students but it's not directly curriculum. This is more of looking outward to sponsorship from corporations. We have 10 leading companies who have agreed to sponsor this for a three-year period. The idea is to identify some very good research topics and conference topics that are really important for businesses, but that they want to engage with other stakeholders—NGOs, the government, etc.—to try to address these issues. I think that's our most exciting current project, to try to sponsor some research and have some conferences on those kinds of issues.

Q. Who are some of the sponsors?
A. BASF, International Paper, Exelon, Merck, GE, United Water, Goldman Sachs, Xerox, Interface, Rohm & Haas.

Q. What Penn schools will be involved with the initiative?
A. We're trying to involve as many as possible. It's definitely aimed to include faculty from any of the schools who have an interest in the topics that we identify. Any faculty member who is interested in this really should feel free to contact me.

Q. What studies do you hope to undertake?
A. There's a couple of different possibilities. One likely candidate is to look at carbon markets. I think that's one topic that we seem to be lining up on. We're also looking at this general question of how do businesses really make decisions about environmental issues internally? One other one is environmental performance measurements and reporting. That has to do with the fact that it's becoming more frequent for companies to have annual reports about their environmental performance. If a company is saying, 'We're a good environmental company and here's our report,' how does a consumer know that's true or accurate?

Q. How do you envision Penn living up to the sustainability pledge signed by President Gutmann?
A. One problem is to look at what this is going to mean. Who is included in the footprint of greenhouse gas emissions when you say 'the University?' I think that's a very important and interesting problem. Do you include jet air travel that the students take during spring break? Do you include jet air travel by professors if they're going to a conference? Or should we really look more narrowly at only the plant and equipment at Penn?
One interesting question is to look at how is the definition of that problem going to be accomplished. And I think that, at the very least, that's going to be very interesting because it helps to educate. One of the things I really like about the pledge is that it will educate people to have a better understanding of, 'How does your daily activity affect the wider environment?' So I think there's a very strong educational component to following through with this pledge.

Q. You made some eye-opening statements in your comments at the NYU forum, saying, for instance, that "it is not alarmist to point out the increasing probability of a collapse of the environmental prerequisites for human survival as a species." If we do not correct these environmental problems, is the survival of humanity at stake?
A. I think that when you start to look at these issues, one of the things that you realize is that the number of people on this planet is so huge and the amount of resources that we use are massive and they have a geophysical influence on the rest of the natural environment. Just one indication is the loss of biodiversity. So the idea that we're living through the extinction of so many other plants and animals at this moment is, I think, a cause for concern because you realize this is really a huge impact that you're having and you're wiping out entire species.
It used to be, from almost our entire history, that nature was always more powerful than the human species. We've kind of tipped the balance now so we're actually a threat to nature. We're a threat to the natural balance and that comes in lots of places. I don't think it's just climate change. Climate change is one thing. People are realizing that we're putting all this stuff into the atmosphere and we don't really know the full effects of that. These are not minor problems.
I think what you've seen, though, is warning signs. It's not that it's a doom and gloom, we're about to go over the cliff for sure, but there are enough indications of significant warning signs that call us to pay more attention to what effects we have.

 

Consulten, opinen y escriban
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RSE DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile

 

Consulta por cursos, charlas  en RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL, LOBBY- BIOCOMBUSTIBLES- A NIVEL INTERNACIONAL - Y PARA CHILE DISPONIBLES  OTEC, OTIC, UNIVERSIDADES.

FROM LEGAL BLOG WATCH

Are Tort Reformers Going After the Wrong Target?

New York personal injury lawyer Eric Turkewitz takes a critical look at a lawsuit by numbers kingpin-cum-Rikers Island inmate Raymond Marquez, alleging that the New York City Department of Corrections' indoor smoking policy caused Marquez's bladder cancer.  Despite the fact that Marquez had smoked for thirty years before quitting around the mid-1970s, his lawsuit attributed his cancer to the second hand smoke that he endured between 1998 and 2001 while awaiting trial at Rikers Island for a crime for which he was subsequently acquitted.  On Friday, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the City.

