Whimsy
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Isaac celebrates Tax Day with a traditional reading from A.P. Herbert
Tax Day is Isaac's annual reminder to dip into the works of the underappreciated British author, playwright, humorist, campaigner, and parliamentarian A.P. Herbert (1890-1971), for whom the Inland Revenue (Britain's version of the Internal Revenue Service) provided endless inspiration. Today's reading comes from Herbert's story "Wear and Tear," framed in the manner of a decision…
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If Rudy Giuliani is convicted in Arizona . . .
. . . on any of the various counts that Arizona has indicted him for, the sentencing judge will have a dandy opportunity to order him to perform community service instead of serving a prison term, while furthering one of the stated policy objectives of the incoming Trump administration. Arizona has 2.8 million acres (about…
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Portland in 1921: Professor Einstein yields to the Bolsheviks
Not all news stories wear well. On December 13, 1921 the Oregonian printed this intriguing item: ROTARIANS DITCH EINSTEIN. — Because the Einstein theory of relativity has been knocked higher than a kite, according to the story published in The Oregonian yesterday morning, the Rotary club has seen fit to strike the subject from its…
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Happy 96th birthday, Professor Lehrer
Tom Lehrer's combination of precocity (he entered Harvard at 15) and longevity (he turns 96 today) have combined to make him one of the very few living songwriters to have started his oeuvre during World War II. (The product was this football fight song.) Though he claimed in 1977 to have no unpublished works, in…
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The hidden economics of working from home
As portrayed by Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor, the authors of the "Alex" cartoon, on February 20 of this year.
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The Laquedem Plan to Improve the Discourse of Ideas – also, happy 20th to me
Today marks 20 years since I published my first blog post. The Laquedem Plan to Improve My Small Corner of the Universe for the next 20 years is to write and publish more often, particularly in the Venn diagram overlap between analysis and amusement.
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Lament for Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy's nearly nine months in office (a full term in other contexts) deserves a ballad to commemorate his service. Isaac has written one. Lament for Kevin McCarthy (to the tune of “Whatever Became of Hubert?” by Tom Lehrer)Words by Isaac Laquedem (2023) Whatever became of Kevin? Does anyone even know? Once he…
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The Laquedem Plan to Relieve Our Supreme Court Justices from the High Cost of Vacations
The recent scandalous disclosures that Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Virginia vacation not only in their 40-foot motor home but on lavish trips financed by billionaire Harlan Crow that have included flights on Mr. Crow's private jet and cruises on his 161-foot yacht were followed by the equally scandalous revelations that Justice Samuel Alito…
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The Laquedem Plan to Improve Continuing Legal Education and Honor a Legal Leader
The Oregon State Bar requires active lawyers to take a certain amount of coursework, called "continuing legal education" or "CLE," to renew their licenses. Members report their education every three years. New members must take nine hours of courses on practical skills, including at least four hours on Oregon practice and procedure. After their first…
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Isaac’s 2023 Tax Day reading from A.P. Herbert
Each year at tax time we divert from our support of democratic socialism to think of Sir Alan Patrick Herbert (1890-1971), the British social reformer, member of Parliament from Oxford University (there really was such a post, elected by the alumni), lover of the Thames, playwright, and under the name of A.P. Herbert, a frequent…