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essays Law Law enforcement Politics

Worth a read: 99 problems

Ever wondered about your rights? Can, for example, you say no when the police ask to search your car?

Caleb Mason is here to help. (PDF)

This is a line-by-line analysis of the second verse of 99 Problems by Jay-Z, from the perspective of a criminal procedure professor. It’s intended as a resource for law students and teachers, and for anyone who’s interested in what pop culture gets right about criminal justice, and what it gets wrong.

http://pdf.textfiles.com/academics/lj56-2_mason_article.pdf

The song is often known for it’s crude language. I had avoided it, but according to Jay-Z and this article, it’s a reference to a K-9 search dog, not a woman or women. Also, you can’t refuse to exit the car, a locked trunk doesn’t require a warrant, and my home state is 2-party-recording consent.

Well worth a read. I’m no lawyer, but this was entertaining and informative.

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Covid-19

Wisdom about Covid

Categories
Aphorisms

Today’s wisdom

The road not taken would also have gotten me home.

James Richardson, “For Now”
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recommendations

How to be a star | Dan Dreams of Coding

This is a bad place to be. You’re working hard. You’re creatively finding solutions to company problems. The developer next to you gets kudos just for doing their job, while your hard work and great ideas get ignored, and you get branded as being unreliable. The reason is simple – no matter how valuable you believe your side projects to be, your manager, business partners, and coworkers are depending on you for something else. If you aren’t delivering your assigned tasks on time and with a high level of quality, then anything else you’re working on is going to be ignored at best, seen as self-indulgent at worst.

It’s hard to find good career advice for software developers. This piece, which I’ve read half a dozen times, really is excellent start to finish. I’ve forwarded it around at work, bookmarked it and plan to share it when mentoring. Highly recommended.

via How to be a star | Dan Dreams of Coding