Law And More

Future of Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh, PA) - In Hands of Policy Planners (retailers should hire lawyers, lobbyists)

The Tree of Life massacre seems so far away.

The Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania seems back to normal.

Yesterday when I was driving through, families were leaving Sabbath services at the temples.

Shopping, dining, and people-watching were brisk on the main drag - Forbes. In this era of the crash of brick and mortar retail, Forbes seems just fine.

But, I didn't decide to stop driving. There was no parking, except in pay-for-a-spot multi-level structures and pay-for-a-spot on-the-street. Those spots not tagged for payment frequently were categorized as only-for-an-hour.

So, the merchants on Forbes lost my business. So did the restaurants. 

And, in terms of Pittsburgh per se, those who have left the area are voting with their pocketbooks. Yes, the city is losing the kinds of residents who are unwilling to put up with either a capitalist ploy and/or a green measure to encourage leaving the car at home (Pittsburgh has excellent public transportation).

Regarding green, even lefty town of Cambridge, Massachusetts isn't having the expected success in reducing the number of cars owned and operated by residents. 

Other obstacles to the scaling of retail in the area include:

• High gas prices. When I left Austintown, Ohio, I filled up for $2.42 a gallon (that included 3-cents off for Giant Eagle rewards points.) Throughout the Pittsburgh metro area the price of a gallon ranged from $2.63 to $2.69. 
•  Rigid inspection of autos. A now OH neighbor who fled Pittsburgh complained about the need to replace his whole windshield. He had a nick stopped from spreading with one of those buttons. No go, ruled the inspection station. OH has no inspection.

My day trip to Pittsburgh will likely be my last. The area does not seem to want me. Overall, OH is lots more welcoming to human beings. There is plenty of free parking around cool spots like Lake Erie, including resort town of Geneva on the Lake.

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People Still Love Their Cars, Even in Green Cambridge, MA

Few cities are more environmentally conscious than Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

But, even there, despite the city's strong anti-car stance, cars are winning out. 

For 2020, Cambridge has the goal of reducing the number of cars 15% from the 1990 level.

However, as the Boston Globe reports, the campaign is only half way there. That's despite the transportation reality that Cambridge has 6 subway stations, several bus lines, and a growing number of bus paths.

In addition, given that Cambridge is a university town, residents should have a walking mindset. In most university towns parking is hard to find and expensive.

The bottom line is that people love their cars. The auto provides instant access to heading towards where one is going, privacy, and no middleman as with an Uber. 

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Socialism's Front Lines

Socialism may be gaining traction in the U.S., Britain, and other capitalist nations. Here is the coverage in The Economist.

But, the movement will probably push forward without AOC on the front lines. Her high-profile leadership is over - although she may not know that herself.

The latest development in the rapid implosion of Brand AOC is the negative media attention focused on her assigning a Congressional email address to her boyfriend Riley Roberts. Here is the influential Daily Mail coverage of that controversy.

If AOC were still the politico "it" girl, many would be rushing to her defense. They aren't.

Just before RobertsGate, there had been the stunner of the Amazon pull-out from establishing a second headquarters in New York City. With the headquarters could have come 25,000 jobs and lots of activity for small businesses in the area.

Blame for that has been heaped on that loudest voice in NYC: AOC. Unskilled in combat politics, AOC replied she is proud of that accomplishment.

As some recall, Nancy Pelosi didn't appoint AOC to the House committee on green.

Also, Pelosi, whose power has recently increased, didn't give AOC's Green New Deal much attention.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders, who was a socialist before socialism was cool, is sucking attention away from AOC. Unlike her, he has staying power. Likely he won't become the next U.S. president but he will increase his influence. 

As for AOC, from now on it will the night of the long knives. The Drudge Report will have a lot of fun with that. It could even bring back its flashing blue light.

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374 Need @gmail.com. 

Law Partners - The American Dream Is Undergoing Major Revision

This time the target is the coast along the southeast. But Florence could also work its way up to the Northeast Corridor. 

Whether it's climate change or not, the reality of an increase in the number and severity of storms is making the dream of living by the water seem, well, dumb. The Category 6 and the Category 7 hurricane is possible. 

That has thrown shade on the symbolism of being coastal as evidence of the good life. Full-time living or a cottage on the Atlantic or by the Pacific had been a marker for having made it.

Also, those planning to retire or semi-retire have to re-think having a more affordable lifestyle and beach living by relocating to, for example, Mobile, Alabama or Pensacola, Florida.

Yes, life as a beach is fading as the American Dream. The shift is to enjoy the ocean as vacation spot, not as a place to declare home.

Of course, the implications for the real estate industry are profound.

Forget building on the coast. Good luck selling existing property there.

Eventually, the insurance industry will find a way to limit its losses in that niche.

Smart disruptors will figure out another mode of living to signal success. It could be on a ranch in a Midwest location which is not vulnerable to severe weather events. 

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Higher Education - Will It Downsize, Like Law? (not anytime soon)

Those "think" publications, ranging from Bloomberg to The Atlantic, are presenting serious discussions of what was once unthinkable: Is college worth the time and money? 

