The Better Chancery Practice Blog

Where?

Some time this afternoon all of the link categories (over there on the right side of the page) disappeared, amalgamating all of my links into one amorphous blog-glob. I tinkered all afternoon to fix it and finally emailed wordpress for help.

Fret not. The tech folks are working on a system-wide fix.

Thanksgiving Holiday.

Court House closed.

Thanksgiving Holiday.

Court House closed.

Where?

VETERANS DAY. Courthouse closed.

Anybody else got this email? I got it last week, complete with the Regions graphic.

It’s phony. First of all, I don’t do any business with Regions Bank, and I have no reason to have any “incoming Payments” there.

Also this language reads suspiciously like the Nigerian scam artists, doesn’t it? … “to VALIDATE your informations and wait for responds from Regions Bank ,” and “we apologies for any inconvenience.” Best of all … this is cute … it comes from a “security prevention” team. I’ll say.

Me, I’m not biting on this one. I don’t need their incoming Payment, informations or responds, or even their apologies.

This comes on the heels of a flurry of bogus Comcast “Security Alerts” emails with the Comcast logo.

Dear Sir/Madam, At Regions Bank We are proud to announce about our new updated secure system. We updated our new SSL servers to give our members a better, fast and secure service. Due to the recent update of the servers,Your incoming Payment was placed on pending status In order to receive this payment CLICK HERE to VALIDATE your informations and wait for responds from Regions Bank . . We apologies for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Sincerely,Christopher Polumbo Regions Online Banking Security Prevention Team The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in Spam, please kindly move it to inbox.

If you voted already, thank you, fellow citizens.

If you haven’t voted, please get off of this bleeping computer and go vote right now.

If you don’t plan to vote, or, God forbid, you aren’t even registered, shame on you.

It’s fashionable this season to be cynical about the republic and our role in it. You’ve heard it: “My vote doesn’t matter. Romney’s going to win Mississippi’s electoral votes in a landslide, whether I vote for him or against him. Why should I bother?” or “My vote doesn’t count. All that counts is the big bucks those lobbyists put in the pockets of congressmen.” or “The people we elect don’t do what they promised, so why should I keep playing that game?”

Here are a few reasons:

• Sure, one vote isn’t much, but it is what you have as a citizen. It’s your power. If you don’t exercise it, you have no power. You can’t do everything, but you can do this one thing.
• People all over the world would give everything they own to be in your place as an American with the liberty you enjoy and the simple freedom to have a voice in your own destiny.
• You owe it to the brave men and women who have spilled their blood in defense of your right to vote.
• It’s the main thing that sets our nation apart and makes us special.
• It means you are doing your part.

Six years ago I knocked on hundreds of doors and asked thousands of people to vote for me. It astounded, baffled and infuriated me to be told not once but dozens of times that the person I spoke with was not even registered to vote — mainly because he or she did not want to be bothered by jury duty. I am willing to bet that most of these individuals are some of the very same who self-righteously rail against illegal immigrants. If it were in my power, I would take away each of those non-voting person’s citizenship and bestow it on people who risked their lives to come here — many, yes, illegally — but who yearn for the very privileges of democracy that those lazy “citizens” won’t exercise.

Yes, voting takes time out of a busy day. Yes, it takes you off of your more convenient route to or from wherever you are going. Yes, it sometimes seems futile.

But it’s the one thing you can do as a citizen. It’s your little thank-you note for the liberty you enjoy.