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March 2026
St. Patrick’s Day Wisdom Hard Work, Dumb Luck, and Everything in Between
The start of the spring season seems to align with the most- anticipated holiday of March each year. On March 17, Americans across the country will watch parades, drink their fair share of green beer or Guinness, and enjoy a feast of corned beef and cabbage in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. This is one of those holidays you either love and celebrate every year, or don’t pay much attention to. While my family doesn’t do anything extravagant for the festivities, it’s always fun to explore Irish culture and some of the core concepts related to St. Patrick’s Day. My kids actually have Irish lineage, but they didn’t get it from me. My wife’s family on the maternal side is from Ireland, and there has always been some kind of affinity with them there. We’ve talked about visiting someday, but the closest my wife and I have gotten is watching some U2 concerts on YouTube. However, my daughter has spent much more time in Europe than my wife and I. Included in her travels was a six-week internship in Dublin, which allowed her to explore much of the Emerald Isle, and she absolutely fell in love with the country. She’s been actively lobbying us to take a trip there as a family.
When you think about St. Patrick’s Day in the States, your mind likely doesn’t go directly to Ireland. You probably think about wearing green; the imagery associated with the holiday, like shamrocks and leprechauns; and, of course, the luck of the Irish. Luck is one of those interesting concepts, and nearly everyone has their own interpretation of how luck works. Some people attribute everything to luck, even things over which they had complete control, whereas others dislike the idea of luck and prefer to credit everything to their hard work. Luck is a complex idea, and I can see where both perspectives originate. Whenever I’m working on a lawsuit, there always seems to be some level of luck involved. If a small detail had gone differently, it would have significantly altered the outcome of the case. For example, maybe it was the luck of a witness or dash cam video shedding light on a disputed crash or the luck of a wreck happening just in time to avoid an adverse change in the law. But there are also moments where I can create some luck. By being prepared and digging through documents, I can get lucky and stumble upon facts that open up new approaches. While we can create our own luck through effort, patience, and persistence, it’s unfair to say that every good thing in our lives occurred through our hard work alone. Dumb luck exists, and it actually has a huge influence on our lives and opportunities. We don’t get to choose to whom we are born or where we are born. Having the opportunity to go to college can be out of our control and entirely dependent on our birth and childhood circumstances. Hard work can definitely be involved, but it’s not solely responsible for everything in our lives. A lot of luck comes down to being open to new opportunities and allowing synchronicities to fall into place, which can create either promising or unfortunate outcomes.
Whether you’re going on a pub crawl or staying at home to enjoy a delicious Irish feast, I hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!
- Brooks Schuelke
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AI’S HIDDEN RISKS TO CONSUMERS DIGITAL DANGERS
If you’ve been to an airport lately, you likely have posed for a facial recognition camera before entering your security checkpoint. This technology is just one example of how artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to not only identify who we are, but also learn more about us than we might realize.
In some cases, this reality is not a great thing.
Sure, being tracked online by AI may be considered beneficial by consumers who don’t mind receiving alerts on new purchasing opportunities based on their past shopping habits. However, society’s growing dependency on this level of technology is problematic when it leads to innocent people being incarcerated on false charges. Here’s a look at some of the growing risks surrounding the use of AI … and what you can do to better protect your privacy and rights from the prying eyes of emerging technology. Amazon’s Data Defect Debacle Although AI is seemingly everywhere these days, its use in the corporate world has existed for some time … and has created considerable gaffes along the way. Amazon learned about machine learning’s potential missteps the hard way. As far back as 2015, the company discovered that its AI-generated tools for screening resumes were biased against female job candidates. The system, designed to assign a rating from one to five stars to each applicant, gave lower scores to women who had applied for technical positions. The reason? The system had been trained to review and recommend candidates based on trends identified in resumes submitted to the company over the past 10 years, a period when men dominated the majority of positions. Instead of advancing future AI technology, Amazon stumbled back into America’s cultural past, creating a PR nightmare and “When faulty tech threatens a person’s liberty, it’s clear that AI’s road to perfection still has plenty of potholes.”
raising serious questions about the potential long-term harm AI could cause in efforts to promote gender equality. AI’s Misadventures in Faulty Arrests Facial recognition technology may be all the rage at airports, but the same can’t be said for its use at police stations. According to research conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Asian and African Americans are up to twice as likely to be misidentified by facial recognition as Caucasians. This discrepancy has real-world consequences, including the 2023 arrest of a pregnant woman in Detroit who was charged with carjacking after AI technology mistook her for someone else. When faulty tech threatens a person’s liberty, it’s clear that AI’s road to perfection still has plenty of potholes. Consumers’ Best Practices for Data Privacy Naturally, everyday consumers may also find themselves in sticky situations as a result of AI’s still-imperfect processes. Banking giant JPMorgan Chase offers the following suggestions to help better protect your personal information from AI-driven data tracking: • Utilize a separate, dedicated email address when engaging with AI chatbots, and avoid using the same email associated with your banking or social media. • Log off after every AI chat session to help ensure the system is not tracking your subsequent online usage. • Use only generative AI platforms available through the Google and Apple App stores and other reputable sources. AI may be a fascinating new chapter in our technical evolution, but it’s not without causes for concern. Whether you’re ordering shoes online or checking your savings account, forewarned is forearmed when it comes to guarding your identity … and even your freedom.
