another pizza man attacked...

check out this nytimes story:
Bomb Kills Pizza Deliveryman After Arrest in Bank Robbery

okay. pizza delivery guys don't normally 'go postal' and it is pretty clear that something went wrong with this guy's last delivery.

whoever did this to the pizza man has been watching too many movies.

can you believe going to deliver a pizza and being kidnapped, forced to wear a bomb and go to rob a bank, and then getting blown up waiting for the bomb squad to show up???

this is simply awful. what a horrible and inhumane way to be murdered.

I hope the fbi has already searched house where he made his last delivery...

Towel amnesty?

MSN Money - 'Towel amnesty' lets thieves off the hook

are they serious? amnesty from what? felony theft of a towel? do they really thing americans are living with all that much guilt over taking their towels???

nice marketing ploy.

hmmmm....have I had any 'holiday inn' moments???

maybe that time when I was 6 and tried to take a hermit crab from massachussets to california. mighta grabbed a towel for that...

victims' families...

see nytimes article: Concern Growing as Families Bypass 9/11 Victims' Fund

the statute of limitations is closing on victim claims to the 9/11 fund, and there are quite a number of missing claimants. this is because:
1) families are too grieved to file
2) families want to be able to sue the airlines (want to recover more $$ through lawsuit) [huh?????]
3) families are too afraid of the government to file (the families of illegal immigrant victims)


the families in category #2 should be permitted to file and recover from the fund, and have that taken into account when and if a settlement or judgment is determined in any resulting civil litigation on the wrongful death suits. since this is federal legislation to protect the airlines, there is a presumption here that a jury will find the airlines liable. this is possible, but not likely. the airlines had no way of anticipating what happened that day, and I don't think a jury would think so either. but if a jury did find the airlines responsible, wouldn't they then be required to recover through the legislated fund for that purpose??? I think there is an unfairness to make the victims' families choose their compensation route (either sue the airlines and it's all-or-nothing, or come to us and at least you get something) way.

I really don't understand this fund legislation.

there ought to be a way of filing a protective claim on behalf of the victims who do not file, especially in the case where the grief has been too great, and the family is still suffering from post traumatic stress. an extention of the statute of limitations in this case, perhaps? I wonder if it is possible to file a class action protective claim with the fund on behalf of the families who don't file?

I think there is a category #4, however. the families that wouldn't even think of asking for a dime. when one has lost a dear family member through such a heinous and unholy crime, the idea of compensation in lieu of a life is as repugnant an idea as one could think. no amount of money could fill that gaping hole in your life.

yet these people probably need the money the most. if nothing else, to send their children to college. they just aren't going to ask for it.

Build a church and a synoague on the temple mount?

the temple mount is open again, even if limited.

I understand the orthodox perspective in not even going up there for fear of treading upon holy ground. Fine, so there should be no worries that the 'jews are going to take over' the mount.

the american guy had an interesting idea, that it would be ideal for a church and a synagogue to be on the mount along with the mosque. that's such perfect american thinking.

but not to reject the idea entirely ... I do think it would be nice for a synagogue to be on the grounds, at least so the jewish people can cease their mourning for the temple, or at least have the ability to pray indoors. build something in "david's courtyard" perhaps???? imagine a beautiful, tall synagogue rising in that space...with dignity.

but there can't be a synagogue on top of the mount. no way. the pa has already dug into the mount and removed any archaeological evidence of the temple, so there is nothing left. we can mourn, yes. but there is nothing to reclaim but the rocks themselves.
this is yet another unconscionable tactic the pa uses against israel. so they can come out in the media and say the temple never existed.

the intentional destruction of archaeological evidence from the temple mount is a crime against humanity. everyone was aghast at the destruction of the bamiyan buddha, but when it comes to what the pa is doing to the temple mount, the world is silent. is it simply that nobody knows what's going on???

hitting the wall...

I bonked yesterday and I'm dragging today. I've been running hard ever since they opened the gates.

up at 6a.
walk to train at 7
go to class or in library from 8-5
take train home, try to nap (even standing up)
study all night until 12
crawl to bed

reading all day, thinking all day...

so I was sitting in crim law and started to feel weak. I was shaking (maybe because it is an iceberg in that room!) and I started to get a headache. I felt like I had been awake for 3 days the same feeling as jet lag.

I don't think 6 hours of sleep is going to work for me. I need to figure out another plan.

