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Reflections on Penn
I’ve been attending classes for nearly three weeks here at the University of Pennsylvania, and in this short month I have already experienced many aspects of college life: meeting new people, making...
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My FOIA request to US Customs and Border Protection
I was bored. At 4 in the morning. And I had just received a summary of a story about someone who sent an FOIA request to US Customs and Border Protection. So I decided to do the same. Here’s a redacted...
View ArticleRebuttal to “Why I don’t want to go to med school”
My friend just started a blog. This is one of its inaugural posts: Why I don’t want to go to med school. I respect the majority of this article. I agree with most of it — the North American medical...
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Lowering the bar on education isn’t the answer
The following article was initially drafted with a guest author, Kirill Peretoltchine, at the end of July 2012, but I never finished my part for it. Here it is, nearly half a year later. In the midst...
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Somewhere in Maine
Southwest Harbor, ME — I think. I wish I had a GPS device for this camera.
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Penn Engineering survey questions
Excerpts from the Penn Engineering student survey… SEAS survey: “I can cope with being the only person of my race/ethnicity in a class” Me: “Not applicable” SEAS survey: select your...
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Form 1098-T: an example of international students’ special needs
I am not a tax attorney or tax consultant. I’m merely an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Co-Chair of the International Student Advisory Board. IRS Form 1098-T, which...
View ArticleJefferson on intellectual property
“Stable ownership is the gift of social law, and is given late in the progress of society. It would be curious then, if an idea, the fugitive fermentation of an individual brain, could, of natural...
View ArticleTown of Greece v. Galloway
I’m in the middle of final exams, and I really don’t have the time for this, but I was blown away by the decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 US __ (2014). As Justice Kagan wrote in her dissent,...
View ArticleHow should Internet regulation of content work?
I first published the following query in a closed discussion forum for CIS 125/LAW 613 (Technology & Policy) at Penn Law. It is reposted here with minor edits. Understanding the layers of the...
View ArticleRenewing date of departure by physical presence in Canada
TL;DR many Canadians in the US have more ways to vote, even under the 5-year limit, than previously thought. A week ago, I mailed in my special ballot to Elections Canada. I can now say I’ve voted in...
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Pretty sure the IRS made a typo in Publication 519
There’s a provision that allows aliens in the U.S.1 to choose to be treated as a U.S. resident for tax purposes even if they would not otherwise qualify as a resident. Income tax rules themselves are...
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Encryption = lines of code on screen
Linux users beware — someone might see you booting in verbose mode and think you’re a terrorist using encryption!
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Law firm website brought down by Presidential nomination
It’s generally an honour to be appointed to serve as the head of a federal agency. After the revelation this morning that President-elect Trump will nominate a S&C partner to head the Securities...
View ArticleCrossing the border
It’s ridiculously easy to get back into Canada from the United States, it seems, especially for a Canadian citizen. “Where do you live? “What were you doing in the States? “What are you bringing with...
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