Sunday, July 24, 2016
Understanding Online Markets and Antitrust Analysis
D. Daniel Sokol, University of Florida - Levin College of Law and Jingyuan Ma,Central University of Finance and Economics provide an Understanding Online Markets and Antitrust Analysis. ABSTRACT: Antitrust analysis of online markets is a hot topic around the world....
Friday, July 22, 2016
My Loneliness Has A First Name
Over drinks with a friend who happens to be going through the same situation as I the other night, the conversation naturally centered around what we are both reluctantly trudging through; Divorce. With Children. And all the intense suckiness that tags along with the process. Inevitably, as the conversation evolved, we came to a topic that I have become accustomed to arising in these types of discussions; my attitude. My incessant optimism and prevailing positive attitude, despite the negative circumstances.
I was venting about how shitty my week had been; how I was pissed-off at everyone around me and found myself crying in my car in the parking lot every single day. She naturally understood the emotional extremes I was describing and had recently experienced several weeks like that herself.
I then mentioned that in the midst of my anger and despair and grief and frustration filled Week-From-Hell, that I had written a couple of blog posts expressing just exactly how crappy I was feeling. But that I just couldn't bring myself to publish them.
"I couldn't put all of my negativity vomit out there - no one wants to read about how pissed off I am - I would just seem like an ungrateful asshole complaining about how terrible my life is. So many people have it worse."
"True." She agreed. "But it would be authentic. I would read about you having a crappy week and think, 'See - she really is human. She has shitty weeks just like me, when I just want to shut the world out'."
Hmm.... This got the wheels turning. And it made me realize that perhaps I haven't been as authentic as I've been preaching. I filter out the bad days, the ones where I'm certain that I'm destroying my children and that life is simply never going to be okay again. I wait until those days have passed, then reflect on what I've learned, and bring you my optimistic conclusions.
But the reality is, I am human. And I am going through something really fricken hard. And the truth is that being human means that some days I don't have a SINGLE OUNCE of perspective. Some days I am fighting back tears more often than not, and some days I drive like a complete ASSHOLE because I feel like the world owes me something. Being human means that some days I lose my cool and scream bloody murder when I'm trying to corral an 11 month old and a 4 year old to get out the door on time, on my own, for the fourth day in a row, and both the dog and the baby have blowouts, causing me to be late, once again, because of (quite literally) shit. Being human means that some days I might excuse myself to go cry in my car because people are complaining, to my face, about their husbands...again. You know, husbands... those guys who marry you and stand by your side and help you with the kids and sometimes take the garbage out and if nothing else, are there to give you a hug at the end of a shitty day. That thing that, in case you forgot, I no longer have. Call it jealousy, bitterness or whatever you want, some things are just a little too salty right now for my freshly cut wound.
So in the spirit of authenticity, yes - I have shitty days that DON'T end with a silver lining. But here's the kicker - I have learned to let myself have shitty days. I allow the sadness to surface and invite it right on in because I've learned that through it is the only way out. There is simply no point in suppressing the sadness or the grief or the anger and frustration, because it's there. It's there for a reason. And it's not going anywhere until it's served its purpose. So I sit and I ask it what the hell it wants from me and tell it to just go ahead and take it. Sometimes it's a good scream. Sometimes it's the longest, most brutal, ugliest cry you've ever seen. Sometimes it just wants me to sit outside and not do a single thing but listen to the birds for hours. Sometimes after giving it what it wants and letting it surface and marinate for a while, I find that it identifies itself as something completely unexpected... like loneliness. And the cool thing is that in identifying it and bringing it to light, it somehow reduces its power over me.
During a therapy session in the midst of Week-From-Hell, my therapist suggested I go a step further while sitting with these painful emotions and give them a name. I raised my eyebrows, tilted my head forward and looked at her as though maybe she was the one who should be sitting on the couch.
"By giving it a name" she explained, "You are identifying the pain as something outside of yourself. It helps you recognize that it's something separate from you."
Kay... this was starting to make a little bit of sense. I asked her to continue.
"Naming the painful emotion helps you realize that you are not your loneliness, for instance. And that it is something that comes and goes, but doesn't define you. You can choose whether to let it in or shut it out. Without identifying as something outside of you, it can feel like it has all the power over and consumes you."