I'm not a terribly effective reader from 10-12pm, but I'm pretty sharp in the morning (if I can get up!). I do pretty well briefing cases on the inbound train. I just don't think I can get up any earlier than 6 on a regular basis.

I was also thinking that I should exercise more, and perhaps if I did some exercise after coming home that I would feel more energized to hit the books for the night session.

I'm so glad it is a 3 day weekend...I need it to rest and get ahead in my reading.

the un is considers iraq...

would a un force (but not 'blue helmets') make any difference?
the terrorists already view the un as the enemy...they reject everything western as unholy and everyone as an infidel. they would love to have more troops to pick off, one by one. especially the unarmed ones...

the problem is that we really do need the un to commit to some involvement for the benefit of the iraqi people at large (excluding the terrorists in their midst). but the 'war on terror' isn't over. if the un goes in to take care of some of the responsibilities for social order that the us is doing (or not doing) now, then the us will have a thicker force by which to chase the bad guys and 'smoke 'em outta there holes.'

or the us could just commit more troops.

woo hoo for the whales!!!

it is triumphs like this that make me proud to be an american, and even more proud to become a lawyer.

Everyone should join the National Resource Defense Council in defending earth from those who want to exploit her.

archaeological evidence?

so there is a this claim of title case in india which is causing quite a bit of controversy. as if india doesn't have enough problems with muslim extremists.

the 'hindu nationalists' want to rebuild a temple on a religious site that was destroyed by Babar the muslim conqueror in the 16th century. In typical muslim conqueror fashion, any religious sites that existed in an invaded 'infidel' land was destroyed and mosques were built on top. apparently there were some 30,000 sites destroyed this way.

now these very same 'hindu nationalists' tore down the mosque in 1992.

this is very interesting in a lot of ways. If the muslims really did destroy 30,000 religious sites in the 16th century, one could argue that it would be akin to something like 'adverse possession' -- it at least meats the 'hostility' test.

But I really have a problem with the whole logic justifying the destruction of other people's religious sites, icons, or whatever. and I'm sure that in addition to destroying all the religious sites, more than 30,000 hindus died by the muslim sword for not 'submitting' to islam.

I'm not entirely comfortable with either side...I don't think people should be rewarded for tearing down mosques. Then again, the muslims who built the mosques tore down the older religious site, and did so in an effort to erase the religious history. so either way you go, you get a bad result -- rewarding people for bad behavior.

perhaps there is a statute of limitations issue here? isn't it too late to cry about what happened in the 16th century? but then again, isn't it too late to cry about a building that was destroyed 11 years ago???

since I don't know a single thing about indian law, and I'm only in my 2nd week of law school, I don't have any answers, only questions.

I guess it comes down to which is worse? to destroy a modern building that is a house of worship, or to destroy an ancient religious site that is the birthplace of a god/religious figure/whatever under an ethnic cleansing regime?

'bring 'em on..."

since the "end" of the Iraq war, the US military has lost more soldiers than died in the "war"...

sadly, I am not surprised.

every day since the "end" of the war, I have woken up to NPR stating, "another US soldier was killed in Iraq."
EVERY SINGLE DAY.

W -- its not over until its over. why are we so eager to declare victory? my criticism goes back to gulf war 1, which in my opinion, was never actually won. I didn't think there was ever a clear victor because...well, for one, Saddam remained in power? secondly, there was never any real combat engaged in by the Iraqi's (okay, a few scuds with some chemical tips were lobbed in the general direction of us troops). we just kicked him out of Kuwait, and that was it, "we won".

maybe that is one reason why we had to go back???

anyway, we haven't won anything until things are quiet. we clearly do not have enough people on the ground to secure the state and begin the 'nation rebuilding'...something that takes a heck of a lot more people than rummy&c. are willing to commit.

