Orange County Activism

It might surprise you to learn that traditionally conservative Orange County, California is home to its share of peace activism these days, as the Orange County Peace Coalition and Orange County Register's Bulletin Board illustrate. Writes Nick Schou in OC Weekly: "For the past year, protests against the Bush administration's proposed war in Iraq have been spreading throughout Orange County faster than the local flag-waving spectacles that occurred in the wake of Sept. 11." That might be an exaggeration (the flag-waving was truly enthusiastic), but the demonstrations have had their impact; I understand beach parking in Laguna yesterday was grievously compromised.

Related reading: Geoffrey Nunberg, "The Syntax of Protest."

Promise Her Anything, But Give Her Mail*

Blogging telemarketers: an oxymoron? (Or just a regular one. I mean, if lawyers can blog...) Check out the Federal Trade Commission's graphically whimsical introduction to the much anticipated national Do Not Call registry. Bonus link: general techniques for tormenting telemarketers, from AntiTelemarketer.com.

Why isn't there a more effective spam filter for your physical mailbox (not to mention your front door)? I haven't tried Private Citizen, but if it actually delivers for $10 a year it's one of the world's great bargains.

*Title courtesy of the Advertising Slogan Generator.

Some Things Old, Some Things New

This week's blawgroll updates include a student, a teacher, a journalist, an Indiana lawyer and a Steve.

• Mike chronicles his experiences at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in the Law Student's Journal. He also makes the generous offer, "If you have an interesting journal or would like to start one," of possible hosting and a Movable Type setup. [via The Blawg Ring]
• Rick Hasen is a professor at Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), a former civil appellate practitioner and author of the Election Law Blog. [via The Paper Chase]
• Drew Clark is Senior Writer for National Journal's Technology Daily, and writes a blog filled with great information on technology, intellectual property and other issues. (Since Technology Daily is subscription only, the ability to preview Drew's articles on his blog is a real plus.)
• Indiana lawyer Marcia Oddi provides an eclectic mix of administrative law, technology, biology, agriculture and more. Her blog is brand new as of March 16. [via Howard Bashman]
• Steve also keeps us up to date on things agricultural, as well as myriad other southwest Virginia legal developments on his SW Virginia Law Blog. [via Howard Bashman]

Washblawgs

Roger Winters, Electronic Court Records (ECR) Program Manager for the King County Superior Court (Seattle, WA): "Today, I participated in a demonstration of blogs for the members of the Washington State Bar Association's 'Electronic Communications Committee,' known familiarly as 'EC2.'"

Juiced Again

Apple released an iPod software update (v. 1.2.6) last Thursday that is intended to restore that 10 hour battery life many of us once enjoyed but have been missing for awhile. Early reports say it actually works. This is great, as I've been debating sending mine back to the mother ship for a fix. The update installed with no trouble this morning; will put it to the test and let you know if I'm among the thrilled.