THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

Should Genarlo Wilson Be Set Free

Brian Cuban — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:21:03 +0000

The Genarlo Wilson case is a cause celeb. Petitions have been signed, websites started, the most prominent being www.wilsonappeal.com. Celebrities have come to his defense (including my own brother Mark Cuban), documentaries abound, the most noteworthy being one aired by my brother Mark Cuban's high definition television Network, HDnet.

I first read about the case of Genarlow Wilson when ESPN.com ran the story. There is also a very good write-up in the Atlanta Magazine. I frankly had not blogged on it because of the reasons cited above. A lot has been written and said. I’m not sure that I can add any viewpoint that is not already out there. I don't blog to regurgitate; I like to hopefully educate and offer different viewpoints on various issues. While there is so much out there on this that I am not sure I have anything new to add, I am going throw my 5¢ in: Genarlo Wilson sits in jail. At this point, he will continue to be in jail until about 2016. He will have to register as a sex offender when he is finally released. As if the 10 year jail term won’t beat him down, the sex offender tag will basically end all hopes to rebuild any semblance of a life when he is released. At the time he committed his crime he was 17 years old. His victim was 15 years old. So what terrible, heinous crime was committed that justified locking this kid up for a mandatory 10 years and tagging him as a sex offender upon his release? He received a blow job from 15-year-old girl. That's it, nothing more. It is undisputed that she had initiated the act. It is undisputed that it was consensual. She was, however, under the legal age of consent under Georgia law at the time. Mr. Wilson was therefore charged with the crime of Aggravated Child Molestation, which was the crime which fit this factual scenario at the time. He was charged under a law designed to protect children from adult sexual predators. It doesn't make sense, does it? There is no disputing the act took place so there is no disputing Mr. Wilson broke the law. It is statutory. Intent or consent is irrelevant. Mr. Wilson was tried and convicted. He sits in jail today. So again, should Genarlo Wilson go home? Here are some of the pros and cons to that happening: Let us not get lost in the facts of what really happened here. Genarlo Wilson made poor choices of his own doing which put him where he is. He is not the only person sitting in jail due to poor choices made worse by tough and unfair laws/sentencing guidelines. We all make poor choices with varying consequences. Should this have been the type of choice that ruins a life? Mr. Wilson was also charged with and tried for the crime of raping a different woman at the same party that same night, and the issue here was not over a kid’s poor judgment. The issue was whether he had sex with an unconscious person so intoxicated that she was incapable of consent. A conviction for that would have put any person in prison for a long time. Genarlow was acquitted on this charge but that does not mean it didn't happen. That means the state didn't prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Legal guilt and factual guilt are not always mutually exclusive. Do you think OJ Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman? He was of course acquitted but do you think he did it? To not acknowledge this issue would be a slap in the face to every woman who said no or was incapable of consent, only to see her rapist acquitted because the case could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Are we going to say these women were not raped? He said/she said cases based solely on the issue of consent are next to impossible cases to win without corroborating physical evidence. Genarlo was acquitted. He was declared innocent of that crime. However, this is one aspect of his situation that will always bother me. I would be much more comfortable if I knew what the alleged victim in the rape case had to say about all this. Note also that I say all this not having viewed the videotape the jurors viewed before acquitting Mr. Wilson. It is very possible that after viewing the tape, I would not be of this state of mind. Let us also not forget that a crime was committed! It was committed on videotape! Let us not hand Genarlo Wilson any "Upstanding Youth of the Community" awards. There was a lot of stuff going on at this party that most parents would not want their children to be a part of. There is a lot of focus being put on what a good kid he is. "He is a good son... he was a good student... he was a great athlete.” I will accept all of that as true. I will also accept as true that there are thousands sitting in prison right now who were good sons, good students and great athletes. And they all made the one and only mistake of their lives. Are we going to set them all free? These may all be relevant in a parole or pardon hearing but last I looked none were a basis to overturn a conviction. Why did this ever go to trial? It was a case he couldn't win. It was a statutory crime they had on tape. What kind of advice was Genarlo getting from his attorney? In reality, he received the only advice his attorney could give. The advice was probably that there was no plea bargain he would get that lessened the long term impact on his life versus winning an appeal after a guilty verdict. Genarlo had no options. There was no plea offered that did not include a sex offender tag which can be worse than a prison sentence itself. His lawyer gave the only advice he could give. The advice would be that legally Genarlo could not win this case. The only shot was to go for jury nullification. Play to the jury's sympathies and hope they do not follow the law and simply do what is right. That rarely works and when it does, it is when you least expect it to. It didn't work here. Genarlo was convicted and sentenced to a mandatory 10 year prison term. Should the District Attorney have dropped/dismissed the charge against Genarlow in the interest of justice? How do we define justice? Genarlo did commit a crime. If I am a DA, maybe to me dropping that charge completely is not justice. That's a toughie. I can understand why he didn't. Could he have plead this down to a lesser offense that fit the facts? He absolutely should have done this if he could have. Shame on the District Attorney for not doing this. He had the discretion to do justice for everyone here and he chose politics. His political stand here was, "I don’t plead down sex offenses." That is a great sound byte but to think that his constituents and the general public would not understand this exception is moronic and egocentric. Would I have completely dropped the charges if there was an alternative that fit the offense? No, I would not. A crime was committed on tape. I agree with the District Attorney when he stated that he could not turn a blind eye to a documented crime. If he drops the charge, where does it end? How many others come out of the woodwork wanting similar treatment? However, for him not to bring the charges down to something fitting the offense versus the ludicrous five years plus sex offender tag he offered before trial is about politics and not justice. The District Attorney was also just beaten in the rape case - a case in which he probably thought a rape was committed or he wouldn't have pressed it. This is hindsight but was really easy to predict before it happened. The District Attorney just loses a rape case which would have carried a tough sentence and a sex offender tag. He is now going to drop a case he can't lose that does the exact same thing? If you're the District Attorney, does that make sense to you? The DA may have thought he was getting equal justice for the rape on a bite of a different apple. Is that appropriate? Probably not. I am sure that ego also played a part in losing the rape case. Ego has no place when your job is to "do justice." Blame the jury? Absolutely not! The jury would have had no idea of the ramifications of their guilty verdict. The fact that it would be a mandatory 10 years was not known to them at the time they rendered their verdict. Why? It is irrelevant and immaterial to Mr. Wilson's guilt or innocence of the crime. For them to know would have been an immediate mistrial. The goal is to keep juries from deciding based on emotion versus the facts. Unfortunately it worked against Mr. Wilson here as they certainly would have nullified the case if they had known he was going to do 10 years. There has been a lot of play on what they would have done if they had known. I am sorry but there is no "Genarlo Wilson Exception" to this evidentiary rule. Overall, the rule serves a good purpose. We can’t have it both ways. Jury verdicts are supposed to be based on fact and not emotion. The jury did the right thing. It was also the right thing that they did not know the consequences of what they did. So should Genarlo morally still be in prison? Of course not! The sentence was unduly harsh as compared to the crime committed. So we are back to Genarlo Wilson sitting in jail, with outcry everywhere. Set him free! Set him free! That’s bad news for all those petitions, websites, etc. Genarlo Wilson is probably not going anywhere and is going to do his mandatory time with a sex offender tag unless he gets a pardon from the Georgia Governor or the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole after his appeals are exhausted. The DA has no incentive to do anything, and if he was going to do something he would have done it already. He was elected to his post on a “get tough” platform. I doubt he thinks the negative publicity of this case hurts him at all. He is doing what any politician would do - passing the buck. It saves him face with his constituents. The Georgia Supreme Court has already denied cert. and rehearing on the case. There is another petition filed focusing on some different issues but it is a huge long shot. I don’t see the new appeal succeeding. The legislators did all they could by correcting the law. They declined to make it retroactive because they would have had to consider the implications to every single person convicted under the law. The legislature is trying to specifically enact a law targeting Mr. Wilson – not to exonerate him because no one is disputing what he did was a crime. To exonerate him would be akin to a pardon within the sole preview of either the governor of the State of Georgia or the Georgia State Board of Pardon and Parole, or both. Georgia Senate Bill 37 proposes that at any point, a judge may change a sentence imposed on someone convicted prior to July 2006 of certain sex offenses that last year's legislation deemed misdemeanors because they covered activity between teens in certain age ranges. This has been tried before in other states on other issues. This is politics. I would be shocked if it works. State legislators, even if in agreement with what the bill is trying to do, have to consider a larger constituency and wider ramifications. By the time this is studied, committed, tabled and restudied, Genarlo Wilson will probably have served the length of the plea bargain sentence offered by the District Attorney. Keep the groundswell going because I predict that his fate will ultimately end up in the governor's hands or in the hands of the Georgia State Board of Pardon and Parole and that's where public outcry/opinion really count. Should people throw money at his attorney to help with the appeal? Well, in my mind that depends on the grounds for his appeal. If the appeal is to challenge the constitutionality of the law or the sentence I say yes, help away; that's a great case because it's a terrible law that has Draconian application. I will state that it may be the wrong battle to pick as the appeal that had the best chance of success was already shot down by the Georgia Supreme Court. If you are contributing with regards to an appeal due to trial error, it is a tougher decision in my mind. Why? Back to what started all of this: the kid did commit a crime. It is sad he didn't know it was a crime but as we have all heard a billion times, ignorance is not a defense. It applies to all of us. Is that form over substance? Who cares how he is out and why as long as he is out? Sure, that's a valid point. However, there is a distinction in my mind. Maybe that's just the attorney in me. Should Genarlow Wilson be doing 10 years and have a sex offender tag for engaging in oral sex with a 15-year-old? The law has in fact been changed and he has served more time in prison than someone would who would be convicted of the same crime today. So the answer is no, of course he shouldn't. I agree completely that no justice is served by keeping this boy in jail and hanging a sex offender tag on him. That was not the intent of the statute; no one else received or will ever receive similar treatment. I believe Marcus Dixon, whose case was also widely publicized on The Oprah Winfrey Show is the only other person to be convicted due to similar facts. His conviction was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court but it was overturned for reasons that will not help Genarlow Wilson in his case. However, I am now going to flip it around and state that maybe there is another girl who claimed to be a rape victim of Mr. Wilson who may now feel she has received justice. If Mr. Wilson was convicted on the rape charge, is there still all this outcry about this particular incident? I doubt it, but why? He would still be a good student, good son and good athlete. The issues on the aggravated molestation charge would be exactly the same (although the DA may not have prosecuted it with a rape conviction). Mr. Wilson was however acquitted of that charge. It is not before us. What is before us is a perversion of what the justice system is supposed to be about. Genarlo Wilson should not be in prison. He has done all the time he should do and then some. He is not a child molester as general society defines the term and we are the ones being protected, right? He is no one that society needs protection from. His life has been altered forever for the worse. Enough is enough. There is no further point to be made here. He has served the max under current law. He gets it! I don't think his conviction will be overturned. I urge the Georgia Legislature to pass a law targeted at bringing the conviction and punishment in line with current Georgia Law if this can legally be done. This will probably end up being a pardon situation. I have seen zippo written about that. There is a good reason. If you start talking pardon now, you are conceding defeat on all other issues and making it easy for everyone else you need something favorable from to pass the buck to the governor. Since the buck is being passed, I urge Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to finally set Mr. Wilson free when it is laid in his lap (and it will be) if this is how the Georgia pardon system works. If the perview is with the Georgia State Board of Pardon and Parole, I urge them to do the right thing by issuing a full and unconditional pardon to Mr. Wilson under their procedure for issuing such a pardon. Here is hoping that if Mr. Wilson is freed. Here is to hoping the Georgia Correctional System does not turn Genarlow Wilson into a person the law he was convicted under was designed to protect us from when he is released. You can watch the excellent HDnet World Report Segment below.

HDNet WorldReport – Genarlow Wilson Uploaded by rsap121

WHAT DOES "UN-AMERICAN" MEAN?

Brian Cuban — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:40:00 +0000

In my zeal to make sure my brother Mark makes it to the next round of Dancing With The Stars, I am engaging in unmerciful brutal spam. Yes Iadmit it.

I am not spamming in the sense that I am sending thousands of emails to random names. I have been however, sending my voting pleas out to my entire email list which is quite large. Some of the people on it probably do not even like me.

In any event, the response has been almost all positive until yesterday. Someone that I have had passing contact with responded back that Ishould take her off my emailing list because Mark was "Un-American".

Now I get people offering opinions on Mark to me every day of theweek. He cant dance, He's arrogant, He couldn't carry Donald Trump's briefcase,He is this , He is that.... you get the picture. This stuff all goes in one ear and out the other. I view them as media perception attacks which goes with the territory. Mark is a big boy and doesn't need me to stick up for him.

When this person called him Un-American, it was a dagger right in my stomach. I without hesitation viewed it as a personal attack on Mark andthe entire Cuban family which I will defend at all times. I took it very personally. I wont repeat what I wrote back but will admit I didn't count to ten and responded emotionally.

On retrospect I should have treated it like every other opinion,view, whatever on Mark that I always ignore. They are all based on media perception and have no basis in reality. Myself and Mark's true friends and family should not care less about idiotic statements like that. We know who he is and what he has done for this country with no fanfare whatsoever such as the Fallen Patriot Fund which has given to date over 2.5 million dollars to injured soldiers and families of soldiers killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

http://www.fallenpatriotfund.org

There are countless other causes that go un-noticed except bythose he has helped and lives he has changed for the better.

So to those who confuse art with reality; to those who think theCIA killed Kennedy and that "Loose Change" is historical fact, take a big bite of American Apple Pie and hold it tight. You have a better grip onthat pie than you do the facts......

DOGGIE-GATE!

Brian Cuban — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:18:00 +0000

Who feels sorry for Ellen Degeneres. I dont. I certainly feel sorry for the individual she gave her dog to and then who had it subsequently"repossessed" by "Mutts and Mom" because Ellen had violated the adoption contract.

The contract(which by the way, practically all adoption contracts have thislanguage) stated that if the dog did not work out within a specific time, it had to be returned to the agency.

Ellen violated the agreement but giving the dog to her friend without the consent of the agency. Ellen then goes on her show and makes a public plea that the dog be returned to her friend. The dog has been subsequently placed in a new home.

I am absolutely on the side of the agency and it is Ellen who ultimately prevented her friend from keeping the dog, not the agency.

If Ellen had read her contract and not used the show as leverage, this probably would have gone differently. If she had quietly gone to the agency and explained the situation, the agency would have probably checked out the new family and may have approved them. All would have ended well.

Ellen,in true diva and Paris Hilton "I dont read my agreements" fashion made it all about her in using media strong arm tactics which resulted in death threats and overall negativity to the animal shelter which is only trying to do the right thing for the animal which does not have a choice. She seems to have forgotten that it is about long term placement of the animal.

For Ellen to claim this this has all gotten out of hand and was not what she intended seems dis-ingenuous. It went EXACTLY as she intended.

She just did not get the result she wanted......

WHAT'S WRONG WITH SEARS?

Brian Cuban — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:42:00 +0000

Does anyone shop at Sears or Kmart anymore? Well they don't shop at Kmart in Texas because there are I believe only three Kmart stores left in the state and none in Dallas. They closed them all as part of their bankruptcy reorganization. Sears today announced their quarterly results. Another massive drop in same store sales. A massive drop in stock price. In the retail industry same store sales is what Wall Street looks at to gauge how well as retailer is doing. It is not the final word in how well a store is really doing but for better or worse it is the bench mark. Edward Lampert, CEO of Sears Holding prefers to use EBITDA(Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) as his benchmark.Thats all well and good for the egg heads. You can have all the MBA 's in the world working for you but in the end someone still has to want to walk into your store and buy something. That someone then has to want to come back. That someone then has to want to tell others to come and check it out. Its called customer evangelism. That is the cycle every retailer strives for. Isn't that what it is really all about in retail? You want someone to buy your product and tell others to buy it! You want someone to like your "brand" and tell others to check it out!The higher up at Sears are not stupid. I recently was in a unique position to speak to many of them. For the most part, they are smart people. They know what to do. They just don't know how to do it. If you cant execute- all the great ideas in the world are just great ideas. The world is full of "great ideaists" working at Jack in the Box.I can boil the Sears plight down to this one interaction with several Sears marketing Higher Ups..... I asked several what they did in their normal work day. Each one said " all I do is attend meetings"Meetings are generally the enemy of execution. To quote Dustin Hoffman in Rainman "Kmart Sucks" As a general statement, I don't think anyone at Sears Holding would dispute that. They are just in a quagmire on how to turn it around. My advice to Eddie Lampert:Quit crunching numbers and start talking to your customers. I don't mean sending out another MBA type to do a "segmentation study". I mean start the "roadshow" and really talk to your customers about what will get them back in the door. If you are not ready to do that yourself you have no business in retail and Kmart will continue to "suck" right up to the time you are forced to unload.....

WHEN CHILDREN GO WRONG WHOSE TO BLAME

Brian Cuban — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:00:00 +0000

Teenagers are shooting up malls, Teenagers are shooting up schools and churches. Amish school children are gunned down. Young adults torturing and fighting helpess animals. I see some blog posts on Facebook and worry if the teenager is the next CNN story......What do these crimes say about the state of affairs in this country? Since Columbine, there have been over 215 school shootings! After the last two mall shootings We can now put malls in a dubious category all their own. What do we do? We are starting to see airport-style “lockdowns” of our schools with millions of dollars appropriated for upgrades to front door security, and cameras strategically placed throughout the halls and classrooms - no one in or out without a photograph and verified background check on file. When fingerprint biometric technology becomes cost effective, it may even follow. Are these “Big Brother” tactics acceptable? How do you stop the troubled teenager from gunning down half a mall before that person takes her/her own life. As much as I am willing to accept retrictions that will ensure my children a long and happy life, in practicality there is no level of security that will stop these tragedies.What horrible events have occurred, and are still on the horizon! No parent should have to endure the misery of their child being either the murdered or the murderer. In the end it always becomes about placing blame. Why? Because that’s all we have left to make us feel human, and reinforce that we are decent people and responsible parents. Has society failed these killers? Has their family support system failed them? How can I possbily rejoice and feel vindication at a long prison sentence or even the death penalty for such troubled souls.It’s a tough world. Many people don’t grow up with the same advantages as others. Difficult childhoods cause wounds that leave deep scars, both in the ranks of the privileged and underprivileged. Double standards exist, but troubled people don’t all commit murder. Children with hard lives often become brilliant adults who make significant, and even groundbreaking, contributions to society.Our society does not fail anyone. It simply sets the framework in which people have the opportunity to make the most of what they are given. Parents are the ones who have the ability and responsibility to shape that framework, molding their kids into decent, productive human beings.I’ll print this out and put this post on my fridge for a daily reminder that I am blessed with children, so that when the inevitable bad thing happens, as it does to every family to a certain degree, I’ll learn from it and look to myself and not "society.” It must be that way, or 2 + 2 will never equal 4.

ONE FALSE MOVE, AND THEN ANOTHER AND ANOTHER.......

Brian Cuban — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Small town sheriff is tired of small town cases...... Small town sheriff wants that one big time case that will propel him to a big town sheriff or even better big big town chief of police somwhere.....Has anyone seen the movie "One False Move" where small town sheriff played by Bill Paxton tries to help the big town and big time Los Angeles detectives catch stone cold killers who have come to his "small town" . The sheriff sees the case has his ticket to big time police work and a spot on the LAPD....... The detectives are seen laughing behind his back at this notion...... He is and always will the small town, dufus, Mayberry sheriff........Enter stage left, small town and real life sheriff, Osnlow County sheriff Ed Brown. Sheriff Brown and Osnlow County have suddenly been thrust into the spot light in a very very big time case...... An grusemome, sensational big time case..... A case that has plethora of state and federal alphabet abbreviation agencies involved.... I am speaking of the murder of Marine Lance Cpl Maria Lauterbach and her unborn fetus of 8 months. Her burned remains along with the burned remains of her unborn child were found buried in the back yard of Marine Cpl Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean. Cpl Laurean is on the run and a warrant issue has been issued for his arrest. Lance Cpl Lauterbach had accused Cpl Laurean of rape and was scheduled to testify against him.This case is only just unfolding but already the powers that be are using it to trampoline careers or should I say the "power that be" because my poisened spike of criticsim is directed soley at Osnlow County Sheirff Ed Brown.Sheriff Brown has had no shame in doing everything he can to make himself part of the story instead of focusing on gathering evidence and letting the story be told in court. This guy has had mulitple news conferences of no investigative value, he has been on Geraldo, he has editorialized the evidence in a public forum, he as commented on the evidence, he has done everything but keep his mouth shut and do his job.Sheriff Brown must have gone to the Mike Nifong school of Investigative Publicity.It's Time either the Feds or the Osnlow County D.A. to tell sheriff Brown to shut his trap and update his resume after the case is concluded before he says something that damages their ability to obtain a convicton when the guilty party is brought to trial....Is there a difference between Sheriff Brown and the sheriff in One False Move? Yes there is, in the movie they didnt have CNN, Nancy Grace or Geraldo.....

MIKE NIFONG DECLARES BANKRUPTCY

Brian Cuban — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:41:00 +0000

Disgraced and disbarred former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has declared bankruptcy in the face of hundreds of millions of dollars in claims against him arising out of his mishandling of the Duke Rape Case. I thought this would be a good time to re-post an article I wrote when it all started. I wrote this in Dec 2006 when he dropped the charges against the players.AN OPEN LETTER TO MIKE NIFONGDear Mike:I love Law and Order, don’t you? Jack McCoy is my idol. Isn’t he yours? I have every episode ever broadcast Tivo’d. I am sure you do too. I think I could have bypassed law school and just watched Jack McCoy prepare and try cases. I would pass the bar and be the best trial attorney ever! Isn’t that what you did? I love Jack! He wins the great majority of his cases, and certainly all his rape cases! He withholds evidence from the defense and walks away without as much as a slap on the wrist! He lies to witnesses and defendants and it is okay! Jack makes inflammatory comments not supported by the evidence to the media and he is a hero for it! His trial arguments are often emotional and not based on any evidence, but no one objects and he gets the conviction! Wait, there is a catch here. Sam Waterston, who plays Jack McCoy, is an actor – not an attorney. Sam Waterston, after committing all those terrible legal sins every episode, gets to go home to his wife and kids every night and read his script for his next episode. Sam Waterston did not take an oath to the Supreme Court of New York to uphold the law. Sam Waterston is not bound by any legal canons of ethics. Sam Waterston is a real person; Jack McCoy is not!I wonder if the State Bar of North Carolina will remind you of that when they yank your law license. Thanks for listening, Mike. There is a new episode of Law and Order on right now so I need to go. Maybe I will pick up some new trial techniques.

PAYING FOR THE SINS OF OUR PAST

Brian Cuban — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 10:22:00 +0000

Something very unusual occurred in the Dallas judicial system the other week. Two individuals who were tried and convicted of rape were NOT exonerated by DNA. Why is this unusual? You would think it would be the other way around. Dallas County leads the nation in the number of rape and other convictions that have been over-turned because DNA testing that was not available at the time of the original trial proved that the person in prison did not in fact commit the rape. The DNA at the scene did not belong to that person. That’s a great thing isn’t it? Of course it is. One wrongly convicted person in jail is one too many. Most if not all of these convictions were based solely on the most unreliable evidence there is, eyewitness testimony. Anyone who has seen more than one episode of Law and Order knows this. Now there has been a lot of hoopla made over the fact that Dallas leads the nation in such cases. The Dallas judicial system of the past has been portrayed as a bunch of red neck cops and law enforcement types railroading the less fortunate innocent dupes who could not afford competent legal representation. This may or may not be true. I am no expert on the history of Dallas law enforcement. What I do know is that without knowing the sample size, what is being done in other cities, etc, the stats are pretty much meaningless. Maybe Dallas is leading the nation because the Innocence Project and other organizations are not focused on other cities. Maybe next year Atlanta or LA will lead the nations in wrongful convictions when attention is turned to those cities. Statistics are the great manipulators of truth……. Just ask any former Enron employee……Fast forward to yesterday in Collin County, Texas. A young man tried and convicted for a rape committed during a home invasion robbery. The conviction was apparently based on the strength that infamous eye-witness testimony. No DNA available. He was 16 at the time of the crime and was tried as an adult which is apparently pretty rare in Collin County. This should tell you something about how serious the prosecutors took this matter. They wanted this guy put away for a very long time. The case was tried before a jury and he was convicted. The prosecutor asked for 50 years. He could have received up to 99 years which he undoubtedly deserved. What did the jury give him? 10 YEARS PROBATION! Probation for a brutal rape of women at gunpoint. What in the world were these jurors thinking about?????I will tell you what they were probably thinking about……..They were thinking about the history of Dallas as a red-neck law enforcement town railroading innocents and less fortunates into prison for crimes based solely on eye-witness testimony,This poor lady paid dearly for the sins of our past……….

IF YOU DONT GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME

Brian Cuban — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:32:00 +0000

According to the Dallas Morning News, Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife were indicted today by a Houston grand jury in conjunction with a fire at their Spring, Texas Home. Fran Medina’s on an accusation of arson, Mr. Medina’s on an accusation of tampering What is interesting is that within hours of the indictments, the Harris County prosecutor announced that they would ask the court to dismiss the very indictments they sought claiming there was not enough evidence to proceed,I do not practice criminal law and have only tangentially followed the case at all but as a layman I see two possible scenarios here...a. They were approaching a deadline to seek and indictment, were expecting a "no bill" and were shocked as shit when the indictments were handed downb. They figured the quickest way to get this behind Justice Medina was to get this to the grand jury which they were sure would "no bill" and again were shocked as shit when indictments were handed down....Either way Justice Medina could not be too happy with their handling of this and they certainly have some egg on their face in looking indecisive at least as it is being portrayed in the media.

STAYING ONE STEP AHEAD OF THAT LAST BEER

Brian Cuban — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:27:00 +0000

There was a good article today in the Wall Street Journal comparing different health club chains. Being a self professed gym rat and currently on a quest to find a new gym, here are the things I have found to be important in finding a place to spend half my day without every really lifting a weight....

It has been an interesting trek from the sublime to the ridiculous. I have perused every type of gym from the hard core” muscle beach” to the “no one breaks a sweat” to “our equipment is from the last gym that went bankrupt here” establishment.

I was so obsessed with my quest that I even flew out to Venice Beach California and gained entrance to the Pelican Bay State Penitentiary to see how the convicted felon contingent got their workouts in….. I tried to check out the workout area at the SuperMax facility in Florence Colorado but there after hours of waiting at the entrance gate, I decided no one was home. I guess when you are in 23 hour lockdown, your no need to flex those biceps at the local nightclub….. Through all these travels and tribulations, I have decided what I do and don’t want in a gym.

I don’t want to work out in a gym where the guy next to me is calling me “sweet cakes” or looking t my ass so I guess prison gyms are out…… So much for my “life of crime to get a better body program.”

I don’t want to work out at a gym where are more than a couple guys “stuck in the 80’s”. There are guys that have t-shirts that say “Crush Bone” or “Pitt Bull Gym”, wearing undersized shirts, lyrca shorts or leapord skin sweats and have fanny packs. They are also carrying around milk jugs that contain substances looking suspiciously unlike water…..

There has not be a no cell phone policy. I really don’t want to hear some 16 year old girl talking about whether she is getting laid at the prom or over my Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones.

When there is a sign on the locker room door that says “It Is a Crime to Buy or Sell Steroids on the Premises” that is by definition a muscle head gym and I will pass on that one.

A gym where the person on the elliptical trainer right before you, leaves a lake of sweat larger than Lake Erie . You call an employee over and his response is “Yea that really sucks, we will sell you a towel for Five Bucks if you want to clean it up”

Where half the guys in the gym are what I call “Mack Daddy Douchebag Gym Rats”. These are guys who get there workout by endlessly circling the gym, never lifting a weight, but invite every single women they encounter to go have a beer with them after he finishes his “brutal workout” You will see them stop by the water fountain to splash water on their faces after each lap.

Here is what I decided I do want in a gym.

The Personal Trainers are there to personal train and not sell memberships. They do not abandon you when some new “sucker potential member” secret code is announced over the intercom. In case I want to venture into the Mack Daddy Gym Rat world and become what I despise, the trainer must also be knowledgeable about every single girl in the club, who she is dating, which members in the club have slept with her, including the trainer.(you now who these people are because they have “GT” (gym troll) on their backs. They must also be willing to lie their ass off about what a great guy you are and how you are looking for that one special girl to any girl you point out to them.

The equipment does not look like it was the hot thing 10 years ago.

Quarter eating mini lockers is NOT major source of revenue for the club.

The fountain water fountain does not have an “out of order, well needs filled” sign on it.

Lysol is a means of cleaning and not a special order when someone falls ill with some mysterious illness….

KEYSTONE COPS

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:28:00 +0000

You heard it here first that the case of alleged murderer Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean will end up going down as one of the most bungled murder investigations in history right there with the Duke Rape Case, O.J. Simpson and JonBenet Ramsey. Cpl Laurean is the prime suspect in the murder of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach who was pregnant the time of her death. The case has already been marred by moronic and frequent news conferences by the Osnlow County Sheriff Ed Brown as well as his appearance on tabloid shows... We now hear that the Onslow County Sheriff's department had enough information to arrest Cpl Laurean not prior to the murder but soon after. The failure to take him into custody has now allowed him to escape to Mexico which effectively takes the death penalty off the table if he is apprehended there. Mexico will not extradite someone charged with a capital offense unless the death penalty is removed from consideration Real time decisions are always based on less than perfect information and mistakes are made but there is a huge difference between mistakes made in innocence and mistakes made in arrogance.Lets hope that the arrogance and desire for "tabloid time" of Sheriff Brown has not damaged the ability to get a conviction when this guy is finally caught We know it has damaged the ability to get the full justice that U.S. laws would have allowed for.

GENETICALLY ENGINEERING YOUR CHILD BECAUSE YOUR BACK HURTS

Brian Cuban — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:06:00 +0000

I was watching Law and Order SVU last night and one of the sub-plots was about a couple who had a genetic defect which caused her to grow abnormally. The family was giving her medication to permanently stunt her growth. Detective Benson had a huge problem with the ethics of such treatment. The episode also included an interaction will a girl who had the treatment done to her and had grown up and was very happy and normal other than her small stature. Below is the real life case this is based on and the article I wrote when it happened.... ORIGINAL POST - JANUARY 10, 2007:(CNN)"Ashley's parents have stunted her growth to keep her at 4 feet 5 inches. Their daughter has severe physical and mental disabilities. They say the treatment is for her comfort and to make it easier to carry her and include her in family activities.The parents don't want their names used or to speak about the treatment they chose beyond the explanation posted on their website. But the case of their daughter has created a medical and ethical controversy.The parents don't want their names used or to speak about the treatment they chose beyond the explanation posted on their website. But the case of their daughter has created a medical and ethical controversy."Ashley is a little girl who is unable to talk and unable to walk and interacts with individuals like a baby would," says Dr. Douglas Diekema, a pediatrician and ethicist at the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, which has worked with the family. "She can't do anything for herself. She really needs help feeding and dressing and moving about. She's completely dependent on other people for care."So when endocrinologist Daniel Gunther, also a doctor at the Seattle hospital, suggested stunting their daughter's growth, the family did research, then asked the hospital to help.Diekema, a member of the ethics committee that met, agreed that the treatment was the best thing for the girl."Ashley's life is her family," says Diekema. Like a baby, she has a very small world, and it's "all about her parents and her siblings. It's very important to the parents to provide as personal a level of care as they can. Dad would much prefer to pick her up in the morning out of bed and give her a hug and carry her to the chair and carry her from the chair to the car for as long as he can do that physically."The treatment was highly unusual. For several years, until recently, Ashley was given massive doses of estrogen. That stopped her from growing beyond her child's size. And doctors removed her uterus and breast tissue.The parents now refer to this as "Ashley's Treatment" and say it could benefit other children like Ashley.Diekema, the hospital ethicist, thinks it would be used only in the rarest of cases."Would it be inappropriate with somebody who had a capacity to develop at a greater level? Very possibly. I would never advocate this for a child with Down syndrome, for example," Diekema says.Many parents of severely disabled children worry about how to care for their children as they grow older and bigger. These families rely on in-home aides and mechanical lifts. But those solutions are not perfect."This is a very common problem," says Dr. Jeffrey Brosco, a pediatrician and ethicist at the University of Miami. "Just last week, I was mourning with a family because their 19-year-old son is over 200 pounds." His behavior is more aggressive, so the parents have moved him into a group home. They were unable to care for him at home.Many parents of children with severe disabilities face this dilemma: What do they do when they're not physically able to care for the child? Still, Brosco is worried about the solution in Ashley's case. He's written about it in the medical journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, responding to an article by Ashley's doctors. He says it's not clear how well Ashley's treatment will work, whether it really will keep her small and comfortable. And there might be side effects, like seizures, for a girl who already has severe disabilities.He's worried about doing odd medical treatments on disabled people -- a group with a history of forced sterilizations and euthanasia.But Brosco is particularly worried about all the focus on this one case in Seattle ."I'm concerned that the attention being paid to Ashley's case might divert our attention from the larger social and political issue, which is that we are not doing a good job in helping [families] keep their adult children at home," he says.Brosco says what families really need are in-home aides, technology to help them with chores such as lifting and other support. As compelling as Ashley's case may be, it has little to do with the everyday struggles of families who care for children with severe disabilities."http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/01/04/ashley.treatment.ap/index.htmlHERE IS MY ARTICLE:I will first state that I am not a parent of a handicapped child or any children for that matter. I am neither a scientist nor a physician. I had never even heard of this use of science/medicine for this purpose before this article. I could research the hell out of this and write a thesis but I will give a shorter view of how I feel.I will never ever second-guess the decisions of those whose shoes I will probably never walk in where they are making decisions they deem in the best interest of their children. That is what parents do. That is what they are supposed to do. I won't criticize an individual decision. However, I will second-guess the overall ethical use of the science and those who made this alternative available to the parents. I am fairly certain it didn’t come to the parents in a dream.What is the intended purpose of the medicine/science versus how it was used here?It is absolutely a good thing that medicine and science often lead to other uses for that same medicine and science. Without knowing more about this particular medicine (and it could be a completely bogus analogy), I will use stem cell research. All religious objections aside, the main objections are not to the intended use of the science.I think most agree (except those with religious objections) that the idea of using stem cells to cure otherwise incurable disease is the intended use and is beneficial. The objections are as to individual, personal uses that are not within the scientific realm of the intended uses - uses which are inflicted on specific individuals where the greater good has not really been hashed out. That is the issue I have here.Was this a decision made solely by the parents in their best interests and not the child’s? I don’t know. They obviously claim differently and since there was no legal challenge, that is all that counts. Legally the standards are almost always what is in the child’s best interest. I do not fault the parents for acting in their own best interests. Again, walk in their shoes. I will also believe it’s true that what was done may have in fact been the child's best interest in this particular situation. That is not the point.Is what was done to this child the intended use of the science pushed on her without her consent? She is someone's child but she is still a human being. Some may argue that this really was not genetic engineering, but a combination of accepted types of surgery and medicine. That is form over substance. Accepted for what purpose? The genetically predestined course of this child's life was altered through science. That is the essence of genetic engineering. I take issue when non-medically or scientifically accepted science for a particular purpose is pushed on an individual or a group of individuals solely to make the life of another group easier.I could make some historical analogies here but I won’t. I will simply conclude by stating that this is the essence of selective genetic engineering which scares me a little - keeping the weak weak or getting rid of them in order to make the strong stronger and their lives easier, at least in their minds.©2007 Brian Cuban

I BURIED MY BRAIN IN FARMER'S BRANCH

Brian Cuban — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:29:00 +0000

Those of us who live in Dallas, Texas are aware of the efforts of the community of Farmer's Branch to ban the rental of apartments to those who are in this country illegally. Their first effort was put to a quick halt with a permanent injunction. This will undoubtedly be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Completely missing the "boat" again, Farmer's Branch hired a law professor, Fred Kobach, who has helped draft these ordinances for other cities. This professor changed a few words and now feels the ordinance will pass constitutional muster. Since falling asleep at official meetings seems to be all the rage right now(just ask Bill Clinton), I will assume professor Fred Kobach was sound asleep when Federal Judge Sam Lindsey opined that regulating immigration was the sole province of the Federal government. I hope he is not teaching constitutional law............http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/012308dnmetfbrentals.2c1fcca.htmlHere is the article I wrote when Farmer's Branch initially tried to pass such a law and was shot down....I BURIED MY BRAIN IN FARMER'S BRANCHFederal Judge Sam Lindsay yesterday granted a temporary restraining order against implementation of the controversial ordinance that would make it illegal for property owners to rent to illegal immigrants.Anyone who didn't bury their brain in Farmer's Branch expected this TRO to be issued, and as I expect an injunction to also be issued. This is probably an issue that will ultimately be decided by nine wise men and women in Washington .(AN INJUNCTION WAS IN FACT ISSUED )In reading the article in the Dallas Morning News, I was particularly impressed by the quote of Farmer's Branch city council member Bill Moses: "I do not understand why we have a vote on it and it doesn't seen to matter to the judge." That's quite a stirring legal analysis.I understand that Mr. Moses also voted yes on the less publicized proposed ordinance that would make it legal to rob banks in Farmers Branch .If that ordinance passes you know where I will be moving. Hey, that's where the money is.