Rummy -- war can't be fought on the cheap. you've made a commitment to the use of force, don't waste our money by not doing the job right. if we need more troops -- send them! we are already neck deep in the quicksand, either get flat and start crawling or you are going to sink.

woo hoo! got the job!

so now I'm a note slave.
not much $, but it'll pay for my morning coffee.

we're reading pennoyer v. neff right now in civ pro...an 1877 land title case involving the court's exercise of jurisdiction.

the only reason they make us read this stuff in the first year is to teach us how not to write.

another fine example of gratuitous rhetoric is Hannan v. Dusch, a 1930 landlord-tenant case. it takes nearly half a page for the court to state that the landlord leased the property without evicting the holdover tenants. there -- a 10 word statement of the case.

so, they are teaching us better writing techniques...'plain language for lawyers' it's called. to which I say, great!

however, there is a drawback in oversimplifying the language. I think this is mostly true when it comes to drafting statutes, which should be drafted to include all the comma this, that, and the other things that are necessary. statutes are enduring and subjected to a lot of scrutiny by the courts in deciding exactly what they mean, so they should take pains to be clear, even if it means more words. whole cases sometimes hinge on (and sometimes arise from) the punctuation of a statute.

but when it comes to pleadings, I think plain direct speech is best. the last thing I want is for a judge to misunderstand my argument, and I don't want to struggle to figure out what the heck the opposing counsel is trying to say.

but please let me use some latin ... just for old times' sake?

keeping the financial perspective...

just in case you didn't know that law school is expensive...I ran a quick calculation:

there are 640 hours of instruction per year,
the tuition and fees work out to $28.5K
so...the total cost of in-class instruction is...
$44/hour!!!

this does not even include the $20K that you need to meet living expenses...
if you included that...you are looking at $75/hr for in-class instruction.

that notetaking job making $50/unit is starting to look really good....

state seized intellectual property rights?

I just had to blog this. The German government is telling the Sahara hostages that any profits derived from their hostage ordeal must be turned over to the state.

okay. germany paid a ransom of between 4.6 and 16.5 million. that's a lot of money, to be sure.

but that doesn't mean that germany can turn around and blame the victims for their capture.

sure, they issued a travel warning. travel warnings tell people to exercise caution when travelling and warn people about whatever the potential risks may be. but they do not completely ban people from vacationing in those areas.

considering that there were 14 tourists, from different countries, it was, at least at the time they began their journey, still a reasonable thing to go on safari.

who were the kidnappers? The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (a group of Islamic extremists)? who's even heard of this group???

it's not right to blame the victims of terrorist plots. we're told the terrorists could be everywhere...does that mean that we can't go anywhere? if so, then they've already won.

please tell me this is a rave flyer...



(or is it flypaper?)

ahh..blank space

I was just on the page, and the blogspot ad had an empty white box with the comment, "This blank space brought to you by Google"

cool......

I didn't know the protocols were a forgery?

so, this graduate instructor in Arabic 15 at UC Berkeley is talking (in class) about the protocols of the elders of Zion as a 'valid' historical document. how this would even come up in a lower division, spoken arabic course, I have no idea. but that's cal for you.

so he defends himself by saying, "this is what I was taught in Iraq...", and something about not having thought about it much or having done any research on the issue of it being a forgery.

ignorance is no excuse. you are a graduate student instructor. you are teaching Spoken Iraqi Arabic. this discussion has no place in this class and Klein is right to complain. this is a language class... stick to teaching the language ... that's what you are paid for and what the students have paid to learn.

Klein is brave for taking on the anti-semitism that is running rampant on the campus...I completely believe her because I have witnessed it (in the classroom and out) and suffered from it personally.

my advice to her is to watch out girl, 'cause your in the viper pit. There are some on that campus, and in that department, who will make her suffer for speaking out. suffer in very hard and painful ways.


UPDATE: read Ms. Klein's letter here.

note that he went off for over 1/2 an hour DURING CLASS SESSION on this subject. class started at 10am.

her detail as to the line of questioning offered in the discussion is noteworthy as well.

She should hire a lawyer now, as boyarin has already threatened to slam her with some kind of legal action for posting to dafka. she is going to need fresh depos from everyone in her class as to their recollection of the entire conversation.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

To Ms. Klein...you started the conversation knowing that this guy held particular views on the issue. you were challenging his views on the subject, and that I commend. However, do not do it in the classroom. This is an office hours discussion topic.

to mr. kadhim...ya messed up here. you should have begun class on time and stuck to the material. 'cultural' topics are certainly important in language classes, but I don't think that includes terrorist propaganda. keeping a low pro is usually advantageous when on a student visa.

and I thought I missed Berkeley....

enemy of Islam???

so bush just ordered the freezing of all hamas assets...

to which rantisi replies that bush is the "greatest enemy of Islam"

okay. admittedly, I don't like bush. not one bit. but I don't think he's the enemy of Islam. he's out to get terrorists, who just happen to claim to be muslim.

who is the real enemy of Islam? take a look in the mirror, Rantisi.