Turkewitz comments:

When I first heard about the litigation, it sounded like a dog, and I don't know any reputable personal injury firm that would have taken it. And as it turns out, the suit was brought by the plaintiff's son, who happens to be a local attorney.

Because most reputable lawyers would have -- and indeed did -- decline this case, Turkewitz argues that it's unfair for the City to make the case a poster child for "ridiculous lawsuits" as it has done in recent press releases. 

Turkewitz makes an interesting point.  Some of the most notable examples of litigation-gone-wild -- such as Roy Pearson's $65 million pants suit against the dry cleaners or the $54 million suit against Best Buy for losing a woman's computer in the repair shop -- were brought by pro se litigants (though Pearson is a lawyer).   In many pro se cases, or cases where a plaintiff is represented by a friend or a relative, it's often because most sensible plaintiffs' lawyers turned the cases down.  For that reason, is it fair to use cases that no lawyer would have taken anyway as an example of what's broken in the tort system or as a basis for criticizing trial lawyers?

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 14, 2008 at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vista Won't See the Light of Day at Most Law Firms

It's been about two years since Microsoft launched Vista, a Windows-based operating system that has been so poorly received that even Wikipedia devoted an entire entry to "Criticism of Windows Vista."  Because of its many problems, Vista is being bypassed by many large corporations, reports Rick Georges at Future Lawyer.

As for law firms, this is one case where their complacency in adopting new technology plays to their advantage.  Georges writes that "until someone makes [law firms] adopt it, Vista will not likely see the insides of a majority of law firm computers." Thus, most law firms will be spared the headaches that other users have experienced with Vista.

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 14, 2008 at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Web Users Would Support Code of Conduct

Though blogging, Web 2.0 applications, and user-generated content sites represent the still-wild, untamed frontier of the Internet, most users would not resist efforts to settle the laws of this territory. According to a story in the Guardian, nearly half of Internet users would support a voluntary code of conduct for bloggers and online commentators, according to a survey by DLA Piper. The survey revealed that currently, roughly 75 percent of Web users who have posted comments on blogs and news sites had no understanding of laws governing libel, defamation or intellectual property that might potentially apply to their conduct on the Web.

At the same time, while 46 percent of Web users were receptive to a voluntary code of conduct, users' current actions suggest otherwise.  At present, only one third of Web users surveyed actually read the legal liabilities in the terms of conditions of Web sites that they use.  And 14 percent have had content removed from a site due to violation of applicable terms and conditions. Bottom line: While Web users may say they want a code of conduct, in practice, few obey the rules in place now.

Do you support a code of conduct for Web users?  And if so, what features would it include?

(H/T to ABA Journal.)

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 14, 2008 at 08:23 AM | Permalink

Consulten, opinen y escriban
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RSE DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile

 

Consulta por cursos, charlas  en RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL, LOBBY- BIOCOMBUSTIBLES- A NIVEL INTERNACIONAL - Y PARA CHILE DISPONIBLES  OTEC, OTIC, UNIVERSIDADES.

FROM LEGAL BLOG WATCH

Can Flextime Create Work-Life Balance if Lawyers Aren't Comfortable Using It?

In theory, benefits like extended maternity leave, part-time options and telecommuting are the hallmarks of a robust and effective law firm work-life balance initiative.  But as it turns out, in practice, less than half of eligible attorneys feel comfortable availing themselves of these options, at least according to the results of this survey jointly sponsored by Above the Law and Lateral Link.  Of the 1 ,669 respondents, only 45 percent of women and 18 percent of men said they would feel comfortable asking to go part-time after having a child, while 39 percent of women and 25 percent of men would feel comfortable asking for an extended unpaid leave.  Finally, roughly one third of respondents of either gender said they would feel comfortable asking to telecommute after having a child.  At the same time, most lawyers -- two third of men and 59 percent of women -- did feel comfortable leaving the office at 6 p.m. to be home with children and then continue to work remotely. 

