Servamus - Fearing the Image of the Vancouver Police
Monday, June 9th, 2008 Posted in Humanities, Legal Explorations | 3 Comments »Servamus. It is often said that in an armed law enforcement agency - be it military, paramilitary, or police - that exists within a democracy, the highest rank is civilian. That democratic hierarchy of rank is evident in the motto ...
Where are you, Bobby Kennedy? The Mindless Menace Continues
Thursday, June 5th, 2008 Posted in Humanities, Legal Explorations | 3 Comments »I was listening to CBC Radio 2 tonight on my way home, and they played Senator Robert Kennedy's speech, "On the Mindless Menace of Violence," about the plague of violence that was making the United States sick, in his view. ...
Of Mortar and Wine: A Passover Lesson in Law
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 Posted in Humanities, Legal Explorations | No Comments »Passover, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the Exodus from slavery in Egypt and the emergence of the Jewish People as a free nation under Mosaic Law, is now upon us. The tradition of the Passover seder, the traditional feast ...
What did Fairmont pay for my “protected” view?
Monday, March 17th, 2008 Posted in Humanities, Legal Explorations | No Comments »I wrote in an earlier series of posts that laws exist as a combination of policy and imperative, operating either to curb antisocial behaviour that can damage the fabric of society or that can alter it. We have some laws, like ...
After the Shyster: The Mathematical Postscript
Friday, February 29th, 2008 Posted in Legal Explorations | No Comments »In Shysters be Gone, part III, I proposed that law is composed of a policy goal combined with the strength of an imperative: Policy + Imperative = Law P + I = L If we have a law, and know the policy that ...
Shysters be Gone, part III
Thursday, February 21st, 2008 Posted in Business Law, Legal Explorations | 1 Comment »In part II, I identified two types of antisocial behaviour which we attempt to prevent, restrain, correct, punish, etc., with law: “those which harm the integrity of society, potentially leading to its collapse; and those which alter the dynamic ...
Shysters be Gone! part II
Monday, February 11th, 2008 Posted in Business Law, Legal Explorations | 1 Comment »We ended the first post in this series with the question, "Whence comes the ethical imperative, 'Don’t be a Shyster!'?" Now we will get into it: I would like to draw an ephemeral line between moral and ethical laws - just follow ...
Of Words, and Acts, and Ministers
Friday, January 25th, 2008 Posted in Legal Explorations, Privacy | No Comments »by Seva Batkin Much has been said about copyright reform in Canada, DMCA, and related topics. Much has also been said about the bland statements of the Hon. Jim Prentice in regards to all the wonderful Hollywood-sponsored goodies that the new ...
Shysters be Gone! part I
Thursday, January 10th, 2008 Posted in Business Law, Legal Explorations | 1 Comment »Contract law has, at its core, the ethical imperative, "Don't be a Shyster!"We impose a lot of positive duties with law in a complex "evolved" society. These are the things we tell people they are expected to do, in contrast ...