suicide bombing is not an Islamic principle, and brings disgrace upon the whole of Islam and the millions of reasonably-minded muslims who really do follow its principles.

and it's not helping the palestinian cause, either.

whew! I've survived the first week of law school. so far so good.

lessons learned so far:

1. most of the kids here are REALLY smart! Its kinda spooky that everyone is really getting this stuff already. I'm surprised and delighted.
2. be careful what you argue about and how you make your arguments.
3. don't waste time.

now...on to my middle east tirade.

check out today's wall street journal, Page W10, Weekend Arts Section for a book review of the new arafat biography YASIR ARAFAT: A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY, by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin. (love you tom!)

its about time someone came out and told it like it is...I wasn't ever going to buy a biography about this [bleep], but this one might be worth picking up.

Israel today assasinated a terrorist group leader.

there is no more 'road map' and it looks like we're headed for more bloodshed. probably an all-out war.

but here's an idea:

as it stands, Abbas can't crack down on the militants for a number of reasons: 1) he doesn't have the manpower, 2) he doesn't have the firepower, 3) even if he had 1 & 2, the terrorist groups have become so popular, that to crack down on them is politically dangerous, and 4) he could spark a civil war.

but as condition for the peace agreement, he has to do something. so he was thinking about disarmament, but that's out of the question now. now, he can't do anything at all. the terrorists are calling for his ouster and the 'civil war' is precariously near.

okay. so Israel is the one with the 'real' army...so if it comes to an all-out war, of course Israel has the big advantage.
Israel could try to bank on sparking a civil war, because it could just step aside and focus on preventative security instead of undertaking the ugly task of reoccupation and brutal guerilla warfare. (probably Sharon's strategy).

I want to make clear a distinction between 'the palestinians' and the 'palestinian authority' and the 'militants or terrorists.' these are three separate groups in my mind, although there is some overlap, i.e. arafat is/has been/always will be a terrorist.

I am definitely supportive of the 'human rights' claims of 'the palestinians': they have the right to self-determination, they have the right to have a country with defined borders, and they have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (those 'inalienable rights') in an ordered society.

the way I see it, the 'palestinian authority' has prevented the people from obtaining those rights through the systematic corruption, stealing of aid money, acting more like a brutal dictatorship than a government.

because of this and many other reasons, the 'terrorist groups' emerged in opposition to the pa and began to sway the population to their more extreme beliefs by providing more humanitarian assistance than the pa was giving the people. sort of a feed the body, spoil the mind approach.

enter abbas. the guy is stuck between a rock and a hard place. supposing he was genuine in his thoughts and deeds, he simply does not weild enough power to take on the militant groups. the guy is going to need some serious help.

israel complains that abbas isn't doing anything, or not doing it fast enough, and feels that it has to take on the job.

is there any reason that abbas can't work together with israel to stop the militants??? seriously, abbas needs help. he needs an army behind him that is strong enough to do something about the bomb factories. but israel isn't the answer...

so where is this army going to come from??? Jordan? not likely. Egypt? that would be interesting. Syria? nope, on the side of the terrorists. Lebanon? definitely not, they would be considered another SLA.

maybe the UN? quagmire...maybe not if they could put together the right kind of force, and led by the french. there would have to be complete disarmament, and the immediate establishment of a well-trained police force and judicial system. social reeducation wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

while I am wandering on to the subject of social reeducation: I wouldn't normally be supportive of such measures because of the 'brainwashing' connotation, but the fact of the matter is that the palestinians have already been brainwashed. brainwashed people dance in the streets and pass out candy when 3,000 people die in a terrorist attack, brainwashed people think bloodshed is righteous and holy. this is because brainwashed people have had their brains washed of any sense of humanity.

but 'reeducation' brings to mind the communist revolution in china. perhaps it could be presented a little more innocuously, such as "constitution class" or something. in the new palestinian state, everyone would be required to attend a 'civics class' where they would receive a copy of the palestinian constitution, be taught about the new structure of the government and the roles of each branch, and learn the 'pledge of allegiance', which will invoke a commitment from each and every citizen of the state to live in peace.

I guess I'll have to think about all of this a bit more. I hope I've gotten a good idea or two in here. I'm probably wrong on a lot.


UPDATE: just send in Rummy&c. the west bank and gaza are a lot smaller than Iraq. the flypaper technique may actually work there.

