Another Place to List Your Website

In addition to the usual suspects, yahoo, google, msn, check out the human-edited directory at http://dmoz.org. Because it is human-edited, it carries weight with other search engines.

Shaun

Visual Thesaurus

Looking for the perfect word for a brief, article or to market yourself? A thesaurus is a great way to find the best way to say something. I have a print thesaurus, but the print is tiny and it does not easily show the relationship between words. There is a new product called visual thesaurus that generates a diagram of the related words. You can try it for free and the monthly cost is $2.95 for an individual if you subscribe.

Shaun

Do You Trust Your Lawyer?

A recent Harris poll says lawyers are only trusted by 27% of the public based on a poll of 1002 people. This is a classic example of poor public relations. Police officers are trusted by 76% of the public. Let us dig into this a little. If lawyers get caught lying, they can be punished by the lawyer's board. Police officers are allowed and even encouraged to lie to suspects during interrogations to gain confessions. I am not trying to cast a negative light on the police, both law enforcement and the practice of law are honorable professions, I just find the dichotomy interesting. For some reason, the bar seems unable to raise its esteem in the public eye. Maybe it is just a by product of our adversarial system.

The irony of the poll is that pollsters are not trusted either. . . Kudos to the pollsters for even asking that question! Their conclusion are that they need to work harder to inform the public of what they do. I agree and feel that lawyers must do the same.

Finally, while I am distressed that people are so distrusting of lawyers, there is a possible upside to this situation. If people distrust lawyers because they want to think critically about information received from someone whose job it is to advocate for someone else, then I think this is a good development.

Shaun

Constitution Day

It is Constitution Day today, so I thought I would share some quotes. Enjoy the day!

Constitution Day (U.S.)

Andrew Jackson - All the rights secured to the citizens under the Constitution are worth nothing, and a mere bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent and virtuous Judiciary.

Thomas Jefferson - Aware of the tendency of power to degenerate into abuse, the worthies of our country have secured its independence by the establishment of a Constitution and form of government for our nation, calculated to prevent as well as to correct abuse.

FDR - Our Constitution ... was not a perfect instrument, it is not perfect yet; but it provided a firm base upon which all manner of men of all races, colors and creeds could build our solid structure of democracy.

George Bernard Shaw - The American Constitution, one of the few modern political documents drawn up by men who were forced by the sternest circumstances to think out what they really had to face instead of chopping logic in a university classroom.

Woodrow Wilson - The Constitution of the United States is not a mere lawyers’ document. It is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of the age. Its prescriptions are clear and we know what they are ... but life is always your last and most authoritative critic.

Benjamin Franklin - The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.

Shaun

Doing Helpful Things in Time of Need

It is strange how we sometimes shun the very activities or people who could help us in time of need. I have been working on a PhD and during both of my stressful times (comprehensive exams and my recent mad rush to turn in my proposal), I barely wrote in my journal at all. There is a ton of evidence that writing in a journal is a healthy and helpful venture. Granted, time was short both times I was stressed out. But seriously, I did not have five minutes to record my thoughts?

The other example is reaching out to friends. Have you ever had a friend disappear for a few months and then resurface with tales of all of their challenges? Granted, you do not want your friends constantly dumping problems at your doorstep, but you also want to be a friend to them in times of need. Why did they not call?

Here is my theory, let me know what you think. There is a destructive emotion called guilt and another called shame. I think I convinced myself that writing in my journal would take away from my other "more important" writing. Despite being a serious proponent of journals, guilt over my perceived lack of progress prevents me from helping myself by writing in my journal. Guilt and shame prevent friends from asking for help from friends.

What do you think?

Shaun Jamison