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Wednesday, July 1. 2009
Last July, my decade-long former law partner Jay Marks and I opened our separate law firms. The good karma with which we made this transition -- including sending out a joint news release -- has continued to this day, and dates back to our first meeting at a six-year-old birthday party in Connecticut in 1969. His immigration law firm and my criminal defense firm -- three blocks apart -- continue to thrive and to keep great joint relations. In these days of so many acrimonious law firm splits, I thank Jay, his staff, and my staff for making the transition as seamless and friendly as signing a new lease; installing phone lines, paint and new carpet; printing up new stationery; updating my website; buying some new furniture; and loading up the moving truck. T'ai chi master T.T. Liang, who lived to 102 and never a pushover in any way -- which is an understatement -- had ten guiding principles, including to make a thousand friend and not one enemy. I also thank my staff for being my dream team, all with excellent previous law firm experience, keeping me on top of my game, taking good care of clients when I am in and out of court, and arriving on time like a Swiss watch. David has been with my law firm from the day we moved in, and begins law school next month. Letam joined us last December as our part-time assistant, while attending the University of Maryland, where she will graduate next May. Shannon joined us last month as a full-time legal assistant, having graduated in May from the University of Maryland. It is a great feeling to know that when I am in court, everything is being taken care of well at the office, and I thank my staff every day for the wonderful work they do and the great karma they bring with them. Also new to my current law firm, since last fall, is my Virginia branch office in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Through the northern Virginia office suite company that rents to me, I have meeting space available in both Tysons Corner and in Arlington, across from the courthouse. A map of the greater Washington, D.C., metropolitan area shows how close northern Virginia is to Washington, D.C., and the Maryland counties bordering thereon, and I am thankful that the last law firm I worked for required me to take the Virginia bar exam, after having already been a member of the Maryland and D.C. bars. Thanks, Jay, and thanks to my staff for a great first year. Jon Katz
Wednesday, July 1. 2009
For whatever it is worth, Super Lawyers has added me to its 2009 list of Virginia criminal defense lawyers, on top of my inclusion in 2008 and 2009 in Super Lawyers' criminal defense lawyer listing in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers' selection process does not sound very rigorous, although Super Lawyers tries promoting it that way. Super Lawyers promotes paid display ads and expanded listings for those rated on its pages, even to get one's photo included in the company's online lawyer listings. I have not paid them a dime. At least Super Lawyers does not bill to be listed, yet. Martindale-Hubbell, on the other hand, bills to display a lawyer's peer review rating (see here and here). Jon Katz
Thursday, June 25. 2009
Since last Sunday, my home Internet connection has been dead. A technician hopefully will fix the problem tomorrow. As a result, there was no Underdog entry last night.
Monday, June 8. 2009
For many years, David Carradine and his Kwai Chang Caine character were virtually one and the same for me. I did not think about whether Carradine was the best actor for the role, nor how realistic or not Kung Fu presented effective martial arts. His character presented an alternative to the brute force, hard style of fighting that predominated in the West at that time, and an alternative to the daily hustle-bustle of life. From what I can tell from t'ai chi books and Internet sites, kung fu (1) is the same as the Chinese gung fu and (2) means accomplishment, rather than referring to any one specific martial art. Curiously, long before I started studying t'ai chi nearly fifteen years ago, one of Caine's Kung Fu television teachers taught him about cultivating and applying the chi. David Carradine has left the planet, and all the speculation and investigation over the cause of his death will not bring him back. If he is aware of the current earthly goings-on, I send a wish for a peaceful and harmonious passage full of good karma. Jon Katz