My guess is that lawyers are comfortable with leaving earlier because they could do so on an ad hoc basis, rather than through a formal law firm program.  Thus, they would not suffer the same stigma that they might if the firm were required to make a special accommodation, as it would with initiatives like telecommuting or part time work. 

It seems that even in these supposedly more enlightened times, the "parent track" doesn't run parallel to the partnership track.  As Ellen Ostrow suggests in this piece, unintentional biases still remain within the workplace -- and that for retention programs to succeed, firms must develop mechanisms for preventing biases from influencing judgments and behavior. (H/T to Women Lawyers Back on Track.)

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 12, 2008 at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blawg Review #159

Blawg Review #159 is up at The Whistleblower Law Blog, sponsored by the law firm of LaBovick and LaBovick. Blawg Review #159 includes interesting picks such as the greatest pro defense decisions from the Drug and Device Law Blog and this update from Lowering the Bar on a brewing copyright battle between the state of Oregon and some of the legal Web sites that publish its statutes online for free.  And if links like these aren't enough incentive to draw you to Blawg Review #159, perhaps you'll be enticed by the opportunity to reacquaint yourself with some of your favorite nursery rhymes which are interspersed throughout.

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 12, 2008 at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bike Couriers Riding Off Into the Sunset

First, it was the typewriter.  And now, another former sine qua non of law firm practice -- the bike courier -- faces endangered species status in this Internet-enabled paperless era. 

The Providence Journal reports on how e-filing is impacting the bike courier business in Rhode Island and nationwide. Back in 1999, the state had about 480 couriers and messengers, but that number dropped to 400 -- down nearly 20 percent -- by 2006.  The state's trend aligns with national statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, which show a decline in couriers and messengers from 134,370 in 1999 to 105,070 in 2006.

Not surprisingly, Walter J. Marshall, the Boston-based regional economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, attributes the decline to the emergence of electronic communication and e-filing. In Rhode Island, both U.S. Bankruptcy Court and federal district court have been using e-filing for the past few years.  Even the Secretary of State's office began accepting corporations' annual reports electronically in August 2007, and is now considering extending the electronic filing program to nonprofits and limited liability companies.  Indeed, thus far, the state courts remain the only hold-outs, though they are expected to implement e-filing by 2011.

In the meantime, courier services, which rely heavily on court filings and law firm business, are coping with the changes.  One company, Dash Delivery, lost 30 percent of its business when the Bankruptcy Court went electronic and another 25 percent when the federal district court went online.  The company continues to deliver important documents, as well as charging documents in criminal cases and initial complaints, which are still filed in paper form.  And it is diversifying, now delivering blood samples and medical files for hospitals. 

Do you or your law firm still rely on messenger services and bike couriers?  Will there always be a need for messenger services -- or will we see their ranks continue to decline?

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 12, 2008 at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sports Law Is a Tough Game to Enter

Transitioning from a conventional law practice to work as a sports agent can be a tough game for lawyers, as discussed in this Fulton County Daily Report story profiling several Atlanta lawyers who attempted to make the play. For one lawyer, Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore partner Von DuBose, a gamble on Michigan State University defensive end Ervin Baldwin paid off.  After months traveling across the country to watch Baldwin practice and play, and counsel him on handling media interviews, the Chicago Bears drafted Baldwin,  allowing DuBose to continue to build his sports agent business. On the other hand, personal injury and criminal defense lawyer Mawuli Davis, who focused his efforts on representing basketball players, never found an opportunity to represent a player in a major league deal. Without a client to build on or the funding needed to pursue clients, Davis "decided to cut his losses and stick to traditional legal work."

