Benjamin Hayek | The University of Iowa (original) (raw)
Papers by Benjamin Hayek
2 Id. at xiv-xx. 3 See id. at xv (referring to Weaver's "lamentations"). 4 Id. at 1. 5 Id. 6 Id. ... more 2 Id. at xiv-xx. 3 See id. at xv (referring to Weaver's "lamentations"). 4 Id. at 1. 5 Id. 6 Id. at xiii. 7 Id. at 1.
In this paper I hoped to sketch some of the more fascinating features and theories about Jesus’s ... more In this paper I hoped to sketch some of the more fascinating features and theories about Jesus’s life and times, all from a perspective of forming some sort of answer to the question of who Jesus the man was, “if indeed one ought to call him a man.” Jesus may very well have been a “double Messiah,” was at least one time and in some sense associated with or allied to the “Zealots,” may have spent his formative years in Egypt learning from the Zadokite priests and perhaps even the Therapeutae – all of which seem to me to rest implicitly upon some form of subordination doctrine regarding his divinity. St. Paul, we saw, seems not only to have presupposed some form of subordination doctrine, but one that appears to have been a relatively “mainstream” for most if not all of the earliest Christians. Taken together, it is perhaps no small wonder that, with Hanson, we can with confidence conclude that “virtually every theologian, East and West, accepted some form of subordination at least up to the year 355.” Whether one can say that this thesis sheds any light on who, and especially what, Jesus was, is a question I leave others to judge – for perhaps a kernel of wisdom resides in Constantine’s quip about Arianism: “a controversy of futile irrelevance.” A kernel, perhaps, if what matters most is that, whatever he was, Jesus “pointed out more clearly the way of life."
This is the latest case involving a sophisticated corporate taxpayer deploying a familiar five-pr... more This is the latest case involving a sophisticated corporate taxpayer deploying a familiar five-pronged litigation strategy. The first is to ignore the methodology of the actual assessment. The second is to ignore the proceedings before the local board of review. The third is to ignore all that is factually obvious in favor of the allegedly innumerable factual complexities of the subject property, and by making as many meaningless ontological distinctions as can be conceived along the way. The fourth involves a delicate balance of emphatically gesturing towards expert conclusions while avoiding requests to explain their work. The fifth is to launch a full-frontal attack upon the local board of review's fee appraiser while hoping that the total failure to engage in any meaningful way with the assessment will be, by this point in the charade, ancient history. The first and second prongs of the strategy require total avoidance of the relevant law and rules of procedure, but their deployment explains why sophisticated corporate taxpayers-with comparatively unlimited litigation resources available to draw upon-make the conscious litigation strategy decision to avoid litigating these cases in the Iowa District Courts. The third prong is aimed at total confusion. The fourth prong is the bogus way out of the maze. The fifth prong is a distraction. This strategy is familiar is because PAAB has seen it before. PAAB is seeing it 2 again now because it continues to work. Unfortunately, every time it succeeds it does so at the expense of the facts and the law. This is a shame because it is wrong as a matter of both logic and law. Clarity is the cure. A stout grasp of the factual background and procedural history of this case is therefore essential.
Knoxville Police Officers Lt. Aaron Fuller and Joel Kimpston-Burkgren were on routine patrol May ... more Knoxville Police Officers Lt. Aaron Fuller and Joel Kimpston-Burkgren were on routine patrol May 2, 2014, when they arrived to the Knoxville Wal-Mart parking lot. As the officers patrolled through the lot their attention was drawn to an adult male walking directly in front of their lane of travel in the direction of the store entry and away from the store parking area. As the officers approached the male slowly from the rear (traveling in the same direction), they noted that the adult male appeared to them to be walking in an imbalanced fashion. To the officers, the way the adult male walked suggested the possibility that the adult male was intoxicated. Officers decided to pass the adult male and "make another loop" through the parking lot to continue observing him. As their fully mark patrol vehicle passed the adult male wearing blue jeans, a plaid shirt, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, Officer Kimpston-Burkgren noticed that the adult male also wore a gun holster at his hip.
2 Id. at xiv-xx. 3 See id. at xv (referring to Weaver's "lamentations"). 4 Id. at 1. 5 Id. 6 Id. ... more 2 Id. at xiv-xx. 3 See id. at xv (referring to Weaver's "lamentations"). 4 Id. at 1. 5 Id. 6 Id. at xiii. 7 Id. at 1.