SEARS HOCUS POCUS

Brian Cuban — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:58:00 +0000

So Eddie Lampert's latest strategy to stop the Sears Holding free-fall in both the market and customer service is to break it up into independently run units. Each unit will have its own management structure, budget and autonomy. The market strategy worked in the short term, the price of the stock is up 20 points since the announcement. What is my take?1. This is another short term "hedge-fund mindset" solution that will do nothing more than drive up stock in the short term much as his stock buybacks were designed to do. Just more MBA number cruncher solutions with no marketing or sales focus.2. Retail by its very nature requires integration and communication which SHLD was severely lacking prior to this move. How does this improve that?3. A bunch of people who already failed in getting people into the stores and creating buzz are now running their own units doing the same.. That sure instills confidence in me..... Don't get me wrong, I have met some very sharp higher ups at Sears who while they are failing are not failing because of lack of smarts. You can be the best bowler in the world but if there is a curtain in front of the pins, makes it kind of tough to excel. It was my perception from being in a position to talk to some of these people and watch what was going on that Eddie Lampert has kept that curtain over the target since day 1 leaving me the impression that for all good intentions, these guys never had a chance. Wont fly anywhere, number crunching IVY league MBAs with no street level experience, advance teams..... Read some of Mark Cuban's blogs on this subject. Out of touch eventually means out of business.........I view this a last ditch asset management strategy that may shore up the value of assets that didn't need shoring up like Craftsman but will basically leave SHLD completely irrelevant(if it can be any more irrelevant than it is now) as a general retailer.
A little bit off point but about 8 months ago, I had dinner with someone who reports directly to Eddie. I voiced one observation that concerned me at the time. I told that person that you could always make an good educated guess about what business/management book Eddie was reading at any given time by the decisions he makes and you would be right 70 percent of the time. It is certainly smart to read read read and see what has worked and not worked for other people, you do not want to reinvent the wheel. It is one thing to learn how a wheel is built, it is another to copy that exact wheel. Snow tires wont work to well in the long run in Dallas. I said it before, Eddie Lampert needs to get out of Greenwich, get rid of his traveling posse, and actually do some real work related to retail. Quit focusing on driving up the stock prices and do realistic work on driving customers through he doors. Accessing reports and getting numbers crunched is NOT going to save Sears. As you probably will never see this, I really think Sears as a general retailer is toast. Its just a matter of time.

ITUNES MOVIE RENTALS-AM I MISSING SOMETHING?

Brian Cuban — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 08:58:00 +0000

I will start out by stating that I love my 160 gig IPOD. I started out with the 40 gig and have moved up each generation as Apple has released them. Until the 80 gig was released you could only download music which was cool. I am however a huge movie buff. I collect them and much to my girlfriend's chagrin watch some that I love over and over again. When apple released the generation of IPOD that you could download movies to, I was thrilled. Unfortunately, I-Tunes never really kept pace. Every once in a while they would release a movie I like but in general they put a bunch of crap out there that there was not a huge audience for in the first place. IF I didn't want to see it or rent it then, I certainly dont want it wasting space on my IPOD. Then video ripping software was developed. This was my savior because I have a huge DVD collection of well over 400 movies. I paid 40 bucks for mine but there is some good free software that can be downloaded off the internet. I know there will be people reading this screaming copyright infringement but as I paid for the movie originally and downloaded it for my personal use I am not feeling guilty about it.I began ripping my favorite movie to my IPOD and watching them on planes, at the gym, etc, It is great. You add in Bose Noice Cancelling Headphones it really is a great experience as far as these things go.But alas, Apple is Itunes is still Russian Roulette. You might see one new movie a week added and there was still an 80 percent chance it was some straight to DVD clunker or some other yawner you get stuffed in your Christmas Stocking.When Apple announced their new Rental program I was excited. I thought there would be overload with great titles coming fast and furiously. There have been a couple good titles but they are not being added all that fast and I guess I did not read the fine print on this one because no matter what I try, the rental will not sync to my ipod. I can only watch it on my computer.I find this very weird because the new IPod Firmware update puts a category of movie rentals on my Ipod. They also make a big deal of 30 days to watch the movie but that his very misleading Once you start watching the movie, you only have 24 hours to finish it. I guess that made sense to someone......I am sorry but unless I am a huge accumulator of Frequent Flyer miles, what is the point of the whole thing if I cant transfer the movie to my Ipod? What's the big deal? How does this compete with Netflx, Blockbuster etc? Unless Im in a hotel in Tasmania with no other option, I still would rather watch the movie on a television or in the theatre....What am I missing?My opinion: ITunes movie rentals adds no value or incentive to make it a realistic choice unless you are a heavy traveler. Even then, its not a very good choice as the selection sucks. If I am in a hotel, I would rather fork over the extra ten bucks for the much better in-room movie selection with no-download wait.

Time to go rip another blockbuster hit to my IPOD because I sure wont find it on ITUNES and if I do, I cant fit my MAC book in front of me on the elliptical trainer.

WESLEY "BLADE" SNIPES STICKS IT TO THE FEDERAL GOVERMENT

Brian Cuban — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:48:00 +0000

In what has to be one of the more bizarre trials and verdicts to come out of the Federal Courts in quite some time, actor Wesley Snipes was acquitted of tax fraud and conspiring to defraud the Federal government with regards to his refusal/failure to file income tax returns and pay income taxes on over 38 million dollars of earnings spanning a number of years. He was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of failure to file income tax returns over three years but strangely was acquitted of failure to file returns over another three years.

Snipes didnt even put on a case. In closing his attorney argued that the positions that Snipes has taken regarding why he doesnt have to pay taxes may be bizarre and kooky but they are not illegal.I guess I will never be a tax attorney as I shared what I think is the general public impression that refusal to pay your taxes is in itself a crime. A perception that the Federal government certainly encourages to keep the masses writing checks. It apparently is not. I guess you also have to have some sinister intent when you dont pay and buy that Lexus instead.Snipes apparently will still have to "pay the piper" when the IRS goes after him in Civil Tax Court.In the great tradition of BLADE, I guess we can say score one for the "working stiff"........

I AM IN LOVE WITH MY GARBAGE

Brian Cuban — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:06:00 +0000

So I am cleaning out my home getting ready for a move in a couple months. I pull out this box that contains nothing but jumbled cables, speaker wire and electronic thingamajigs. I am trying to decide what to keep and throw away. I pull out this one generic cable. I look at it and immediately form a bond. That cable and I have history….. I bought that cable 5 years ago, when I bought my first nice stereo to go in my home, I then used that cable when I hooked up my first high definition television, I am pretty sure I used that cable in my DVD player at well. I had history with that cable. I stared at that cable. I thought about that cable. I let my cat chase that cable, giving it once last triumphant moment in my life after about an hour I said goodbye and gently placed that stereo cable with which I had so much history in the dumpster. Love is never having to say you’re sorry. Sometimes you just have to let go of your garbage.

RETURN TO SENDER

Brian Cuban — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:47:00 +0000

It was a day like any other day. Sun was shining. Dog was scratching, cat was napping, Brian was loafing. There was a knock at the door at that would change my future. I am used to afternoon knocks on the door. I am on first name basis with the UPS guy as I buy a ton of books on Amazon.com. This knock however was like any other knock on my door since I moved into my condo ten months ago. It was a knock of authority. It was a knocked that said “I mean business”. It was a knock that caused the dog to stop scratching, the cat to wake up, and me to get off my ass and put some clothes on to go answer it.

Lets’ talk about the psychology of “the knock”. When there is a knock at your door, there are really only so many realistic options. Sure it could be Jessica Biel coming to tell me she worshipped me from a far and was dumping, her boyfriend and wanted to move in to my new condo. I would have to decline as I have a girlfriend but it is nice to be wanted. Sure it could be that but I will have to admit that is not a realistic option….

So what else could it be? Let’s take the following out of the equation. I am not expecting anyone, I have no psycho girlfriends or one night stands out there, I didn’t order pizza, it is not Halloween. I also live in a gated community so it could not one of those magazine sales cults that try to sell you mages you don’t want, keep your money to buy drugs and alcohol and you never see the magazine. The last one told me that if he sold one more subscription to “Motorcycle Mama”, he would get a scholarship to Harvard Law School. I am still waiting for my “Mama” and I saw that same kid standing at an intersection with a sign that said “Free Porn For Food”

Having ruled out the plausible and the implausible I answered the door. It was the post man with a dam certified letter! I hate certified letters! Unless you jus t won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes there is no such thing as a good news certified letter. I am an attorney so I know this! I have sent out many certified letters and none of them contained good news!

Immediately my mind is spinning. What have I done? I have not cheated on my taxes recently, I have not “deadbeated anyone”. The bottom line was in that 2 seconds that seemed like and eternity I could not think of anyone that I had screwed over and would want to “smite” me with a certified letter.

I take a deep breath and take the letter. The world suddenly has shifted from the real to the surreal. The letter is addressed to occupant! WHO THE HELL SENDS A CERTIFIED LETTER TO OCCUPANT!

I am not sure of 99 percent of the things in my life but I am sure my name is not “occupant”. I know this because I asked the postman to wait, went to my office, grabbed my birth certificate an confirmed my name was not “occupant” The name of the guy I leased the condo from was also not “occupant” so I ruled him out . My cat’s name is Useless and my dog’s name is Peanut so I ruled them out.

I then told the postman that after thorough due diligence, I was certain there was no one named “occupant” living at my address.

The Postman’s response was profound”

“Pal I just deliver them, do you want to sign for the dam thing or not!”

How many times as an attorney have advised people pulled over for DWI, don’t take the breathalyzer. Of course no one heads the advice because every drunk thinks they are sober. Next thing you know you’re being initiated into your new “fraternity by being “pinned” by a smelly redneck named Bubba.

I should have followed my own advice. Never take the breathalyzer and NEVER SIGN FOR A CERTIFIED LETTER ADDRESSED TO OCCUPANT!

Conclusion of story? It was a letter from the “new” owner of my condo They had foreclosed on the guy I had leased it from. The letter said I had ten days to get out.

If I had only entered the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes this sad story might have had a happy ending………

THE BELL IS TOLLING FOR HD-DVD

Brian Cuban — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:21:00 +0000

In what is one more nail in the HD-DVD coffin, Netflix and more importantly Best Buy have stated that they will abandon HD-DVD high definition and exclusively endorse competing Blu-Ray high definition disc technology. As I have previously written this format war runs along the same lines as the VHS/Betamax wars of many years ago with VHS winning out.While the Netflix endorsement hurts, the Best Buy endorsement is a crushing blow to the HD-DVD format. Best Buy is the #2 retailer for DVDs and the #1 retailer for next generation format DVDs. The next huge domino in line has not yet fallen. Wal-Mart has stated that they are currently undecided. If Wal-Mart backs Blu-ray, its over..... I expect Wal-Mart to continue to carry the HD-DVD line while they determine if they have their own market for it. Of course if HD-DVD's biggest backer, Toshiba decided that the market is no longer there for their players, the whole thing is academic.

HOW TO REDUCE YOUR "REPUTATION VALUE"

Brian Cuban — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:48:00 +0000

I am not talking about Roger Clemens. I am talking about his attorney, "former" powerhouse Houston attorney Rusty Hardin. I would imagine Rusty probably does not need to work another day in his life but if you could value attorney's like you do a sport's franchise, his value just went from the stratosphere of the Dallas Cowboys to the Arizona Cardinals(the lowest valued team in the NFL according to Forbes) If you are talking hit to reputation, you can also analogize him to the New England Pats walking into a can't lose situation and now being just another "almost team" right there with the Seattle Seakhawks..... With Rusty's huge ego, you can bet he was calling every shot for Roger. You can also bet he devised the strategy and undoubtedly advised Roger to press forward with the hearing that couldn't have gone any worse if it had been scripted for both of them to come out looking like idiots and what is worse, exposing Roger to criminal liability? My advise to Rusty is to stick oil deals, Harris County Courtrooms, and power lunches in Houston. I certainly don't think anyone else will be asking you to represent them before Congress in the next 30 plus years.........

I DONT GIVE A SHIT!

Brian Cuban — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:32:00 +0000

Attorneys are a lot like strippers. The world is all about our client until the bill is paid..... I can across a post on a very well respected legal marketing blog called Legal Marketing Blog.com. The title of the blog was "How Convenient is it for Clients and Prospects to Reach You?". The blog makes the common sense point that in pretty much any profession, the easier you are for your clients to access you the more goodwill you build resulting in greater client retention and referrals. Makes good sense right? Of course right! What I found humorous was the attempt to lay out these principals to the legal profession. The proposition that attorneys will read this and change the way they do business was very intriguing to me and contradictory to what every legal bone in my body tells me after 20 years. In fact, there is about as much chance of that as there is any validity to my untested theory that I can go backwards in time by putting my auto up on cylinder blocks and going in reverse at full speed... It is a time tested and well accepted position that 98 percent of attorneys don't give a shit about who can get a hold of them and for the most part actually go to great lengths to keep people from getting a hold of them unless of course the person is calling about their unpaid bill or the call will generate a substantial billable rate. If the call will not generate a fee you have as much chance of talking to the attorney as Johnny Cochrane rising from the dead. Client goodwill is something only mused about in terms of what you could have done after the client has told you to F*** off and/or files a grievance with the State Bar. Not that you will learn anything when you send the next client's call to voicemail. The golden rule from what I have seen is that a client is just a means to an end with no form substance or history unless a payment is late or a trial is about to start.... Other than that all phone calls are unnecessary time wasting annoyances. Client service is for sales people. We attorneys are not sales people; we are highly educated and skilled professionals who are above client service small talk. You come to us for results, dog us when we don't get them and forget about us after we come through. Doesn't this justify the fact that I don't give a shit about you the client? Right? Of course right! I know solo and small firm attorney's who have taken so many cases beyond their ability to provide client service that the only way you will get a hold of them is to impersonate a judge or an investigator from the State Bar of Texas. In my 20 years, there have been 4 times where I looked at a practice and predicted that an attorney would be sanctioned by the State Bar in some form within a few years. I was right each time. It was not rocket science in each case, the attorney absolutely did not give a shit about any of his clients other than getting a check. They avoided client calls, didn't return calls, full voicemail's etc etc. The " if" was easy. It was only a question of when..... Lawyers at large firms often don't give a shit about their client any more than small or solo firms but they are able to do better damage control because they have people they pay to give a shit and to tell them when they're not giving a shit is about to cost them money such as more work from the client or the referral of a new client. Small firm and solo attorneys lose out the worst because they they don't give a shit to the same extent as big firm attorneys but they generally do not have any "I don't give a shit" damage control procedures in place. They therefore don't find out that the "I don't give a shit" philosophy has cost them until they are fired. They also get hit with the double "I don't give a shit" whammy when they are fired and the client bad mouths them. Obviously referrals are not forthcoming from pissed off clients.... Large firms generally have enough "I don't give shit" buffers in place that the client may never realize that his/her attorney does not give a shit. In my experience, do you know what the solo and small firm response to this problem is? You guessed it.... "I don't give a shit" Are there excellent kick-ass client service oriented attorneys out there at small firms and large? Of course there are. I know many. There are however also a ton of attorneys out there. In my experience the "I don't give shits" far outnumber the "kick ass" and they are not reading legal marketing blogs... Why? You guessed it! THEY DONT GIVE A SHIT

BLU RAY WARS-HOW TO GET SUED!

Brian Cuban — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:44:00 +0000

So you think that Blu Ray has won the one and only battle it will fight with the victory against HD DVD? Think again.... Round 2 has not yet been fought. There will not be as much at stake as the the battle just fought but it will be fought just the same. How do I know this battle to be fought? It will be fought because there are more law students than lawyers in this country.

The next battle will be the class action litigation against HD DVD player manufacturers. The first cannon shot has already been fired by Toshiba with their statement that there will be no refunds offered to those who have purchased soon to be obsolete HD DVD players. No rebates towards purchase of other products, zippo, zilch, nada...... Just a caveat emptor right in the kiester! I can not think of a quicker way to get sued than telling your customers with legitimate complaints to F***k off......

Nothing new here though. Without short sighted companies like Toshiba there would be no need for McDonalds coffee case taking Democrat plaintiff's attorneys. The whole legal system would collapse......So let it be written.... So let it be done......

SEINFELD THE HISTORIAN

Brian Cuban — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:24:00 +0000

So Jerry Seinfeld has been sued for slander among other things by a lady who also claims that Jerry's wife stole her idea for a children's healthy eating cookbook The lady, Chase Lapine Lapine is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for copyright and trademark infringement, and made slander and defamation claims. Lapine, the author of "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals," accused Seinfeld's wife of plagiarizing her cookbook. Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food" was published in October; Lapine's book was published in April. The publisher had rejected a book by Lapine but published a book by Seinfeld on the same subject. Jerry being the comedian that he is, had his next routine laid out like red carpet...... On a nationally televised talk show appearance he called Ms. Lapine a crackpot and compared her to the killers of John Lennon and Martin Luther King.... I didn't know Jerry was such a historian.....Jerry has moved to dismiss slander/defamation claim stating that it was "in jest" only and could not be taken seriously by anyone... If he is talking about Lindsay Lohan, he is making a good point but we are talking about a private individual's cookbook... Much different standard.... My take.... Jerry has some problems. There is no way the slander case is being dismissed. Jerry may be a comedian but when you take his comments in the overall light of the manner they were intended, a jury could easily find them defamatory..... While it is not spelled out in the Constitution, one right private citizens have as compared to celebrities is the right not to be insulted on national television. He can run his comedian defense out there all he wants but if I am on the jury, I say that comedy was not the motive behind the statements...... Ms. Lapine is not a public figure who are generally easy fodder for jokes as the standard for defamation is much higher. If it is Lindsay Lohan you can pretty much say anything you want about her as long you don't accuse her of giving you and STD. (unless of course it's true)You heard it here first that Jerry will pay out on this lawsuit...... Lesson to Jerry...... When you are on national television, talk shit about Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan but leave happy home-maker alone......

A WHOLE NEW TAKE ON WHEELCHAIR OLYMPICS

Brian Cuban — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:36:00 +0000

(CNN)The mayor of Tampa Florida has officially notified the International Olympic Committee that they will be submitting a formal proposal for new sport to be included at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. When asked for comment, city officials stated that they hoped their new sport would be included in future games for generations to come. They however were mum on the specifics as the formal proposal had not been submitted. CNN investigative reporters however were able to get a copy of the proposal. We have learned that the new sport is called the “quad dump”.

The basics of the sport were first developed by the deputy sheriffs at the Hillsborough County Jail by practicing on wheel chair confined prisoners after self review of video capturing deputy sheriffs twice in one month dumping helpless prisoners out of their wheel chair onto the floor.Mayor Pam Iorio felt there was a certain combination of art and strength needed to effectuate a successful “quad dump” and therefore should be classified as a sport. When asked for his opinion, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee smiled and stated " we have taken the art of “the dump” to a whole new level." Our deputy sheriffs are visiting jails all over the state asking for wheel chair confined inmates to volunteer for “quad dump practice” in exchange for a free pack of cigarettes. He went on to confidently state that they would be ready should the new sport be approved. More to follow………

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ATTACK OF THE OBAMAROIDS!

Brian Cuban — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 11:18:00 +0000

(WASHINGTON) CNN has learned that President George W. Bush has will soon announce what he terms a “historic news conference” of what his press secretary terms an announcement of unprecedented scientific and political significance. While the administration has been tightlipped on any further details, CNN has been able to obtain certain key details which are admittedly both stunning in frightening in their national and world significance. CNN has learned that an announcement will be made that the question of whether we are alone in the universe may have been answered and in this answer is a significant national and world security threat. President Bush is considering a complete recall of the National Guard from the Middle East as well as reinstating the draft to deal with this threat.

It appears that for the past 3 years there have been breaches of United States airspace by extra-terrestrial crafts which have deposited millions of undetected “pods” hidden in rural farm fields and uninhabited terrain in both the United States, Canada. It appears that after a three week “gestation” period, these pods have hatched humanoid creatures which the Bush administration as termed “OBOMAROIDS”……….

CNN has learned that these “OBAMAROIDS” when fully developed appear completely human to the naked eye and communicate both verbally, telepathically and have mind control capabilities. The presence of these OBAMAROIDS was first detected through a mysterious signal that seemed to be emanating from all OBAMA GIRLS on YouTube. A team of decryption specialists at MIT has been able to determine that the source of the signal is a previously undetected satellite of unknown origin orbiting the earth. While the meaning of much of the signal is still unknown, it has been determined that part of the signals transmits the message “OBAMA RULES……… “It has also been determining though brain scans that there is a definite mind control component to the signal. It is unknown how long this signals has been transmitted and how many people have been infected by it………

CNN has also learned that THE OBAMA GIRLS have been detained by the FBI and are being held in a specially fortified holding cell in Guantanamo Bay. This cell is designed to prevent any type of signals going in or out…..

Scientists from all over the world have alleged come together in a secret location at AREA 51 in New Mexico to hopefully determine the extent of the invasion and whether the signal has affected the internet……

CNN has also learned that specially designed sunglasses are being developed that would be able to spot these OBAMAROIDS in their alien form. One MIT scientists speaking anonymously due to national security concerns stated when seen in their alien form , these OBMAROIDS where ugly, "lizard like" creatures......

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama was unavailable for comment......Stay tuned for part 2 of this special CNN special report entitled ATTACK OF THE OBAMAROIDS……..

About BRIAN CUBAN

Brian Cuban — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:11:14 +0000

I am a Dallas Attorney working for Mark Cuban Companies doing whatever that happens to entail at any given moment. I am also the Executive Director of the Mark Cuban Foundation currently administering The Fallen Patriot Fund.I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa. I attended Mt. Lebanon High School. I received my undergraduate degree from The Pennsylvania State University. I received my law degree from The University of Pittsburgh School of Law. I am licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania(inactive) and Texas. I have two brothers, Mark Cuban and Jeff Cuban. I have a dog named Peanut and a cat named Useless.... You can also learn more about me on my Facebook page. If you are not a Facebook member, you may have to join to see the complete profile. Brian can be contacted at brian.cuban@dallasmavs.com

WHERE IS THAT DAMMED BICYCLE HOSE!

Brian Cuban — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:05:00 +0000

Once again, the premise that attorneys have no sense of humor is proven. This time by a Houston attorney named, Mark Bennett who took some shots at me in his Criminal Defense Blog. It is ironic that I would argue that failure to service and/or communicate with the client is the most excusable in the criminal defense arena where it is about immediate results against huge consequences for a bad one…. If Mark gets me off on a murder rap, I certainly would overlook no returned calls…..

I must have really struck a nerve down there with my “I DON’T GIVE A SHIT BLOG or maybe it was my criticism of Rusty Hardin. Other than my comments about Rusty, (which I am sure he read and was traumatized to no end) I went back and looked at the ‘SHIT BLOG”. Maybe I was off base and should clarify, quantify, rectify and every other “fy” out there……. It really does not matter does it…? I am sure that other than obviously making Mr. Bennett uncomfortable, my little read thoughts will not have much effect on the state of attorney-client service in the State of Texas

I however I frankly think I am in a better position to opine on the subject than the Mark Bennetts of the world…. Why do you say? I say this because I can be more objective in that I am not beholding to any special interests…… What special interests do you ask? The largest legal special interest out there that 90 percent of attorney’s rely on to get their business…….. Other attorneys.

There is a warm blanket of honesty attached with not needing referral business as I am sure Mr. Bennett does……

Time to go get my bicycle hose out of the closet. Need to “self’ inflate” my reputation value….. I have no doubt Mr. Bennett uses one of those electric heavy duty ones to deal with his ego……

LEAVE THE GUN... TAKE THE CANNOLIS....

Brian Cuban — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:27:40 +0000

So my girlfriend and I spent this last Christmas Eve. over my brother Mark Cuban's house. A great time was had by all. Got to see the nieces, nephew and extended family. We stuffed ourselves and watched re-runs of Law and Order "ad-nausem". So why am I bringing this up now? Something happened that at the time seemed innocuous but appears now to have huge cultural importance" For dessert we had Cannolis. Now I have never tasted a cannoli before. My only experience with them consisted of the famous line in "The Godfather" and watching Tony Soprano consume them "ad-nausem" Now I have to be honest here and I don't think this is stereotyping. Walking into a Jewish household and being served Cannolis for dessert is like walking into Little Italy in NYC asking for the dessert of the day and being served Kugel or matzo ball soup. I ate the Cannolis. I actually ate many Cannolis. I thanked Mark for expanding my cultural horizons by exposing me to the world of Cannolis. Fast forward to today. I am perusing a back edition of Dallas party rag "Paper City" and in it there is a quote from Willa Ford-Modano, wife of Dallas Stars hockey legend Mike Modano.She was talking about gifts they had given friends for Christmas. Mike Modano and Mark happen to be very good friends. Here is the quote: "This year, Mike (Modano) and I are sending Cannolis from Little Italy, NYC to all are close friends. They are the best Cannolis on planet Earth" Now I know where the Cannolis came from. Thank you Mike and Willa for exposing the Cubans to the world of Cannolis. I don't think they will ever replace a slice of Kugel or bowl of matzo ball soup but I have had a strange urge to watch Sopranos re-runs "ad-nasuem" since Christmas Eve.

SEARSOLOGY

Brian Cuban — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:06:28 +0000

So Alwyn Lewis is out at Sears. Not really suprising. About 8 months ago I had dinner with an employee at SHLD who reported directly to Eddie Lampert. The employee confided to me that while everyone knew what Alwyn was brought in for, the general consensus was that no one knew what he was doing or what his responsibilities were. He seemed to be a guy just "floating" out there with no real focus or impact. Was that Alwyn's fault? Absolutely not. I believe he was extremely qualified to help turn Sears around. I also believe that they will not find anyone out there more qualified to replace him. I also believe that even if they do it won't matter.... Why? The problem was not Alwyn. The problem was Eddie Lampert's total lack of understanding of retail and how to delegate. He did not have that understanding then and unless he has undergone an epiphany in the last few months, there is no reason to believe anything will change no matter who he sticks in there. Eddie is about control. Eddie is about spreadsheets, data, algorithms, stock buybacks, numbers hocus-pocus, Ivy League MBAs, advance teams before he goes anywhere, posses, and entourages. In other words, he is completely out of touch. In all fairness to him, he didn't suddenly one day lose touch. All those things he is about have made him a huge success in the hedge fund numbers crunching world where you don't have to leave your office and don't have to talk to anyone but the crunchers....... Until Eddie is ready to be a "regular guy" talking to "regular customers" the only big change at SHLD will be when he unloads bits and pieces and finally dumps.....

MY NIGHT OUT WITH BRITNEY SPEARS

Brian Cuban — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:45:52 +0000

I admit that I have become obsessed with the trials and tribulations of Britney Spears. While I despise everything TMZ.com stands for, I have become a closet “TMZr” just to check out what disaster or embarrassment she is into on any given day. I have even seen my brother Mark Cuban on their site now and then. He however always takes it in stride when the “paps” whoop on him. He even has some fun with them. His “faux” cocaine off the cell phone impression was hilarious and can be seen on their site…

It is however a sad statement of what I use some of my free time and I would be the first to admit that I despise everything TMZ stand for…. Now that I think about it, TMZ really doesn’t stand for anything… It is a completely content empty intrusion into the lives of others. Yet there I am daily….. Shame on Brian….. I admit that those who go to this site contribute to the whose of those in the public eye who would like their private life to stay their own to some degree or who simply don’t want to be harassed EVERY SINGLE TIME they step out of their homes…. Britney certainly falls into that category…

There should be a self help group for those who are addicted to TMZ…… I would raise my hand and state…. “My name is Brian and I am addicted to the misery of others”… … Hello Brian…..

I have asked myself why I have become addicted to Britney’s daily doogles…… I really don’t have a secret crush on her or anything…. The only explanation I can think of is that I got to “hang out” with her and her posse totally by accident when she was celebrating her 21^st birthday in NYC many years ago….

I was in NYC on business trip. After arriving my plans were cancelled at the last second. I called a friend of mine, Marc Roberts who used to be a sports agent in NYC and was living in Miami. He set me up with this very interesting Jamaican guy named Unik who at that time was a well known party planner in NYC and currently owns a bar called PM In the garment district. (It apparently closed in January of this year).

Uniks as it so happens had been asked to set up a last minute party for Britney’s 21^st and took me a long as his guest. We started out at some restaurant sitting right next to George Clooney who was there with a few of his buddies.

After about 3 hours of drinking, we all stumbled over to this nightclub called Suite 16 Including George, and drank while we waited for Britney…… and we drank while we waited for Britney….. and we drank while we waited for Britney….

Britney finally shows up at about 5 in the morning. By that time the only train wreck in the room was me after drinking since 8 pm……. I even had a 8 am flight back to Dallas……

Britney comes in surrounded by the 3 biggest guys I have ever seen…. This was before it was in style for celebrities to have wiry ex-Israeli Secret Service (Mosad) as bodyguards. These were just huge bouncer type dudes…. They all gravitate to a roped off table where Justin Timberlake was already sitting with some friends. Britney did not appear happy he was there..…. She clearly didn’t want him there and threw a fit that would make even her current day antics seem tame. It got a great write up in the NY Post…… After watching her try to scratch Justin’s eyes out with nasty looks until he booked I decided the better part of valor was to get my stuff and get to the airport still drunk….

So ended my evening with Britney Spears. I even left my coat at the club…. Anyone have Justin’s address so I can get it back??

DATA PINBALL

Brian Cuban — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:29:04 +0000

You see it every day just about every mainstream and tabloid news site. Nothing stays a secret. Just ask Britney Spears....... A piece of information/data put into play will at first flow on its own inertia to its closest intended point, after that watch out! That piece of data is then enters "data pinball". The flipper hits it and while the intent is to send it in a certain direction, you have no idea where it is going to end up. Each time it hits a "bumper" it is sent off in a whole new direction with new force and inertia. Theoretically this will go on as long as someone "bumpers" or "flips" it again in a whole different direction........ What is ironic is that the data itself will never change form but what finally makes it into the mainstream depending on where it ‘bounces" is never conveys the original message......... Just ask George Karl's attorney Brett Adams of the law firm of Adams Babner and Gitlitz who sent the owner of the web site FireGeorgeKarl.com (the coach of the Denver Nuggets) his infamous "I will sue you into bankruptcy" email. When the email finally came to rest on that same website... the message was not that the website was posting anything improper but that Brett Adams was an arrogant jerk..... I don't know if he is or not. I have never met him. That is the danger of Data Pinball..... The "data pinball" is sent off to hit other bumpers, setting off all new bells and whistles, racking new "data pinball" points for its new owner.....So why do we keep doing such stupid things with our data! Whether it is emails, photos, text messages etc...... A whole blog could be written about famous people and people who received unwanted "fame" as a direct result of not thinking about this before they hit send on their email, text message or voicemail rant or secret affair rendezvous..... From the highest level of technology down to the good old telephone. Just ask Alec Baldwin...... His data started on good old telephone lines and ended up pinballing all over the world..... His voicemail visitation rant to his daughter will be on YouTube until YouTube is no more or hell freezes over....Who knows when it will stop if ever....... Embarrassment is just the least of the damage; careers and marriages are ended.... We have all done it. I am just as guilty. There have been many times where I sent that text, or email and just seconds after send wished to hell I hadn't done it...... Too late I now have to assume those texts or emails are stored somewhere just waiting to be pinballed somewhere at some point in time for whatever reason and when least expect it...... Will there be an unknown and timeless price to pay for that instantaneous moment of adrenaline gratification I sought when I hit send and patted myself on the back for letting that person have it..... Ah yes...... The game of data pinball....... Where's my quarter..........

A VOTE AND A CUP OF COFFEE

Brian Cuban — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:10:55 +0000

The voting scandal of the 2000 Presidential elections accomplished two things: 1) It allowed President George Bush Jr. to win his term by the skin of his teeth, 2) it prompted the passing of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 which allowed massive appropriations for upgrading voting technology. Well it did three things. It also allowed Kathryn Harris , a bigoted, anti-Semitic left wing zealot to get attention she didn't deserve and help boost her political aspirations but that's for another blog. (I did hear that she recently secretly married Mel Gibson after meeting him at a Holocaust denier's symposium.From 2003-present over billion dollars has been spent on upgrading voting technology. (I mused that it clearly had not been spent in my prescient as I punched my cardboard ballot in the most recent primary....) What have the states as the recipients of these funds and we as the voters looking for something better and more user friendly gotten to show for it? NADA, ZIPPO, ZILCH! Well that's not really fair. In the upcoming general election, it is estimated that over 50 percent of all voters will get to use voting machines that are a cross between digital slot machines and atms. No more hole punching lever pulling. I guess the future is now!!! It also sounds great in theory but every time you go digital, you create a whole new cottage revenue stream for the hacking industry. You know, this is all great and hopefully it will plug the problems that allowed George to be re-elected in 2000. I frankly couldn't care less about this apparent leap in technology. What am I waiting for? I am waiting for that Tuesday after the first Monday in November where I can wake, up head down to the local 7-11 , get my cup of coffee, get my powerbar, head over to the all purpose machine, take out a 100 bucks, buy a roll of stamps, high speed download the latest blockbuster to my iPod, check my outstanding arrest warrants. Maybe our next big appropriation should be to educate the states of Florida and Michigan in how to hold a primary that doesn't disenfranchise their voters.....

A GLASS OF WATER CHANGED MY LIFE!

