Wednesday, June 1, 2011

10 Laws of Power - You Know You Want Some

We all want to learn how to get the one thing that is more important than money but less important than spirituality. What is that? No, it's not Krispy Kremes, it's power. Robert Greene, author of books, "The Art of Seduction" and "The 50th Law" (with 50 cent) and Joost Elffers, author of "Teddy's World" and "How are you peeling?" collaborated on the laws which are a total of 48. I picked out some of my favorites for all of you.

Never Outshine the Master
In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.

Win through your Actions, Never through Argument
Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory:  The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion.  It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word.  Demonstrate, do not explicate.





Conceal your Intentions
Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions.  If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. 

Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary
When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control.  It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process.  Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack.  You hold the cards.

Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky
You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease.  You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster.  The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you.  Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.

When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude
If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds.  He will find a way to ignore you.  Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion.  He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.

Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor
Too much circulation makes the price go down:  The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear.  If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired.  You must learn when to leave.  Create value through scarcity.

Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark
No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons.  The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are.  Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.

Re-Create Yourself
Do not accept the roles that society foists on you.  Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience.  Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you.  Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Be Royal in your Own Fashion:  Act like a King to be treated like one
And since this post had a lot of words I leave you with this song:

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you.  For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others.  By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tales from the Paper-Cut Trenches: The Sin of the 3 Minute Late Conference Call

Today was one of the most frustrating days I have had since being employed at a law firm. An attorney, we shall call him Robert, screamed and yelled at me in frustration. My computer issues caused a conference call to start an alarming 3 minutes late. This evidently was probable cause for an attitude.

Now, this wasn't my first time at the rodeo. It wasn't my first time being a "disappointment" and it wasn't my first time on the receiving end of the most high strung and verbal stinging group of people of the world. What made this frustrating to tears was 3 fold.

(1) It was a technical foul. Having computer issues is not my fault. I have no control over the decade old equipment on my desk. To yell orders with a frightening tone at me from your office, does not fix the issue but only causes everyone anxiety that is involved. Including the poor IT guy at my desk. I am the first one to admit and apologize when I do something inccorrectly but when it is not within my control it is the most frustrating feeling in the world.

(2) Robert is not my attorney. He is not assigned to me. He has someone else he could have asked to handle his issues. Stefany, the office bitch, is his assistant. (more about her in another post) When I went to ask Stefany to help him and I with our technical issues. She replied, literally with her nose in the air, that she did not have time to help. Maybe because she was too busy eating her morning croissant. I am always the first to volunteer to help assist other attorneys. I am the first to stay late, come in weekends, take on extra assignments and ask if someone else needs help. NO ONE IN THAT OFFICE EVER HELPS ME OR VOLUNTEERS TO HELP ME. When I ask for it, in a crunch like this, it would be nice to have some teamwork, some support. Stephany and Esther were out on Friday. Which means I had to cover for their 6 attorneys and my own on the day before a 3 day weekend after working 12 days straight. Did I complain? No. I guess I should have just eaten my croissant and ignored their absence.
(3) Robert, the frat boy from Berkley, thinks he is super cool get along with everyone guy. He also has a kid that's Nunu's age. We have hung out multiple times outside the office, had several lunches together and have even shared a few happy hours and play dates. For him to now "pull rank" and play Mr. Attorney talking down to the Secretary for filing her nails and not getting her job done is demeaning and uncalled for. If he knows me outside of work and has worked with me several months now, he should know that I am not purposefully causing his call not to happen. He should have sided with me and my technical issue, taken a deep breath and realized that shit happens sometimes and yelling at me across the office may not be the best thing for him to do. He better NEVER ask me for another play date.

This was maybe my third time crying at work. This time it was out of pure frustration and anger with nowhere to go with my emotions. I couldn't slap the shit out of Stefany and I couldn't tell Robert what a douchebag he was, so I was just stuck in the middle, floating and angry.

What made matters worse is Robert has the audacity to go to one of the partners of the firm and complain about the 3 minute call delay. Of course he doesn't matter the verbal abuse that I have already endured from him and therefore I am subjected to further abuse from the partner he chooses to "tell on me" to. I hate that this happened and I am left with no solutions. I hate that when you are a simple staff member you have no power against attorneys who are the upper level of the firm. I hate that as a woman you are chastised for being "too sensitive" and taking things "personally". I hate that when there is a human resource issue like this there is always a "next time you should do this..." speech at the end. When is should be a "next time he shouldn't be such a douche to you" speech.

I am feeling very wronged today. I am feeling very betrayed today. I am glad I have this blog to vent. I am more glad that I now will move forward and study for my LSAT in preparation of leaving this situation behind me. As an attorney, I vow to never treat my staff this way. It's attorneys like this that makes the world hate them.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Just a Spoonful of Sugar to Help the Medicine Go Down

Hi Peeps. I know I have been away long. I have been so busy both studying for the LSAT and working my ass off incorporating a new Partner that has been added to my roster of attorneys at work. (I try to spend any free time I have giving love to JoJo Squared)

As you can see, I am awake at 1:00 am on a Friday night, not because I was in the club dancing the night away but studying. In addition to the lethargic reading of logic, I have subjected my body to yet another late night after working for 12 days straight. I must be a masochist.

When I am usually up around this time, I like to Stumble the net. In effort of giving my brain a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. Here are some funny pictures I found tonight. Enjoy them in my apologies for not posting. One week to go...I will be back soon.








Friday, April 15, 2011

Lady Wants Match.com To Screen The Weirdos

A California woman is suing a popular Internet dating site, saying she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on Match.com.

The entertainment executive, unidentified Jane Doe, hired Attorney Mark L. Webb to file her lawsuit with the Los Angeles Superior Court.