In this paper I hoped to sketch some of the more fascinating features and theories about Jesus’s ... more In this paper I hoped to sketch some of the more fascinating features and theories about Jesus’s life and times, all from a perspective of forming some sort of answer to the question of who Jesus the man was, “if indeed one ought to call him a man.” Jesus may very well have been a “double Messiah,” was at least one time and in some sense associated with or allied to the “Zealots,” may have spent his formative years in Egypt learning from the Zadokite priests and perhaps even the Therapeutae – all of which seem to me to rest implicitly upon some form of subordination doctrine regarding his divinity. St. Paul, we saw, seems not only to have presupposed some form of subordination doctrine, but one that appears to have been a relatively “mainstream” for most if not all of the earliest Christians. Taken together, it is perhaps no small wonder that, with Hanson, we can with confidence conclude that “virtually every theologian, East and West, accepted some form of subordination at least up to the year 355.” Whether one can say that this thesis sheds any light on who, and especially what, Jesus was, is a question I leave others to judge – for perhaps a kernel of wisdom resides in Constantine’s quip about Arianism: “a controversy of futile irrelevance.” A kernel, perhaps, if what matters most is that, whatever he was, Jesus “pointed out more clearly the way of life."
This is the latest case involving a sophisticated corporate taxpayer deploying a familiar five-pr... more This is the latest case involving a sophisticated corporate taxpayer deploying a familiar five-pronged litigation strategy. The first is to ignore the methodology of the actual assessment. The second is to ignore the proceedings before the local board of review. The third is to ignore all that is factually obvious in favor of the allegedly innumerable factual complexities of the subject property, and by making as many meaningless ontological distinctions as can be conceived along the way. The fourth involves a delicate balance of emphatically gesturing towards expert conclusions while avoiding requests to explain their work. The fifth is to launch a full-frontal attack upon the local board of review's fee appraiser while hoping that the total failure to engage in any meaningful way with the assessment will be, by this point in the charade, ancient history. The first and second prongs of the strategy require total avoidance of the relevant law and rules of procedure, but their deployment explains why sophisticated corporate taxpayers-with comparatively unlimited litigation resources available to draw upon-make the conscious litigation strategy decision to avoid litigating these cases in the Iowa District Courts. The third prong is aimed at total confusion. The fourth prong is the bogus way out of the maze. The fifth prong is a distraction. This strategy is familiar is because PAAB has seen it before. PAAB is seeing it 2 again now because it continues to work. Unfortunately, every time it succeeds it does so at the expense of the facts and the law. This is a shame because it is wrong as a matter of both logic and law. Clarity is the cure. A stout grasp of the factual background and procedural history of this case is therefore essential.
Knoxville Police Officers Lt. Aaron Fuller and Joel Kimpston-Burkgren were on routine patrol May ... more Knoxville Police Officers Lt. Aaron Fuller and Joel Kimpston-Burkgren were on routine patrol May 2, 2014, when they arrived to the Knoxville Wal-Mart parking lot. As the officers patrolled through the lot their attention was drawn to an adult male walking directly in front of their lane of travel in the direction of the store entry and away from the store parking area. As the officers approached the male slowly from the rear (traveling in the same direction), they noted that the adult male appeared to them to be walking in an imbalanced fashion. To the officers, the way the adult male walked suggested the possibility that the adult male was intoxicated. Officers decided to pass the adult male and "make another loop" through the parking lot to continue observing him. As their fully mark patrol vehicle passed the adult male wearing blue jeans, a plaid shirt, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, Officer Kimpston-Burkgren noticed that the adult male also wore a gun holster at his hip.
This is the presentation I gave to the jury in my last (and favorite) OWI trial (2015). The case ... more This is the presentation I gave to the jury in my last (and favorite) OWI trial (2015). The case was of particular interest because of the State's lack of "hard" evidence of intoxication, which is commonly viewed as a grave weakness for any OWI prosecution, as well as for the premium quality of defendant's counsel, my friend Matt Lindholm (for whom I have enormous respect). The case was significant because (though the jury could not be told any of this) this was the Defendant's fourth arrest for OWI, but only the second time he'd been held to account for it (having been convicted only for his first one). Though the case as it presented itself to me was difficult, and supremely well-defended, I refused to allow him to plead to anything other than OWI 2nd -- which resulted in his gambling on trial. So I gave this one an inordinate degree of attention, which paid off in the end. (After which, by the way, I agreed to not resist his request to be sentenced consistent with "the statutory minimums" for OWI 2nd.) I'm hopeful that all of this was enough for the Defendant to learn his lesson, because -- though I am aware of how difficult a battle alcoholism is, operating (a motor vehicle) while intoxicated puts all the rest of us at serious risk, and is something our society must not tolerate).
(Note: The "chart" aspect of this presentation was not an original idea of mine -- credit for that goes to another friend and contemporary OWI prosecutor, Jude Pannell.)
