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Affirmative Action and the Court

February 3, 2022

Affirmative Action and the Court

Mark Rubin

I don’t get angry often. No, really, I don’t. Pissed and quick-triggered, sure, but really angry. Nah!

On January 26, word slipped that Associate Justice Stephen Breyer intended to retire. The following day, Justice Breyer notified the president that he will leave the Court at the end of the 2022 Term. Of course, his departure assumes a successor gets nominated and confirmed.

Then former Vice President Joe Biden told us he would nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court if we picked him. We did. He will.

Of course, confirming those intentions brought out the naysayers. I like, best, Senator Roger Wicker, (R – Miss.), who said, on January 28: ‘The

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From a Budding Blogger … 55 years ago.

January 15, 2022

Mark Rubin

From a budding blogger … 50 55 years ago. Enjoy!

Mark Rubin

A father told his seven-year-old son he could ride his bike to school. The father explained to his young son that along with the privilege of riding the bike to school he would have to assume some responsibilities. A few of these were: keeping the bike in good condition, keeping it locked, and obeying all the safety rules. The young son then reconsidered riding to school, in view of all the responsibilities he would have to accept.

We as American citizens must accept the fact that we are in the same relative position as the seven-year-old boy. We have many privileges in America. Some of these are freedom

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The Supreme Court and COVID: Depressing

January 8, 2022

Mark Rubin

The U.S. Supreme Court and COVID: Depressing

Mark Rubin

The Supreme Court and COVID: Depressing

Let’s be clear: the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled in NFIB v. OSHA, No. 21A244 and Biden v. Missouri, No. 21A240. Pigs might fly, too – like the one who lives in the wooden frame on the wall in my family room – and and the Court might uphold the OSHA and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulations. (Leigh’s known the pig longer than I have – polite-speak for, It’s hers – and she assures me, from time to time, that it’s not a photo.)

The NFIB Case

The NFIB case involves an OSHA regulations that requires vaccines or a masks

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2021: Goodbye and Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Ass

December 31, 2021

Mark Rubin

2021: Goodbye and Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Ass

Mark Rubin

Some year, huh? Unfortunately, if you saw the headline and thought I might address the issues of the day circa 2021 … no dice. Too toxic, and as Bush père might say, “Not gonna do it. Wouldn’t be prudent.” (Do click on the link, please. Belly laughs good!!!)*

My mind wanders, often. A few weeks ago I read We Live By a Unit of Time That Doesn’t Make Sense, written by Joe Pinsker for The Atlantic. Days, months, and years focus on revolutions of the Earth, the moon around the Earth, and the Earth around the sun. And the week? A construct.

Anyway,

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Harry Reid RIP

December 29, 2021

Mark Rubin

Harry Reid RIP

Harry Reid

Harry Reid died on Tuesday. He was 82. He was elected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada in 1986 and retired when his fifth term ended in early 2017.

Senator Reid was a “pull no punches” guy with boxing in his background. (Last intentional boxing reference.) He grew up dirt poor in the desert town of Searchlight, NV. 2000 census population: 576. Self-made, totally, and with a serious chip on his shoulder for those with advantages, like fellow Mormon Mitt Romney and Born on Third and Thinks He Invented Baseball Donald Trump.

Senator Reid was Barack Obama’s core. He told him he needed to run for president. When he ran and won, he got the

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Basic Failures: USPS and IRS

November 28, 2021

Mark Rubin

new office

We’ve moved! Rubin & Bernstein PLLC and Southern Arizona Fiduciary Services LLC reside at 1004 N. 6^th Ave. in Tucson. (85705, for mailers.) We’re still getting settled, but we’re in.

The move and this fall have brought a heightened awareness of our failings as a nation. No, I am not discussing the crew who diss the vaccine and the fact that President Joe Biden has not brought the virus to heal. (That Venn diagram looks like one circle.) Or the inflation, seemingly generated by too many dollars chasing goods we can’t get to market because of supply chain upheaval and a whole lot of people who’ve stopped working for substandard wages. Etc.

No, I write about basic stuff.

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Files and the Lawyer

October 10, 2021

Mark Rubin

Files and the Lawyer

Mark Rubin

Hey there! Yes, you. Lawyer? Client? (Both?) Doesn’t matter, for if you fall into either category, my words about files and storage matter.

When I started practicing law, 40 years ago this Friday, we had carbon paper, with Olivetti 351s on the near horizon. (A screen about three-eighths of an inch high and maybe three inches long, affording a typist a brief opportunity to correct a typo before the print hit the page.) And, everything that mattered got saved in a manila folder.

The firm with which I practiced from 1983 until 1999 had off-site storage, along with an interior room – Purgatory, to me – where we kept finished matters until the room

files, lawyers, shredding

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News from the Work Front

October 8, 2021

Mark Rubin

News from the Work Front

Lawyers and the Canine Corps

I work from home, mostly. I went home on March 15, 2020 and when someone asked me why, I said, “Because my government recommended it.” I was 62 and I have residual lung issues. So, why now, fully vaccinated and only around vaccinated people? Working from home lets me think I am semi-retired. From attire to the nature and length of breaks, my days feel different in kind from the days – Days? Decades. – when I dressed up every morning, went to an office, stayed there until late afternoon, etc.*

So, the news? Rubin & Bernstein PLLC and our sister entity, Southern Arizona Fiduciary Services LLC move into new

1004 n. 6th ave., Leigh Bernstein, Mark Rubin, matthew scarber, rubin & Bennstein pllc, southern arizona fiduciary services llc

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Welcome, Anarchists. Can We Get You a Menu?

September 3, 2021

Mark Rubin

Welcome, Anarchists. Can We Get You a Menu?

Mark Rubin

A Texas Thing

The law at issue comes from Texas, of course. That self-important, self-reverent, self-righteous pustule on the bottom of the lower 48. The place where an Executive Order prevents any political jurisdiction from mandating that people wear masks because: freedom, but where anyone can sue anyone, repeatedly, if they think they were involved with the act of obtaining a constitutionally lawful abortion in Texas.

The Texas Heartbeat Act

The Texas Heartbeat Act bans abortions after a heartbeat can or should be detected; roughly six weeks after conception. Roe and Casey violative, at its core the law represents a very aggressive attempt to undermine the constitutionally protected right to

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Amazing Amazement: The Afghanistan Thing

August 15, 2021

Mark Rubin

Amazing Amazement: The Afghanistan Thing

Joseph R. Biden Jr.

A little while ago, the news reported on President Ashraf Ghani’s departure from Afghanistan. A presidential departure from a country at war represents, if ever there was one, a marker for It’s Over.

Lots of noise about the speed with which the Taliban captured the country. And amazement. Well, call me not surprised. Even a little.

The United States has propped up the Afghani government for 20 years. Reportedly, we have spent $83B on equipment and training associated with the Afghan army. Frankly, I suspect no one has anything close to a precise accounting of the amount our nation spent on the war itself. (The BBC gets up to just shy

Afghanistan

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