Given that the sports agency business demands high up-front costs to lure clients, one might think that the field would be dominated by deep-pocked, mega law firms.  But the truth is that very few agents work for the Am Law 200:

"Being an agent doesn't work with big firm economics," said Brandon Witkow [a sports agent lawyer].  Big firms bill by the hour, but the vast majority of sports agents receive a percentage of their clients' salaries, Witkow said.  Also, a big firm lawyer working as an agent can't bill for the countless hours he'll spend doing tasks that are standard agent fare.  "You incur a lot of time as an agent preparing pitch packets for clients, traveling to meet team general managers and to summer camps," Witkow said. "Those are costs that can't be directly passed on to the client."

A few large firms, including Bryan Cave, Dow Lohnes, Stinson Morrison Hecker and Williams & Connolly have a sports agent practice.  And some firms, such as Covington & Burling or Proskauer Rose have sports law practices, representing the leagues or teams rather than acting as agents for individual players.  Indeed, by representing individual players, these firms would conflict themselves out of their ability to represent the big corporate entities that can afford large firm rates.  As a result, despite the initial start up costs, the sports-agent field continues to remain dominated by small shops or solo practices.

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 11, 2008 at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Consulten, opinen y escriban
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RSE DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile

 

Consulta por cursos, charlas  en RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL, LOBBY- BIOCOMBUSTIBLES- A NIVEL INTERNACIONAL - Y PARA CHILE DISPONIBLES  OTEC, OTIC, UNIVERSIDADES.

DEMOCRACY NOW! DAILY EMAIL DIGEST

DEMOCRACY NOW! DAILY EMAIL DIGEST
May 12, 2008

= = = = = = = = =

Amy and David Goodman's new book, STANDING UP TO THE MADNESS, has hit #29
on the New York Times bestseller list!! If it hits #15 or above, it
appears in the pages of the New York Times! It also hit the Booksense
bestseller list -- the list of independent bookstores nationwide,
booksense.com! Thank you

= = = = = = = = =

* Amy Goodman on Tour - 12th Anniversary of Democracy Now! Standing Up to
the Madness Tour *

Amy Goodman has written her third book with her brother David, titled
"Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times." The
"Standing Up to the Madness" tour continues.

Upcoming events:

Fri, 5/16 Boston, MA
Sat, 5/17 Chicago, IL
Sun, 5/18 Philadelphia, PA

Find your event and use our "Email to a Friend" system to help spread
the word.

See http://tour.democracynow.org for details

= = = = = = = = =

Democracy Now! is hiring a full-time Outreach Director
For more information visit http://www.democracynow.org/about/jobs

= = = = = = = = =

TODAY'S DEMOCRACY NOW!:

* World Renowned Philosopher Slavoj Zizek on the Iraq War, the Bush
Presidency, the War on Terror & More *

Part two of our wide-ranging discussion with Slavoj Zizek, the philosopher,
psychoanalyst and cultural theorist. He has been called the ³Elvis of
cultural theory² and is widely considered to be one of Europe¹s leading
intellectuals. He has written more than fifty books and speaks to sold-out
audiences around the world.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/12/world_renowned_philosopher_slavoj

 
* 81 Dead in Lebanon as Hezbollah Clashes with US-Backed Pro-Government
Forces *

"This is very much similar to what is happening in Sudan, in Palestine, in
Iraq, in Afghanistan and Somalia, [where] the United States is basically
instigating and funding civil wars," says professor As¹ad Abu Khalil.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/12/81_dead_in_lebanon_as_hezbollah

 
* Headlines for May 12, 2008 *

Oxfam: Burma on Brink of Massive Public Health Catastrophe
Junta Blocks & Delays Aid Supplies to Burma
Climate Change Group: Cyclone Is a Sign of Things to Come
GOP Convention Coordinator Resigns Over Ties to Burma¹s Junta
Obama Gains Support of 21 Superdelegates
After 1,000 Killed, a Ceasefire Is Reached in Sadr City
US-Backed Iraqi Troops Launch Attack in Mosul
Report: Blackwater Won¹t Face Criminal Charges for Civilian Deaths
Price of Oil Reaches New High: $126 Per Barrel
Environmental Activist Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
NYPD Disciplines White Officer Who Stopped Black Commander

