I was picked as juror number 24 in a civil litigation case, which I probably shouldn’t go into too much detail on. When my name was called, I picked up a placard with the number 24 on it, waited for a little bit, and then was called into the courtroom around 11:30.

It’s amazing how hard it is to be completely impartial, since as soon as I walked in and saw the plaintiff and the defendant and their attorneys, I immediately began sizing people up, trying to figure out what happened based on the little detail we had of the case, etc. I am sure I would be able to put things aside and focus on facts, but I think the human mind, or at least mine, is prone to prejudging.

The judge, who was very nice but had a nasty cold, went over the jury selection process (and also told us how wonderful and responsible we were). After about fifteen minutes of preamble, we were sworn in and then the voir dire process began.

Voir dire is the process where the judge and attorneys ask questions of the potential jurors to determine if there might be any biases or prejudices that would prevent a juror from serving his duty in the case. The judge started with a list of standard questions (such as “do any of you know the defendant”) and questions she thought were relevant to the case. For each question, you raise your placard if your answer is yes. After that, the plaintiff’s attorney and the defense attorney each had their shot. Sometimes the questions were yes/no, but the attorneys could also dig further to understand more about one’s answer. Some of the questions were somewhat personal (”have you ever depended on someone else for medical care?”) but the judge and both lawyers did an admirable job of performing their duties in a respectful manner.

There are several ways that jurors are excused. One is a hardship request from the juror - three sought those and they were granted. Another is a “challenge for cause”, whereby I believe the judge has to agree with the attorney that a juror has reason for bias (e.g. knowing the defendant). Only one person was excused for this reason, which surprised me, given some of the potential biases I observed in the questioning. It seems that the possibility of bias has to be fairly clear, and not just a perceived one.

But each attorney also gets four peremptory challenges whereby he can dismiss a juror without explanation. Only one was dismissed via this mechanism. Juror 15 then moved from the gallery area to the jury bench. I didn’t realize the significance of that until a minute later when, after there were no more challenges, the judge announced “OK, we have our jury.” Jurors 1-14 were the primary candidates for the trial, and the rest of us were really just backups. Eight jurors ahead of me would have had to been dismissed for me to have been selected in this trial.

After we were excused from this trial around 2:30 pm, we went back to the juror’s room to go back to the selection pool. Since no other trials were starting that afternoon, we were free to go home (or back to work, in my case). Still, it was nice to get out early. Tomorrow, I report back again (8:45 this time, so I get to sleep in a bit more). If I don’t get picked for a trial tomorrow, I am done with my commitment. I kinda hope I get picked for a trial though. It would probably be a pain, but I have a strange fascination with the legal system, and it was fun to get a firsthand impression in action.

A few other highlights:

• I forgot to mention the funniest part about the judge’s speech from the morning - apparently, his wife was a juror on a case that he tried (and lost) when he was a trial attorney. Back then, they had a little more personal information on the cards you fill out as a juror, so he knew she was single and found her attractive. Two weeks after the trial, he ran into her, asked her out, and they’ve been married ever since. That was supposed to be an inspiration to us, I suppose, in case the honor of serving your country wasn’t cutting it for you.
• I had lunch at the Ram in Kent with juror #23, who was the president of a local construction company which happens to be involved in the building of Amazon’s South Lake Union campus. Super nice guy. I met a few other interesting people in the waiting area.
• This week’s 30 Rock apparently featured Tina Fey’s character trying to get out of jury duty by dressing up as Princess Leia. Nice. I need to start watching that show. We tried watching the clip on Youtube in the waiting area but the connection was a little flaky.
• You get two fifteen minutes breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It was funny when they called the morning break - since the entire time till that point has been spent hanging out, drinking coffee, and surfing the web, I wasn’t sure what I should do for my “break”.
• The Washington state juror per diem of $10 hasn’t changed in fifty years (according to the judge in the case I was part of)
• The court has a daycare space which is provided for by the county, but there is no money to run it. They “offer” to allow you to donate your per diem and mileage reimbursement to the program - apparently many do this and the program largely runs on these and other private donations. Pretty cool idea, especially since $10 isn’t really much compensation. It helps the children of those involved in ugly cases to avoid the potential trauma of the courtroom.