Wednesday, June 3. 2009
On June 3-4, the Chinese army turned its guns on its own people, who were peaceful demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. Such atrocities are not limited to China. Look no farther than Kent State nineteen years earlier, even if on a smaller scale and not ordered from the highest echelons of power. Following is a reprint of my April 23, 2007, account of this horrific tragedy: Tiananmen Square massacre. Best viewed on an empty stomach. On June 3, 1989, I was about to go to sleep before going to my younger brother's high school graduation the next morning. The television news reported on the Tiananmen Square massacre that had taken place. The news reports were just coming in, and apparently in the process of being clarified and detailed. Having no Internet for getting more information, I went to bed with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. The next morning I watched the news to learn how massive, extreme and brutal had been the massacre. I felt even sicker. I saw Norman Mailer at the graduation, and thanked him for sharing his writing with the world. I could have talked to him about the massacre, but felt relief enough that he was there. I returned to Washington, DC, where I was preparing for the bar exam. After lunch with two law school friends, we passed by the Chinese embassy, where I saw a lone demonstrator standing before the lady liberty statue that had been standing in a park near the embassy. I asked the driving friend to let me off there, because I decided to join the lone protestor. They advised caution about getting into trouble. What trouble was I supposed to fear, demonstrating peacefully so shortly after the massacre? The lone demonstrator was originally from China, and a local college professor in the United States. (Addendum: After receiving my request for permission to identify this professor, he gave me the go-ahead. He is Gallaudet University math professor Fat C. Lam.) His sign read "Don't let tyrants sleep." I stood with him; I forget if I made a sign, and if I did, it would only have been on the legal pad I had with me. The Secret Service uniformed officer told me he supported our message, but that he would arrest me if I entered the embassy building to express my grievances. I stayed around an hour or longer with the lone demonstrator. Out of my deep sadness over the Tiananmen massacre came hope from learning that such Tiananmen leaders as Li Lu had escaped safely, and exhilaration at meeting Mr. Lu at a 1989 Washington, DC, reception sponsored by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now called Human Rights First). The following June 1990, I joined a long massacre anniversary demonstration march supporting the Tiananmen Square activists, which ended, appropriately, before the Chinese embassy. Even with the intervening explosion of the Internet and capitalism in China, the government there has managed to continue to keep a tight grip over dissent subsequent to the Tiananmen Square massacre. Whether or not the Tiananmen activists are biding their time until the iron is hot for them to re-enter the political arena in China, or just enjoying the capitalist opportunities in the world, I recently obtained the following updates on Tiananmen leaders Li Liu and Shen Tong: Li Lu obtained multiple degrees from Columbia University, and became an investment professional. Shen Tong became a high-tech capitalist, who now visits China to sell his software products; his sister believes he is not fixated on making big money. Hopefully the spark of hope, optimism and human rights keeps Li Lu, Shen Tong, and the other surviving Tiananmen Square activists ready to turn in their business suits -- at least temporarily, when the iron is hot -- to push further for more democracy and individual liberties in China. Jon Katz.
Tuesday, May 26. 2009
To those asking if we are still seeking a new legal assistant, the position has been filled. Thanks to all those who applied. In this day of resumes sent by the simple click of a button, we may not get a chance to reply individually to each candidate who applied. This vacancy was created by my top-notch legal assistant who is going to law school. His vacancy will be filled by very capable hands. Jon Katz.
