Where's Larry?

As I have recently said, I have a very clear idea of how many people read this blog and some sense of who they are. This is not a big-time operation. It is something I do primarily for my own amusement. So, why do I feel guilty? Why do I feel pressure to post? Who knows, but I do.

The reason I have not posted in a while is two fold. First, I was on vacation. That was good. I came home from vacation sick. That was bad. Pretty much all week, I have been down with fever. I feel like a lizard--I seem incapable of controlling my body temperature. At least I did. Today I am feeling much better, thank you.

What I have been doing with my time is watching my new favorite show: History Detectives. This is a very cool show in which a team of professionals investigate the interesting little stories and artifacts people submit. For example, a woman from Greenwich Village asked whether John Wilkes Booth may have plotted to kill Lincoln in her living room. They hunt down real estate records, theater historians, and other evidence to determine that Booth was in New York at the relevant time and that the house had been occupied by an actor friend of Booth's. Eventually, they found that Booth's friend had given testimony to the congressional investigation recounting a meeting with Booth in which he explained a plot to kidnap Lincoln. It's very cool when it comes together like that.

In another episode, two sisters in Louisiana wanted proof that their short sword (technically a dirk) was given to their ancestor by Napoleon. Turns out the dirk was made too late to have belonged to Napoleon. But, they dug up info on the ancestor and found out that he was present at the Battle of Wagram. In fact, he was a hero and captured the enemy flag. Guess what, Napoleon did in fact give him an honorary weapon. But it was a pistol, not a dirk. Again, it is cool to see family stories revealed.

That is all relevant to absolutely nothing. But, it is what was on my DVR and what I have been watching while doped up on cold medicine and too addle-brained to work. It beats the heck out of Oprah, Regis, or--Lord help me--The View.

My flu fog is lifting. I hope to be back to substantive work soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CAFC Decision in Double Invoicing Case

The Federal Circuit has issued a decision on the merits in United States v. Inn Foods, Inc.  There had been a previous decision on jurisdiction, which was followed by a trial at the Court of International Trade and then this appeal on the substance. The initial issue is whether Inn Foods' invoicing practice amounts to fraud.  Inn Foods had been receiving an invoice from growers in Mexico that had a relatively low sales prices on it.  Subsequent to entry, Inn Foods created a second invoice at something more similar to market value, retaining the original invoice number, and paid at that higher amount.   Superficially, this looks like a standard-issue double-invoicing scheme.  But, in the age of reconciliation, is it really more like a provisional pricing mechanism?  It might have been possible to make that argument had Inn Foods adjusted its entries accordingly.  It didn't and the loss of revenue was approximately $624,000.  Based on testimony and evidence indicating both knowl
Read more

Ninestar and UFLPA Exhaustion

Image
Exhaustion is a key doctrine in administrative law. When applicable, it requires that a party unhappy with an agency’s determination complete the administrative appeal process before turning to the courts for judicial review. Requiring exhaustion typically promotes judicial efficiency by ensuring that disputes are resolved at the agency and, if they are not, that there is a complete record of the agency process. Exhaustion also ensures that the judiciary respects the executive agencies and their expertise.  There are, on the other hand, times when the courts will find that exhaustion is not necessary or appropriate. Such is the case in  Ninestar Corporation et al. v. United States  et al., a decision of the U.S. Court of International Trade.  Ninestar is also interesting because it is one of the first cases in the CIT involving the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, known as UFLPA. In my hiatus from active blogging, I missed the rise of UFLPA as a major compliance topic. So, let's
Read more

Precious Tritium

Image
One thing I have learned as a customs lawyer who does a lot of classification work is that there are millions of odd items moving in international trade the existence of which I am completely ignorant. Such is the case of the gaseous tritium light sources used in, among other things, firearm sights. These things use tritium sealed in a glass that has been coated in phosphor. The radioactive tritium decays, releasing beta particles, which interact with the phosphor causing it to emit light. In other words, it creates light with no external power source. Pretty cool.  Tritium is, of course, a real thing. It is an isotope of hydrogen. We know this from the excellent documentary "Spider-Man." This comes up in relation to the Court of International Trade decision in Trijicon, Inc. v. United States  in which the importer challenged the tariff classification of several versions of the gaseous tritium light sources ("GTLS"). The plaintiff uses them to make gun sights. The
Read more