Nugatory En Fuego

I'm cheering for the Col-Bears and other Notes

2007-01-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

After paying attention to my first NFL game earlier this season (it was the Bears, of course), I commented that it would be really cool to see the Bears play the Colts. KP said, "It could happen if they both go to the Superbowl. This might just be the year for that." And it is! You see, my brother LOVES the Colts. And this was KP's first football season in Chicago, and he's a home-team guy. I can't bring myself to pick sides, really. So I'm cheering for both. The Col-Bears. I might cheer for individual players, Like Urlacher or Vinatieri. But the end of the game will be bittersweet because somebody has to lose.

I got a fancy new camera for Christmas. I've been taking pictures of everything. Lately, I've been taking pictures of animal prints in snow, my cat, fruit, cardinals, my parakeet, snowy scenes on my street, icecicles hanging from the Frank Lloyd Wright, and friends. There are so many settings on this camera, I'm really just learning how to make my pictures come out. But I'd like to put some up here. Drop me an email or comment if you know of an easy way to do it, K?

I was in the gym on Sunday and somebody had C-SPAN on the television (interesting choice for the workout, but OK). They were airing recordings of the previous day's campaign trail. I was there long enough to see the end of Hillary Clinton and the beginning of Rudy Giuliani. I couldn't believe how uncharismatic Rudy Giuliani was, at least compared to Hillary Clinton. Say what you want about either of them in terms of policy and platform, but Rudy is stiff and has little to say about the future and tons to say about the past (ironic because his mantra seems to be that the Republican Party is more hopeful than the democratic party). Rudy was on a stage in a traditional theater-like setting. He didn't seem to be connecting at all to the people in front of him. Clinton, on the other hand, was in a gymnasium with people all around her. She was talking to the people about concrete topics that concerned them. Though I'm not sure that I agreed with her on many of what she said, it seemed as if she genuinely cared about the people in the gymnasium. I was huffing and puffing on a treadmill and I was almost nodding my head in agreement with her!

Obnoxiously bright automobile headlights suck. Especially on SUVs. I hate driving along a road when a car with those awful headlights comes at me. They're not high-beams, so they can't even dim them for the oncoming driver. My choice is to a) not look at the road as I drive past, b) stop entirely and look out the passenger window, c) continue driving and get retina burn for another mile. It is so much worse with SUVs, where the headlights are eye level with passenger cars. It's dangerous for drivers, I think.

Now Sylvania is promoting them on TV. Check out these pictures:

What if that were you coming around the bend? That would suck, no? You know what's safer, Sylvania? Not brighter headlights. Driving slowly around dark curves.

Who knew that I'd actually like the NFL?

2006-10-17T11:07:00.000-04:00

I firmly believed, for years, that I hated the NFL. My brother loves the Colts and K.P. has a deep-seated fondness for the Redskins (he grew up in D.C.). Although, if you ask him, he likes the team where he lives. In S.F., he "liked" the 49ers (not really because they're apparently a Redskins rival). I just couldn't bring myself to care about a team. I didn't really like any, and I didn't dislike any. Wait, I take that back. I think I concluded at some point while living in San Francisco that I did not care much for the Oakland Raiders. I think it had something to do with the fact that I never met a Raiders fan that I liked and I met plenty that I didn't like.

Anyway, so here I am, a very enthusiastic fan of college football. About six or seven weeks ago, K.P. suggests that I should reconsider the NFL because, after all, that's one extra day of football on television. His logic was inescapably tight. He started following the Bears when he moved to Chicago and said that, if I'm going to live in Chicago, I should at least give the Bears a shot. So I did. It started with K.P. telling me about Rex Grossman's string of injuries and how the Chicagoans are kind of tired of waiting for him to perform. Then there was Urlacher, who is quite impressive. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I was hooked when I discovered that the Bears actually have a fight song! It's a little silly, that and the melody is a little reminiscent of the USC song. But still, I think it's totally cool that these millionaire players get excited to see the fans singing the fight song.

So last night, I discovered that I cheering for the Bears. They were down 20 points, poor Mr. Grossman kind of sucked, and that Urlacher had so much talent he seemed to be single-handedly keeping the Cardinals from scoring (again). Maybe it's because I don't much care for Matt Whiner (do they hit too hard in the NFL, Matty-watty?), maybe it's because of the fight song, and maybe it's because they're comeback was somewhat magical. Last night, I was cheering for those spunky Chicago Bears and I liked it. Maybe there is a little bit of NFL fandom in me, after all.

PS: Even though I don't really like Matt Leinart, he did an outstanding job last night.

Shame on you, ABC

2006-09-04T19:53:00.000-04:00

How does Wife Swap beat the FSU/Miami game in the television lineup planning strategy? ABC is so conveniently paired with ESPN, you would think that they would opt not to air schlock and instead televise the healthy and high-quality television programming that is college football. I am dumbfounded. Absolutely and completely stunned. Think of the ad revenue! Instead, would-be football viewers (who don't have cable) will tune in to Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Diff'rent Strokes.

What were they thinking? ABC sucks.

Do you remember . . .

2006-05-03T09:47:00.000-04:00

the Flowbee? It was a vacuum haircutting system. I never knew anybody that purchased one. Do they work?

Or how about the Schwa website? It was this crazy website concocted by an artist. I think they sold t-shirts and mugs, but I also remember a screen saver (or cleanser, as they called it). It was a great website. I tried to find it again, but it seems not to exist. Does anybody else remember it?

Or how about Crystal Pepsi? What were they thinking when they thought up that crazy gimmick. That's almost as bad as New Coke.

To a Haggis

2006-04-25T14:37:00.000-04:00

I found this Robert Burns poem a few days ago. I think it's great.

Address to a Haggis
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the pudding-race!
Aboon them a' yet tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o'a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin was help to mend a mill
In time o'need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin', rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
Bethankit! hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad make her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckles as wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash;
His nieve a nit;
Thro' blody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs an' arms, an' hands will sned,
Like taps o' trissle.

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer
Gie her a haggis!

The First Amendment is falling

2006-04-14T20:02:00.000-04:00

AOL engaged in censorship this week. It's unfortunate that the First Amendment does not really apply to the Internet. It should. This kind of egregious viewpoint discrimination should not be tolerated. And the argument that you can trust the market to correct this behavior is a load of bull. I'll bet maybe 5% of AOL customers will find out that their ISP blocks messages with "objectionable" viewpoints. This poses a very real threat, considering companies like SBC and AOL (all probably subsidiaries of Beatrice Foods, somehow) can control information access for so many Americans. Don't like MoveOn.org? Eh, just filter it.

Okay, SCOTUS. Kick it into gear and extend First Amendment doctrine to public ISPs.

I swear I'm not Chicken Little.

Nevutwybraska

2006-03-15T21:20:00.000-05:00

The coffee in the west is awful. Seemingly every hotel, restaurant and gas station in Nevada, Utah and Wyoming "proudly serves" Cup o' Flavor. It's more like Cup o' Brown Water, if you ask me. I love coffee, but even I have my limits. I was stuck with a 20 oz morning bottle of diet soda for my caffeine intake. This morning, in Nebraska, we had our first decent cup of coffee, but that's only because we went to the Starbucks across the street from our hotel.

Nevada was little more than a relief to us. Entering Nevada meant that the worst of the Sierras was behind us. The speed limit was 75, which meant that we were able to get through Nevada a little more quickly. We had planned to stay in Winnemucca, but because of the awfulness of the Sierras, we had to stop in a town called called Lovelock. They had a gift shop off of the lobby which contained two vending machines. One held snacks of various stripes and the other held personal effects that you might have forgotten. This was also our first experience with Cup o' Flavor.

Shortly after Lovelock, we entered Utah. Utah is a vast expanse of rocks and stuff, just like Nevada and Wyoming. Admittedly, the terrain in Nevada is slightly different than the terrain in Utah, which is slightly different than the terrain in Wyoming, but we were pretty sick of it by the time we were in Utah. The salt flats are kind of neat, but also a little creepy.

After our experience in the Sierra Nevadas, KP was acting like a stress monkey about the Rockies. He had also watched a fair amount of the weather channel in Lovelock. He made me call the various departments of transportation to find out exactly what the road conditions were. The Wyoming automated line, (888) 996-7623, was kind of funny. First, you should look at a map before you call it. Tell it you want the road conditions for I-80. Then you have to tell it whether you want the conditions for west of Cheyenne or east of Cheyenne.

Before we stopped in Rock Springs, WY, we called around to find hotels with a wireless connection. We found one, or so we thought. Before I made the reservation (from the road somewhere west of Rock Springs), I specifically asked whether they had wireless connections. The woman said they did. I think it was a Travel Lodge or something like that. After we checked in, we found that the wireless connection was broken. That was annoying. Especially since the hotel across the street also advertised "free high speed internet."

In between NPR stations, we found talk shows on AM. We received more than a healthy dose of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. I found particularly annoying Rush's attack of the "drive by media" criticism of the federal preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina. [Imagine my best impersonation of Rush Limbaugh, which probably isn't very good] Well, what about those tornadoes? You don't see the drive by media criticizing the federal response there. We knew those tornadoes were coming. The come every year. The federal government didn't evacuate the midwest, but the drive-by media doesn't criticize FEMA. That's because the midwest is full of white people. The drive by media doesn't care about white people. [end crappy impersonation]

UGH! KP just laughed at the smoke coming out of my ears, before switching the channel. First, tornadoes are notoriously unpredictable. You could evacuate to 40 miles away, and you might leave the place that was untouched. It's a crap shoot. Second, the hurricanes obliterated an entire infrastructure, killed thousands, and did it in a way that was preventable. Tornadoes strike individual buildings and such. It's not usually an entire block. And you cannot prevent the wrath of a tornado, but you can prevent the aftermath of a hurricane. And, how many people died in the tornadoes? 20? 30? Not even. Rush Limbaugh, go suck an egg. The fact that you're still on the air makes republicans look like idiots. If I can come up with a solid rebuttal in like 2 seconds, shouldn't you come up with something better to say?

So Nebraska was a relief. They had pretty cows; baby ones, too. They also had a fair number of what looked to be oil wells. On passing a smallish wind farm about 40 miles into Nebraska, KP and I had the following exchange:

Me: "Why are there only six windmills? If they had more, wouldn't they get more power?"
KP: "Maybe it's done for a very specific application. Maybe some rancher built them to power his ranch. He's a tree-hugger. Or, at lease he would be a tree hugger if there were any trees around here."

The weather was fine in Eastern Wyoming and in Nebraska, so KP seems to be more relaxed. Although, now he's worried about how we'll find a parking spot in his neighborhood when we arrive around 7pm.