For the time being, the questioning of the value of a college education by brandname experts such as Bryan Caplan likely won't influence the majority of young people and their parents.

The risk to earnings and career mobility is simply too high for most human beings to take. They will play it safe and invest in the college experience. All my colleagues, neighbors, and friends continue to position and package earning the BA or BS a must-do. And that is the end of that story, for now.

Sure, geniuses like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg can follow their passion without a college degree.

But there are also uneducated low-income nobodies whose IQs had been tested as genius level. They simply lack the whatever which spots opportunity and transforms it into amazing success.

That's now. And, for now, those of us whose living depends in-part on the higher-education industry shouldn't fret. I edit scholarly manuscripts for those for whom English is a second language. I also coach students in China and Canada on how to approach their personal essays for admission to academic programs. 

Eventually, though, higher education could follow traditional journalism and the practice of law in downsizing. Already, like journalism and law, it's being retrofitted by technology. Recently, I researched and created the material for online instruction on an environmental subject. It was being distributed as a stand-alone tutorial, not associated with any university. 

Employers could put their heads together with the thinkers such as Caplan in determining what is necessary to know and when in order that human beings can earn a living in X or Y lines of work. The formal academic programs could disappear. Instead there could emerge many education vendors custom-making what is needed and when it is needed. The Harvards and Yales would dispense with the degrees and evolve into research institutions.

To slow down the inevitable, academic institutions could become open to radical change in curriculum, delivery systems, and pricing. That could placate some of the critics of higher education.

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Lawyers/Law Students - You Can Partially implement Your Fantasies about Living Off the Grid

Our nation looks stressed out. And among the most at-the-brink are lawyers and law students. Practicing law and even learning about it for three years are life lived in dog years. 

As for those of us outside the legal loop, so many have become downright overwhelmed by social pressures and the increased difficulty to survive financially. 

So, it's no surprise that the concept of living off the grid is becoming a popular fantasy for those still embedded in life-as-it-is. The good news for lawyers and law students is that it possible to partially exist outside the rigid norms of society and the ethos of capitalism.

The book "The Stranger in Woods" has brisk sales. It chronicles the real life of a man who pulled off living as a hermit in Maine for 27 years. But, that's not the role model for most lawyers and law students, of course.

Today, The New York Times has a feature on those living off the grid on the northwest coast of the state of Washington. The influential Drudge Report linked to it. And the lives of some of those might resonate with lawyers and law students.

The article describes men and women living in various degrees of self-sufficiency.

There is the extreme category. They actually live off the land and have made their location so hidden that it would be difficult to find them. They constructed their own primitive way of managing human waste. Clothes aren't necessary. They might not have much interaction with others. But as in all societies, even ancient ones, mankind must be a bit social to survive.

There is also the model lawyers and law students can adopt. They have put together just enough of a life off the grid to escape what they perceived as wrong with socialization and capitalism. They can journey back to places such as Seattle to work, attend school, or have a second home for more creature comforts.

For socialization, their common beef is body shame. In normal society, there are myriad taboos associated with the human body. Only recently have there been more direct commercials for products to clean up after defecating. The promotions used to be indirect, as with begging Mr. Whipple not to squeeze the Charmin. 

As for capitalism, who hasn't had it with that system which seems to be built on making everyone feel less-than. In Manhattan, there is always someone with more wealth, more power, more influence, more sex, and more followers on Twitter.

Last weekend I drove around rural parts of Pennsylvania. I gazed longingly at the simple cabins tucked back from civilization. I regretted never learning survivalist skills. No, I couldn't make it out there.

However,  I did flee the strict codes of conduct and the financial rat race of the New York Metro area. That was April 2014. In many ways, here in Eastern Ohio, I am still tethered to the grid. Nevertheless,  I seem to have a greater sense of well-being than in pre-2014.

For example, my communications boutique roared back. I sell better because I'm not so tense. In addition, I have come to like myself. Self-hate is a nasty side effect of capitalism.

Traffic is up on my three syndicated blogs. There are more paid placements of sponsored content and links.

I dodged the Type 2 diabetes bullet.

I take pride in catching the big sales at Goodwill. My homerun had been two classic dolls for under 10 bucks.

I have been able to sock away funds in retirement accounts.

I purged from my network those who no longer belonged in my life - a changed one. Instead of hating them, I position and package them as my "teachers." What they taught me was that I had a perfect right to run from toxic human beings.

The rescue dog, who used to bite and more, stopped all that. 

Blessed have been those of us able to detach, even a little, from what socialization and capitalism have hardened into during the second decade of the 21st century.

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Cryptocurrency Fantasy Market - Investors Fear Scam

Some investors fear cryptocurrencies, with their wild upward trajectories, could be a bubble.

Others, such as 4 investors ins Fantasy Market (FM), are terrified that they have been scammed in what remains a largely unregulated marketplace. They have requested refunds.

FMtokens  would be used to watch live-streamed pornography. Investors had purchased them with ethereum.

