February Holidays

Quickie Law Tidbit: A brief N.Y. court ruling compared allowing a defendant's right to have a drug counsellor present at a closed hearing to "the sort of moral and emotional support in the courtroom that is normally given by family members. In another case, another defendant might be permitted, for similar reasons, to obtain entrance to the courtroom for his or her psychiatrist or a member of the clergy." It also cited an earlier case where a girlfriend was included as well. This is just an example of looking at the broad function of a rule or privilege and not limiting its reach to narrow contours. Increasing rights to same sex couples is thus but one aspect of a wider theme that in general should not be too controversial on some level.

February is a short month and deemed by some as the worst month of the year, especially since it is in between football and baseball (the Super Bowl regularly was one week earlier ... and there was a hockey season for those who cared). It is not too bad in my eyes, though the sports issue does open up a black hole of sorts, and it actually has a lot going on. After all, you have Groundhog's Day, the beginning of Lent / Chinese New Year (unlucky for marriage time time around!), and Valentine's Day. And more. The Academy Awards and Grammies too.

The movie to watch for Valentine's Day is probably Bride and Prejudice, though some might like Hitch. Now, some might find this "vapid" and a "total waste of their time," but this Bollywood take-off of Pride and Prejudice is fun.

The movie offers nice eye candy (Indian beauty queens in key roles), silly but fun big song and dance numbers, and a taste of another culture (kissing seems to be taboo in these flicks). It tapers off toward the end, though the cameo of Gilmore Girl Alexis Bleidel helped, and a couple too many heavy-handed necessary subplots mar the experience. Overall, still worth a look for those in the mood for this sort of light fare.

Lincoln's Birthday (2/12/1809) is still a bit controversial in some parts, though now McDonalds* has ads about fries that look like him. The same would be the case if Darwin's Day (his birthday is the same date) was celebrated more often. After all, it still is a tricky situation teaching his works in schools in several places. Science is at times a forgotten discipline in this country, and his birthday might be a good time to honor the field.

Many places don't separately honor Lincoln and Washington's Birthday, settling on Presidents' Day instead. The day, however, is not really in honor of all the presidents, even the top ones -- only the two really tend to be included. What about others with a birthday this month: William Henry Harrison and Ronald Reagan? Well, okay, point taken. Anyway, I was watching Joseph Ellis discussing his new biography on Washington, and it sounds rather good. Washington's General: Nathanael Greene also looks to be a good read.

So, February is a pretty good month -- hey, so it's a bit cold. It's winter, it's supposed to be cold. It's invigorating. [It's not really that cold here in NYC, though we had our moments.] Anyway, it's almost half over already! Tempus fugit!

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* Said fries are probably a bit less fatty, since the company agreed to pay millions to promote healthy eating to settle the "fat lawsuit."