Sometimes things amaze me. One of those things is the fact that I have a computer on my lap right now. A computer that 20 years ago would have filled a room. And it's not plugged into anything. Not plugged into the wall, not plugged into a phoneline or a coaxial line, or a T1 line. Nothing at all. And yet, I have access to a vast array of information from around the world, and am able to publish this post, which anyone connected to the internet can read. It's crazy.
I've been a little depressed this week. Not sure why. Some of it might be thinking about Corey. Some of it might be job stuff. Some of it is just . . . I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired. I'm just glad that this weekend is here. I needed the rest.
The Olympics is almost over, and that will be a bit of a relief. I'll be able to concentrate a little better on school.
Jess's friend Anne is visiting us. She's pretty nice, and we have quite a bit in common, so it's tough sometimes because either she can talk to Jess about things they have in common, or to me about stuff we have in common, but there isn't too much overlap there. I'm doing my best to give them some room because Jess doesn't get to see Anne too much anymore.
I'm really looking forward to Conviction. I got a sneak peak of the pilot episode on iTunes. It was pretty cool watching it on my way home from school the other day. It starts next friday, and looks really good. Mostly I'm excited because I want to be a prosecutor and the show is about prosecutors. I feel like I've said this before . . .
I'm really excited about the coming week. I got an interview with Strike, Goodwin O'Brien, and that really makes me excited. It's a criminal defense firm that is my top choice for jobs this summer. That is, if I get it. I'm so nervous/excited for this interview. I know I said I wanted to be a prosecutor, but working with a criminal defense firm would give me invaluable experience. Pray for me people.
I'm also excited, however less so, because Wednesday is Comic book day and Infinite Crisis #5 is coming out and and Justice #4 is being kept in my folder to be picked up. Just two of several comics I've been reading. Another really cool one is a series X-Men: Appocolypse vs. Dracula. I just picked up the first of four last week. It combines two of my favorite fictional characters/villains. You should pick it up.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Job worries and such.
For those of you who have been looking, here it is.
Well, some good news: both of my job references have gotten back to me and consented to being part of my reference list. I really should have gotten more on top of this earlier. I need to contact law firms around here to find a job. Hopefully in Criminal Law. My opportunities will most likely come in defense work because prosecution doesn't pay when you're a 1L. That is, if I get any opportunities at all.
Amber's right, Battlestar Galactica is getting good again. Not that the last few episodes were really that bad, but they were just that, "episodes" with little bearing on the greater story (ok, there was the whole Billy being shot thing, and Starbuck no longer being top gun, but other than that).
(Spoilers)
The one thing about this last episode that bothered me is that it was totally obvious that Lee was going to be promoted to commander. An interesting part of the last episode was the abortion debate. Having just 50,000 humans left should have a bearing on the answer to whether abortion should be legal. I am actually in favor of incentives for having children rather than limiting choice. The one problem I had with the episode was that they totally ignored the individual. No one ever answered the question of why she wanted an abortion. In this circumstance, I think that is a very important fact.
Well, some good news: both of my job references have gotten back to me and consented to being part of my reference list. I really should have gotten more on top of this earlier. I need to contact law firms around here to find a job. Hopefully in Criminal Law. My opportunities will most likely come in defense work because prosecution doesn't pay when you're a 1L. That is, if I get any opportunities at all.
Amber's right, Battlestar Galactica is getting good again. Not that the last few episodes were really that bad, but they were just that, "episodes" with little bearing on the greater story (ok, there was the whole Billy being shot thing, and Starbuck no longer being top gun, but other than that).
(Spoilers)
The one thing about this last episode that bothered me is that it was totally obvious that Lee was going to be promoted to commander. An interesting part of the last episode was the abortion debate. Having just 50,000 humans left should have a bearing on the answer to whether abortion should be legal. I am actually in favor of incentives for having children rather than limiting choice. The one problem I had with the episode was that they totally ignored the individual. No one ever answered the question of why she wanted an abortion. In this circumstance, I think that is a very important fact.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Tired
Yay for three-day weekends. Almost four days cause I had a class canceled today which meant I only had class from 8:30-9:45. I was up all night the night before last, so I am tired. At least I got my damn first draft of my brief done. That's why it's nice that we have the long weekend to rest up. It's the first time in four years that I've had Presidents' day off. It's exciting. We used to call UNH the University of No Holidays.
When I got home today I watched the U.S. Women's Hockey team lose to Sweden in the semi-final. I was kinda sad. They still have a chance to win a bronze in the consolation game, so it's not over.
