If you would like to learn more about agriculture law or nonprofit governance, you can find me at workshops throughout the state of Indiana. Check out the new page “upcoming workshops” at right for more information. When available, links will be added with details and registration information.
It’s been nearly a year since Lawlatte.com “went live,” and to my shame, I’ve been slow in completing content for this website. As of today, you can find Agriculture information posted on the Ag Side of the website. This is just a start – more information and resources will be posted, sometime in the hopefully-not-too-distant future.
Don’t forget to checkout the Carroll County Ag Association website – my story (and I’m sticking to it) is that I put forth more effort into keeping the CCAA website up to date, so my personal content thereby suffers.
Carroll County Agriculture Association
Once again, props to my web administrators for crafting such a great website place for me to play!
The Network for Good has a great article about trends affecting online fund raising in 2010. With the economic continuing its sluggish movement toward recovery, nonprofits will need to aggressively pursue all available options to maintain their budgets – or, at the very least, minimize negative trends.
Check it out:
My math skills are exceedingly moderate. Though I have the “times table” etched in my brain from childhood drills, I still have to stop and think to get the answer. I always check my work with a calculator.
Yet, I enjoy the beauty and magic of mathematical concepts. The logic to solving a math problem and the lure of solving the (math) puzzle always hold an attraction for me.
Steven Strogatz is a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University, and has just launched an entertaining blog on the NY Times website about math – from pre-school to grad school. The first entry is fun – I look forward to learning more about math from this perspective.
Now, if I could just get my kids to have the same feeling about their math homework…
It is so easy find and use text and images from the Internet. People forget that someone created that content (whether prose or picture), and the person who creates it, owns it.
Lately, I’ve had inquiries about how folks can protect their creative works from being used (or abused) through the Internet. While I’m not sure that you can completely prevent your content from being used without your permission, you can find unauthorized use on the Internet, through the use of a few good search tools:
Copyscape- checks URL (websites) for plagiarism (text).
Tineye – allows you to upload an image to search against.
There are a number of image search engines that allow you to search for images by words and phrases – here are two to get you started:
(PS – all the images I use on my website are either free, licensed, or created by me. Just so you know.)
UPDATE – February 3, 2009
Today’s issue of Blue Avocado has a great article about copyright protection – for more information, check it out:
As an attorney, I’m frequently asked to write letters with difficult and confrontational topics, or mediate disputes between parties. Along the way, I’ve developed some guidelines that serve well to keep the peace while managing opposing viewpoints.
Today is the observance of the 19th “Make A Difference” Day. Sponsored by USA Weekend, this is one of several national and international opportunities and promotions to encourage volunteerism in your community. Here are some links to check out:
USA Weekend Make a Difference Day
While USA Weekend touts October 24 as Make a Difference Day, the United States officially observes National Volunteer Week in April
The point, however, is not to merely observe the “official” day for volunteering. The point is to volunteer as a part of your lifestyle. What do you do to “give back” to your community? How do you spend your time making your world a better place? How do you “count” in the world?
What you do doesn’t matter – what matters is that you “do work” in your community in a way that is personally meaningful to you. So…
Go – Do – Make a Difference
What I’m reading:
The Gospel According to Starbucks. This is a delightful and thoughtful study by Leonard Sweet on how the Starbucks corporate culture has not only (consciously or unconsciously) adopted what should be everything good about Christian evangelism, but has also captured the very essences of what we humans need to center our lives.
I just finished leading a discussion on this book in a number of Sunday School classes this summer, and it worked very well as a good read and good discussion book.
The book focuses on Starbuck’s passion for coffee that has become so entrenched that it has become a cultural icon. The author proposes that this is a passion that Christians – or any other people of faith, for that matter – should be able to translate into a passion for our faith.
The last chapter about the history of coffee is a fascinating walk through millennia of culture, starting in China and moving across the globe (and civilizations) to the US.
Bottom line – humans crave connection with each other, and coffee is a cultural touchstone to help us accomplish this connection.
Reminds me a bit about the goal of this website: Coffee, conversation, and … connection.
I’m going to be a little oblique with this post, because I really don’t want a lot of attention to this blog based upon the current commonly-used word for inappropriate pictures sent via cell phone.