Brian Cuban — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:37:17 +0000

So prescription drugs are in our drinking water. That would explain the very interesting last couple of weeks I have had after switching from bottled to tap water..... Here is everything that has happened to me since I drank a glass of tap water..... The STD I had picked up from sharing a hooker with governor Eliot Spitzer of New York went away due to the trace antibiotic in the water..... With a renewed ability to "work it" I began feeling very "manly" and spiritually "enlarged' due to the trace Viagra in the water. I called "Kristen" who was in the governor's black book. Kristen was not available as she was busy testifying before a grand jury so I called it a night..... The next day, Not only feeling like a man again, I suddenly felt very alert and somehow "smarter" due to the trace elements of Adderall in the water.... I immediately signed up to take the LSATs. I drank 100 glasses of water prior to the test and received a perfect score. I was granted early admission to Harvard Law... Feeling very anxious due to too much Adderall, I drank some more water and immediately felt calmer and happy due to the trace anti-depressants in the water... With all that behind me I finally made it back into the gym. When I was changing, I notice that my breasts had enlarged due to the female hormones in the water. While I wanted a bigger chest I was not counting on having to buy a bra but it was better than nothing...... Finally, I drank a few glasses of water before I went out to a night club last week..... I suddenly began acting very strangely, being obnoxious to women, dancing on the tables and developed a "tap water addiction" due to the trace "crack cocaine" in the water..... Now all I do is drink water and go to the bathroom at least 200 times a day. Harvard booted me, I lost my job and not being able to pay my water bill any longer, set up house under a bridge where I now I have a free endless supply of water with all the drugs that go with it........ I am a proud member of TapWater Addicts Anonymous (TAC). Every day is an adventure....... Maybe tomorrow I will grow a third arm.... I didn't make to Harvard but I will be a hell of a ditch-digger......

GRAND JURY MANIA!

Brian Cuban — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:13:02 +0000

It looks like former New England Patriot film guy turned government rat Matt Walsh may be ready to spill his guts to the federal government. No quite the Valachi Papers or Donnie Brasco but another sports scandal distraction for us all to roll our eyes out and watch the government cash registers "chi-ching" away at all the wasted tax dollars. If I read one thing about a congressional investigation or grand jury subpoenas with regard to the New England Patriots taping scandal I'm going to puke. I'm starting to suspect these federal prosecutors and elected officials get a "per subpoena" bonus... Barry Bonds perjury trial, Roger Clemens suspected perjury, Steroid Hearings... Every time I pick up the papers some grand jury or Senate Committee is being convened to spend millions of dollars in taxpayer money on issues that are absolutely trivial in the grand scheme of issues that affect our lives.... Meanwhile, Wesley Snipes thumbs his nose at the Federal government to the tune of 38 million dollars and gets away with it! (At least the criminal part) As sure as I am sitting here, a year from now we are going to be reading about another moronic investigation, about Congressional testimony, who will testify and whether Bill Belechick will be indicted for perjury....... Go get him guys! I did read on TMZ that Bill Belechick used to be a CIA operative and is currently being questioned in the CIA tape destruction scandal. He has not been heard from in 24 hours and the rumor is circulating that he has been "renditioned" to the site of Jimmy Hoffa's grave I did hear that there is a new NBC primetime reality series starting this fall entitled: I AM THE TARGET OF A GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION......... They are trying to locate Jimmy Hoffa to be the first guest star...

Governor Spitzer Voicemail Made Public!

Brian Cuban — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:47:29 +0000

CNN (NY) CNN has learned that just before the allegations against NY governor Eliot Spitzer were made public he made a phone call to the home phone prostitute named "Kristen" who worked for "The Emperor's Club" and left a message on her voicemail. While the Justice Department and FBI have been tightlipped about the contents of this voicemail, CNN investigative reporters have been able to obtain a copy which allegedly has Governor Spitzer leaving a "singing message" to Kirsten(who's photos are now on the web). The contents of the voicemail show a "conflicted:" governor who definitely needs some singing lessons. Here are the contents of the voicemail he sang to Roy Orbison song, Pretty Women.... Kristen's phone: This is Kristen, I'm here but gettin busy...... please leave a message... Governor Spitzer: Kristen, I am sitting here alone in my hotel room at the Mayflower. I just watched the movie Pretty Women and thought of you...... "Governor Spitzer begins to sing into the phone....." Skanky woman, always in heat Skanky woman, I took a train to meet...... Skanky women.... Yes I touched you, I told the truth I have to pay because I'm not in my youth.... Mercy Skanky woman, I won't you pardon you Skanky woman, I will be in jail too..... Skanky woman That you look hot as can be Are you horny just like me Wow Skanky woman, stop your lies Skanky woman, talked to spies Skanky woman, gave your STD to me, me, me... Skanky woman, you're a hoe hoe hoe Skanky woman, my names not Joe Skanky woman, say you'll lie for me 'Cause I need you, I'll treat you right Come meet me baby, I got cash tonight.... Skanky woman, don't tell my wife.... Skanky women you'll ruin my life Skanky woman, don't walk away, hey...okay If that's the way it must be, okay I guess I'll go tell my wife it's late There'll be a tomorrow night, but wait What do I see Why are you blackmailing me Yeah, you took 80 grand from me Oh, oh, Skanky woman

DALLAS JUSTICE JACK MCCOY STYLE

Brian Cuban — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:15:50 +0000

The Dallas Morning news is reporting that a former judge now running for Cook County District Attorney (on the Oklahoma border) committed prosecutorial misconduct during the murder trial of a man accused of raping women twenty years ago. Judge Mike Snipes concluded that the Court of Criminal Appeals should grant Clay Chabot a new trial because Janice Warder, the lead prosecutor in the case, failed to disclose information favorable to the defense that could have changed the jury's verdict. The 10-page finding said that Ms. Warder did not tell Mr. Chabot's defense attorneys about inconsistent statements by his brother-in-law Gerald Pabst, whom DNA tests now show to be the rapist. The judge also said that Ms. Warder did not disclose discussions with another witness about her not being interested in prosecuting him for drug dealing. Ms. Warder violated what is called "The Brady Rule". This is a court ruling that requires the prosecution to turn over to the defense evidence which may be "exculpatory"(which may prove the defendant's innocence) This was a court ruling in the 1963 Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland. I admit that I have long since forgotten anything I learned about criminal law and procedure in law school and studying for the Texas Bar Exam. I also admit that anything I know about criminal law is as a result of watching re-runs of Law and Order and Law and Order SVU ad-naseum..... That makes it easy for me. When someone asks me for advice in the criminal law area, I simply research a particular Law and Order episode, tell the person when that episode will air and to watch it and send them a bill....... Well not really but I do know some attorneys who I would swear practice law that way...... Sure as hell beats going to the law library or paying for Lexis..... Law and Order comes with my basic cable so it saves me a hell of a lot of money in legal research..... In any event, I digress....... I was simply shocked that the article inferred that there was no administrative or criminal legal recourse against Ms. Warder for her conduct in the trial. I clearly recall a Law and Order episode entitled "Under The Influence" that dealt with this issue. In this episode, Jack McCoy withheld the statement of a flight attendant whose testimony would have resulted in a lesser charge for person accused of murder by running over some people while drunk. He even encouraged her to leave the country during trial! There was clear implication in the show that this was prosecutorial misconduct and sanctionable.... Jack gets off the hook but hey I love Law and Order, don't you? Jack McCoy is my idol. Isn't he yours? I have every episode ever broadcast Tivo'd. I am sure you do too. I think I could have bypassed law school and just watched Jack McCoy prepare and try cases. I would pass the bar and be the best trial attorney ever! Isn't that what you did? I love Jack! He wins the great majority of his cases, and certainly all his rape cases! He withholds evidence from the defense and walks away without as much as a slap on the wrist! He lies to witnesses and defendants and it is okay! Jack makes inflammatory comments not supported by the evidence to the media and he is a hero for it! His trial arguments are often emotional and not based on any evidence, but no one objects and he gets the conviction! Wait, there is a catch here. Sam Waterston, who plays Jack McCoy, is an actor - not an attorney. Sam Waterston, after committing all those terrible legal sins every episode, gets to go home to his wife and kids every night and read his script for his next episode. Does anything happen to Janice Warden for her legal sins which in my book are no less egregious twenty years later? Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating some "absolution" for guy on the receiving end of the misconduct..... If you read the article, he is clearly a bad guy and contrary to popular believe the ends often due justify the means. What I am concerned about is the drunk driving rule which states for every time you get pulled over for drunk driving, you drove drunk up to 100 times without getting caught. (I can't remember where I heard that) There has to be an innocent schmoe caught up in that math somewhere...... Maybe I am just naïve and Dallas Justice and justice everywhere is just like the Law and Order television show.... What am I missing here.....

OTHER SPITZER ESCORT SERVICES REVEALED!

Brian Cuban — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:03:56 +0000

(CNN Dallas) It has been reported that disgraced former Governor of New York Elliot Spitzer had some of his clandestine "Kristen romps" right here in Dallas, Texas. Local CNN investigative reporters have been able to get the list of Dallas Escort Services used by Spitzer

1. Wild West Escorts. We specialize in the high rollin.... Cowboy wannabe from the suburbs. Included in the fee is an escort to the Fort Worth Rodeo by the former Ms. West Texas YMCA Bluebonnet Queen and the exclusive use of Billy Bob's, Texas mechanical bucking bull specially equipped for multiple "rodeo style "positions.....

2. 30k Millionaire Escorts. We specializes in the 25-30 year old Jack In the Box manager, who is looking to "big time" it like they actually have a life. Included is an escort with an ex- Southern Methodist University Cheerleader fresh out of rehab. Limo service and rented 500 dollar suit are included in price, multiple parties welcome for a nominal additional per person charge....... Cocaine and Viagra also additional.......

3. Twelve Step Escorts -We specialize in drug and alcohol free encounters.... You will be escorted by the current Alcoholics Anonymous "Ms Sobriety" to 12 step meetings at all the local AA chapters and rehab centers.... We also specialize in "smokin hottie interventions". We will arrange for someone you love to think he has landed a smokin hot date that in reality would never even look at him. She will tell him she just can't wait and under the pretense of a date and transport him to the local Betty Ford Center. For a nominal extra fee a stop off at a local hotel is included for one last sex, coke and alcohol binge prior to the rehab stop....... You supply the coke....

While it is still unknown how Sptizer became a aware of these services, it is rumored that during the execution of a federal search warrant at his office a copy of "Escort Services For Dummies was found.....

SPELLING IS OVERRATED!

Brian Cuban — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:05:54 +0000

I have taken more grief on one particular issue more than any subject I have written on. I even ran into some people in NYC recently who read my blog and commented on my lack of spelling etiquette which is was a nice way of saying that I can't spell worth a shit. (Just the other day someone pointed out that I had spelled my own name wrong on a portion of my blog) I was really feeling pretty "low rent" in my grammatical efforts and was contemplating various types of therapy to get over the feelings of "spelling inadequacy". Just when I was about to end it all , I saw something that pulled me out of the doldrums and restored my faith in humanity and human nature in general. I was perusing a back issue of Marie Claire Magazine. (Yes, real men read Marie Claire) The following story headline was prominently displayed: The Million-Dollar Question" ... the byline under the title reads as follows: "We're better educated, better read, and better at launching a business. So why, when it comes to managing money, do women lag behind? Serial debter(sic) Meghan Daum explains the complex state of women and wealth." Being an attorney and holding numerous credit cards, I am very familiar with the term "debtor" In legal circles and the many threatening letters from these credit card combines and their paid leg-breakers...... it has always been spelled DEBTOR! I looked at their spelling and immediately was of the opinion that there was a spelling I was unaware of. ... I suspect that this magazine is paying people who call themselves assistant editors who pick up girls claiming to be aspiring writers working on a hit play in the NYC bar scene and..... get paid to check spelling...... At least I have an excuse. I'm just lazy and have not written anything worthy enough to play the 50k a year billionaire in NYC (Millionaires are a dime a dozen there so you have to jack up your game...). MARIE CLAIRE IS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT MATTER! They are ruled by the almighty dollar and to have such a blatant misspelling on such a mainstream word (especially to those of us who owe) has to be an incredible embarrassment that registers 9.0 on the I f****k up Richter scale! I mean when your whole product consists of the written word, someone is going from senior editor to copy boy on that one! I decide to help Marie Claire out and prove that someone there knew some esoteric definition of "debtor" that the legal profession had overlooked. I went to the Miriam Webster Website. I typed in "debtor" and "debtor." I have very bad news for the former editor and new copy boy at Marie Claire. Only the "o" version exists according to Miriam Webster. It is possible that the word "debter" was being used in the great tradition of France given the origins of the magazine. I however took the liberty of using an online French-English and English-French Dictionary and could find no analogous use of the word in French. Note to the former editor and now proud new copyboy- those buying the magazine here Dallas, Texas and Pittsburgh, Pa and just about everywhere else BUT maybe New York City are probably expecting to read words that exemplify the great literary concepts and traditions of the good old U.S of A! I for one do not possess dual citizenship and have enough trouble translating English on a daily basis. Now every time I get a comment or a message lambasting me for my admittedly haphazard spelling, I will think of Marie Claire's new copyboy and strive to do better (not bettor)! If anyone former Marie Claire assistant editors want a job checking my blog let me know. You won't get paid anything but you will be a "debter person" for it.......

THE HEADPHONES FROM HELL

Brian Cuban — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:04:15 +0000

So I got to Best Buy to purchase a new set of headphones. Mine died of natural causes. I am one of those people that cannot work out unless I am listening to something so it is imperative I get a new set before my next workout. I have it planned out perfectly, I will buy the headphones, run home and get my gym stuff and be ready to rock and roll! I find a cool pair that I like. I get them home, all going as planned. I guess I never really noticed or thought about the fact that they were enclosed in this big plastic case. No biggie, just get the scissors out and I am ready to go. No scissors to be found. So here we, go... I ripped it with my hands, stomped it with my feet, tore it with my teeth, fed it to my dog, fed it to my cat, stabbed it, jabbed it, and cursed it. It just smiled back at me laughing, still snugly encased in its plastic kryptonite home. Where is Superman when you need him.... Finally, it a fit of rage, I take a knife and wildly stab at it completely missing it and impaling my hand.... I scream loudly and throw the package across the room, I hear my cat scream, I look over and it sliced off the end of her tail.... I bandage my hand, pick up the cat and the headphones, on the way to the vet I look at the headphones and they are still laughing at me, I decided that I would have the last laugh and tossed them onto the highway to face a gruesome end by tire squash....... I get my cats tail re-attached, get my hand stitched and head home. I'm stopped at a light out of the corner of my eye I see a homeless guy wearing my headphones and petting his cat. I missed my workout......

WHERE IS JESSICA ALBA WHEN I NEED HER.....

Brian Cuban — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:53:22 +0000

So I am going through my daily scan of CNN.com today. I am dutifully fighting through annoying advertiser pop-ups having stupidly forgotten to enable my popup blocker. Out of the corner of my eye as I am about to close it out, I see this popup advertising personal training workouts on video IPods. Having moved into my forty's with the inevitable slip into the "dark side" in the ability to stay in shape versus my 30's I was just the gullible , desperate fool at the end of his rope willing to try anything and everything to recapture that lost flat stomach that will never been seen again except in photos stored ironically on my IPOD. This ad was designed for the guy that looks at his vacuum cleaner and sees "at home liposuction". I guess that's me because I clicked..... This company, "PumpOne" is basically offering for 29.95 a month audio and video personal training workouts from a world class "celebrity trainer" that you download to your video IPod or your mp3 player with sound only. Each workout is "custom fit" just for you! I can just imagine this "celebrity trainer" going through the questionnaire from Sally in Wichita Falls and recording his grunts and yells into a video or sound byte. ONE MORE REP SALLY! DO IT! YOUR ALMOST THERE! She may forget whether she is in the gym or the bedroom which can be dangerous..... If you have video capability you can watch Mr. Celebrity Trainer make sneering, disapproving faces at you to further motivate you while you listen in your headphones while thinking you could have got that for free at home from your wife or husband without the 29.95 a month. Research show that there are quite a few of these IPOD trainer companies sprouting up. This is such a stupid idea that these guys will probably make millions. They have invented the"Bowflex of the IPod" After one month of listening to some guy you have never met and never will meet grunt and groan and encourage you as you clumsily hold your IPod screen up in front of you interrupting the flow of your workout or have to take a break to listen to the same "motivational spiel" over and over, this workout will be archived to your computer as your Bowflex is to your garage never to be heard from again. You will also forget to cancel the membership for another 6 months so that's another 180 bucks they get from you for mass creating a 40 minute workout that I would guess only changes variably for every person and is done by a computer program. It is not false advertising though because Mr. "Celebrity Trainer" owns the computer program. These guys are hoping you will focus on the knee-jerk response that 30 bucks a month is way cheaper than paying 70 bucks or more a session for a personal trainer. They forget that the very reason personal trainers work is that they change it up, get in your face, come with a different personality every day sweat on you, piss you off , tell you who they are sleeping with, tell you how many girls in the gym they have dated. Tell you who everyone else in the gym is sleeping with. They are pimps, hairdressers and bartenders all rolled in to one and if they happen to get you in better shape that is an added bonus! Why would we want to replace them with a video celeb that isn't going to give you the Hollywood scoop on who is sleeping with whom between sets.....? People get personal trainers to get in shape or stay in shape. People keep personal trainers because of everything else I just talked about! I also wonder what classifies someone as a "celebrity trainer." Is there a certification for that? One man's celeb is another's wannabe. I won't mention the "celebrity guys" name but I had never heard of him and what's more, if he a "celebrity" only in the "fitness world" and you have heard of him, you probably don't need him! I think that anyone tied into the fitness world enough to know who this guy is probably does all right training on her/her own. If he wants me to go for the "celebrity trainer" hook, he had better get Arnold involved. They would do better with "Celebrity Tanning". When you step out of the booth, depending on your sexual preference, you have Jessica Alba or George Clooney on a video screen telling you how great you look........ As a matter a fact, I would be more motivated in the gym by an iPod video of Jessica Alba saying "one more set and I'm yours tonight" then I would some generic video of some fitness geek I never heard of! It takes me back to my early days in Dallas when I had a roomie I was trying to help get in shape. I put him on the "fat pig" diet. Every morning before I left for work I would put a note on the refrigerator telling him he was a fat disgusting slob, and to get that pizza slice out of his mouth. It worked great! He lost 15 lbs in about a month. Then one night he stabbed me in my sleep. Maybe I should go for that "celebrity trainer" certification...... My assessment: If these guys want to make this work for the long term, Mr. Celebrity Trainer had better be able to tell me about that girl I have been checking out at my gym before I fork over that next 30 bucks.............

Spitzer's Hooker will be hooked by the IRS.....

Brian Cuban — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:25:57 +0000

Former high priced hooker/escort Ashley Alexandra Dupre's (aka Kirsten) is ready to cash in big time on her "client #9 fame" liaisons with disgraced and soon to be indicted former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. She shouldn't buy the Park Avenue Penthouse just yet.... It is my bet that the tabloids, mainstream press and the blogosphere will make make more out of her projected multi-millionaire status than she will ever see a penny of. The "Cuban Crystal Ball" is telling me that unless she rolls both her civil and criminal liability into an immunity grant in exchange for her testimony against Spitzer, before the year is out she will be facing both federal and state indictment as well as civil liability for income tax evasion and back taxes. I admittedly know very little about the area of the law but if I were on the government side I would already be working on a "levy" against any profits she gets from appearances on the talk circut,magazine appearances clothed and unclothed and books. Even if she is able to roll any criminal tax liability into any criminal testimony for the government, I find it very hard to believe she will get a pass on the civil tax liability..... Any criminal and civil tax attorneys out there to comment?

ANTI-SEMITISM ON THE RISE

Brian Cuban — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:19:29 +0000

A report from the U.S. State Department details "an upsurge" across the world of anti-Semitism -- hostility and discrimination toward Jewish people. This report was presented to Congress was dedicated to the memory of U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, a survivor of the Holocaust, the extermination of 6 million Jews during World War I Congressman Lantos was the only Holocaust Survivor ever to serve in Congress. Congressman Lantos passed away in February 2008.The report documents various types of anti-Semitic behavior and Holocaust denial activities worldwide and goes on to state " Traditional forms of anti-Semitism persist and can be found across the globe. Classic anti-Semitic creeds, such as 'The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion' and 'Mein Kampf' remain commonplace." Being the grandchild of "Fiddler on the Roof" descent (Russian Jews forced from their villages in Russian Pogroms), I am certainly familiar with true anti-Semitic behavior and simply anti-Semitic ignorance and stereotypes. (I separate the two as one is the product of simple ignorance and the other is the product of hate. I would have to say that the instances of my exposure to true "hate behavior" related to being Jewish has few and far between.(that I am aware of) I have not found Dallas, Texas to be a hotbed of anti-Semitic thought processes but I have experienced it. Because my last name does not have a stereotypical Jewish sound and I don't have a stereotypical Jewish look as non-Jews define that, I am often privy to a bevy of ignorant anti-Semitic rhetoric. Jewish Stereotypes are rooted deep in world history. We all have long noses, are politically left and control all of Hollywood and major financial institutions and will try to "Jew you down" in any bargaining situation.. I have heard it from people I knew both in a personal and business context who had no idea I was Jewish because I did not "look the look".... (I have actually had this said to me). I have no doubt that for every time I am on the receiving end of such remarks there are 10 others made behind my back....... The national poll of 1,000 American adults conducted April 26 through May 6, 2002 found that 17% of Americans - or about 35 million adults. This means that in general (very general) about 2 out of every 10 people I know thinks less of me to some degree because I am Jewish. I know a lot of people....... I guess the whole point of this is that I have a perception of anti-Semitism in the Middle East and other places worldwide but I have absolutely no conception of the state of anti-Semitism in my own country. I have lost touch with or maybe ever even developed a concept of what anti-Semitism means to personally to me as it exists within my sphere of existence.

NFL ANNOUNCES TELEVISED GAME AGAINST THE CONS.......

Brian Cuban — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:17:07 +0000

(ESPN) Inspired by the incredible ratings of the first NHL outdoor Winter Classic Hockey game, The National Football League announced today that in light of the number of NFL players currently doing time and having done prison time, there will be an off-season exhibition game played against the newly formed NFL CONVICT ALL STAR TEAM. This team was formed from NFL players currently serving prison time or having already served time and released. Tryouts were recently held at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. While the list of the names of the former players who tried out was kept under tight security, ESPN investigators were able to get a list of those trying out.We have learned that the game will be telecast on pay per view at the price of 49.95 on the NFL Network. An NFL spokesperson speaking on the condition of anonymity stated that they see no reason why this should not become an annual event for many years to come. When questioned as to why they thought there would be a steady stream of players, the spokesperson stated that given the number of NFL players arrested yearly they should have no problem fielding a team for years to come. It was also pointed out that there were an increasing number of college football arrests that could be beneficial to the new team. It was specifically noted that about half the Penn State Nittany Lion football team was facing jail time for one offense or another... They were keeping a close eye on that situation for recruiting purposes. Here are the confirmed starters so far:

1. Michael Vick at quarterback. Vick is serving 23 months at Levenworth Federal Prison as a result of his plea of guilty to numerous charges related to dog fighting. It was felt that Mike's "vicious, merciless style" is well suited for the team. They had Michael Vick at quarterback for the foreseeable future and that would be enough to field a competitive team. He stated that Vick as the cornerstone for the new team fit the "running" persona of the team perfectly.

2. Starting at wide receiver will be former Carolina Panthers wide received Rae Carruth currently doing 18 years for conspiring to kill his girlfriend. You will recall that Ray went on the run and was found hiding in the trunk of a car. A perfect target for the "running' style of Vick who often can't hit the broad side of a barn let alone a car trunk.....

3. A surprise starter is former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Byron "Bam Morris. A former Doak Walker award winner, Morris served 30 months at Leavenworth Federal Prison for drug trafficking. Morris is currently playing for the Katy Copperheads of the National Indoor Football League. It is rumored however that he feels his career will be better served on the All Con Team. He is currently negotiating with authorities to violate his parole...They expect him in the starting lineup in the near future....

4. Also starting at running back will be former Ohio State Standout Maurice Clarett. Clarett is currently serving 7 years for robbery at the Toledo Correctional Institution. It is rumored that Clarett has already negotiated a transfer to an Israeli prison after the season is over. He will complete his sentence their and enter the Israeli Army.....

5. On defense, former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Dwayne Goodrich is vying for a starting position. Goodrich is currently serving 7 years for criminally negligent homicide. Goodrich, while on his way home from a strip club, struck and killed two people who were trying to help a stranded motorist pulled off to the side of the highway. It is hoped that his slashing, reckless collision oriented style will help in running down open field running backs . When asked about the new team, Goodrich stated that he hoped the team would be able to land former Buffalo Bills running back and NFL Hall of Famer O.J Simpson..... Simpson is currently awaiting trial in Las Vegas on robbery and kidnapping charges. He went on to state that he did not think anyone could run O.J. down the way he could.....

The balance of the team will be named as more players enter the prison system. We have also learned that Burt Reynolds has been contacted to coach the team. When asked why Burt would be a good coach, Roger Goodell responded that he did an excellent job for that all con team many years ago.... When it was pointed out that Burt did play football at Florida State, he in fact was referring to the movie "The Longest Yard... Goodall acted surprised and stated he could have sworn Reynolds had done time for stealing a car.....

Pro Golfer Apologizes for Killing Hawk

Brian Cuban — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:21:26 +0000

By TRAVIS REED Associated Press Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) _ Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour apologized for killing a hawk that was making noise while he tried to film a TV show. Now the Humane Society wants the PGA Tour to take action. "Because of the high profile nature of this case, the PGA needs to take steps to address its interest and to make it clear that they don't condone animal cruelty," said Dale Bartlett, the deputy manager for animal cruelty issues for the Humane Society of the United States. Bartlett said the organization would contact the PGA Tour on Friday to discuss the issue. Isenhour, who plays on the developmental Nationwide Tour, was charged Wednesday with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird, misdemeanors that carry a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines. Isenhour quickly apologized Thursday. "As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset," Isenhour said in a statement issued through his management company, SFX Golf. "I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk. I was trying to simply scare it into flying away." The 39-year-old player, whose real name is John Henry Isenhour III, became angry while filming "Shoot Like A Pro" on Dec. 12 at the Grand Cypress Golf Club when a squawking red-shouldered hawk roughly 300 yards away forced another take. He drove closer to the bird in his golf cart and starting hitting balls at it. The bird didn't move and Isenhour gave up and drove away. Isenhour started again when the hawk moved within about 75 yards, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Brian Baine indicated in a report. Isenhour allegedly said, "I'll get him now," and aimed for the hawk. "About the sixth ball came very near the bird's head, and (Isenhour) was very excited that it was so close," Baine wrote. A few shots later, witnesses said he hit the hawk. The bird, protected as a migratory species, fell to the ground bleeding from both nostrils. Bartlett said Isenhour's case, like the Michael Vick dog fighting case, is disappointing for society. "We look up to professional athletes and we want them to reflect the best of us as a society and I think we're appalled when it turns out they instead reflect some of the very worst attributes," he said in a phone interview Thursday night. Isenhour said he is an animal lover and his family has adopted three cats from a local shelter. "We ask that everyone accept my sincerest apology, and please be respectful of my family's privacy," he said. Isenhour has won four times on the Nationwide Tour, including twice in 2006. The former Georgia Tech star has played three events this year on the tour the last a 36th-place tie two weeks ago in the Moonah Classic in Australia. Jethro Senger, a sound engineer at the shoot, said hitting the bird was "basically like a joke to Isenhour)." "He just kept saying how he didn't think he could have hit it, which I think is a stupid thing for a PGA Tour golfer to say," Senger said. "He can put a ball in a hole from hundreds of yards away, and here he is hitting line drives at something that's, I don't know, a couple hundred feet away?" Senger said no one in the roughly 15-person crew intervened, and many later regretted it. "It was one of those cases where there's some trepidation on whether or not they should speak up and do something," Senger said. Senger said the killing was not captured on video. The bird was buried at the golf course and later dug up by Florida investigators. "Americans have no tolerance for cruelty to animals. Such a petty, mean-spirited act against a wild bird is inexcusable and prosecutors are right to hold Isenhour accountable to the law," Humane Society executive vice president Michael Markarian said in a statement released Thursday. MY TAKE ON THIS: We cannot castigate and imprison Michael Vick and then turn a blind eye to this guy's action. Intent is Intent. Isenhour should be suspended from the PGA tour. The matter should be referred to both the state and federal grand jury for the killing of the bird as cruelty case and killing of a protected species under the Migratory Bird Act. The guy's claim of remorse is also a complete joke. His initial reaction to what he did was to say it was "one in a million" MY RESPONSE TO ISENHOUR: Apology accepted, now comes accountability.... Step up like a man and accept what comes with that ........

SPITZER TO SEEK JOB BACK-AGREES TO WEAR ANKLE MONITOR

Brian Cuban — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:43:14 +0000

(Washington) Former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer will hold a news conference in which he will announce his intent to ask for a special session of the New York State Legislature during which he will ask for his job back as governor. In exchange for getting his job back Spitzer, inspired by the successful rehab of Lindsey Lohan and her use of an alcohol ankle monitor will voluntarily wear an ankle monitor 24 hours a day. The monitor will light up if he has been with a hooker within the last 12 hours. If the hooker cost more than 100 dollars the monitor will light up bright blue. If the hooker cost more than 500 dollars the monitor will light up bright red. If the hooker cost more than 1000 dollars the monitor will light up bright green. The monitor will also light up bright yellow if Spitzer has used taxpayer money to pay for the hooker. Lindsey Lohan is expected to attend to news conference and say a few words. More to follow......

EXECUTION FOR THE AGES CONCERT ANNOUNCED!

Brian Cuban — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:36:35 +0000

(NYC) In what appears to be a first in the history of the United States, various pro-death penalty groups including the one million member "Kill Him Now" pro-death penalty caucus have announced the first public execution taking place in the United States in over 100 years. The execution will be held along with a free concert in New York City 's Central Park . While the list of performers at this gala event has not yet been announced, it is rumored that many of the country's biggest rock and roll and country music stars will perform. Investigative reporters did a "fly over" of the concert/execution site which has been under tight security due to heavy anti-death penalty protests and outrage. They were able to get photos of what appeared to be "gallows" and a seating gallery being constructed. These photos will be published shortly. Rumors have been flying as to who will get to be the lucky "executioner" for this event, which is expected to break all national television ratings records. The Bush Administration today announced that a national lottery will be held to select the executioner. The only selection criteria announced was that the "winning executioner" had to be over 18 years old and a card carrying member of the National Rifle Association (NRA). When contacted, NRA spokespersons were delighted at this requirement and said membership has quadrupled since the announcement. The most compelling question has yet to be answered by the Administration. When asked about the identity of the lucky "executionee," President George W. Bush, who is vacationing at Camp David , declined to comment due to security concerns, but did state that all money from the lottery would go to fund the Global War on Terror. He went on to say that the execution will take place in accordance with his new unfettered power under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and the newly amended War Powers Act to arrest, detain, torture and execute pretty much anyone he wants if they piss him off. It is rumored that this event will be beamed worldwide, including the Middle East , so that it may be viewed in conjunction with whatever public executions happen to be scheduled that day. The media will publish breaking news announcements as new events develop.

MY RIGHT TO BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT

Brian Cuban — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:41:52 +0000

Texas Law and the U.S. Supreme Court are coming together in a timely fashion to determine my right to blow your brains out..... The Dallas Morning News published an interesting piece the other day about Texas new "Castle Law". Without going into details, this law significantly broadens the circumstances under which a homeowner or vehicle owner can use deadly force to protect his/her home or vehicle. There is now a broader "presumption" that under certain circumstances the use of deadly force is reasonable. This will certainly make it easier for a grand jury to say "but for the grace of god" and let someone walk....... I share the concern of Dallas prosecutors that it will de-criminalize acts that should be classified as murder but then again I have never been the victim of a home invasion. (Knock on wood). I have no doubt I would feel differently if I had..... This article is also a timely intersects with the argument about to take place before the U.S. Supreme Court interpreting the "right to bear arms" provision of the Second Amendment of the Constitution. They are being asked to determine whether the right to bears arm as outlined in the Second Amendment is an individual right or a collective right. Arguably one of the most important and polarizing cases before the court since the Constitution was drafted.... We have now shifted from "What's mine is mine" to "What's mine is mine and by the way... F***K you!" I am not going to going into the specifics of the law but the laymen's version for me to know and for the next person who I catch trying to steal my IPOD out of my car is that law under certain circumstances now gives me a much broader presumption that I was acting properly when I put one between your eyes to protect my 400 dollar IPOD. My prediction is that we are now going to have roving groups of what I will call "IPOD VIGILANTES" who will park their vehicles in high crime areas with their pricey electronics gadgets in the front seat laying in what for that unsuspecting music lover to attempt a snatch..... I wonder if Ben Franklin hid with gun waiting when someone tried to steal his fife off his horse.... What good is the right to bear arms if there is no right to pop a cap in someone as I see fit?

THE RISE OF THE EVIL EMPIRE AND DEATH OF SMALL TOWN AMERICA

Brian Cuban — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:06:06 +0000

I recently took a trip to Texarkana, Texas , where I ate at Bryce's Cafeteria (which I'm told is a legend in the area). If the lines to get in are any indication, it certainly is a popular place, and the food was very good. After eating we went to Atlanta, Texas, an East Texas town of about 6500 people. This is the town where my girlfriend grew up. Now, it took me months to get it through my head that when she talked about where she was raised, she wasn't talking about Atlanta, Georgia . As we drove through "downtown" Atlanta, it was clear that that resemblance was in name only. It was your typical one street downtown, as I have seen in other small West Texas towns such as Olney, Boyd and Archer City (where the classic movie The Last Picture Show was filmed. As is standard in small Texas towns, there's a barber, candy shop, bank, hardware store, bakery, sporting goods store and a few antique stores. And of course there are the two mainstays of any small town - the grocery store and the Dairy Queen. These are the staples of life that any small town needs, and those are all they need. What these small towns never envisioned when they were formed (some over 100 years ago) is the arrival of the Evil Empire and its Death Star. Darth Vader, who was unmasked many years ago, didn't destroy these towns with his death ray, but coined the phrase "We come in peace" and landed the Death Star right in the middle of town, touting every possible convenience a person could want at cheaper prices, with greater diversity and quantity. Unfortunately, no Jedi Knights have come to the rescue. Now, instead of seeing the sign "Victory tonight and free meal tomorrow" from the local diner, if the football team or basketball team wins, you see "Going Out of Business Liquidation Sale." How can they possibly compete with the neon lit entrance to the Death Star just a block away? The residents of Atlanta, Texas disappear into the Death Star and are never heard from again by the local merchants. Motto of story? If I ever want to make a killing in bankruptcy law, I will find every small town where Wal-Mart is planning on opening a store! It was interesting that while sitting in the living room eating some very good pecan pie and watching the Dallas Mavericks, I mentioned that the town of Atlanta seemed unusually dead. Not dead in the sense that it was a Sunday but dead in the sense of the death ray coming out of space and vaporizing a once-thriving small town and replacing it with boarded up stores and liquidations sales. It was an almost ironic predatory invitation for its own residents to pick off the bones of what they had built over decades. When I mentioned this, a silence so deafening came about that I instinctively looked at the television to see if the Mavs were still rolling. Into my ear came the deafening yell, "Wal-Mart did this to us!" I thought about it and it made clear, present and perfect sense. What are the economic consequences of the Wal-Mart Death Star landing in virtually every small town in America? For every action there is a reaction, right? Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer - with 1,489 Mega-stores, 1,397 Super Centers, 532 Sam's Clubs, and 56 neighborhood markets in the U.S. alone as of 2003, and close to a thousand more abroad from Argentina to Germany. Wal-Mart is now the single largest private employer in the U.S. with 1.1 million "associates" and higher earnings than the gross national product (GNP) of 150 countries! In 2003, Wal-Mart sold 19% of all groceries in the U.S. and recorded $9 billion in profits. A study of small towns in Iowa revealed a loss of over 7,300 businesses from 1983 to 1993 due to a radical shift in consumer spending to chain stores like Wal-Mart. Five years after a superstore opens, small towns within twenty miles experience a 19% decline in business. For every 100 Wal-Mart jobs created, it is estimated another 150 jobs are lost. Is low-cost competitive pricing destroying the very entrepreneurial spirit that built this great country? I am not goggling to get information. I am personally witnessing small town business districts that are now boarded up and largely deserted. Now I am not criticizing Wal-Mart, but when you are now offering $4 prescriptions as an action, I think the law of physics is pretty clear that "Joe's Soda Jerk Shop and Pharmacy" that has been there since 1932 is going to suffer, right? Are Sam Walton and kin the Darth Vadars of the one-stop shop? I wouldn't go that far but I did start thinking of the moms and pops who put their blood, sweat and tears into those shops dating back to the Great Depression. They're now bankrupt, can't even afford the new $4 prescriptions, and are too proud to enter the Wal-Mart Death Star. People who at one time had a dream are becoming so desperate that meth labs are now outnumbering local retail shops in some of these small towns. But know you really can't blame the demise of these small town economies all on Wal-Mart; oil wells run dry and droughts occur. But when I heard the story of people who were getting by, and now can't even afford to walk into the Death Star that was supposed to make their lives better, I really did want to cry. I have yet to see Wal-Mart advertise that they are handing out any discount welfare checks.

