A Motion to Consider

A Long and Wonderful Saturday

2011-09-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hello beautiful world!

Today was a long and beautiful Saturday at house Bingham. I have started my Christmas knitting projects already. I really enjoy making things for Christmas, but I never start early enough. Especially considering that my Uncle Sal and Aunt Melanie just moved here with their five adorable children, there are SOOO many people who need wonderful scarves and hats and other such gorgeous knits.

Today I made Casey some gorgeously tasty peanut butter chocolate chip cookies...testing a Christmas recipe. They turned out really really good, and they have that "not quite perfect circles" homemade look too, which I was kind of going for.

I also finished a hat for my cousin Lealani, who LOVES to wear colorful and wild things. So I used this ridiculous yellow yarn with all these difficult color yarn and ribbon pieces coming out. It's gorgeous and I think she'll love it. I alternated stockingnet and seed stitch, I love it.

Thtat's a shot of me holding it. Here's a shot of the top:

While cooking and cleaning and baking and knitting, Casey I knocked a few oldish movies off our Netfix Instaque: Father of the Bride; Parenthood; and To Be or Not To Be (Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks). All in all it was a wonderful day! Now if I only had a wideout I could hope that tomorrow would be equally awesome.

It's a Sad, Sad, World

2011-09-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

Ok , so I don't know how many of you play Fantasy Football, but if you know me, you KNOW I do. I LOVE me some Fantasy Football. I'm in first place in this one league, and I was just totally CRUSHING. And then, Miles Austin thought some last minute acrobatics would be an ok thing...now I have to start Randall friggin Cobb...

I'm so depressed.

Now What

2010-05-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

I hate looking for a new job. It's times like these when I seriously wonder about my career choices. I mean, I LOVE being a lawyer to be sure, but good lord - my brother has a BS in Speech Language Pathology and he makes more than many associates. Why is a good job so hard to find?

You'd think with a beautiful resume and bar license in hand you could get a job...but apparently not so.

Le sigh - le weep.

Pachyderm Underground

2008-11-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

For all of you who read my blog, I thought I'd tell you that I've just launched my newest blog, The Pachyderm Underground. In an effort to separate the political things I discuss on my personal blog, I've banded together with a few others to create a blog that is all politics and all conservative. Now, that's not to say all Republicans or Conservatives will agree with every author all the time, but I think you're all in for a good treat!!!

Passing the Buck

2008-09-12T22:43:00.001-07:00

Somewhere almost too far away to sense winds are tearing trees out of the ground as fifty-foot waves drown barrier walls. From the safety of my house, only a scant 50 miles inland, a strange feeling rushes over me: are those in danger paying the price for my relative safety?

As hurricane Ike was forming in the Gulf only a few short days ago, I was going about my business...working on a brief, an article for a symposium, filling in missing album artwork on iTunes and religiously updating my facebook status, when I stumbled across the first projection for Ike's path...right through my front door. Less then pleased, I called my dad at work and let him know we ought to consider re-stocking our pantry. We have hurricane stuffs, but Dolly kinda cleaned us out and then we got to lazy to the store and buy water to drink when there was a perfectly good stash righ there in our house.

We bought more tuna than any platoon of men should eat...I'm looking at it now in the family room as it makes its own preparations to sit and wait for the next diaster.

Since hurrican Dolly, my hometown and surrounding cities have been suffering - badly. Over 1/3 of the Valley is impoverished [as compared to the 1/10th of the population national average] so natural diasters hit us hard. The wealth and abundance in places like McAllen must try to outshine the unappealing qualities of shacks and shanties inhabited by the immigrant workers and illegal alliens who probably picked, packed, or shipped whatever you're eating as you read this. These areas of poverty are prone to flooding, and since Dolly, our grounds have remained saturated. You may not believe it, but the post-storm mosquito infestation has gotten so bad, we now have confirmed cases of Malaria and West Nile Virus here...as if left Africa only b/c I missed watching House on Tuesdays.

With all this in mind, I was speaking to a dear friend of mine in Houston early in the Ike saga, and the thought suddenly occured to us - how do you pray in this situation???

If he prayed for my safety and my home's protection...what would be the best case scenario in the back of his mind?? In other words, what was it he REALLY wanted? If my friend asked for the hurricane to be otherwise diverted, someone else's life would be in the balance. Just because that life isn't mine doesn't make it less valuable...or does it? Say I prayed for the hurricane to change direction...where would it go? Houston? What if the hurricane shifted North? What if shifted South? What if what if what if...the fact of the matter is prayer, now matter how effective...couldn't make the hurricane go away. It has to go somewhere...

And somewhere it did. I spoke to this same friend yesterday and he was on his way over to his parents' house after work to help his father ready their house - their home - for Ike. He says he's thankful the hurricane was redirected because Houston at least would be less saturated and more capable, in his mind, of handling Ike...we'll see.

As Ike's potential for devestation became more evident, the lesson this teaches about life becomes more evident. I remarked to my father that watching Ike over this past week is like watching an army of the world's most powerful soldiers slowly desend upon your castle - it's like watching your death. And as momentarily scary as that may seem, the inevitability of it all takes some of the edge off. What I mean is, once the hurricane's path was set, you could only do so much to prepare yourself, and then you just had to wait. It will come when it comes, and it's the waiting that's the most difficult. As Dr. Wilson says, "Dying's easy. It's living that's hard."

I've never seen a tornado disappear into thin air. I've never heard of a tsunami disentigrating in air; never known a monsoon to stop in mid pour while still leaving the eco-system balanced. Hail storms do not turn into lemondrop and fruit roll-up parades. Weather patterns dissapate, not vanish. It's one of Newton's laws of motion - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction - forces come in pairs.

Even Jesus, when he ordered the demon[s] Legion out of the man, ordered them into the pig. He didn't smite them into nothingness...when bills come due...they will be paid...by SOMEONE.

I have my tuna, my passport, my bottled water, a truck full of gas, a knife, a first-aid kit, two months supply of medicine...and the weather channel...now I just have to wait...maybe I'll watch something else instead.

Blessings of the Burdened II - Guilt is a Disease

2008-08-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

To preface this, with a disclaimer/warning - I have been reading Atlas Shrugged. I have read it before, but it has been a while. If you know of Atlas Shrugged, you probably are also aware as to its author's political and phillisophical persuasions - so when I say "I love it" you may now make a decision as to whether or not you'd like to continue reading. I'll give you a moment to decide.

[crickets chirp]

Here's something that's really fascinating to me - Christian guilt. To expand on my last entry, I'm not sure I ought to be so paternalistic as to say one way or the other whether or not "poor" people are happy. I'm sure they have just as much right to be unhappy or happy as Bill Gates does. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's none of my business whether they are happy or not. Because people ought not be what makes other people happy. If someone can make you "happy" then they can also, [insert appropriate obnoxious latin phrase to demonstrate I went to law school], make you unhappy.

In the traditional American Christian, we find a particularly interesting breeding. Here is a capitalist - the more successful the better. This person has a sense of individuality not to be found in inhabitants of other countries, especially if he were raised here. He is moved to joy by the fruits of his own labor - who among us is not proud when we finish something that doesn't turn out shotty? The American Christian is self-motivated - he succeeds at work because he doesn't make decisions based on irrational motives, but on fact. That which will yield the better result, will make the bottom line fatter, that is the one he chooses. And when he makes the wrong decision from time to time, we are ok with that. But what if he is always right? What if he makes TONS of money? Then, suddenly, we villify him. His name is synonamous with greed and evil: he is selfish. He only wants to make money, he seeks to make a profit. As we ride on his airplanes and talk to our friends on his iPhones, we make sure to point out what a horrible person he is - he has no social conscious. I mean, what has he ever done for society? [Never you mind that competition breeds innovation, and that the all-mighty dollar as a motivator probably pushed the development of the vaccines that kept you alive so far to read this on your wonderful machine that I suppose appeared out of thin air without the aid of any entrepreneurial intervention.] How has his money grubbing done anything for a single human being on earth [besides of course keep him in business - but who ever needed pasturized milk anyway]? Selfish, selfish, selfish: disgusting.

When we approach this American Christian at church or in a religious setting, we remind him that he has much and others have little. We inform him that he has no right to be joyful in what he has created, invented, improved, because others don't even have that which he has improved upon. We tell him that he is responsible for the weak - that he owes to them all that he has because to he whom much is given, much is expected. And if the guilt works, the American will allow himself to live a dual life - one in which he believes in self-motivation and self-reliance as virtue, and one in which his guilt at others' failures and lack of opportunity enable them to live off of him. Our ability to control his giving depends not on the quality of his conviction in the value of life, but in his acceptance of guilt. Now, unable to remain consistent, he begins to be afraid of himself. He fears what his instincts tell him - that he should pursue the right decisions in business -those that make him profit. He is now unwilling to act on what he believes in. Supposing that were the definition of virtue, what sort of stumbling block is our social conscious?