Monday, May 25. 2009
Sunday, May 10. 2009
Colman McCarthy put it well in 2003 when he said he will not eat anything that had a mother. Today, words praising mothers pour in from individuals and greeting card companies. How many of the same people speaking those words are going to eat mothers and their children today? Let us remember that each land and sea animal and each fish was born to a mother. Watch the bond between mammalian animals and their children. Watch birds making nests for their children, and showing them how to fly. Watch fish swimming together in schools. A great untruth, if not lie, is that humans need animals to survive and to be healthy. Since 1988, I have not eaten any land or sea animals, nor fish. I am in excellent health. For centuries, hundreds of millions of vegetarians in India have led healthy lives, and continue doing so. Why make your body into a graveyard for rotting corpses? Meat is delicious? Only as a trojan horse of masqueraded gross rotting flesh and blood (let alone hot dogs that include tongues among the other more disgusting eaten parts of animals). For those who crave the flavor of meat, the refrigerator and freezer cases of natural food stores have delicious substitutes, and large cities have delicious vegetarian sections of Chinese restaurant menus including such analogues. For those who think vegetarian food is boring, check out the vegetarian selections at Indian, Ethiopian and Italian restaurants as an example. If people are going to praise mothers today, how on earth are the mouths that speak such words going next to put mothers and their children into their mouths? ADDENDUM: Today's blog entry joins my annual Thanksgiving dissent against the heavy meat-based focus on that holiday. This posting also joins last year's blog entry blasting the culture of rampant meat-eating for unnecessarily high food costs, heavy pollution through cattle flatus alone, and gross waste of land to feed food animals rather than to feed humans directly. For some delicious and simple vegetarian recipes, two links are here and here.
Sunday, May 3. 2009
SunWolf perpetually inspires me. (Courtesy SunWolf.) Commercial success and personal excellence sometimes overlap, but often not. For instance, many movies enjoy huge commercial success for little reason other than that all the millions of dollars of well-placed advertising and public relations hype -- and news organizations that hyped the hype -- drew filmgoers to the box office. In fact, the very nature of the commercial film industry presents a big challenge for filmmakers to focus on pure artistry in filmmaking, when considering such factors as the huge financing needed for most films from creation to distribution to marketing, the difficulty in selling films that do not include big-name actors and directors, the ratings system that removes too much high-level art from cinema, and the difficulty in convincing movie theaters to run films lasting longer than two hours or shorter than one hour. Additionally, more people will flock to a film, book, or song that makes them happy than to material that depresses, even if the depressing artwork expresses critically important messages in a masterful way. Unlike visual and musical artists, who are free to create works without concern for any audience member, trial lawyers face the essential simultaneous challenge of needing to achieve personal excellence in order to serve their clients as well as possible, and in the process to answer to the audience in the jury box and in black robes -- and to work within the limitations of governing law and court orders -- because persuasion always is about convincing the decisionmakers. A lawyer's persuasive abilities are not measured by jurors or jurists who realize years after the case is finished that they should have ruled in the lawyer's favor but did not. That may have worked posthumously for Van Gogh, who struggled financially, but gives little comfort to the losing litigant. Therefore, for continued inspiration to strive for excellence as a trial lawyer, among others I look to other trial lawyers. I also look to musicians, visual artists, and writers, who need little to no financing to create their works, and thus have more opportunities to create pure art. I also draw inspiration from great actors, including amazing acting teacher Josh Karton, who helps lawyers find and present the best of their real persuasive selves. I also look to filmmakers, most of whom face many commercial constraints, while trial lawyers face the constraints of governing rules of procedure, judicial orders and refereeing, and the limits of their clients' funds for obtaining expert witnesses and other important resources. As inspiring journalist Daniel Schorr aptly eulogized Frank Zappa: "Maybe the world around [Zappa] was too crass, too mediocre, too homogenized. So he cursed it with dirty words, and went back to his music synthesizer, searching for new musical meanings. And ways of serving kids. His own, and the world's." As inspiring criminal defense lawyer Tony Serra has emphasized: "Do not surrender to pragmatism or materialism. Follow your heart and spirit to serve society" Here is my partial list and my deep thanks to those who inspire me to continue striving for personal excellence: - Lawyers: Tony Serra, Steve Rench, and SunWolf. - Musicians: Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. - Writers: Flannery O'Conner, Eldridge Cleaver, and Jack Kerouac. - Visual artists: Santana Miyzaki, Joseph Kosuth, and Robert Crumb.
- Actors: Ruth Gordon, Toshiro Mifune, and Ernie Kovacs. - Filmmakers: Jim Jarmusch, Wayne Wang, and David Lynch. Whom would you add to this list? ADDENDUM (May 4, 2009): Today I added the above list of filmmakers to this blog entry. which I had intended to include in the original entry.
