Nugatory Bowling Recap with a German Finish

Tonight concludes Nugatory's run in the law school bowling league. With an average of 123, and a high score of 158, I feel that I served my team respectably, considering that, before January, I most recently bowled in the summer of 1998. Word on the street is that we came in second place. Our dear friend, Wrong Lane (whose alias aptly describes his preferred bowling location), scored a team high of 160 tonight. While a word may already exist for Wrong Lane's four-strikes-in-a-row, I do believe I called it a "Buffalo."


Speaking of words, here are a few German goodies:

Wirtschaftstreuhandgesellschaft - business trust company
Kriegsgefangenenentschadigunggsgesetz - a law pertaining to war reparations

And my personal favorite:
Bundesbahnangestelltenarbeitenwitwe - a widow of a retired federal railway employee

This is a pretty useful word, given the multitudes of women that it describes. Those crazy Germans; they have a word for everything.

Know of any other fascinatingly compounded words?

Focus on the Family

I recently discovered a news story that likely would not have bothered me if I followed my lazy custom and failed to read to the end. I really do not care that jurors bring their baggage into deliberations. The point of jury selection is to weed out the undesirable baggage with the understanding that you, as a litigant, get what's left. What bothered me most is not the judicial outcome but the response from Focus on the Family. I had heard of this group and generally thought of them patronizingly, "Oh, the poor little misguided right-wing Christians -- they're so confused and frightened."

For a bit of background, I vehemently oppose the death penalty. I think that my views are morally grounded in both Catholic tradition and my general sense of humanity. I do not oppose the death penalty exclusively for wrongly convicted felons, or excessively harsh sentences. I oppose it for everyone, including people like John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Timothy McVeigh and Osama Bin Laden. I applaud the defense lawyer for zealously finding this procedural loophole in order to prevent yet another execution.

At the end of the article, a Focus on the Family representative said that our judicial system was "bereft of morality" because it failed to allow jurors to use scripture passages as extrinsic evidence during deliberations. Considering my viewpoint on the death penalty, and the fact that I think that the confused little right-wing Christians focus too much of their energy on the Old Testament (I'm a New Testament gal, myself), I thought it strange that a Court that threw out a death penalty would be considered immoral. So, I investigated.

After reading the case, I discovered that the Court did not prohibit jurors opining with a basis in scripture. The Court prohibited citing to Leviticus as a controlling law and a justification for giving the death penalty to a convict. I wholeheartedly agree that personal experiences are in, Bible verses as evidence and/or law are out. The Bible is conflicting in a number of areas, both with itself and with the law our country has in place. For a couple of examples, look to slavery and polygamy. The Bible is a translation of a translation of a translation. Everything in there is subject to an interpretation based on historical context, textual and cultural context and practical knowledge. How does a camel get through the eye of a needle? Without biblical experts on hand to explain, I'm unwilling to trust the fate of jury deliberations to the imperfect understanding of a few misguided right-wing Christians.

Focus on the Family's response suggests a moral superiority that I cannot abide. My commentary on their website deserves its own post. In the meantime, feel free to explore, and be ill, at your leisure: According to Focus on the Family, homosexuality can be prevented.

Clocky or Cats?

As someone who struggles daily against the wake-up calls of the digital morning menace, I can appreciate the efforts of those savvy MIT engineers who understand that necessity is the mother of invention. Introducing . . . . Clocky.


My cat, however, would probably feel as though his role were usurped. Moses, the little guy, lets me know when its time to eat by pushing the "start button" to wake me up. That is, he walks around on my bladder. Personally, I think that cats are far superior alarm clocks, barring any allergies. I feel guiltily beholden to Moses when he asks me to feed him, and I must stumble out of bed to satisfy his every hunger-driven whim. In fact, I can be quite a sucker and let him con me into feeding him a second time if I'm not sufficienly awake to remember that I've already done so. Clocky, on the otherhand, can easily be unplugged, turned off, ignored, or broken to satisfy my narcolepsy-driven whims. So, while Clocky may work for those who are feline-impaired, the optimal morning includes a little chow-hound of a cat.

Pull up a movie and have some soup.

Someone suggested Napoleon Dynamite today. I think I'll take him up on it.

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In the meantime, have some Potato Cheese Soup for Good Friday.



3 medium potatoes (~1 lbs.)
1 can 14.5 oz. ready to serve chicken broth
2 medium green onions with tops
1.5 cups milk
.25 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp dried thyme leaves
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Peel the potatoes, and cut into large pieces.
2. Heat the chicken broth and potatoes to boiling in the saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally with a fork to make sure potatoes do not stick to the saucepan. Once mixture is boiling, reduce heat just enough so mixture bubbles gently. Cover and cook about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
3.While the potatoes are cooking, peel and thinly slice the green onions.
4. When the potatoes are done, remove the saucepan from the heat, but do not drain. Break the potatoes into smaller pieces with the potato masher or large fork. The mixture should still be lumpy.
5. Stir the milk, salt, pepper, thyme and onions into the potato mixture. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot and steaming, but do not let the soup boil.
6. When soup is finished and very hot, gradually stir in 1.5 cups shredded cheese until it is melted.