TED NUGENT ENDORSES MITT ROMNEY.

JURIES: Yesterday’s post on jury duty produced this email from Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton in Knoxville:

Enjoyed the link today to “Why Does Everyone Hate Jury Duty”.

Here in the Eastern District, we put the comfort, security and needs of our jurors first. As a result, our “exit surveys” of former jurors shows overwhelmingly positive experiences on jury service. Maybe the L.A. court administrator should spend some time in East Tennessee.

Never a bad idea. And reader Brian Oxley writes:

I was recently on a state felony trial here in Harris Co. (Houston) and was most impressed with the respect the entire system showed jurors.

One quick example. Everyone stood for the jury as it entered and exited, even the judge. We did not rise for the judge when she entered or exited.

In fact, I was so impressed by our judge and her peroration honoring the jury, I plan to work for her reelection campaign.

Maybe this is an argument for elected judges. Meanwhile, reader Yakko Warner writes:

My take: I don’t hate the concept of jury duty itself. The problem is, it’s mandated service for less than minimum wage.

I’ve been called for jury duty twice in the past decade. The first time, I was a contractor, and as a contractor, my employer was only obligated to pay me the state-mandated amount of $50/day. The second time, I was a full-time employee, so I got my full salary for the two days of jury selection. However, the trial was estimated to last eight days, and employers are only required to give their employees full pay for three, after which we get the same $50/day. There’s no way I’d be able to pay my mortgage — let alone all the other bills, plus food for my family of six — on that.

For reference, minimum wage is over $7, or over $56 for an eight-hour day.

Plus, from reader Brian Finlay:

I’ve been conducting jury trials for about 8 years now as a criminal defense attorney and now prosecutor.

In my jurisdiction, it is usually obvious from the moment potential jurors enter the courtroom that they are unhappy about being there. I try to use that to my advantage by acknowledging that fact during voir dire. Normally, one of my first questions is whether anyone is really thrilled and excited to be there. Predictably, no hands go up, which usually leads to some laughter. I then spend the next few minutes talking to them about why it’s so uncomfortable and inconvenient and how important their job as jurors is. From that point forward, they are usually much more comfortable and responsive. It may or may not lead to a better verdict, but at least I don’t have an angry mob glaring at me for the duration of the trial.

Reader Claire Toohey emails:

I’ve heard horror stories about jury duty, but I was recently on a long-ish trial, about 5 weeks. Second degree murder was the most serious charge. Plenty of people who thought they might be eliminated as jurors ended up included, and we had a couple of lawyers, financiers, a retired police chief, a recently elected town official, teachers, and other people with glancing knowledge of the issues that would be raised. The issues included were complex enough we were allowed to take notes, which the court kept in custody. A court officer said he’d never seen a jury take so many–most of us had to request second pads of paper. If I were being tried for as serious a crime, I’d want a jury like mine, full of smart, experienced people who really did have other stuff to do, but who meant their oaths. They considered what was presented with the care it deserved, and no person tried to or was allowed to dominate other people’s opinions.

We were treated cordially, as if we were VIP guests, by every court officer. Our judge decided matters quickly, kept to her declared schedule, and kept the trial rolling (especially important as we were fast approaching Christmas). Even with that, there were unexpected issues that turned 3 weeks to 5, but what I most appreciated was the free wifi in the jury room and lounge, so I could at least log in to work during breaks, and that we were allowed to keep our cellphones until final deliberations. I know relying on the court-admitted evidence, not outside info, is vital to the process, but if we want more qualified people to be willing to serve, we have to be willing to rely on people’s oaths and to see violators prosecuted for knowingly breaching them. Treat us like responsible adults whose presence and service is valued. The nature of the crimes and the defense made the going difficult at times, but the court officers and procedures didn’t make it any worse. It was a valuable experience, and improved my confidence in the system.

And reader Fred Butzen writes:

Well, people hate jury duty because the pay is lousy, it screw up your work schedule, and, with few exceptions, it’s mind-numbingly boring. The only time in my life that I saw Oprah show was when I was called for jury duty at Cook County family court. The jurors had to wait in a dingy cafeteria-style room that had a TV on each wall, all of which were tuned
to Oprah: there was no escaping her!

On the other hand, I did serve on a jury once, for a medical malpractice case, again in Cook County. It was a two-week trial, a difficult case. I have to say, the experience raised my opinion of the legal system enormously. What impressed me most was the fact that two parties placed their intractable dispute into the hands of 12 fellow citizens, drawn more or less at random, trusting that we would render a just verdict. We were a cross section of the Cook County population, ranging from a woman with a doctorate in pharmacology, to a retired school teacher, to a young Hispanic homemaker, to a garage mechanic. The scope of knowledge in that room was impressive, as was the wisdom with which it was applied in our deliberations. I think I’m a better citizen for having had the experience.

Yes, most people who actually serve on juries come away fairly impressed with the experience. It’s the non-jury waiting time that seems to be the most galling aspect.

SHOCKER: Yes, Chicks Dig Jerks. “Fertility and violence interact in complicated ways: Men are more likely to be violent toward fertile women, and fertile women select men who are more likely to be violent.”