Sunday, May 3. 2009
Jun Yasuda. Last week, I posted on my family's visit to my teacher and friend Jun Yasuda's peace pagoda and temple, east of the Hudson River. Subsequently, I found the following five-part video series from the pagoda's fourteenth anniversary celebration, which event I unfortunately missed. The clips are here, here, here, here, and here. Part II, displayed above, conveys some more of the essence of Jun-san.
Wednesday, April 29. 2009
Twitter is McSpeak. Long before the Internet came about, yogi Baba Hari Dass went silent and communicated by a chalkboard hung around his neck. Such communication helped Baba-ji free himself from excessive verbal and written noise so he could focus on living the yoga life. This is very much the opposite of sending multiple daily text McMessages from a cellphone followed by McTwitter. However, yesterday I learned that intriguing people beyond SunWolf are actively posting on Twitter, including Daniel Schorr, Jack Herer, and the folks at Barry's Magic Shop. For the time being, I will follow their postings and may post a few items from time to time, from @jonkatz5. Here are two of my recent posts: - "With such amazing folks as Daniel Schorr praising twitter -- http://Tinyurl.com/schorrzappa -- can't McTwitter expand above 140 characters?" Why cannot Twitter expand beyond its 140-character limit per message? Is Twitter trying to fit within the usual space limit for SMS cellphone text messages? - "Vomit and the Zits: Have any of you heard their music? http://tinyurl.com/c7t5mg." Their name alone makes me wish I had gone to hear this since-defunct band play in Montreal during my first visit there in 1985. Andy Carvin at NPR set up Schorr's twitter account in February, and Schorr has posted there several times, including: - "What impresses me about Twitter is that it gives you a sense of community. Thanks again to everyone for being so great.".11:15 AM Mar 7th - " Thanks to everyone. I like being in touch with young people, who are probably a third or even a quarter of my age." 2:21 PM Mar 6th - "Reflecting a lot about the reaction to my Twittering. It strikes me that it could serve as a bridge between the generations." 2:21 PM Mar 5th - "is thrilled about the response from his Twitter followers, and actually quite moved. It's delightful" 2:19 PM Mar 4th Daniel Schorr rocks, and he even did so with Frank Zappa, as I discuss here.
Sunday, April 26. 2009
Copyright Jon Katz. 
Copyright Younghee Katz 
Up the pagoda staps with my boy (Copyright Younghee Katz) 
Drumming up peace in the temple, with my boy (Copyright Younghee Katz). 
The rustic setting is offset by a soothing woodfired traditional Japanese bath up the road and behind the temple. (Copyright Younghee Katz). Last weekend was my fourth trip to my friend and teacher Jun Yasuda's awe-inspiring peace pagoda and serene temple in rural Petersburg, New York (pictured above), east of Albany on the other side of the Hudson. This was the first time I went along with my wife and son. No matter one's religious or non-religious focus, the visit for many people is calming and harmonizing, to the point that my law school friend's otherwise constantly friendly-hyper dog even went serene on first seeing the pagoda. I write here about my first journey to Jun Yasuda and the now-replaced temple and pagoda in 1996. The above pictures are displayed in reverse chronological order. Starting at the bottom is the welcome sign to the temple grounds, where people park unless they have handicaps that necessitate driving closer. Next is a view inside the main room of the temple, which building also contains sleeping quarters and a large kitchen. This and all Nipponzan Myohoji temples include a large prayer drum and hand-held drums of the sort pictured, for chanting the Odaimoku of Na-Mu-Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo, which is at once a profound prayer for peace and the essence of the Lotus Sutra. Like most traditional drums, they are made from animal skin, which challenges my veganism. Next comes our walk up the steps to the pagoda, which is an empty structure that Jun Yasuda relates contains relics of Buddha Shakyamuni. Above that is a view of the pagoda and the surrounding grounds. The benches in the foreground are on the right side of the temple, suitable for such gatherings as annual celebrations of the Buddha's birthday. At the top is the English description of the last or second to last of the eight or so reliefs on the sides of the pagoda that tell the short story of the life of the Buddha. For a YouTube