This is my first jury duty experience. It’s been pretty pleasant so far. They have wifi and a pretty nice jury waiting room. The main issue was having to be in Kent by 8 am.

I haven’t been called in yet - mostly hanging out and doing some work. There was a longish preamble by one of the judges (intended to inspire you to be honored to serve your constitutional privilege, be impartial, etc), followed by a video explaining how jury selection and trials work. There are a lot of people here - I’d guess 200.

They’ve called one round of fifty potential jurors to be considered for a trial - I wasn’t one. Not being called was a little disappointing. So now I wait. Which I heard is pretty standard.

(A little while later, I was picked as a juror candidates…)

If you have a hockey game at 9:35 pm on 11/11, don’t mentally confuse the date of “11/11″ with 11 pm and put 11 pm into your calendar. If you do, you might foolishly drive half an hour to the rink in Kent and be surprised to learn that the game you thought was at 11 pm is almost over.

Not, of course, that I did that.

Baker’s website is looking promising too.

Winter’s around the corner…

First, I decided to break out my underutilized tripod and take some night skyline pictures from Jose Rizal Park, which is very close to where I work and has a good southern vantage of the Seattle skyline. Still figuring out how to do long exposures well, but I got some good ones.

Part Two - Election Party

My friends JJ and John hosted an election night party, complete with “Minnesota Pizza”, red velvet cupcakes, and wine. It was fun. Congratulations, Barack Obama.

Part Three - Hockey Game

I had a 10 pm hockey game last night. It turns out that pizza + cupcakes + wine doesn’t exactly equate to the ideal pre-game meal. I was a little slow. At least I had my skates. We won.

I had hoped to write this a few weeks ago, before it was common practices for intellectual conservatives to pen their endorsement for Obama. Christopher Buckley, Colin Powell, and the editors of the Economist, among others, are some of the more noteworthy examples. At least now I know I am in good company.

I am not really sure why I feel compelled to write this. Maybe this piece will help explain my vote to my family members who always vote Republican, or to my Seattle friends who always vote Democrat. Probably, it’s just to help clarify for myself my own rationale. It will be fun to look back on this post over the next four to eight years.

Leadership

Simply put, I think Obama will be able to unite, lead, and heal this country like few others. I think this ability is critical for our country and our world at this juncture. Some mock him as a “celebrity candidate” or a “soaring orator” without the execution skills to back up his words. With Obama’s relative lack of experience, I think there might be some risk of that.

However, I think those critics are too quick to dismiss the importance of uniting. If Obama is able to repaint major parts of the electoral map from red to purple or blue, I think it will be a huge step for the country. Not because I think that more blue states are better - I think we need to get past the red state - blue state mentality that we’ve been in for the past few elections. Changing which states are assumed to be “solid Republican” (like North Carolina, Indiana, and Missouri) will force future campaigns to focus on real issues, as opposed to pandering to the populist base of each party’s core.

Dumb Populism

One of the reasons I really thought that I would vote for McCain in the general elections is his “maverick” tendencies. Unfortunately, the campaign he has run of late amounts to dumb populism.

I am glad that McCain still believes in some free market principles, like a commitment to free trade, opposition to farm and ethanol subsidies, and immigration reform. However, his ideas of a gas tax holiday or his mortgage reform plan bely the “straight talk” credibility that earned him my respect in the first place. And when “Joe the Plumber” became an unofficial spokesman for the campaign, I realized that the Republican campaign had lost the intelligence behind a lot of their policies, and instead were pandering to the lowest common denominator.