Can this really be the way in which God wanted Christians to tend to the hurting world? Consider this excerpt taken from Atlas Shrugged, that would demonstrate the absurdity in this line of thinking:

"I mean, we're only human beings - and what's a human being? A weak, ugly, sinful creature, born that way, rotten in his bones - so humility is the one virtue he ought to practice. He ought to spend his life on his knees, begging to be forgiven for his dirty existence. When a man thinks he's good - that's when he's rotten. Pride is the worst of all sins, no matter what he's done."
"But if a man knows that what he's done is good?"
"Then he ought to apologize for it."
"To whom?"

"To those who haven't done it."

When we apologize, as a nation for having more money than [insert country here], we allow them to live off our system, and our government, our people, they just hand over the money. What does that do? It eventually will destroy the American Christian's ability to make a living and live comfortably, and his apology to those who do not live comfortably will be his joining them on a lower socio-economic level, standing in solidarity with the poor he can no longer afford to assist. This would be the consequence of the ever expanding social conscious, would it not?

But what if we were selfish? Would that help anyone? Next installment - same bat time, same bat channel.

Out of Africa - How Would Jesus Vote?

2008-08-21T00:16:00.001-07:00

Just in case your curious, there are people who mistakenly find me intelligent from time to time, despite my inability to spell anything without spell check. Above please find the link to my latest article. It's been up for some time and I'm sorry to say I was too lazy to put this link up...
sue me

Acholi Beads

2008-07-14T09:23:00.001-07:00

The Blessings of the Burdened

2008-06-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

It's difficult for any left-leaning Christian, much less a right-leaning or middle-ground walking Christian in today's world to feel happy for more than the 30 seconds it might take him or her to realize that she has no right to be happy in today's world. How can one be happy, when others most certainly are not? How can I laugh at Boston Legal knowing there are those without food, much less televisions? How can we be happy when we beat Rainbow Six on medium, with the knowledge that somewhere someone's REAL life is much more gruesome than the grenade launching death "REAPER" [my brother's Playstation 3 handle] just rained down on all the animated terrorists?

I don't know how we CANNOT be happy...because all those people we so pity with our fake guilt, they are happy. Well, maybe they aren't, but they have joy.

Why is it that old negro spirituals fill our songbooks, with each one on a dog-eared and well-worn page; but the songs of happy well-fed rich slave owners are on the pages still white as the day they hit the presses? Why is my church full of people who still insist on worshiping Sunday morning as if the Lord has given them nothing to sing and be happy about? Why moreover, is a church in Uganda or Zaire or those underground in China full of such happy people in the face of our Lord? We eat each day, many Christians do not. We have water, clean water, and many of our brothers and sisters in Christ do not. We have much and we are unhappy - perhaps even ungrateful. They may need our help but they do not need our guilt or pity.

And frankly, it does us no good either.

Look at the eyes of a child who lives in BelAire and has everything he could ever want or need...but has never had to fight to keep it...never had to risk to defend it...then look in the eyes of a child beaten for his faith...starving for food and water...hungry for death as a relief...who's eyes make you sadder? That's always the question we ask...because we would complain to live that way so it must be intolerable...but somehow...the promise is enough for them...

why not for me?

more on this later...but it seems that those burdened always manage to bless me more than I am able to save them

Scrap Blanket

2008-06-23T23:05:00.000-07:00

Most of you who know me, know that I like to knit. I love it - blankets, potholders, scarves, afghans (different than blankets, just so you know), dishcloths, doileys, whatever. I have amassed quite the yarn collection too. You see, whenever you make something, unless it's a really thin scarf, it takes more than one skein [thing] of yarn. And you have to make sure you buy enough for each project the first time around. Yarn is dyed in lots. So if you are making a blanket out of terra cotta brown, all 20 of the terra cotta brown skeins at Hobby Lobby or Michaels or whatever, are not exactly alike. They were dyed 15 or so at a time. Each skein has a dye lot number written on the label. If you need about 8 or 9 skeins to get the job done, you better buy 9 NOW...because you have to make sure you get 9 with the same lot number, so your project has consistency...it would be awful to come back and end up with the last foot of your blanket lookin' a little off...

If you buy yarn like this for years, you end up with a little bit left of all kinds of colors...then of course there's the yarn you can't pass up...you know, the yarn that's usually 4 dollars a skein but's on sale for 99 cents...it would be just perfect for this scarf pattern...that you never get to. So every couple of years or so, I make something out of the scrap yarn. But since law school started for me three years ago this August, I've slown down a little on the knitting, and haven't had the chance to get to a scrap ANYTHING.

Well, today I started on a scrap Afghan. Knitting with two skeins at a time, I'm making a blanket with black as the constant color, and the other will be all the scraps of all the colors I have left. When I finish, the blanket will be black with many colors. There will be some of the orange chennille left over from the UT scarf I made my best friend for his birthday two years ago; frilly pink and purple mixed yarn left from the scarf I made my cousin Erika when she went skiing; red, white & blue yarn from the Obama scarf I made this year, and a different tinted red white & blue mixed yarn from the Bush scarf I made in college. There's green from the blanket I made my mother; UN blue from the blanket I'm making John; purple and white from the ACU blanket I made, and red from the GATA diamond scarf I made Kat. There's various shades of purple left from the blanket I made Shirley, and a small ball of blue mixed from the blanket I made Jay for his 24th birthday. Somehow, somewhere, I bought all this yarn...across the country and across the years, hauling it with me everywhere I go. And even though it's been sitting, stored and sorted by color and kind, for a while - some for years - now I need it. Now I'll use it.

Everytime I make one of these projects - these scrap projects - I'm always amazed at how beautiful they turn out. You'd think that all these mismatched colors, all these undertones and seemingly clashing hues would look absolutely terrible together. But they don't. Somehow, the undertone color makes it all fit...makes it look like somehow I knew I'd need enough Boston-Celtics-In-The-Finals-Again-Green for seven rows of this blanket, but only enough I-Dated-Too-Many-FRATS-And-Not-Enough-Kinsman-Blue for one row. All it takes is that black undercurrent. All it takes is one underlying consistent thought to string it all together. I guess not all that is random is aimless.

Not all who wander are without purpose.

In violation of copyright laws...

2008-02-26T22:24:00.000-08:00

I bring this to you all as a violation of copyright laws, but I don't really care. Think of it as my reading it to you.

The Cure of Troy
by Seamus Heaney

Human beings suffer.
They torture one another.
They get hurt, and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.

The innocent in gaols
Beat on their bars together.
A hunger-striker's father
Stands in the graveyeard dumb.
The police widow in veils
Faints at the funeral home.

History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime,
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
And cures and healing wells.

Call miracle self-healing:
The utter, self-revealing
Double-take of feeling.
If there's fire on the mountain
Or lightening and storm
And a god speaks from the sky

That means someone is hearing
The outcry and birth cry
Of new life at its term.
It means that once in a lifetime
That justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

So You Think You're A Radical

2008-02-24T12:15:00.001-08:00

So I have been reading these Human Rights Watch reports on torture and the war on terror etc. and I gotta say, I'm really really disappointed. As I'm reading, I notice that if I turned any one these reports in for a grade in High School English [and not the AP stuff I'm talking "Hi my name is Bob and I can barely read because I smoke pot all day" kind of English Class] I would probably not have passed...and thats saying a lot because somehow there are Bobs all throughout the US who manage to pass...

These reports are terrible!! They are poorly written, redundant and don't really conscribe to any particulary set of academic standards. They cite what they find convenient to cite, but never the most important stuff. For instance, In a report I just read about Command Responsibility for Torture [which was way too long - the reputable information they had was about 10 pages], there is a HUGE section about memos written by White House Lawyers. HRW asserts that the memos attempt to reason away the Geneva Conventions, that the lawyers are responsible for nuclear holocaust and spiders under your bed, etc. but they do NOT cite the memos!!

At all!!

Later they cite a memo by Colin Powell, but there's not even a shout-out to one by Gonzales or Yoo. Now, we may all have read these memos, or some of them already, but that doesn't excuse HRW from being lazy or un-academic.

