Top 10 Things I Should Blog About

Sometimes I have a bunch of blog ideas kicking around, and I can't decide which ones to actually DO. You might think this is a good thing, since I would have "a lot a material" to sustain my blogging over the coming weeks. The problem is, sometimes if you don't nail a good blog idea right away, it either becomes old news OR so much is written by others that there's nothing left to say.

A little amateur writer honesty is also in order.....sometimes it's easier to have a bunch of ideas than to actually write the pieces. This comes under the heading of "things that look easier than they are, until you try to do them". Like golf, fishing, and yoga. I'd feel worse about having blog ideas, without the blog pieces written, if I were a full time writer. Sometimes I wonder.....if I were a full time writer, and not a "lawyer doing my writing on the side", wouldn't it be easy to turn all the ideas into fully written pieces?

Actually, I do know better. It would NOT be easy. And my virtual hat is off to all REAL writers. Until I try it full time, I will always wonder if I could take writing to a higher level than I have at golf, fishing and yoga......things I have liked, tried, and sucked at. And yes, I do realize that one should not say they "suck" at yoga, that you "are where you are and you do what you can and that is OK", but it is also true that "when you do and you do and you are how you were", you suck.

Here are the top 10 things I should blog about:

10. The over-use of antibiotics is the main reason so many people are sick all the time.

9. The issue of the "shameful" bonuses is a bogus issue that has zero to do with the economic recovery. For Congress to pass laws imposing a 90% tax is the ultimate hypocrisy, and the type of ex-post facto law the founding fathers banned for the States, right in the Constitution. Today's Wall Street Journal editorial made this exact point. The 90% tax is purely grandstanding to distract folks from the irresponsible way the "economic stimulus" packages have been rushed and botched.

8. I have written that GM will soon be in Chapter 11, but the better story is that AIG should already BE in Chapter 11.

7. I am amazed how often intelligent, unmarried older people, with a LOT of money, die without a Will. The result of this is distant relatives inheriting their money. Did they really think they were going to live forever? Did they even CONSIDER making a Will and leaving their money to charity? Were they too cheap to pay for a proper Will?

6. The first and most important thing to do when thinking about a website for your business is: make believe you are the ideal customer/client for your business, and then Google every possible search term you can think of. Check the results and look at all the sites on all the page ones. That's your guide. It doesn't cost anything to do this, so if you are thinking about a website, do this right away.

5. AIG (yes, again!) is being treated different than any other company, and for good reason. They were the lynch pin in the giant Ponzi scheme that WAS the American mortgage system. The thumbnail version is that the mortgages could not have been grouped into bonds and sold, unless there was insurance. Big banks and government bought the bonds based on their value being "insured" by AIG. But AIG, and the banks who relied on their insurance, should have considered the following analogy........if I went to a sports book in a casino, and ALL the action was on one team, and the point spread was never adjusted, in fact, the point spread (interest rates, hehe) was adjusted to bring even MORE action on one team, and the bookie was not laying off it's bets, in fact it was continuing to take even more action on the same team, I would conclude that THE BOOKIE WAS GAMBLING!!!!! And so they were, and the other team won. And we are bailing out the bookie and all the bettors.

4. I learned how to play mah-jongg, and I really enjoy it. Whew, I admitted it.

3. The single most under-rated lawyering skill is writing good letters. It's the first thing I teach any new person in my office. I have a foolproof system for writing great business letters. Three parts to it: One: Identify yourself, and other pertinent parties. Two: Tell the story (this is the hard part, but telling the story well is what MAKES the letter) Three: Conclude by stating your position or asking for something. That's all there is to it.

2. A contested estate matter is like a contested matrimonial case, except there are more players, AND the one person who could possibly keep things under control is dead. Lovely way to spend one's time.

1. I can't imagine staying in law practice for the rest of my working life, yet I can't imagine not doing it.

Guess I'll be keeping my day job.