SLIDA SPITZER SHOULD HAVE MARRIED A FLATWORM

Brian Cuban — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:49:12 +0000

In the wake of former New York governor Elliot Spitzer's revelations about his secret occupation providing charitable support to Ashley Alexandra Dupre, now truly a "Girl Gone Wild" and other high priced hookers who have lost their sugar daddies, there has been a lot being written on the subject of infidelity and monogamy. The blogosphere ramped up the subject even one more notch when newly sworn in Governor David A. Paterson and his wife both admitted that they had both strayed during a rough patch in their marriage. This morning, I was watching The Today Show. They were doing a segment on infidelity and monogamy. There were several guests of very high academic credentials. There were several interesting points made:

1. 1 out of 4 people know someone that has strayed. Is that all? I would think the actual number is higher, especially in light of the stat that 1 in 5 adults in monogamous relationships have cheated. Keep in mind that these are just the ones that admit they have....

2. Monogamy goes against a billion years of evolution. There is a basic biological drive to have more than one mate. We forget that we are animals on this planet as thousands of other species who have the same drive which is to reproduce. The point was made that it is our ability to reason and define a moral code that separates us from the pack. We are however using that reason to fight against the drive of evolution....

3. Males are more likely to cheat. Why? Because we can.... Biologically we are better "equipped" than women to have sex more frequently. When you combine that with the basic drive, the male needs all the reason and moral code he can get......

There is an interesting survey entitled "Many Cheat For A Thrill, More Stay True For Love" click on the link to check it out... Finally, do you know the only creature on this planet that is monogamous for life? Answer: THE FLATWORM! MORAL OF STORY? When your spouse or significant other tells you "YOU ARE LOWER THAN A WORM", she knows what she is talking about....

BED BUGS AND BEYOND

Brian Cuban — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:45:00 +0000

I was reading the Personal Journal Section of the Wall Street Journal There was an article entitled "New Tatics Take The Bite Out Of Bed Bugs" Since this article is not about bed bugs I will just say that the article as it implies goes over new technology is combating the problem of bed bugs which apparently is a problem in NYC. (I just checked my bed and it does not appear to be a problem in the Cuban household but I am sure I will dream about bedbugs tonight). What caught my eye was one of the " bed bug fighting companies" named in the article. The article states "Bedbugs and Beyond will remove people's furniture and fumigate it with poisonous gas. Being a frequent shopper at Bed, Bath and Beyond a respected retailer who I suspect is "bedbug free". I thought they were making a joke about Bed Bath.... I do not consider myself to be more sensitive or have perception skills beyond the average Ralph so what does this tell me? I can not believe the attorneys for Bed Bath and Beyond have not made a trademark stink over this.... It is clearly a play on their name in a derivative industry. My not so legal mind believes there is a decent argument that this is a defamatory attempt at satire to make a profit off of the Bed Bath and Beyond name which also dilutes the trademark value of Bed Bath and Beyond.... Any trademark attorneys out there to comment?

Attorney Says Spitzer Escort Was 17 in Girls Gone Wild Videos

Brian Cuban — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:32:32 +0000

Attorney: Spitzer escort was 17 in 'Wild' videos - CNN.com Joe Francis, the Girls Gone Wild scumbag and Ashley Alexandra Dupre the, Elliot Spitzer call girl extraordinaire and professional gold digger have a lot in common. They both can't seem to win for trying. Francis first spends over a year in jail without being convicted of anything in a bizarre scenario starting with a criminal contempt citation in Panama City Florida and ending with Federal Indictments in Nevada. There were also various charges ranging in drug trafficking to child pornography. He recently pled out on many of the charges and was released but still faces trial on income tax evasion. He then offers a cool mill to Dupre to appear in a GGW photospread and do some "promo work" consisting of spending some time on the infamous 'GGW Drugs Sex And Rock n Roll Bus". Before Francis can fork over the money, they find they are already in possession GGW video of a younger Dupre in various stages of undress and performing girl on girl sex acts. Francis of course withdraws the offer. Dupre, seeing her Park Avenue Penthouse suddenly disappear is not about to let Francis buy his Penthouse "off her back". She can earn the money for that Penthouse "on her back" without his help and of course now claims that she was 17 when the video was taken. Francis of course is not amenable to spending anymore time in the gray bar Hilton, especially the Panama Florida Grey Bar Hilton who would love to have him back as a guest. Francis will spend some serious bank determining what her true age was when she appeared on the video. When those videos are finally released expect Francis to have his ass covered to the extent that he will probably have an affidavit from the delivery room nurse present when Dupre was born.... Bottom Line: Francis was already a rich scumbag and this will not affect that status. Dupre should not count on losing her 'gold digger for hire" tag just yet..... Francis and Dupre have one big thing in common, Francis is awaiting trial on income tax evasion and Dupre should not be too far behind him on that score. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Instead of marrying and "rocking the house" they will be doing some "jail house rock"...... You know who really cleaned up here..... The person person who took the Vegas odds that Eliot Spitzer, Joe Francis and Ashley Dupre would ever be mentioned together in one story...... That person just topped Mark Cuban in the Forbes 400.....

THERE IS A DOUBLE STANDARD IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS-JUST ADMIT IT

Brian Cuban — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:59:20 +0000

ESPN - Steelers cut Wilson after he's arrested for allegedly punching ex-girlfriend - NFL/http://sports.espn.go.comI I love the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have nothing but the highest respect for the Rooney family. I however have to give it the big eye roll and chuckle when the Steelers take virtually two identical incidents, players assaulting their girlfriends and cut the has-been backup player while keeping the star player. The actions of the Steelers re-affirm that there is a double standard in professional sports when it comes to on-field accountability for off-field conduct..... The Pittsburgh Steelers released wide receiver Cedrick Wilson on Thursday, hours after he was charged with assaulting his estranged girlfriend at a suburban restaurant. Wilson was once a great wide recever but is on the downside of his career and did not do much for the Steelers last year Compare that to the situation of Steeler's star linebacker James Harrison, voted the Steelers' MVP by his teammates last season who was charged with simple assault and criminal mischief for allegedly hitting his girlfriend on March 8 Harrison unlike Wilson remains with the team in no danger of being released. With regards to the Harris incident, team chairman Dan Rooney told reporters. "The Steelers do not condone violence of any kind, especially against women." Rooney went on to state that "they viewed the two siutations differently" Well let's see , Situation #1-Boy hits girl.... Situation #2 Boy hits girl...... Yea, I can see how they would view those differently..... What Rooney does not tell you is that they dont view the situation different because there is any difference in conduct of the players; they view it differently in that releasing one is no big deal while releasing the other would have a major impact on the team. I guess Harris's girlfriend must have secretly told Mr. Rooney that it was really rough-sex play and she secretly enjoyed being pummeled by her boyfriend.......

When Is a Journalist a Blogger and a Blogger a Journalist....

Brian Cuban — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:42:55 +0000

When is a blogger a journalist and a journalist a blogger.....? The blogosphere has been afire with opinion on Mark Cuban's decision to ban bloggers from the Dallas Mavericks locker room. I only know he has done this because I have seen the Google alerts on it coming across my Blackberry. I have not read his Blog Maverick post on it. Why? I really don't care if bloggers are banned from the Mavs locker room. It is nothing that causes an "emotional rise" in me. I have a general sense that bloggers are pissed about it but have not spent much time reading their opinions on it. That is the key word here.... opinion....... I don't always agree with Mark. Being his brother does not make me his yes man. I generally however keep my mouth shut as most things he blogs about because I don't have the background or experience to give me any credibility in my opinion. Hence the key word again, opinion...... I blog on things that cause an emotional rise in me. There are exceptions but I generally blog on things that I feel my educational, occupational background or personal experience give me credibility to talk about or it is such a general issue that anyone has credibility to talk about it. If you look at the variety of things I offer my opinion about in my blogs, they are generally law, satire or social or simple personal observations..... Wait, there is that dam word again..... opinion..... I love to blog. I put out about 3-4 pieces a week on the average. Blogging saves me a ton of money I would be spending on therapy......I don't know a lot about much but I have a lot of opinions. Wait.... There it is again.....that pesky word..."opinion". Bloggers, including myself, do nothing more than offer opinions and personal observations. Including myself. Our content is basically op-eds. We are not subject to any educational requirements, standards of content or accountability. There are journalists that blog, but again, there is a huge difference between what they put out with their "journalist hat" on and their blogger hat.... The biggest difference is accountability on multiple levels as a journalist. Their next meal may count on living up to those accountability standards. Journalists are fired all the time for failing to live up to those standards. Who fires a blogger? The only accountability bloggers have is that imposed on the general public by state or federal law not to defame anyone..... Frankly, I have a much bigger issue with journalist who blog because their status as a journalist gives their blog an air of credibility it may not deserve.... For that reason I feel that journalists have an ethical responsibility not to blur the line between opinion and journalistic content unless it is made very clear that they are stating opinion. You can't have it both ways...... Come on every one get over it....... If you want to be thought of as a journalist, get the education and pay your dues like real ones do. It may not make you a better writer(I know some terrible journalists) but it may get you that free bottled water and sandwich in the Mavs locker room that bloggers don't get anymore...... Just my opinion........

THE DALLAS MAVERICKS FOUNDATION TUX AND TENNIES GALA

Brian Cuban — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:21:01 +0000

(Dallas) The 4^th annual Dallas Mavericks Foundation Tux and Tennies Gala was held at the new Ritz Carlton Hotel in Dallas Texas. The event was sponsored by the Stanford Private Wealth Management Group. The event was a huge success with over Five Hundred Thousand Dollars being raised for the foundation. Four representative grant recipients were on hand to talk about their grants. The grant recipients were: 1. Texas Scottish Rite Hospital-Received funding to purchase adapted daily living and mobility equipment. 2. Vogel Alcove-Received funding for their play therapy for homeless children 3. YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth-received finding for their "New Lives/New Beginnings Childcare Program. 4. Spirit Horse Therapeutic Riding Center-Received Funding for horseback riding lessons and scholarships for children with disabilities. 5. Community Partners of Dallas-Received funding to help stock their "Rainbow Room" which serves more than 6,000 youth annually ages 0-17. 6. The Family Place-received funding with new playground equipment. 7. Kidney Texas-received funding for Camp Reynal at Camp John Marc in Meridian, Tx The event was emceed by Dallas Mavericks guard Jason "The Jet Is On the Runway" Terry who proved that there is a network job waiting for him when his career has ended. All of the Dallas Mavericks players were in attendance. Also in attendance were Todd Wagner, former Broadcast.com partner of Mark Cuban and head honcho of 2929 Entertainment. Todd is also a philanthropist in his own right through The Todd Wagner Foundation. Also in attendance were former Dallas Mavs Eric Strickland, Rolando Blackman and Popeye Jones. There was a hilarious live auction in which some very cool prizes were auctioned off including a full size Swarovski Crystal Basketball which I don't think the new owner will be dribbling anytime soon, an evening with Jerry and Ramira Stackhouse at Dean Fearing's Restaurant followed by a night at the Dallas Ritz Carlton, an MVP basketball clinic with MVP Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and assistant coach Joe Prunty. Who knows, someone may get discovered and get to sleepover in front of their new locker.... Finally, Dr. Gary Tylock won the contest for the coolest original Mavs tennis shoes (although suspicions were rampant throughout the ballroom that he had some help) Conspiracy theorists will be speculating for years to come..... A great time for many great causes. More to come next year..... You can view pictures on my Facebook page.

BREACHED!

Brian Cuban — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 02:12:41 +0000

So the three major candidate's passport files have been "breached." I love that word ‘breached" A very scary word right up there with leeches and bedbugs.... A word so scary that I hear there is legislation in the works to make it a crime to scream "BREACH!" In any federal government meeting...... A word that unites conspiracy theorists worldwide. So when the CNN Breaking News blurb shoots across my Blackberry that all major presidential candidates passport files had been "BREACHED" I immediately conjured up images of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen. Some long forgotten Soviet Mole scanning these files to do great harm to our democratic way of life..... A terrifying thought. In reality we deal with a theory I learned when I watched the movie Contact called Ockham's Razor. The basics of this theory are that all things being equal, the simplest explanation is the correct one. So which is the simpler explanation: That clandestine political moles "breached" these passport files in furtherance of a subversive underground conspiracy to expose the private information of all the Presidential Candidates and throw the upcoming Presidential Election into chaos. Is it more likely that the files were not "breached' but simply snooped at by three stooges named Larry Moe and Shemp who were just caught up in the TMZ way of tabloid life and were looking for some good gossip to sell to Entertainment Tonight. Is it even more likely that these "stooges" simply succumbed of the basic human desire to meddle in everyone else's business.....? In addition to the "presidential files" I suspect the files of Britney Spears, Marilyn Manson, and Anna Nicole Smith were also ‘breached" Despite the simplest answer being the likeliest, in the grand tradition of grand jury mania, government waste, inept assistant U.S. Attorneys and politicians with absolutely nothing better to do; we will now have committees and grand juries convened, specials prosecutors appointed, subpoenas issued, Millions wasted instead of simply firing the people who snooped and be sure there is better supervision and accountability going forward... A lot more effective and less expensive.... Go figure.... I think all Americans should strive to get "BREACHED" One day your "BREACHED" the next thing you know you're on the Girls Gone Wild party bus stripping with Ashley Alexandra Dupre and Eliot Spitzer.... God Bless America!

KILL ALL THE LAWYERS

Brian Cuban — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:56:36 +0000

Who out there does not know a good lawyers joke..... Who out there is really not joking when they tell it? My favorite is "What are 200 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean...Answer: A good start...... Why is that my favorite? It is actually a truism. There are way too many lawyers in this country... There are way too many law schools in this country. As of the writing of this article there were 196 ABA accredited law schools. There are more law students than lawyers in this country. Law schools have ceased being places of distinguished legal ideals as their primary purpose and are now simply profit centers in their own right constantly looking for new ways to generate revenue to compete for more students and a very shallow pool of legal teaching talent My town of Dallas, Texas recently tried to get an initiative through the Texas Legislature that would add a new law school based in Downtown Dallas. This law school would have been part of the University of North Texas. Just what we need. Another substandard law school turning out more soon to be unemployed lawyers selling the "paper chase" Harvard ideal of what lawyers can expect in the real world in exchange for handing over that almighty dollar. Thank god it was shot down but it is expected to pass in the next legislative session. Bad new everyone..... No matter what you do, you are going to stick some half-ass school in there that will always be that. What's the goal here anyways? What is it you expect to be in ten years......? In twenty years....... Maybe you will raise your ranking from the worst to the second worst? A worthy goal worthy of our legislative support..... We all know what the real goal is and it is nothing as noble as educational ideals..... MONEY! The good news is that I do have a solution. First off we take the bottom half of all law schools and close them. Unless of course my law school, The University of Pittsburgh is in that half. If it is we close all law schools below my school. Self preservation of course starts with me..... We give all disenfranchised law students educational incentives/financial credits to continue their education in areas that will benefit society and which they will actually be employable such as teaching. For those who actually think they can benefit the legal profession, they can complete with everyone else for the slots at the top tier schools. We should also be able to sell our law degrees. Let the free market Rule. Lets devise a national bar exam specifically for that purpose. If someone passes the test, their score will dictate the law degree they can purchase. The higher the score the better the school... We will start seeing law degrees for sale on EBay. The market will set the worth of your education..... The only legal requirement will be that any money you get first has to pay back your student loan. What the hell... you were not paying back anyways ......... Good luck selling that Metropolitan Dallas YMCA Night School of Law degree..... For those who oppose these measures ...... What are fifty thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean

NEVER MASTURBATE IN COURT

Brian Cuban — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:03:32 +0000

I generally try to keep all my blog content original and don't repost articles but this was too good to pass up and speaks for itself.... This appeared in the Austin American Statesman. Having been watching the great HBO mini-series "John Adams", I can't help but think he would have approved.... Lawyer jailed over lewd gesture at judge Man detained briefly while representing DWI client. By Steven Kreytak AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Friday, March 21, 2008 An Austin defense lawyer was jailed last week after being accused of making a lewd gesture at a judge while in court representing a client on charges of driving while intoxicated. Adam Reposa, 33, was held in contempt of court by County-Court-at-Law Judge Jan Breland for his "intentional and contumacious conduct during the court's review of the plea bargain offer to his client before jury trial." Reposa, who could not be reached for comment, "made a simulated masturbatory gesture with his hand while making eye contact with the court in response to an objection by the state to his interference with the court plea bargain inquiry," Breland wrote in a judgment of criminal contempt of court filed March 11. Breland, who also could not be reached, noted that she and prosecutor Richard Gentry witnessed the gesture and "acknowledged so on the record." Breland ordered Reposa taken into custody and returned to court the next morning for a sentencing hearing. Handwritten on the bottom of the order above the initials "JB" was: "No bond without my approval." However, Reposa was released later that day on a personal bond signed by state District Judge Charlie Baird, who said the law requires that judges set bond in lawyer-contempt cases. It does not appear from court records that further action on the case has occurred since his release. skreytak@statesman.com; 912-2946

WALMART SHOULD PUCHASE SEARS

Brian Cuban — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:29:26 +0000

I've said it before. I believe Sears Holdings is toast as we know it. The writing has been on the wall and is still being written. Eddie Lampert's change to self contained profit centers is sleight of hand simply to categorize value and manage assets in preparation for a gradual sell off. What value does Sears really have now other than intellectual property/brand name? We will not even talk about Kmart. It has sunk below completely irrelevant. It is not that it is not savable. It is more simplistic than that. Eddie Lampert will never ever ever invest the capital in Kmart that is needed to save it and he should not. It's like that 100 year old deteriorating home in an up and coming neighborhood. If it has not been kept up over the years, it eventually becomes so broken down than it would cost more to renovate than you could ever re-coup in your investment. It is a "tear-down". That is what Kmart is... a tear-down. The big difference is that a tear downs generally maintain its good real-estate value. That's why you tear it down. Whatever you re-build re-coups the investment. The value of Kmart real-estate has been decimated. The precise thing that made Eddie Lampert look like a genius in is now an albatross around his neck. A bunch of junk real estate that nobody wants. Unfortunately, the biggest Albatross around the neck of Sears is Eddie himself. Kmart does have some very good talent at the top. I have met some of them. Very smart guys. Unfortunately things have gotten to the point where nothing but an "immaculate resurrection" will do the trick and as good as these guys may be on paper, none of them walk on water. So why should Wal-Mart purchase Sears. Sears has some kick ass brand names that pretty much defines its value, particularly in the hardware/tool department. Wal-Mart could do wonders with these brands. Of course there is also the issue of whether these brands would want Wal-Mart who takes a draconian approach to their suppliers. Eddie should do it now while there is still intrinsic value to the operation.

FOR THE SURVIVAL OF MAN KIND

Brian Cuban — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:18:15 +0000

How many readers know the first and last people to walk on the moon, and what the space program was called? Don't Google the answer; I'm going to give it to you: Gene Cernan has the distinction of being the last human being to walk on the moon in 1972. The first was Neil Armstrong, who proudly proclaimed, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" as he slowly left the Apollo 11 spacecraft for the lunar surface. And it was a giant leap. At the time, it was such an incredible technological advancement, the whole world was riveted. As a result, the world followed every step of the Apollo program, and our "race to space" with the Soviets. There are pivotal moments in the history of mankind when the world virtually stands still in awe. Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon was one of those moments, as was the saga of Apollo 13. Who will be the first to walk on Mars? Will anyone ever walk on Mars? Does it even matter? With the state of the NASA space program, I predict it will be at least 100 years if ever without some precipitating event that accelerates the technology development. Some external force will be needed to take NASA off of the path of least resistance. What is scary is that the external force is probably not going to be anything that is good for the human race to create any sense of urgency in NASA. Ninety percent of Facebookers were not even born when Neil Armstrong made his famous leap to the moon. I was too young to remember, but old enough to recall other Apollo lift-offs. I marvel at how my family and the entire world were mesmerized by the plight of Apollo 13, as the crew boldly and bravely triumphed over the adversity of a ship crippled by an explosion, and returned home safely. Keep in mind that at the time, there was no such thing as a space rescue. How big was that leap in technology? There is really still no protocol for space rescues, although there are International Space Station scenarios if the crippled shuttle is able to dock. Why am I recounting ancient history? Not too long ago, President Bush stated that we would return to the moon in this century, when many predicted we'd never go back. Why would we need to? The moon cannot sustain life, and we simply do not have the technology to create a colony of researchers whose only mission is to explore for the sake of science, not to scout a future home for mankind. The reason the Apollo missions were abandoned is that we simply had nowhere to go from there, as we didn't possess the technology to advance the program. Instead, we shifted our emphasis to space exploration that was well within our technological ability and budgets, leaving the Star Trek visions behind us. Why keep returning to the moon if you don't have the technology to benefit mankind? You can only bring back so many moon rocks. (I am old enough to remember when moon rocks were sold, and were all the rage.) Why should we go back? Because scientists and President Bush know that assuming we don't eliminate ourselves through war or other catastrophe, in the distant future the moon will be the only hope of mankind's survival. Not because the population will migrate there to avoid extinction, but because the earth's resources are finite, and at some point - whether it be 1,000 or 1,000,000 years - those resources will be gone. Unless we have the advanced technology necessary to live off the land and develop new ways to sustain ourselves, the human race will not survive. We should return to the moon for the survival of mankind - long after all of us are dead and forgotten. We can't have a race threatened with extinction start over from scratch. People are smart enough to know that we have to start laying the groundwork now for the distant future. I hope we go back to the moon in my lifetime, so that I may relive the incredible feats of the Apollo missions that bring tears to my eyes every time I ponder what they meant then, and what they mean now - our future as a species. I can only hope that it is one of my descendents who plays a role in contributing to our ultimate survival.

SHOULD INTELLIGENT DESIGN BE TAUGHT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Brian Cuban — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 03:26:44 +0000

I was talking to a buddy yesterday. He asked me if I had ever heard of "intelligent design" I said there was no need to discuss it, I already had a nice refrigerator. Of course I didn't say that but I will admit that given no context or the statement, I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. (Much to the chagrin of every teacher reading this blog) You have to cut me a break. when I was going through high school science, most people reading this were not even born yet. I can guarantee you if intelligent design was mentioned in science class, every person in the room would have thought the teacher was talking about a new innovative dishwasher. Well now I know. Intelligent Design (ID) is the concept that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. Its leading proponents are all affiliated with the Institute. They say that intelligent design is a scientific theory that stands on equal footing with, or is superior to, current scientific theories regarding the evolution and origin of life. An overwhelming majority of the scientific community views intelligent design as unscientific as pseudoscience or as junk science Intelligent design's proponents hold that living organisms are so complex they must have been created by a higher force rather than evolving from more primitive forms. Some want science teachers to teach that Darwin's Theory of Evolution is not a fact and has gaps. This is the crux of the debate. Should intelligent design be taught in classroom right with the law of evolution? In Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005), a United States federal court ruled that a public school district requirement for science classes to teach that intelligent design as an alternative to evolution was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. United States District Judge John E. Jones III ruled that intelligent design is not science and is essentially religious in nature. Most recently The Texas State Board of Education on approved public school curriculum guidelines that support the teaching of evolution in science classes -- but not intelligent design. Is intelligent design just a clever way of doing an end run around the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? The attorney in me says absolutely and should not be taught in our schools. I compare to the attempted use of "junk science "in the courtroom. You can not argue fringe scientific theories in court. For a scientific mode of analysis to be admissible in court, it must be accepted by the general scientific community. It is what is called "The Frye Standard" That is an oversimplification of the standard but is the general gist. There is also another legal test called the "Daubert Standard" which is more complex and I won't go into here. I could and may write a separate blog on whether Intelligent Design would be accepted or rejected as a scientific theory by a court of law. I just don't think Intelligent Design Meets the above standards. It therefore should not be taught as if it is a "scientific fact" right next to Darwinism which is accepted as scientific fact. You can't give it credibility it does not have. If you want to teach it in a separate class for what it is, I have no problem with that at all but any comparable reference to the theory of evolution in my opinion is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I therefore feel that if we are going to allow it to be taught separately in our high schools, we need to be careful that those teaching it don't have their own agendas. Here are some interesting statistics I came up with regarding the acceptance of Intelligent Design. A Zogby-Discovery Institute survey has recently been publicized, presumably in the interest of influencing state board of education biology textbook adoptions in Texas. By nearly a five-to-one margin, 75% of Texas residents say the state board of education should approve biology textbooks that teach both Darwin's theory of evolution and the scientific evidence against it. Is this a function of the "Bible Belt"? Note that these Zogby polls are often criticized for inaccuracy. So what do you think? Should Intelligent Design be taught in our schools, if so why? If no -why?

NAZIS AMONG US

Brian Cuban — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:32:52 +0000

Last year U.S. authorities have begun deportation proceedings against an 85-year-old Georgia man who they say served as a Nazi guard and trained and handled attack dogs at the infamous Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps in Germany, officials said Monday. The Department of Justice said it has filed a charging document against Paul Henss, a German citizen who lives in suburban Atlanta and who authorities say entered the U.S. in 1955 after hiding his concentration camp service. Last year a federal immigration judge ordered an 87-year-old retired carpenter deported to Ukraine for taking part in a police organization that helped the Nazis round up Ukrainian Jews during World War II. It was found that he played a central role in the murder of over 100, 000 Jewish men. In January An appeals court on Wednesday ruled against accused Nazi guard 87 year old, John Demjanjuk, a decision that could bring the retired Ohio auto worker only one step away from deportation to his native Ukraine. Demjanjuk was once wrongly convicted of being the sadistic Nazi death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible" and sentenced to death in Israel. The Israeli Supreme Court later overturned the conviction, saying another man was probably "Ivan," a sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp where 870,000 people died. He was stripped of his U.S. citizenship again in 2002, with a judge ruling that he had worked as a guard at other death camps. In, 2004 Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division announced today that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have initiated removal proceedings in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to deport Jakob "Jack" Reimer, 86, a retired New York City-area businessman living in Fort Lee, for his involvement in a wartime Nazi massacre of unarmed Jewish civilians and his participation in the brutal liquidation of the Jewish ghettos in Warsaw and Czestochowa, Poland. A German woman named Elfriede Rinkel had led a quiet life in America for over 40 years -- with her Jewish husband. But now she's been deported for lying about her job as a dog handler at the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbrück. She kept the secret from her Jewish husband for forty-two years, living unobtrusively in San Francisco. But now that he's gone, an 84-year-old German woman, Elfriede Lina Winkel, has admitted that she served as a guard at the Ravensbrück concentration camp during World War II. Most scholars agree on a figure of between 1,000 and 3,000 war criminals who have found haven in the United States since the war's end. Most have already died, while those still alive are in their seventies or older and often claim poor health as an excuse not to stand trial. In many cases they have children and grandchildren who are legal U.S citizens who will be left behind. Should this matter? Should we now have mercy on those whose atrocoties so transcended human rights that most were hanged or sentenced to long prison terms after the war. If your father was murdered while you were a child and the murderer is caught 50 years later, does the passage of time lesson the heinous nature of what was taken from you. What was taken from millions of Jews, Poles, Christians, Gypsies and others by a regime so viscous that to even invoke its name in many forms is a crime in Europe. Does the simple passage of time mandate mercy? What about the existance of children, grandchildren and in many cases great-granchildren who will suffer if the person is deported to face justice in what is now a foreign country that the person has not been back to in over 50 years. It was determined sixty years ago that there would be no mercy in the living world for those who committed these brutal and vicious crimes. This definition has not changed. The Geneva Convention and other international laws regarding war crimes has not been changed to provide absolution for genocide. Should age be a factor? Should a 90 year old who murdered in the concentration camps or who aided said genocide should not suffer any less penalty because he is 90, has children, grandchildren etc.? Should not that person be deported and tried under the same laws that resulted in the hanging and imprisonment of the Nazi's tried and hanged at Nuremberg, Poland, the Japanese convicted of war crimes in British and Australian War Crimes Tribunals My take? Strip their citizenship(with due process) and send them back to where they came from to face the exact same due process and justice they would have faced just as the law existed at that time. If their home country chooses not prosecute them, that is their business, but they should not have refuge here amoung those that fought and died to save their victims.

Thank God For Safe Surrender

Brian Cuban — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:18:26 +0000

If someone asked me two days ago what "Safe Surrender" was, I would have said, " I saw that in a war flick the other night, the guy carried a white flag across the battlefield to surrender." What kind of idiot would I have looked like? How many people reading this know what "Safe Surrender" is? Since I won't get an answer and wouldn't expect to, I certainly won't ask how many people reading this have taken advantage of "Safe Surrender". I am very embarrassed on two levels in not knowing what it is. The first is that I am an attorney so you would think I would know. Secondly, Texas was the very first state to pass "Safe Surrender" Legislation. For those who don't know "Safe Surrender" is a law which allows a mother of a newborn baby to basically drop that baby off within a certain time period after birth at an approved emergency station (firehouse, certain types of hospitals) and face no criminal liability for abandoning her child. This law generally does NOT apply to fathers. Is this a good or a bad thing? There are a lot of arguments on both sides. There are no hard stats on safe surrender or abandoned babies in general other than related to HIV abandonment. It is estimated that approximately 20,000 babies of drug addicted or HIV positive women are abandoned every year. As of the writing of this blog, 47 states have "safe surrender" legislation in place which allows the mother to drop her newborn off with a designated third party and for all intensively purposes, walk away back into her now "baby free" life. Good or bad? Texas was the very first state to pass safe surrender legislation in 1999. (The Baby Moses Laws) It was passed "knee jerk" in response to a wave of baby abandonments occurring in the Houston area the year before. Well it could not have been too knee jerk. Look at all the states that followed suit. Individuals usually make decisions to abandon newborns in part out of fear that others will discover the pregnancy. In response to this fear, safe haven laws are designed to explicitly or implicitly provide an anonymous way for parents to relinquish their babies. Only two states require havens to actively seek the identity of the babies' parents, and 12 states specifically provide anonymity. Experience has also shown that individuals usually make decisions spontaneously and in situations of crisis soon after the birth of an unexpected or unintended baby. As a result, state laws usually restrict the age of babies that individuals can legally relinquish. The most commonly designated lapse of time between birth and surrender is 72 hours. Protection for parents who surrender their babies is another obvious The American Civil Liberties Union has come out in favor of safe surrender in that these laws do not infringe on a women's basic right to reproduce. They did have this to say however: "In general, we support the concept of safe surrender, but we have several words of caution. First, these laws provide an after-the-fact safety net, not a solution to the problems of unintended pregnancy or inability to care for a child. Virtually every case of infant abandonment signals that the health care and social service system has failed a woman and her baby, for surely a well-functioning system would enable a woman either to prevent unwanted pregnancy, to end it safely and early, or, if she decided to carry to term, either to keep her child or to place it, again safely and swiftly, for adoption. Moreover, it is not clear whether safe surrender laws will accomplish their purpose. No infants were surrendered under Texas's law until December 2000, 17 months after the law's enactment. And, since the law took effect, 13 infants in Texas have been illegally abandoned." I am amazed that for once I find myself in agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union. I have been often critical of them in taking a position of "being right for the sake of being right" without regards to the consequences and the overall effect on those affected by whatever issue they are challenging. While I morally view safe surrender as a cop out to parental responsibility and just another way for people to throw their problems on to the state but I also am pragmatic about it. I would rather the state bear the cost of hopefully helping a child be raised in a better adoptive environment than see that child raised into the same life of irresponsibility that its mother (and father if applicable) showed in abandoning it. If they would abandon their child to total strangers, doesn't that indicate the type of life that child would have if no safe surrender was available? Does this law promote sexual irresponsibility? Don't know, can't find any stats. I doubt it. I also doubt you will see any analogies on the level you are seeing of the "morning after pill" or the proposed mandatory HPV vaccination. One thing that bothers me as an attorney, is what about the father? I have a real problem with a mother being able to unilaterally terminate a father's parental rights but I think most statutes would address this issue and even if not..... better a searching father than a baby in the dumpster................ I believe Safe Surrender is a good

12 Year Old Was Stripping At Dallas Club

Brian Cuban — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:13:28 +0000

This story was today's Dallas Morning News and Speaks For Itself. I was unable to find much about Diamond Cabaret. When you Google Diamond Cabaret, several Dallas Myspace pages do come up. What a shock! By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News teiserer@dallasnews.com The mere fact that a 12-year-old girl danced nude at a northwest Dallas strip club isn't enough to close its doors. That's because the city ordinance that regulates sexually oriented businesses does not allow authorities to revoke the license of such a business for employing someone under the age of 18. The sixth-grader danced at Diamonds Cabaret over a two-week period late last year, authorities say. They also say they found a 17-year-old girl working in the club in January. Diamonds Cabaret "If they're not shut down, it's like they're giving them permission to have underage girls dancing and working in that club," said the mother of the 12-year-old. The mother is not being named because her daughter, a runaway at the time of the incident, is considered a sexual assault victim. Operators of the Diamonds Cabaret at 2444 Walnut Ridge Street did not return calls for comment. Their sexually oriented business license expires in November. Demonica Abron, 27, who worked as a stripper in the club, and David Bell, 22, are facing charges in connection with the 12-year-old girl's dancing in the club. Mr. Bell does not appear to have been employed by the club. Police officials are continuing to investigate whether the club's management knew she was underage. The 23-page city ordinance does allow revocation of a club's license if, for example, the club knowingly allows prostitution, the sale or use of drugs at the club, or if there are two convictions for sex-related crimes at the club within a 12-month period. The department also can suspend, but not revoke, the license of an escort agency for up to 30 days if it has employed anyone under 18. But the ordinance does not give the department similar power over adult cabarets such as Diamonds Cabaret. "There's a laundry list of things we can use to deny or revoke a license, but having a 12-year-old dancing in their establishment is not one of the things that automatically enables us to revoke their license," said Lt. Christina Smith, a vice unit commander who oversees licensing of such establishments. The mother of the 12-year-old girl said her daughter ran away in early November. She said the family frantically began looking and her husband finally found their daughter in late November. She was then interviewed by police. According to court records, the runaway gave the following account: Mr. Bell and Ms. Abron, who went by the stage name 'Jewel,' offered the runaway shelter. Mr. Bell told her that she would be stripping at a club called "Diamonds." Mr. Bell dropped them off at the club one day and introduced her to a man named "David" in the club's office. "Suspect David asked complainant if she had ever danced before, she said no," the court records state. "David" then gave her an application, which she filled out with a fake name. She also told him that she was 19. When "David" asked to see her identification, she told him that she didn't have one. He told her to bring one when she came to work as a dancer. "Complainant couldn't think of a fake birthday, so she told suspect 'David' she forgot her birthday," the records state. "Suspect 'David' gave her a funny look and told her she would have been born in 1988 if she was 19." A couple of days later, Mr. Bell drove Ms. Abron and the victim back to the club where Ms. Abron introduced her to a man named "Steve." "Suspect 'Steve' told" the girl "to take her clothes off to see if she was too shy to dance nude," the records state. He told her she would have to pay a fee ranging from $10 to $30 each time she danced nude. She danced that night and made about $100, of which she gave $30 to "Steve," the records state. The court documents are unclear on how many nights she danced. The mother of the 12-year-old says she believes the club must have known her daughter was underage. "I think they just didn't care," her mother said. "She's 12, but she's got the body of a 20-year-old. All they were thinking about was the money she could bring in." She said her daughter is now living with her grandmother in Arlington and again attending school. Ms. Abron and Mr. Bell were indicted in late February on one count of felony sexual performance of the child in connection with making the 12-year-old work at the club. Both are also accused of engaging in organized crime. Mr. Bell is accused of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and aggravated kidnapping. He is still being held in the Dallas County Jail in lieu of $450,000 bail. Ms. Abron, who also faces a prostitution charge, has been released on bail from jail.