video of the pagoda, see here. How was the land for the temple and pagoda obtained? This Nipponzan Myohoji page says: "[Jun] Yasuda had been close to Native Americans, and her stupa was dedicated to their survival. Before building the pagoda, Yasuda had walked across the country four times in support of peace and Native Americans, beating her hand drum as she chanted the Odaimoku. In 1983, she was fasting and praying in New York [apparently at the Albany statehouse on behalf of Dennis Banks], when she met Hank Hazelton, a long time activist for Native Americans. Hazelton offered her a parcel of land. In October of 1985, work began on the structure soon to be called the Grafton Peace Pagoda. The pagoda was dedicated in 1993. Native American symbols ring the pagoda, while other images inlaid into the dome depict various aspects of the Buddha's life and teachings." The top picture above shows a sign at the pagoda that claims the Buddha's last words were the following haiku: "Life is a river/ Always moving. Do not hold / onto things. Work hard." A google search suggests that other Buddhist traditions might differ over the content of his last words. The first line of the Buddha's last words depicted above is significant both to Buddhism and the t'ai chi Chinese martial art that I practice. Life constantly changes, just as a river does, which highlights the impermanence of life that is a focus of Buddhism, and the need in t'ai chi to work with change at every turn and never to fight the change with hard energy. The admonition "do not hold onto things" is part of the Buddhist focus of non-attachment in such areas as non-attachment to our bodies, personal relationships and possessions; and letting go our desires and expectations of ourselves, others, and circumstances. Similarly, t'ai chi teaches its practitioners to empty the clutter in their minds. The final sentence "work hard" reminds me of a story of t'ai chi megamaster Cheng Man Ch'ing, who once pointed out to his students while on a walk that they have plenty of time in the future to rest (gesturing towards a cemetery) but that much is left to be done while on this Earth. ADDENDUM I: Speaking of t'ai chi, here is my t'ai chi update: This weekend, I returned to the weekly Saturday morning t'ai chi push hands practice on Capitol Hill, where I learned more about neutralizing the opponents' push through softening the body, dealing with the ever-changing river of surrounding challenges and pushes, generally moving with a circle as part of one's defense, and sinking into the ground when doing the press and push hands moves. Also, I got two excellent books in the mail this past week to add to my t'ai chi library. The first is Wolfe Lowenthal's second entry of his two-volume biography of his teacher Cheng Man-Ch'ing: Gateway to the Miraculous: Further Explorations in the Tao of Cheng Man Ch'ing, which follows Lowenthal's There Are No Secrets: Professor Cheng Man Ch'ing and His T'ai Chi Chuan. Among Wolfe's interesting disclosures in Gateway to the Miraculous is his heavy antiwar activity. Paul Krassner says Lowenthal was a Yippie organizer. At the Chicago Seven trial, the late singer Phil Ochs testified about having been arrested at the 1968 Chicago Democratic convention along with Lowenthal, a pig, Jerry Rubin, Stew Albert, and three others. Cheng Man Ch'ing followed both Confucius and Lao-tzu (whose Taoism heavily influences t'ai chi), the latter being said to have been the author of the central Taoist book entitled the Tao Teh Ching. According to Mark Hennessy's translation of Professor Cheng's Master of Five Excellences, Professor Cheng once reviewed all translations of the Tao Teh Ching and I Ching (Paul Gallagher calls the latter book "the central source book for all Chinese Philosophy and Science") at the Columbia University library, only to find them all "translated completely wrong." Therefore, I went out of my way to obtain Cheng Man Ch'ing's commentaries on the Tao Teh Ch'ing, which is entitled My Words are Very Easy to Understand. The volume is an English translation by Professor Cheng's late interpreter and disciple Tam Gibbs both of the Professor's commentaries and of the original text of the Tao Teh Ching, which suggests that it might be a reliable translation. If you know of a reliable translation of the I Ching, please let me know. ADDENDUM II:On April 27, I e-mailed the above-discussed Wolfe Lowenthal, who confirmed that he very much likes Richard Wilhelm's translation of the I-Ching. Carl Jung writes the foreward to Wilhelm's translation.