UPDATE: It looks like the Dems and Pubs in Congress see the eventuality of us troops in the west bank and gaza.

more on the ten commandments ...

the us supreme court today rejected judge moore's appeal requesting a stay of the order to remove the 'monument' of the ten commandments from the judicial center.

I still stand by my earlier thoughts, that a monument of the ten commandments is essentially art, and it has a constitutional pupose in being allowed to remain as an example of an ancient legal system.

however, I'm much disturbed by the arguments moore gave on the early show:

"This case is not about a monument.It's not about politics or religion. It's about the acknowledgment of God."

okay. I've only been in law school for three days, but it seems pretty obvious to me that this is not exactly the way you want to frame your argument if you want the supreme court to even consider you.

and it gets even worse!!! he goes on to say,

"We must acknowledge God because our constitution says our justice system is established upon God. For [the judge] to say 'I can't say who God is' is to disestablish the justice system of this state."

disestablish????? oft misused word, and just to be sure that I understand exactly what he is saying....I'll look it up in my 'funk n wagnall's' :

disestablishment: the act of a state in sundering the relationships between it and its established church.

okay. just a point of historical clarity here. didn't we (the US) 'sunder' our relationship between ouselves and the established church (church of england) back in 1776??? since then, there has not been an established church in the united states. separation of church and state, remember?

again, not language that is going to perk the Court's ear...

so the msnbc article (see link above) gives us a picture of the monument. I hadn't seen it before so I really had no idea the 'design' of it.

firstly, the book part....okay. that's nice and creative. I like the sort of 'dictionary stand' look to it.

but...as I try to look closer, I can't quite tell whether they inscribed the monument with the ten commandments in hebrew. if not, that is seriously problematic for me, but that is just my personal preference.

what bothers me most is the 'plaque' on the front...

"The laws of nature and of nature's god"

I'm not bothered by the words for what they say. I might say that I am inclined to agree. but the plaque invoking 'nature's god' seems to be the problem...because I think it could be considered as an endorsement of a particular religion.

I can't even begin to read the teeny tiny print around the sides, but if it has even one quote from the bible or makes any dogmatic assertions, I am inclined to agree that it should be removed.

so the monument is going to end up in his office????

this is just hilarious. can you imagine, coming to a guy's office and seeing a 5300 pound statue there? would you lean on it???

So Abbas has now broken off talks with the terrorists...a good move, but how much of it is shadow dancing? breaking off talks does not equal arrest and prosecution of the terrorists for subversive violent acts against the state.

thoughts for pondering: the palestinians identify themselves as a 'nation.' this nation is undergoing a 'struggle' for independence. the 'international community' would be ready to acknowledge that independence, but for the suicide bombings. as such, the use of suicide bombing has become a threat to, rather than a tool for, attaining the nation's goals (of independence).

so, knowing this, even if their intended purpose was to inflict harm on the enemy, the ultimate outcome of the terrorists' acts is to inflict harm on and threaten the very existence the palestinian state. it is precisely these acts which cause the state's citizens to be subjected to foreign occupation.

so here we come to a peculiar twist. the occupying state is not a willing occupier, but rather a reluctant one doing so out of necessity for its own preservation. so the terrorists, in a sick and twisted way, are 'turning the screw' on the occupying state by forcing them to continue the occupation. the twist is that millions of innocent palestinians REALLY DO suffer because of these tactics, but pictures of bloody israelis juxtaposed with suffering palestinians looks good on al-jazeera and satisfies the hunger of the propaganda machine...but only for a moment.

hmmmm.....

WHY?

I can't even articulate how completely senseless this is.

again, and again, and again and again and again and again....

what is happening to me? all of this is making me become VERY right wing... and that is VERY scary...because I have always been VERY left wing.

I made the stupidest argument ever today about this. I couldn't believe that I was shrugging aside the "palestinian plight" because of this continuing insanity.

whatever. it should be completely obvious to people that there is absolutely no justification WHATSOEVER for blowing up INNOCENT civilians ON PURPOSE and especially FOR NO OTHER PURPOSE.

alleged purpose for blowing up the bus: avenging death??? Puh-lease!

avenge = to exact satisfaction for (a wrong) by punishing the injurer, or to take vengeance for or on behalf of oneself or another (Webster's)

vengeance = the taking of revenge, (or (my fave) ... harm, mischief, evil (obs.) ) (Webster's)

revenge = an act or instance of revenging or returning evil for evil. (again, Webster's).

okay, I think I'm getting the logic here.

so avenging one man's death allows one to jump past all the normal things that a civil society has in place to determine the extent of a wrong and the applicable punishment, and justifies utilizing another more terrible evil, which results in 20 (or more) deaths.