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If you’ve ever walked into your kitchen to discover your child’s mouth covered in chocolate while they insist they didn’t dip into the cookie jar before dinner, you know the importance of teaching little ones about being honest and taking responsibility for their actions. Here are a few tips for incorporating age- appropriate lessons on accountability into a child’s daily routine. Pathways to Responsible Preschoolers When teaching children the value of personal accountability, selecting tasks that match their abilities and level of understanding is essential. For children ages 3–6, this could mean having them take responsibility for setting the table (with supervision as needed to ensure safety with utensils and glassware), feeding their pets, or putting away their toys neatly after they finish playing with them. If they struggle or fail to fulfill a particular responsibility, use it as an opportunity for growth, rather than a reason to ground them. For example, if they forget to feed their dog or cat, show them FROM COOKIE JARS TO CAR KEYS Building Responsibility in Kids and Teens
TAKE A BREAK
their pet’s signs of hunger … and remind your child of how sad, tired, and cranky they would feel if they were hungry
ST. PATRICK’S DAY SHAMROCK SWIRL PIE
and had to wait a long time to eat. If they forget to pick up their LEGOs, remind them
of how much it hurt the last time they stepped on a piece when they weren’t wearing shoes. Above all, be sure to maintain a positive atmosphere and praise them whenever they complete a task (especially when they do it without being asked!) or put in their best effort to do so. Guidance for Goal-Driven Teens If your child has passed the age of picking up building blocks, you can help them manage and fulfill their pre-adult responsibilities. Encourage them to budget their spending money (especially once they start working for the first time), take an active role in maintaining their vehicle, and coordinate their own schedules for after-school or social activities. While it’s always wise to be available to help if or when they run out of gas or sleep through their alarm, giving them space to be more independent (and occasionally make mistakes) will go a long way in teaching them the real-world rewards and consequences of how they handle their responsibilities. By giving children room to learn, try, and even stumble, we help them build the confidence and character they’ll carry into adulthood. With steady guidance and age-appropriate responsibilities, accountability becomes a lifelong habit.
Ingredients
• 1 cup heavy cream • 8 oz cream cheese, softened • 1 cup powdered sugar • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup green food coloring, for vibrant color • 1 premade chocolate pie crust • 1/2 cup chocolate syrup, for drizzling
Directions 1. In a mixing bowl, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form. 2. In a separate bowl, beat softened cream cheese until smooth. 3. Add powdered sugar and vanilla to cream cheese, mixing until well combined. Then, gently fold whipped heavy cream into the mixture. 4. Divide mixture into two bowls. In one bowl, add mint chocolate chips and green food coloring. 5. Layer mixtures into chocolate pie crust, alternating between mint mixture and the plain mixture. 6. Drizzle chocolate syrup over top. 7. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to set. Slice and serve chilled.
Inspired by MixUpRecipes.com
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
1100 B Guadalupe Street Austin, Texas 78701 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
There’s More to Luck Than a 4-Leaf Clover
Privacy Perils in a Predictive World
2
St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Swirl Pie
3
Age-Appropriate Ways to Teach Children Responsibility
Fraudulent Fender-Benders
4
INSIDE UBER’S RACKETEERING RESPONSE BUMPER BETRAYAL
It’s a devious enough scam to make Tony Soprano blush.
Uber, which claims to have already spent millions defending itself against Loynaz’s suits, is suing the attorney under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. If he loses the suit, Loynaz may be subject to treble damages and attorneys’ fees. Interestingly, the case of the potentially crooked lawyer and his band of allegedly corrupt cronies is far from the only litigation of its kind. Earlier in 2025, Uber filed a suit in New York, alleging that another group of lawyers, medical providers, and clinics was carrying out a similar scheme in the Empire State. No matter how successful Uber’s battle against this level of fraud may be, the amount of allegedly criminal conniving taking place in Florida and New York is enough to make the most hardened mobster raise an eyebrow … and perhaps demand a cut.
Imagine orchestrating a series of intentional automobile collisions with the sole purpose of suing Uber for the recovery of car repair costs and medical expenses. This outrageous scenario is at the heart of the ride-share company’s 97-page lawsuit against a Florida attorney who it claims paid people to crash into each other to instigate fraudulent suits and attempt to rake in millions. Filed in Miami last June, Uber’s suit alleges that personal injury attorney Andy Loynaz, co-founder of the firm Law Group of South Florida, compensated drivers to stage accidents and later claim they were using the Uber app at the time. According to the complaint, these bogus bang-ups occurred near Hialeah, Florida, in 2023 and 2024, with Loynaz submitting $1 million insurance claims for each one and later suing Uber and its insurance carrier in four separate cases. Additionally, he allegedly coaxed representatives from Miami’s River
Medical Center, area auto body shops, and other medical clinics to falsely claim the accident had caused injuries and property damage requiring care and repairs.
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