NARCISSISM IN HIGH OFFICE: Obama Likens Himself to Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. A reader comments: “Obama left out Jesus Christ and Moses…pretty cocky for a guy that bankrupted the USA.”

HEH.

TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: “Cash and carry government,” indeed. Corruption, thy name is Hollings. So why isn’t the press — so eager to chase down Enron connections — paying more attention to this?

¡NO PASARAN!: What Would Hans Christian Andersen Say? Fisking Matt Taibi’s Update on His Andrew Breitbart Obituary.

WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ WARRANTS: Who Needs a Warrant? Florida Cop Dresses As Power Company Repairman to Gain Access to Home. Will he do jail time? Because I’m pretty sure if I were caught infiltrating the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office disguised as a repairman, that’s what would happen to me.

AT AMAZON, bestselling medical books.

Also, a one-day-only sale on Sennheiser noise-canceling headphones.

UPDATE: Friday Lightning Deals in Electronics. Updated hourly.

A NEW FACEBOOK PAGE: One Million Breitbarts.

HIS NAME IS AKASH DALAL: “Religious Agnostic” Rutgers Student Arrested For Masterminding Synagogue Firebombings.

DANA LOESCH: Republicans Fall For Manufactured Story. Shocking!

UPDATE: Sandra Fluke Does Not Speak For Me. “When did Georgetown Law start admitting Kardashians?” Now that’s just mean.

WELL, THE POWER’S OUT and we’ve just sat though another tornado warming in the basement. Fortunately, I still have power for the Internet courtesy of a big uninterruptible power supply. I also had multiple flashlights handy — and the power-off nightlights in the hall and on the stairs worked fine for initial lighting that made it easy to get ’em. The weather radio warned us of the tornado warning about 90 seconds before the EAS on the TV did, which is typical.

In short, all the prep worked fine. I just kinda wish I’d sprung for the whole-house generator now. . . .

UPDATE: A reader emails:

Weather radio is nice, and certainly better than nothing, but you seriously need to use www.Weathercall.net
As the Emergency Manager for my city, I can’t publicly endorse a product, but I actually use this product to trigger activation of the tornado sirens for my city.

I get a text message directly from the National Weather Service system when a warning is generated, and I get a phone call from Weathercall before the text message, and usually about 5 minutes before any EAS messages come out.

My wife’s hospital uses them, and our local water plant uses them as well.

For $9.95 a year, what more can you ask for? If the registered address is in the warning box, it will trigger calls to three phone numbers and emails to three email addresses.

Maybe I need it. Sigh.

TOM MAGUIRE deplores my lack of vision.

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, ALAS: Issa Challenges Dems to ‘Restore Civility’ on Contraception Debate.

SO GO TO BED: Law Is Second Most Sleep-Deprived Profession.

Back when he was interviewing for lawprof jobs, one of my friends said he noticed that past the mid-thirties practicing lawyers tended to look about 5 years older than their actual age, while lawprofs tended to look about 5 years younger. Maybe this explains it.

MICHAEL WALSH stands up against Frummery.

Frum pretends to be standing up against the unrefined elements of the right. But there’s nothing refined about opportunism and backstabbing.

ERIC SCHEIE: My Gain With No Pain.

WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS: A Waring Professional Popcorn Maker on sale.

PALEOHACKS: A Paleo Diet website.

IS ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE a waste of money?

When it comes to computer security, he’s paranoid — and for good reason. He’s seen what the bad guys can do. But when he met with Wired at the RSA Conference in San Francisco this week, he said something surprising: He doesn’t use antivirus software.

As it turns out, many of his security-minded peers don’t use it either. The reason: If someone is going to try and attack them, they’re likely to use a new technique, one that most antivirus products will miss. “If you asked the average security expert whether they use antivirus or not,” Grossman says “a significant proportion of them do not.”

Dan Guido, the CEO of security startup Trail of Bits also doesn’t use AV. Some security pros use it because they’re in regulated industries, or because they work with customers who require it. “If it weren’t for that,” he says, “almost nobody in the security industry would run it.”

It’s a story we heard again and again at RSA this week. The pros are generally smart enough to avoid the things that will get them hacked — visiting malicious websites or opening documents from untrusted sources. But even if they get fooled, the odds are their antivirus software catching it are pretty low. But many of these pros also believe that antivirus isn’t always that useful to the average business either.

Hmm.

NEANDERTHALS WERE ANCIENT MARINERS. “Neanderthals may have beaten modern humans to the seas. Growing evidence suggests our extinct cousins criss-crossed the Mediterranean in boats from 100,000 years ago – though not everyone is convinced they weren’t just good swimmers. . . . Ferentinos thinks Neanderthals had a seafaring culture for tens of thousands of years. Modern humans are thought to have taken to the seas just 50,000 years ago, on crossing to Australia.”

21st CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: My Life As A Prison Wife.

#GREENFAIL: Chevy Volt “Temporarily” Halts Production.

ANNE BAYEFSKY: The Atlantic Interview: Obama Rewrites His Record on Israel.