I'm excited about the new show "Conviction" that's starting after the Olympics on NBC. It's about young prosecutors in N.Y. and I want to be prosecutor so I guess that's my attraction. A new Battlestar Galactica is on tonight, so I'll probably record it on DVR because the Olympics are on. I've really enjoyed watching them. I don't really know much about a lot of the games, but it's fun to be able to root on your country (speaking of games I don't know much about and supporting my country, the U.S. Women's Curling team is pretty good looking).
Anyone else out there read Ctrl+Alt+Del? If not, you should. It's a great web comic by a guy named Tim Buckley. For those who do read it, can you believe that Ethan asked Lilah to marry him? Certainly surprised me. The way he did it was awesome though. Loserz (another webcomic I read) has been updating pretty regularly lately (two at a time some days) and todays comics are pretty good.
Something else I'm tired of is all this talk about Cheney and the hunting accident. It was an accident, it's over, get over it!!! Yes, I was apalled that they were hunting illegally. Yes, I can't believe the Vice President shot a guy. But people, quit politicizing it!!! Just be happy that the guy is ok, and move on. There are so many other criticisms that could be made of the VP that I am really sick of all this.
When I got home today I watched the U.S. Women's Hockey team lose to Sweden in the semi-final. I was kinda sad. They still have a chance to win a bronze in the consolation game, so it's not over.
I'm excited about the new show "Conviction" that's starting after the Olympics on NBC. It's about young prosecutors in N.Y. and I want to be prosecutor so I guess that's my attraction. A new Battlestar Galactica is on tonight, so I'll probably record it on DVR because the Olympics are on. I've really enjoyed watching them. I don't really know much about a lot of the games, but it's fun to be able to root on your country (speaking of games I don't know much about and supporting my country, the U.S. Women's Curling team is pretty good looking).
Anyone else out there read Ctrl+Alt+Del? If not, you should. It's a great web comic by a guy named Tim Buckley. For those who do read it, can you believe that Ethan asked Lilah to marry him? Certainly surprised me. The way he did it was awesome though. Loserz (another webcomic I read) has been updating pretty regularly lately (two at a time some days) and todays comics are pretty good.
Something else I'm tired of is all this talk about Cheney and the hunting accident. It was an accident, it's over, get over it!!! Yes, I was apalled that they were hunting illegally. Yes, I can't believe the Vice President shot a guy. But people, quit politicizing it!!! Just be happy that the guy is ok, and move on. There are so many other criticisms that could be made of the VP that I am really sick of all this.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Valentine's Day
It's Valentine's Day again and women are making themselves more virginal for men who are downloading porn on their ipods. (scroll down a little). Speaking of ipods, I got mine yesterday. Order it late Friday night and got it Monday afternoon.
Using the FedEx web site, I tracked the package as it made its way to Maine. It started out in Shanghai, China and left there around 12:57 p.m. on Saturday. It arrived in Anchorage, Alaska at around12:45 p.m. Saturday. That's right, it arrived before it left. Thank you international dateline. On Sunday it made it's way to Memphis Tennessee. Left there sunday afternoon, and arrived in Portland Monday morning and was at my apartment that afternoon. It's kinda neat to be able to do that.
Speaking neat technology, this ipod thing is really cool. Because I had to miss Battlestar Galactica on both Sunday and Monday, I downloaded the episode from iTunes and put it on my ipod and watched the end of it on my way to school. Too cool. I really liked this episode. I'm starting to like Battlestar Galactica more and more. Even the episodes I don't like as much are pretty high quality. Anyway, no spoilers or reviews here cause class is starting.
Using the FedEx web site, I tracked the package as it made its way to Maine. It started out in Shanghai, China and left there around 12:57 p.m. on Saturday. It arrived in Anchorage, Alaska at around12:45 p.m. Saturday. That's right, it arrived before it left. Thank you international dateline. On Sunday it made it's way to Memphis Tennessee. Left there sunday afternoon, and arrived in Portland Monday morning and was at my apartment that afternoon. It's kinda neat to be able to do that.
Speaking neat technology, this ipod thing is really cool. Because I had to miss Battlestar Galactica on both Sunday and Monday, I downloaded the episode from iTunes and put it on my ipod and watched the end of it on my way to school. Too cool. I really liked this episode. I'm starting to like Battlestar Galactica more and more. Even the episodes I don't like as much are pretty high quality. Anyway, no spoilers or reviews here cause class is starting.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Taxes, iPods and legal briefs, oh my . . . God, the Olympics are on too!!!