Up next, Eastern Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.

Table for two, Donner Party

2006-03-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

KP and I are driving his car back from San Francisco. Our flights to San Francisco were a bit nerve racking, but we managed to make our original and connecting flights, by the skin of our teeth. Apparently, Chicago had a wind advisory so the airlines had to bump passengers to meet weight requirements in windy conditions. We checked into our flight a full hour and a half early only to discover that we were 12th and 13th on a standby list! A few prayers to Saint Christopher later, we were the last two to make it onto the flight. Unfortunately, because of the whole seating issue, the flight left an hour late. Mid-flight, we asked the flight attendant the ETA, and she inexplicably said that we were to arrive at the scheduled time. When we were still well out of range of landing at the scheduled time, KP went to the galley to ask whether we would make our connection. Then something magical happened! First, the attendant asked us and two other passengers to raise our hands. They then told all of the other passengers that they were to remain seated until we made it off of the plane. Second, the pilot was driving on the tarmac almost 40 miles per hour. He took a turn at 28! We know it was this fast because we were watching one of those nifty flight tracker things that gives you altitude and speed. Finally, at the gate, an electric cart met us to zoom us off to the connecting flight 20 gates away. They had already closed the door to the plane, but reopened it for us when the cart pulled up.

Then comes the drive. On Saturday evening and Sunday morning, KP was glued to the weather channel. Finally, he announced, "Table for two, Donner Party. We picked some week to travel, given all of the freakish weather all over the country." As you probably now, snow in Phoenix (and in San Francisco, for that matter), a late snow storm in the Sierra Nevadas, and tornadoes across the Midwest.

Heading to church on Sunday morning was yet another exciting experience during our trip. We had forgotten all about the Saint Patrick's day parade and it took us 35 minutes to get across Market Street. We missed the first 15 minutes of mass, but managed to make it in the end.

Then came the Sierras, and the snow chains. Actually, it was quite difficult to acquire the correct-sized snow chains. We woke up extra early on Sunday to accomplish this rather important task, but found difficulty. After a tour of several auto parts stores, we finally found them. Thank you Kragen! The snow chain requirement came during the evening, which added to the difficulty. Neither of us had ever installed them before. As we were putting on the snow chains, KP on one tire, me on the other, I heard him mutter, "This is sucky."

I would just like to say that I don't see how skiing could be worth it.

The drive was harrowing, it took about 3 hours to get over the mountain, but we made it, unlike the Donner Party.

Oh, and my crash course in driving a manual car is going moderately well. I still have problems getting off the freeway at exit ramps, however.

Tales of Utah and Wyoming to come later.

Some poems I've been thinking about

2006-03-03T15:59:00.000-05:00

I've been rather morose lately, so I find myself thinking of somewhat unhappy poems. The first I remember from 8th grade English class. We were in a war then, too. The second, I stumbled across in a poetry book I bought from a used book store in San Francisco (Acorn something or other, I think it was called).

The Tear - Lord Byron

  When Friendship or Love
  Our sympathies move;
When Truth, in a glance, should appear,
   The lips may beguile,
   With a dimple or smile,
But the test of affection's a Tear:

   Too oft is a smile
   But the hypocrite's wile,
To mask detestation, or fear;
   Give me the soft sigh,
   Whilst the soultelling eye
Is dimm'd, for a time, with a Tear:

   Mild Charity's glow,
   To us mortals below,
Shows the soul from barbarity clear;
   Compassion will melt,
   Where this virtue is felt,
And its dew is diffused in a Tear:

   The man, doom'd to sail
   With the blast of the gale,
Through billows Atlantic to steer,
   As he bends o'er the wave
   Which may soon be his grave,
The green sparkles bright with a Tear;

   The Soldier braves death
   For a fanciful wreath
In Glory's romantic career;
   But he raises the foe
   When in battle laid low,
And bathes every wound with a Tear.

   If, with high-bounding pride,
   He return to his bride!
Renouncing the gore-crimson'd spear;
   All his toils are repaid
   When, embracing the maid,
From her eyelid he kisses the Tear.

   Sweet scene of my youth!
   Seat of Friendship and Truth,
Where Love chas'd each fast-fleeting year
   Loth to leave thee, I mourn'd,
   For a last look I turn'd,
But thy spire was scarce seen through a Tear:

   Though my vows I can pour,
   To my Mary no more,
My Mary, to Love once so dear,
   In the shade of her bow'r,
   I remember the hour,
She rewarded those vows with a Tear.

   By another possest,
   May she live ever blest!
Her name still my heart must revere:
   With a sigh I resign,
   What I once thought was mine,
And forgive her deceit with a Tear.

   Ye friends of my heart,
   Ere from you I depart,
This hope to my breast is most near:
   If again we shall meet,
   In this rural retreat,
May we meet, as we part, with a Tear.

   When my soul wings her flight
   To the regions of night,
And my corse shall recline on its bier;
   As ye pass by the tomb,
   Where my ashes consume,
Oh! moisten their dust with a Tear.

A Poison Tree - William Blake

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with my smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veil'd the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.

And finally, a poem whose first introduction I cannot remember, but have always loved.

To Sleep - John Keats

O soft embalmer of the still midnight!
   Shutting with careful fingers and benign
Our gloom-pleased eyes, embower'd from the light,
   Enshaded in forgetfulness divine;
O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close,
   In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes,
Or wait the amen, ere thy poppy throws
   Around my bed its lulling charities;
Then save me, or the passèd day will shine
Upon my pillow, breeding many woes;
   Save me from curious conscience, that still lords
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole
   Turn the key deftly in the oilèd wards,
And seal the hushèd casket of my soul.

Punctuated Heartbeets and Alfredo

2006-02-15T16:02:00.000-05:00

It's been wonderful to see KP every weekend since he moved to Chicago in January. We generally don't celebrate Valentine's Day in the traditional commercial sense (flowers, candy, etc.), but we definitely observe it in passing. On Saturday, he surprised me with an early Valentine's Day observance. He loves to cook, so it wasn't really a surprise that he cooked dinner for me. The surprise was in the meal choice, and the lengths he went to in order to prepare it. First, he made Cornish game hens. He started practicing two weeks earlier to figure out the best way to prepare them in his equipment. He settled on roasting them side-by-side on a bed of mirpoix. They looked so cute in the roasting pan. He consumed 3 Cornish game hens over the two weeks before Saturday to make sure he got it just right. I asked if we could roll pasta that weekend, so he had to deviate from his original plan of potatoes au gratin. He had experimented with various types of cheese, ratios of butter to cream, and methods of cooking. He made two batches of potatoes au gratin in preparation for Saturday. Instead, however, we rolled out fettucine and I made his favorite alfredo sauce.

Finally, the part that I loved the most, were the beets. He cut them into cute little hearts and arranged them on the dinner plate around the hens. He saw a picture in San Francisco magazine or something and thought, "I can do that." So he cooked beets four times over the two weeks to practice slicing and cutting the beets into hearts. Do you cut them when they're still hot, or do you let them cool? Do you cut them before cooking them? I think the answer was cook first, then cut, but only after they've cooled enough to touch them, but not cold. I'm not sure, though, because he wouldn't let me into the kitchen during the preparation. So, for Valentine's Day, KP gave me heartbeets. It was very thoughtful and cute the way he practiced for this meal.

When I shared the story with friends, one person immaturely gagged, failing to grasp the significance of the dinner as an honest way to celebrate Valentine's Day. My alfredo sauce pales in comparison to KP's level of effort, but we honored the day in a way that did not cheapen the beloved saint, patron of engaged couples and beekeepers. It was perfect.

Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup grated parmesan (use the canned stuff because it actually works better than the deli tub, unless you have an authentic block of aged parmesan, then totally grate and use that)
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
some parsley

Over low heat, melt the butter in a saucepan with the cream until it is hot and steamy, but not boiling. Stir in the salt, pepper and parmesan and continue stirring until the cheese is melted. You can either stir the parsley into the sauce or sprinkle on top of each serving, but only sprinkle it on top if you're using freshly chopped parsley. Toss the sauce with pasta, preferrably sauce-catching noodles like fettucine or gemelli. As if you couldn't tell, this is about as bad for you as you can get. We save it for special occasions, like Valentine's Day.

Maybe the phones are down in Washington

2006-02-03T10:27:00.000-05:00

I did my routine news roundup this morning, and I found a couple of headlines that caught my eye:

Senate passes $70 billion in tax cuts

$70 billion sought for war costs

Apparently the White House neglected to telephone the Senate to let them know about their funding issues. As if the solution could have been any clearer. The numbers actually match this time.

Way to go Alito! and other important things to say

2006-02-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

I just read this fabulous bit of news!

I'm thrilled.

Alito met his confirmation with just about none of the fanfare that befell Chief Justice Roberts and poor Harriet Meiers. I did not have much faith in his independence from La Bushie. I mean, c'mon, the man is famous for his political hack-ivism. Harriet Meiers? So, considering what a staunch supporter of the Death Penalty that La Bushie is, this case kind of proves that Alito is not in his back pocket.

My dear friend from high school called the other day, wanting to know if I'd be willing to talk to her niece about Notre Dame. She's a high school freshman and wants to go to a "small, Catholic school that has a marching band."

I really had to try hard to not say, "How about Boston College?" It wasn't that hard because my bigger question was, "Didn't you say she was a freshman?" My advice to freshmen in high school is to get the grades, no matter what college they think they want to go to. All schools look for good grades. You can't go wrong with good grades. You like sports? Play 'em. Like music? Join the choir or band. Like animals? Volunteer at the SPCA. Do what you like to do. But most importantly, just get good grades.

My second piece of advice? Choose a school with lots of programs. How can you possibly know what you want to study when you're in high school? I started as an art major, switched to engineering, then decided to add film. A decade after high school and I still don't know what I want to do. So, yeah, pick a university.

Speaking of advice, I hate getting advice, tips, pointers, suggestions, or criticism from people who don't know any better than I do. I'll take unsolicited advice from people who know what they're talking about. Those are people, in my mind, who have spent at least a full, uninterrupted year doing whatever it is that they're expounding on.

Everybody else, you just think you know what you're talking about.

I loathe health insurance companies. I had a cyst. It was removed this morning. Kind of painful, a little unsettling, but I'm just fine. But, see, in order for the doctor to remove the cyst, he had to remove the mole that was sitting on top of it. He did not realize this until after he tried to remove the cyst. I went in to have a cyst removed, so he did what he had to do in order to remove the cyst. Well, that meant removing the mole because it was cost-effective and safer for me. What's wrong with that, you ask? While my doctor was filling out the chart and paperwork, there was a sharp intake of breath, followed by, "You have Mega? Ummmm...we'll send this to a different pathologist to save you some money. It'll just take a little longer." My Fabulous Insurance Company will cover the removal of a cyst, but not a mole, unless its malignant, but it won't cover the testing for malignancy, unless it's malignant, and you can't test for malignancy unless you remove the mole. Makes perfect sense.

