Law Why do so many lawyers insist on an hyper-formal, convoluted writing style?

sorrenn · 2 days

Sorry about my title. I accidentally mashed the keyboard before submitting and it screwed it up.

iknowwhatyouarenow · 1 month

Yes, Comedy Central didn't renew it.

JamesCrow · 1 month

I still love the sound of a vacuum. I have an iPhone app called Sleep Machine that has the sound of a vacuum, and I listen to it at night (though it's not the same as a live vacuum).

NatelieOne · 1 month

I was a front desk clerk at a hotel. The address of the hotel was 3800 Evergreen Ave. Some lady walks in off the street and shouts at me, "Thirty-six fifty!" I had no idea what she was talking about. She shouted again at me, "Thirty-six fifty!" She then shouts at me, "Dumbass!" and turns around and walks out.

It took me a moment to realize that she probably wanted me to point her to the address of 3650 Evergreen Ave. Maybe she was late for an interview or something. I wanted to hop the desk and follow her to her appointment so I could tell the person she was meeting what a bitch she was.

Note that the I changed the name of the street to protect the innocent :)

DanCorb · 2 months

I agree with your point. I guess I just wanted to point out that I don't particularly find it relatable (I've spent many years working near minimum wage).

Waitresses rarely confront their customers, specify the percentage of tips they left, and then call them assholes to their faces. If they did, they would probably be fired on the spot.

In fact, a friend of mine was fired for a similar reason, though she was much less aggressive than the waitress in the story. She had a particular group of customers who were especially mean to her, and they left pocket change as a tip for an expensive meal. She was fed up, went outside as they were leaving and suggested that they not come back. She was fired on the spot (and she didn't hold it against the restaurant for firing her).

DanCorb · 2 months

It wasn't a true story though.

DanCorb · 2 months

Raging over something that happened during your day?

But this is a fictional story.

DanCorb · 2 months

It didn't happen. It's a fictional story.

DanCorb · 2 months

I suspected it wasn't true. I can't imagine a waitress saying the, "What the fuck is this..." line. I mean, she runs back to the table, sees how much the tip is, and then confronts him before he has left? Unlikely.

That said, I have a friend who once quit a serving job after a group treated her poorly and left some spare change as a tip on an expensive meal. She actually yelled something at them as they were pulling away in their car.

bestdavidever · 2 months

I hear ya -- I would be especially skeptical if the argument were made by U.S. billionaires.

trollcat9 · 2 months

Grow up and stop using gendered insults.

In the UK, the word "cunt" doesn't nearly the same vicious connotation it does in the U.S. Possibly because people who try to police the language (like yourself) are told to relax and let people express themselves.

bestdavidever · 2 months

I remember when Bill Gates and Warren Buffet campaigned for the "Giving Pledge, calling on the world's billionaires to donate large portions of their fortunes.

Some wealthy Europeans balked at the idea, saying that it's dangerous for a few people to determine what causes merit funds, and that it's better to tax the money and let the people determine what to do with the tax revenue.

brazilliandanny · 2 months

Eating too much of just about anything will cause you to gain weight if you're not doing anything additional to regulate your body like exercising.

This is not useful info. Eating "too much" of anything? What is too much? The idea that you must regulate body weight with exercise is silly. Much of the world's population are skinny and sedentary, and make no special effort to restrict calories.

And don't act like I'm sort of skinny-guy bully, which I can tell you're trying to do by ignoring the rest of my comment where I admit to having an increasing weight problem.

That's weird that you need me to recognize your comment or you'll accuse me of calling you a skinny bully. I never suggested you're a skinny guy or a bully (though with your "blow me" comment, it seems you might be inclined to occasional online douche-baggery, but most of us are, me included).

I don't have a genetic disorder, nor do most. I think that the culture of victimization is a legitimate claim, but a secondary issue. The main issue is misinformation about how people get and stay fat. I believe that recent findings confirm that it's not primarily an issue of self-control.

brazilliandanny · 2 months

Oh, Blow me. You and I both know that the vast majority of overweight people are just fat because they can't put the fucking spoon down.

Hey tough guy, I don't believe this at all. I say this as a thin guy who was quite chunky some years ago. I've read books that explain the hormonal consequences of eating a so-called "healthy" diet, and why it makes people fatter despite their best efforts. You really think fat people are just flawed in terms of self-control, and can't stop stuffing themselves with Big Macs? I was fat eating copious amounts rice cakes and fat-free yogurt every day. I had the resolve but the wrong info.

brazilliandanny · 2 months

Haha. Making fun of people who struggle with weight problems is funny when it's people we don't like!

Knosis · 2 months

Your suggestion was implied.

No, it wasn't. Your saying it was implied does not make it so.

It's the only way I could fathom that a failed business could still continue to exist after it's done something as stupid as Rush did.

I don't understand how your inability to fathom Rush's continued existence translates into me implying he is entitled to financial support. It's very strange logic.

Blaming reddit...

I'm not blaming Reddit for Rush's failures. I'm saying that I don't agree with the "ends justify the means" mentality when approaching matters like this. Especially because it would be condemned if the same tactics were used by the other side.