Well, I found out about this deal you could get on iPods if you confirm that you're a student. It's a good enough deal that with my tax refund this year I'm getting' myself a 30 gig video iPod. Never thought I would. If you're a student, look into this, it's like $30 off. Anyways, yeah, I'm an early bird when it comes to taxes these days. I guess I'm a fan of filling out the old 1040EZ. Certainly makes my life EZ.
So the first draft of my legal brief is due on Thursday. It's a tough assignment. We were given a real U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) is trying to keep the worst of the worst prisoners from having access to newspapers, magazines and photos. They do this for two reasons. First, the believe that if the prisoners want to have the privilege of reading magazines and newspapers or looking at photos, they'll behave. The other reason is security. You wouldn't believe the kinds of weapons that prisoners can make using newspapers and magazines. They also use them to fling feces.
The biggest problem I have with all this is that it's indefinite. The prisoners are required to spend 90 days in this kind of confinement (called Level 2) when they are sent the Long Term Segregation Unit (LTSU; the place where they send prisoners with behavior problems). After the 90 days are up, they can get to Level 1 (where they are allowed to have newspapers, magazines and photos) of the LTSU if they behave themselves, but this judgment is made solely by the prison officials. There is no time limit as to how long they can be deprived of newspapers, magazines and photos. Some of them have been in Level 2 for years. There are other problems I have with this, but I was assigned to the DOC side, so I have to put them behind me. The DOC lost in the Federal Appeals court. Guess who was the lone third circuit dissenter. If you guessed Samuel Alito, you're right.
This just in in Olympic news: Michelle Kwan is dropping out. I guess it was just her time. Jess and I have both got Olympic fever. I'm going to do everything I can to not turn on the tv to watch the women's ice hockey team play Germany in a preliminary round game at 1 so that we can both get some work done.
So the first draft of my legal brief is due on Thursday. It's a tough assignment. We were given a real U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) is trying to keep the worst of the worst prisoners from having access to newspapers, magazines and photos. They do this for two reasons. First, the believe that if the prisoners want to have the privilege of reading magazines and newspapers or looking at photos, they'll behave. The other reason is security. You wouldn't believe the kinds of weapons that prisoners can make using newspapers and magazines. They also use them to fling feces.
The biggest problem I have with all this is that it's indefinite. The prisoners are required to spend 90 days in this kind of confinement (called Level 2) when they are sent the Long Term Segregation Unit (LTSU; the place where they send prisoners with behavior problems). After the 90 days are up, they can get to Level 1 (where they are allowed to have newspapers, magazines and photos) of the LTSU if they behave themselves, but this judgment is made solely by the prison officials. There is no time limit as to how long they can be deprived of newspapers, magazines and photos. Some of them have been in Level 2 for years. There are other problems I have with this, but I was assigned to the DOC side, so I have to put them behind me. The DOC lost in the Federal Appeals court. Guess who was the lone third circuit dissenter. If you guessed Samuel Alito, you're right.
This just in in Olympic news: Michelle Kwan is dropping out. I guess it was just her time. Jess and I have both got Olympic fever. I'm going to do everything I can to not turn on the tv to watch the women's ice hockey team play Germany in a preliminary round game at 1 so that we can both get some work done.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Sick
The only thing that I didn't enjoy about my weekend was getting sick. So now I feel like crap. I missed classes on Monday, too. At least tomorrow's first class begins at 11, so I can sleep in a little. Plus, for some reason there isn't as much homework as usual for tomorrow. I guess I got sick at the right time. One thing I should do is try to write some cover letters. If you haven't seen it yet, you should check this out. It's really funny.
Back to this weeked. The Super Bowl Party at the Stollers was fun. I was in the middle of getting sick, so it was hard to focus on the game at times. It was really good seeing everyone, though. I'm glad the Steelers won, but I wish the game had been closer. My head is really foggy right now, so if you can't understand what I'm writing, or the order of events seems nonsensical, it's because I'm sick. I hate being sick. Jess isn't feeling so good either. It was nice seeing the Stollers too.
For those who don't know, my best friend for the first two years of college was Corey Stoller. He died after sophomore year of Cancer. It's called osteo-sarcoma. It's a bone cancer. Corey was inspirational in my life. I'm sure he touched so many other lives too. He was my roommate both Freshman and Sophomore years, but when I met him I felt like I had known him so much longer. I miss him a lot. Seeing his parents is always nice. Since Sophomore year, we have spent the Super Bowl at their house. We also see them every year on or around Corey's birthday and usually on the anniversary of his death. June 12. He was so full of life it's so hard to think that he's dead.
