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The U.S. Constitution: Meeting Our Needs?

May 23, 2015

In the United States of America we venerate our Constitution. Most people know little about what it says or means. Slam it, however, and you’re a traitor or worse!

Few people, relative to all of us, take an oath to support or defend the Constitution of the United States. (The few include attorneys, government employees and office holders, and naturalized citizens; 300,000,000+ others need not say or do anything.) For reasons I can’t quite explain, having taken an oath to support the Constitution, I think I have right to questions its relevancy and validity some 225+ years after it was ratified.

There’s something downright nervy and arrogant about a suggestion that a document written so long ago serves our

U.S. Constitution

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Pizza!

May 3, 2015

Mark Rubin

I ruminate about pizza from time to time. “Time to time” is, of course, a relative term. I’m not saying I think about pizza as often as, say, every seven seconds, but it’s certainly on my mind several times a day.

That said, I’m not obsessed, liked my friend Philip Rosenberg. Philip, his son (Christopher), and his godson Gus Hoffman’s brother Sam are featured in The Fiery Furnace, written by Renée Downing for the March April issue of Edible Baja. (Edible Baja is a beautiful magazine.) Philip is a consummate professional. He’s a two-oven man. He’s got a notebook/spreadsheet which tracks flour sources, hydration percentages, rising times, etc. He buys flour in bulk from specialty millers.

Pizza

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Amtrak: Failure Serving Political Purposes

April 26, 2015

Mark Rubin

Deeply frustrating are situations where Congress assures failure, after which those who wanted failure can say “told you so!” So, for example, the Internal Revenue Service budget has been cut in nominal and inflation-adjusted dollars since 2010. Now, Congressional Republicans—who are hardly fans of taxes or the IRS—blame delays and poor service on a poorly functioning Internal Revenue Service.

Today, though, I am focusing on Amtrak.

The Sunset Limited, Saturday morning, April 24, on the way to New Orleans

Why America Can’t Have Great Trains? by Simon Van Zuylen-Wood for National Journal on April 18, and the Japanese maglev train, caught my eye and provided the inspiration for this piece.

Amtrak has been around since 1970. It was created during

Amtrak, maglev train

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Hillary Clinton 2016

April 17, 2015

Mark Rubin

I’m sure Hillary Clinton has gotten and will get many more prominent endorsements for her 2016 presidential run. However, by endorsing her Mark Rubin Writes makes her the first candidate it has ever endorsed for the presidency.

Truth be told, I have some issues with the notion of President Hillary Clinton. I wrote Hillary Clinton 2016? on April 19, 2014, just about a year ago. In the piece I noted the dynasty thing, the co-presidency (although eight more years of Bubba feels pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good), and her seeming inability to inspire and lead. Now, a year later, the blog endorses Secretary Clinton for President of the United States of America, and that begs the question, Why?

Seth

Hillary Clinton

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Indiana, Again!

April 3, 2015

Mark Rubin

As faithful MRW readers know, there are stories we report on, and then there are stories! Indiana is a story!

Here from March 31 is Amy Davidson for the New Yorker, writing Why a G.O.P. Gambit Backfired in Indiana. Ms. Davidson writes well, and she offers the traditional take on the situation: Governor Pence and the Indiana legislature f*cked up, big-time.

Then we have the matter of pizza and weddings. Memories Pizza, in Walkerton, won’t cater same-sex weddings. (Like, sure, lots of couples, whatever their gender preferences, want this joint to handle the wedding gala.) Madeline Buckley wrote Threats tied to RFRA prompt Indiana pizzeria to close its doors for the Indianapolis Star, updated on April 2.

Now, I’ve

Governer Mike Pence, Indiana

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Attorneys Don’t Live Forever

February 2, 2015

Mark Rubin

Living in Arizona provides plenty to cry about. Bright spots are here and there, though, and I am not talking about the sun.