Fifteen part deux

2006-01-16T21:15:00.000-05:00

Because of overwhelming demand, I contribute my favorite 15 books. Quickly, without much deliberation and, again, alphabetically:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Bell Jar

The Boxcar Children

Chump Change

The Dog is Not a Toy: House Rule #4

Fraud

The Giving Tree

Harry Potter and . . .

The Joy of Cooking

Me Talk Pretty One Day

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (series)

The Once and Future King

Pride and Prejudice

The Secret History

Sons and Lovers

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Fifteen

2005-12-15T19:47:00.000-05:00

In alphabetical order is a list of my favorite fifteen films*:

Amelie

An American in Paris

Beaches
Breakfast at Tiffany's

Bullitt

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder version)

The English Patient

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gigi

High Noon

The Magnificent Ambertsons

Memento

Rear Window

Rebecca

Rocky

The Sound of Music

*as of today. My favorites change periodically, seemingly with my mood.

Public Universities: Freedom to Reject a Biased Curriculum

2005-12-12T15:33:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting article that discusses a lawsuit filed against the University of California system. The university apparently rejected a few Christian school courses for not meeting the UC admissions standards. One one side, the UC system simply wants to make sure that it admits students who are prepared for the rigors of college. On the other side, the Christian schools are claiming that the UC system is practicing religious bias.

Clearly, I don't know all of the facts. It would be interesting to see, for example, what aspects of the curriculum do not meet the required standards. Is it the absence of certain authors in the literature courses? The emphasis on creationism over evolution? Or is it American History from a Christian perspective? If the courses are lacking subject matter that the UC system would like its admitted applicants to have studied, I don't see how there could be a problem. The Christian schools are free to teach creationism, but perhaps they ought to include a bit about evolution if they want their students to be admitted in the UC system. But if the UC system objects to the subject matter being taught, that might pose a problem.

Can the UC system reject, in the name of academic freedom, an applicant because they have been taught that the United States is a "Christian" country, that evolution is a wacky conspiracy theory, or that Emily Dickinson is an unfit author? Or are they truly exercising bias against religious curriculums simply because they are religious?

Perhaps the intelligent design debate will resolve itself if students graduating from schools that teach it find themselves denied admission from preeminent public institutions. I went to Catholic school and I took religion classes and learned from the Christian perspective. But my biology teacher taught me evolution. My history teacher taught me about the horrible way the settlers treated the Native Americans. And, we read works by Shakespeare and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Would the curriculum of my high school pass muster, now? It certainly did in 199[x].

I think that the UC system should be able to admit only students who meet certain requirements. If the addition of religious education to your high school curriculum automatically disqualifies you, however, I think these Christian schools may be on to something.

Neither Cow nor Punk

2005-11-07T20:50:00.000-05:00

Or, at least that's what we thought about the Surreal McCoys, before we finally saw them on Friday night. While we listened to a pretty bad cover band, thinking that they were the Surreal McCoys, we were thinking geeky legal thoughts: false advertising, material misrepresentation, etc. Finally, they came on stage (you can read about the intermediate details on Brooke's blog; she has a pretty good account of the evening).

I have to say, I really did enjoy the Surreal McCoys. I totally dug their "schtick", as Brooke put it. I loved the washboard, which was hanging around the neck and in front of the belly of one of the singer/musicians. Does that mean he has "washboard abs"?

I loved the music. Unlike Brooke, I think they were incredibly talented. Perhaps they weren't the most musically skilled, but it does take a whole lotta hutzpah and stage talent to entertain as well as they did. The lyrics were great, the energy was infectious, and they buried the crappy cover band that preceded them. And they were, indeed, "cow punk." But maybe I have lower standards when it comes to live bands. She is, after all, an experienced concert-goer.

I especially liked their sense of humor. The title of the show was, "One Stop World Tour".

This is why I cringe when someone calls me "leftist"

2005-11-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

KP's sister described me by saying to her friend, "She's leftist, like us." But I'm not a leftist!

I don't think I'm liberal, really. In my mind, liberals are just as wacky as conservatives. Just for different reasons.

Take this article for example. A Molotov cocktail? Do those people not see the irony? Protesting violence and war with violent and war-like actions? Back when we went into Iraq, I remember having trouble getting to work because the protestors shut down the entire Market Street in San Francisco. The bus I was on couldn't cross over, so I had to walk to the train station. It was not that big of a deal, just a little annoying. I guess it's a price I'm willing to pay for speech.

But in that protest, there was no violence. There was little, if any, property damage. There were just craploads of people sitting in the middle of the intersections. I was OK with that, even if I did disagree with the message.

But Molotov cocktails? Are they serious? Conservatives do it to, with the whole abortion-clinic bombing thing. Again, irony. I recognize that, in both examples, it's a "small element bent on violence and destruction," (quoted from the article). But these extremists are no better than the object of their protests.

I'm not sure what my point is except that when someone calls me liberal, I think of it as an accusation that I support this kind of behavior.

---

Go Irish, Beat Volunteers!

Taxes

2005-11-01T17:48:00.000-05:00

Here's an old article that I thought I'd bring up just in time for Bush's report on tax reform. Just in case you didn't know, the estate tax is like the Holocaust. I've copied the October 8, 2003 article in its entirety.

Terry Gross, Grover Norquist and the Holocaust
By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman

Terry Gross has a syndicated show on National Public Radio. It's called "Fresh Air."

As a guest last week, Gross had on Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform and the reputed architect of President Bush's tax cuts.

One of Terry Gross' first questions to Grover Norquist was this one:

"Now the Bush tax cuts would cost us about $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years, and we're going to be hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. At the same time, the president wants $87 billion to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. Do you think we're in a tough spot, needing a lot of money, to rebuild those two countries at the same time that we're cutting taxes?

And here's Grover Norquist's answer:

"Well, there's a very interesting use of the word 'we.' Every time you use the word 'we,' you meant the government, and I tend to use the word 'we' to mean the American people and to speak of the government as the government. So when the government doesn't take as much of your money next year as it did last year, we have more money. The government has a lower tax rate, and depending on economic growth, may have more or less money, but we, the people, have more money. So it is a good thing for us to have lower taxes."

Wow, Grover -- we can't use the word "we" anymore to refer to a political entity called the government? What do you propose we replace the word "we" with in the following, Grover?

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Terry Gross then moves on to the estate tax. Here's the back and forth:

Terry Gross: The estate tax is only paid by somebody who gets over $2 million in inheritance. So, you know, when you get out of poverty and you cross that line which is -- What is it, like, $18,000 or something that's officially poverty line?

Grover Norquist: Depends on how many kids you have. Yeah.

Terry Gross: Right. OK. So when you cross that, maybe you're making, like, $20,000 or something. That's not going to help you with the estate tax. I mean, you're talking about $2 million. That's a line people don't cross a lot. That's -- I don't think that's . . .

Grover Norquist: Yeah, the good news about the move to abolish the death tax, the tax where they come and look at how much money you've got when you die, how much gold is in your teeth and they want half of it, is that -- you're right, there's an exemption for -- I don't know -- maybe a million dollars now, and it's scheduled to go up a little bit. However, 70 percent of the American people want to abolish that tax. Congress, the House and Senate, have three times voted to abolish it. The president supports abolishing it, so that tax is going to be abolished. I think it speaks very much to the health of the nation that 70-plus percent of Americans want to abolish the death tax, because they see it as fundamentally unjust. The argument that some who played at the politics of hate and envy and class division will say, 'Yes, well, that's only 2 percent,' or as people get richer 5 percent in the near future of Americans likely to have to pay that tax.

I mean, that's the morality of the Holocaust. 'Well, it's only a small percentage,' you know. 'I mean, it's not you, it's somebody else.'

And this country, people who may not make earning a lot of money the centerpiece of their lives, they may have other things to focus on, they just say it's not just. If you've paid taxes on your income once, the government should leave you alone. Shouldn't come back and try and tax you again.

Terry Gross: Excuse me. Excuse me one second. Did you just . . .

Grover Norquist: Yeah?

Terry Gross: compare the estate tax with the Holocaust?

Grover Norquist: No, the morality that says it's OK to do something to do a group because they're a small percentage of the population is the morality that says that the Holocaust is OK because they didn't target everybody, just a small percentage. What are you worried about? It's not you. It's not you. It's them. And arguing that it's OK to loot some group because it's them, or kill some group because it's them and because it's a small number, that has no place in a democratic society that treats people equally. The government's going to do something to or for us, it should treat us all equally.

Terry Gross: So you see taxes as being the way they are now terrible discrimination against the wealthy comparable to the kind of discrimination of, say, the Holocaust?

Grover Norquist: Well, what you pick -- you can use different rhetoric or different points for different purposes, and I would argue that those who say, 'Don't let this bother you; I'm only doing it' -- I, the government. The government is only doing it to a small percentage of the population. That is very wrong. And it's immoral. They should treat everybody the same. They shouldn't be shooting anyone, and they shouldn't be taking half of anybody's income or wealth when they die.

First of all, Grover, the morality underpinning the estate tax is the not same as the "morality" underpinning the holocaust.

The holocaust was mass killing driven by a racist ideology. There is no morality there.

The estate tax is a moral tax -- taxing the wealth of the super-rich to help the not so super-rich -- it's called progressive taxation.

According to Bill Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins of the group Responsible Wealth, nearly half of all estate taxes are paid by the wealthiest 0.1 percent of the American population -- a few thousand families each year.

In 2001, Gates was the lead signer on Responsible Wealth's Call to Preserve the Estate Tax, which was signed by over 1,000 wealthy people personally affected by the estate tax -- including George Soros, Ted Turner, and David Rockefeller Jr. He points out that since it was enacted in 1916, the estate tax has helped to limit the concentration of wealth, making it easier for Americans to educate themselves, innovate, build new businesses, and prosper.

Gates also points out that while there is no question that "some people accumulate great wealth through hard work, intelligence, creativity, and sacrifice" it is equally important to acknowledge "the influence of other factors, such as luck, privilege, other people's efforts, and society's investment in the creation of individual wealth such as a patent system, enforceable contracts, open courts, property ownership records, protection against crime and external threats, and public education.

The father of the man with the billions understands the word "we."

Get it, Grover?