Enough of that. Jess and I are debating a trip to D.C. for spring break. My brother and his wife live in northern Va. and would probably put us up for a few days. Might be fun.
One final note. Something I thought was funny: during a vote by the Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives to replace their leader with one who would stem the tide of corruption, the intial vote-count was higher than the number of Republicans in the house. Sounds like their corruption is hindering their ability to stop corruption.
----------------------------------------------
Here's some news:
From IMDb:
Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal is being touted as Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent in the next Batman sequel, along with Paul Bettany, who may play the Joker. Gyllenhaal would play Gotham City's good-guy lawyer, who mutates into his alter-ego, Two-Face, in the third film. In the sequel, Batman would team with Harvey Dent to destroy the Joker, according to moviehole.net. Tommy Lee Jones formerly played Dent/Two-Face on the big screen in Batman & Robin. Star Christian Bale is set to return, as well as Michael Caine as butler Alfred.
Back to this weeked. The Super Bowl Party at the Stollers was fun. I was in the middle of getting sick, so it was hard to focus on the game at times. It was really good seeing everyone, though. I'm glad the Steelers won, but I wish the game had been closer. My head is really foggy right now, so if you can't understand what I'm writing, or the order of events seems nonsensical, it's because I'm sick. I hate being sick. Jess isn't feeling so good either. It was nice seeing the Stollers too.
For those who don't know, my best friend for the first two years of college was Corey Stoller. He died after sophomore year of Cancer. It's called osteo-sarcoma. It's a bone cancer. Corey was inspirational in my life. I'm sure he touched so many other lives too. He was my roommate both Freshman and Sophomore years, but when I met him I felt like I had known him so much longer. I miss him a lot. Seeing his parents is always nice. Since Sophomore year, we have spent the Super Bowl at their house. We also see them every year on or around Corey's birthday and usually on the anniversary of his death. June 12. He was so full of life it's so hard to think that he's dead.
Enough of that. Jess and I are debating a trip to D.C. for spring break. My brother and his wife live in northern Va. and would probably put us up for a few days. Might be fun.
One final note. Something I thought was funny: during a vote by the Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives to replace their leader with one who would stem the tide of corruption, the intial vote-count was higher than the number of Republicans in the house. Sounds like their corruption is hindering their ability to stop corruption.
----------------------------------------------
Here's some news:
From IMDb:
Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal is being touted as Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent in the next Batman sequel, along with Paul Bettany, who may play the Joker. Gyllenhaal would play Gotham City's good-guy lawyer, who mutates into his alter-ego, Two-Face, in the third film. In the sequel, Batman would team with Harvey Dent to destroy the Joker, according to moviehole.net. Tommy Lee Jones formerly played Dent/Two-Face on the big screen in Batman & Robin. Star Christian Bale is set to return, as well as Michael Caine as butler Alfred.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Two crazy guys!
So, it's 2AM and I must be lonely...wait, I'm an hour early. So, I should be writing a paper for class, but I decided to take a break.
So there are these two guys, the first is Fred Phelps. Some of you may know of Phelps as the proprieter of the website www.godhatesfags.com. Well, he's at it again. This time, he and his fellow rabble rousers are picketing the funerals of Katrina victims and the victims of the mine accidents in West Virginia proclaiming that god has caused these tragedies because of our godless ways (AKA homosexuality and the condoning homsexuality). He's really sick in the head. The worst thing is that his entire family, which also happens to be his parrish, is made up of lawyers. They all know their first amendment rights, and will do anything they can to evade the legislatures and courts that will try to prevent them from picketing funerals. It sickens me. Oh yeah, and he's picketing the funeral of Corretta Scott King. Your guess is as good as mine why he picked that one!
So the second crazy guy I wanted to write about is the Attorney General of Kansas. He's way out in right field too. Apparently he's tried to pass several laws in Kansas in order to gain access to abortion records, and has failed each time. If you have any time at all, read this article. The author does more justice in telling the story than I could. The gist of it is basically that this guy's latest scheme is a law that requires any health/socialwork/psychology professional to report if a minor has engaged in "sexual activity." Apparently this law is so vague that it has been construed as requiring a nurse to report to authorities if a 15 year-old has been making out with her 16-year-old boyfriend. Apparently both could be guilty of a crime if this happens. Read the article.