The problem I have with all of this is that if you want people to think you're talking about more than some vision you had smoking pot in a drum circle with your friends from the Yale Human Rights Clinical, then I'm going to need for you to cite things. You need to have EVIDENCE. This is why those who put their lives on the lines in war zones in the Sudan cannot stand overly educated lawyers and marketing majors and fancy-pants carpetbagging senators who don't know what fascism looks like. Because they see America for what it really is - the coolest country on earth and the ONLY one in the world where you can, during war time, stand on a corner in a busy metroplex with a sign blaming the President for actively causing the deaths of your country's largest terrorist attack to date and NOT DISAPPEAR. Instead, the people you accuse or terrorizing the whole world at will are dying out there so you can continue to stand on street corners like the loudmouth ignorant fool that you are.

My solution is that we send all of these people to Somalia for a little while, then ask them how they feel about the evil oppressive force that is America. If the world wants to eat McDonald's and drink Coca-Cola, let 'em! Honestly, the only people who are oppressed around here are these people - they are too stupid to think for themselves, to a little research, or make an intelligent decision about ANYTHING. Instead, they jump on whatever bandwagon Barbra Boxer is driving, and grab their kids along for the ride. You tell me, how is a Palestinian kid with a gun because his parents taught him to have one any different than a 5 year-old on a Malibu street corner with a sign calling Bush a fascist? This person's world may be even MORE dangerous then the kid with the gun...

and only in America, will we let that kid's parents continue to teach him to keep on truckin'

Well Played Brother

2008-02-18T22:08:00.000-08:00

The Last Unicorn

2008-01-28T02:17:00.000-08:00

As I sit up in bed, the exhaustion teems over my eyes, but still sleep escapes me. Like the love you can never quite hold on to, so too lately is undisturbed sleep. So numerous are the unconnected thoughts that swarm in my mind that were they colors, the greatest of Klimt's masterpieces would still pale in comparison to the sea of pigment it would produce. But amidst the rushing thoughts and the din I create in my mind, there is one thing that brings me peace - the image of a small porcelain unicorn.

As a child I had such the fascination with the enchantments of childrens' fairytales. I was awed by the simple beauty in a kind woodland maiden aiding a lost creature, or the nobility with which a noble steed would stand by his master. It seemed more than just "too good to be true," for I really believed that kindness and mercy existed in the world. All I knew, is that somewhere there had to be a place where my favorite of playtime fantasies, the Unicorn, existed.

And why shouldn't it? Lonely streets and cold nights numbered many in our silent and fearful world, but I had always felt warm. So many lived without a home, but I had one. And so, I began to love unicorns. And when I moved away from my first best friend, she gave me a small porcelain unicorn to connect us, for always. I remember it well - it had a main of rainbow colors that were far brighter in my mind than they could ever have been represented by cheap paint in the uninspired spectrum it had been painted. It was small enough to fit in my cupped hands, tiny though they were, but big enough to fill my whole heart.

As I grew, many other depictions of this fair creature began to mark the shelves and spaces of my humble bedroom. But no matter how beautiful each new addition was, no matter how intricate the detailing or the awesome talent each new artist had for her art, no image or figure could take the place of that one tiny icon. I remember talking to it when I moved away from all my friends as a little girl. I remember holding it when I wished I could go back to my "old home," where everything was alright. And as the years passed and I perhaps had grown to like my new home, I would still glance at it, or hold it, whenever I was disheartened because it reminded me of the beauty of true friendship. I recall often with a smile, and perhaps even a small tear, the day my prized possession broke in half. My mother understood that I could not just throw the gift away! She knew that none of the others would matter without this one precious pearl. She helped me glue it back together and proudly I continued to display it as if everyone else would also be indifferent to the obvious crack all around my little unicorn's neck.

As I grew, I lost my affinity for child-like knick-knacks in my room, and one by one, my unicorns disappeared. They grew old or shabby or tacky with the changing of the seasons [and my moods] and were gradually thinned out. But not the one - the Last of my Unicorns. I still have that unicorn, wrapped in tissue paper in my hope chest. From time to time I take it out and stroke it and remember...The thing about the unicorn, is that she represented mercy and justice. She protected all the creatures in her forest, and if she left it they would all be in danger. All those who were truly good knew her when they saw her. But then, so did all those who were truly evil. Much like the soldier of Christ, she is easily recognized by both friend and foe.

But what of the Last Unicorn? She would have hardly anyone left to recognize her in eyes of love. What would it be like to be known by your enemies, but by very few friends? What would it be like to stand for good and justice, and still go unrecognized by most?

I saw a man, a man whom I knew to be evil in my recent travels. He is large, he is powerful, and I am not. He owns much, I own little. He commands attention, I am just a small woman. But when he saw me, he stared at me. And when he stared at me, I could tell he knew me, and the one who sent me. God's army is full of Last Unicorns.

THE LAST UNICORN

When the last eagle flies
Over the last crumbling mountain
And the last lion roars
At the last dusty fountain
In the shadow of the forest
Though she may be old and worn
They will stare unbelieving
At the Last Unicorn

When the first breath of winter
Throught the flowers is icing
And you look to the north
And a pale moon is rising
And it seems like all is dying
And would leave the world to mourn
In the distance hear her laughter
It's the Last Unicorn
I'm alive... I'm alive

When the last moon is cast
Over the last star of morning
And the future is past
Without even a last desparate warning
Then look into the sky where through
The cloudes a path is formed
Look and see her how she sparkles
It's the Last Unicorn
I'm alive... I'm alive.

What My Life is For...

2008-01-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

FROM GARY HAUGEN'S THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT INJUSTICE

Anyone who has spent time with infants knows what amazing machines of tireless learning and curiosity they are. We can also see that during an early stage of development, an infant has no capacity to maintain interest in anything that is not immediately before its eyes. When a brightly colored ball or rattle is held up before babies, their attention is riveted on it. Their eyes seize on the new item with urgent curiosity. They display an almost compulsive urge to touch it, feel it, embrace it. But move the toy out of sight and infants lose all interest. They do not look for it. They do not try to bring back the hand that took the toy away. The do not express any disappointment that the toy is no longer there to explore. As far as child psychologists are able to discern, to babies the toy ceases to exist the very moment it is removed from sight. They have not yet developed the mental capacity for object permanence, that is, the understanding that objects exist even when they are out of sight. It is truly a case of out of sight, out of mind.

I must confess that this is very much the way my mind often works when it comes to maintaining an interest in the reality of injustice in our world. I read about innocent people being slaughtered in Rwanda on page A1 of the Washington Post, and I am appalled. But my mind moves onto other things with amazing speed and thoroughness when I read on page D15 that the movie [I was] hoping to see actually starts a half hour earlier than [I] thought. When I read about the way abandoned orphan girls in China are tied to their bed rails and left to starve and die in state-run orphanages, I am very nearly moved to tears. But a year later when a conversation with a friend reminds me of the article, I realize that I have not shed a tear, uttered a prayer or even given it thought since the day I put down that newspaper article. I can move from torture on the evening news to touchdowns on Monday Night Football with almost the same mental and emotional ease as my channel changer.

Of course, much of this is perfectly natural and probably healthy. I do not aspire to be someone with a psychotic fixation on evil and human suffering. It s a poorly lived life that cannot experience joy, peace, laughter, beauty, and mirth despite all the oppression and injustice that mars the goodness of God's creation. If the evening news or the morning paper keeps me from [going] to a movie, from laughing at [] stories or from enjoying the exhilaration of a bike ride on a crisp fall day, then something is surely out of balance.

But we can grow into a more mature way of engaging the reality of injustice in our world if we take just two steps: (1) We can develop a compassion for the people suffering injustice by looking through the eyes of missionaries and other Christian workers who see this suffering firsthand, and (2) we can prepare ourselves to help people by looking at them through God's eyes, that is, through his Word.

Perhaps a next step in our development as children of God is a capacity for compassion permanence - a courageous and generous capacity to remember the needs of an unjust world even they are out of our immediate sight. Not content with the infant's out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach, God calls us to a grown-up capacity to engage a world of oppression with our heart and mind, even though (thankfully) it is not always before our eyes.

The One

2008-01-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

This past Winter I had the opportunity to meet a number of interesting and beautiful people in the country of Uganda. But among all of the new people I met, the one who left the largest impact upon me, was a young girl I interviewed in a dirty and run-down Orphanage just outside of Kampala. Let's call her Mikay.

