Don't you hate it when a witness lies under oath?

Actually I enjoy it, at least when I am cross-examining the little weasel.

The CIA, which knows a thing or two about lying, came up with this nifty list of how to determine if someone is lying:

The goal is to find “clusters’’ of deceptive behavior. A cluster is two or more behaviors, when the first happens within five seconds of a question. Examples of verbal deceptive behaviors:

1. Failure to answer the question directly.

2. Overly specific answers.

3. Verbal attacks at the person asking the question.

4. Enhancing qualifiers: “To be perfectly honest,’’ “candidly,’’ etc.

5. Being overly courteous or complimentary: “That’s a great question!’’ “You know, I knew I came to the right place. . .’’

6. Protest statements: A response to a question that is designed to convince rather than convey information. “A CEO of a public company would never do such a thing.’’

Examples of physical deceptive behaviors:

1. Changing one’s anchor point: Shifting in a chair, going from standing straight to leaning on a wall or table, etc.

2. Adjusting clothes, hair, jewelry, etc.

3. Covering one’s mouth or eyes.

Judges, do any of these look familiar?

There is a terrific post on the oral argument in the Brady case at Prawfsblawg, including a link to an audio of the argument. I'm not sure that it matters whether the union is decertified or not for purposes of the Norris-LaGuardia Act coverage of a labor dispute. A labor dispute can exist without a union. The players should have an unfettered right to disavow their union. Even if it is a tactic used to gain advantage,the National Labor Relations Act affords employees the right to decertify, and the union thereafter has no legal status as employee representative. Once done, the basis for the anti-trust exemption in labor relations no longer exists. I am surely an outsider to the dispute, but lots does not make sense to me. It seems like the owners are incurring huge potential risk with a lockout. All the bad possibilities of a strike, lost season, economic devastation, etc., but the real risk of blame for the outcome being placed on the shoulders of the owners, not players. Add to that anti-trust exposure, well, YIKES!