Friday, April 24. 2009
Not having found any online news on the following, I briefly post the sad news that criminal defense lawyer Bill Moffitt passed away today, after being hospitalized a few days ago. I first heard of Bill when a fellow law student told me that he was defending Earl Clanton against the death penalty when I was obsessively getting the word out against the death penalty in collaboration with my law school’s Amnesty International chapter. Underlining my aversion to living in a state, Virginia, whose government is a constant execution machine, Mr. Clanton was executed soon thereafter. I first met Bill in 1991 when I joined the NACDL before I had ever handled a criminal case. Bill inspired me to always reach for higher heights in fighting for justice. Like his law partners at the time (John Zwerling and Lisa Kemler), he was consistently generous with his time to teach at CLEs of the NACDL and the NCDC (neither of which pays for faculty time) and other organizations. All three gave me a respectful ear when I checked in with them about the path they had taken to reach the heights they reached. Although I have only limited knowledge about Bill’s specific cases, I do know that he devoted six months of his life to co-counsel with Linda Moreno in their smashing trial success in defending Sami Al-Arian against terrorism-related charges in Florida federal court http://www.freesamialarian.com . Having heard from other colleagues whom Bill inspired, his spirit and inspiration clearly live on. Thanks, Bill, for you.
Thursday, April 23. 2009
When I was born, fax machines did not exist, let alone personal computers, the Internet, cellphones, BlackBerries and Iphones, and CD players. A simple pencil, pen, or typewriter -- sometimes even a manual one -- got the written job done fine. Today, people overdepend on electricity, batteries, phone lines, and the Internet to communicate, to the point that a crisis can arise if any of them break down. In that regard, for a few hours this morning, our e-mail and website were down when my sitehost's ISP was down. I generally like my sitehost very much. The company does not have contractual provisions against adult entertainment, which I do not upload, but I like the free expression principle; apparently some sitehosts ban sexually explicit visuals in order to avoid huge bandwidth drains. Ordinarily, all runs smoothly with my law firm's email, website and blog. I do prefer a sitehost with a redundant backup server to avoid such downtime with my website and email, although such downtimes fortunately are infrequent and short. If you have recommendations, I am all ears.
Wednesday, April 22. 2009
Cecil Taylor is an amazing musician who refuses to cut commercial corners on his road of ongoing excellence. Cecil and I are close mutual friends of Trudy Morse, whom I write about here. I had the good fortune to experience Cecil at the Library of Congress in 1999, and then to join with Trudy and numerous others at Cecil's hotel room to hear him talk captivatingly of music and other topics, which followed his backstage discussion of such topics as the artistry of bridges. In 2001, Cecil was playing a tambourine in the audience at Trudy's birthday celebration, and there we talked some more. Today's news reports that Cecil "pulled out of next week's Melbourne International Jazz Festival because of illness." This follows a cancellation of Cecil's performance around nine days ago in Vermont. Cecil Taylor, who recently celebrated his eightieth birthday, has spread wonderful karma over many decades. Please join me in sending Cecil good karma as he recovers from his illness.
ADDENDUM I (April 30, 2009): Yesterday came word that a friend of Cecil's confirmed that he is alright. I have no details beyond that at this time. I continue sending Cecil good karma.
ADDENDUM II: Another close friend of Cecil Taylor is my close friend Trudy Morse, who pays tribute to Cecil here.
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