She was damn right. So we named the crappiest emotion, the loneliness, Gary. Yup, I named my loneliness, Gary. Dear God.
So when Gary, or Steve (anger) or Rick (fear) knock on my door, I can say:
"Oh hey there, Steve. Come on in, it's been a while. What's that? You want me to slam this door and punch that person in the face? Yeah, that's cool. How about we go for a run and you can tell me all about why you are here, and then when we're done you can go ahead and show yourself out."
But... the nice part is that, because I really am an optimistic person by nature, I really do know it will get better. I know that the visits from these nasty fellas will become fewer and farther between, as long as I continue to invite them in and sit with whatever it is they are bringing. And then maybe, once those nasty fellas have served their purpose and their visits are far less frequent, I will be in a place where I'm ready to invite in a nice fella who comes knock'n at my door. Maybe.
I was venting about how shitty my week had been; how I was pissed-off at everyone around me and found myself crying in my car in the parking lot every single day. She naturally understood the emotional extremes I was describing and had recently experienced several weeks like that herself.
I then mentioned that in the midst of my anger and despair and grief and frustration filled Week-From-Hell, that I had written a couple of blog posts expressing just exactly how crappy I was feeling. But that I just couldn't bring myself to publish them.
"I couldn't put all of my negativity vomit out there - no one wants to read about how pissed off I am - I would just seem like an ungrateful asshole complaining about how terrible my life is. So many people have it worse."
"True." She agreed. "But it would be authentic. I would read about you having a crappy week and think, 'See - she really is human. She has shitty weeks just like me, when I just want to shut the world out'."
Hmm.... This got the wheels turning. And it made me realize that perhaps I haven't been as authentic as I've been preaching. I filter out the bad days, the ones where I'm certain that I'm destroying my children and that life is simply never going to be okay again. I wait until those days have passed, then reflect on what I've learned, and bring you my optimistic conclusions.
But the reality is, I am human. And I am going through something really fricken hard. And the truth is that being human means that some days I don't have a SINGLE OUNCE of perspective. Some days I am fighting back tears more often than not, and some days I drive like a complete ASSHOLE because I feel like the world owes me something. Being human means that some days I lose my cool and scream bloody murder when I'm trying to corral an 11 month old and a 4 year old to get out the door on time, on my own, for the fourth day in a row, and both the dog and the baby have blowouts, causing me to be late, once again, because of (quite literally) shit. Being human means that some days I might excuse myself to go cry in my car because people are complaining, to my face, about their husbands...again. You know, husbands... those guys who marry you and stand by your side and help you with the kids and sometimes take the garbage out and if nothing else, are there to give you a hug at the end of a shitty day. That thing that, in case you forgot, I no longer have. Call it jealousy, bitterness or whatever you want, some things are just a little too salty right now for my freshly cut wound.
So in the spirit of authenticity, yes - I have shitty days that DON'T end with a silver lining. But here's the kicker - I have learned to let myself have shitty days. I allow the sadness to surface and invite it right on in because I've learned that through it is the only way out. There is simply no point in suppressing the sadness or the grief or the anger and frustration, because it's there. It's there for a reason. And it's not going anywhere until it's served its purpose. So I sit and I ask it what the hell it wants from me and tell it to just go ahead and take it. Sometimes it's a good scream. Sometimes it's the longest, most brutal, ugliest cry you've ever seen. Sometimes it just wants me to sit outside and not do a single thing but listen to the birds for hours. Sometimes after giving it what it wants and letting it surface and marinate for a while, I find that it identifies itself as something completely unexpected... like loneliness. And the cool thing is that in identifying it and bringing it to light, it somehow reduces its power over me.
During a therapy session in the midst of Week-From-Hell, my therapist suggested I go a step further while sitting with these painful emotions and give them a name. I raised my eyebrows, tilted my head forward and looked at her as though maybe she was the one who should be sitting on the couch.
"By giving it a name" she explained, "You are identifying the pain as something outside of yourself. It helps you recognize that it's something separate from you."
Kay... this was starting to make a little bit of sense. I asked her to continue.
"Naming the painful emotion helps you realize that you are not your loneliness, for instance. And that it is something that comes and goes, but doesn't define you. You can choose whether to let it in or shut it out. Without identifying as something outside of you, it can feel like it has all the power over and consumes you."