Worst Neighbors Ever

2005-10-07T18:24:00.000-05:00

I think the Hutchins family is totally awful. First, the husband is a slime-bucket (that's the technical term, of course) for winning "millions from the Roman Catholic Church on behalf of alleged victims of sexual abuse." Those allegedly deep pockets actually harm parishioners more than it harms the church. The greedy jerk-boy. Second, the wife sounds unbelievably crass and disgusting. She seems like the type of woman only a slime-bucket could love.

If my recollection of property law serves me, the Hollingworth family might have a claim of implied easement. And if the state allows tacking, they might have a prescriptive easement.

I bet those nasty Hutchins are gonna build one of those gaudy giganto-houses.

The Hat Tip

2005-10-05T14:56:00.000-05:00

A trend for people who write blogs is to offer a "hat tip" when they replicate information tidbits. I find this expression extremely annoying for two reasons.

1.) JFK ruined the American hatwearing experience by refusing to muss his full head of handsomely brushed hair. Have you ever seen a picture of Kennedy wearing a hat? Didn't think so. People don't wear hats anymore. It's all ball caps these days, which are NOT hats. They're caps. So maybe the expression should be, "cap tip?" If we pretend that the cap has superceded the hat, we can then say that people don't wear hats properly anymore. The hat-wearing etiquette has been superceded by complete and total absence of hat-wearing etiquette. I count in this lounge five ball caps. This lounge is indoors. There is no eye-blinding sun in this lounge. People are not playing ball in this lounge. The ball caps serve no purpose in this lounge. The ball caps should have been removed.

2.) Even if we were to pretend that people still wear hats, the "hat tip" expression makes absolutely no sense. Tipping one's hat is a form of greeting. I guess you can expand the equivalent definition of greeting, the "acknowldgement," and use "hat tip" as an acknowlegement. But they're still two different concepts. One suggests, "I acknowledge your presence." The other suggests, "I acknowledge that someone else pointed this out first." It's a stretch, but I guess it works. I still don't like it.

From the Austin Business Journal:

We've also used our fashion for greetings. As was the open hand, it has long been a sign of politeness to bare your head. From the sweep of a Renaissance chapeau with an opulent feather through the removal of a simple cowboy hat or bowler, exposing the most crucial part of your existence has been a very proper greeting.

In the West, in particular, we've also altered our greetings to fit the needs or style of our culture. In the Old West, with a cowboy hat a necessity to fight off the relentless sun, but sometimes keeping at least one hand on the reins was more important. The compromise was the hat tip, a grab of the brim and slight pull. It says respect but not recklessness.

Even as we moved from Stetsons to gimme caps, it was a tradition that thrived. In fact, it was easier to give a pull to the longer brim of a baseball cap. But that too slipped back as it became more fashionable to wear your hat as if you can't tell the front from the back.

And from Ask Andy About Clothes:

Tipping of the hat is a conventional gesture of politeness. This hat tipping custom has the same origin as military saluting, which came from the raising of medieval Knights face visors to show friendliness.

Hats are worn less now, but at the turn of the 20th century, all adults wore hats whenever they left the house. It was a matter of good personal hygiene, since hats were a protection from industrial dirt.

Hats are removed when inside, except for places that are akin to public streets, like lobbies, corridors, and crowded elevators (non-residential). In a public building (where there are no apartments) the elevator is considered a public area.

You may choose to remove your hat in a public elevator, but in the presence of a lady your hat must be removed.

Of course, I have no delusions that my singular cry for sensibility will be heard by the increasingly blind-to-fidelity masses. I am fairly certain that the "hat tip" expression will find its way into the dictionary with this new, albeit incorrect, usage.

A somewhat related pet peeve of mine: President Harding gave us "normalcy" after World War I. We had a perfectly good word without having to create a new one that means exactly the same thing: normality. Now, almost nobody uses "normality." After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the fake word was bandied about several times daily. The American Heritage Dictionary, bless them, at least gives me validation by providing "normality" as the definition for "normalcy."

I refuse to use the word "normalcy" on principle. But most would say that it makes me a kook.

Supreme Court Mullet

2005-10-04T22:09:00.000-05:00

KP sent me a baby hippo link last night. The URL was still in the browser tonight, so I lopped off the tail to figure out what type of organization would post such a lovely picture:

After I visited the site, I liked the post that I saw so much that I thought it was worthy of mention.

Greek Wedding

2005-10-02T18:19:00.000-05:00

At the last minute, I decided to go to a wedding with my brother yesterday. To give you an idea of how huge the wedding was, my brother's friend's cousin got married. I'm thinking of my cousins and there's not a single one of their friends that I'd consider inviting to my wedding. Anyway, this wedding was enormous. There were more than 450 people who came to see the step-daughter of a Greek woman get married. Neither the bride nor the groom was Greek, but there were a few hundred Greek people doing spiral dancing and shouting "Oppah!" The bride's sister told me that for every one Greek person you invite, there are ten more that you have to invite because otherwise they will feel insulted. Hence the "Big Fat Greek Wedding."

The spiral line dancing is kind of fun, and I really enjoyed the music. I do wonder, however, why the bride's father throws a fistful of cash at the groom. Is it a dowry thing? What does "Oppah" mean? Where does the sweetbread dance come from and what does it mean?

I kind of wish I were Greek because then I could have really cool wedding traditions.

Overheard in New York

2005-09-30T15:27:00.000-05:00

I'm glad I wasn't in the library when I read this. I laughed so loud! Totally unexpected.

Thanks to Derek for sharing the website.

What a funny website. It reminds me of the Jay Leno thing (which should be called"Spotlight on Stupid People").

Idiots.

PS: Here's another good one:

Teen girl: It was like you artificially inseminated that cannoli into your stomach.

PPS: And another:

Guy: I like Bin Laden, you know? I like his style. Nobody can figure that motherfucker out. Hell, I'd wear a t-shirt with that motherfucker's face on it. The snipers, they be tryin' to find him and didn't find shit. I give him mad credit. He bad ass.

Apparently the Brownie Fiasco was not nearly instructive enough

2005-09-29T14:16:00.000-05:00

Before anyone says, "Clinton did it too," I'd just like to state that a tradition of bad ideas does not make a bad idea good.

So Bush appointed Brown to FEMA, political cronyism at its most obvious. Brownie screwed up royally. I'm not sure I blame him; how could anyone expect any different from someone who is inadequately trained for the job? As far as I'm concerned, he met expectations.

Less than a month after that whole scandal, Bushie is at it again. This time, it is doubly ironic. First, he just got whipped by the media for appointing political hacks to important government positions. I guess he didn't think it was that big of a deal. Second, his administration sends an annoyingly strong message about terrorism, Al Qaeda and vigilance. Truly, how vigilant is Bush about border lockdown and homeland security when he treats it like some inconsequential governmental role?

This just supports the idea that Bush pushes "vigilance" against the "threat of terrorism" as a distraction from the bigger issues with his administration's policies. It's clearly not as important to him as he'd like us to believe.

Rocketman

2005-09-15T14:35:00.000-05:00

Elton John's Rocketman has never been so abused. I can't decide which is funnier: the disembodied head of William Shatner around the middle of the presentation or the David-Lynch-esque dancing-troll surprise at the end.

Enjoy.

Horses are faster than Humvees

2005-09-15T09:28:00.000-05:00

I know Bush already claimed responsibility and we're all supposed to stop talking about how the G response was pitiful. I just read an article that makes the gubmen look really, really bad.

Men riding horses rode south from Canada, beating helicopters, humvees, or any other motoized transport from any of the nearby military bases. As the St. Bernard Parish sheriff put it, "The Canadians can show up, but the Department of Defense can't get to St. Bernard Parish?"

Those Canadian Mounties deserve high praise.

P.S. Hmmm.....wait, they're closing those nearby bases, aren't they? Maybe they'll change their mind and leave a few more bases open in states besides Texas and Florida for situations just like this.

I left my heart in Fran Sansisco

2005-09-14T14:29:00.000-05:00

Dean Martin sings a version of the song where he's pretending to be drunk. It was only funny the first time I heard it. Each subsequent time, I kind of think to myself, "That Dino. He's such a jokester."

Anyway, I did leave KP back in SF. And two law firms that I'm not sure I like.

I'm a woman. It's no secret, really. I look like I woman and I do not have an androgynous name like "Pat" or "Chris" or "Terry". So, I wonder why, when I go to a firm that has 6 women in an office of 14 they send 5 men to interview me? Beyond the obvious question of why no women were allowed to talk to me, I wonder what was wrong with the other three men. They parked me in a conference room and paraded these men in front of me like I should have been impressed.

The last guy I spoke to tried to give me some interviewing advice by telling me that I should keep my eyes open and look to see if any of the doors were open or shut. I pointed out that I had only seen the elevator lobby and the conference room immediately across froom the lobby so I did not have an opportunity to see any offices, or office doors for that matter. He didn't catch the hint and did not offer to show me around the office. I don't think he was their best marketer.

The second call-back was much better. I enjoyed the people, I spoke with women, and I got to walk through two of the three floors. Although I wasn't exactly uncomfortable, something felt kind of weird about the place. Maybe I just felt weird about interviewing and it had nothing to do with the firm. I'll have to see how the next ones go next week.

It was great to see KP and my friends from Old Saint Mary's. Man, I love San Francisco.

Attack of the Centipede

2005-09-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

Last night, Moses and I were attacked.

It was a particularly vicious attack. I was sitting at the kitchen table reading for class (which turned out to be cancelled) and Moses was faithfully sitting on the floor at my side, just like a dog. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. Ohmygoshitwassoscaryijumpedfromthechairandontothenearbybench!

This was in the middle of my kitchen floor scampering about looking for a Nugatory En Fuego to eat:

Moses joined me on the bench. I had my cell phone, so I called KP, who happened to be on business travel in Denver. The conversation went something like this:

"Hi, sweetie!"
"Oh my gosh, I have a bug on my floor."
[laughter]
"I'm serious! It's huge! It's the size of your thumb!"
"Ok, Ok. What kind of bug is it?"
"I've never seen one like it before. I don't know."
"Is it a cockroach?"
"I know what a cockroach looks like. This has too many legs."
"Is it a millipede?"
"The legs are too long."
"Is it a centipede?"
"Those bite, don't they? It better not be a centipede. Ack! He went under the refrigerator!"
"Then you're fine. He won't bother you again."
"What if he comes back out?"
"You can just sick Moses on it."

If you knew Moses, you would understand why that was a terribly insensitive thing to say. Why, I believe KP was mocking me! I saw Moses, the mighty hunter, catch a bug once. Just once. Admittedly, it was probably an aging fly, but he did manage to snare it in his fluffy little paws. And didn't I mention he was on the bench with me?

