New chapter on arbitration in Missouri

I know that this is a shameless self-promotion, but here goes. I've often ranted about the way unscrupulous businesses take advantage of consumers by inserting horrendously unfair mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts. A new Missouri CLE Deskbook for lawyers was released yesterday and it features a highly detailed chapter on arbitration clauses. I was one of two co-authors, along with John Campbell with whom I have the honor of working at the Simon Law Firm in St. Louis, Missouri. This manual is geared to help Missouri consumer lawyers, but it could be valuable for anyone who wants to know the state of the law of consumer arbitration. It worth noting that Missouri law has paralleled the arbitration law of many other states, especially on the issue of unconscionability (John and I argued for the winning side of the August 31, 2010 case decided by the Missouri Supreme Court, Brewer v. Missouri Title Loans). If you are interested in taking a look at this chapter, I would assume that you will soon be able to find this book in most law libraries and on the library shelves of many law firms. For a glimpse of how complicated this topic of arbitration has gotten, I'm printing out the Table of Contents below: [More . . . ]

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Matt Taibbi on Bernie Sanders

For the past few years, I've looked to Matt Taibbi for powerful ways to express, simultaneously emotionally and intellectually, the current national mess we're in. He recently wrote of his admiration for Bernie Sanders at Rolling Stone:

While everyone else in Washington was debating the political efficacy of the deal . . . Sanders blew all of that off and just looked at the deal’s moral implications. Which are these: this tax deal, frankly and unequivocally, is the result of a relatively small group of already-filthy rich people successfully lobbying an even smaller group of morally spineless politicians to shift an ever-bigger share of society’s burdens to the lower and (what’s left of the) middle classes. This is people who already have lots of shit just demanding more shit, for the sheer rotten sake of it. . . I contrast this now to the behavior of Barack Obama. I can’t even count how many times I listened to Barack Obama on the campaign trail talk about how, as president, he would rescind the Bush tax cuts as soon as he had the chance. He stood up and he said over and over again – I can still hear him saying “Let me be clear!” with that Great Statesman voice of his, before he went into this routine – that the Bush tax cuts were wrong and immoral. He said more than once that they “offended his conscience." Then, just as he did with drug re-importation and Guantanamo and bulk Medicare negotiations for pharmaceuticals and the issue of whether or not he would bring registered lobbyists into his White House and a host of other promises, he tossed his campaign “convictions” in the toilet and changed his mind once he was more accountable to lobbyists than primary voters.

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Comparing sizes of large objects and areas of land

Visualizing the size of large objects and areas of land has never been easier. Next time you're wondering how big something is, check out the BBC's website called Dimensions. I put the moon on top of Australia. Then I put the World Trade Center on top of my house. Then I superimposed the Mars rovers over my neighborhood. Then I placed the area affected by the 2010 Gulf Oil spill over New York City. For my finale, I compared the ancient walled city of Babylon with modern day Vatican City. This is a really nice use of Google Maps.

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Former Drug Czar of the UK: Legalize all drugs

Bob Ainsworth, who was once responsible for drug policy as drugs minister in the UK, has declared prohibition to be counterproductive.

We need to take effective measures to rob the dealers of their markets and the only way that we can do that is by supplying addicts through the medical profession, through prescription. We cannot afford to be shy about being prepared to do that. . . It is far better they are going to a doctor, or going to a chemist and are getting their script [prescription] than turning tricks as a prostitute or robbing their mates.

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Top ten psychology studies of 2010

David DiSalvo sent me an email today to pitch his latest article at Psychology Today: "Ten Psychological Studies from 2010 Worth Knowing About." Cool. Take a look at what's included in the list: - Daniel Gilbert determined that we daydream 46.9% of our waking hours. Gad, do tell employers, or else they will cut everybody's pay in half. - Embodied cognition studies demonstrate that our physical environments are tied metaphorically to our social environments. "For example, the study shows that when you're negotiating a deal, it's better to sit in a hard, sturdy chair--doing so may lead you to negotiate harder than you otherwise would. And when you go for a job interview, be sure to carry your resume in a weighty, well constructed padfolio." - Sweat carries messages. "Gamblers sniffing the high-ropers' sweat . . . took significantly larger gambling risks compared to the bike-sweat-sniffing gamblers." - We're happier when we keep busy. - Rich people see other people. "People from lower socioeconomic backgrounds from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are significantly better at accurately reading emotion--a key component of expressing empathy." All this and much more at David DiSalvo's blog at Psychology Today.

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