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/12/headlines

= = = = = = = = =

Democracy Now!'s daily news summaries are now available in Spanish:

Read Monday, May 12, 2008:
http://www.democracynow.org/es

To subscribe to these "Titulares de Hoy" by email, send a blank message
to: boletin-sub@list.democracynow.org

= = = = = = = = =

COMING UP ON DEMOCRACY NOW!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008: TBA

= = = = = = = = =

* Read Amy Goodman's latest column *

"The U.S. War on Journalists"

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080507_americas_war_on_journalists/

Consider writing your local newspaper and asking for them to carry the
column, distributed by King Features.  Many papers across the US have done
so already.

If you see the column in your paper, please mail us a copy of the full page,
to:

Democracy Now!
100 Lafayette St
New York, NY 10013

Thank you!

= = = = = = = = =

* New stations broadcasting Democracy Now! *

Radio Free Frisco on the internet at www.radiofreefrisco.com is now
airing Democracy Now! at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., M-F

RCTV, Ch. 76 in Rye, NY is now airing Democracy Now! at 7 am, M-F

= = = = = = = = =

* New stations broadcasting "Los Titulares de Hoy" (Democracy Now!'s daily
news summary in Spanish) *

Radio Calenda la Voz del valle  107.9 FM in the province of   San
Antonino de Castillo, Oaxca is broadcasting el Resumen Semanal  on
Sundays from 8:00 to 8:30 am

Radio Bálsam, 90.5 FM, in Zaragoza El Salvador is now broadcasting Spanish
Headlines M-F at 12:00 pm.

= = = = = = = = =

Democracy Now! summer internships:

For information on summer internships at Democracy Now! in New York City,
email admin@democracynow.org

= = = = = = = = =

Also available as a "podcast"! Get the Democracy Now! daily show and/or the
Spanish Headlines automatically downloaded to your computer or portable
audio player. Visit http://www.democracynow.org/podcasting to see how.

= = = = = = = = =

* ATTENTION EDUCATORS *

Are you a professor, teacher, student, community organizer or home educator
who uses the Democracy Now! (DN!) program as a teaching tool? Do you use the
on line DN!  search engine for content about a specific subject? Do you show
individual programs in classes or meetings? Do you incorporate the daily
show into your curriculum or issue-based campaign? Have you found other
creative ways to use DN! as an educational resource?

We are gathering information to offer DN! as a resource to educational
institutions and programs. Note we also offer copies of the show in several
formats at a 50% discount to educators. Please share your experiences with
us by writing to (please include your contact info):
education@democracynow.org.

= = = = = = = = =

Please forward this to friends and family and encourage them to subscribe.

= = = = = = = = =

To unsubscribe: send a blank email digest-unsub@list.democracynow.org
Check for detailed instructions in email below.


= = = = = = = = =
ABOUT DEMOCRACY NOW!
Democracy Now! airs on over 650 radio and TV stations, including
Pacifica, NPR, community, and college radio stations; on public
access, PBS, satellite TV stations (DISH network: Free Speech TV
ch. 9415 and Link TV ch. 9410; DIRECTV: Link TV ch. 375); on the World
Radio Network's European Service and on the Community Broacasting
Association of Australia service; as a "podcast", automatically
downloaded to your computer or portable audio player; and streams live
M-F at 8am EST at www.democracynow.org
= = = = = = = = =
Now real-time CLOSED CAPTIONED on TV!
You can also view/listen/read all Democracy Now! shows online:
http://www.democracynow.org
To bring Democracy Now! to your community, go to:
http://www.democracynow.org/get_involved/bring_to_station
= = = = = = = = =

Consulten, opinen y escriban
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RSE DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile

 

Consulta por cursos, charlas  en RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL, LOBBY- BIOCOMBUSTIBLES- A NIVEL INTERNACIONAL - Y PARA CHILE DISPONIBLES  OTEC, OTIC, UNIVERSIDADES.