After KP's useless suggestion, I formulated a solution. I went downstairs and got the landlord. He brought his 11-year-old kid and a plastic food storage container and a 4-foot yard stick. (I know it's a contradiciton in terms, but what do you call a giant ruler that's 4 feet long?) They caught the bug in under 5 minutes, and proceeded to examine the bug and show me the container (with the bug in it). You could see the creepy legs and its body run about on the inside of the container. I shudder just thinking about it. Albeit, the container was sealed, but I really just wanted them to take the bug and run. Run really far away.

I did some research this morning. Apparently, it was a "house centipede". They say it gets "up to" 1.5 inches. I think they need to correct that. This thing was at least 2 inches, and I'm guessing closer to 2.5. It was HUGE!

Moses and I are safe. Though, it may be a while before I stop giving the refrigerator a very wide berth.

Bipolar Disorder and Routine

2005-09-08T08:23:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty familiar with bipolar disorder, so it's kind of amazing that they had to do a study to figure this out.

Using what researchers dubbed interpersonal and social rhythm therapy, patients were taught how to keep to normal sleeping, eating and other daily routines. They also were shown how to anticipate and cope with stress just as a diabetic who would be taught, for example, how to cook and eat differently.

. . .

In the study, 175 patients suffering from the most severe form of bipolar disorder were divided into several groups. All the patients were given medication for the disorder, but only some received interpersonal and social rhythm therapy.

The researchers found those who received the therapy were more likely to not have relapses of their illness during a two-year maintenance phase.

So, basically, if you eat regular meals, get plenty of sleep and maintain a schedule, you will be more stable. It's funny, because those are the three things you should do to reduce stress. People with reduced stress are calm and calm people tend to be more stable.

By jove, those researchers are brilliant!

"Whoopsi Gras"

2005-09-08T08:13:00.000-05:00

Mark Fiore is a (quite liberal) cartoonist in San Francisco. Although I don't always agree the premises upon which he bases some of his humor, I do think his cartoons are funny. This week's cartoon, however, was the first that didn't have a punchline at the end. The beginning is fairly representative of his work. The partisan attack is also typical for him. But the end -- that's where it through me for a curve.

See the flash-animated cartoon.

Note: Please leave a comment if you don't think any of his archived cartoons are funny. I'm curious what makes him unfunny to others.

Judge Roberts Hearings

2005-09-07T17:30:00.000-05:00

One of my professors is set to testify at the confirmation hearings for likely-to-be Chief Justice of the United States Roberts. I wonder what she will say. I wonder what anyone will say at the hearings. He's so "green", in terms of written opinion, so I guess it would all be character testimony? I saw this picture, and I thought it was funny. I'm sure that it was just a coinidence and a random effect of the framing. But man, it looks like Justice O'Connor has fixed quite the disapproving stare upon Judge Roberts.

In other news, Arlene Ackerman resigned as head of the San Francisco school superintendent. It's really too bad because I thought she was really good for the school system. I'd like to see those three jackasses, whoever they are, outted as anti-education and strung up by the media. This is one example where content is far more important than form. They couldn't handle a boss that was actually a boss? They should get over themselves.

Space Penguins

2005-09-05T13:11:00.000-05:00

I must admit that I was a little disappointed when I read this line:

The squat, compact unit has a few tiny jump boosters protruding below and on its sides and looks nothing like an actual penguin.

I think it's pretty cool, though, to have a little robot that can hop on the moon. I wonder how they tested this thing.

You can see a picture on the Gizmodo blog.

Football!

2005-09-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

I really like football. I like wathing it live. I like watching it on TV. I like listening to it on the radio. I just like football. (I don't, however, like agonizing over statistics and records and such nonsense. When the game is over, you have approximately 5 hours to lament the loss or celebrate the victory and anxiously anticipate next Saturday's game.)

Yesterday, as I was leaving the law school, I heard the familiar sound of the drum cadence that starts the marching band's march to Friday afternoon practice. The drums reverberate against the campus buildings and create this amazing electricity in the air. Even though there's no game, it just makes you want to jump up and down and scream, "Football!" Man, whoever wrote that drum cadence really knew his stuff. I wonder if it was tailored to the acoustics of Notre Dame's campus.

So today is the first game. KP grew up hating Notre Dame football, which used to make for an interesting game-watching experience. Now, I can't tell if I taught him to love Notre Dame or if he just pretends really well. But now that we're 3,000 miles apart, we watch games by text message. I prefer his commentary after a big play to that of the sportscasters. It's usually much funnier. For example, after Anthony Fasano made a particularly brutal block, the text message that came was, "Oof! Fasano is a load." I'm sure that's way better than anything a sportscaster could come up with. Succinct yet descriptive.

For today's football-watching fun, I shall make sausages and peppers.

Recipe for Sausages and Peppers

1 lb. mild (or sweet) Italian sausage
1 green pepper, sliced into strips and then cut in half
1 red pepper, sliced into strips and then cut in half
1 large onion cut however you like it (large dice, maybe?)
3 cherry peppers, seeded and ripped into 1/2-inch pieces
8 mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
olive oil

Brown the sausage in some olive oil on the stove in an oven-save receptacle (We'll call it a "pot", though it doesn't need to be a pot, technically. If you do not have a stove- and oven- safe receptacle, you can use a frying pan of some sort, and an oven container). Remove the sausage from the pot. Carmelize the onions in the pan, toss in the cherry peppers when the onions start to brown. Stir a bit, and toss with the sausages. Brown the other peppers, and add to the sausages. Brown the mushrooms, and add to the sausages. Put everything back in your oven-safe receptacle. Cover and put into a 350-degree oven. Remove about 30 minutes later.

To serve 'Merican style, put a sausage and some peppers and onions on a crusty hoagy roll.
To serve 'Talian style, serve over polenta, ladling some of the broth from the "pot."

Don't eat the cherry peppers if you don't like hot peppers. They impart a lot of flavor because they're very hot.

Don't hide your light under a bushel

2005-08-31T22:13:00.000-05:00

I find it hard to truly enjoy my recent good fortune knowing that so many people are miserable right now. Two weeks ago, my air conditioning was broken. I didn't complain, exactly, but I did grumble a bit. Admittedly, I did have a bad case of poison ivy at the same time which may have been the source of my grumbling. But now, looking at the insignificance of an 85-degree apartment compared to the Waterworld-like misery of the South, I should be shamed into really appreciating the good things that are happening to me. Yet it's just the opposite -- how can that be?

Firms like me. They really like me. Applying for jobs last year, I had the very strong impression that I was shoe-gum. I did not have high hopes for my job search this year and figured I'd have to pick from the scraps left behind by the other Uber-smarties. When I received my first call-back interview, I was ecstatic. I might actually get a job! I know that the invitation is just a step, but it's a step I thought would be at the edge of my grasp. Last night, I received possibly the best invitation to a call-back interview, which was even more exciting than the first. I feel wanted by big fancy-pants, high-powered law firms.

It's really a wonderful feeling. I just wish I could share my good news without feeling so guilty.

Mayor Nagin is a Lucky Guy

2005-08-29T19:52:00.000-05:00

I've been following the Hurricane Katrina news, with a little help from a friend, and I've decided that Mayor Nagin is very, very lucky. That hurricane swerved at nearly the last minute. Lots of people did not leave; many because they simply couldn't. The gridlock was scary for those who did not want to be stuck on a freeway when the hurricane came, and the mandatory evacuation did not come until after it was too late to avail oneself of public transportation out of the storm's path. Citizens do bear great responsibility for self-preservation, but when they receive information that is short of dire and little different than many of the previous hurricane warnings, who can blame them for waiting until the mandatory evacuation order to leave? Considering that he knew, or at least should have known, that the hurricane was barrelling towards New Orleans on Friday evening, I see no reason for waiting until Sunday to issue the order. As an elected public official, it is his duty to make sure that information is clear.

I believe that Mayor Nagin is an irresponsible public official. He gave the residents of New Orleans very short notice. He availed himself of vertical transportation which was unavailable to his constituents -- leaving those who entrusted him with their well-being in harm's way. Mayor Nagin should have remained to the end in light of his blunder, joining those who suffered from his untimely action. His blunder could have been very tragic, but for the fortuitous, and unexpected, swerve of a hurricane. Shame on you, Mayor Nagin.

Summer Rocks

2005-06-29T14:58:00.000-05:00

I've been in San Francisco for a little over a month now. KP and I have gone to see lots of movies, we've rented lots, and have been watching rented TV shows, as well. The Public Defender's gig is great, and they think I'm great! I miss Moses, but I've been getting to play with Betty a bunch. I've been baking up a storm, too. Cakes, cookies, muffins. Yummy. The best part of the summer, though, is getting to see KP everyday. Every day chitchat is better when it's in person.

PD's Office
I've really enjoyed my time so far. My first case was a graffiti case. Without going into too many details, we got an acquittal. He was doing graffiti that night, and he admitted as much to us (his defenders). But the DA was prosecuting for two specific marks, which he did not make. I brought my engineering skills to the game by establishing that the witnesses (vigilante probation officers) could not have seen the specific marks from their vantage point and the 5'8" defendant could not have made the marks that were 7'3" from the ground. Well, I guess the height thing was possible, but unrealistic. The defendant sent orchids last week. That was nice.

Other cases have involved a toy gun-wielding transvestite, a man who's convinced the police anally rape him and distribute video footage to porn rings (he allegedly stole a cell phone), a wheelchair-bound woman who put Dove soap and apples in her lap and wheeled out of a grocery store, a man who's caught up in some huge intrafamily drama and charged with carrying a concealed weapon (to wit, a monopod that looks like a retractible baton -- he was taking pictures of Grandma's eviction with his camera), a kid that's charged with a registerable sex offense for grabbing a girl's butt in line at a Taco Bell, and tons of DUIs. With the DUIs, the blood-alcohol numbers that come back are truly scary. The highest I've seen is .34, but we regularly see .20 and higher. That's a crapload of alcohol. I don't have a lot of sympathy; I just hope they get help for what clearly must be alcoholism.

Movies
KP took me to see Kingdom of Heaven, which is terribly violent. It's a neat story, but too violent. He also took me to see Cinderella Man, also violent, but the storyline was better than Kingdom, so worth it in my book. I took KP to see Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I was a little disappointed, but I enjoyed it. I liked the music. KP has tried and failed to read the books several times since I've known him. He just doesn't get it.

We rented Dr. Zhivago, but I screwed up when I put it in the player. The DVD did not clearly identify side A or B, and I saw "widescreen", so I assumed the other side was not widescreen. We ended up watching the second side (the last hour and 20 minutes), thinking "This is a really messed up movie." I saw it once when I was a kid, and it wasn't how I remembered it. The second disk, which had special features, I put in the next day while K-Woo was out seeing Batman (I'm totally not interested). The special features showed scenes we clearly had not seen, and referred to it as an "epic." One hour and twenty minutes does not an epic make. I discovered my error, and forced KP to sit down to the first half. Needless to say, the director's cut is way better than our edit. It's not that messed up.