You think that the LISTENERS are the customers in this model...

Again, another unfounded assusmption. I know who the customers are. I also know that a station can be impacted by feedback from people posing as listeners. But whether the attempt to censor Rush has any impact is irrelevant. The point is that people are engaging in behavior that they would otherwise condemn, but it's somehow acceptable because we're talking about Rush Limbaugh.

Again, I thoroughly dislike Rush, and think he's a dishonest dick, but I know that many people feel that he represents their point of view. If someone gave me a survey on whether I want Rush off the air, I would vote "yes". But I won't vote in surveys that are intended only for people in a different region, or call up stations and lie about whether I was ever a listener. That's what some people are doing. It doesn't matter how many. My point is merely that it's hypocritical and an attempt at censorship.

Good talk. You can have the last word.

Knosis · 2 months

I think we're having some miscommunication. I never suggested that all pundits are entitled to financial support if the market doesn't support them. Instead, I said, "[Redditors] are not merely boycotting the advertisers." Boycotting is a legitimate way to make your voice heard.

What Redditors and others are doing in some cases is using cunning to appear that a certain opinion is more widely held than it actually is. Instead of letting the listeners of the radio station decide, they are taking the matter into their own hands, as if the ends justify the means.

Again, if the same tactics were used against their pundit of choice, I have no doubt that they would condemn it. If right wingers with no interest in Comedy Central made a concerted effort to pose as Comedy Central viewers and demand that Jon Stewart be taken off the air, they would be trying to suppress the show's message, right? I'm not comparing it to the censorship of dictatorships and such -- it's a different kind of censorship.

Knosis · 2 months

Yes, we are talking about censorship here. It doesn't have to stem from the government. Here is Wikipedia:

Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body.

Redditors in this thread are making a concerted effort to suppress Rush's voice and get him off the air. They are not merely boycotting the advertisers. They are voting in a survey intended for listeners of KCSO, a Santa Cruz station.

Obviously, the station can do what it wants, and it's not beholden to the results of the survey. But the spirit of threads like this are about suppressing a voice that offers a differing opinion, because that opinion is deemed offensive and inappropriate. My point is that you or I don't get to decide which speech is harmful to society. It makes me uncomfortable when people try to "hack" the system into accepting their point of view, which is what this thread is about.

Knosis · 2 months

Violence and criminal behaviour are very limited definitions of bad behaviour.

I said, "...or anything else that qualifies."

The examples you cited were of him being an ignorant, insensitive jerk, but he wasn't overtly encouraging bad behavior in others. I suppose you could say he is setting a bad example, but that doesn't seem to be a reason to censor the man.

You keep saying that he's an asshole, but that doesn't support an argument for why he should be taken off the air. Assholes and non-assholes should have a right to broadcast their opinions (even if it's just a schtick) if they desire. If the public wants to listen, so be it.

If you thought someone was hurting your country, and turning people into worse versions of themselves, wouldn't you want them off the air?

No, I wouldn't. I might wish not to hear them, but I wouldn't push to censor them. You keep trying to convince me that he's an asshole, and I don't disagree with you. But even if it's my opinion that he's hurting the country, it's not up to me to determine who gets air time.

Many people made the case that Howard Stern's program was vulgar and encouraged bad behavior. Do you think he should have been taken off the air? If not, why does Howard get a pass but Rush doesn't?

I personally don't think the marketplace would support any radio broadcaster who was maliciously and overtly damaging the country in any significant way. People wouldn't listen, and sponsors wouldn't support him.

Knosis · 2 months

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but can you give me some examples of him encouraging "bad behavior," such as violence, criminal acts, or anything else that qualifies?

Removing his voice is a service to all people that like learning and hate jackasses.

Why is it a service to people who like learning? They can choose not to listen to him. Being a douchebag and major asshole are really subjective opinions, and although I happen to agree with them, I don't think it's grounds to make a focused effort to silence his voice.

Hypothetically, let's say you're a fan of Bill Mahr or Stephen Colbert. I bet there are people who feel that they are giant douchebags, and as such, rarely watch their shows. If those people made a concerted effort to get them off the air, what would you think?

But if your statement that Rush actively encourages bad behavior is true, then I might agree with you.

Mdjacobson01 · 2 months

I always thought it was a weird that people refuse to actually look at the substance of what they believe. If you show them a contradiction, or ask something like, "So all people throughout history who have never even been exposed to Christianity are hell-bound?," they might just try to change the subject.

But I guess we should accept that there are some people who aren't curious when it comes to questioning whatever framework they were provided as children. They may be independent thinkers in other areas.

It just seems like some people are happy to never examine such questions, and it may not be there nature to do so. I guess that's...OK? I know it drives r/atheism crazy.

connorturnbull · 2 months

Thanks. I didn't think there was much reason to, but I was just curious. I thought that they might briefly show his biography on the iPad when demonstrating iBooks, or some other brief acknowledgement, but it probably would've looked tacky.

sorrenn

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