Part of my law practice includes school law, and I’ve been researching the use – and abuse – of technology by students. It’s rather appalling how much our children do not know about proper conduct (or, maybe I’m giving them too much benefit of the doubt – maybe the know and don’t care). Some recent information about this issue:
Hamilton County School Cell Phone Policy
Issue-Brief-A Troubling New Trend-Aug09
And, yes, my kids have cell phones, and they know that their parents monitor their cell phone use and periodically review text message history. Also, my kids have cheap cell phones with voice and text only – no picture or video capability.
I admit it – I’m a bit of a tech junkie. My HP iPAQ (handheld device) and my digital camera and cell phone go with me everywhere. I enjoy the portability and ease of reading that my Kindle has brought me, and I recently purchased an HP Mini (netbook computer) to take to conferences and (hopefully) replace the big-bulky binders of paper which we refer to as the “conference manuals.”
My main frustration is a way to haul all this gear around in a compact, yet roomy, bag, that also includes “purse stuff” (some of which is the aforementioned iPAQ, camera and phone – maybe Kindle (depending on the conference))
After a fruitless search, online and in stores, I decided to make my own. Here are a few pictures. The fabric is a nice two-sided black denim – silver on the reverse, which worked out as a handy design feature.
Yes, Kindle, netbook and reading glasses, plus all the normal purse gear fit in their own little compartments. Not too heavy, sturdy enough for travel, and zipper closure. Dimensions are approximately 15″ x 15″ x 3″
My father was 
recently recognized as one of four Indiana Master Farmers for 2009. More than 50 years in the farming business, Maurice Robeson has not only been a successful farmer, but a generous participant in the community. Check out more information and the news articles about him at the Carroll County Agriculture Association website:
Carroll County Ag Association
Way to go, Dad!
The Indiana tax court ruled that landlords who rent to nonprofits may qualify for a tax exemption for their property taxes when they rent at a discount. Interesting benefit to Indiana nonprofits, nice side effect for the landlord.
There is some concern that this may affect property tax revenues – will we see landlords rushing to the county auditor’s office to file for a property tax exemption, thus lowering the amount of county property tax revenue? Maybe over time, but there would have to be a fair net benefit to the landlord: rental income at less than fair market value + reduction (savings) on property tax exemption.
Check out the Indy star article: Indiana Tax Court Ruling
Link to the Tax Court Ruling: Oaken Bucket Partners – Heartland Church
There is a lot of web space devoted to social networking. Not wanting to miss the bandwagon, professionals use social networking sites, too. I just signed up for legallyminded, a beta networking site for attorneys. (It was sort-of by accident; I was checking out the site and got carried away. Before I knew it, I had an account. Now what?). I have a LinkedIn account, which I rarely visit. As they say, “my bad.” I blame no one but myself for both having these accounts and not making full use of them. I’ve been told that this is a great way to network with both like-minded professionals and potential clients. I just can’t quite make that leap.
I’m not a huge fan of social networking. I can’t help but think that there are other things I should be doing with my time. I have a Facebook page – I signed up so I could keep track of my kids. I rarely add content. I’m not saying this a bad thing; I simply may not be as “social” as the average Jane.
Social networking for professionals: Does it work? Is it worth it? Just like anything – it depends upon what YOU put into it, and what you expect OUT of it.
There are a lot of interesting blogs out there (I’d like to think that mine might grow up to be one of them, some day). I enjoy Futurelawyer – and a recent post was especially intriguing. Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore? How do you look at the world? It may not be necessary to be perpetually happy or perpetually melancholy, but adopting a basic attitude can certainly affect your enjoyment of life – and that of those around you.
Check out this article about a San Francisco company that promotes “micro-volunteering.” Interesting concept – you can volunteer minutes of your time for a worthy cause.
I can think of several “down sides” to this new trend – the volunteer isn’t truly connected to the cause, the volunteer is given a false sense of “making an impact,” and goes away thinking that they have “done their duty” toward mankind (or animal kind, or whatever), the nonprofit may get a minute’s worth of value from the volunteer, but doesn’t accomplish a lot in the grand scheme of things.
Of course, the website boasts a number of “up sides” to the concept. See what you think:
NPR Article: The Extraordinaries and Micro-volunteering