Mikay, like many other young children in Uganda, has fallen victim to the atrocities of the War in the North. While peacefully living a simple life in her village with her family, Joseph Kony's rebel army quickly thrust her into a nightmare. They burned her village down and she and her family were forced to flee into the bush for safety. They lived there in abject fear for over a year, terrified that each new day would bring with it the realization that the rebel army knew where they were. And one day, I'm sad to say, she met that fear face to face. The rebels found her and her family, killed one of her parents, and took her away. She doesn't know where her other parent is or her siblings. She served as a sex slave and domestic for Kony's militants for over 2 years, until she escaped one day amid a skirmish with the UPDF.

Returning to the Bush for safety, Mikay ran into a childhood friend who offered her a chance for hope: "Let's go to Kampala and get jobs and an apartment together." Overjoyed at a chance for a new life, Mikay gladly assented. But upon her arrival in Kampala, she was sold by her "friend" into prostitution. This beautiful young girl was a child prostitute in the streets of Kampala for what seemed like forever. Her escape from this new nightmare was being sold into domestic servitude. After being moved from house to house in the Kampala underground slave trade, she finally lifted her cries up to God: "Lord," she cried, "I have never stolen from anyone, lied to anyone, or cheated anyone because I know that it's wrong. But I'm starving and alone and tired and if you can't help me, I would rather die." She was soon kicked out of the house she was working in, and found herself once again on the streets.

The One
By Sharon Cohn - Vice President, Interventions

Rather unoriginally, I suppose, Mother Teresa is one of my heroes. She exemplified better than perhaps anyone, the significance of the one. When a priest was trying to discourage her from a dangerous mission, she replied, “It is not an idea, Father, I think it is our duty…If I didn’t do it that time [pick up the one] I would never had picked up the 42,000 in Calcutta.”

I think back to this sometimes when I am asked how I keep from being overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the injustices we labor to combat. Or when I am challenged with grim statistics and asked, “So you have rescued hundreds of bonded slaves in the past few months. There are tens of millions still enslaved. What is the point?”

The point is the one. Let me tell you about her. I met Simla* more than two years ago in May 2002 when I was assisting with my first brothel raid with IJM. Based on our information the police rescued six children and arrested one offender. Simla was the most reserved of the girls rescued that day. Her eyes darted with skepticism and distrust and she was loath to smile when I met her.

With good reason. Simla had been promised a job in a restaurant two-and-a-half years earlier, and had instead been taken to the brothel where she had been subjected to exploitation day and night without end. When our investigators first met her, she begged them to give a good report to the brothel keeper because she had been beaten severely the last time a customer had complained.

Simla and I walked back into the brothel together one hot day when the police took us to retrieve her few possessions. It was a painful glimpse into the life of a teenager enslaved, the bizarre juxtaposition of childhood and brutality, posters of teenage idols and bank ledgers of customers’ payments.

Why this one?
IJM has assisted in rescuing hundreds of girls from commercial sexual exploitation since Simla, some of whom I have come to know. So why do I want to write you about her? Simla’s story is not unique, except that, of course, it is. It is unique to Simla. She has plans and dreams just like you and I. Men and women conspired to crush her uniqueness and her value, but we are committed to seeking justice for her.

And so, too, for one little girl in a rock quarry in South Asia. Kani* wasn’t among the others when IJM went with the authorities to raid the quarry. As a matter of fact, our investigators did not know about her family and had not documented this case of slavery during the investigation. At the end of a successful raid, IJM staff members were leaving the quarry where 76 people had been freed from slavery. A desperate woman, Kani’s mother, began banging on the door of one of the cars in the caravan. She explained that her family had not been present for the investigation, but they wanted to be taken out of the quarry. She explained that Kani had been injured while working at the quarry. After inadequate medical care and a raging infection, her middle finger had been amputated just that day to save the rest of her arm.

IJM stopped the caravan and with the help of local police officers found the husband and the eight family members, including the young girl. The family had been working as bonded slaves in the quarry for three years trying to pay off a $400 US debt. The pleas of a desperate mother were heard and her family was freed. IJM staff members have been working with Kani to help prepare her for a more promising future. She’s now back in her native village with her family, attending school and getting the education she deserves.

To Simla and to Kani it mattered that IJM brought the hand of justice to them despite the massiveness of the problem of oppression. Not only is each victim the one, but we likewise can be the one. The one called, the one listening, the one willing, the one sent to bring freedom and justice to innocent ones who are suffering.

Being overwhelmed by the numbers is an indulgence the oppressed can ill afford. Thank you, dear friend, for your willingness to stand with us for each child, each woman and each man who longs for the chance of a new life of hope.

For a Kiss

2007-12-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

conjuring up images of the past I yearn for
eyes of swirling life - hazelnut cosmos
look deeply into my soul each time I sleep
it is the future I turned my back on

fear and doubt draw their swords
into battle they go - love their casualty
hardened hearts still cry tears
weeping in silence behind frivolity's curtain

at a porcelain gallop you come - always
gentility arming your chivalry and passion
battle lines drawn you reach for your sword
victory is most ultimately thine my sweet

oh how i love thee

Dude Check This Little Girl

2007-11-30T18:04:00.001-08:00

The Night Before Christmas - For Lawyers

2007-11-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to, a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g. stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a.k.a. St. Nicholas a.k.a. Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime thereafter. The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.

Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as "I"), being the joint owner in fee simple of the House with the party of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. (At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g. kerchief and cap.)

Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e. the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance. At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter "the Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus. Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen (hereinafter "the Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional co-conspirator named "Rudolph" may have been involved.)

The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney. Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys and other unknown items. He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations.

Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.) Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.

However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.

Vaya Con Dios

2007-11-17T23:30:00.000-08:00

His eyes are far above my line of sight
But his smile reaches down to my tiny hands
I love him now - even when I cannot say
Words I have not learned

Time flows swiftly - His eyes draw ever nearer to my gaze
His hands grow ever smaller next to mine
His love - the one thing that doesn't change
As the shine wears from his smile

He has been waiting, knowing it will come
Patient for when it finally gets here
I always thought it would make it easier
Knowing when the darkness is coming for you

But now my life is but cloudy
It isn't here, but it comes
Ever so swiftly in time paused
Its shadows silently descends

His eyes do not meet mine - My gaze now drops far below the horizon
And perhaps they never shall they again
For peacefully he seems prepared
To go where I cannot follow

Gracefully the world stops spinning
Tears strike the dust to which he slowly returns;
Life remaining seems slower than a hearbeat
Quieter than an unsung song

Vaya con Dios

Shady Brady and Bill Belicheat © 2007 Ryan Parker

2007-11-05T13:08:00.000-08:00

I never called Bill Belichick a genius,
Cause I remember when he coached the Browns,
He was such a failure up in Cleveland,
The franchise folded up and left the town,
I never said Tom Brady was a hero,
Cause I remember him at Michigan,
Bringing Gatorade to Brian Griese,
Except for garbage time when he got in,

Chorus
So wasn't it a little shady when this quarterback named Brady,
Suddenly became a mega star,
Wasn't it a bit confusing when this coach who's used to losing,
Earned the reputation that he's smart,
When you know which plays are coming, it can make a coach look cunning,
And make an average quarterback elite,
Cheating's how they got their glory, it's the true deceitful story,
Of Shady Brady and Bill Belicheat,

The tabloids say they've cheated on their girlfriends,
And someone should review their SATs,
The IRS should look into their taxes,
And their colleges should check out their degrees,
Mangini knew the tricks that they were using,
So he convinced the Jets to turn them in,
Cause he was getting sick and tired of losing,
To a team that has to cheat to win,

Chorus
But Brady's made a lot of money and he's scored a lot of honeys,
By showing off his championship rings,
Bill's been praised because he's clever, and called the greatest ever,
And lived with all the luxuries that brings,
But let's confiscate their Sony's, and expose them both as phonies,
And see how many teams that they can beat,
Some would say it won't be any, if it is, it won't be many,
Poor Shady Brady and Bill Belicheat,
No more lucky play selection, into proper blitz protection,
For Shady Brady and Bill Belicheat,
Cause cheating's how they got their glory, it's the true deceitful story,
Of Shady Brady and Bill Belicheat

FINALLY I'M OUT OF PENS! - No really, that's a GOOD thing :)

2007-10-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

Ok I don't know if you guys remember this, but about three years ago, during October of my senior year in college, I wrote this blog post about my absurd pen and highlighter collection. You guys remember this? It went something to the tune I need to stop spending money on pens and highlighters when I see ones I want...I mean I probably had thousands of pens, hundreds of dollars worth I'm sure. It was the debater in me + the OCD in me. Basically how it would work, is that I would go to the store, see pens and think "Do I have a pen that color? No, ok well I guess I need THE WHOLE SET!" Or I'd be in class, and I would say to myself "Hmm...Middle Eastern Politics - this class is orange. Where is my orange pen?? IT'S GONE??? Ok well I can't write in my book with ANOTHER color so I guess I need another one. Whoops, I have to have pens that match so I guess I need a A WHOLE NEW SET of uniballs" [at$12 each , and no the thrill of using color-coded pens wasn't "priceless"]. So one day I said to myself, you my friend, are a consumer OUT OF CONTROL...so I vowed I would buy no more pens until I ran out.