Emergency evacuation as Chile volcano spits lava

By Esteban Medel

CHAITEN, Chile, May 6 (Reuters) - Crackling with explosions, Chile's Chaiten volcano began spitting lava on Tuesday following its first eruption in thousands of years, and Navy warships were deployed to evacuate nearby residents in the southern region of Patagonia.

Chaiten erupted last Friday, sending a towering plume of ash into the sky that has since coated the surrounding area of southern Chile and reached into neighboring Argentina.

The settlement of Chaiten, six miles (10 km) from the volcano, looked like a ghost town on Tuesday. Aside from a small contingent of Navy sailors and a few journalists, only dogs, chickens and horses remained standing in the ash.

Explosions and loud groaning noises resounded from the crater of the 3,280-foot (1,000-meter) volcano, which had been dormant for thousands of years.

No lava flow has yet been detected down Chaiten's sides, but Chile's National Emergency Office said the volcano was spitting bits of molten rock and that remaining civilians and troops were being evacuated across a fjord.

"The situation has changed suddenly," national emergency official Rodrigo Rojas said in an interview. "Today the volcano is erupting with pyroclastic material on a different scale."

The towering ash cloud was clearly visible from the southern town of Puerto Montt, where many desperate evacuees were being sheltered.

"I am very worried to have left my house, my pet, my animals behind. All I want is for this to be over," said Carola Perez, a 22-year-old housewife evacuated to the town.

The government ordered the evacuation of a 30-mile (50 km) radius around the volcano -- which lies some 760 miles (1,220 km) south of the capital, Santiago -- including two dozen people who had refused to leave their homes and animals.

It appealed to anyone still on remote farms in the area to leave.

Military personnel, police and journalists were being ferried to join dozens of civilians already aboard warships waiting in the fjord off Chaiten. Around 4,200 people, nearly the whole population of Chaiten, have already been evacuated.

Sparsely populated Patagonia is the southernmost swathe of Latin America that cuts across Chile and Argentina and is home to towering snow-capped peaks, some of them volcanoes, glaciers and log cabins, and is a gold mine for dinosaur fossil hunters.

DENSE CLOUD OF ASH

Luis Lara, a government geologist, said he did not expect a catastrophic collapse of the Chaiten volcano, but that a cloud of dense, very hot material could coat the surrounding area.

"This produces a more complicated scenario," Lara said. "A dense cloud of pyroclastic material could move down its slopes, and that causes much more damage (than a spray of lava)."

"The entire volcano will not (collapse), but the eruptive column could, and that is sufficient material to be displaced down its sides and into areas nearby," he added. "Lava flow would not reach Chaiten, but hot fragments, ash and gas could."

A second town, Futaleufu, has also been coated with ash and is being evacuated. The area is some distance from Chile's vital mining industry farther north.

Some of Futaleufu's 1,000 or so residents have already crossed into neighboring Argentina, where some areas have also been showered with thick ash and where flights and schools were suspended.

Argentina is not evacuating residents from the worst-affected zones, instead advising them to stay indoors.

"It's a horrible situation. Sometimes it goes all dark and it doesn't stop raining ash," said Cecilia Rimoldi, a resident of the southern Argentine tourist town of El Bolson.

The ash is more than 6 inches (15 cm) thick in some places near Chaiten, contaminating water supplies and coating houses, vehicles and trees. Thousands of head of cattle are being moved out of the area.

Chile has the world's second most active string of volcanoes behind Indonesia. It is home to 2,000 volcanoes, 500 of which experts say are potentially active. Around 60 have erupted over the past 450 years.

