World Social Forum Blocked in Benin

            Marble Falls       The World Social Forum originated in Porto Allegre, Brazil in 2001, twenty-five years ago.  Claiming that “another world is possible”, the WSF attracted great interest in its early years with thousands of participants and addresses from Brazil’s Lula de Silva, Naom Chomsky, and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez back in the day.  Initially, …

Kris Kobach and State Courts

            Marble Falls      Kris Kobach is the bad penny that keeps coming up.  For those with short memories, in earlier outrages he was a key lawyer in helping concoct anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona.  Then he devoted himself to conspiracies around immigrants and others voting illegally.  He had a minute of national fame after Trump …

Withholding Rent in Escrow

            New Orleans        Recently I was surprised to find that tenants in Maryland were legally able under certain conditions to withhold their rent to force their landlords to make repairs by following certain procedures.  Living and working in red states in the South and elsewhere for so long had “blinded me to the light” …