According to Kevin Dugan at the New York Post, those 4 investors contend that FM founder Jonathan Lucas is a fraud. His original goal was to raise $25 million.

Lucas has not been charged with any wrongdoing. 

Among those investors, 1 did receive a refund. But that investor is not a happy camper. That's because what was returned had only been the amount of the original funding. Since then the value of the token has tripled.

The FM website indicates:

• Refunds will be made 90 days from the date the request was filed with hello@fantasymarket.com
• The terms and conditions for assessing the amount of the refund. It states, "Investments are being returned at the USD rate in which they were received. For example, if 1.5 ETH was invested when 1ETH = 1,000 USD, then 1,500 USD will be returned to the investpr, regardless of the current price of ETH."

The investors' expectation was that the increase in the value would belong to them. Obviously given the lack of regulations, investors have to hyper-cautious.

Another investor claims that Lucas has been trading on cryptocurrency exchanges. If that is true, it could be that he has been operating a kind of digital currency Ponzi scheme. He needs to make money in other exchanges to pay off the MyFantasy investors.

This development is unlikely, though, to deter those out to make a killing in cryptocurrencies. They may not be in it for the long term. When they have made "enough," they also assume they can cash out, receiving both the original investment and the amount of any added value.

Place your sponsored content (short and long form) and links on this site. Affordable fees. Strategic guidance/ghostwriting also available. For complimentary consultation, please contact Jane Genova (janegenova374@gmail.com).

Blockchain - 5 Reasons It Might Not Scale

Promising technologies often fail to scale.

The classic example of that has been Apple's Newton.

With great fanfare, it was positioned and packaged as a replacement for the personal computer. It  was put out there in 1993. Production ended in 1998.

Blockchain could also be a short-lived phenomenon. Yes, it could be another Paradise Lost of the tech world. In "Digital Revolution," Don Tapscott admits that possibility. 

Here are five factors which could block blockchain:

Elimination of many jobs in many industries worldwide. Hit the hardest could be banking. The current meme is that blockchain will do to banking what the internet had done to media.

Other categories in which there could be significant job loss are document creation and storage, real estate, transactional parts of the legal sector, ensuring food safety, and supply chain management.

Threatened sectors could push for legislation, regulation, and litigation slowing that down or actually killing it off. The template for that is what has been happening to Uber both in the U.S. and in other nations.

High energy consumption. Lots of energy is required to operate the computers, then cool them down. That can be expensive. In addition, in this era of fear about climate change, it could become unacceptable to environmentalists.

The bitcoin network in itself gobbles up as much electricity as the country of Ireland. In 2014, that came out in a study conducted by Karl J. O'Dwyer and David Malone.

Revisions tough to do. Blockchain's strength is its security. Each input is automatically linked to the previous one, creating a block of chains. That strength also becomes a negative. That's because it is difficult to make changes to the content. 

Regulators could decide that inability to course-correct easily and in real time makes the technology unacceptable.

Threats to the whole institution of a central government. Blockchain is a decentralized system. On that platform, another version of government can be created.

Instead of going through formal procedures to break away from the U.S., parts of California could establish their own governments.

Complexity of software. The blockchain is difficult to operate. That could slow or even prevent mainstream acceptance. Another technology which is more user-friendly could replace it. That happens all the time.

On the other hand, blockchain could exceed even the current hype about it. I would not bet against it. Previously a laggard in tech, IBM is rebranding itself as a tech pioneer through its blockchain initiatives.

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Chris Moyer, PR Pro, Joins NYU Law's State Energy & Environmental Impact Center - Clawing Back Green

The mission of NYU Law's State Energy and & Environmental Impact Center is, explains Kevin McCauley on Odwyerpr.com:

" ... to assist state attorneys general fight the Trump White House proposals rolling back climate/environmental protection and fostering clean energy."

Joining that initiative is Chris Moyer, public relations expert. Previously, he had handled communications for California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and managed public relations for other elected government officials.

In addition, Moyer pitched in with the Hillary for America campaign in Ohio.

Obviously, the severe hurricane season has transformed climate change into a mainstream issue. NYU's Center has a message more and more are willing to hear-and act on.

An educational event would be to have New York City public school students visit a wind farm. Turbines are the new cool in clean energy.

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Those Rats in Fort Greene, NY - Will They Galvanize Anti-Trumpism More Effectively than Legalities

Environmentalism is not just about climate change and rising seas.

 

Green mindsets also provide ways to deal with the trash which is over-running landfills - and bringing on the rats.

There are plenty of the latter in Fort Greene, New York. According to those who live in places such as Farragut House, those rats are as big as cats.

The trash consists both of garbage humans toss out and the residue of new construction. In addition, leveling the terrain for new buildings has unleashed rats.

Trumpism, as we know, opposes the kinds of environmentalism which sorts trash and reuses and recycles as much as possible. That's an effective way of managing waste. LEED provides guidance how to do that.

Could a Ratgate become a tipping point which galvanizes effective confrontation with the policies of Trumpism?

Anyone who has grown up in urban areas knows that it could. This isn't a futuristic matter, such an increase of X feet in sea level by 2100.

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