If John F. Kennedy Addressed The Nation on Middle East

Brian Cuban — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:33:32 +0000

Good Evening. Seven weeks ago tonight I returned from the Middle East to report on my meeting with the heads of the Iraqi, Afghanistan, and Israeli Governments with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadineja and the others opposed to democracy and self rule in Iraq. His grim warnings about the future of the world, his aide memoir on Israel and Iraq, his subsequent speeches and threats which he and his agents have launched, and the increase in the Iranian military budget and nuclear capabilities that he has announced, have all prompted a series of decisions by the administration and a series of consultations with the members of the NATO organization. In the Middle East, as you recall, he intends to bring to an end, through the proliferation of nuclear weapons, first Israel's right to exist and our legal rights to be in Iraq and other places in the Middle East and secondly our ability to make good on our commitment to the millions free people of Iraq to aid them in restoring democracy. That we cannot permit. We are clear about what must be done -- and we intend to do it. I want to talk frankly with you tonight about the first steps that we shall take. These actions will and have required sacrifice on the part of many of ,our citizens, our children..... More will be required in the future. They will require, from all of us, courage and perseverance in the years to come. But if we and our allies act out of strength and unity of purpose -- with calm determination and steady nerves -- using restraint in our words as well as our weapons -- I am hopeful that both peace and freedom will be sustained. The immediate threat to free men is from within the borders of Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran. But these world outposts are not an isolated problem. The threat is worldwide. Our effort must be equally wide and strong and not be obsessed by any single manufactured crisis. We face a challenge in the Middle East, but there is also a challenge in North Korea, where the borders are less guarded, the enemy harder to gage, and the dangers of communism less apparent to those who have so little. We face a challenge in our own hemisphere, and indeed wherever else the freedom of human beings is at stake. Let me remind you that the fortunes of war and diplomacy have finally freed the people of Iraq form the brutal Hussein dictatorship. We must not waiver. Iran with its stated intent to wipe Israel off the earth and its proximity to the democratic free world is in a very real geographic position to carry out its' threats of Middle East domination. This is not the threat of the Iranian people with whom we sympathize but of a self important leader with visions of world domination to the detriment of the Iranian people...... We are there as a result of our efforts to introduce a free and democratic Iraq to the world-- and our basic rights to be there, deriving from that mission; include both our presence in Iraq and the enjoyment of access across the Middle East. In this area we are committed to the right of the Iraqi people to determine their own future and choose their own way of life. Thus, our presence in Afghanistan and Iraq and our access thereto, cannot be ended by any act of the Iranian government, Al -Qaeda or the Insurgency. The Coalition shield was extended to cover Iraq and other parts of the middle east -- and we have given our word that an attack upon that country will be regarded as an attack upon us all. Iraq is -- as never before -- the great testing place of Western courage and will, a focal point where our solemn commitments, stretching back over the years I hear it said that the Middle East and particularly Iraq is militarily untenable. And so was Iraq in Desert Storm, so was Bastogne in World War II. And so, in fact, was Stalingrad. Any dangerous spot is tenable if men -- brave men -- will make it so. We do not want to fight -- but we have fought before. We do not want our young men to die. Many have gone before them to defend freedom and democracy and to end tyranny. And others in earlier times have made the same dangerous mistake of assuming that the West was too selfish and too soft and too divided to resist invasions of freedom in other lands. Those who threaten to unleash the forces of war on a dispute over Iraq should recall the words of the ancient philosopher: "A man who causes fear cannot be free from fear." We cannot and will not permit the Insurgents and those who oppose democratic free society to drive us out of Iraq, either gradually or by force. For the fulfillment of our pledge to that city is essential to the morale and security of Iraq, to the unity of the Middle East, and to the faith of the entire free world. Insurgent strategy has long been aimed, not merely at Iraq, but at dividing and neutralizing all of the Middle East, forcing us back on our own shores. We must meet our oft-stated pledge to the free peoples of West Berlin -- and maintain our rights and their safety, even in the face of force -- in order to maintain the confidence of other free peoples in our word and our resolve. The strength of the alliance on which our security depends is dependent in turn on our willingness to meet our commitments to them. So long as the Iranian government, Iraqi insurgents and Al Queada insist that they are preparing to end by themselves unilaterally our rights in Middle East and our commitments to its people, we must be prepared to defend those rights and those commitments. We will at all times be ready to talk, if talk will help. But we must also be ready to resist with force, if force is used upon us. Either alone would fail. Together, they can serve the cause of freedom and peace. The new preparations that we shall make to defend the peace are part of the long-term buildup in our strength which has been under way since the Iraqi Conflict began. They are based on our needs to meet a worldwide threat, on a basis which stretches far beyond the present Middle East crisis. Our primary purpose is neither propaganda nor provocation -- but preparation. A first need is to hasten progress toward the military goals which Coalition allies have set for themselves. In the Middle East today nothing less will suffice. We will put even greater resources into fulfilling those goals, and we look to our allies to do the same. The supplementary defense buildups that I asked from the Congress have already started moving us toward these and our other defense goals. They included an increase in the size of the Marine Corps, improved readiness of our reserves, expansion of our air and sea lift, and stepped-up procurement of needed weapons, ammunition, and other items... These measures must be speeded up, and still others must now be taken. We must have sea and air lift capable of moving our forces quickly and in large numbers to any part of the world. But even more importantly, we need the capability of placing in any critical area at the appropriate time a force which, combined with those of our allies, is large enough to make clear our determination and our ability to defend our rights at all costs -- and to meet all levels of aggressor pressure with whatever levels of force are required. We intend to have a wider choice than humiliation or all-out nuclear action. While it is unwise at this time either to call up or send abroad excessive numbers of these troops before they are needed, let me make it clear that I intend to take, as time goes on, whatever steps are necessary to make certain that such forces can be deployed at the appropriate time without lessening our ability to meet our commitments elsewhere. Thus, in the days and months ahead, I shall not hesitate to ask the Congress for additional measures, or exercise any of the executive powers that I possess to meet this threat to peace. Everything essential to the security of freedom must be done; and if that should require more men, or more taxes, or more controls, or other new powers, I shall not hesitate to ask them. The measures proposed today will be constantly studied, and altered as necessary And let me add that I am well aware of the fact that many American families will bear the burden of our goal to put an end to terror. Studies or careers will be interrupted; husbands and sons will be called away; incomes in some cases will be reduced. But these are burdens which must be borne if freedom is to be defended. Americans have willingly borne them before -- and they will not flinch from the task now. As signers of the U.N. Charter, we shall always be prepared to discuss international problems with any and all nations that are willing to talk -- and listen -- with reason. If they have proposals -- not demands -- we shall hear them. If they seek genuine understanding -- not concessions of our rights -- we shall meet with them. We have previously indicated our readiness to remove any actual irritants in the Middle East in particularly Iraq, but the freedom of that city is not negotiable. We cannot negotiate with those who say, "What's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable." But we are willing to consider any arrangement in Iraq consistent with the maintenance of peace and freedom, and with the legitimate security interests of all nations. We believe arrangements can be worked out which will help to meet those concerns, and make it possible for both security and freedom to exist in this troubled area. For it is not democracy in Iraq, but the situation in that entire divided country. If anyone doubts the legality of our rights in Iraq, we are ready to have it submitted to international adjudication. If anyone doubts the extent to which our presence is desired by the people of Iraq compared to their "slavery" under the brutal dictatorship of Sadam Hussein, we are ready to have that question submitted to a free vote in the Middle East and if possible, among all Iraqi people The choice of peace or war is largely theirs, not ours. It is the insurgents, Al Qaeda and the Iranian Governments who have stirred up this crisis. It is they who are trying to force a change. It is they who have opposed free elections. It is they who have rejected peace in the Middle East and the rulings of international law. And as Americans know from our history on our own old frontier, gun battles are caused by outlaws, and not by officers of the peace. In short, while we are ready to defend our interests, we shall also be ready to search for peace -- in quiet exploratory talks in formal or informal meetings. We do not want military considerations to dominate our thinking. While all of these efforts go on, we must not be diverted from our total responsibilities, from other dangers, from other tasks. If new threats in Iraq or the Middle East or elsewhere should cause us to weaken our program of assistance to the developing nations who are also under heavy pressure from the same source, or to halt our efforts for realistic disarmament, or to disrupt or slow down our economy, or to neglect the education of our children, then those threats will surely be the most successful and least costly maneuver in the history of the region. For we can afford all these efforts, and more -- but we cannot afford not to meet this challenge. And the challenge is not to us alone. It is a challenge to every nation which asserts its sovereignty under a system of liberty. It is a challenge to all those who want a world of free choice. It is a special challenge to the United States -- the heartland of human freedom. We in the West must move together in building military strength. We must consult one another more closely than ever before. We must together design our proposals for peace, and labor together as they are pressed at the conference table. And together we must share the burdens and the risks of this effort. With your help, and the help of other free men, this crisis can be surmounted. Freedom can prevail and peace can endure. Thank you and good night

Is a Military Draft Inevitable?

Brian Cuban — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:00:05 +0000

While it has been pushed to page 10 of most mainstream publication, our military is still stretched dangerously thin, some say to the breaking point. It is a subject that has not stirred much public passion or election passion since President George Bush announced his famous or infamous "surge" in U.S. troops deployed to Iraq. It peaked with talk of war with Iran but as U.S casualties in Iraq have stabilized and started a downward trend, it seems a false sense of security has fallen over the American public. You can bet there is no sense of security within the troops themselves with multiple tours and basically what amounts to an internal draft. There is no dispute among any political party that are troops are exhausted, For whatever reason we just don't seem to be talking about that anymore stateside. People have been opining and predicting the need for a draft since the Civil War and the riots that followed.. Without exception it has taken a precipitating military event to bring one about. In my mind it is not a right wing versus left wing, Republican versus Democrat argument. There are so many variables and external forces that any prediction bases on alliances is futile. I prefer to look at the constant economic variable that has driven world economies since pelts were being traded for food.... It is a very simple formula, the Law of . Supply and Demand. In any economy external forces/events drive or lower demand and supply. When demand increases and you don't have the resources to increase supply, you make adjusts, re-deploy assets, lean out the supply chain.... If demand keeps increasing however sooner or later the only way to deal with it is to increase your supply. Supply Chain management is critical in the military. Poor supply chain management at Sears costs jobs. Poor supply chain management in the military costs lives.... How many events can our military respond to before the demand for soldiers outstrips our ability to bring in volunteers? Our military leaders say we are meeting and exceeding quota in our all volunteer force? That' is a meaningless statement unless we know the formula they use to determine quota. It's like Enron telling their employees they are kicking ass.... Unless you know how they came to their conclusions, it is a false and very dangerous sense of security... The military is a business as well. A poorly managed business. Sooner or later, you will reach a point where it makes more economic sense to force people to go than entice them with all kinds of incentives and bonuses... I have no idea where that point is. When it happens, there is not going to be a vote, a referendum, a debate etc. We will be told its coming and that's that. So it will be written, So it will be done....

12-year-old stripper prompts Dallas to reconsider rules for sex businesses

Brian Cuban — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:09:11 +0000

Here is a follow-up story in the Dallas Morning News. Maybe two good things have come out of this: 1. The girls living situation with her family will be reviewed by Texas Family and Protective Services. 2. The law will be changed so it is less likely for this to be repeated and more of these scummy business's will be subject to closure. City Council to weigh ordinance change

12:14 AM CDT on Friday, March 28, 2008

By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News teiserer@dallasnews.com Dallas city officials are looking into ways to revise an ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses after it was reported that employing someone under the age of 18 isn't enough to shut down a strip club. WFAA-TV and The Dallas Morning News reported the existence of the loophole this week after it came to light that a 12-year-old girl had danced nude at a northwest Dallas strip club. "We have to protect the safety of minors," Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia said Thursday. "Who would have thought that we would find a 12-year-old in one of those places?" City attorneys are exploring ways to revise the ordinance and will report back to the City Council. The sixth-grader danced at Diamonds Cabaret over a two-week period late last year, police said. They also say they found a 17-year-old girl working in the club in January. Operators of the Diamonds Cabaret at 2444 Walnut Ridge St. have not returned calls for comment. Their sexually oriented business license expires in November. Demonica Abron, 27, who worked as a stripper in the club, and David Bell, 22, are facing charges in connection with the 12-year-old girl's dancing in the club. Mr. Bell does not appear to have been employed by the club. According to court documents, the 12-year-old told club employees that she was 19, but couldn't give them identification and didn't know what year she was born if she were that age. Still, she was allowed to dance in the club, records show. The 23-page city ordinance allows the revocation of a club's license if, for example, the club knowingly allows prostitution, the sale or use of drugs at the club, or if there are two convictions for sex-related crimes at the club within a 12-month period. The city also can suspend, but not revoke, the license of an escort agency for up to 30 days if it has employed anyone younger than 18. But the ordinance does not give the city similar power over adult cabarets such as Diamonds Cabaret.

Dating In A Web 2.0 World

Brian Cuban — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:04:12 +0000

Every now and then, when I am bored, I scan wall posts of some of my Facebook friends. It can be a pretty good gage of what people are doing for fun in your town. People also tend to throw their personal lives out there on Facebook more than they ever would in the real world. The other day I was scanning posts and came across the following exchange:(I will not link to it as it would be a violation of Facebook's TOS) This was a wall post on the profile of a Facebook friend: "ohh so evidently there is this new pick up line that guys are using it goes like this " hey so i would like to see you again" me " yeah you want my number" he says " well do you have facebook i can find you on there???" i say " hahaha yeah no that was the worst pick up line" then i walked away haha yeah that is sad the world is comming to this....... damn wtf Doesn't that pretty much sum up Generation Y dating? For a lot of my dating life, there were not even cell phones so you had to ask for a home number taking the risk of nosy parents, brothers and sisters answering the phone. You had to be on your game from minute one. How in the world did our parents get by? Isn't it amazing we are even here? God forbid we should actually have to look someone in the eye Now we are not even asking for phone number. We are asking for email addresses, Facebook and MySpace pages etc. I would bet that within the 20-45 crowd there are almost as many relationships started and ended by text or email than by an actual phone call or god forbid you have the guts to actually meet someone in person and talk about a future or lack thereof.... In my day, if you met a girl in a bar and she thought you were a total geekoid loser, the phone number she gave you was actually the phone number to Blockbuster Video. (I rented a lot of movies.....) For Generation Y, you got one of those numbers you can buy that gives the person a message telling them you got the number because you are a loser and to leave the person alone like on Seinfeld. There are services such as The Rejection Hotline who has pre-recorded "rejection phone numbers to cover just about any scenario. Today, your blowoff is a girl giving you an address to her Facebook or MySpace page entitled: "SALLIE"S MYSPACE PAGE DEDICATED TO TOTAL LOSER GEEKS SHE MET IN A BAR " When are we going to start seeing "wiki" personals and social networking sites where everyone who knows you basically creates your profile. Would you have the guts to turn yor social page into a "wiki" and let the masses colloborate on what your page should say? A social wikipieda not geared at the facts of your life but at who you really are..... We have gone from Dear John Letters to Dear John Phone Number to Dear John Texts to Dear John social networking pages. I am definitely not naming my kid John. The odds are against him meeting someone right off the bat. Welcome to dating in the Web 2.0 world......

FIRE THAT COACH!

Brian Cuban — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:20:33 +0000

Being an attorney, I had to laugh at the story about the web site FireGeorgeKarl. George Karl is the coach of the Denver Nuggets. These fire the coach web sites related to the coaches of sports franchises have become popular. There is even one out there called FireAvery.com. Avery Johnson is the coach of the Dallas Mavericks who are owned by my brother Mark Cuban. The absurdity of these sites and the notion that they have any effect on NBA decision making is self evident but hey, everyone has an opinion and the right to voice it as long as it does not cross into the area of slander and defamation. What I found funny about the FireGeorgeKarl site was the Coach Karl's attorney, Brett Adams, of the law firm of Adams, Babner and Gitlitz also decided to voice his opinion by email sent to the owner of the site. I guess Mr. Adams never bothered to read my DATAPINBALL post about thinking before you hit send......... His email threatening to "sue the owner of the site into bankruptcy" pinballed to the expected path of least resistance...... The owner of the site did exactly what I would have done. He posted the email on his web site...... What is ironic is that Mr. Adams impugned the quality of the web site owner' life, asking if he had nothing better to do than to create such web sites..... Mr. Adams obviously had nothing better to do than do take a three step process into legal idiocy....(Something every attorney has frankly done at one time or another including myself) The first step was to lose his temper over nothing at all; the second step was to write an email about it while he was still pissed; the third step was to hit send.... Talk about reducing your reputation value! Once more time the point is made that attorneys, especially attorneys with huge egos, have zero sense of humor...... That email was not written out of rational legal analysis, it was not written out of rational desire to achieve it a legal result. It was written out of sheer ego and a sense of self inflated importance....... This is an ailment very common to the legal profession. Now I will concede that Mr. Adams may very well have been instructed by George Karl to take some action but I doubt that Mr. Karl dictated the specific action to take..... Ego combined with carte blanche is a dangerous combination....... I have a suggestion for Coach Karl. If he really wants to get results he should can Brett Adams as his counsel and retain the firm of Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz and Rabinowitz..... Three savage Jews that will tear the skin off you.... They kicked ass for Archie Bunker...... So let it be written....... So let it be done......

My Worst Courtroom Movies Of All Time

Brian Cuban — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:09:29 +0000

What are the worst Lawyer/ Courtroom Movies You Have Seen? Being an attorney, I have an attraction to movies that revolve around lawyers or courtrooms. It is often entertaining to watch how the realities of litigation and law are blurred, butchered and disregarded altogether in the name of entertainment or dramatic license. Here is my review of the worst and best courtroom dramas I have seen. In order to be classified as a courtroom movie, an integral part of the movie must take place in a courtroom. The courtroom scenes cannot be simply incidental to the movie. I am judging courtroom validity, acting and entertainment value. It is possible for a movie to be totally unbelievable in terms of what goes on in the courtroom but be very entertaining and therefore on my list. These tend to be comedies. Liar Liar, Legally Blonde and My Cousin Vinny are all on that list. All very goofy from a technical courtroom perspective but I loved all of them. I understand that there are a ton of "best lists" out there relating to courtroom dramas. The American Bar Association puts out its own list. These are my personal rankings of movies I have seen. Worst Courtroom Movies:

Suspect. This is No 1. on my list of the worst courtroom movies of all time. Let's start with the absolutely unbelievable story line of a sitting juror helping a public defender solve a case. Let's move on to completely moronic courtroom dialogue from Cher. She sounded like she never finished high school let alone law school. We end with a judge who murders people to protect a biased ruling in case. Liam Neesom in a throw away role as wrongly accused homeless mute. His entire dialogue is about 10 grunts. He probably rehearsed for this during sex with his wife. You need more than suspension of disbelieve to enjoy this movie; you need to be on LSD. No courtroom validity, terrible acting, ludicrous story line. A death sentence for Suspect.
Body of Evidence: This was so bad I could barely sit through it and I was on my couch. Madonna should have been convicted of indecent exposure for making people pay 7 dollars to see her naked in this clunker. I laughed every time she opened her mouth and it was not a comedy. She is a terrible actor. The film was so bad that Patricia Cornwell, the novelist who wrote the book the movie was based on, attempted to get all reference to her book removed from the credits. Average overused story line, no courtroom validity, terrible acting. This movie is guilty of Indecent Exposure.
The Jagged Edge. This is not the worst ever because it is mildly entertaining. Jeff Bridges saves it from being a complete mistrial. There is no doubt attorneys have had sexual relationships with their client during the course of case but the character played Glenn Close does not seem to have a care in the world about the possibility of disbarment while she sleeps with her client in the middle of a murder trial. Not to mention that he is on trial for the brutal killing of his wife. Part of the story line is also that her character has not practiced criminal law in years but her firm is going to let her handle a high profile murder case? Decent Acting, Low Courtroom Validity, Check this flick out to see Glenn Close in court in a dress so tight that the judge never looks at the defendant or the other attorney....

So ends my short list of the worst. I am sure there are more I have seen. It is much easier to compile a list of the best movies. When a movie is bad you try to forget it. The only reason I remembered the ones listed is that they were so completely un-redeeming as to be memorable to me. Commentary and additions to this list are welcome. What‘s on your list? Stay tuned for my list of my top courtroom Lawyer Movies...

My Favorite Courtroom Movies

Brian Cuban — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:04:57 +0000

Being an attorney, I have an attraction to movies that revolve around lawyers or courtrooms. It is often entertaining to watch how the realities of litigation and law are blurred, butchered and disregarded altogether in the name of entertainment or dramatic license. Here is the list of MY best/favorite courtroom movies of "all time" I stress MY and all-time because they are relative words. For a movie to be on my list, it has to be something I have seen within the last 5 years. If the movie predates that and I have not seen it in the last five years, then it was not obviously entertaining enough for me to see it again. An example of a movie that would come under this exclusion is Twelve Angry Men. This movie is on every respectable top ten list out there. I saw it in high school almost 30 years ago. I don't remember enough of the details to have a personal recommendation as a great movie. The same would be true of To Kill a Mockingbird. There are also movies that revolve around lawyers but I do not view as courtroom movies such as The Firm, The Client The Pelican Brief and Michael Clayton. Please also not that if I say a movie is technically good from a courtroom perspective I am judging the overall portrayal to the layman and not passing judgment on every little evidentiary/trial fau paux.

The Verdict: This is my favorite courtroom movie of all time. I can watch it over and over. Paul Newman in my opinion gives his greatest acting performance. What lawyer out there cannot identify with getting that one big case that will cure what ails the human condition? A case that that not only redeems society but redeems the down and out alcoholic attorney played by Newman as well.. Battling a crappy case, biased judge and crooked law firm defending the Catholic Church.... Not great technically from a courtroom perspective but you get so sucked into Paul Newman's character that you completely disregard any tactics that would be questionable in real life. David vs. Goliath courtroom movies are a dime a dozen and only work if they bring you into the story so you become David. Watch this movie and you will be David for two hours.
The Rainmaker. Based on the book of the same title by John Grisham. Same David and Goliath script but with a much more technically correct courtroom feel. This is one of the few Grisham books in my opinion that the book translates well to the big screen. This time the young inexperienced attorney representing the poor family unable to speak for themselves up against the big bad insurance company. How do you not get sucked into Matt Damon's character? The young attorney with no money trying his first case again up again the big time corrupt defense firm. (Are there any courtroom movies out there that put defense firms in a positive light?)

The only people in this country who do not want to put a whop ass on a big bad insurance company are the people who work for the insurance company. One of the better courtroom movies from a technical perspective, great storyline. By the time the movie is over you want to go hire a lawyer to sue an insurance company, any insurance company.......

A Few Good Men. You have to get past the fact that the whole movie hinges on the star witness, a Marine Corps General played by Jack Nicholson suddenly collapsing like a used air bag under cross examination and giving the defense its case. The odds of this happening in real life? Play the Powerball Lottery this week. You have a better shot..... Basically Jack had to give it up under cross to make the movie work and boy does his performance make it work! Just get passed that. It's a great movie. One of those movies worth watching just to watch every scene with Jack Nicolson. Oh yea, a good performance by Tom Cruise as the under-dog un-appreciated and initially apathetic military defense attorney. Watch it for Jack though.......
A Civil Action This is based on the Book A Civil Action. It is a true story. Yes again, the underdog attorney, real life attorney Jan Schlictman this time against the big bad corporate giants spilling toxic substances into the drinking water of Woburn, Massachusetts causing cancer clusters in the children..... I don't want to give away the entire story but you have an attorney coming to understand himself at the cost of everything he once was, morally, financially, emotionally. I will warn you that this is a SLOW movie. It is very deliberate as is the very long book. It needs to be to work. It works in that it is deliberate but never boring. You will come away from this movie with a better understanding of the frustrations that many attorneys face in trying to do the right thing and getting so sucked into to trying to do the right thing that you lose sight of what the right thing really is.... It happens......John Travolta gives a great performance as real life attorney Jan Schlittman. He brings you right into his character to such a degree that you hang on each work and move quickly through any slow parts of the movie. Interesting paradox here. Robert Duvall is portrayed as an honest defense attorney for the corporate giant when in reality the defense firm involved destroyed and hid evidence.
Amistad: This movie is not for everyone. It is slow. It is hard to follow. It involves a mutiny on a slave ship traveling towards the coast of the United States. The story revolves around the trial of the slaves who led the revolt. I can sum up my review this way: Are you watching the HBO mini-series John Adams? Then watch this movie..... Why? John Quincy Adams, the son of Second President John Adams Jr. was the lawyer who defended the slaves who had revolted and killed their captors Good performances by Matthew McConaughey and Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams. This slave controversy in this case became a prelude to The Civil War.
Philadelphia. This is the first big star motion picture that I am aware of that addressed AIDS discrimination. Who better to do than Tom Hanks Great performance by Tom as a big city Philadelphia lawyer with AIDS. His law firm discovers his condition and cans him. Denzel Washington is great as the stereotypical ambulance chaser who finds a conscience and a cause..... I don't think this is a very good movie from a technical standpoint My reason is that all the stuff about Hank's characters sexual orientation and sexual habits would never come into evidence as not being relevant. They put it in the movie for dramatic purposes and it works for that purpose It can however give the laymen the impression that if you make such a claim your sex life will be put out there for all to see and that's just not true.
Miracle on Thirty Fourth Street (The 1947 Original) the existence of Santa Clause on trial? How could this not be on my list?
Judgment at Nuremberg: The first film to address the trial of the Nazi's accused of war crimes after World War II otherwise known as The Nuremberg Trials. I am frankly surprised this has not been re-done with a current day all star cast. I think it would do well.

9. Primal Fear Absolutely absurd courtroom dialogue but the story line and performances by Edward Norton and Richard Gere are so good that you really don't care.

10. Liar Liar and My Cousin Vinny. Absolutely the funniest courtroom comedies out there. Yea yea Legally Blonde is funny but I view that as a lawyer movie and not a courtroom movie.

That's my list. Are there other good courtroom movies? Of course. These were the ones that I can watch over and over. Some other courtroom movies I found entertaining but didn't make my watch over and over list are, Class Action, Criminal Law, Rules of Engagement, Hart's War. Red Corner. Please feel free to comment and make your case for your favorite courtroom movies.

Want to committ suicide? Join the Club....

Brian Cuban — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:50:57 +0000

Not long ago I watched an episode of Law and Order SVU that addressed the issue of "Suicide Clubs". Basically it involved a lady dying of kidney failure who ran a web site called "CatchTheTrain.com.(not a real web site) It was a web site for people to discuss their thoughts on suicide and ways to commit suicide. Knowing that Law and Order usually takes episode ideas from real life incidents; I did a Google but didn't see a whole lot. I concluded that it was probably illegal to have such sites up in the United States as it is illegal to in most states to facilitate euthanasia/suicide. I should have expanded my search worldwide. Such clubs do exist. They are under the radar and loosely structured in chat rooms and social networking sites but defenitely real. Today I was forwarded an article on DIGG entitled: Suicide Clubs Lure 20 Thousand Russian Teenagers . There are apparently hundreds of these webs sites in Russia where people, primarily teens, discuss ways to kill themselves. Now armed with some better search terms, I set out to see if this was Russian phenomenon or a worldwide "psychological epidemic". My search took me first to Japan which has the highest suicide rate in the world. I found the article Japan Internet Suicide Clubs. It appears that "Suicide Cults" in Japan are rampant. A growing number of teen suicides in Japan have been tracked to origination in internet chat rooms. The article goes on to state: "It is a growing, and morbidly frank underworld of chat rooms and websites with names like "Suicide Club," where thousands of (mainly young) people meet and talk and plan their deaths" My travels next took me to the U.K. Where I found an article about a small Welsh town which has seen 16 of its' youth commit suicide in one year allegedly using a web site called Bebop to discuss their own deaths. Bebo is a Facebook type application that caters to teens and younger. The Laws governing assisted suicide vary widely around the world. Some countries having no laws at all addressing the issue. What about the United States? It is a tricky issue in this country with conflicts between state and federal law. Anyone who knows about Dr Jack Kevorkian knows that physician assisted suicide is illegal in many states. As of today only the state of Oregon has a law that expressly allows physician assisted suicide under its "Death with Dignity Act" With all the conflict, stigma, and shame is it any wonder that troubled teens turn to their own in these loosely structured but definitely real web based suicide clubs and chat rooms. Let's forget about the legal and medical ethical issues when a physician is involved. What if it is the person's high school classmate? What if it is another high school student across the country? Every time a teen commits suicide in the United States, I wonder how many other teens in some web chat room knew he/she was going to do it before it happened. The answer would probably shock us. We are so focused on making sure are kids are not being preyed on by pedophiles and perverts that we forget to look at what our kids are actually saying on the web to their legitimate peer group. A peer group comprised of other kids who are less interested in the illegality of helping a friend or person in similar pain than simply helping a friend or person in similar pain. Misery loves company has never been more scary..... I can think of a few more key words to put into your internet filter software......

J.F.K. is a figment of your imagination

Brian Cuban — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:28:18 +0000

If CNN today reported a survey in which 1 out of every 4 Americans under 25 believed that John F. Kennedy never existed, would you be worried? What would worry you about the state of our educational system? What about the state of parenting in general? Would you even care? It would scare me shitless! Why? A youth with no sense of history is a youth with no sense of self and that is a dangerous youth.... That is a youth who walks into malls and schools not with a wallet or book but with an automatic weapon. So what is almost as bad as 25 percent of our youth not believing J.F.K existed? 25 percent of England's youth not believing that Winston Churchill existed! I am not kidding on this one. In a recent survey of London youth, 25 percent believed that Winston Churchill did not really exist and was a "mythical figure" Don't they teach history over there? Are there that many children not going to school? Are London youth simply so disillusioned and disaffected about their present that they simply can not related to or believe in any strong figures in their past..... While I am not an expert on English historical values, I would think that teaching their youth about a figure that played a large role in saving them from learning to "goose-step" would be a educational imperative Anyway you cut it such a stat should scare the hell out of them. It sounds like the youth of London are certainly disconnected from their history. After disillusioned comes disconnected, after that comes disaffected. Then comes the most dangerous D of all to a nation (other than death), disenfranchised. From the ranks of disenfranchised youth come home grown terrorists and those who have no qualms about turning on their own.... My children are going to live and breathe U.S. history. I'm not taking any chances......

Dell Computers and the extinct desktop

Brian Cuban — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:52:31 +0000

So the mighty Dell is closing a desktop factory and laying off thousands. Does anyone even use a desktop computer anymore? By desk top I am referring to "big box' casing, keypad, mouse, monitor such as the one that I have sitting in my office. It's about 2 years old and I rarely use it. Almost everything I do is on my Mac, transferred to a portable hard drive and an online backup service for backup. The only thing I use my desktop for is a secondary backup download of my email.I understand that gamers, Mac people with high graphics needs, office mega purchases are all desktop intensive but are these turning into niche markets? I was looking at the Best Buy insert in today's Dallas Morning News as I do every Sunday scanning for new gadgets and such on the market. In looking at the desk top computers, I did not see one priced at more than 1300.00 after their "instant savings". Here is the one that particularly caught my eye:"Gateway Ultimate Digital Entertainment Desktop" One terabyte hard drive, 3GDR2 memory and a hybrid HD DVD/Blu-ray payer! Also included is a 19 inch HD Widescreen Monitor and an all in one printer. Cost: 1279.00 One year ago you could not even have purchased such a computer because the hybrid HD-DVD/Blu-ray technology was not available. To drive the point home even more, while the prices are falling the cost of a standalone Blu-ray player runs anywhere from 400-1000 dollars. Just to give you a frame of reference, my desktop with a 200 gig hardrive and regular DVD player cost me almost 3k two years ago. Why have prices dropped so much? There are many reasons, the drop in the costs of storage, processors etc. Everything is commoditized. When a manufacturing component is commoditized, prices tend to drop drastically. Is it also that desktops for consumer use are also going the way of the CD? Are desktops in themselves becoming "commoditized "You would think these cheap prices with great features would drive people to desktop purchases. Three years ago you would see a 4 to one ratio desktop to laptop for sale in electronics inserts, now it is the other way around....I had a specific "niche" need for one, it would never even occur to me to consider a desktop for my next P.C. purchase. Just an observation... You also have the rapidly advancement of cell phone technology. It seems like every other week, new tech features are being announced that bring our cell phones and PDAs closer to the definition of a "mini-laptop" It looks like desktop P.C products in the retail consumer arena are going to the way of the dinosaur age. A new age of technology is upon us. Are we approaching the age of "Desktopus Extinctus"?

