Schadenfreude - now we said it too!

Schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\
1. noun: A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
2. adjective: When the noun form is worked into an article, specially when it is only marginally salient, it modifies the byline to say, "I'm hip and well read".

Recently we have noticed that Schadenfreude is the new Weltanschauung. Have you noticed?

Schadenfreude is showing up all over. Today's NY Times, in an article by David Carr, (A B-Movie Becomes A Blockbuster 2/20/06) pulls Schadenfreude right out of the German and into the English. The long haired Gauls have never been more flattered!

Boston Legal featured the concept of schadenfreude. It's also been spotted by the astute Rominger Legal reading team in dozens of other magazines and articles.

We can't help but point out that this "discovered" concept is really just a one word equivalent of, "the people seem to enjoy a good gladiator fight".

USED IN A SENTENCE - Around here shad en fries is usually served for lent.

So now that we've proven our etymological prowess is up to par with the WSJ and NY Times, we'll get back to tearing down the employee bulletin board.

Bonus: Abstract Appeal - Florida Legal Blog / 11th Circuit

No Prenuptial Agreement? Want to marry a web site?

Here at Rominger Legal, we sometimes resort to reading trashy tabloids. The nonsensical prater contained in those tomes helps to balance out all the heavy law reading we do everyday. So imagine our dismay, when we found that the law had cropped up in all of our favorite rags. Which simply proves, once again, that the law is a jealous mistress. Now the details...

Apparently the Chicken of the Sea Girl (AKA Daisy Duke) is separating from her less famous hubby...

Nick Lachey filed papers in L.A. Superior Court on Friday reserving the right to seek spousal support from soon-to-be ex-wife Jessica Simpson. According to his divorce response, Lachey cited irreconcilable differences for the dissolution of the marriage.

In his filing, Lachey reports the couple's separation date as Dec. 13 while Simpson cited it was Nov. 23 in her divorce papers. The discrepancy in the dates is particularly important because of the nearly $1 million Simpson earned during those weeks. Those monies would have to be split under California Law.

So with all that in mind, we want to remind all those rich starlets out there, that while love is blind, (and so is lady justice) the absence of a prenup is just silly. But if you insist on marrying dead beats without the protections of the law, we'll make ourselves available.

Serious Note: The Equality in Marriage Institute

Archiving the Internet & Cicero's Self Consolation

We are hard at work collecting case law. We hope to develop a substantial collection of free case law, for public perusal. Which, while undertaken in part for lucre, has a noble import all its own. Indexing data is helpful, but archiving data is a form of preservation. If the half of the Internet that isn't Google disappeared tomorrow, Google's cache (mirrors of the pages indexed) might repopulate most of what was lost.

Which all comes to mind because We have been passing Anthony Everitt's Cicero around the office here at Rominger Legal. We have learned a lot from this book, and since Latin is now in actuality a dead language (a posse ad esse) we needed an English translation, less the substance of Cicero's life and the original Latin text pass ad acta from existence.

Which is the point of this post. Everitt refers to Cicero's authorship of Self Consolation, referring to it as "one of the most celebrated" text of antiquity. He points out that this text has been lost.

Go figure, a celebrated text, taken out by Father Time's No. 2 Eraser.

That's why we support any and all attempts to catalogue and preserve human knowledge and literary works. Check out the Internet Archive for an example of what needs to be done. Let's not let history repeat itself. (gratuitous cliche included here at no extra charge)

New Jersey Extends Free Speech Protection to Feuding Neighborhoods

We found the following news item. It concerns us because it concerns the expansion of Free Speech. We're banning it from being read by employees of Rominger Legal. It is well known that too much information and discourse leads to ideas and free thinking. Soon the employees will think they deserve a "bulletin board" (or god forbid, the right to be treated well). Then some rabble rouser will start posting job notices, and the employees will learn that other places pay more, have better benefits, and less hours. Can't have that.

Court: Homeowners associations must bow to state free speech law
February 7, 2006, 6:02 PM EST
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ A state appeals court panel ruled Tuesday that homeowners associations must recognize residents' rights to freedom of speech under the New Jersey Constitution. The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel stemmed from a case brought by residents of the private Twin Rivers community in East Windsor, who had sued their homeowners association to be able to put political signs on their front lawns, among other things.

"For the first time anywhere in the United States, an appellate court has ruled that such private communities are `constitutional actors' and must therefore respect their members' freedom of speech," said Frank Askin, a Rutgers Law School professor and lead counsel for the Committee for a Better Twin Rivers....

...The case had initially been dismissed by a state Superior Court judge. Tuesday's ruling overturned that decision. "Expressive exercises, especially those bearing upon real and legitimate community issues, should not be silenced or subject to undue limitation because of changes in residential relationships, such as where lifestyle issues are governed or administered by community associations in addition to being regulated by governmental entities," the ruling said in part.

READ THE FULL TEXT CASE