I seem to recall something Thomas Friedman often writes...I wonder, is this an example of palestinian math???

We have a notion in our legal system that the punishment must fit the crime. if avenging a death is one way of shortcutting the legal system in order to exact a sense of justice (or correction of a wrong), then shouldn't the punishments be based on a similar principle of avenging act must fit the original evil? I'm thinking along the lines of the 'eye for an eye' doctrine (thanks, Hammurabi). But Hammurabi's code wasn't '20 eyes for an eye.'

blowing up busses is prima facie WRONG.

people are suffering. lots of people. on both sides.

there are a few bad guys and a lot of innocent people. on both sides.

Can't we all just get along? (Rodney King)

just finished reading Lawrence v. Texas (123 S. Ct. 2472) (2003). Its about time the S. Ct. reversed themselves! The Bowers decision bothered me from the moment they framed the issue.

I know the wheels of justice grind slowly, but does it seriously take 17 years to correct a bad decision? I suppose its a good thing that not too many cops go running around arresting gays for having sex, so these cases are few and far between (and has anyone noticed they are always in the South???).

What's the first clue you have a bad decision in your hand? Perhaps when the dissent begins with, "this is not a case about A, as the Court purports to declare, but rather about B."

I can't even imagine how the kind of weak historical reasoning that went into Bowers could even occur. This is the Supreme Court of the United States, people. Isn't there a higher bar here? The 1986 Court couldn't define liberty on a bell.

anyway, at least there is one sensible ruling from the Court lately....

first day of school...woo hoo!

corrections to my first impressions: there are quite a few worthy competitors...its not going to be a cakewalk to amjur everything...and still remain a balanced human being. the work is hard and there is a lot of it. synthesis is the key...and staying ahead in the reading.

I discovered today why everyone in law school carries nalgenes. I had one myself. I never got in the habit of it, but now I see how water can get you through a class. I skipped breakfast (bad idea, but chronic habit), surviving on 20 oz. of coffee (quite a normal morning, actually). by the time my crim law class started at 11a, I was starving!! if it wasn't for my jug o' water, I would've never made it.

so its not all that bad. I find that my professors are outstanding...and at least I understand what is going on. we'll see what happens tomorrow...

decided to take a break from studying...

pretty much tackled the week's reading assignments...getting pretty good at book briefing, but want to make the exercise of full briefing for a while...practice, practice, practice!

I did some constructive things this weekend:

finished 'landscaping' the balcony off the study...already the jasmine has attracted hummingbirds.

solved the 'lighting' problem in the study.

hung out with my old friend rachel. now here's a funny story!!! it turns out that during the move, some honey dripped on the back seat of the car. since the seats were folded down, I really hadn't noticed the extent of the honey drippage. rachel sat in the seat, and later when we got to this carnival, she discovered she had honey all over her butt!!!

I couldn't help but laugh, even though I sorta felt bad. I started calling her 'honey buns'. we were at the carnival, and I'm splashing bottled water on the honey and rubbing it out of her butt. it must've looked really kinky!

glad that I got a little yah yahs out before I'm in for the long haul...

thinking of a jacquzzi tonight....hmmmmm.....jacquzzi......

just a word on what's now being called the 'great blackout of 2003'...

it looks like the blame is going to be placed on...deregulation of the power industry!

okay...here comes my gripe....for years in California we have been putting up with the strains that our demands for energy have placed on the 'antiquated power grid'...rolling blackouts and brownouts every time the mercury goes over 100 for any length of time...things got so bad after deregulation, a few years ago, gray davis was forced to buy electricity at extemely overinflated prices because of this very problem....

so, what's the difference between the blackouts back east and blackouts in california???

with the 'great blackout of 2003' it is okay to blame deregulation, but with california, blackouts are blamed on gray davis....

which brings us back to recall....or total recall, as the case may be...

it turns out that ahnuld has been nursing his political fantasies for over 25 years! you can't fault the guy for lack of ambition. but what scares me is that people actually praise his manipulation abilities....

in other words, he's got the makings of a slimeball.

so if Arnold is the 'perfect politician', then we can say 'hasta la vista baby!" to gray davis...

however, what is arnold going to do when the next blackout hits california???? will he be able to 'terminate' the contracts davis signed with the power generators??? good luck arnie....

simply beautiful...everyone walkin home together...brings a tear to the eye...