The Ashley Dupre Guide To Gold-Digging

Brian Cuban — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:31:49 +0000

the other day (REAL MEN READ GLAMOUR!). I am skimming through it and I came to this article about this lady name Jennifer Binder. She was talking about her thoughts and experiences in having dated the multi-millionaire "ultimate big shot", disgraced former Enron big wig, Jeff Skilling, who has been convicted of numerous crimes related to the Enron collapse and is currently serving a 24-year, 4-month prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Waseca in Waseca, Minnesota.As I read the article, reading it occured to me that this Binder girl was really Ashley Dupre and Eliot Spitzer Five years removed. I am not saying that this Binder lady was a "call girl" in the literal sense of the word but there are some anaolgies to be made here. I also decided that if you could read between the line what your really had here was "THE IDIOTS GUIDE TO GOLD-DIGGING' Since I have been able to successfully decipher this article to its true meaning, I am now going to translate it for everyone by outlining what she says and giving my "take" as to what she REALLY meant to say for all the other ADIP's(Ashley Dupres In Training). Here are her quotes from the article and what she was really saying after.... 1. "Jeff did indeed fly me to England for our first date; later he bought me jewelry and even helped with the down-payment on my house. TRANSLATION: My profession is a professional "gold-digger" I would not even look at you twice unless you had the "Gulfstream" waiting to whisk me off to an exotic location that went over one ocean or the other before we landed. 2. "that (the money) really blinded me to the age difference........" TRANLATION: Professional Gold Diggers have no age requirements. If you are 90 years old and still breathing, I'm all yours if that Gulfstream is fueled and ready. 3. "Greed is not good for a relationship" TRANSLATION: Lots of money will kill a relationship if you no longer have it. 4. "If it seems like he has something to hide, he has something to hide" TRANSLATION: If you pay for my condo, Seed my bank account, buy my Lexus, fly me to London every week for dinner, I don't care if you are hiding eight ex-wives, five illegitimate children and you are a registered sex offender. 5. "When friends don't have anything nice to say about your boyfriend, listen" TRANSLATION: If he is doing all of the above, WHO NEED FRIENDS! 6. "You really can learn from every experience" TRANSLATION: When you have your next billionaire ‘"mark" in your sites, be sure to ask if he is about to be indicted for anything and if the answer is yes, get as many assets as possible including the jet, transferred to your name before he goes to jail! I knew these were the things Jennifer was REALLY trying to tell you so I thought I would be a good guy and help her out

First Public Execution in 100 years announced!

Brian Cuban — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:14:14 +0000

Please Dont Date That Loser!

Brian Cuban — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:53:32 +0000

So I came across this "anti-dating" web site called DontDateHimGirl.com It is a site for scorned women to post about guys that have cheated on them, who are married, lied to them, etc. I admit I first went to the site to see if I was on it! Not that I think I am a liar or cheater. I think the general consensus would be that I am a nice guy (with some dissenters am sure) BUT in 7 out of 10 relationships that end for any reason, someone is going to be pissed and find a justification to blame the other person to bolster their self-worth. The next things you know either your photo is up on Don't Date Him or you're accosted by a camera crew from the television show CHEATERS in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Why is it you never see the Cheaters camera crew waiting outside of Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus?? I of course went straight to the Dallas, Texas listings. In my single career in Dallas, I have known many, 30k millionaires, Mack daddies, serial daters, cheaters, schmoozer's losers, boozers, druggers, muggers etc. There definitely was an entertainment value to seeing if any of them were listed on the site.... I know some guys that I would list myself just to protect unsuspecting female Dallasites...... Here are some of the examples of what I found in the Dallas listings....

1. Joseph L. Austin "Joe"- "Drives a Mercedes and still lives at home with his parents and sister. Not marriage or boyfriend material"

2. Wellington Papy Saygbay "Papy"- "Expects women to worship the ground he walks on because he works at a radio station. Has has had several live-in girl friends. He won't tell you about whom he is living with, so you have to pick up the signs when you are at his house.

There are a ton of listing complaining that a particular guy had given a girl herpes or some other STD. Others complaining of being married, two timing, and just being an asshole in general In any event, not that I expected to be but I am proud to say that I my mug was not on the website. Of course since they do not verify anything, I could claim to be women and put up negative posts about all the guys I know in town just to eliminate the competition. I'm out on the town, see a guy talking to a girl I like, get that guy's name, throw it up on Don't Date Him, tell the girl he is up there and the next thing you know he can't even pay for a date. Those would be some serious "guerilla dating" tactics but I wouldn't put it past guys or girls in this town or in any other town for that matter. I then put my lawyer's hat on and thought about it from that perspective. There is already case law out there about posting defamatory remarks on web sites and bulletin boards but I wonder if Don't Date Him is bringing in any click-through advertiser dollars. I would certainly argue that if they put my photo up, negative comments and all, they are using my likeness to make money without my permission and I want a piece of the pie! As to the posts themselves, you can check it out for yourselves and I will probably get some flak for this but the majority of hard luck guy stories said just as much about the sheer stupidity, immaturity and gullibility of the women involved as it did about the alleged sliminess of the guys. The owner of the site was in fact sued by Pittsburgh Attorney Todd Hollis with regards to posts about him on the site by a couple different women, one of the posts being that he allegedly carried a sexually transmitted disease. He denies that he does. The owner of the site claimed that she should not be liable for the posts of others. The lawsuit has since been dismissed based on improper venue. That has not stopped the aggrieved men from firing salvos. There is actually a web site out there trying to collect victims for class action. Good luck with all that or in other words....GET A LIFE! When a defamatory remark is posted on an internet web site, you have basically three possible parties who can be potentially sued 1. The person who posted the remark; 2) the owner of the web site; and 3) the Internet Service Provider (ISP) who hosts the web site. The ISP issue is easy. They are for the most post immune from suits relating to the posting of defamatory remarks on web sites they host. So when Internet America or Southwestern Bell hosts the web site "BrianCubansaScumbag.com", It is a web site for everyone who hates Brian Cuban to post nasty things about him. So assuming there were nasty, defamatory posts about me on this site, I cannot sue Internet America or Southwestern Bell. This protection to an ISP is generally provided under Title 47 of the U.S. Code So we know we cannot sue the ISP, what about the person running the web site? All he did was put up the site. He did not post any defamatory comments.... He is probably also protected. In 1996 Congress passed the Communications Decency Act, part of which has been stuck down but for the most part is still intact. This Act could in fact provide protection to the owner of the site. Where issues arise is when the site is made aware of defamatory comments and fails to remove them. What's the bottom line? Quit having affairs and lying to women and use a condom! I know for many guy and women in this town that is like asking them to walk on water or actually be a responsible adult so in the alternative "Reputation Endangered" men are going to probably have to track down the girls who put up the posts if they want to collect. My reaction to that? If you put as much energy into being a productive member of society as you do scamming women, our little corner of Texas would be a much better place to live and socialize.... You know who you are..... What is my general "dating take" on this? My take is more on the sad state of human affairs when we are going to sites like this to be entertained off the misery, inadequacy and humiliation of others. I am talking about myself here because I went to the site! I am proud to say however that I have not read the obituaries in a while.......But hey, turn to any television station for your dose of reality television and you will get the same thing. For that matter go to CNN, TMZ, or Perez-Hilton for the same thing.....That's Entertainment Baby! Gag!!!! If your date is going out with nine other women, really works at Jack in the Box and drives a Pinto and he gave you herpes ,spend more time examining your mate selection process and the due diligence and your attitudes on safe-sex , less time trying to feel better about yourself by posting goofy shit on idiotic web sites.... I don't expect to see my name up there but if I ever do, they will hear from my attorneys not to take my picture down as everyone is entitled to their opinion but to get my cut of the profits.......

The Walmart Tipping Point

Brian Cuban — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:30:13 +0000

Most people are familiar by now with the story of Debbie Shank, the former Wal-Mart employee who while employed by Wal-Mart was involved in a catastrophic auto accident with a semi-tractor trailer. Debbie was left permanently brain damaged and will need life time care. Debbie was covered under Wal-Mart's health insurance coverage which paid her bills to the tune of $470,000. She also settled with the trucking company for One Million Dollars. Wal-Mart then asked Debbie for its share of the money from the settlement to recoup what it had paid under her health insurance. As Debbie needed that money for future long term care, she refused to turn it over. Wal-Mart proceeded to sue Debbie pursuant to a subrogation clause in her health insurance policy. This clause is in pretty much all health insurance policies. It allows Wal-Mart to recover any expenses they paid out under the policy from any responsible party if the injury was the result of someone else's negligence. In this case, the party they would want the money back from would be the trucking company who paid out its policy limits to Debbie. The court sided with Wal-Mart. Debbie had to give some of the money back. Outrage ensued, letters were written, op-eds flooded major news publications, and blogs exploded media Christmas lights lit up worldwide. A tipping point was reached. Pursuant to the Tipping Point Playbook, Wal-Mart relented, controlled the spin and said they would sin no more going forward.What is a tipping point? A tipping point is the point where momentum for change becomes unstoppable. What is the tipping point playbook? The tipping point playbook allows Wal-Mart to act non-emotionally in any situation no matter how heart wrenching the situation or devastating the result on the nameless employee until a "tipping point" or "critical mass " is met. When this happens the Wal-Mart magically transforms from the antiseptic non-feeling, bureaucracy methodically walking over the backs of employees to a better bottom line to a reincarnation of Walt Disney World where employees are king combined with a "gee gosh, how did that happen press release". How does Wal-Mart know when the tipping point is hit and they need to take a different public position? It is hard to say. A lot has been written about this phenomenon starting with Malcolm Gladwells book, The Tipping Point. Let us take the Debbie Shank case as an example. It was certainly not reached when they asked for the money back. It was not reached when they sued her. It was not reached when a few regional publications picked up her story. It was reached when that mysterious DIGG algorithm point was met where all of a sudden the story was spreading through the internet and news services like wildfire. That is the tipping point. It was at that point where Wal-Mart decided that they would lose more money in negative image than they would save taking 400 grand from poor Debbie Shank Don't kid yourself; this was not about good will to Debbie Shank. It was a tipping point business decision by Wal-Mart nothing more. What is that point where everything cascades in the other direction towards lost profits to Wal-Mart because of bad press? Despite Wal-Mart's claims of new "flexibility" in these decisions, the next person in the same situation will be treated the exact same way. Why? The next person will be treated the same way because no tipping point as been reached. The tipping point will certainly be set lower for the next person. So again what is the Wal-Mart tipping point playbook? It is simply the point where public perception gives a name and a face to whomever neck their foot happens to be on. It is a bottom line dollar point to Wal-Mart where it becomes cheaper or even profitable to change their public stance on a given issue... They are experts at determining when that is and changing direction 180 degrees on a dime with a spin control machine that probably matches Hillary Clintons. Do you think Wal-Mart is really a sincere apologetic do-gooder here? I don't. They simply reached critical mass in public opinion where it is more profitable to be the good guy. Such is the tipping point playbook. Not Wal-Mart's invention but they run it to perfection

Baby Was Alive Before It Was Flushed Down The Toilet

Brian Cuban — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:03:06 +0000

This pretty much speaks for itself from The Dallas Morning News. Another great example of the need for Safe Surrender and better education of safe surrender availability. Texas Safe Surrender laws would allow this girl to drop her newborn at a designated drop-off point such as a fire station or hospital with no criminal liability. In Texas they are called the Baby Moses Laws. You can even go online and find sites nationwide. Here is the story: Associated Press BAYTOWN, Texas – A baby born to a 14-year-old mother in a restroom at her junior high was alive at birth, dying only after she tried to flush it down the toilet, officials said Thursday. Police also announced Thursday that the baby born Wednesday was a boy. Baytown police Lt. Eric Freed said the baby boy was probably full term and cried once before his mother tried to flush him down the toilet. An autopsy confirmed the infant was alive. The mother, an eighth-grader at Cedar Bayou Junior High, was taken to a hospital Wednesday. People who knew her at school said she wore baggy clothing, and nobody suspected she was pregnant, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday. School officials first learned of her pregnancy when another student in the restroom when the eighth-grader was in labor rushed to the school nurse to ask for help, said Kathy Clausen, spokeswoman for Baytown's Goose Creek school district. The nurse and an assistant principal ran back to the bathroom, discovered the girl had already given birth and called 911. Authorities have not announced what, if any, charges the girl will face. Killing an infant is a capital crime in Texas, but 14-year-olds are too young to be eligible for the death penalty, said Geoffrey Corn, an assistant professor at South Texas College of Law. The incident came just three days after another 14-year-old girl delivered a stillborn fetus in the bathroom of an airplane on her way back to Houston from a middle-school field trip. Baytown is about 25 miles east of Houston.

My Law School Is Really Rank

Brian Cuban — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:47:58 +0000

If you believe the 2008 U.S. News and World Report Law School Rankings, attending my alma mater The University of Pittsburgh School of Law is becoming a “rank” proposition. “Pitt” dropped and astounding 17 spots from a very respectable ranking of 57 to an almost out of the first tier we are a strictly regional law school” ranking of 73. Now I understand that when you attend Harvard, Yale or Stanford law among some others, anything below you is “second tier” but living in Dallas it really pissed me off and bruised my ego that I can no longer say we are even as good as Southern Methodist University School of Law which which is well respected in Texas but like Pitt, very regionalized in terms of its national appeal.

Having digested this drop of egotistic proportion and being of pissed mind and body I immediately fired off the following email to Dean Mary Crossley:

Dean Crossley:

I am a 1986 Pitt Law Grad. It is my understanding that the new U.S. News rankings have us dropping approximately 30 spots? Is this accurate? What is the reason for this? It is very disturbing. Sincerely Brian Cuban Dallas Mavericks

Here was Dean Crossley’s response:

Dear Mr. Cuban,

Thank you for your email expressing your concern regarding the Law School’s recent drop in the rankings. I’m glad to have an opportunity to explain my understanding of why the School dropped from #57 to #73 in the rankings recently released by US News. This drop is deeply troubling for the Law School, primarily because it fails to reflect the sustained progress the School has made over the past decade and instead threatens to impede the School’s continued progress. I apologize in advance for the length of this email, but there is no short answer to your question.

Unfortunately, a drop of 17 places in the rankings will suggest to some readers that something changed for the worse at Pitt Law over the course of a year. That is simply not the case. There have been no significant negative changes; if anything, the School continues to improve in terms of the strength of its faculty, the opportunities its graduates enjoy, and its visibility in the legal profession. A number of recent accomplishments provide strong, objective evidence supporting this assertion. In a September 2007 national ranking of law school faculties’ scholarly impact, Pitt Law ranked #21 – ahead of many schools in the US News top tier – providing objective evidence of the high quality of our faculty. Employment figures from the past two years have shown an increase in the percentage of our graduates accepting jobs outside of Pennsylvania: for the class of 2006 the rate was 37.2%, and for the class of 2007 preliminary data indicate a rate of 37%, with students taking jobs in 24 different states. These figures represent increases in out-of-state employment since 2004 (28.5%) and 2005 (26.6%), and show broadening employment opportunities for our graduates. The JURIST legal website – powered and edited by Pitt Law students – was named a top legal blog by the ABA Journal and in a ranking released earlier this year was the most cited of any blog sponsored by a law faculty member in terms of citations in law reviews. This recognition of JURIST attests to the School’s increasing, positive visibility within the legal profession nationally. In addition, in the past several years we have sustained or increased our progress in the areas of selectivity in admissions, bar passage rates, and recruitment of strong faculty members.

Your email justifiably asks what accounts for the decline in the School’s ranking. The answer has more to do with how US News computes the rankings than it does with the underlying quality of the education the Law School provides. (If this email piques your interest in the flaws in the US News methodology, I encourage you to read a posting by University of Texas Law Professor Brian Leiter at http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2008/03/an-open-lette-1.html.) Without boring you with too many details, permit me to explain briefly the reasons for the decline. (This analysis remains somewhat preliminary because I am still waiting for US News to respond to my request for unpublished data they use in the ranking.)

Nearly half of a school’s ranking is based on the results of two surveys regarding the quality of a school’s education program: the first (which counts 25% of a school’s total score) is a survey of legal academics; the second (which counts 15% of a school’s total score) is a survey of selected hiring partners at major firms, state attorneys general, and federal and state judges (the “lawyers and judges ranking”). While the Law School’s results on the academic peers survey have remained remarkably stable over the past seven years (at 2.8 each year on a scale of 1 to 5), its lawyers and judges score has fluctuated much more over those years, ranging from a high of 3.3 to a low of 2.8. Two years ago its lawyers and judges score was 2.8; last year it was 3.3.; this year it is 2.9. If I were convinced that the decrease this year reflected an actual drop in our reputation among this group, I’d be quite concerned. That said, this year as in past years only a very low percentage (26%) of judges and lawyers surveyed responded. So while we will keep working hard to improve Pitt Law’s reputation, I’m not convinced this year’s drop in that reputational score is cause for alarm.

The downward fluctuation in the lawyers and judges score is one of two factors most responsible for the School’s fall in the rankings. The second, expenditures per student, is one where we rank lower than most of our competitors. Two years ago, the ABA changed its instructions regarding how law schools must report expenditures, and as a result, Pitt Law’s reported expenditures declined significantly. This change in expenditures reporting methodology does not reflect any change in the actual level of support we receive from the University or the resources we invest in our programs, and it fails to reflect the numerous benefits our students receive from attending a law school situated in a world class university like Pitt. Thus, with respect to this factor, a portion of the change in our rankings is attributable to a change in external reporting requirements, not any change in what we’re doing at the Law School. Although expenditures count nearly 10% of a school’s total ranking score, they are not published by US News, which makes it highly unlikely that reader of the rankings will understand the role that expenditures play.

These two factors played the largest role in producing the decline in the School’s ranking. Because so many schools are tightly clustered together in the range from the mid 30s to approximately #90, small changes in the information reported or the results of reputational surveys can produce wide upward or downward swings in the rankings.

Thanks for your patience in reading this far. I hope I have demonstrated that the drop in our rankings has more to do with the rankings’ methodology than with changes at the School; nonetheless, I, along with the faculty and staff at the Law School, are concerned about the drop in the rankings and will be taking steps to try to improve those rankings because we realize that external audiences pay attention to them. We are committed to continuing to raise the quality of the Law School and to making sure that others in the legal world know about the good things going on here so that the School’s rankings will improve.

Accordingly, while we will continue to focus primarily on our educational mission, the Law School will also keep taking steps to pursue more effective methods of getting the word out more broadly to external audiences about the high quality of the education here and of the attorneys who come out of Pitt Law. These steps will include working with University administrators and communications professionals, as well as looking at what other law schools are doing to publicize their accomplishments. We will also encourage our alumni to act as “ambassadors” for the School within the legal profession. We will continue to work hard to attract financial support from alumni and friends; these investments will permit the School to pursue high quality programming for its students, which will be reflected in higher expenditure levels and higher rankings.

I hope this email clarifies the reasons behind the Law School’s drop in the US News rankings. Despite this very real disappointment, I remain quite bullish on the Law School and there is a sense of excitement at the School about how we in the Pitt Law community are working to move the School forward. Again, thanks for your expression of concern. I hope that you, as Pitt Law alum, will join us in our efforts to make Pitt Law the best that it can be and to raise its national profile.

Sincerely,

Mary Crossley

Here was my response to Dean Crossley:

Dean Crossley:

Thank you for your prompt and detailed response. I will read the article you suggested.

You have stated some numbers with regards to the acceptance of jobs outside of Pennsylvania. This is an area where I believe the drop in rankings will hurt Pitt the most. For better or worse rankings tend to be much more important for out of state jobs then for grads who stay in the area.

I feel this drop will pigeon hole Pitt as a "regional school" and we will unfortunately see a decline in the numbers you quoted.

While I cannot quantify it, rankings due in fact equate to a "degree value". A percentage drop is going to correlate to some degree with a loss in overall income opportunity to Pitt Law grads as well as revenue generating opportunities for the school.

I certainly understand that rankings have little correlation to the actual education our students are receiving but that is little consolation if they cannot get jobs nationwide... Let’s hope we can turn it around...

Sincerely

Brian Cuban

So is the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law now a “rank” choice for attending law school? If you believe the U.S. News and World Report study it is certainly “ranker” than it was last year.

What do I think? I absolutely agree with Dean Crossley that there is very little correlation between the report and the quality of education Pitt Law students received. I however believe she pays way to short shrift to the fact that these ranking for better or worse are the standard relied upon by law firms in their hiring decisions. This is especially true in national hiring. Everything being equal in terms of grades is the drop in rankings going to hurt Pitt Grad interviewing at a Pittsburgh based firm, probably not. Is the drop in rankings going to hurt a Pitt grad interviewing at a firm in Dallas, Texas? Unless by some chance the hiring partner went to Pitt, it will hurt... There are now 16 more schools better than yours. Pitt is further pigeon holed into the term every law school dreads… “A regional school”

My advice to Dean Crossley……. Let’s not spend that much time trying to explain why we are an exception and the report is not accurate as it applies to us. We certainly thought it was accurate when we were top 50. Law School Rankings for better or worse are a big game with big stakes. Let’s figure out how to play it……

What The Hell Is A Blog?

Brian Cuban — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 15:52:25 +0000

I was looking at an article on the Legal Marketing Blog entitled " To Blog or Not To Blog". It was an article on whether it made sense from a marketing standpoint for a law firm to create a blog. It is worth reading. My take is this.... Before a law firm or any business makes a decision on whether to create a blog, it is critical that they come to a consensus definition of what a blog is and what "blogging" means to them. It can and will mean ten different things to ten different people. All you have to do is get on the web and randomly go through blogs to figure that out You can click here for the Wikipedia definition of a blog. The problem with law firms is that they have not figured this out. If it is a medium to large size firm forget it. They don't have a clue. They don't want to have a clue. Blogging is not politically correct and personal blogs are in fact either silently or openly discouraged unless the attorney is writing about his/her workout at the gym or posting photos from their latest vacation trip. If you want to see true blogging in the legal profession you almost without exception have to go to solo practitioners or small firms. Why? Big law firms want to protect what they have. From their perspective blogging can only cost them business. Small firms and solos want to go get what they don't have and make and effort to understand what blogging can do to help that process. One of the most publicized/controversial incidents involving legal blogging involved attorney Denise Howell and her blog Bag and Baggage. This is one of the most popular legal blogs out there. Denise expresses opinions and does not worry about being politically correct There is speculation over whether her blogging was a factor in her departure from Pittsburgh based firm Reed Smith, an old guard, large firm. You can also go outside the legal profession to my brother Mark Cuban's blog. No one will ever accuse him of holding back his opinion. This again how I define a blog. Are their large firms who have true blogs. Sure there are but they are hard to find. Do your own survey of large firm web sites. You wont find much. You will find firms that call something a blog What they end up doing is re-gurgitating cases, things other people have written and take no time whatsoever with any type of creative process. Then there are the law firms who claim they want to be on the "cutting edge" and spend all this money to put a great looking blog up. They realize you can not blog and be completely neutral unless you are going to blog on what you had for breakfast, how your workout was etc. These firms become afraid of pissing potential or current clients off. They then revert back to regurgitating case law and re-posting legal articles. If you are a law firm and unless you feel your audience is going to find what you had for breakfast interesting, blogging should mean expressing an opinion. If your not going to do that, what's the point... I just expressed mine.....

Should The Drinking Age be Lowered to 18?

Brian Cuban — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:06:41 +0000

It was good to see Southern Methodist Univerity finally pay some attention to drug and alcholol problems infestating its student popoulation. A task force has finally submitted reccomendations for drug and alchol awareness education. Frankly, the school can only do so much. If kids want to drink and do coke they are going to do it. The issues started at home and not at the school. The freedom of collegland is simply the delivery system.

This report is released amid renewed debate as to whether the legal drinking age should be lowered back to 18 years old.

The proponents of lowering the age argue that children are doing it anyways in an uncontrolled underground setting. This argument has been around for years. Lets de-criminalize this, lets de-criminalize that.... People are doing it anyways so let's get it out in the open and controll it. Sounds good to me. A campus "coke" machine in every dorm....

Is this a good idea? I can think of three families of SMU students who would say absolutely not.....

I was frankly surprised at the short shrift that had been given to the fact that last year there were 3 student drug overdose deaths on the SMU campus. The most publicized being the sad case of Meaghan Bosch who died after a drug binge and was found dumped in a port-a-potty in Waco, Texas 90 miles from SMU. Anomaly? Maybe..... Only time will tell. So far so good this year. I however subscribe to the theory that for every 3 that over dose there are three hundred using on a substantial level.

Only passing note has been given this situation by the local and national media. I have not done any statistical comparisons but I suspect that three overdose deaths within the last year by kids under 21 years old on a major college campus is WAY above the norm. This again may be an abberation. Is SMU any different than other metropolitan private or public schools? Any better or any worse in terms of drug use? I don't know.

Maybe,...Maybe not.

Iam an avid “hanger outer” at coffee houses. I am also an avid eavesdropper of coffee house conversations. Just the other week I was eavesdropping on two SMU students discussing this very issue.

A young lady stated to her friend that she did not think there was a drug problem at SMU in that illegal drugs are used all over Dallas . The latter is very true. It reminded me of a question asked in my freshman logic class many years ago. The professor asked, “What does it mean if there is no correlation between two things?” The student answered, “It means two things are not correlated.”Needless to say the student failed that logic class. He did however go on to become one of the top trial lawyers in the country. That logic must have worked better in law school.

Another time I was sitting in the same coffee shop next to a group of SMU students finishing up their studying. I heard one of them state :"It's time to go get drunk...." It was 10 a.m.

It is all quiet now. Maybe its the "there is no problem as long as its your child" syndrome....

Everyone thought it was funny when the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at his Columbia University speech stated

"In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country."

A lesson to be learned there about the power of denial in any context......

My Year in Alcoholics Anonymous

Brian Cuban — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:43:07 +0000

It was about a year ago today that I became a member of one of the most difficult and at the same time easiest groups to become a member of. It is a very exclusive club of people who all share one common goal and for the purposes of this club this is all we talk about and all we care about. It is a club that changed the direction of my life, clarified my life and probably saved my life. I count the members of this club as my second family.... Why is it the most difficult club to get into? Because you have to have a desire to stop drinking. Why is it the easiest to get into to? Because the only requirement for membership is a simple desire to stop drinking. Quite the paradox.... Ironically if you would have asked me a year and a day ago if I would ever become a member of this club, I would have looked at you like you were from Mars. Why? I was not homeless. I didn't live under a bridge. I had a job and my family loved me. To be a member of this club, I had always thought you had to be a homeless, unemployed, crack smoking bum pan handling people for money at the local intersection. I had a great job, great girlfriend, my family loved me, a famous last name that got me into clubs, restaurants broke the ice in conversations where I normally would have stood ignored in corner being incredibly shy. Along with all this, I loved to go out with my buddies. I would tell you what bar or club was the place to be on any night of the week. I would go out at least 3 times a week. This meant I was drinking at least three times a week. This never seemed like any big deal to me because all my buddies were doing the same thing. I was having a great time. Never had to wait in line anywhere. Never had to stand anywhere. Everyone wanted to buy me drinks. Why shouldn't I always have a drink in my hand........ There was no one to tell me that going out drinking that many times and sometimes more a week is not a good thing no matter how hold you are or how you slice it. Then again, why should anyone have to tell me this? I am a grown man right? Frankly if I looked at all the stupid decisions I have made in my life-80 percent of them started with one of those nights out. Again, its seemed no big deal to me because everyone I hung out with was doing the same thing. Completely socially acceptable in my book as long as I never strayed from those circles. Was I an alcoholic? Well if I was than all my buddies where as well. I knew that wasn't possible so it was all good. In further rationalization, I noted to myself that I had not been convicted of DWI, never been to rehab, was employed, nice home etc. I had only changed my phone number 5 times in the last year which to me was completely normal. When I had to, I simply adjusted my moral plane to account for all drunken embarrassing acts and mouth openings so that was all good. I also never drove drunk which to me was the primary indicator of an alcoholic. I either had a driver or took a cab. Of course this just allowed me to party even harder when I went out since I knew I was not driving. The logic of a true attorney.... So what traumatic event happened that caused me to finally walk through those AA doors? I had a blackout. I went out for one of my normal partying sessions and the next thing I knew it was a day later. Could not remember one thing that happened. The first blackout I had ever had. Scary as shit to not remember and have people tell you what an idiot you were.... I knew other people who had alcohol blackouts and I always thought they were funny as shit.... When it happens to you and you start playing through all of the "what ifs" it loses its humor instantly. That blackout was absolutely the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life... If I had not blacked out that weekend in April last year, I would probably still be going out every night of the week, taking days to recover, not getting work done(I was lucky as shit that my brother was my boss), and basically standing still in time with no forward movement in any aspect of my life. I wont even address the "what ifs" that are a lot worse...... That blackout gave me the "moment of clarity" I needed to determine that enough was enough. It was time to live instead of exist. I found out when and where the AA meetings where. I walked to the front door, knowing I may be recognized, embarrassed and scared. I walked in. I was recognized, embarrassed and scared. I was recognized as someone who wanted to take control of his life and welcomed with a hug like I had been coming for years. I sat through the first meeting and listened to people just like me talk about their stories. They talked about lows lower than I could ever imagine. Many had lost everything. Many who had lost everything had started just like I did. Just out having a good time. A good time night out ending with wiping out a family while driving drunk....They talked about prison, being homeless, losing family, losing self, losing everything. Many also seemed like your normal successful people who you never would guess in million years. Many came from alcoholic families. Many like me, had no history at all in their family. Alcoholism is an equal opportunity disease. They also talked about highs from sobriety that I didn't think I would ever see. Great changes in their lives. People who had not taken a drink in 30 and 40 years and loving life. Believe me, when you are sitting at day one that seems like pipe dream.....There were lawyers, doctors, salespeople, engineers, actors, college students, high school students.... You name it , the group was represented.... Everyone had their own story. Everyone had the same goal... To stop drinking.... That first meeting I was given what is called a "desire chip" It is an AA coin that is an outward sign of an inward desire to stay sober for 24 hrs. It was suggested that I go to 90 meetings in 90 days so I did that as well. Sometimes I went to two meetings a day. Stopping drinking was not the most difficult thing I had never done. Not by a long shot. It was the easy part. What was the hard part? The hard part was to acknowledge that if I wanted to stay sober I would have to make a 180 degree turn in my lifestyle. This meant acknowledging that if my party buddies were also not making that change, something had to give. It is always easier to take the path of least resistance and stay part of the group to avoid change. The path of the most resistance is to break ties with that and move in a different direction. No one wants to be alone. Everyone wants to be part of a peer group. Everyone wants to be wanted. Your best buddy is not going to be your best buddy anymore if you don't go out and get drunk with them...... Your true friends will always be there and do you really want the ones who base your friendship on your ability to party like a rock star? Making that change was ten thousand times harder than not taking a drink. It was hard until I saw that 90 percent of the world didn't live like that anyways. I didn't know that because I only hung out with the ones who did live that way. I survived. The true friends stayed my friends. We found other ways to socialize. The rest continued on without me. They continued on to the tune of one drug related suicide and overdose in the year since I quit drinking. I will be honest here. There are a lot of things about the AA philosophy that I have not bought into. Most people have heard of "The 12 Steps" A year into the program I am on step 3. I have been there for a while. I may never move to step 4. One thing I learned in AA was to figure today out and worry about tomorrow tomorrow. Nine times out of ten when tomorrow comes it is not near the disaster that it looked today and so what if it is. People who have never taken a drink deal with problems and tragedy all the time and they manage. Maybe it is the attorney in me, but I question everything. Have to know the background, research etc. That is tough in AA because so much of it is based on simple faith in the program. A year later I am still full of questions... I do have one answer however. The answer as to whether AA works. At least for me the answer is yes. The last year has been without question, absolutely the best most eventful, the most forward moving year of my entire life. My name is Brian and I am a damm proud and grateful alcoholic..... For anyone interested in the Dallas area, you can find a list of meetings here. For anyone living elsewhere, you can find the national AA web site here. PLEASE NOTE: I HAVE VOLUNTARILY CHOSEN TO BREAK MY ANONYMITY. AA IS COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS!

I Didn't Know Jews Could Play Basketball......

Brian Cuban — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:29:07 +0000

Before the ADL puts a hit out on me, I am Jewish. I know for a fact that I can't play basketball. In fact you could probably make good money by wagering that I could not hold a dribble from one end of the court to the other...... with no one even guarding me....... If I told any team that I was not going to play on the Sabbath, the laughing wouldn't stop until sundown of that next Friday..... There are however many of the Jewish faith that play basketball. Are there any Jews even currently playing in the NBA? (David Stern doesn't count) I am going to stereotype my own and guess that David Blumenthal of the Sacramento Kings is Jewish but overall all it appears we are much more adept at owning sports franchises than playing for them....... You are certainly not going to see too many conservative or orthodox Jews playing in professional sports. If the guy sucks it's no big deal but if he is any good and observant, he is not going to be that amenable to helping the team out from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday....... Moral, if you are going to recruit a Jew, be sure he/she is a reform or have your designated gentile for play those big Friday night and sat games...... It is actually not all that uncommon to read about Jews missing big weekend games due to observance of the Sabbath and there is often controversy. You have the competing interests of the schools, fans, teammates all of which put an enormous amount of pressure on those with strong religious convictions.... I actually found just this subject discussed on the website ABOUT.COM. The question was whether Conservative Jews can participate in sports on the Sabbath. Here was the answer give by Rabbi Barry Dove Lerner: "Thanks for writing. First, I encourage you to speak with your Rabbi about this matter and other matters of Jewish law. Please understand that I share your own sense of the importance of sports. In high school and college I participated in sports and I am still - to the best of my knowledge - the only Rabbi ordained in North America to have held a national championship and record in a NCAA sport - archery! And I taught archery at Camps Ramah for seven years to literally hundreds of campers of all ages. I encourage the children to both get involved with their school teams AND to respect Jewish holidays and Shabbat. So I share your enthusiasm for the self-discipline, the physical fitness, etc. that sports participation can bring one................................... However, please understand that Conservative Judaism as such will not invalidate Shabbat and Jewish law simply to facilitate our wants and desires. Family activities are wonderful, but I would start now to begin to offer alternatives before the real confrontation between parents and children might arise. Lastly, once again, turn to your Rabbi for advice and guidance on what is and what is not appropriate for your children within the community programs." Ah yes, that ticket to the future for all Jewish athletes, .ARCHERY! There is your answer, excel in archery and the Sabbath is yours! You can pretty much put an arrow in something any day of the week so why sweat the weekend...... He talks about offering alternatives to your children.... The next Jewish Pele? As The Good Book Says..... " Tis better to own to than to dribble........." I think I need to pull out my Fiddler On The Roof dvd to get some guidance from Tevye on this.... SO LET IT BE WRITTEN, SO LET IT BE DONE...........

Why I Outed Myself In Alcoholics Anonymous

Brian Cuban — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:49:04 +0000

Not too long ago I took a deep breath and wrote the blog, My Year in Alcoholics Anonymous. The Blog talked about my thoughts and experience regarding my first year in the program and how I got there. My thought in writing it was the if even one person read the blog and it was the “tipping point” in that person going into the program and changing his/her life for the better, it was worth outing myself.

Outing myself was really not a big deal to me. I am not going to be ashamed of what has worked so well for me for the last year. Most people around me knew I was in the program regardless. I am also the perfect candidate to out myself if it will help others. I work for my brother, Mark Cuban and he is aware of and 100 percent supportive of my being in the program as is my girlfriend and the rest of my family. If anyone has seen the positive changes in me, it is them. I have no worries about uncomfortable people distancing from me or talking behind my back. Move away and talk away. Those that are left are the people worth hanging with…..

There are those who may say that the fact that I am writing this means I am defensive about it. I always love when people try to tell me how I feel…….