So it has taken me about three years, that's right THREE YEARS to go through my bags of expensive pens and highlighters, and I've been able to roughly color-code law school anyway [hey, maybe remedies is Blue - baby blue to be exact - but not always the EXACT same shade of baby blue]. I had to buy a new set of pens at the beginning of this semester, and now today, the time has FINALLY come to buy new highlighters. I am at a loss.

Consumerism in check? - Now THAT'S priceless.

Remember Their Chains,

Miss Elizabeth Alvarez
SEEK JUSTICE
Isaiah 1:17

"Remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them, and those ill-treated as though you too felt their torment." Hebrews 13:3

How It Feels

2007-10-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

These words are not my own, but they are penned as if they could have been. I cannot think of a better way to express myself, especially now, than these words...

I remember coming home from the killing fields of Rwanda and feeling a bit wounded by friends who seemed to have no interest in trying to understand where I had been and what I had seen. I doubt that I ever mentioned this to any of them. But I felt something of the shallowness of some of my friendships when, coming back fresh from an eye-witness experience of one of the most appalling events in human history, they did not express even ten minutes of curiosity about what I had seen. Given how unpleasant it all was, I really didn't blame them for their lack of inquiry. In fact, most of the time I didn't like talking about it very much.

But those closest relatives and friends who really wanted to know me wouldn't let me get away with keeping the experience to myself. They wanted to understand where I had been, what I had seen and how I had been touched. They knew that they could never understand the deepest part of me if they didn't have some understanding of the things I had seen.

Likewise if we really want to know God, we should know something about where he has been - and what it has been like for him to suffer with all those who are hurting and abused. No one will ever really know what it was like for me to interview all those orphaned massacre survivors in Rwanda or roll back a corpse in a Rwandan church and find the tiniest of skeletons under the remains of a mother who had tried to protect her baby with her own body. I would never expect people to totally understand. God doesn't expect this either. He knows that we can never comprehend the smallest fraction of the oppression and abuse he has had to witness. But we can know him better if we try to understand something about his character and experience as the God of compassion - the God who suffers with the victims of injustice.

If nothing else, it will help us understand why the God of justice hates injustice and wants it to stop. If we had to see it and hear it every day like our God does, we would hate it too. To understand where the God of compassion has been is to begin to understand God's passion for justice. Justice, for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is not a good idea, a noble aspiration, a theoretical satisfaction or an impersonal principle - it is his beating heart. He is the "man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering," who weeps with those who weep (Isaiah 53:3; John 11:33-35).

God's compassion for the victims of injustice extends to all people, all round the world, without distinction or favor. When it comes to loving the people of the world, God suffers under none of our limitations. He doesn't feel so limited in his resources of compassion that he must establish boundaries for his caring or hierarchies of people, races, communities or nations to love. Rather, as the psalmist writes, "The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed" (Psalm 103:6). Indeed God seeks to establish justice "to save all the afflicted of the land (Psalm 76:9).

-Gary Haugen
The Good News About Injustice

Sigh - FOR SHAME

2007-10-04T09:38:00.001-07:00

The New York Times

October 4, 2007
Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations
By SCOTT SHANE, DAVID JOHNSTON and JAMES RISEN

This article is by Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 — When the Justice Department publicly declared torture “abhorrent” in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations.

But soon after Alberto R. Gonzales’s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.

Mr. Gonzales approved the legal memorandum on “combined effects” over the objections of James B. Comey, the deputy attorney general, who was leaving his job after bruising clashes with the White House. Disagreeing with what he viewed as the opinion’s overreaching legal reasoning, Mr. Comey told colleagues at the department that they would all be “ashamed” when the world eventually learned of it.

Later that year, as Congress moved toward outlawing “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment, the Justice Department issued another secret opinion, one most lawmakers did not know existed, current and former officials said. The Justice Department document declared that none of the C.I.A. interrogation methods violated that standard.

The classified opinions, never previously disclosed, are a hidden legacy of President Bush’s second term and Mr. Gonzales’s tenure at the Justice Department, where he moved quickly to align it with the White House after a 2004 rebellion by staff lawyers that had thrown policies on surveillance and detention into turmoil.

Congress and the Supreme Court have intervened repeatedly in the last two years to impose limits on interrogations, and the administration has responded as a policy matter by dropping the most extreme techniques. But the 2005 Justice Department opinions remain in effect, and their legal conclusions have been confirmed by several more recent memorandums, officials said. They show how the White House has succeeded in preserving the broadest possible legal latitude for harsh tactics.

A White House spokesman, Tony Fratto, said Wednesday that he would not comment on any legal opinion related to interrogations. Mr. Fratto added, “We have gone to great lengths, including statutory efforts and the recent executive order, to make it clear that the intelligence community and our practices fall within U.S. law” and international agreements.

More than two dozen current and former officials involved in counterterrorism were interviewed over the past three months about the opinions and the deliberations on interrogation policy. Most officials would speak only on the condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the documents and the C.I.A. detention operations they govern.

When he stepped down as attorney general in September after widespread criticism of the firing of federal prosecutors and withering attacks on his credibility, Mr. Gonzales talked proudly in a farewell speech of how his department was “a place of inspiration” that had balanced the necessary flexibility to conduct the war on terrorism with the need to uphold the law.

Associates at the Justice Department said Mr. Gonzales seldom resisted pressure from Vice President Dick Cheney and David S. Addington, Mr. Cheney’s counsel, to endorse policies that they saw as effective in safeguarding Americans, even though the practices brought the condemnation of other governments, human rights groups and Democrats in Congress. Critics say Mr. Gonzales turned his agency into an arm of the Bush White House, undermining the department’s independence.

The interrogation opinions were signed by Steven G. Bradbury, who since 2005 has headed the elite Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department. He has become a frequent public defender of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program and detention policies at Congressional hearings and press briefings, a role that some legal scholars say is at odds with the office’s tradition of avoiding political advocacy.

Mr. Bradbury defended the work of his office as the government’s most authoritative interpreter of the law. “In my experience, the White House has not told me how an opinion should come out,” he said in an interview. “The White House has accepted and respected our opinions, even when they didn’t like the advice being given.”

The debate over how terrorist suspects should be held and questioned began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the Bush administration adopted secret detention and coercive interrogation, both practices the United States had previously denounced when used by other countries. It adopted the new measures without public debate or Congressional vote, choosing to rely instead on the confidential legal advice of a handful of appointees.

The policies set off bruising internal battles, pitting administration moderates against hard-liners, military lawyers against Pentagon chiefs and, most surprising, a handful of conservative lawyers at the Justice Department against the White House in the stunning mutiny of 2004. But under Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Bradbury, the Justice Department was wrenched back into line with the White House.

After the Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that the Geneva Conventions applied to prisoners who belonged to Al Qaeda, President Bush for the first time acknowledged the C.I.A.’s secret jails and ordered their inmates moved to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The C.I.A. halted its use of waterboarding, or pouring water over a bound prisoner’s cloth-covered face to induce fear of suffocation.

But in July, after a monthlong debate inside the administration, President Bush signed a new executive order authorizing the use of what the administration calls “enhanced” interrogation techniques — the details remain secret — and officials say the C.I.A. again is holding prisoners in “black sites” overseas. The executive order was reviewed and approved by Mr. Bradbury and the Office of Legal Counsel.

Douglas W. Kmiec, who headed that office under President Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush and wrote a book about it, said he believed the intense pressures of the campaign against terrorism have warped the office’s proper role.

“The office was designed to insulate against any need to be an advocate,” said Mr. Kmiec, now a conservative scholar at Pepperdine University law school. But at times in recent years, Mr. Kmiec said, the office, headed by William H. Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia before they served on the Supreme Court, “lost its ability to say no.”

“The approach changed dramatically with opinions on the war on terror,” Mr. Kmiec said. “The office became an advocate for the president’s policies.”