She was damn right. So we named the crappiest emotion, the loneliness, Gary. Yup, I named my loneliness, Gary. Dear God.
So when Gary, or Steve (anger) or Rick (fear) knock on my door, I can say:
"Oh hey there, Steve. Come on in, it's been a while. What's that? You want me to slam this door and punch that person in the face? Yeah, that's cool. How about we go for a run and you can tell me all about why you are here, and then when we're done you can go ahead and show yourself out."
But... the nice part is that, because I really am an optimistic person by nature, I really do know it will get better. I know that the visits from these nasty fellas will become fewer and farther between, as long as I continue to invite them in and sit with whatever it is they are bringing. And then maybe, once those nasty fellas have served their purpose and their visits are far less frequent, I will be in a place where I'm ready to invite in a nice fella who comes knock'n at my door. Maybe.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Federal judge considers suit seeking gender-neutral passport
A passport applicant who identifies as neither male nor female is asking a federal judge to direct the State Department to issue a gender-neutral passport.
…
Plan For A Successful Divorce Before Your Wedding Day!
A couple of years ago I wrote an article for Huffington Post questioning why it's so easy to marry, but so difficult to get divorced. The global divorce industry is thriving with some benefiting from the complicated process.
It's easy to blame the entire divorce industry, but that leaves us where we started: frustrated and broke! Finding solutions to messy divorce is much more challenging -- but it is a challenge that I live for. In my article "It's So Easy to Marry" I mentioned the value of premarital counseling. Youngsters sometimes decide to marry quickly based solely on their emotions and impulses, not taking into account the full extent of a legally binding commitment. Pre-marital counseling allows couples to fully consider the financial and personal stakes, revealing possible incompatibilities that are better learned before walking down the aisle. But even the most carefully laid plans sometimes fall apart and that's why I believe that people should be able to settle a divorce in a relatively uncomplicated way. That's is one of the reasons why I started with Divorce Hotel -- to spare people unnecessarily messy separations. Even thought my reasons are logical, the process can still be complicated.
The good news is that there is a solution. The bad news is that you have to start thinking about divorce before you marry -- I am talking about a prenuptial agreements or premarital agreements, more commonly known as a prenup.
A prenup is a contract that is drafted before marriage, basically outlining the terms for separation. Many people recoil at the mere mention of the word, as it blows romance out the window in a split second. Let's face it: nobody who has met the love of her life wants to start thinking about divorce! But with the rates as high as they are, it's important to face the facts and protect ourselves. Frankly, I believe that making prenups obligatory before marriage would save a lot of time stuck in really painful process.
I have prepared the most FAQs to help you better understand prenups:
Why a prenuptial agreement?
I can give you dozens of reasons why you should have a prenuptial agreement before marriage, but one of the most important reasons is that it forces a couple to think a bit further about all consequences of marriage. Too often couples only think about the emotional relationship, but marriage is also the start of a business relationship.
For example community property does not just refer to a couples shared property, but also debts. With a prenuptial agreement you can assess these areas and assert some terms and conditions beforehand, which saves a lot of headaches, should the marriage not work.
Is a prenup only for celebrity couples?
Not at all -- in fact I firmly believe that prenups should be for everyone. We often see them with celebrities because there are more assets at stake. Prenups are of great value for people whose partners might huge debts, or in situations where one partner earns much more than the other. Bottom line -- it is important to at least consider a prenup before marriage!
Can you list anything you want in a prenup?
Yes, you can list nearly everything what you want. For example adding a clause that states that you will try mediation if you decide to divorce, where you indicate that both spouses will commit to attending at least 3 sessions. Even a settlement about the dog can be included! But of course there are also limits. Legally you cannot excluded things like child support or predetermine child custody arrangements.
It's worth hiring a good legal professional to help you list your terms and conditions so that you have a good prenup that satisfies both spouses.
Does a prenup need to be updated?
Yes definitely! From the beginning you should aim to make your prenup as clear as possible. After 20 years it still needs to be crystal clear and contain no nuances. We all know that life situations such as wealth, jobs, houses and feelings can suddenly change. For that reason alone, it's wise to update a prenup every five years.