So there are these two guys, the first is Fred Phelps. Some of you may know of Phelps as the proprieter of the website www.godhatesfags.com. Well, he's at it again. This time, he and his fellow rabble rousers are picketing the funerals of Katrina victims and the victims of the mine accidents in West Virginia proclaiming that god has caused these tragedies because of our godless ways (AKA homosexuality and the condoning homsexuality). He's really sick in the head. The worst thing is that his entire family, which also happens to be his parrish, is made up of lawyers. They all know their first amendment rights, and will do anything they can to evade the legislatures and courts that will try to prevent them from picketing funerals. It sickens me. Oh yeah, and he's picketing the funeral of Corretta Scott King. Your guess is as good as mine why he picked that one!
So the second crazy guy I wanted to write about is the Attorney General of Kansas. He's way out in right field too. Apparently he's tried to pass several laws in Kansas in order to gain access to abortion records, and has failed each time. If you have any time at all, read this article. The author does more justice in telling the story than I could. The gist of it is basically that this guy's latest scheme is a law that requires any health/socialwork/psychology professional to report if a minor has engaged in "sexual activity." Apparently this law is so vague that it has been construed as requiring a nurse to report to authorities if a 15 year-old has been making out with her 16-year-old boyfriend. Apparently both could be guilty of a crime if this happens. Read the article.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
State of the Union
Watched the State of the Union last night. If you didn't get to see it, you can read it here. One of the most interesting things about watching the speech is seeing who gets up and claps for what. Most of the time, either one side of the room(republicans), or the other (democrats) gets up to clap. One particularly funny moment was when Bush said, "Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security," and the democrats all got up to clap, mocking him. At least it was funny to me. Some of my conservative friends didn't think it as funny.
All in all it was a pretty good speech. He talked a lot about the military, which of course got a him tons of applause from most of the people in the room because no one wants to look like they don't support our troops. I think the best way to support our troops is to bring them home, but that's just me. Other than that, Bush said a lot of things I disagree with, and a few things that I agree with. There was at least one policy initiative that I thought was particularly a good idea. Unfortunately, the media commentators said there were very few policy statements in the speech that actually could make it through congress. Fortunately, reforming corruption was one of them.
I'm looking forward to watching the Daily Show for commentary about the speech...
In other news, Justice Alito was confirmed yesterday. Don't like him much. Fortunately five of the nine seats on the Supreme Court are still occupied by Justices I would label as "reasonable."
----
Woh there, just got sucked into a conversation about Intelligent Design. The hypothesis that some biological structures on this earth are too complex to be explained by Evolutionary Theory and therefore had to be created by some intelligence, either alien, or supernatural. That's where I can't make the leap of faith. Just because something can't be proven by Evolutionary Theory doesn't mean that divine, spiritual or extraterrestrial intelligence is the only other explanation for it. That's just scary. Many have accused the creators of this hypothesis (some call it a theory, but it's untestable, so I don't give it that kind of respect) using it as a mask for creationism in order to get it into public schools. I tend to want to agree with those people. It does seem to be very creationist. If these are two competing Theories, it would be hard for Evolution to compete. How can science compete with faith. Creationism is something you really have to believe in and won't fall apart no matter how much supposed "testing" you do. Evolution, on the other hand, is something that has been truly tested many times, and will continue to be tested. That makes it science.
All in all it was a pretty good speech. He talked a lot about the military, which of course got a him tons of applause from most of the people in the room because no one wants to look like they don't support our troops. I think the best way to support our troops is to bring them home, but that's just me. Other than that, Bush said a lot of things I disagree with, and a few things that I agree with. There was at least one policy initiative that I thought was particularly a good idea. Unfortunately, the media commentators said there were very few policy statements in the speech that actually could make it through congress. Fortunately, reforming corruption was one of them.
I'm looking forward to watching the Daily Show for commentary about the speech...
In other news, Justice Alito was confirmed yesterday. Don't like him much. Fortunately five of the nine seats on the Supreme Court are still occupied by Justices I would label as "reasonable."
----
Woh there, just got sucked into a conversation about Intelligent Design. The hypothesis that some biological structures on this earth are too complex to be explained by Evolutionary Theory and therefore had to be created by some intelligence, either alien, or supernatural. That's where I can't make the leap of faith. Just because something can't be proven by Evolutionary Theory doesn't mean that divine, spiritual or extraterrestrial intelligence is the only other explanation for it. That's just scary. Many have accused the creators of this hypothesis (some call it a theory, but it's untestable, so I don't give it that kind of respect) using it as a mask for creationism in order to get it into public schools. I tend to want to agree with those people. It does seem to be very creationist. If these are two competing Theories, it would be hard for Evolution to compete. How can science compete with faith. Creationism is something you really have to believe in and won't fall apart no matter how much supposed "testing" you do. Evolution, on the other hand, is something that has been truly tested many times, and will continue to be tested. That makes it science.
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