From the secret sites in Afghanistan, Thailand and Eastern Europe where C.I.A. teams held Qaeda terrorists, questions for the lawyers at C.I.A. headquarters arrived daily. Nervous interrogators wanted to know: Are we breaking the laws against torture?

The Bush administration had entered uncharted legal territory beginning in 2002, holding prisoners outside the scrutiny of the International Red Cross and subjecting them to harrowing pressure tactics. They included slaps to the head; hours held naked in a frigid cell; days and nights without sleep while battered by thundering rock music; long periods manacled in stress positions; or the ultimate, waterboarding.

Never in history had the United States authorized such tactics. While President Bush and C.I.A. officials would later insist that the harsh measures produced crucial intelligence, many veteran interrogators, psychologists and other experts say that less coercive methods are equally or more effective.

With virtually no experience in interrogations, the C.I.A. had constructed its program in a few harried months by consulting Egyptian and Saudi intelligence officials and copying Soviet interrogation methods long used in training American servicemen to withstand capture. The agency officers questioning prisoners constantly sought advice from lawyers thousands of miles away.

“We were getting asked about combinations — ‘Can we do this and this at the same time?’” recalled Paul C. Kelbaugh, a veteran intelligence lawyer who was deputy legal counsel at the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorist Center from 2001 to 2003.

Interrogators were worried that even approved techniques had such a painful, multiplying effect when combined that they might cross the legal line, Mr. Kelbaugh said. He recalled agency officers asking: “These approved techniques, say, withholding food, and 50-degree temperature — can they be combined?” Or “Do I have to do the less extreme before the more extreme?”

The questions came more frequently, Mr. Kelbaugh said, as word spread about a C.I.A. inspector general inquiry unrelated to the war on terrorism. Some veteran C.I.A. officers came under scrutiny because they were advisers to Peruvian officers who in early 2001 shot down a missionary flight they had mistaken for a drug-running aircraft. The Americans were not charged with crimes, but they endured three years of investigation, saw their careers derailed and ran up big legal bills.

That experience shook the Qaeda interrogation team, Mr. Kelbaugh said. “You think you’re making a difference and maybe saving 3,000 American lives from the next attack. And someone tells you, ‘Well, that guidance was a little vague, and the inspector general wants to talk to you,’” he recalled. “We couldn’t tell them, ‘Do the best you can,’ because the people who did the best they could in Peru were looking at a grand jury.”

Mr. Kelbaugh said the questions were sometimes close calls that required consultation with the Justice Department. But in August 2002, the department provided a sweeping legal justification for even the harshest tactics.

That opinion, which would become infamous as “the torture memo” after it was leaked, was written largely by John Yoo, a young Berkeley law professor serving in the Office of Legal Counsel. His broad views of presidential power were shared by Mr. Addington, the vice president’s adviser. Their close alliance provoked John Ashcroft, then the attorney general, to refer privately to Mr. Yoo as Dr. Yes for his seeming eagerness to give the White House whatever legal justifications it desired, a Justice Department official recalled.

Mr. Yoo’s memorandum said no interrogation practices were illegal unless they produced pain equivalent to organ failure or “even death.” A second memo produced at the same time spelled out the approved practices and how often or how long they could be used.

Despite that guidance, in March 2003, when the C.I.A. caught Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the chief planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, interrogators were again haunted by uncertainty. Former intelligence officials, for the first time, disclosed that a variety of tough interrogation tactics were used about 100 times over two weeks on Mr. Mohammed. Agency officials then ordered a halt, fearing the combined assault might have amounted to illegal torture. A C.I.A. spokesman, George Little, declined to discuss the handling of Mr. Mohammed. Mr. Little said the program “has been conducted lawfully, with great care and close review” and “has helped our country disrupt terrorist plots and save innocent lives.”

“The agency has always sought a clear legal framework, conducting the program in strict accord with U.S. law, and protecting the officers who go face-to-face with ruthless terrorists,” Mr. Little added.

Some intelligence officers say that many of Mr. Mohammed’s statements proved exaggerated or false. One problem, a former senior agency official said, was that the C.I.A.’s initial interrogators were not experts on Mr. Mohammed’s background or Al Qaeda, and it took about a month to get such an expert to the secret prison. The former official said many C.I.A. professionals now believe patient, repeated questioning by well-informed experts is more effective than harsh physical pressure.

Other intelligence officers, including Mr. Kelbaugh, insist that the harsh treatment produced invaluable insights into Al Qaeda’s structure and plans.

“We leaned in pretty hard on K.S.M.,” Mr. Kelbaugh said, referring to Mr. Mohammed. “We were getting good information, and then they were told: ‘Slow it down. It may not be correct. Wait for some legal clarification.’”

The doubts at the C.I.A. proved prophetic. In late 2003, after Mr. Yoo left the Justice Department, the new head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Jack Goldsmith, began reviewing his work, which he found deeply flawed. Mr. Goldsmith infuriated White House officials, first by rejecting part of the National Security Agency’s surveillance program, prompting the threat of mass resignations by top Justice Department officials, including Mr. Ashcroft and Mr. Comey, and a showdown at the attorney general’s hospital bedside.

Then, in June 2004, Mr. Goldsmith formally withdrew the August 2002 Yoo memorandum on interrogation, which he found overreaching and poorly reasoned. Mr. Goldsmith, who left the Justice Department soon afterward, first spoke at length about his dissenting views to The New York Times last month, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Six months later, the Justice Department quietly posted on its Web site a new legal opinion that appeared to end any flirtation with torture, starting with its clarionlike opening: “Torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and to international norms.”

A single footnote — added to reassure the C.I.A. — suggested that the Justice Department was not declaring the agency’s previous actions illegal. But the opinion was unmistakably a retreat. Some White House officials had opposed publicizing the document, but acquiesced to Justice Department officials who argued that doing so would help clear the way for Mr. Gonzales’s confirmation as attorney general.

If President Bush wanted to make sure the Justice Department did not rebel again, Mr. Gonzales was the ideal choice. As White House counsel, he had been a fierce protector of the president’s prerogatives. Deeply loyal to Mr. Bush for championing his career from their days in Texas, Mr. Gonzales would sometimes tell colleagues that he had just one regret about becoming attorney general: He did not see nearly as much of the president as he had in his previous post.

Among his first tasks at the Justice Department was to find a trusted chief for the Office of Legal Counsel. First he informed Daniel Levin, the acting head who had backed Mr. Goldsmith’s dissents and signed the new opinion renouncing torture, that he would not get the job. He encouraged Mr. Levin to take a position at the National Security Council, in effect sidelining him.

Mr. Bradbury soon emerged as the presumed favorite. But White House officials, still smarting from Mr. Goldsmith’s rebuffs, chose to delay his nomination. Harriet E. Miers, the new White House counsel, “decided to watch Bradbury for a month or two. He was sort of on trial,” one Justice Department official recalled.

Mr. Bradbury’s biography had a Horatio Alger element that appealed to a succession of bosses, including Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court and Mr. Gonzales, the son of poor immigrants. Mr. Bradbury’s father had died when he was an infant, and his mother took in laundry to support her children. The first in his family to go to college, he attended Stanford and the University of Michigan Law School. He joined the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, where he came under the tutelage of Kenneth W. Starr, the Whitewater independent prosecutor.

Mr. Bradbury belonged to the same circle as his predecessors: young, conservative lawyers with sterling credentials, often with clerkships for prominent conservative judges and ties to the Federalist Society, a powerhouse of the legal right. Mr. Yoo, in fact, had proposed his old friend Mr. Goldsmith for the Office of Legal Counsel job; Mr. Goldsmith had hired Mr. Bradbury as his top deputy.

“We all grew up together,” said Viet D. Dinh, an assistant attorney general from 2001 to 2003 and very much a member of the club. “You start with a small universe of Supreme Court clerks, and you narrow it down from there.”

But what might have been subtle differences in quieter times now cleaved them into warring camps.

Justice Department colleagues say Mr. Gonzales was soon meeting frequently with Mr. Bradbury on national security issues, a White House priority. Admirers describe Mr. Bradbury as low-key but highly skilled, a conciliator who brought from 10 years of corporate practice a more pragmatic approach to the job than Mr. Yoo and Mr. Goldsmith, both from the academic world.

“As a practicing lawyer, you know how to address real problems,” said Noel J. Francisco, who worked at the Justice Department from 2003 to 2005. “At O.L.C., you’re not writing law review articles and you’re not theorizing. You’re giving a client practical advice on a real problem.”