No more apparent to me was this tendency than during campaign rallies after Palin was selected as his running mate. The selection itself indicated to me that McCain’s decision making was questionable. How can you put someone so eminently unqualified for the world’s most important job a heartbeat away from it, regardless of how many conservative votes it will get you? And the boarish behavior of their constituents at rallies was unfathomable. Sure, there are always a few “bad apples” in the crowd, but what do you expect when you continually dismiss someone’s plans as socialism or the emcees you select insist on referencing the opponent as “Barack Hussein Obama”?

To be fair, Obama isn’t clean in this regard either. His treatment of McCain’s corporate tax plan and health care plan, as well as his tendency to conflate McCain’s record with Bush’s (”8 more years of the same failed policies”) amount to similar populism. But on the whole, Obama has shown a far greater tendency to confront difficult issues with elegance and to speak to the American people, rather than down at them.

Foreign Affairs

I feel that Obama’s leadership style is better suited to the world we’re in than McCain’s. Let’s start with the superficial. It will be much harder for Al Qaeda and other terrorist organization to argue, and thus recruit new followers, that America is a white imperialist power if a black man with Kenyan, Muslim roots and who wants to end our involvement in the Middle East in in power. This should not be discounted.

More important, though, is that after eight years of hawkish, failed foreign policy, it is time for a change. I was initially concerned that Obama would try to withdraw from Iraq prematurely. Over the course of the campaign, his position has become a bit more measured. Similarly, his comments on engaging Iran and North Korea have been naive. Obama claims that he was misquoted. I believe he has wisely flip-flopped on the issue. Regardless, with Biden in the White House to consult, I feel that Obama will have strong foreign policy depth.

Finally, the power of Obama to change the world’s view of the United States is important. Most foreigners are smart enough to realize that not everyone in the country shares the views and personality of its leader, but it sure would be easier to convey that with someone like Obama at the helm. More consequential than making things more pleasant for American tourists, however, is this effect on issues like world trade, strategic defense, war, and on entities like the United Nations. Having a world leader with a restrained view of American power will likely be more effective than someone with hawkish, neocon tendencies. It’s time for a change.

Social Issues

I am not a huge fan of Obama’s tax or healthcare policies. I believe in a limited role of government. However, I also believe that society as a whole should provide a safety net for those less well off.

Obama’s policies tend to favor government solutions for these problems. McCain doesn’t seem to think these are problems. I agree that lower corporate tax rates and lower income tax rates result in economic growth that everyone benefits from. However, it needs to be done in concert with a broader philosophy on the role of government, and I don’t see that with McCain, especially as it relates to helping the lower rungs of society. It’s hard to see how we can lower taxes further on top income earners without sacrificing something important, especially in light of the $700B bailout plan.

With respect to health care, I like McCain’s plan, and wish he would do more to defend it against Obama’s unfair “with one hand he giveth and with one hand he taketh away” criticism. Ending the corporate health insurance tax deduction makes strong economic sense, would level the playing field for all, increase job mobility, and start lowering health care costs by creating more economic competition. The issue with his plan is that it doesn’t do nearly enough to help those who can’t afford health care now.

Health care is a scarce resource, and as such, I believe the free market is in a better position to allocate it efficiently than is the government. But there are real problems with a full open market solution, not the least of which is that some of the people who would benefit most from access to health care are no where close to being in a position to get it. I think a responsible society owes it to all of its members to provide this type of access. I’d prefer a broader and more effective medicaid type solution than Obama’s corporate mandates. But at least Obama recognizes the magnitude of this issue and has made it more of a priority than has McCain.

Summary

An Obama White House is not without risk - no administration is. I am somewhat concerned that a Democratic executive and legislative branches (with a potential supermajority) can lead to an unnecessary expansion of the federal government. But, I think in the current economic climate, with the bailout and likely reduced tax revenues, their financial hands will be sufficiently tied to prevent that type of abuse.

But after eight years of the cackhandedness of the Bush administration, I think the country and the world will benefit greatly from Obama’s leadership and character, and for that reason, he has earned my vote.