We also rented all of Monk. We totally dig the neurotic detective.

Other movies/TV shows we rented include:

Quantum Leap -- We're championing our inner geek.

The Pretender -- There's something about this show we both like.

Birth -- Nicole Kidman is great, but the movie is really creepy. I liked it.

Napolean Dynamite -- KP thought it was mean, but funny. Did you know that the ex-quarterback footballer brother is in The Pretender?

Kung Fu Hustle -- Apparently, they've been selling this in Chinatown since April 2004. We borrowed this from a friend. I'm not a martial arts movie buff, so I thought it was kind of silly.

Meet the Fokkers -- Pretty funny. Moses was "Moses" before this movie came out, I'd just like to say.

I can't remember the rest.

More to come. Recommend movies if you get a chance.

I love summer!

San Francisco Archbishop Levada

2005-05-17T16:16:00.000-05:00

Archbishop William Levada will be the next doctrinal enforcer. I like Archbishop Levada. Except for length and delivery, his homilies are pretty good. He manages to reconcile Catholicism with Westernization while remaining true to fundamental Catholic doctrine. Maybe Pope Benedict is a sheep in wolf's clothing, after all.

Yay Jimmy!

2005-05-12T03:25:00.000-05:00

My brother graduated from college tonight.

While that sentence seems simple enough, it's really quite a big deal. Jimmy was a horrible student in grade school and high school. He hated authority and refused to study. When he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Navy because my mother gave him a choice: go to school or join the military. Otherwise, he was out of her house and on his own. Nine years after finishing high school, he graduated from college -- a degree engineering with an orange tassel to boot!

What I like most about Jimmy is his honesty, his generosity of spirit and his dedication. Although he can be ferocious at times, he has a twinkle in his eye and warmth in his heart for just about anyone. He works very hard and is devoted to his friends and family.

I know a lot of really smart people, but compared to them, he's a rock star in my book.

Apple

2005-05-05T14:36:00.000-05:00

I love my iBook G4. It serves my word-processing educational purposes very well. It only crashes when I have two Microsoft products open at the same time (and I suspect that's a problem with Microsoft), and even then the applications shut down, not the entire computer. It is well designed -- even the packaging was spiffy!

However, I've one significant problem. Perhaps I have crammed three years of "typical use" into nine months. Perhaps I'm a furious typer -- think Rachmaninoff. The letters have worn off many of the keys: e, s d, f, c, n, m, l. Some are only partially erased: v, b, r. If you notice, my left hand seems to be the powerhouse of typing (e, s, d, f, c, v, b, r) whereas the right hand only destroyed l, n, and m. It's not that bad when I'm typing regularly because I never look at the keyboard. However, when, for whatever reason, I have to type a single letter that happens to be one of the erased, I am kind of confused. Do you ever remember telephone numbers by dialing position instead of by number? It's kind of the same thing.

At Last

2005-05-05T00:41:00.000-05:00

I'm done! Soon, I'll be heading back to San Francisco. I can hardly wait . . .

To celebrate the completion of my first year of law school, I joined friends at a local Rum Runners establishment. I had fun, but it certainly wasn't because of the toupee wearin' dirty-old-man piano player. He was so crass! Such dirty "humor." Maybe it's because I'm getting old. Sadly, there were no Etta James tributes. The most talented of the piano players played Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, strangely enough. Do you remember it?

KP's father likes to tell the story about when he found KP as a two-year-old upon the counter with a jar of honey. He resourcefully used the drawers as steps to climb to the cupboard, opened the jar and upended it upon himself. His father found him covered in honey with his hand stuck inside the jar trying to get the bit at the bottom, completely disregarding the honey all over him. In honor of this story, I present a haiku:

Baby likes honey
sticky fingers seek the last
none left in the jar

Worst Oral Argument Ever

2005-04-29T20:31:00.000-05:00

In the brief lull following the property exam, I've been catching up on my email. My legal writing professor sent us a link to an oral argument before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Half of our class wrote briefs on dog sniffing, modeled after the Illinois v. Caballes case decided this year.

Poor guy. But man is it funny.

UPDATE: Here's the docket information in case you can't find it: 04-2732 : USA v. Johnson, Robert Lee

Property Final(ly) over

2005-04-29T18:17:00.000-05:00

I have not been a huge fan of property law. It's largely passionless, except for the day we spent on the division of marital property. There's some serious passion in divorce. Also, I pulled the short straw on professors, which didn't help with my love of property law.

One question on the test seems to have stumped an entire class. I don't remember the details, but the gist was, "What three rules interfere with environmental preservation of private land." Rules? *shrug* Too bad he did not ask for theories; I was all over that. But rules? Rule against perpetuities? Zoning laws? Eminent domain? A classmate told me she threw in ten rules and "hoped she got the right three." Heh.

Even though you're only sitting on your bum for three hours, finals are incredibly draining.

Bears tortured for their bile.

2005-04-25T18:58:00.000-05:00

I don't even know what to say, except that it is so very sad.

Berkeley is apparently not the home of "Anything Goes"

2005-04-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

My favorite quote: "Cars don't have First Amendment rights." Tee Hee.

Last summer, many of the Bay Area hotel employees went on strike for health care plans. Apparently, the Berkeley Claremont employees encouraged passersby to honk in support of the strike. Unfortunately for those that honked late at night, there are laws against that form of political expression.

Even in Berkeley.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2005-04-21T22:59:00.000-05:00

I turned 22* today. It was a pretty good day. My mother called at 7:00am because she wanted to be the first to wish me "Happy Birthday." Little does she realize that extra sleep would have been a very nice birthday present, as well. I went to my last class with Professor Rougeau. I'll probably not take another class with him, but I'm glad I got to hang out with him in Contracts for two semesters. He's fun, and somewhat unpredictable. I like that in a professor -- it keeps you on your toes.

Brooke gave me a Haiku greeting card this morning. They're slightly inverted haikus, but they're very cool. Adele sent an electronic greeting. It's pretty funny. It's a nice pastoral scene with spanish guitar. When I played it, my mouse happened to be hovered over the text, and I noticed that the word "joy" was a link, so I clicked. The music changes to heavy metal, the screen turns black, and a roughly drawn little white monster comes on the screen and, in a Cookie Monster voice, says, "Happy Birthday Brian!" The birthday card had an Easter Egg!!

After studying, I went home to prepare for my friends. I invited Alex, Adele, Megan, Kristine, Jaime (who wasn't feeling well), and Brooke to birthday s'ghetti. I made my mom's sauce, and they brought salad, garlic bread and birthday cake (with candles!). They didn't want me to cook at all, so it worked out best that way. We had a lovely time. Adele and Megan had great border-crossing stories, and Kristine is a funny storyteller -- especially about road trips in Germany. The company was lovely, and it was a nice way to spend a birthday evening. Thanks for coming over!

Moses still hasn't recovered from the visitors. He stealth-bit me earlier. As I lay on the couch chatting to my brother, he slowly wandered over, curled up to my feet, nuzzled one and CHOMP! He does not like people in his home. They disturb his routine. Poor little guy. He stares me down from across the room.

It's off to finish my work, talk to K-Woo, and get some sleep. Happy Birthday to me!

* all over again

Frist's Filibuster

2005-04-20T16:49:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) led a filibuster, which Frist joined, against 9th Circuiit judicial nominees. To quote from a Smith press release regarding a filibuster that Frist joined:

Paez and Berzon are activist judges. I think they are out of the mainstream of American thought and I don't think either one should be on the court. . . . We have a solemn obligation to make sure our courts are filled only with judges who uphold and abide by the transcendent ideals explicitly stated in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Although I cannot verify this, apparently Senator Smith said the following on the floor:

But don't pontificate on the floor of the Senate and tell me that somehow I am violating the Constitution of the United States of America by blocking a judge or filibustering a judge that I don't think deserves to be on the circuit court because I am going to continue to do it at every opportunity I believe a judge should not be on that court. That is my responsibility. That is my advise and consent role, and I intend to exercise it. I don't appreciate being told that somehow I am violating the Constitution of the United States. I swore to uphold that Constitution, and I am doing it now by standing up and saying what I am saying.

For another survey of filibuster use, the Senate Democrats have put together a nice history of Republican support for filibusters.

Finally, here is a useful fact sheet about filibusters.

In support of "Nuclear Option," I've heard:

that the lack of judges on the bench create a crisis and backlog. I suggest President Bush nominate a different set of ten judges to ease the crisis and backlog.
that the filibuster is unconstitutional because it goes beyond the "advice and consent" role of the Constitution. Perhaps it's only constitututional when it is used to prevent leftist judges.
people defend Frist's suggestion that it is an attack on Christians. To that, I say phooey. I am a Christian, and I do not see how requiring bipartisan consent of judges shows disrespect for me as a Christian.

Frist should get over himself.

I Have Hope for Papal Love

2005-04-19T17:24:00.000-05:00

Perhaps the less-than-welcoming texts that Pope Benedict XVI published while still Cardinal Ratzinger have more to do with his position as a doctrinal enforcer than any personal convictions against women and gay people. I do not expect that the Church will ever change is position on homosexual activity. However, I thought perhaps women might, in my lifetime, play a role within the Church that goes beyond Incubator of the Faithful. In his texts, he adopts a tone that is hard to interpret as anything but hatred for gay people and impatience with women. I hope that, as our pastoral leader, Pope Benedict XVI will soften his demeanor and show love for all members of his flock. No matter how conservative Pope John Paul II was, he embodied Jesus' one and true message: Love.

Charlie the chimpanzee with a nicotine habit

2005-04-18T19:58:00.000-05:00

Apparently, tourists continue to give Charlie cigarettes.

Charlie exhibits nicotine-addiction behavior, and even hides his habit to zookeepers.

He apparently bums cigarettes off of zoo visitors. What are those visitors thinking?

My animal morning.

2005-04-18T08:41:00.000-05:00

Right when I wake up, I can be pretty irritable because I am not a morning person:

After I've woken up in the morning, but before I have had coffee, I'm really disinclined to move

That little kick of caffeine helps me to be a little more alert:

I am often running late in the morning, so I feel like I rush to school:

At the end of the day, I feel as though I'm barely able to stay afloat:

Bunnies

2005-04-17T21:53:00.000-05:00

I saw a bunny today. He hopped across my path and into the grass, stopped, turned and wiggled his little bunny nose at me. His little fluffy white tail was so cute.

