Josh Camson

I recently took a class on National Security Law. A very important point made in the class was the importance of clarity. Euphemisms muddy the waters and make your intent less clear. The rule holds true in legal writing, oral advocacy, and general conversation. The more clear and direct you are, the more responsive people will be to what you say. This great piece of advise is illustrated in the video below:

Via XKCD

...he's the hero that the Playground deserves, but not the one it needs right now...and so we won't play with him...because he can take it...because he's not a hero...he's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a Park Knight...

Via Digg

A few days ago, Facebook released the top trends of 2009. These are categories of words found in status updates. For example, “Family” includes words like Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, etc. Meanwhile, “Lady Gaga” includes phrases like “Poker Face.” The number two category includes words like “law school” is just the phrase “FML.” Enjoy the list! For a complete description of each category, check out Facebook’s explanation.

Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) announced a proposed amendment to California’s criminal code. The amendment would require witnesses to violent crimes to report the incident to police. Failure to report the crime could result in up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,500.

The current California law requires witnesses to report crimes against children under the age of 14. The amendment comes in the wake of a violent rape of a 16 year old girl in October. Authorities say that up to a dozen people watched the incident, but nobody called the police.