I have been involved for many years with the State Bar of Arizona ethics and discipline system, first as a volunteer judge, then as a drafter of our ethics rules, and, for the past almost 20 years as an attorney representing other attorneys. I also speak often to attorney groups and provide expert testimony. The system with which I have been involved has been a national leader for decades, and that is a big bright spot!

Recently, the Bar formed a Succession Planning Task Force. Why? Just look at the age distribution among Arizona attorneys, as of

attorneys, State Bar of Arizona, Succession Planning Task Force, Successor Counsel, trusts, wills

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The Supreme Court: Secrecy and Extrajudicial Activities

December 15, 2014

Mark Rubin

Two weeks ago I read The Great Paper Caper, written for The New Yorker by Jill Lepore. Professor Lepore teaches history at Harvard, and is also a staff writer for the magazine.

The piece tells a great story about missing papers from the files of Justice Felix Frankfurter. Seemingly, through poor record-keeping and controls, someone walked the papers out the doors of the Library of Congress. (The article includes a “who’s who” of prominent men from the 1930s through the 1970s, and the story proves yet again that clerking at the U.S. Supreme Court advances careers.)

An over-arching theme of the story relates to document secrecy. The Presidential Papers Act of 1978 and the Federal Records Act of 1950

Code of Judicial Ethics, Federal Records Act of 1950, Felix Frankfurter, Geneva Conventions, Ginsburg, jeffrey rosen, Jill Lepore, Presidential Papers Act of 1978, Scalia, supreme court, The New Yorker, Thomas Jefferson

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Holiday Hodgepodge

December 13, 2014

Mark Rubin

It’s holiday hodgepodge time! TBT, this is very much a free-association post, and for careful readers there might be brain mapping—watching my brain bounce arounds—and baking opportunities.

Let’s start with Hanukkah aka Chanukah, etc. (Joe Maller offers Sixteen Ways to Spell Hanukkah.) It starts at Sundown on Tuesday. The holiday has limited significance in the Jewish religion. It’s a historical holiday, coming after the Torah was written, and definitely matters in the USA because of Christmas.

Robert Siegel offered up a report on Hanukkah on Friday, December 12. Hanukkah’s Real (And Imagined) History features Simon Schama, author of The Story of the Jews, with important reporting on the Hanukkah story. Say it ain’t so, Simon!

The holiday season

Better Living Through Chemistry, casablanca, Chanukah, Chocolate Whisky Cake, fruitcake, Hanukkah, NPR, Panettone, Robert Siegel, Schama, Stollen, Zingerman's

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Casablanca, Meet The New Republic!

December 6, 2014

Mark Rubin

Getting ready to leave Casablanca (one way or another, and with a companion to be named later), Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) makes a deal with Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet) to sell Rick’s Café Américain. Sam the piano player (Dooley Wilson) and others have to keep their jobs, however. The deal gets done, with Ferrari noting to Mr. Blaine that “Rick’s wouldn’t be Rick’s without them.”

I thought about that scene when I read Facebook Prince Purges The New Republic: Inside the Destruction of a 100-Year-Old Magazine by Lloyd Grove for The Daily Beast. I also heard about the changes from my friend Sam Kleiner, who writes wrote for the magazine, and read Huge Shakeup at The New Republic: What

casablanca, jeffrey rosen, the new republic

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Communing with Nature, Redux!

September 6, 2014

Mark Rubin

I spent Friday with Ms. J. It’s not often that she and I spend a non-holiday, no-weekend day together, but this one had a purpose. Ms. J works for The Nature Conservancy in its Arizona office. As part of her job she needs to visit preserves and properties around the state, and I’m a worthy chauffeur/overnight companion. (We do so well in the car together, truly!)

On this trip we were off to the Aravaipa Canyon Preserve. The preserve is northeast of my house, maybe about 50 miles. Alas, no one has seen fit to cut a road through the Santa Catalina Mountains for my convenience. In fact, no one has even built a road through the preserve,

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