Feb '07 Thoughts & Stuff!

Some things I found interesting this month:

Improve Your Site Traffic

Here's a few things that have worked for me:

  • Put your URL in Email Signature. It's free advertising, and shows you're proud of your site.
  • Contribute to collaborative sites. Your "user page" for collaborative sites should include a link to your own website. Your contributions to the collaborative site links to your user page. Therefore, your contributions to the collaborative site ultimately link to your web page. Two examples: http://www.seattlewiki.org and http://www.wikipedia.org/
  • Create original content that will attract a little attention. For example, one of the most popular pages on my web site is a set of links to articles by lawyers about lawyering in a humorous vein: http://rewinn.com/1111  Do the same for whatever your particular professional interest may be.

A few more tips:  http://rewinn.com/9926

Seattle Sculpture Park

A few photos from around town: http://rewinn.com/9927

Bush Doubles Birth Tax

The Federal Birth Tax is the amount of money you owe just for being born an American citizen.

George W Bush is on track to DOUBLE the Birth Tax, from about $12,000 to nearly $24,000.

The Birth Tax used to be known as "your share of our National Debt" but that long phrase really conceals the impact on you.

What Is An Illegal War?

1. The Supreme Court ruled in 1900: "International law is part of the law of the United States and must be ascertained and administered by the courts of justice of appropriate jurisdiction as often as questions of right depending upon it are duly presented for determination."  (United States v. Paquete Habana). As our Constitution states: "All Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby."

2. There are only two conditions in which a war is legal under international law: when force is authorized by the United Nations Security Council or when the use of force is an act of national self-defense and survival.

3. The invasion of Iraq was not authorized by the UNSC, nor was it an act of self defense.

4. Therefore, the war is illegal and any order to participate in the war is an illegal order.

5. The Uniform Code of Military Justice requires that servicemembers decline illegal orders.

Any questions?

Thank you Lt. Watada for upholding the law at great personal price: http://www.thankyoult.org/

Who Was Felker House, run by Mother DamanableMother Damnable?

 A prominent and colorful figure in the early history of Seattle, she ran Seattle's first hotel, the Felker House, whose relatively high-class brothel was a major means of accumulating money from sailors and lumbermen into local businesses. The name by which she is most widely known derives not from the nature of her business, but from her legendarily unrestrained language, learned at sea and from her customers. It was said that she swore expertly in Chinese, English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Continued

You Don't Have to Feel Helpless

There's a lot of easy things you can do now to help

Memoirs of William Sampson

Now in Print!

After being out of print for 190 years, William Sampson's Memoirs are now available at http://cafepress.com/rewinn . Sampson was an Irish Protestant lawyer, tortured and exiled for the crime of defending Catholics. He came to America on July 4, 1806 and became a leader in promoting human rights and religious under our Constitution.

You can read his exciting memoirs free on the web, or, better still: order the book!

Earlier Finds

Past Thoughts & Stuff