Everyone has heard the saying “My name is _______ and I am an alcoholic " It has become a punch line for many a joke . That is how anyone who “shares” opens in an AA meeting. There is an occasional person who will “out themselves” in a meeting by giving his/her last name. It drivers other in the group crazy. I only give my first name when I share, not because I care who knows who I am but because it is a support group. One of the key factors in the effectiveness of any support group is the other members being comfortable and secure in sharing their, experience strength and hope in their life……. If one person decides he/she is not comfortable sharing or does not come back because people were not remaining anonymous in a group meeting I don’t see any positive in that….

With regards to the above, I took criticism from those in the program for outing myself in my blog. It’s supposed to be anonymous right? Sure Is. I will never out you if you are in the program…. You are completely anonymous…… I however take issue with anyone who tells me I don’t have the right or obligation to use my own experiences outside of the support group to help others in the manner I choose to use it. I am aware that the AA bible, the AA Big Book has a different take on it. It is a great book for Alcoholics to read and has a lot of great advice. My life however is not an outline in a book…. I am also aware that the "11th Tradition" discourages outing yourself.....

Life is about personal choices both good and bad based on the best available information at the time. Outing myself was mine…. Part of Alcoholics Anonymous is about reaching out to those who need help in the manner you can best achieving that. It is not a secret handshake society……

Based on my review of my Digg and blog commentary, this appeared to be a good subject to first address. As I go through the commentary I will address others. There are some things about it that I reject and find counter-productive to my personal sobriety. I drive others in the program crazy because I do reject aspects of the program as not helpful to my sobriety. Being an attorney and not being a very spiritual person, it tends to go against everything that makes me Brian to take something completely on faith. I need to see all the data and come to my own conclusions.

I can however give you undeniable facts. Since I entered the program a year ago, I stopped, drinking, completely changed my lifestyle and have moved forward leap years in my personal and professional development. These changes in my life are un-deniable to me or those around me. While I can’t go back in time I am very comfortable in stating that these changes outlined in the My Year in Alcoholics Anonymous would not have occurred had I not entered the program. I believe the only people who would think I have changed for the worse since I went into the program are the ones who are no longer getting the benefit of free drinks, tables and no wait in lines at clubs….. I can live with that….

When I put up the My Year in Alcoholics Anonymous Blog on my site and on Digg, the response was incredibly varied by those both in and out of the program. I could write a year of blogs just addressing the commentary. There was everything from well thought out commentary to statements of sheer ignorance. That’s ok though. I have made enough statements out of sheer ignorance in my lifetime. Many of them have gone up on my blog for all to see. I have no problem with that… Why? What is the only way to get “de-ignorated”……. It is to make your ignorant position known and get lambasted and educated. It is all part of growing up which is a lifelong process for me….. I have no doubt I will receive many comments and emails from AA members quoting the Big Book and attempting to “de-ignorate” me on why my outing myself is a bad thing.

So here I stand a self-outed, happy and grateful member of AA. I think it was the right thing to do not only for me but for the quite a few people who have emailed me and asked about the program, where meetings are and if I would go to meetings with them….

How is that a bad thing…..?

Cesar Laurean Cheats The Grim Reaper

Brian Cuban — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:14:19 +0000

So Marine Cpl Cesar Laurean has finally been caught in Mexico. He was apparently caught at a local kidnapping checkpoint. He had been sleeping in fields eating fruit off trees. Even that was a better existence than he denied Lance Cpl Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child. He has been indicted in both of their deaths.

What is still un-resolved in this matter is what Laurean's wife, Christina Laurean knew about the murders and what if any aid she gave him in evading arrest. She admits knowing about the death at least 24 hours before reporting it.

Hopefully the rest of this case will proceed in a more competent fashion than it started. It first appeared this case would end up going down as one of the most bungled murder investigations in history right there with the Duke Rape Case, O.J. Simpson and JonBenet Ramsey.

The case has already been marred by moronic and frequent news conferences by the Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown

Sheriff Brown had had no shame in doing everything he can to make himself part of the story instead of focusing on gathering evidence and letting the story be told in court. This guy had had multiple news conferences of no investigative value, he has been on Geraldo, he has editorialized the evidence in a public forum, he as commented on the evidence, and he has done everything but keeps his mouth shut and doing his job. Sheriff Brown must have gone to the Mike Nifong school of Investigative Publicity. He obviously aspires to be "Chief Of Police'" Brown in some larger setting....

The Onslow County Sheriff's department had enough information to arrest Cpl Laurean not prior to the murder but soon after. The failure to take him into custody allowed him to escape to Mexico which effectively takes the death penalty off the table as he was caught in Mexico.

Mexico will not extradite someone charged with a capital offense unless the death penalty is removed from consideration Real time decisions are always based on less than perfect information and mistakes are made but there is a huge difference between mistakes made in innocence and mistakes made in arrogance. Let’s hope that the arrogance and desire for "tabloid time" of Sheriff Brown has not damaged the ability to get a conviction.

Over Paid and Overrated Celebrities......

Brian Cuban — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:45:38 +0000

This is all "tongue in cheek" I realize there are thousands of different celebs that could be on the list. I just took the people from the Parade Magazine list. The annual Parade Magazine "What People Earn" issue is out today. After perusing the list, I decided to cast my own votes for the top ten overrated and overpaid celebs on the Parade List. The people here are only the ones listed on the Parade Magazine list. (other than ashley dupre) 10. Miley Cyrus at 18.2 Million. What can I say. I am not 15 and don't have any kids.... After seeing the recent photo of her in her very disturbing "show it all" spandex outfit, I will be voting her as the most likely to either be in rehab, swinging from a pole or starring in a Girls Gone Wild Video by age 21. 9. 50 Cent at 33 Million.(rapper) He is apparently some rapper guy. Rapping in my book ended with Run DMC Regardless, anyone making millions talking fast to music is overrated.... 8. Jeff Foxworthy (comedian) 10 million. I saw this guy last year at a charity benefit. You're a red neck. We get it. Get over it..... 7. Mary Kate Olsen(actress-entrepreneur) 17 million. I always confuse her with Hillary Duff. When you are interchangeable you are overrated.... 6. Jessica Alba (actress) 10 million, Everyone agrees you are hot.... and what else........? 5. Chelsea Lynn, (Television reporter-Alaska) 28,900 With a name like that she would do a lot better making porn. 4. Any actor or actress on Desperate Housewives...... 3. Ashley Alexandra Dupree , amounts unknown, the call girl extraordinaire of Eliot Spitzer fame will cash in somehow although her prospects are dwindling by the day..... She should have taken the million from Girls Gone Wild while she could. Unfortunately for her there is now nothing left to the imagination. When guys have seen it before they pay for it, the fantasy bubble is busted and you are condemned to the ranks of the overrated.... The hottest most highly rated women always have their clothes on....... 2. Trouble ( Leona Helmsleys dog), 12 million. Trouble the dog beats out Dr. Phil because unlike Dr. Phil at least there is documented theraputic value to holding her and you will probably see it coming if you are going to get bitten.... DRUM ROLL PLEASE.... The NO 1 MOST OVERRATED AND OVERPAID CELEBRITY ON THE PARADE LIST IS...... DR. PHIL MCGRAW! 90 million Dr. Phil is not only the most over-rated and overpaid talk show host(and thats all he is) in America. He is the most dangerous. He uses a facade of credibility he does not have to meddle in the lives of people already in a fragile state. He is not the first talk show host to do this but he is the most agressive about it. Everyone is familiar with his unwanted intrustion into the fragile life of Britney Spears. Most recently his show paid the bail for one of the girls charged with the now infamous" Youtube beating in an attempt to get her on the show. Who the hell does he think he is playing a life or death game with these young people. A degree on the wall does not qualify him to meddle and anyone who thinks his agenda is to help is delusional in the extreme.... Dr Phil beats out Paris Hilton here hands down. At least she is harmless....... [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbcEybNTJec]

Should Child Molesters Be Executed?

Brian Cuban — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:10:45 +0000

The death to all pedophiles freight train sweeping the nation has stopped at the door of the United States Supreme Court in the form of Kennedy v. Louisiana which will address whether an individual can be executed for the rape of a child that does not cause the death of that child. The case was argued today before the United States Supreme Court.

My home state of Texas has joined in arguing for the states right to determine its own capital offenses and against such punishment being “cruel and unusual punishment” Texas was the latest state to come up with a far reaching bill that would allow for capital punishment in certain circumstances where the rape of a child is concerned.

The last time the U.S. Supreme Court came close to addressing this issue was the 1977 case of Coker v. Georgia in which the court basically stated that the death penalty amounted to cruel and unusual punishment with regards to the rape of 16 year old adult women.

Here are some of the point-counterpoints on the issue with my take…

ANTI DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILD RAPISTS

1 Execution is “cruel and unusual punishment” when applied to child rape cases because the Supreme Court already ruled that it is excessive in rape cases when the victim was not also killed.

I believe that this will be an almost impossible hurdle to overcome and the law will be struck down on this basis. The Supreme Court has ruled on this and I believe that any argument that because the case involved an adult women and therefore leaves open the possibility that death is ok for a child rapist is “wishful spinning” I do not believe the court was making an age distinction here. They were simply addresses the crime and the punishment. They were saying we don’t execute rapists of any kind if a death did not result. If the court would hold otherwise would be to basically say that the rape of an adult is less serious than the rape of a child…. I think adult rape victims would disagree….

2. Executions for child rape mean the penalties for rape and murder are the same so an offender may be more likely to kill a victim.

I don’t believe the court will give much weight to this argument. It is the same as arguing that capital punishment reduces the murder rate which is not true…. This would be an argument based on comparative statistics and I don’t think it was presented to the court in that way…

3. Executing child rapists may make it more likely for some child sexual abuse to go unreported.

Again this is a statistical argument that I don’t think will be given much weight by the court.

4. Louisiana’s law, the subject of the case being argued today, is too broad because it could apply to any rape of a child under 12, not just the most egregious.

This is an argument that Texas will be paying a lot of attention to. In my opinion the wide discretion prosecutors will have to seek the death penalty in a case not involving death is a fatal flaw in Texas own Jessica’s law which allows for capital punishment in certain rape cases. This can and will also give rise to claims that the law is being applied disparity to various minorities in ethnic groups which is a huge no no…. I believe that the cruel and unusual punishment issue aside, if Texas version of the law is unconstitutional, it is in this area.

PRO DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILD RAPISTS

1. Execution is not necessarily barred by previous rulings as excessive for all rape cases, merely for the rape of an adult woman.

This, in my opinion is a ridiculous argument. That is not what the court said or implied in Coker v Georgia. It is an argument hoping that the court is looking for a way to sanction child rapist executions….

2. Violent rape of a child is particularly egregious and shows “a degree of manifest evil, that is qualitatively” different from other rapes.

I agree it is a particularly heinous crime mandating a special place in hell for such rapists. It still does not matter. Who decided what is heinous enough for death? The prosecutor? Way too much discretion. Supreme Court won’t go for it.

3. Society’s moral standards are evolving to recognize the horror and damage caused by child rape and impose stricter punishments on perpetrators

Again, I agree but not the death penalty. Too much discretion involved. Won’t fly.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for tougher sentencing for certain types of child molestation crimes and repeat offenders. My concern is the situational morality.

I certainly want death if it’s my child but if it’s your child, maybe death penalty is too harsh for the crime. That is situational morality.

Trying to legislate the latest horrific crime of the day we see on CNN.com. Situational morality cannot dictate justice. The rule of law dictates justice. The Supreme Court said that many years ago when the southern juries imposing their own situational morality said they would only execute African-Americans for sex crimes. No whites would be executed. Situational morality this year mandates we execute the guy who molests your daughter. Situational morality in 10 years may mandate we execute the drunk driver who kills your daughter. Situational morality in 10 years dictates we execute you when you have one too many and kill someone in an accident.

That is not justice or the rule of law. In this country, as much as we hate or want, we do not take a life where a life has not been intentionally taken or taken with such complete disregard for the risk of death that it raises to the level of intent. That rule of law applies to the scum sucking pervert who molests your child, the drunk driver who kills your child, the shoplifter, the jaywalker. It applies to me. It applies to you….

I do want all child molesters off the street. I personally have no moral dilemma executing them. I however don’t want to look for the Constitution of the United States floating in the same sewer they are hiding in......

That’s my take and opinion. One guy in Dallas, TX.

12 Year Old Nude Stripper Finally Forcing Change

Brian Cuban — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:02:07 +0000

It was reported in today's Dallas Morning News that the Dallas City Council is finally prepared to discuss changes to the cities sexually oriented business laws after a 12 year old girl was discovered stripping and prostituting herself at a local Dallas Nightclub. In typical dysfunctional Dallas City Council manner, for whatever reason the new ordinance is being debated in "secret session". Meanwhile, the club where the 12 year old girl was working has remained open. One Interesting side note to the ordinance is a proposed six foot 'no touch zone" around strippers. The will certainly cause an uproar among the regular going "gentlemen's club" crowd. I frankly never got the whole strip club thing. Then again I have never in my life purchased a skin mag either. I suspect there is a strong correlation between those who purchase them and regularly go to strip clubs. I would rather walk into a night club take my swing and be told to get lost rather than give some girl 20 bucks to fake nice when she wants to tell me the same thing....

Jimmy Carter Citizenship Revoked!

Brian Cuban — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:13:55 +0000

(Washington) CNN has learned that the United States Justice Department has moved to revoke the citizenship of former President Jimmy Carter in light of his second recent unauthorized meeting with the leadership of the known terrorist group Hamas. At the revocation hearing, it was noted that former President Carter's behavior in his presidency but much more so in the last decade has become so increasingly bizarre that it made his brother Billy of "Billy Beer" fame look like a distinguished statesman. It was also noted that Carter had recently requested a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI during his United States visit to have himself canonized and his brother deceased brother Billy Carter also declared a saint. President Carter, who was located in a local tattoo shop getting a Hamas tatto on his ass declined to comment but did state that he was recovering from injuries resulting from having been attacked by a killer rabbit that has been stalking him for years. He stated that he recently had the now 30 year old rabbit served with a restraining order... [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbC8jLC8mRI]

jimmy29

Brian Cuban — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:20:00 +0000

Black lingerie #2

Brian Cuban — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:20:19 +0000

Back and legs of fit lady in black lingerie

22612-1-Eng-Poster.indd

Brian Cuban — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:24:27 +0000

paris-hilton-drunk-driving

Brian Cuban — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:28:50 +0000

feature_708_story

Brian Cuban — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:32:12 +0000

Jewish basketball player

aa_fin

Brian Cuban — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:34:48 +0000

AA meeting

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Brian Cuban — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:37:11 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:33:42 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:37:57 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:05:21 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:09:04 +0000

last-public-execution

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:11:45 +0000

lawschool

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:22:05 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:24:47 +0000

intelligentdesign

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:32:45 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:39:31 +0000

Black lingerie #2

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:39:35 +0000

Back and legs of fit lady in black lingerie

dog-blog

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:47:57 +0000

lethal_injection

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:07:13 +0000

Supreme Court-Keep On Killing!

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:08:13 +0000

The United States Supreme Court recently gave Texas and other states the go ahead to continue its’ “death machine” with its holding that the current method of lethal injection does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment... What remains to be seen is whether Texas will be the anomaly in its willingness to inject more lethal drugs as nationally executions overall dropped in 2007. Some states are banning executions all together coming to their own determination that lethal injection has its issues.

Is this a social conscience moment towards abolition of the death penalty or just as short lived “point in history” reprieve for those awaiting execution until we find a more uniformly “humane” way of killing…..? Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens stated that while he agreed with the majority that the current version of lethal injection was constitutional, he felt the death penalty in itself was unconstitutional. Is it just a matter of time before the right case comes up before the court to strike down the use of the death penalty forever?

My home state of Texas certainly has no problem executing the guilty and probably even some of the innocent when you look at the fact that it has the highest rate of convictions overturned by DNA evidence in the nation.

People try to complicate the death penalty debate into so many different “pigeon holes’ that the arguments become uncontrollably blurred. You can do it under these circumstances; you can’t do it under those….. Is it not simpler than that? Either you believe the state as the right to take a life in exchange for a life or you don’t. Either you believe the state is entitled to exact “revenge” for the victim or you don’t…. It certainly is not about deterrence. The states are clear that the death penalty does not deter crime.

It is actually more complicated than that. I for example have no problem with the concept of state sponsored revenge. I am not ashamed to say that the fact that there might be a little pain involved in the process does not bother me either….

I however have a real problem with the fact that one innocent person could be executed. The system has proven time and time again to be very fallible.

Let’s say for instance that a child molester has been convicted of raping and killing a little girl. He is sentenced to death. You win the “kill him now” national lottery and are chosen to “pull the switch”. Just when you are about to pull the switch you are told that there is a 1 and 10 chance the person is innocent. In other words there is a 90 percent chance he is guilty. What if you are told there is a 1 in 100 chance he is innocent? You see my dilemma….. At what point is it ok to say he might be innocent but let’s kill him anyways….

What is the acceptable margin of error for a human life? In my opinion anyone who believes that an innocent person has never been executed in this country is very naïve or simply delusional. We say sorry and “that really sucks” and move on to the next bad guy…..

Just something to think about…..

You Cant Travel Back in Time Scientists Say

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:59:31 +0000

Is time travel science or science fiction? I have always been fascinated by the concept of time travel. Especially time travel into the past. Much to my disappointment when I read this article that most scientists agree that time travel to the past is impossible based on the laws of physics as we currently understand them. Traveling to the future is an easier one. Just travel into space at near the speed of light and depending on how far out you traveled hundreds if not thousands of years would have passed on earth when you returned while you would have only aged around the actual number of years you were gone or less. How do I know this is true? Einstein says so.... Of course in the course of human history it is well documented that there is always that point where everyone agreed something was impossible right up until the time it was made to happen. It is scientific evolution. So if there was this quantum leap in human knowledge and time travel into the past was suddenly possible, should we do it? What are the moral, scientific and religous implications? Would we ultimately destroy ourselves? If you could travel back in time one time and change just one thing in human history, what would it be and what would the ramifications on history moving forward be....... ? By the way, was not travel to the moon at one time considered science fiction? read more | digg story [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X02WMNoHSm8]

Einstein

Brian Cuban — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:02:22 +0000

blackberry-rehab-addiction

Brian Cuban — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:18:21 +0000

Give Me My Blackberry Or Give Me Death!

Brian Cuban — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:19:19 +0000

I read a little blurb in todays Wall Street Journal about a push by law firms to ban the use of Blackberrys at high level meetings with a "no device policy" Good luck with that. I dont know of any meeting important enough to distract me from my CNN breaking news alerts or email notifaction that I have mail on Facebook...... What can be more satisfying than being in an important meeting, being asked something I dont know, stepping outside, googling for the answer and coming back in armed with a wikis's worth of the info asked for as well as the latest espn scores and a new date from Match.com. (I was rejected by E-Harmony). My blackberry has a name(Spartacus) My blakcberry never leaves my head, my hand, my mind, my dreams, my ambitions, my desires. Anyone who tries to seperate me from my blacberry will incur the wrath of Spartacus. If they did a study on it, I would be willing to bet that the rush of seeing that new mail icon on my blackberry is equivalent to shooting up heroin..... is it not only a matter of time before membership in BA(Blackberry Anonymous) eclipses Alcoholics Anonymous. Is it not only a matter of time before "Blackberry Service Outage Rage" is right up there with road rage and high school shootings I have also heard that there is a push to include "Blackberry Personality Disorder" as an accepted mental illness in the New DSM4 and used as a defense in criminal trials. I know I have conversations with my Blackberry.. Don't you? Mine also talks back to me... Doesn't yours......? Bottom Line? I am one with my Blackberry....... I am my Blackberry...... You have a problem with that????!

walmart

Brian Cuban — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:31:13 +0000

port-jfk

Brian Cuban — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:34:25 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:37:59 +0000

brian1

Brian Cuban — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:42:37 +0000

dirk

Brian Cuban — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:55:12 +0000

NBA Comes To BigLaw

Brian Cuban — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:07:27 +0000

Playoff caliber New York based national law firm with Mark Cuban style ownership recruiting All Star caliber players for it's 2008 Championship Run. Must be able to play a high scoring up-tempo run and gun style. Must have been a top ten draft and must be on track to start at least 2800 hours for your current team. The following positions are in immediate demand: 1. Starting Center: Must be an established starting "bruiser" with a "Shaq Like" presence able to gracefully yet forcefully move through the litigation process and "block out" opposing counsel when unnecessary. Must have an established fan base who will faithfully follow you to your new arena. Must be willing to promote your new team with public appearances, autograph signings and possess the general arrogant swagger of an All Star starting Center... 2. Power Forward: Must be able to integrate seamlessly with the starting center for a flawless "post up' game. Must be able to drive to the hoop in the face of mountains of briefs, unreasonable deadlines, obstructive opposing counsel and senile judges.... 3. Point Guard: Must be able to run the offense as set by coach. Resolves complex legal issues with brilliant time effective research. Seamlessly passes off research opinions keeping bad passes to minimum. Able to stand his/her ground and take a charge for the team when the power forward or center mishandle the ball. If you are a motivating high flying all star who can call the plays, push the ball, post it, pass it, slam it and jam it, we are the law firm for you! Call us at 212-NBALAW for an immediate tryout. ITS SHOWTIME BABY!

dirk1

Brian Cuban — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:12:49 +0000

perezhilton

Brian Cuban — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:25:17 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:31:18 +0000

wesley_snipes_mugshot

Brian Cuban — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:08:06 +0000

Wesley Snipes: A Character with Character?

Brian Cuban — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:23:43 +0000

Wesley Snipes is in court as I write this to be sentenced on his conviction of multiple counts of failing to file income tax returns. All of this stems out of a highly publicized trial in which Federal Prosecutors hoped to land a more serious conviction of conspiracy to avoid paying income taxes and tax fraud which are felonies. To show just how much more serious, his co-defendants were convicted on the more serious charges and are facing ten years in prison. The lessor conviction at the times seemed like a major victory for Snipes but the true scope will be seen today as prosecutors argue that Snipes as a high profile tax scofflaw should be made and example of and be given the maximum sentence of three years in prison. Hard, real life prison time. Not a stay at "The Rules Don't Apply To Me" rehab Hilton. As expected there was a long line of celebrity friends who submitted letters to the court on Snipes behalf attesting to his "good character". The list includes Woody Harrelson, Goldie Hawn, etc etc. All saying what a great friend and great guy Snipes is. This is not unusual. Whenever someone faces sentencing on a serious crime, there are often letters submitted to the court on that persons behalf in the hope of convincing the judge to hand down the most lenient sentence possible. I would probably do the same if one of my friends were standing tall before the man.... I just have to ask though if we sacrifice our own character when we step forward and ignore the very morals and "character" which we hope to possess and instill in our children. It is one thing to step forward and say your sorry for what you did but how can you step forward and in face of a verdict saying this guy is a liar and a cheat "but besides that he has "great character"........ When we step forward for Wesley and those similarly situated are we sacrificing our own character in doing so? It reminds me of a case here in Dallas about two years ago. A former Dallas pastor by the name of Terry Hornbuckle was accused of the rape of several of his parishioners. During trial it was made public that former Dallas Cowboys and NFL Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders both sent letters to the grand jury basically stating what a great guy Pastor Hornbuckle was and what a great influence he was on their families. When I read about these letters, I was frankly shocked that both Emmitt and Deion would put themselves out there like that when this guy is charged with multiple counts of rape. Vouching for this guys "character". Pastor Hornbuckle was convicted and is currently serving 15 years. Do you think Emmitt and Deion sent letters to the judge at sentencing. I may be wrong but I doubt it. This is not a criticism of Emmitt or Deion. If he was my friend, I may have done the same. It is just an observation on the word "character" . We throw it out there as it suits us. We define it to best self-promote our interests. We dilute it, abuse it, throw it , toss it, stomp it, kick it.... Whenever and whearever it lands, it always seems to be worth a little bit less..... [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a9lySlEZbg]

cg_strip_narrowweb__300x3692

Brian Cuban — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:32:31 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:42:13 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:22:19 +0000

Scalia Says "No Roe" on Abortion.... What's Next Up?

Brian Cuban — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:42:15 +0000

Supreme Court Jutice Anton Scalia in an interview to be televised this week stated that he would reverse Roe v. Wade and whats more, the Constitution in itself does not prohibit or permit abortion. Scalia states that on a personal level he is anti-abortion and feels it should be banned by the states but it is simply not something that the federal government should be involved in. "On the abortion thing, for example, if indeed I were ... trying to impose my own views, I would not only be opposed to Roe versus Wade, I would be in favor of the opposite view, which the anti-abortion people would like to see adopted, which is to interpret the Constitution to mean that a state must prohibit abortion," Scalia told correspondent Lesley Stahl. It is neither surprising nor unique that Scalia confirms that he is favors strict constructionism on this issue. This was well known about him but he is right. You can read and re-read the Constitution all you want. You will not find any reference to abortion, sexual orientation, or the right to privacy. Hard to imagine John Adams and Thomas Jefferson or James Madison discussing the right to back room abortions and same sex marriages in 1786. Is that not the whole point? Should what we imagine took place 220 plus years ago serve as the basis for federal intervention over states rights? If thats the case, I have a very vivid and creative imagination...... Bottom line is that we will never know what their intent was but we sure have spent a lot of time on speculating. What we have done over the last 220 plus years is to use the fiction of what we "think they meant" as a substitute for the political agendas and social morality of the moment and a federal "in loco parentis" in protecting us from ourselves on issues that are clearly not addressed in the Constitution and therefore the responsibility of the state and not the federal government. We then turn to the 14th Amendment and the all encompassing and saving word "due process" to justify each and every twist and turn of the Constitution our "Federal Parents" decide are in our best interest.... Thanks mom and dad but I have read the 14th Amendment and I still don't see anything about a Federal right to privacy..... I can just see President Andrew Johnson saying, we need this amendment to address Civil War Rconstruction and oh yea, there is that abortion thing too..... I do recall something in the Tenth Amendment about rights not specifically reserved to the federal government being left to the states. I have looked and looked but I don't see anything reserving the power to determine abortion rights to the federal government If you listen to what Scalia has to say, it seems clear Roe is headed back to the states. Strict Constructionism will win the day here which is a good thing. Roe was terrible law. Not because I am for or against abortion but simply because there is no Constitutional federal right to privacy. This is not about pro or anti-abortion. It is about the simple issue of whether the state or federal government should be addressing these issues. Under a strict constructionist analysis, it is very simple. Either is is explicitly addressed in the Constitution or it is not. We are not trying to read the minds of people who lived over two hundred years ago. This is not a question of whether abortion is right or wrong, its a question of whether the Federal Government has the right and authority to mandate whether it is right or wrong.... What do you think? [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKqfZ1H2pC8]

roeanniversaryvigil11

Brian Cuban — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:43:18 +0000

snoopdeville

Brian Cuban — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:35:12 +0000

Johnny Biglaw Does The NBA

Brian Cuban — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:40:56 +0000

This morning I was watching an ESPN episode of Outside The Lines entitled "Riches to Rags". This episode was about the plight of NBA players who end their career without a dime to their name due to poor financial management or no concept at all of the definition of financial responsibility. Interesting interviews with Tracy McGrady and John "Hot Plate" Williams. Young people making big bucks, living in the moment, accessorizing themselves with every toy and bling they can without any thought of life after their primary career. While watching the episode I started thinking that this rule It certainly does not apply only to professional athletes. It actually can be analogized to the highly competitive world of the recruiting of top tier law school grads by big time law firms. These grads are the Biglaw equivalent of highly sought after top tier athletes with lots of dollars at stake on both sides. High "rookie scale" starting salaries are thrown at bright young law grads in their early to mid 20's. Ninety plus percent do not make partner. They are out on the street with no savings, no clients, having to basically start over..... Does a law degree correlate with financial common sense? It got me thinking of the sad but true story of my close friend "Johnny Biglaw" Johnny Big Law had it all. He was a highly recruited legal "free agent' fresh out of a top ten finish at Harvard Law. He was at the top of every legal draft board and by all accounts had a bright future both legally and financially in the competitive world of Biglaw..... As draft day came near he was wined, dined,courted and begged to join the ranks of hot young associates at the unheard of "rookie scale" of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars per year. Big Big bucks for anyone but especially for a 23 year old kid from South Boston whose only balance sheet numbers upon leaving school consisted of One Hundred Thousand Dollars in law school loans. Johnny took a liking to the big time New York Law Firm of Party, Hardy and Coke. All young hard working hard partying studs like him. They worked hard, played hard and had all the expected "legal bling", Two Thousand Dollar suits and shoes that cost more than his car. The senior recuiting partner at Party wooed him with stories of hard working, hard partying associates, law firm parties, happy hours, visions of uppers east side brownstones. The word "summer" used as a verb. At dinner with his prospective senior partners, he was regaled with stories of multimillionaire partner salaries, champagne client parties and expense accounts larger than his starting salary for partnership worthy recruits. Johnny Big Law decided right there and then that the NBA was for suckers He would make his millions for life. He was young educated and in demand forever...... He was officially a legally 'happening dude". Champagne was flowing, girls were dancing, partners bravading with stories of crushing court victories, three story brownstones, and limos to the supermarket. Johnny right there and then decided he was "BigLaw" and Bigtime. He accepted the offer. As all staggered drunkenly out of the restaraunt he realized that there was one question he forgot to ask..... He turned around and asked,...... What percentage of us will make partner and how long does it take? What happens if I don't? Mr. Party just smiled and said "see you tomorrow" The years passed and Johnny lived the BigLaw lifestyle. Spending every cent of the 200k his first year and the 250k by his fourth year. Saving money was for ditch diggers and plaintiff's attorneys. They were one in the same in his book. Johnny worked hard but was more interested in New York night clubs, parties, women and nose candy. Was that not all there is? After all, he was a Harvard grad! The money would be there for life! In year five, senior partner Coke called him in to a meeting. A meeting he thought would be to congratulate him on making the multimillionaire brownstone partnership track. He was really counting on it as even at 250k plus bonus a year he was living paycheck to paycheck and could barely make is student loan payment. At the meeting, Coke told him was a great guy, fun to party with but they just didn't think he had partnership potential. He was much better at spending money than making it. They had a whole new contingent of Harvard grads ready to take his place at 300k a year billing more hours than he was. He had two weeks to hit the road. Johnny saw his whole financial statement flash before his eyes. Student loans,rent, bar tabs, American Express had a hit man after him and he owed his drug dealer money Johnny was in a panic. He was a free agent without a contract and not in demand. Was this what happened to over the hill athletes? No one was calling to wine dine and woo him. His posse had abandoned him. His phone only rang with bill collectors, leg breakers and women he had lied to..... Resumes were shredded, calls were un-returned. Months passed with no offer Johnny thought worthy of a BigLaw big time lawyer...... Did NBA over the hill free agents have these problems? Johny thought back to the good old days as the "next best thing" at Party Hardy with money coming out his ears and a bankroll to choke a hippo. It seemed like Harvard, European vacations, cases of Cristal, multiple cocaine eightballs, three rehab stints and two bankruptcies ago. Johnny is now living in Kermit, Texas specializing in plaintiff's workers compensation claims for oil well ditch diggers..... Moral of story? The NBA has nothing on Johnny BigLaw.... J

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Brian Cuban — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:41:57 +0000

test test test

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Brian Cuban — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:52:54 +0000

Video: Scalia Says "No Roe" on Abortion.... What's Next Up?

Brian Cuban — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:43:09 +0000

Video: Jimmy Carter Citizenship Revoked!

Brian Cuban — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:35:02 +0000

Should Child Molesters Be Executed?

Brian Cuban — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:55:22 +0000

Genarlow Wilson

Brian Cuban — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:18:18 +0000

Genarlo Wilson

Marcus Dixon

Brian Cuban — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:24:57 +0000

Marcus Dixon: Convicted Pedophile To The NFL

Brian Cuban — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:06:10 +0000

We are all used to seeing high profile professional athletes work their way down from making touchdowns to making license plates. Michael Vick being the obvious example. It a much rarer occurrence to see it work the other way Especially when the person was a convicted child molester. Appearances however can be deceiving...... Shift scene to small town Georgia. Horny high school teenagers trying to get in each other pants oblivious to any legal ramifications that may exist due to a an age difference of a year or two. It really doesn't have to be Georgia does it? Half the kids I knew in high school were in the same pants and that was small town Pittsburgh. Bottom line, its going on small town and large city everywhere USA...... Here is the kicker..... In small town Georgia three plus years ago, a minor age differential between a few older teenage boys and slightly younger girls propelled several teenagers into "pedophile hell" finally ending up as convicted felons with sex offender tags following them for life. So was the story of both Marcus Dixon and Genarlow Wilson. Marcus Dixon was convicted in May 2003 for the statatory rape and aggravated child molestation of Kristie Brown. Marcus was 17 years old and Kristie was just under 16 at the time they had sex. At the time the Georgia Aggravated Child Molestation statute, a crime designed to punish true pedophiles had no exception for consenting teens so close in age as many other states such as Texas had. It also carried a mandatory 10 year prison term and mandatory registration as a sex offender upon release for prison. What amounts to a life ending set of circumstances. There was no doubt that there was sex and there was no doubt of the age difference. Open and shut case. Amid public outrage the jury had absolutely no choice but to sentence both Marcus Dixon and Genarlow Wilson to ten years in prison. (the jury did not know of the mandatory sentence when guilt was assessed which is normal in criminal cases) Public Outrage continued during both Dixons's and Wilson's imprisonment. Appeals ensued. The Georgia Supreme Court finally reversed the Dixon conviction ruling 18-year-old Marcus Dixon should have been prosecuted just on the lesser charge of misdemeanor statutory rape rather than aggravated child molestation for having sex with a 15-year-old in February 2003. The ruling let the statutory rape conviction, which carries a maximum sentence of one year and a $1,000 fine, stand. Dixon had long served that portion of his sentence and was released. Dixon later enrolled in Hampton College on a football scholarship. He had an outstanding collegiate career and while not drafted was signed just the other day to a 3 year multi million dollar free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys. Marcus Dixon is not the only Georgia teen to be caught up in the Georgia "Pedophile Express" Genarlow Wilson was also a young Georgia teen and promising athlete who made the mistake of letting his teen hormones jettison him to a promising prison football career with a sex offender tag to boot. Genarlow videotaped himself having sex with a drunk teen girl slightly younger than himself. The tape proved to be judge jury and executioner. That was all the state needed to once again prosecute and prove aggravated chid molestation. Bing! Bang! Bam! Guilty and Ten Years in the Booty Hilton for the 17 year old with only the wonderful world that waits for Registered Sex Offenders to greet him upon return.... After over three years behind bars, Genarlo's conviction was also overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court on the grounds that the punishment for teen sex was cruel and unusual as compared to the crime. It should also be noted that in the interim the Georgia Legislature had reformed the law to bring it into the mainstream and make the conduct both Genarlo and Marcus engaged in a misdemeanors punishable by one year in jail with no sex offender tag. Genarlo has since gone onto college and we shall see what his future holds for him..... Let there be no mistake here. Neither of these kids were choirboys. Both were accused of the much more serious charge of felony rape but acquitted on those charges. There were many facts brought out in both cases that could lead reasonable people to disagree on whether these teens were in fact bad kids..... it was not cut and dry. There were also serious racial overtones to both these cases. Not race cards.... In my opinion legitimate concerns about racial targeting in small town Georgia. Mr Tibbs would not have approved...... You can read my coverage of the original Genarlo Wilson case here.

cubanjohnson

Brian Cuban — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:28:06 +0000

dirk2

Brian Cuban — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:33:06 +0000

dirk3

Brian Cuban — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:36:57 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:20:55 +0000

mileywrong

Brian Cuban — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:24:45 +0000

clemens

Brian Cuban — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:30:38 +0000

Roger Clemens Admits Secret Miley Crush!