(photo cut from the morning paper)

woo hoo!

the prez caught his first big fish...

Grand Canyon More photography by Channah Kipod

there once was a terrorist from nablus,
who made bombs the shaheeds thought were fabulous
but the hudna was holding and making him poor,
when along came the army, knocking on his door,
"come out come out or we'll come in"
"not by the hair of my chinny chin chin"
so they huffed...
and they puffed...
and KABOOOM!
blew the house in.

and the moral of the story is...
that's one less bomb factory...

now this is interesting...

The chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court said Thursday he will not remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building, defying a federal court order to remove the granite monument.

okay...we have separation of church and state...and that's a good thing.

but does this extend to attacking art?

if, in fact, this is a 'monument' it is probably carved from granite, making it an artistic representation of one of the first CODES OF LAW. which is why it is in the JUDICIAL CENTER....duh!

I would suggest that Moore erect a similar monument with Hammurabi's code upon it.

Maybe the Supreme Court can realize that the ten commandments is not an endorsement of any particular religion, but rather an example of an ancient legal system (one from which common law is derived).

b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-blackout!!!

those yanks don't know nothin bout blackouts...we here in cally have em all de time...

went thrift shopping today...lots of vintage clothing stores nearby...didn't buy anything.

I'm exploring my new neighborhood. so many new places to discover...its going to take a while before I feel at home...

today I found:

Peet's coffee (woo hoo! just say no to starbucks)
the closest nursery
the post office
a cool lamp store
***the premier rock n' roll sushi bar***

midnight.

getting sleepy.

I rest easy tonight knowing the fbi&co is "on the job"... nice job guys ...

barbara boxer wants $10 billion to upgrade our commercial airliners with anti-missile defense technology. sounds great, except for the hefty price tag. however, I certainly would feel safer flying knowing that the plane could dodge the bullet. Maybe if planes could dodge shoulder-fired rockets, the crazy people with shoulder-fired rockets wouldn't use them to shoot down planes?

My Outlook
view from Jaffa photography by Channah Kipod

tuesday -- art therapy day.

after wiping the morning's tears away, I spent the day watercoloring. some nice ones in the bunch. my favorite is called "berries and cherries"... its an impressionistic view of wildberries and cherry trees...sponge and spatter...

there is something in the air in hollywood...

tuesday morning.

was shot in the heart as I woke up this morning. having a hard time seeing through the tears. every time this happens, I go through it all again...the pain, the tears, the anger, the nightmares, the overwhelming sense of loss that bores a deeper and darker black hole inside me. but the black hole is the only part of me that doesn't hurt...the numbness is seductive.

what does it take for these people to realize that suicidie bombing is WRONG??? whatever twisted logic justifies continuing this INHUMAN behavior has no place in a peaceful palestinian society (as if there ever could be such a thing?). but then again, the terrorists don't want a palestinian state.

monday night.

spent the whole day trying to tweak my zoinky new laptop...HUGE waste of time. I feel like sisyphus...every time I fix something, either something new goes wrong or the system crashes and I have to start all over again...

all day long, I've been thinking of our good friend Arnold Schwarzenegger...why? because the media is on Arnold overload? no....

all day I've had the Doors' "back door man" going through my head...and I thought ...hmmmm.....the perfect recall campaign theme song....

but then again, something about Arnie as my 'back door man' scares my sphincter...

I'm going to offer a little flack on the prop 187 history...

once upon a time (ca. 1994), the voters of california came up with a brilliant proposition to stop what was considered (at least by the republicans) to be california's worst fiscal problem: preganant mexican women were coming here in droves to have their babies and suck off california's welfare teat.

while this never in any way reflected reality, a lot of people were bamboozled into thinking that it was the mexican mothers who were causing california's fiscal crises. so along comes prop 187...designed to keep those immigrants from stealing our money...until the state supreme court ruled it unconstitutional.

so here's the problem: someone is always being blamed for california's money crises. 10 years ago it was the mexicans, today it is gray davis. how stupid do they think people really are???

why does california have a budget crisis???