Thursday

Waiting for Meagan’s parents to arrive, taking “poetic color” pictures of the autumn foliage for my photography class. (Link to final 20 I selected for the class).

Friday Night

Halloween. Dinner at 35th Street Bistro in Fremont with Meagan’s parents, as well as Val and Andrew and Meagan’s friend Anne who was in town this weekend as well. Enjoyed some Silver Oak at home before dinner - no trick or treaters…

Saturday Morning

More foliage pictures before breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe.

Saturday Afternoon

Gasworks Park

Later Saturday Afternoon

Olympic Sculpture Park

Even Later Saturday Afternoon

Tour of Redhook Brewery in Woodinville. “Tour” used very loosely, as the tour mostly consisted of drinking beer samples interspersed with pointing to brewery equipment. Not that we minded.

Saturday Night

Dinner at home (Grilled Salmon, Faro with Walnuts, Butternut Squash, and Goat Cheese, Green Beans, Chanterelle Mushrooms)

Sunday Morning

Pancakes, more foliage pictures around the house, intermittent studying.

Sunday Afternoon

Joe and Bill go to the Eagles/Seahawks game (EAGLES win!), Meagan and Jayne go to the Ballard Farmer’s Market.

Sunday Night

Dinner at 74th St. Alehouse, bid Jayne and Bill farewell at the airport.

It was a very pleasant weekend.

All pictures from the weekend on Smugmug.

There is not better way to learn this essential fact of the game than to drive to Renton at 9:30 pm for your team’s hockey game, get half dressed, and then realize that you left the skates drying in the garage from the previous game.

Not that I did that.

I picked up some Mighty-O donuts on the way home and largely had a lazy and relaxing afternoon at home with Meagan. I finished reading Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Coincidentally, he’s speaking in Seattle on Thursday.

Later in the afternoon, I completed my upcoming class assignment - a portrait shoot. The sun was a little brighter than I thought it would be and my model was a little stressed with her upcoming cardiology exam, but I think her natural charm and beauty came through pretty well…

• Gallery on Smugmug
• The 20 I picked for class

My favorites included:

After that, we made tacos. Meagan studied, while I watched Penn State hold off Ohio State. Now, I’m watching a nail biting Game 3 of the World Series, tied at four in the bottom of the ninth. Time to log off and root for the Phils.

I arrived on Saturday, staying with Meagan’s parents downtown. Sunday afternoon, we watched the Head of the Charles Regatta. I took lots of pictures but haven’t uploaded them yet. After that, I parted with Bill and Jayne and then checked into my hotel in Cambridge. Sunday night, I went to my friend (and freshman college roommate) Andy and his wife Sara’s house to watch Game 7 of the ALCS. We had a nice dinner, but sadly, the Sox lost, ending hopes/fears of a Sox/Phils World Series matchup.

Monday and Tuesday, we interviewed students. Tuesday night, I met back up with Meagan’s parents. We finished interviewing a day early, and it wasn’t easy to change my hotel reservation, so Wednesday, I effectively had a free day. I slept in for a bit, did a few hours of work, and then met my friends Bryan and Gill (former roommate and boss, respectively…) for lunch at Bertucci’s in Alewife. Afterwards, I went back to Cambridge, did a little more work, and then met up for coffee with a MIT student who interned with us last summer.

For dinner, we went to Ruth Chris’s. It was funny - Meagan’s parents are convinced that I must not eat enough steak when I’m with Meagan, so they figured I’d like a steakhouse. Well, I am not really deprived but I was pretty happy with the selection. After dinner, we watched part of Game 1 of the World Series before I headed back to Cambridge, where I finished watching the game at the hotel bar. Go Phils!

At dawn on Thursday I headed to the airport to head back to Seattle. When I got home, I felt a little ill, which shut down any idea of checking in at work. I went home, napped, and didn’t feel much better. Game 2 of the World Series didn’t help. Fortunately sleeping it off seemed to have done the trick, as by Friday I was back to normal.

I’ll update the post with Cambridge pictures once I have them processed and uploaded.