As he had at the White House, Mr. Gonzales usually said little in meetings with other officials, often deferring to the hard-driving Mr. Addington. Mr. Bradbury also often appeared in accord with the vice president’s lawyer.

Mr. Bradbury appeared to be “fundamentally sympathetic to what the White House and the C.I.A. wanted to do,” recalled Philip Zelikow, a former top State Department official. At interagency meetings on detention and interrogation, Mr. Addington was at times “vituperative,” said Mr. Zelikow, but Mr. Bradbury, while taking similar positions, was “professional and collegial.”

While waiting to learn whether he would be nominated to head the Office of Legal Counsel, Mr. Bradbury was in an awkward position, knowing that a decision contrary to White House wishes could kill his chances.

Charles J. Cooper, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel under President Reagan, said he was “very troubled” at the notion of a probationary period.

“If the purpose of the delay was a tryout, I think they should have avoided it,” Mr. Cooper said. “You’re implying that the acting official is molding his or her legal analysis to win the job.”

Mr. Bradbury said he made no such concessions. “No one ever suggested to me that my nomination depended on how I ruled on any opinion,” he said. “Every opinion I’ve signed at the Office of Legal Counsel represents my best judgment of what the law requires.”

Scott Horton, an attorney affiliated with Human Rights First who has closely followed the interrogation debate, said any official offering legal advice on the campaign against terror was on treacherous ground.

“For government lawyers, the national security issues they were deciding were like working with nuclear waste — extremely hazardous to their health,” Mr. Horton said.

“If you give the administration what it wants, you’ll lose credibility in the academic community,” he said. “But if you hold back, you’ll be vilified by conservatives and the administration.”

In any case, the White House grew comfortable with Mr. Bradbury’s approach. He helped block the appointment of a liberal Ivy League law professor to a career post in the Office of Legal Counsel. And he signed the opinion approving combined interrogation techniques.

Mr. Comey strongly objected and told associates that he advised Mr. Gonzales not to endorse the opinion. But the attorney general made clear that the White House was adamant about it, and that he would do nothing to resist.

Under Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Comey’s opposition might have killed the opinion. An imposing former prosecutor and self-described conservative who stands 6-foot-8, he was the rare administration official who was willing to confront Mr. Addington. At one testy 2004 White House meeting, when Mr. Comey stated that “no lawyer” would endorse Mr. Yoo’s justification for the N.S.A. program, Mr. Addington demurred, saying he was a lawyer and found it convincing. Mr. Comey shot back: “No good lawyer,” according to someone present.

But under Mr. Gonzales, and after the departure of Mr. Goldsmith and other allies, the deputy attorney general found himself isolated. His troublemaking on N.S.A. and on interrogation, and in appointing his friend Patrick J. Fitzgerald as special prosecutor in the C.I.A. leak case, which would lead to the perjury conviction of I. Lewis Libby, Mr. Cheney’s chief of staff, had irreparably offended the White House.

“On national security matters generally, there was a sense that Comey was a wimp and that Comey was disloyal,” said one Justice Department official who heard the White House talk, expressed with particular force by Mr. Addington.

Mr. Comey provided some hints of his thinking about interrogation and related issues in a speech that spring. Speaking at the N.S.A.’s Fort Meade campus on Law Day — a noteworthy setting for the man who had helped lead the dissent a year earlier that forced some changes in the N.S.A. program — Mr. Comey spoke of the “agonizing collisions” of the law and the desire to protect Americans.

“We are likely to hear the words: ‘If we don’t do this, people will die,’” Mr. Comey said. But he argued that government lawyers must uphold the principles of their great institutions.

“It takes far more than a sharp legal mind to say ‘no’ when it matters most,” he said. “It takes moral character. It takes an understanding that in the long run, intelligence under law is the only sustainable intelligence in this country.”

Mr. Gonzales’s aides were happy to see Mr. Comey depart in the summer of 2005. That June, President Bush nominated Mr. Bradbury to head the Office of Legal Counsel, which some colleagues viewed as a sign that he had passed a loyalty test.

Soon Mr. Bradbury applied his practical approach to a new challenge to the C.I.A.’s methods.

The administration had always asserted that the C.I.A.’s pressure tactics did not amount to torture, which is banned by federal law and international treaty. But officials had privately decided the agency did not have to comply with another provision in the Convention Against Torture — the prohibition on “cruel, inhuman, or degrading” treatment.

Now that loophole was about to be closed. First Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and then Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who had been tortured as a prisoner in North Vietnam, proposed legislation to ban such treatment.

At the administration’s request, Mr. Bradbury assessed whether the proposed legislation would outlaw any C.I.A. methods, a legal question that had never before been answered by the Justice Department.

At least a few administration officials argued that no reasonable interpretation of “cruel, inhuman or degrading” would permit the most extreme C.I.A. methods, like waterboarding. Mr. Bradbury was placed in a tough spot, said Mr. Zelikow, the State Department counselor, who was working at the time to rein in interrogation policy.

“If Justice says some practices are in violation of the C.I.D. standard,” Mr. Zelikow said, referring to cruel, inhuman or degrading, “then they are now saying that officials broke current law.”

In the end, Mr. Bradbury’s opinion delivered what the White House wanted: a statement that the standard imposed by Mr. McCain’s Detainee Treatment Act would not force any change in the C.I.A.’s practices, according to officials familiar with the memo.

Relying on a Supreme Court finding that only conduct that “shocks the conscience” was unconstitutional, the opinion found that in some circumstances not even waterboarding was necessarily cruel, inhuman or degrading, if, for example, a suspect was believed to possess crucial intelligence about a planned terrorist attack, the officials familiar with the legal finding said.

In a frequent practice, Mr. Bush attached a statement to the new law when he signed it, declaring his authority to set aside the restrictions if they interfered with his constitutional powers. At the same time, though, the administration responded to pressure from Mr. McCain and other lawmakers by reviewing interrogation policy and giving up several C.I.A. techniques.

Since late 2005, Mr. Bradbury has become a linchpin of the administration’s defense of counterterrorism programs, helping to negotiate the Military Commissions Act last year and frequently testifying about the N.S.A. surveillance program. Once he answered questions about administration detention policies for an “Ask the White House” feature on a Web site.

Mr. Kmiec, the former Office of Legal Counsel head now at Pepperdine, called Mr. Bradbury’s public activities a departure for an office that traditionally has shunned any advocacy role.

A senior administration official called Mr. Bradbury’s active role in shaping legislation and speaking to Congress and the press “entirely appropriate” and consistent with past practice. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Mr. Bradbury “has played a critical role in achieving greater transparency” on the legal basis for detention and surveillance programs.

Though President Bush repeatedly nominated Mr. Bradbury as the Office of Legal Counsel’s assistant attorney general, Democratic senators have blocked the nomination. Senator Durbin said the Justice Department would not turn over copies of his opinions or other evidence of Mr. Bradbury’s role in interrogation policy.

“There are fundamental questions about whether Mr. Bradbury approved interrogation methods that are clearly unacceptable,” Mr. Durbin said.

John D. Hutson, who served as the Navy’s top lawyer from 1997 to 2000, said he believed that the existence of legal opinions justifying abusive treatment is pernicious, potentially blurring the rules for Americans handling prisoners.

“I know from the military that if you tell someone they can do a little of this for the country’s good, some people will do a lot of it for the country’s better,” Mr. Hutson said. Like other military lawyers, he also fears that official American acceptance of such treatment could endanger Americans in the future.

“The problem is, once you’ve got a legal opinion that says such a technique is O.K., what happens when one of our people is captured and they do it to him? How do we protest then?” he asked.

How 'Bout Them Apples??

2007-10-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

And you guys said I was crazy for going Mac...check out THIS link!!

Watch This Please

2007-09-13T15:12:00.001-07:00

This music video was recorded this Summer by Fall Out Boy while I was in Northern Uganda - please support artists who support what we do.

Rwanda

2007-08-12T11:42:00.001-07:00

Well all, I know that it has been some time since I have written, but you wouldn't believe how hard internet has been to come by for me. It is accessible enough here, but I'm somewhat limited by my mobility. Kampala is known here in Africa as the City of Seven Hills so you can imagine how that works for me.

Moving on...

Since I've written last so much has happened. I have been to Rwanda, and there I touched the graves of over 60 thousand people. I cannot even begin to tell you the totality of emotion that overwhelmed me there. I rode the bus from Kampala to Kigali for 11 hours, and let me tell you I was most definately ready to get off that bus when the time came.