Brian Cuban — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:41:26 +0000

Fresh off of accusations that he carried on a ten year affair with country singer Mindy McCready starting when he was 28 and she was 15, Roger Clemens today has also admitted that has had a secret crush on child star Miley Cryus since she turned 15 years old. When confronted with his statements ,Roger admitted that while the age difference between he and Miley is greater than it was for he and Mindy. He stated... "age is just a number" and Mindy was very "mature" for a 15 year old so he did not expect Miley to be any different.... Roger stated that after being highly aroused by Miley's latest provocative photo spread in Vanity Fair and seeing her recent "show all" bodysuit he felt "compelled" to come out of the closet with his secret crush..... Roger stated that if Miley felt the same way, he would provide her with all the "moral and financial support" he provided Mindy and he saw no reason that Miley could not have the same happy life as Mindy McCready. When it was pointed out to Roger that Mcready had been to jail, addicted to drugs and had been in an abusive relationship in the years since they met, Roger stated that Miley had a good head on her shoulders and was certainly "all grown up" for a 15 year old.... What was good enough for MIndy was certainly good eough for Miley... Roger closed by stating that his long term goal for Miley was for her to have a guest spot in Mindy's upcoming reality show entitled "Guys Do It With Younger Girls All The Time" Calls to Miley Cyrus reps went unreturned......

brian

Brian Cuban — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:41:16 +0000

Teenage Strippers

Brian Cuban — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:48:37 +0000

It appears that Texas does not have the market on barely teen girls stripping for money.. Very disturbing.....

0501ajohnson1

Brian Cuban — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:54:30 +0000

I Will Miss Avery Johnson

Brian Cuban — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:59:00 +0000

Avery Johnson has been let go as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. I will miss him and it has nothing to do with basketball. I would not write on it or comment about if it did. My brother Mark Cuban's basketball decisions as owner of the Dallas Maverick are his own for his team I have zero credibility to comment about it on any level. I will miss Avery Johnson the person. I liked him a lot. He and his wife are by far two of the nicest, classiest individuals I have met or will probably ever have the pleasure to meet. In all of the basketball hub bub, it is easy to forget all of the great things they did for Dallas and surrounding communities as well as their hometown of New Orleans giving so much of themselves personally and financially. In the world of professional sports the only certainty for a coach is that he will one day resign or be asked to leave. It a 100 percent certainty. Some get to do it on their own terms but those are few and far between. Avery may no longer be the coach of the Dallas Mavericks but in my mind he will always be a class act I wish he and his family the aboslute best in their future.

warrenjeffs

Brian Cuban — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:19:56 +0000

virginiamcmartin

Brian Cuban — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:20:33 +0000

Texas Justice McMartin Preschool Style?

Brian Cuban — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:27:46 +0000

Is anyone else concerned that the Raid and "seizure" of the children at the Texas Polygamist Ranch is taking on a life of its own? Has any notion of "due process" gone out the door in the name of "pedophilia hysteria"? Lets take a look at the most recent headline to come out of as published in The Dallas Morning News. April 29, 2008 "Texas officials looking at possible abuse among FLDS boys" April 28, 2008 "Dozens of youngsters swept by the state from a polygamist sect suffered broken or fractured bones in the past, some when children were "very young," Texas' top protective services official said today." This statement was made before a Senate Subcommittee the Texas Foster Care System. April 27, 2008 "The state says more than half of the 53 girls ages 14 to 17 are pregnant or already have children." Could all of these things be true? Absolutely. Does that fact that they reported in a mainstrain paper mean they are true? Absolutely not..... Where have we seen this before? Allegations of abuse, children removed, senate investigtions, massive coverage by the media? Adults labeled, tried and convicted in the press without being able to defend themselves and then ultimately tried in a court of law with no convictions obtained. What am I referring to? If you are a baby boomer or older you remember the McMartin Preschool Trials. The McMartin preschool trial was a day care sexual abuse case of the 1980s. Members of the McMartin family, who operated a preschool in California, were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. After six years of criminal trials, no convictions were obtained, and all charges were dropped in 1990. It was the longest and most expensive criminal trial of its time. The media coverage of the McMartin trails was overwhelming by the standards of the day. The allegations of the children were written up unchallenged in the LA Times. In March 1984, Virginia McMartin, Peggy McMartin Buckey, Ray Buckey, Ray's sister Peggy Ann Buckey and teachers Mary Ann Jackson, Bette Raidor, and Babette Spitler were charged with 208 counts of child abuse. The children's testimony during the trial was uncorroborated and inconsistent. In 1986, a new district attorney called the evidence "incredibly weak," and dropped all charges against Virginia McMartin, Peggy Ann Buckey, Mary Ann Jackson, Bette Raidor and Babette Spitler. Peggy McMartin Buckey and Ray Buckey remained in custody awaiting trial; Peggy McMartin's bail had been set at $1 million and Ray Buckey had been denied bail. The cases went to trial, and in 1990, after three years of testimony and nine weeks of deliberation by the jury, Peggy McMartin Buckey was acquitted on all counts.Ray Buckey was cleared on 39 of 52 counts, and freed on bail after more than five years in jail. He was retried later on six of the 13 counts, which produced another hung jury. The prosecution then gave up trying to obtain a conviction, and the case was closed with all charges against Ray Buckey dismissed. He had been jailed for 5 years without ever being convicted of any wrongdoing. There were many lessons that were learned from the McMartin preschool case. Lessons about the power of the press. Lessons about "pedophilia hytseria" Lessons about the nature of due process in and out of the court room. When I see the headlines I have seen coming out of the Texas Polygamist Compound I see disturbing similarities to the McMartin case taking shape. I see parents labeled, tried, convicted and isolated for the rest of their lives. I see lessons not learned from the McMartin case and cases like it that have followed. I see "pedophile hysteria" taking on a life of its own and ultimately changing forever the futures of all involved hopefully for the better but history proves that it can be for the worse if we don't take it slow and choose our words carefully... Make no mistake, there will be criminal charges against parents brought in this case just as in the McMartin preschool case. To all involved in this case, Lets take it slow and choose our words carefully, the are children and adult futures at stake.....

bush_lied_front_nov06_big

Brian Cuban — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:06:01 +0000

bush_lied_back_big

Brian Cuban — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:13:03 +0000

A 40 Billion Dollar Anti-Bush T-Shirt

Brian Cuban — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:25:06 +0000

I just read a story on Fox about a Tennessee couple who lost their son in Iraq suing an Arizona T-Shirt seller for 40 billion Dollars for the survivors of slain soldiers whose names are on the T-Shirt. A complaint seeking class-action status for the lawsuit by Robin and Michael Read says Dan Frazier of Flagstaff has no right to profit from commercial sale of products that use the dead soldiers' names without permission. Frazier's "Bush lied — They died" T-shirts, sold at his site CarryaBigSticker.com, list Iraq war casualties' names, and Frazier contends he is covered by First Amendment free-speech protections. I understand the theory in principal as ridiculously flawed as it is. Fraziers position is also ridiculously flawed. This is not a First Amendment case. You can have First Amendment protection and still not be allowed to profit off that protection at someone's expense.... There are so many examples that I wont even get into it. What I will ge into are these ridiculous class action lawsuits that have no agenda other than money for the attorneys. Anyone who thinks this is about anything other than that is delusional. There is no agenda of social concern, free speech right or even those who have lost their lives in Iraq. This is about some guy with a T-Shirt that makes money trying to keep what he has. This is about some slimy attorney or law firm preying on the grief of those who have lost loved ones trying to get a piece of the pie..... I challenge whoever is handling this case to step forward and explain why he or she is not some "McDonald's Hot Coffee Chasing" "As Seen On TV", Picture on the Back Of A Bus" class action ambulance chaser.... Please tell us there is some "greater public social good' here other than your climbing the social legal ladder on the backs of Iraq soldiers and vets and their families. Am I singling out the attorney when I should also be castigating the seller of the T-Shirt? I sure am. I hold the members of my profession to a higher standard of social conciseness. The legal profession and social responsibility does not have to be a contradiction in terms...... In closing, I would personally like to thank the attorney who took this ridiculous case for perpetuating every negative stereotype and cliche out there...... You're a hell of a humanitarian.....

canseco

Brian Cuban — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:45:35 +0000

latrell_sprewell-arton21193-240x240

Brian Cuban — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:47:46 +0000

Jose Canseco and Latrell Sprewell: Seperated at Birth

Brian Cuban — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:15:43 +0000

Who would have known that Jose Canseco and Latrell Sprewell would have so much in common. Both overrated volatile sports figures who spent it a lot faster than they made it. Both facing financial ruin due to their "financial fiscal" theories on making and saving money. Jose Canseco being the latest to offer his take on the "pressures" of being a millionaire. Jose Canseco's home just recently went into foreclosure Canseco recently told the syndicated TV show "Inside Edition" that he walked away from his $2.5 million, 7,300-square foot home in suburban Encino because it didn't make sense to continue making payments. This in itself is not shocking. With the downturn in the housing market, many are finding upper end homes worth far less than the mortgage. They find it cheaper to walk away than throw bad money after bad. Not necessarily a bad financial move. What was amusing and what brought back memories of Latrell Sprewell was the following quote from Canseco: "You know my life, this financial thing, is a very complicated issue. Obviously, when you make all that money, people think, `OK, let's assume it is $35 million.' People have to understand that $35 million, you're paying the government 41 percent. That leaves you with about $17 or $18 million, not even. Then you're taking care of your whole family." Ok, let as all have a financial pity party for Jose Canseco who was unable to take care of himself and his family on 18 million. Parties, cocaine, strippers and his steroids bill certainly put a dent in that sum..... Who can also forget NBA has been Latrell Sprewell's ramblings about how tough it is to support a family back in 2004 when he was demanding a trade if he did not receive a contract extension from the New York Knicks. On Halloween 2004, Sprewell, who was in the final season of a $62-million, five-year deal he signed with the Knicks, said he was insulted by Minnesota' s offer of a contract extension that was reportedly worth between $27 million and $30 million for three seasons. "I've got my family to feed," That quote become a national moniker for the public perception of athletes as greedy out of touch individuals. Apparently Sprewell still cant feed his family because his yacht was recently repossessed and his multi million dollar mansion is about to be foreclosed on. Maybe Canseco and Sprewell should get together to discuss getting their families fed. Canseco can give Sprewell tips on bulking up for his next career as a professional wrestler where he will practice his patented "choke hold' and Sprewell can give Canseco tips on yacht upkeep for his next career cleaning them..... Hey, they have to feed their families right?

tuxand-tennies1

Brian Cuban — Sat, 03 May 2008 02:47:03 +0000

tuxandtennies2

Brian Cuban — Sat, 03 May 2008 02:50:26 +0000

tuxandtennie3

Brian Cuban — Sat, 03 May 2008 02:50:51 +0000

gas_prices

Brian Cuban — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:59:12 +0000

gas_prices1

Brian Cuban — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:03:14 +0000

Fill Up Your Tank And Reload Your Uzi.....

Brian Cuban — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:04:49 +0000

Everyone is writing about this but I found this interesting article on CNN money about the cost of gas around the world and why gas is so cheap in the United States. It really threw me for a loop in terms of how good we have it here. The cost of gas in Europe averages over 8 dollars a gallon. Here are some most expensive and least expensive cities on the list with my own take: Bosnia-Herzegovina $10.86 as gallon. This is of course if you are fortunate to survive one fill-up to the next. You can reload your AKA-47 for a 5 dollars surcharge..... Caracas Venezuela: 12 cents a gallon. The only catch is that you have to live under a dictatorship and will probably be executed when you complain when it rises to 15 cents a gallon. Moscow, Russia: .45 a gallon if and only if you run into one of the black market gasoline trucks that lurk in every dark underpass and pay a 100 dollar surcharge not to be mugged beaten and extorted.... Shanghai China: 1.48 a gallon, you won't be executed for complaining of that rise to 1.49 but you and your entire family will be sent off to gasoline"re-education" camps and you'll will certainly never gripe again no matter how high it goes. They are into the "long term" objectives..... North Korea-Don't know-it's a state secret. They are still fueling their missiles with unleaded fuel and don't want us to figure out how much it costs for them to fire one at us. Nigeria: .38 cents a gallon. I did note that in addition to the 38 cents there is an optional 1000.00 dollar surcharge per gallon that goes to the deposed ruler of Zamunda who has One Million Dollars in a safe deposit box. He needs your grand to get the money out and will give you half if you immediately send him a money order. In the alternative you can leave your email address and it will be forwarded to all deposed Nigerian rulers who have secret money stashed away and need your grand to help them get it.... If you don't want to travel to Nigeria you can call the U.S State Departments Nigeria 911 task force to get a list of deposed rulers who will take your grand to help them get their hidden millions..... In exchange for choosing a deposed ruler and sending him the money, in addition to your half of the millions you will get a 10 dollar free Nigerian gas voucher... Saudi Arabia: 91 cents gallon-women can only fill up on Mondays when there is a full moon between 1 and 1:30 am. If you're caught filling up after that, its 5 dollars a gallon and 20 lashes with the gas hose.... There is however a free cup of Starbucks coffee with every fill-up to be drank with the unrelated female of your choice at any participating Saudi Starbucks..... Netherlands : 6.48 a gallon but you get a free hash pipe and ten dollars off your next hooker.... France: 5.54 a gallon. 10 dollars a gallon if you're American just because they can.... Stockholm Sweden: 5.80 a gallon. 7.00 a gallon with a guided golf-cart tour of the city with Bill Murray. Four Dollars a gallon suddenly is not looking quite so bad......

barbaro

Brian Cuban — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:24:12 +0000

Is Horse Racing Cruel?

Brian Cuban — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:34:37 +0000

I am not a member of PETA. I am a member of the SPCA. I do not consider myself on any type of "lunatic fringe" when it comes to animal rights. I anti-hunting. I am ant-fur. I am anti-any activity that takes advantage of our position on the food chain and animal kingdom hierarchy to inflict pain on species below us in the name of gratuitous entertainment even if that entertainment has been made socially acceptable through the passage of centuries. I also admit that I am a hypocrite. I have no idea how many animals have been sacrificed for my clothes, furniture and whatever other possessions I own. It is not that I don't care. I just never asked... There is a threshold to which I simply wish to fit in and take the path of least resistance. Hypocrisy at its best.... That being said, whenever I see tragdies such as that which took place at today's Kentucky Derby and the putting down of Barbaro not to long ago, it puts my hypocrisy right in my face. Two beautiful animals put down for no other reason than they were no longer able to entertain us.... We intentionally inflict suffering and kill when they suffer to much..... It reminds me that in some ways we have not advanced much since the days of the Roman Hoards where gladiators and animals slaughtered each other in the Roman Colosseum. If you survived you were put out to stud. If you were unlucky enough to be injured both animal and gladiator were put down. The choices were limited... The Romans had the right idea. At least the Roman Gladiators had the ability to think and fight back.... What would happen without horse racing or all other sporting events where animals are put through unnatural acts? Would cities crumble? Would societies collapse? Governments disintegrate? Cats and dogs sleeping in the streets together? Maybe life would just go on with us as human species being a little less cruel......... I am not making any judgments. Thousands of years of societal acceptance has told us this type of behavior is acceptable. Is that enough for me? I really don't know.'I just objectively don't get the overall human collective ability to turn our heads(including mine) to animal suffering or the significant potential of animal suffering in the name of gratuitous entertainment and nothing more. Someone please explain it to me.... UPDATE 5/5/2008: Peta Requests That Eight Belles Jockey Be Suspended.

Warning: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC DISTURBING IMAGES!

Is Horseracing Cruel?

Brian Cuban — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:34:07 +0000

barbaro1

Brian Cuban — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:41:56 +0000

22612-1-Eng-Poster.indd

Brian Cuban — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:50:51 +0000

barbaro2

Brian Cuban — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:54:24 +0000

warrenjeffs1

Brian Cuban — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:55:53 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:57:17 +0000

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Brian Cuban — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:58:31 +0000

Is A Competitor Devaluing Your Keywords?

Brian Cuban — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:02:47 +0000

In what appears to be a unique case, a Federal Court in Tampa Florida has ordered a company to use 'negative keywords' to avoid being associated with another firm's trade mark. In the case of Orion Bankcorp Inc. v. Orion Residential Financial, the court ruled that Orion Residential was basically devaluing the trademark and intellectual property value of the keywords people use in search engine searches that would take them to Orion Bankcorp. The court ordered Orion Residential to insert "negative keywords" into their website. Without going into to all the legal shmegal, the court basically stated that Orion Residential was infringing Orion Bancorps trademark by inserting keywords that Orion Bancorp has trademark protection for in their name as used in keywords and such. The court entered an order: "barring defendant from purchasing or using any form of advertising including keywords or “adwords” in internet advertising containing any mark incorporating Plaintiff’s Mark, or any confusingly similar mark, and shall, when purchasing internet advertising using keywords, adwords or the like, require the activation of the term “ORION” as negative keywords or negative adwords in any internet advertising purchased or used." This frankly is not unusual in terms of trademark cases. Please are always getting sued for trademark infringement in trying to siphon off business using someone else's established good will. Search engines often get sued for devaluing trademarks in this way. Google has been sued several times for selling key words in its' Google AdWords program that a company may feel are protected trademark. Until the American Airlines suit however they have been primarily obscure companies not making big news . It is however the first time I have seen a court order a company to insert safeguard in their web site to protect the trademark of another company. If anyone has seen other cases like this I would would love to hear about them. This is very similar to the issue in the much more prominent and publicized case of American Airlines v. Google. Without going into all the intricacies of the case American Airlines sued Google for allowing other companies to have their banners come up when Google searches for American Airlines and related words were done. The basic argument is that these banners devalue the intellectual property and infringe on the trademark of American Airlines. In layman's terms? American Airlines was sick and tired of companies getting a free ride on the back of trademark value they worked so hard to establish while Google made a killing. This case is still pending. Google is fighting back hard. They make a killing selling these keywords to companies. A win by American Airlines will have financial ramification for Google and set the standard for future suits of this nature. We all know that keyword abuse in the business world is rampant. How many company specific keywords do you have on your business site in the hopes that people looking for the more established company will be decided to check out your web site instead when it appears in the search rankings. There is no getting around the fact that this practice tends to run afoul of U.S. trademark law. I believe that these keyword suits will become much more common and high profile over the next decade as the internet becomes more and more integrated in the the everyday shopping experience. The American Airlines Suit is just the first high profile salvo. I had better go take my Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse key words out of my web site for Mickey's House of Hookers.....

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT

Brian Cuban — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:40:04 +0000

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT -- NBC Series -- Pictured: (l-r) Richard Belzer as Det. John Munch, Ice-T as Det. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang, Diane Neal as A.D.A. Casey Novak, Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stabler, Mariska Hargitay as Det. Olivia Benson, Dann Florek as Capt. Donald Cragen, Tamara Tunie as Dr. Melinda Warner -- NBC Photo

Cry Rape and Go To Prison!

Brian Cuban — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:54:58 +0000

In a case that has sparked national attention and will surely spark a new Law and Order SVU episode, a Dallas women has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for making a false rape accusation that ultimately lead to the murder of her lover. The sentence stems from a bizarre set of facts starting with a false claim of rape to cover up an affair and ending with the murder of her lover (the man she falsely accused) by her outraged husband. Mrs. Tracey Roberson, 37, was convicted Friday of manslaughter in the 2006 shooting death of Devin LaSalle. Prosecutors said it was Mrs. Roberson's husband, Darrell, who fired the fatal shot but only because his wife falsely claimed she was being raped by Mr. LaSalle. Mr. LaSalle died in December 2006 after Mr. Roberson shot him outside the Robersons' south Arlington, Texas home. Mr. Roberson shot Mr. Lasalle after he returned home from a card game and caught Mr. LaSalle and his wife – who was clad in only a bathrobe and underwear at the time – together in Mr. LaSalle's truck The case was presented to a grand jury. In a soap opera crime show twist the grand jury declined to indict Mr. Roberson(the husband) for the actual shooting and instead indicted Mrs. Roberson on manslaughter charges. Yes, that is correct , at least for now,Mr. Roberson will face no criminal responsbility here for the actual shooting. The sentencing jury deliberated more than 2 days before sentencing Mrs. Roberson to Five Years in Prison. This case really bothers me. Not because Mrs. Roberson is going to do time but because Mr. Roberson who engaged in a textbook case of manslaughter himself will walk away scott free. My gut tells me that he killed this guy because he was having an affair with his wife and not because his wife cried rape. Did he take his rage of past indiscretions in the relationship out on this guy? Did he know about this guy prior to the shooting? There was some testimony that he was suspicious of her infidelities.... It is not clear whether he knew anything about this specific affiar prior to the shooting. Would that change your opinion on justification if he did? If the husband knew absolutely nothing and this was a pure spur of the moment decision to try to save his wife, I would feel better about the justification defense here. Did Mrs. Roberson deserve to do 5 years? I don't think so but I was not siting on the jury. If you read up on the case there were a lot of facts presented that certainly did not make Mrs. Roberson likeable person and I am sure that had a lot to do with the severe sentence. There was also testimony of Mrs. Roberson of abuse by her husband with no corroborating evidence. I think introducing this testimony with nothing to back it up backfired on her and made her even more unlikeable as simply looking like someone with her hand caught in the cookie jar...... Finally and in my mind most importantly , juries take claims of rape very seriously. Juries don't like people who don't take them seriously. Juries don't like people who cry wolf with a cry of rape to cover up affairs.... Juries maybe want to send a message to the next person who thinks about crying rape in a crowded theater..... Any criminal lawyers out there to comment? What would Oliva Benson and Elliot Stabler think?

Comment Policy

Brian Cuban — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:26:04 +0000

Please keep your comments on point to the topic post. No comment will be posted that is rude to other commenter's, offensive or contains profanity. I am the sole judge of comment acceptability. If you can not even be civil on a blog, go take an anger management class and then come back.

geek2

Brian Cuban — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:12:54 +0000

Digger Geeks Unite!

Brian Cuban — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:24:38 +0000

What do you think of when you visualize your average Digg user? I visualize a late teen to twenty something geek glasses wearing, dateless, pimple popping nerd, barricaded in his room bedroom smoking a doobie while drinking a diet soft drink, farting on his cat and endlessly hitting the "refresh" key in the hopes of that one more elusive "Digg" that will take his story to the masses with his mother constantly calling upstairs to ask if he has found a job yet...... That is NOT a criticism of Digg users. It is more my taking a self inventory of my life and a warning to diggers that I am what you have to look forward to. A forty- something, Lasik vision enhanced dateless, pimple popping nerd with a bad back from sitting on his "computer ass" all day endlessly hitting the "refresh" key between sips of my favorite java in the hopes of that one more "Digg" that will take my story to the masses... I am making up for lost "Digger Geek" time as I never got to be a true Digg Geek . Not only did Digg not exist in my true geek days but neither did personal computers or the internet.... How in the world did we all get by back then? If I didn't have Digg now I would probably switch to massive heroin abuse..... Frankly, if I could stick my head in my computer terminal to get my hair cut, I would never leave the freaking house, Digging endlessly through time.... In the end we are all destined for "Digger Anonymous". I can see it now..." my name is Brian and I am a Digging, nose picking geek".... HELLO BRIAN! Diggers are an interesting bunch..... I frankly am a Digger that other Diggers love to hate. Why? Because I am a digging nose picking geek who often self promotes. This means I sometimes Digg my own original content posted on my own blog. As more than one Digger has so eloquently stated.. "Who gives a f**k was you think!" While I am actually proud of the fact that three original pieces I wrote went front page, I absolutely understand this philosophy. The Digg philosophy is the only credible story is a story someone else wrote.... I have no problem with this. My content is not for everyone and may only have credibility to a limited few. I frankly think Bill O'reilly is a no credibility nose picking geek but hey, thats just me.... There are masses who think anything that comes out of his mouth should be a new paragraph in a history book. It is all in the eyes of the geek on the other end isn't it? Credibility is judged by the masses. Just ask any bookie setting a line.... Even though it serves a legitimate "news distribution" purpose, I just can't sit in front of my computer, diet coke and doobie in hand, endlessly digging articles across the internet... I would rather write original content offering my take on the news and digg that around the internet. I love to generate thought and discussion. A perfect example of this is the groundbreaking scientific genetic animal cross-breeding story that broke the other day. Genetic scientists announced the creation of a whole new species of animal. They announced the creation of the "Chimpcat" A Chimpcat is apparently a cross between a chimpanzee and a house cat. It is furry, it can swing through trees and meows like a cat. Now I could simply Digg this story in the hopes of accumulating thousands of Diggs and getting that elusive free set of steak knives I hear Digg awards monthly to the highest digger..... I however would rather write/blog my own opinion on the legal, medical ethics and social implications of the "Chimpcat" I would rather write about my concern that the introduction of the Chimpcat into society will cause the entire public service infrastructure to collapse. Can you imagine a world where fire departments were endlessly called out on false "Chimpcats in trees" calls? There would be no time for legitimate fire calls. Cities would burn. Societies would collapse. Anarchy would ensue. Dogs and Chimpcats would be sleeping in the streets together..... Our worst nightmares would ensure..... As the first person to pick up on and write about his insidious "Chimpcat conspiracy" don't I have Digg credibility? Do I not now have a P.H.D in "chimpcatology" worthy of millions of Diggs? GO CHIMPCAT GO!

hillary-clinton

Brian Cuban — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:15:19 +0000

hillary-clinton1

Brian Cuban — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:03:17 +0000

Hillary Makes Final Push With Dramatic Initiative!

Brian Cuban — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:14:39 +0000

Washington- In an attempt to shore up her rapidly fading run to the 2008 presidency and in final effort to sway uncommitted "superdelegates", Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton today announced that she welcomed ‘heated debate" over her new new "CMDR" initiative that will change the way the average person lives in today's world. When asked to comment while preparing for the upcoming primaries, Senator Clinton stated that a mandatory CMDR would stimulate the economy in ways never envisioned as well as lessen the need to rely on undocumented labor. The spokesperson for the Clinton campaign was very vague regarding exactly what "CMDR" stands for, stating that they needed today to work out details before unveiling the full plan prior to the next debate. However, A CNN investigative reporter was able to obtain a copy of the confidential "CMDR Initiative Action Plan." You will only see it here on CNN! For security and legal reasons, we cannot post the report on our site but now for the first time, readers can see the main CMDR points prior to the plan's implementation. We have learned that CMDR stands for "Certificate of Minimum Dating Requirements." We have also learned that this initiative is being pushed through in emergency session to address what has become an "epidemic" of guys who have no job or visible means of support showing up for dates with girls by bus or bicycle. This plan will substantially increase used car sales and relieve a strain on public transportation and the pretentiousness of dating in general - something all parties feel is the breaking point. The plan would also ensure that there is 100 percent employment in the lowest tiers of employability such a fast food restaurants as part of her "ONE CHILD, ONE BURGER" initiative. It would also ensure that all ditches that need dug are in fact dug. The key element of this new legislation will be the formation of a national CMDR database. Inclusion in the database will be strictly voluntary. In order to get in the CMDR Database, a guy or girl will have to do the following: Provide the database administrator with a current address, not a P.O. Box as well as proof of U.S Citizenship. Allow the database administrator to do a registered sex offender check. Provide the database administrator with a current title to a vehicle at least equivalent to minimum buy-in BMW. Provide the database administrator with two current pay stubs evidencing a salary of at least $50K per year. Provide documentation that you are not married and do not live with your parents. To be in the database, you agree to update this information every three months. This information will be encoded into the driver's license of all those who participate in the database. The database will charge a fee of $20 per month. This fee will provide a reader capable of reading the encoding on the driver's license. We have learned it will work as follows: Let's say a girl meets a guy she likes. She has the legal right to ask if that guy is in the CMDR Database. If he isn't, the girl can assume that he probably does not own a car or takes the bus to pick up dates, is unemployed and may be a registered sex offender. If you do not own a car because of you live an enumerated major city, you can apply for a "Big Apple Exemption" from the vehicle requirement. If the guy is in the database, the girl may scan his driver's license through the reader and the display will show what kind of car he drives, his sex offender status, and how much he makes per year. She may then make an intelligent decision on whether to go on a date with him. Both Republicans and Democrats feel this new initiative will force complete losers who show up for their dates on bikes and buses to go buy a car. It is also felt that this will drastically reduce the number of perverts and $30K a year millionaires asking out unsuspecting women. In order to encourage inclusion in the new CMDR Database, it was announced that the first 1,000 people will get a free "No Deadbeats" credit check! When confronted with the leaked version of the initiative the Hillary Clinton responded with the following statement: ". Most females agreed with the bedrock conservative premise that, dating toothless unemployed losers without cars and who live with their mommies and daddies was a major problem in today's society and action needed to be taken. " "Taking your date to McDonalds by bus or bicycle is not the answer to our problems - it is the problem." "I believe that as a movement, we have veered off course into the dangerous and uncharted waters of settling for the hot bodied pool boy with the bus pass versus sacrificing some looks for the comfort and security of a guy holding a CMDR.". Senator Clinton was also quoted as saying "better a hunchback with a Beemer than a pool boy with a bus pass. It worked for me..... " Senator Barack Obama when asked about the plan stated that he could not support a plan that did not include substantial tax credits from automakers and auto-lenders that would allow all unemployed geeks to qualify for a CMDR. He noted that he had just made the last payment on his 1980 BMW. John McCain, when confronted with the proposal stated that while he agreed that something needed to be done about unemployed geeks, he felt that they were an unnecessary drain on the economy. He recommended military conscription for those who could not obtain a CMDR. He pointed out that they would be employable when they came out and who didn't want to date a man in uniform? When pressed to elaborate, he pointed out that he had found a rich hottie young enough to be his daughter but admitted that he already had a Beemer when he snagged her..... Chelsea Clinton refused to comment on CMDR but was quietly overheard telling a friend that she had not had a date in years anyways so she really didn't care one way or another.... More to follow......

cherrypit200

Brian Cuban — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:45:12 +0000

Is There A Constitutional Right To An Orgy?

Brian Cuban — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:23:08 +0000

The city of Duncanville, Tx which is suburb of Dallas has been involved in its own little Jerry Falwell style bible belt battle with the owners of a private "swingers club" called "The Cherry Pit". The Cherry PIt is a private residence tucked in away in an upscale Duncanville residential neighborhood. The Cherry Pit advertises on the internet and according to published reports draws as many as 100 guests to a weekend gathering. The Cherry Pit has been throwing adult-oriented parties where couples pay a fee for entry and can engage in pretty much any type of sexual activity they want on the premises. It is the position of the owners that this does not constitute a "business" as the entrance money is to cover the cost of food, soft drinks etc and not a fee for the privilege of engaging in sex from the tame to the "Pulp Fiction" apple in the mouth brand of entertainment.... It is rumored for an extra service charge they will even "bring out the gimp"....(just kidding) The whole bru ha ha started back in November of 2007 when after several years of Cherry Pitt neighbors complaining about the crime, traffic and "unsavory element" "the pit" was bringing to the neighborhood, the City of Duncanville passed the following ordinance: "the operation and maintenance of a sex club to be unlawful and a public nuisance. Violation of the new ordinance can result in a fine of up to $2,000." The city of Duncanville then decided that the gatherings at the Cherry Pit were more than just a gathering of "friends and family" looking for some fun and determined that it was in fact a sexually oriented business and subect to the ordinance. The response of Julie Norris, one of the owners of "The PIt" was as follows: “I don't know what their definition of a business is, but to my understanding a business is public - anyone can just walk into it and you must pay to get in and we are none of that,” Norris said. “I accept donations. Have you ever had your friends over for a barbecue and asked everyone to pitch in $5 or bring a dish? That is exactly what we do. The only requirement to get into my home is that you call and let me know that you are coming and you are on my reservation list.” Ms Norris went on to state that she believed that the ordinance is a guise to attack their lifestyles and beliefs and that the ordinance regulating the club violated their First Amendment Rights to Privacy. “It boils down to people want to put their morality into my private home and I am going to stand against that,” Norris said. “That is not what the Constitution allows.” The owners of the Cherry PIt subsequently counter sued the city claiming the ordinance banning sex clubs violates their privacy and due process rights. They are basically using the same argument under which a right to privacy was found under Roe v. Wade. They have to use this method in making the right to privacy argument because there is in fact no right to personal privacy spelled out in the Constitution. The Cherry Pit's attorney, Ed Klein, said the city is trying to regulate private acts in a private home using the public nuisance law as a "pretext" to do so.... The Cherry Pitt has remained open while all the legal wrangling has taken place... Just today the City of Duncanville broadened the ordinance designed to shut the club down by making the definition of a sex club more general and add a local appeal process for sex clubs that the city orders to close. So what you do think? Should private citizens be allowed to "swap pits" at the Pitt without the government getting its' rocks off? My initial gut reaction is to always have a problem when big brother enters my home and says you can't do this or you can't do that. My gut however has to take a back seat to the fact that this is done all the time. You obviously can't do cocaine or heroin in the privacy of your home. Both of these things are illegal regardless of where they are engaged in. What about gambling? Consenting adult coming together to play poker or even chess for money? When does the government have the right to regulate such victimless consenting acts that may not be illegal in and of themselves? When is there a compelling government interest? If your 100 closest friends are playing poker for big bucks at your place is it a friendly gathering or an illegal gambling operation? if you have take a cut of the pot, it is an illegal gambling operation subject to regulation and you as the owner of the home can go to jail. An act not necessarily illegal in itself but one that could be illegal based on the circumstances in which it occurs. You can't run a gambling operation in the privacy of your home and guess what? You can not charge people for the privilege of having indiscriminate, anonymous sex in your home. Just like taking a cut of the house makes your little gambling gathering illegal, taking profits at the Cherry Pit makes you the equivalent of the D.C. Madam Let us also keep this in mind. Duncanville is NOT attempting to regulate the "Piters" showing up at the house. They are attempting to regulate the owners of the home in allowing the "Piters" to engage in sex for a fee at their home.... The government is NOT regulating where and with whom you can have sex with. They are telling the owners of the Pit that if they are charging you to do it, they are subject to government regulation. There is a huge difference... No one is going to tell you that you cant go down to your local red light district and get a BJ from Sallie the local crack addict or Eddie the cross dressing pimp or even take Sallie of Eddie to the Cherry Pit for some fun. We of course know however that the act of handing over a dollar in exchange for the BJ makes the otherwise consenting act illegal prostitution on one end and the illegal act of soliciting a prostitute on the other end no matter where it occurs (in addition to whatever other nasty stuff goes with "the other end"). The government has decided that there is a compelling government interest to regulate and/or criminalize such acts... Here is the problem as I see it. Whatever law passes constitutional muster can not be based on counting soft drink and pretzels receipts. If you break even its a gathering of friends. if you come out five bucks ahead your running a sex shop.... A law enforced by accountants.... An unenforceable vague statute that will not pass constitutional muster just as I predict the Duncanville statute will fail. Not because what is going on at the PIt is morally right or wrong but because you can not have a law based on counting pretzels and coke cans.... Duncanville may ultimately be able to come up with a law that passes constitutional muster and shuts the club down. I predict the current try is "the pits"..... What would you do?

bring-out-the-gimp

Brian Cuban — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:19:16 +0000

"The Gimp" from the movie "Pulp Fiction"

pulpmarsellubutch

Brian Cuban — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:08:32 +0000