1. deregulation of the power industry under a certain prior republican governor...ultimately leading to...
2. enron
3. security precautions due to 9-11 (maybe it would be cheaper to tear down the gg bridge?)
4. three strikes (prison is more expensive than welfare)
5. earthquakes, riots, wildfires and floods...every year.
5. spending $70 million on a recall vote instead of on education, health care, disaster preparedness, or even perhaps buying electricity...

while there is little we can do about deregulation, enron, 9-11, and "acts of god", we can talk about #5.

we, the voters of california, are not being offered a choice as to whether we want to spend $70 million on this vote...we are forced to pay this money out of our taxes because some whiney guy named Issa started this ball rolling (and then jumped out of the three ring circus once the tent was propped).

now there are 200 potential candidates who want to take advantage of this $70 million circus extravaganza...

so let's be fair to the california taxpayers here. if this vote is going to cost $70 million, and there is the very good chance that the voters will say NO to recall, should the taxpayers be forced to pay $70M to shut down this circus?

I propose that if the voters say NO, then the candidates should have to split the cost of the $70 mil. that's $350,000 each candidate. seems pretty fair to me, considering the cost of campaigns these days. besides, most of the candidates are getting a free press ride anyway.

This proposal would also ensure that the recall statute is only used in very dire circumstances...like if the governor were accused of a crime or other impeachable conduct.

if each of the 200 candidates had to put up their share of the cost of this circus, the tents would be folded by morning.

middle east heating up...again...

today, hizbollah in lebanon fired quite a few missiles into northern israel, killing a teenager. Israeli warplanes responded. read more here.

the northern front is opening up...

gotta pull some poppies or push daisies...

sunday.

its hot as hell. I know that hedgehogs like it warm, but 106 is ridiculous! no wonder we're nocturnal.

thinking about my last week of "freedom"...what to do? still haven't been to the beach. simply too hot today. good day to hibernate 'neath the air conditioner...frappacino anyone?

friday at noon.

woke up this morning to discover I pulled a shoulder ligament while schlepping my books home from the bookstore. went right out and bought a rolling backpack. I was so funny, walking into the luggage store with my laptop and a stack of hornbooks, searching for something that would fit everything and still roll.

my law school survival kit:

rolling backpack (be nice to your body)
laptop (75 WPM vs. writer's cramp)
palm pilot w/ keyboard (stay organized)
black's law dictionary (always by my side)
mechanical pencils (no 4-color highlighting, please!)
tape flags (my code-cracking system)

have I missed something?

8/7/03 evening.

got my new computer today...fancy, light, fast. spent the whole day playing tech wizard. setting up wireless lan, intalling palm software, all the peripherals from my old win98 system...all in all a very successful endeavor. I've never been more ready to take notes!

Hi. I am a 1L at Hedgehog Law School (HLS). This is my law school blog and essentially my comic relief. Expect anything.

8/6/03

...and the horses appear at the gates....

administrative day at school. buying books, taking id photos, computer training. first chance to scope the competition...

We received our first assignment in Legal Method about 2 weeks ago. Garrett v. Dailey. Classic! Straight out of "One L" by Scott Turow.

What is it about Section 2? I am either in a parallel universe or again, straight out of "One L". Not only is it the toughest schedule, but it comes with a Perini for Property!

13 days before classes officially begin and I'm already reading the coursebooks. Get ahead and stay ahead, the rule of racing. How could I resist cracking the books, when we are reading the Jones v. Clinton litigation in Civ Pro? Wow! This is great stuff! "I like your curves"??? Cheesy pickup line for a Rhetoric major (and Rhodes scholar to boot). No wonder she wouldn't give it up.

next week is orientation and our first Legal Method class. we'll be out of the gates, off and running....

things to do before the race really begins:
go to the beach (thanks, Perini!)
unpack the moving boxes
finish my fiction reading
get back into doing yoga.


8/7/03

I woke up this morning to Arnold Schwarzenegger spouting a bunch of one-liners on NPR about why we should recall Governor Gray Davis and replace him with the Terminator. Firstly, I love A.S. as an actor . Seriously, though Mr. Schwarzenegger, you are no Ronald Reagan. Besides, Ronnie would have had better political sense than to try taking the Governor's seat through such an underhanded move. Unless A.S. is going to pitch in some of his own $$$ (which he admits he has 'plenty' of) to balance the state budget, he should just shut his mouth and go home until next year, when the real election begins.

Praises to Dianne Feinstein for steering clear of this circus. She will be President someday.

Opinion poll:

T3: biggest piece of dissapointing crap, or ticket to the governor's seat?