(Additional reporting by Antonio de la Jara in Puerto Montt, Monica Vargas, Manuel Farias and Juana Casas in Santiago and Jorge Otaola and Walter Bianchi in Buenos Aires; Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Kieran Murray) 

MÁS INFORMACION; PINCHA AQUI

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KKAA-7EE4PM?OpenDocument&rc=2&emid=VO-2008-000056-CHL

 

 

 

Consulten, opinen y escriban
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RSE DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile

 

Consulta por cursos, charlas  en RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL, LOBBY- BIOCOMBUSTIBLES- A NIVEL INTERNACIONAL - Y PARA CHILE DISPONIBLES  OTEC, OTIC, UNIVERSIDADES.

Roundup: Legal News Worth Noting

LAWYERSCHILE:

Roundup: Legal News Worth Noting

• Lawyer denies infiltrating State Farm database. Former federal prosecutor denies wrongdoing in Katrina case.
• Skycaps and waiters find a legal champion. Clients call Boston lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan "Sledgehammer Shannon."
• O'Connor to hear cases as visiting judge to Hub court. Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor sits in at the 1st Circuit.
• Lawyers would rather fly than download PGP. Has anyone told them about encryption?
• China and Russia still piracy hotbeds. So says the U.S. trade representative in the annual policy agenda and report on IP protection.
• Judicial candidates seek right to free speech. Project aims to help them participate in voter guides.
• Lawyer sanctioned with order to write bar journal article. Judge gives lawyer six months to "publish or perish."
• Ohio attorney general's office considering new e-mail policy. Follows reports of "overly informal, sometimes profanity-laced workplace."

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on April 29, 2008 at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scalia's Write Hand Man

For all the buzz surrounding the 60 Minutes interview with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, one might overlook the fact that this was not his only interview. For example, NPR's legal affairs reporter Nina Totenberg broadcast a three-part interview with Scalia this week. (Part one, part two, part three.) And in the May issue of the ABA Journal, reporter Richard Brust has his own sitdown with Scalia, who is joined in the interview by Bryan A. Garner, co-author of the reason for all these interviews, their new book, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges.

Garner made a cameo appearance in the 60 Minutes piece, but the ABA Journal interview gives him more of his due. Garner, after all, is the guru of legal writing, the man The New York Times once called, "the persnickety stylist for a linguistically challenged profession." The author of several books on legal writing, he runs LawProse, a company that trains lawyers to be better communicators, and is editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary. His collaboration with Scalia grew out of his earlier project, in which he interviewed eight of the nine Supreme Court justices about legal writing and advocacy and posted the interviews online.

The ABA Journal interviewer talks to Scalia and Garner together and also provides an excerpt from the book and a podcast of the interview. When asked about the legal writers he most respects, Garner answers, "My own heroes there are Charles Alan Wright, author of Federal Practice and Procedure; I love the writing of Grant Gilmore, the great Yale law professor; and Lon Fuller, the Harvard philosopher of law."

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on April 29, 2008 at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of Virgins and Christians and Net Neutrality

Whatever your position on net neutrality, you have to admit, the debate is getting weird. Witness two items making the rounds of the blogosphere, one tying advocacy for net neutrality to a presidential candidate's supposed denigration of Christians, and the second involving an advocate's promise to deflower every virgin who joins her campaign.

For the first item, we turn to the conservative news blog Redstate, which recently posted a story under the headline, "Obama and Google's Mutual Adviser: Jesus is gay, wears a diaper, and gets run over." The "mutual adviser" in question is none other than Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig, who Redstate says "really could care less that so many of us revere Jesus." Its evidence is a video, Jesus Christ: The Musical, showing Jesus dancing down a street, lip-syncing to the Gloria Gaynor disco classic "I Will Survive," before being hit by a bus. Given that Lessig supports Barack Obama, Redstate reasons, this somehow links the candidate to denigration of Christianity. More to the point, it proves ... well, something about the net neutrality debate. (Read the post for yourself and try to decipher exactly where it comes down.)