For a successful divorce, think carefully before the marriage. Prenups allow both partners to exercise control over their futures and help to make divorces much less painful. It's important to remember that when everything goes well in a relationship, partners are willing to share and give each other everything, often overlooking obvious areas of conflict. However, when facing a divorce that good spirit disappears quickly, often brining defense and meanness. That's why it's better of to arrange the terms divorce while love is still in the air and you are both able to think logically and reasonably.
I sincerely hope that you never have to go through a divorce, but if you do, it's better to be prepared!
It's easy to blame the entire divorce industry, but that leaves us where we started: frustrated and broke! Finding solutions to messy divorce is much more challenging -- but it is a challenge that I live for. In my article "It's So Easy to Marry" I mentioned the value of premarital counseling. Youngsters sometimes decide to marry quickly based solely on their emotions and impulses, not taking into account the full extent of a legally binding commitment. Pre-marital counseling allows couples to fully consider the financial and personal stakes, revealing possible incompatibilities that are better learned before walking down the aisle. But even the most carefully laid plans sometimes fall apart and that's why I believe that people should be able to settle a divorce in a relatively uncomplicated way. That's is one of the reasons why I started with Divorce Hotel -- to spare people unnecessarily messy separations. Even thought my reasons are logical, the process can still be complicated.
The good news is that there is a solution. The bad news is that you have to start thinking about divorce before you marry -- I am talking about a prenuptial agreements or premarital agreements, more commonly known as a prenup.
A prenup is a contract that is drafted before marriage, basically outlining the terms for separation. Many people recoil at the mere mention of the word, as it blows romance out the window in a split second. Let's face it: nobody who has met the love of her life wants to start thinking about divorce! But with the rates as high as they are, it's important to face the facts and protect ourselves. Frankly, I believe that making prenups obligatory before marriage would save a lot of time stuck in really painful process.
I have prepared the most FAQs to help you better understand prenups:
Why a prenuptial agreement?
I can give you dozens of reasons why you should have a prenuptial agreement before marriage, but one of the most important reasons is that it forces a couple to think a bit further about all consequences of marriage. Too often couples only think about the emotional relationship, but marriage is also the start of a business relationship.
For example community property does not just refer to a couples shared property, but also debts. With a prenuptial agreement you can assess these areas and assert some terms and conditions beforehand, which saves a lot of headaches, should the marriage not work.
Is a prenup only for celebrity couples?
Not at all -- in fact I firmly believe that prenups should be for everyone. We often see them with celebrities because there are more assets at stake. Prenups are of great value for people whose partners might huge debts, or in situations where one partner earns much more than the other. Bottom line -- it is important to at least consider a prenup before marriage!
Can you list anything you want in a prenup?
Yes, you can list nearly everything what you want. For example adding a clause that states that you will try mediation if you decide to divorce, where you indicate that both spouses will commit to attending at least 3 sessions. Even a settlement about the dog can be included! But of course there are also limits. Legally you cannot excluded things like child support or predetermine child custody arrangements.
It's worth hiring a good legal professional to help you list your terms and conditions so that you have a good prenup that satisfies both spouses.
Does a prenup need to be updated?
Yes definitely! From the beginning you should aim to make your prenup as clear as possible. After 20 years it still needs to be crystal clear and contain no nuances. We all know that life situations such as wealth, jobs, houses and feelings can suddenly change. For that reason alone, it's wise to update a prenup every five years.
For a successful divorce, think carefully before the marriage. Prenups allow both partners to exercise control over their futures and help to make divorces much less painful. It's important to remember that when everything goes well in a relationship, partners are willing to share and give each other everything, often overlooking obvious areas of conflict. However, when facing a divorce that good spirit disappears quickly, often brining defense and meanness. That's why it's better of to arrange the terms divorce while love is still in the air and you are both able to think logically and reasonably.
I sincerely hope that you never have to go through a divorce, but if you do, it's better to be prepared!
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
20160722 - Arkansas court denies request for new execution law hearing
Arkansas court denies request for new execution law hearing
July 21, 2016
by Claudia Lauer, The Washington Post
2016-07-21
Can My Spouse Purchase or Carry a Gun for Me?
While Second Amendment guarantees the right of all citizens to keep and bear arms, there are limits to Second Amendment protections. States can, for example, limit the type of weapons people can buy, regulate the licenses and background checks required...
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Ten Most-Cited Antitrust Faculty, 2010-2014 (inclusive)
Using the data from the Sisk study, Brian Leiter has the rankings here.
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