Then, he did a most remarkable thing. He flopped on his side and lay in the grass like a cat. I have never seen a bunny do this before. His little bunny belly was soft and white, and he kept twitching his nose the whole time. A bicyclist rode past and startled him into a more bunny-like position.

Of course, I'm not exactly certain the bunny was male. But I'm pretty sure he was.

Chinese violently protest against Japan

2005-04-16T19:14:00.000-05:00

Freedom of speech is valuable, but freedom comes with restrictions.

Many Chinese citizens protest Japan's possible UN Security Council seat and its prior wartime history. Some protested peacefully and some of the protesters engaged in terrorism by "stoning Japan's consulate and smashing cars and shops."

One crowd chanted "Kill the Japanese!" while attempting to attack a Japanese driver. Protest messages include, "Say No to Japan in the Security Council;" "Japanese pigs get out!" and "Be Vicious Toward Japanese Devils."

The Chinese should express their discontent with Japan. They should be free to assemble and voice their opposition. Fortunately, the Chinese government did not squelch the speech. However, the government might have done more to prevent the terrorism.

A protester said, "We will play along with Japan and smile nicely at them, but they have to know they have a large, angry neighbor." Yes, you can tell Japan you are a large, angry neighbor. But you don't need violence to do that.

Area 51

2005-04-15T19:51:00.000-05:00

In another google map trick, a blogger finds Area 51. Apparently, the feds couldn't get to that one fast enough.

Good Republican Statesmen

2005-04-15T19:11:00.000-05:00

We see very little statesmanlike behavior from our congressmen. Ten former republican senators urged the House to reverse the changes they made to ethics rules in January in order "to restore public confidence in the people's House." I applaud their efforts to encourage good conduct.

Three current republican congressmen are asking DeLay to step down temporarily so that the "trumped up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment."

DeLay doesn't need to step down. The House should do what it needs to in order to initiate an investigation, and DeLay should cooperate. This whole stepping down thing is crazy. You should only resign if you're guilty of the charges. If the investigation reveals that you are somehow implicated in wrongdoing, you'll be removed. Clearly, DeLay thinks he's done nothing wrong, so it would be silly for him step down. As for the charges being "trumped up," I highly doubt it. One, maybe. But three assertions of wrongdoing must have at least some merit.

Congress redeemed itself

2005-04-15T18:19:00.000-05:00

Today, the senate voted against propaganda. Various agencies have released video feeds disguised as news reports attempting to paint the policies and aims in a favorable light. The GAO released a report criticizing the White House for violating appropriations rules against spending federal money on "publicity and propaganda." The White House OMB responded by saying that the GAO "fails to recognize the distinction between covert propaganda and purely informational video news reports." As an aside, the OMB memo provides an interesting little lesson in constitutional separation of powers inasmuch as the Director of the OMB asserts that executive agencies are not bound by GAO "advice."

Basically, the OMB disagrees that the video news feeds constitute "covert propaganda" because the content, although admittedly from an undisclosed origin, is not propaganda.

Ultimately, however, the video news feed practice will probably stop. The Senate unanimously passed a bill that requires the agencies to identify themselves as the source of the media. Given that people are generally skeptical of the government, or at least should be, the video feeds will probably not have the same positive effect as they would had they been "covert" and would no longer be a "cost effective means to distribute information" (see OMB memo).

Tax Avoision

2005-04-15T09:05:00.000-05:00

The BBC has an interesting piece where the author thinks that we like being taxed more than our billionaire counterpart.

The following quote got me thinking. The BBC refers to it as "what once seemed like a fringe argument."

From the Greeks through a string of eighteenth and nineteenth century philosophers, there was a sense that there should be "equity" in the taxation of different groups.

Today, this philosophical basis for proportionately heavy taxation on the rich compared with the poor is debatable.

The counter idea, that taxes represent an unfair confiscation by the state, has grown along with the view that taxing the top penalises success.

I'd like to think that it really is still a fringe argument, but there are enough uncompassionate me-centric people in this country for me to realize that it's not.

Tell me how taxing you 30% instead of 22% discourages success. You're still making several gazillion dollars, you're paying some fancy-pants lawyer to hide your dough,and you'll actually only pay 15% instead of 30% anyway. Is it really that important to you, to keep your grubby little fists around your grubby little dough, to see your country's children suffer? How about those proud Americans who worked for so many years and are set to retire. Preserving your gazillion is worth more than making sure that they'll receive their $20K a year? You know, if you gave back your tax cut, there'd be no "Social Security Crisis."

I'm in favor of tax reform. Let's just reform the system so that the ultra-rich people cannot avoid their taxes.

Don't forget, greed is one of the seven deadly sins.

So what, now it's illegal to give a bad loan?

2005-04-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

I wish I knew why companies that extend credit willy-nilly should be protected from their bad investments. If I make a lousy investment, the Big G isn't going to bail me out.

Yesterday, Congress passed the bankruptcy bill that makes it harder for Americans to declare bankruptcy. This bill protects creditors who ignore fraud alerts, bait college students with credit cards, and extend credit to people who have no business getting credit in the first place.

"The credit card industry defeated a provision that would have required credit card issuers to tell consumers how much more interest they would be charged if they opted to pay only the required minimum each month. "

It makes me disgusted that my country, my America exists to protect irresponsible corporations, nay, greedy corporations.

"The big winner under the new law will be credit card issuers, whose reckless and abusive lending practices have driven many Americans to the brink of bankruptcy," said Travis B. Plunkett, lobbyist for the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America. "Now that Americans in bankruptcy will have to pay more back to creditors, they have a right to expect that credit card companies will lower their interest rates and fees. We will be watching credit card companies closely to see if they will become more responsible corporate citizens in return for this unprecedented gift from Congress."

If creditors didn't want to be stuck holding the bag, perhaps they should have extended credit less freely.

To those who say that the American's racking up the debt should be more responsible, think of this: Half of all bankruptcies stem from medical bills.

Again, I say shame on you Congress.

Slime Mold Beetles

2005-04-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

Two former Cornell University entomologists named slime mold beetles after Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.

Funny scientests.

Estate Tax

2005-04-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

The House voted to permanently repeal the estate tax. The estate tax law that Congress enated in 2001 phases out the tax by increments. Currently, estates under $1.5 million are exempt, and the rest are taxed at 47%. In 2009, the tax will be 45% on estates larger than $3.5 million. In 2010, the estate tax will be gone, only to retun to pre-2001 levels (55% tax on estates larger than $675,000) in 2011.

According to the New York Times:

A Democratic amendment to extend the estate tax while exempting all but the three-tenths of 1 percent of estates valued at more than $3.5 million ($7 million for a couple) was rejected, 238 to 194, on a largely party-line vote.

So let me get this straight. These people have a problem levvying taxes on very few very large estates?

Oh, wait, the people who stand to inherit these large estates are the ones who get to vote against the tax bill.

Heh. For shame.

Cats and Kerry

2005-04-13T09:34:00.000-05:00

Hunting doesn't really hurt my head, but hunting Fluffy?

--

Kerry is an idiot -- he just blew a spy's cover. Although, Bolton sealed the deal when he responded to Kerry's question using the alias instead of the name given: he revealed the one-key code.

--

The farm subsidy policy will not change under Bush's watch. I really thought he would be able to clean up the program and without serious backlash.

Edwin Vieira

2005-04-12T17:26:00.000-05:00

Honestly, I am confused. After rereading an account of last week's Crusade Against Justice Kennedy, I noticed this quote:

Edwin Vieira told the gathering that Kennedy should be impeached because his philosophy, evidenced in his opinion striking down an anti-sodomy statute, "upholds Marxist, Leninist, satanic principles drawn from foreign law." Ominously, Vieira continued by saying his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph Stalin. "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem,' " Vieira said.

I investigated Dr. Vieira, and his writings are schizophrenic or deeply rooted in originalist interpretation. For example, he opposes the Patriot Act in a marginally coherent argument: ". . . today's push for 'homeland security' actually aims, not at the security of the United States or of the American people under the Constitution, but at the Establishment’s security over the Constitution and against the people."

Later in his essay, I fail to join Dr. Vieira on his leap from Establishment Security to flaws in the Federal Reserve:

The Establishment is systematically constructing a domestic police-state apparatus, indoctrinated, trained, and ready to impose on the great mass of Americans whatever harsh measures the Establishment decrees, because it expects . . . disturbances in America of magnitudes far greater and consequences far more reaching than anything a few Islamic terrorists could possibly cause. These must be disturbances that involve very large numbers of average Americans [and] that only a police state can quell, which means that . . . they will be completely justified under the Constitution. And, most importantly, they must be disturbances which, if not quelled at whatever cost, would bring down the Establishment.

What might cause such disturbances? As with most questions in criminal politics, the answer can be found by "following the money". What poses the most dangerous threat to the Establishment's continued rule . . . if not the instability of the Ponzified monetary and banking systems, and superheated financial markets, that provide the foundations for its economic and political power? Any scheme of fractional-reserve banking based on fiat currency the value of which is secured by nothing more than economically unsound debt and the government's power to tax is inherently and inexorably self-destructive. No such scheme can long survive. The Federal Reserve System is just such a scheme. And the Establishment knows it. . . .

Political instability will threaten the Establishment's debt-based currency, the incestuous relationship between the Ponzified banks and the Treasury, and even the Establishment's phony "two-party system" of Mensheviks and Bolsheviks--who, of course, Americans will correctly recognize as equally responsible for the mess, because they are but the two false faces of the same evil political god, Janus Americanus.

. . . To maintain its own economic and political positions, the Establishment will sacrifice the economic welfare and the constitutional rights of everyone else. And to succeed it will be compelled to crack down: first, on people's resistance to its propaganda, agitation, disinformation, and other techniques of psycho-political manipulation; then on refractory dissent; then on rebellion at the polls; then on mass refusals to obey its oppressive "statutes", "regulations", and "judicial decisions"; and, at length, on revolt against every aspect of its misrule. The Establishment is building a domestic police state today for the purpose of deterring, cowing, and if necessary smashing this opposition tomorrow. (literary flourishes omitted where possible)

According to Dr. Vieira, the primary purpose of Homeland Security is not to protect people, rather it is to preserves economic stability and wealth. (Maybe I'm naive, but I think Homeland Security's purpose is less devious and malicious than Dr. Vieira contends. )

To get to the point, his arguments against Homeland Security seem at odds with his castigation of Justice Kennedy. Even if I adopt his originalist interpretation of the Constitution, I have trouble finding fault with Kennedy's opinions that struck down anti-sodomy laws and juvenile death penalty using thebroad interpretation of liberty and life that he advocates. Is there a consistency in his viewpoints that I'm missing?