Of course, Lessig had nothing to do with producing the video. Rather, as Ars Technica explains, he showed the video during a recent lecture he gave at Google about copyright and "remix culture." The maker of the film, Javier Prato, is being sued by the owner of the rights to Gaynor's song, and Lessig showed it to illustrate the tension between fair use and intellectual property. In his own response to Redstate, Lessig writes, "It will be interesting (in a root canal kind of way) to see how far or deep PC-ism runs in this society."

As if testing that very point, another supporter of net neutrality legislation has launched the Web site and campaign, Save the Internet ... Don't Stay a Virgin. Belgian Tania Derveaux is doing her part for net neutrality by issuing this promise: "I will make love with every virgin who defends the Internet." Here is how she explains it:

Net neutrality is paramount to safeguard free speech and innovation on the Internet. With only one arguably negative side-effect: an unusual amount of today's Internet users are virgin. That's a problem I intend to solve. In history, man has always waged war for freedom. Now it's time to obtain our freedom with love.

Before leaping to proclaim your support for net neutrality, be sure to review Derveaux's terms of service, which, among other things, requires proof of activity in defense of net neutrality and limits the encounter to "no longer than 30 minutes." Derveaux is spokesperson for the Belgian activist group I Power, and this is not the first time she has offered sexual favors in exchange for activism, MSNBC reports. In 2007, she ran as I Power's candidate in the Belgian general election, with a promise of 40,000 jobs, with "jobs" suggesting relief both economic and of another sort.

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on April 29, 2008 at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The American Lawyer Launches New Site

Tomorrow brings the release of the Am Law 100, The American Lawyer magazine's annual ranking of the nation's largest law firms by revenue. This year, the release will also bring the official launch of the magazine's redesigned Web site. While much of the new site is already up and running, tomorrow's debut is slated to feature extended coverage of the Am Law 100 rankings, including Web-exclusive charts that will project firms' profitability through 2025. An announcement last week gave this overview of the site:

The new site will feature daily news coverage of the legal business, including breaking news reporting on developments at the world's leading law firms, and on the lawyers and professionals working in and with those firms. News will be spotlighted in The Am Law Daily, focusing each day on topics related to 'The Firms,' 'The Talent,' 'The Work,' 'The Management,' 'The Score' and 'The Life.'

Online subscribers and registered users will receive a free daily e-newsletter highlighting top stories.  A second e-newsletter, focused on litigation news, will launch in June.  The site will also feature full access to each month's print issue and a searchable content archive of past issues.  Current issues and the site archives will be available free to registered users until July 31.

Depending on when you are reading this, you may still be able to catch today's free webinar in which Aric Press, editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer, will give a preview of the Am Law 100 results. The 15-minute webinar is at 3 p.m. Eastern time and requires advance registration.

The American Lawyer is, of course, owned by ALM, which also owns Law.com and the blog you are reading, Legal Blog Watch. For anyone interested in reading more about ALM's future, in print and online, I recommend Rob La Gatta's interview with ALM's CEO William L. Pollak, published at the blog Real Lawyers Have Blogs. Among other points, Pollak says that the Web has leveled the field between journalists and readers:

In the pre-web era the paradigm was simple -- editors figured out what was important, presented it to the reader, and the reader took it in. Now, there is much more back-and-forth, and much more user participation in the process of news gathering and analysis. Journalists may still be subject-matter experts on various topics, and their voice may be one which readers still want to hear. But the journalist now has to listen and react to users in a more direct way, and can no longer assume that their word will be the last heard on a given topic.

Pollak also talks about RSS feeds, the Law.com Blog Network, and the future of ALM's print publications.

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on April 29, 2008 at 09:05 AM | Permalink |

Consulten, opinen y escriban
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RSE DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile

 

Soliciten nuestros cursos de capacitación en RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL – LOBBY – BIOCOMBUSTIBLES    y asesorías a nivel internacional y están disponibles  para OTEC Y OTIC en Chile