The suit demands that Match.com screen its members for sexual predators. The woman is asking for a temporary injunction barring the site from signing up more members until his client's demands are met.

On their second date, when they met at the Urth Cafe in West Hollywood. After a second date, the attorney says the man followed her home and attacked her. The man had been convicted 6 different times for sexual battery.

More in these articles.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/04/14/woman-sues-match-com-after-sex-assault-by-man-she-met-online/

http://jezebel.com/#!5792045/women-sues-matchcom-after-date-leads-to-assault

http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-sues-match-sex-assault/story?id=13378401

Thursday, April 14, 2011

"If you touch my junk, I'm going to have you arrested"

How many times have I said this to someone?  Here's a vid of a man that refused to be fondled by the TSA at the airport. He refuses several types of scans and then says he doesn't want to be felt up either. What's a TSA officer to do? Well, fine him and tell him he can't go anywhere.

"I don't understand how a sexual assault can be made a condition of my flying," said 31-year-old John Tyner to a pair of Transportation Security Administration officials insisting on giving him a "groin check" before boarding his plane.

Tyner was scheduled to fly out of San Diego International Airport when he was pulled from the security line at the metal detectors and told he would be either subjected to one of the TSA's full-body scanners – which reveal a virtually nude image of passengers – or a full-body "pat-down," including an inspection of his inner thigh.

Discomforted by the invasive procedures and the thought of a security officer touching his genitals, Tyner made a joke that has since made him an instant Internet folk hero:

"If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested." Go ahead make a t-shirt.

Tyner's words have since resonated in dozens of online comments and thousands of views on YouTube, for the comment – and the controversial discussion that followed – was recorded by Tyner's cell phone. Though the phone was with his belongings, and thus only caught audio of his confrontation with TSA officials, the camera's footage is posted below:


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Tax Day is April 18th! Not the 15th. Thanks, to Lincoln - Yes, Him Again

...No, I Am Not Trying To Get You Arrested...LOL

You get three extra days to file your taxes this year. They'll be due on Mon., April 18.

But it's not because of a previously announced processing delay that will prevent people who itemize their taxes from filing before mid- to late February, the IRS said Tuesday.

Instead, the bonus days come thanks to Emancipation Day, a little-known Washington, D.C., holiday that celebrates the freeing of slaves in the district. Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, but it is observed in D.C. on Fri., April 15.

That prompted the IRS to extend the tax filing deadline to April 18 this year. Under the tax code, filing deadlines can't fall on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.

The last time an extension was granted for this reason was in 2007.

But don't expect a separate -- or longer -- extension to make up for the IRS's processing delay, said IRS spokesman Anthony Burke.

The delay -- caused by Congress waiting until late December to pass new tax policies -- means that the 50 million taxpayers who itemize their taxes on a Schedule A form can't file until February.

However, the IRS estimates that less than 9 million taxpayers will end up being impacted by the delay, based on historical filing patterns.

"It's a very small percentage of folks who will be affected," said Burke. "There's no real reason why they would need time beyond April 18 because these are the people who want to file early anyway, and who may not be able to file early due to events the IRS couldn't really have done anything about."
People who do need more time to file their taxes can submit Form 4868 for a six-month extension, Burke added. 

I guess I will make my appointment for Sunday. Because I like to live on the edge and I have a playdate on Saturday. LOL

See the vid below on tax cuts, maybe this will make it a little better.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Famous Trials In History: The Massie Affair

No trials ever had a more significant effect on a state's history than those that shocked and shook Hawaii in 1931 and 1932.

The "Massie Affair" consisted of 2 dramatic criminal trials, one for rape and one for murder and both involving multiple defendants, forever changed the nature of Hawaiian race relations and politics.  Filled with twists and turns and unanswered questions, the trials have all the elements of a good mystery. 

Saturday September 12, 1931, Thalia Massie, a sofisticated blueblood planned a relctant evening with her husband, naval officer Thomas Massie at a nightclub on the outskirts of Honolulu's Waikiki district.

Their marriage was on the rocks. Not only did Thalia not want to go out that night but she would go out only after drinking heavily at home. When they were in the club, she slapped another Navy officer when all he wanted was his seat back after going to the bathroom. Her husband calmed her down and sent her home. That was at 11:30 p.m. that night.

Flash to 1:00 am, she is picked up on the side of the road by a car full of people who stated that her face was beaten and bruised but her clothes in perfect condition. She refused to go to the hospital.

A few minutes later, Thalia answered the phone.  It was Tommie calling from a friend's home.  "Something awful has happened," Thalia told her husband.  "Come home."  When Tommie arrived, Thalia related a shocking story.  Crying, she told Tommie that she had been gang-raped by a group of Hawaiians. 

About the same time that Thalia Massie jumped in front of the headlights of the car on Ala Moana Road, Agnes Peeples appeared at Honolulu's downtown police headquarters to report an assault on her at a nearby intersection.  Peeples reported that after a near accident, a young Hawaiian man shoved and hit her, leaving her with a bleeding ear.  The license plate of the touring car that nearly hit her, Peeples told police, was 58-985. 

One hour after Peeples filed her report, police got another call.  It was Tommie Massie reporting that his wife had been assaulted.  Two investigators were dispatched to the Massie house.  When they arrived, they listened--stunned--to Thalia's story of having been attacked by four or five Hawaiians, dragged to some bushes, and raped six or seven times.  Thalia described the car as old and dark-colored.  She said she could not read the license plate.

Two alleged attacks on women by Hawaiians within a very short time frame: detectives took this to be strong evidence that both attacks were carried out by the same gang. [Read More]