Judicial Activism, not so much.

2005-04-12T14:35:00.000-05:00

Brendan posted about wacky responses to Justice Kennedy's opinion striking down the death penalty for juveniles. Today, Glenn Reynolds illustrates the inconsistency of the activist fringe of the Republican Party. He quoted an article by Jonathan Rauch:

Life is not the ultimate public value for most Americans. Law is.

Conservatives, of all people, should know this, because they have been saying it for years. More than four years before Schiavo, another difficult legal case transfixed the country. In Bush v. Gore, the outcome of the 2000 presidential race depended on Florida's disputed vote. Democrats, having narrowly lost in the initial tally, demanded manual recounts. In an election, they said, accurately determining the intent of the voters is surely the ultimate value. What could trump that?

Law, replied Republicans. They insisted that a fundamental principle was at stake. Florida's election statutes did not provide time or authority for manual recounts, they said; and if the rule of law means anything, it means not making up the rules as you go along.

In my opinion, neither the Republicans nor Democrats have the market cornered on reason and consistency. The traditionally Republican approach, which I would agree seems rooted in tough-love, hard and fast rules, is actually not so rational all of the time. Both sides are guilty of irrationally advancing ideological positions that law and tradition clearly undercut. For example, I'm curious to see how the Supreme Court rules in the medicinal marijuana case. Which ideological position is more important: the anti-marijuana position or the strong sense of federalist values? On the other hand, Democrats have trouble reconciling their ideological anti death-penalty and pro-choice positions.

It's just interesting to see some clearly incoherent arguments advanced under the guise of reason.

America We Stand As One

2005-04-11T15:31:00.000-05:00

Here's a music video for your viewing pleasure. "Am - air - uh - KUH! We stand as one!" Dennis Madalone, with his fabulous mullet and impeccable pronunciation, brings us the greatest power ballad of the 21st century. He dedicated it to our brave heroes and loved ones: "They're still with us, but in a different way."

Viewer beware. He's a little creepy, especially when he tousles the hair of playing schoolchildren.

Why is this a partisan issue?

2005-04-11T09:58:00.000-05:00

Daylight Saving Time is up for vote in the Indiana assembly today. Aside from the inanity of trying to pass a bill that you know to be unconstitutional, it seems strange to me that this bill represents a "divisive issue among Indiana lawmakers and their constituents." Which party opposes and which supports? Maybe it's geographically divisive, with the Cincy suburbs wanting the state to join Eastern, and the Evansville and Chicago areas wanting the state to join Central. That seems implausible because Chicago and Evansville would more than cancel out Cincy, leaving the rest of the state (who really shouldn't care one way or the other) to garner the majority to pick a time zone and stick with it.

I can't wrap my head around why this is such a huge issue. I'm beginning to think that the parties are simply fighting for the sake of fighting. Fix the damn bill and pass it already.

Why the Patriot Act is scary.

2005-04-10T17:28:00.000-05:00

A secret tribunal can declare that you are an "enemy combatant" and hold you indefinitely. In these tribunals, when you are accused of something, you are not given the opportunity to present your own case. You are presumed guilty, and essentially cannot prove your innocence.

These people were detained two years before they had the opportunity to challenge their imprisonment before sham tribunals. Basically, how do you challenge an imprisonment when you haven't been charged? How do you prove your innocence when you don't know the claims and evidence against you? These prisoners have no rights. I think it especially damning that a tribunal president (judge) exclaimed, "I don't care about international law. I don't want to hear the words 'international law' again. We are not concerned with international law."

Although this scenario is highly unlikely, it is based on a true story. Perhaps you live in an American neighborhood with a high concentration of Muslims. Also, your name is Mohammed and you are Muslim. You see a news report asking for information about known terrorists. You recognize one as someone who lived in your building and prayed in your mosque. You come forward with this information. FBI agents pick you up and detain you for questioning, yet do not release you because they suspect you are lying about your involvement or withholding information. They put you before a tribunal, the president of which declares you an "enemy combatant," and they hold you in a cell someplace for two years or more. Of what are you guilty? What does it take to make someone an "enemy combatant"? Basically, there are no hard and fast criteria for status as an "enemy combatant" in the Patriot Act. It's left to the discretion of a tribunal.

Who appoints the tribunals? The same branch of the government that seeks to label a detainee as an "enemy combatant."

I understand our government's need for increased authority to detain, question, or watch people who they suspect of terrorism affiliations. Al Qaeda is shadowy. They are succesful because they are shadowy. Indefinite imprisonment, however, is inhumane, probably unconstitutional in this context, and is not the answer. If I remove one employee from a company of thousands, will that company shut down? Unlikely. In fact, this behavior discourages other Muslims who are also unaffiliated with Al Qaeda from coming forward with information. Isn't the war against terror about information?

The unclassified basis for determining that Mohammed Nechle is an enemy combatant is that he associates with people who have ties to terrorist organizations. Skip to page 12 for the discussion of the convincing evidence that he's an enemy combatant.

Mostly, I'm afraid of "enemy combatant." The G can "disappear" me, call me an enemy combatant and it's possible that nobody will ever know.

Just ducky in Washington, et al

2005-04-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

The Secret Service has been protecting a duck that's nesting outside the Department of the Treasury. I like that environmental protection policy; I think we need more of 'em. We should look out for all of our animal friends.

----

The last time I made a web page was in 1999. CSS was just starting to gain popularity and I never bothered to learn it. These templates that blogger.com offers are quite handy, yet they seem to either exclude or render unrecognizable certain html tags. For example, I would like to separate unrelated bits of my witty wisdom (shoot me in the head if I ever take myself that seriously) with an HR tag, or its equivalent. Does anyone want to feed my laziness and give me the Q&D guide to manipulating a blogger.com template?

----

The finger lady apparently has a litigiously checkered past. I can understand that Wendy's and San Jose would want to verify the authenticity of the finger claim. But c'mon, a heightened criminal investigation? I don't think the police really need to raid the family's home as if the finger-claimant were involved in a drug trafficking scheme. Based on the account in the article (admittedly, it is from the San Francisco Chronicle, which is not terribly well-known for its neutral coverage), I picture in my mind a SWAT team kicking down the door with guns drawn, creating mass chaos while they tear the home apart in search of evidence of the suspicious finger. In any event, the police have adopted seemingly intimidating tactics. They should probably tone it down a notch, lest they find themselves on the receiving end of one of this woman's many law suits.

Misogyny and homophobia thrive

2005-04-05T16:35:00.000-05:00

This discussion of whether the Catholic church has ever modified it's faith teachings. Clearly, it has. Women are now allowed to receive communion, gay people are no longer inherently bad, and priests are no longer allowed to be married. As well, I think the Church would now condemn the Inquisition and the Crusades.

The comments to the post, however, reveal an underbelly of the Catholic church. It appears that some would like the Church to adopt more restrictive stances against women and gay people.

Embalming

2005-04-05T13:36:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting article that described the traditional practice of embalming popes. This year, the Vatican opted not to follow traditional practices. I'm not a mortician (is that a politicall correct name anymore?), and although I am fascinated by death, I am not familiar with the pre-decay duration of a dead body. My only experience is that of a woman who died in our apartment building a little over a year ago. She was dead only a few days before the odor of decay overwhelmed the first floor of the building. Given that the funeral will be almost a week after he died, will the Pope's body, to use the scientific terminology, get yucky?

There is the whole Catholic theological concept of incorruptible bodies of the Saints. The saints are so pure and holy that even the simple biological process of decomopsition fails to substantially affect them. It's kind of creepy, but you can take an "Incorruptible Tour" through Europe and see dozens of saints through glass display cases. I can't help but think that the funerary plans perhaps anticipate the Pope's saintly non-decomposition. I hope that the Vatican wagered favorably. Otherwise, it might be a bit unpleasant for funeral attendees.

TV

2005-04-04T21:42:00.000-05:00

First, I must say that the PBS and NPR stations are rather lacking here. They have some good stuff, like All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Nova and Charlie Rose. But then they have things like Gene Stratton Porter something or other (local fare), and they don't even have the good Jacques Pepin show. We get Jacques Pepin: Fast Food. There are no Julia reruns, and we don't get the great shows where he cooks with his daughter, Claudine. She's the sommelier who is always taking sips "on the sly." You should watch it sometime, Saturday morning, if you get the show.

But tonight, the local PBS actually aired a pretty good non-standard that appears to be one-year-old show about garage-sale fiends. Second-Hand Stories is a great little, and funny, piece about a couple of guys who explore the world of used items in their second-hand ambulance.

You may have already watched it. Like I said . . .

And switching back to basketball, Illinois has made quite a comeback! They just tied the game 65-65 with 5:34 left in the second half. Go Illini! You can do it!

UPDATE: Drat. Those Illini lost!

Basketball and Sex

2005-04-04T18:13:00.000-05:00

I entered my very first basketball pool this year. In Brendan's basketball pool, I will be in seventh place if Illinois wins.

My team selection algorithm went something like this:
1.) I like the way "Gonzaga" sounds, so I want them to go very far.
2.) If Team A has a better record then Team B, I pick Team A . . .
3.) Unless I have heard of/know anything about Team B, then I pick Team B.
4.) I don't like Duke.
5.) Go Big East

Although I will win no prize, my possible seventh place finish after ten minutes of effort is nothing to sneeze at.

Perhaps this youthful view on oral sex has something to do with a former president who "did not have sex with that woman." Although I refrain from further commentary about said POTUS actions because it's not really any of my damned business what he does behind closed doors, I will emphatically say that oral sex is sex, with all of the related connotations, risks of STDs and simple fact that some even prefer it to intercourse. I would much rather these kids hit the home run if they'd at least protect themselves.

It's really quite a dilemma. Preaching abstinence, while I agree with it to an extent, will not help prevent the spread of STDs. On some level, these kids think that they are abstaining when in fact they are clearly capable of contracting a Sexually Transmitted Disease. We need to take our sex education a step further, even if it means identifying the various and potentially-unknown-to-youngsters sexual activities. It'd be much more graphic than any education that I received and there may be implications pornography or of encouraging sexual behavior. However, these kids are mistaken, misguided and walking disease-spreaders as long as they don't know the truth. So, in the alternative, encourage abstinence but give them the tools to to take precautions when they plan to do the wrong thing.

Finally, bowling teammate Bowling Injury posted an album of our bowling exploits. Fun times.

Nugatory Bowling Recap with a German Finish

2005-03-31T23:32:00.001-05:00

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

2005-03-30T18:14:00.000-05:00

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?

2005-03-23T15:48:00.000-05:00

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.

2005-03-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

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

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.