We went to the Kigali to see the Rwandan Genocide Memorial there and I was speechless to say the least. I always used to ask myself, if genocide had a smell, what would it be? I think it would smell like indifference smells - like red dirt after a long rain. They say here in africa that the dirt is red because so much blood is shed here. As I looked out at the mass graves of the innocent I smelt the red dirt around me and knew that must have at least an ounce of truth to it.

What touched me more than the museum though I think has to be the woman i will call The Mourner. She works at one of the memorial churches in Rwanda, about a 30 minute drive out from Kigali. You drive out to see it because it's preserved just the way it was during tte genocide. It's everything a Church should never be - blood everywhere, shrapnal, and bones underneath foot. The Mourner didn't speak English, only her tribal language, and our guide spoke the tribal language, but only French and not English. So, our tour went something like this: She would talk to us in her lanugague, our guide would repeat it in French, and I would choke back tears as I had to explain in English that this wall we were looking at wasn't really brown - it was white. This wall we were looking at is what one sees after hundreds of babies have been tossed against it and their skulls have shattered.

She would speak, he would speak, and then I would speak

I would try to speak

of the Genociders tossing grenades through the doors of a church

of women being raped on the communion table

of husbands being forced to watch their wives defiled then killed

of children mutilated and tortured

of holy water spilt on the ground and trampled on

of the icon of the Virgin Mary shot because she too was a Tutsi, so say the Genociders.

She would cry, he would be sick, and I would turn and face my companions and say

These are the skulls of the babies - those holes and dents are from batallions

these are the coffins of the 40 thousand dead men women and children

this is the blood stained pew of a place of God and a place of worship

this is a scene that God loving and fearing people world-wide turned their backs on

Surely Jesus would care more about this happening in his house of worship than when he turned the tables of the money changers?

My heart is forever marked with the dirt on those graves, and my shirt stained with the tears of The Mourner - she knew me naught, nor could she understand me when I spoke, but when I cried, she came and cried with me.

Christians, Jews, Muslims, people of faith: where are we while these Church Massacres are happening world-wide?

What does it smell like - do you smell the dirt?

--
"Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord. I will set him in the safety for which he longs." - Psalm 12:5

I Will Sing

2007-04-22T12:29:00.001-07:00

I Will Sing

I will sing for the meek
For those who pray with their very lives for peace
Though they're in chains for a higher call
Their mourning will change into laughter when the nations fall

In spirit poor
In mercy rich
They hunger for Your righteousness
Their hearts refined in the purity
Lord let me shine for them
Lord let me sing
Lord let me shine for them
Lord let me sing

- Rich Mullins

A Culture of Self Defense

2007-04-22T12:07:00.001-07:00

April 18, 2007
Wanted: A Culture of Self-Defense
By Michelle Malkin

There's no polite way or time to say it: American colleges and universities have become coddle industries. Big Nanny administrators oversee speech codes, segregated dorms, politically correct academic departments and designated "safe spaces" to protect students selectively from hurtful (conservative) opinions -- while allowing mob rule for approved leftist positions (textbook case: Columbia University's anti-Minuteman Project protesters).

Instead of teaching students to defend their beliefs, American educators shield them from vigorous intellectual debate. Instead of encouraging autonomy, our higher institutions of learning stoke passivity and conflict-avoidance.

And as the erosion of intellectual self-defense goes, so goes the erosion of physical self-defense.

Yesterday morning, as news was breaking about the carnage at Virginia Tech, a reader e-mailed me a news story from last January. State legislators in Virginia had attempted to pass a bill that would have eased handgun restrictions on college campuses. Opposed by outspoken, anti-gun activists and Virginia Tech administrators, that bill failed.

Is it too early to ask: "What if?" What if that bill had passed? What if just one student in one of those classrooms had been in lawful possession of a concealed weapon for the purpose of self-defense?

If it wasn't too early for Keystone Katie Couric to be jumping all over campus security yesterday for what they woulda/coulda/shoulda done in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and if it isn't too early for The New York Times editorial board to be publishing its knee-jerk call for more gun control, it darned well isn't too early for me to raise questions about how the unrepentant anti-gun lobbying of college officials may have put students at risk.

The back story: Virginia Tech had punished a student for bringing a handgun to class last spring -- despite the fact that the student had a valid concealed handgun permit. The bill would have barred public universities from making "rules or regulations limiting or abridging the ability of a student who possesses a valid concealed handgun permit . . . from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun." After the proposal died in subcommittee, the school's governing board reiterated its ban on students or employees carrying guns and prohibiting visitors from bringing them into campus buildings.

Late last summer, a shooting near campus prompted students to clamor again for loosening campus rules against armed self-defense. Virginia Tech officials turned up their noses. In response to student Bradford Wiles's campus newspaper op-ed piece in support of concealed carry on campus, Virginia Tech Associate Vice President Larry Hincker scoffed:

"[I]t is absolutely mind-boggling to see the opinions of Bradford Wiles. . . . The editors of this page must have printed this commentary if for no other reason than malicious compliance. Surely, they scratched their heads saying, 'I can't believe he really wants to say that.' Wiles tells us that he didn't feel safe with the hundreds of highly trained officers armed with high powered rifles encircling the building and protecting him. He even implies that he needed his sidearm to protect himself . . ."

The nerve!

Hincker continued: "The writer would have us believe that a university campus, with tens of thousands of young people, is safer with everyone packing heat. Imagine the continual fear of students in that scenario. We've seen that fear here, and we don't want to see it again. . . . Guns don't belong in classrooms. They never will. Virginia Tech has a very sound policy preventing same."

Who's scratching his head now, Mr. Hincker?

Some high-handed commentators insist it's premature or unseemly to examine the impact of school rules discouraging students from carrying arms on campus. Pundit Andrew Sullivan complained that it was "creepy" to highlight reader e-mails calling attention to Virginia Tech's restrictions on student self-defense -- even as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence rushed to capitalize on the massacre to sign up new members and gather e-mail addresses for Million Mom March chapters. "We are outraged by the increase in gun violence in America, especially the recent shooting at Virginia Tech," reads the online petition. "Add your name to the growing list of people who are saying: 'Enough Is Enough!'"

Enough is enough, indeed. Enough of intellectual disarmament. Enough of physical disarmament. You want a safer campus? It begins with renewing a culture of self-defense -- mind, spirit and body. It begins with two words: Fight back.

Copyright 2007 Creators Syndicate Inc.

Blogs

2007-04-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I just wanted to inform all of you of the cool thing I recently discovered:

THE CAST OF HOUSE ALL HAVE BLOGS.
YES THAT'S RIGHT
BLOGS.

Just what I needed during finals, no?

Church & State

2007-04-09T02:04:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking, it's easy conclude that the “church” and the “state” have independent spheres to operate in, and one does not control the other. This is true to the extent that there is no state sponsored church, nor is there a papal state. But what of the idea that when there is a disagreement between the “church” and the “state” we ought to keep in mind who holds the advantage in the tie-breaker: the state. Is this a reality - an insightful description of a society we ought not desire, but society as it stands nonetheless?
But should we even seek for the balance of power in government to be different? It would seem on face that Christians should disagree with the premise that the government ought to have last say on such disputes, because it would de facto translate into a weaker church. However, I believe the real issue goes much deeper.
Churches left to their own devices have historically followed society’s discriminatory practices - such as discrimination against the deaf and hearing impaired, migrant workers, and blacks and slaves, and the poor - and have often been among the last social institutions to jump on the bandwagon of tolerance and civil rights. So just because the state does not control the church doesn’t mean society does not influence the church. At the same time, our current political system makes allowances for special interest groups and individual voting across party lines. Within the current balance of power, if the state decides a dispute between it and the church in a manner that does not satisfy a congregation’s or a denomination’s expectations, the state does not close off other avenues within the political system for the group or individual to respond. There still remain the options of lobbying, voting, and protesting. But if we make the church the final arbitrator of these disputes, then we close off due process to individual members.
The “church” need not be viewed as just its own communal entity, but also as an aggregate of individual members. While the Supreme Court has already made clear that the separation of church and state prevents them from deciding doctrinal issues, it does not prevent them from preserving social norms of safety general public welfare. And even then, the state is really not the final decision maker on any novel dispute, because it is only requiring the church to be as safe as secular buildings. What happens when the church refuses to make its parking lot handicap accessible or to follow the Fire Marshal’s mandate for fire extinguishers? Due process is shut off to the victimized if the state cannot be the final decision-maker. While it is true one individual may move to a different church, a whole America full of people cannot be expected to endure sub-human treatment or to burn alive in a church that didn’t want to pay for smoke alarms.

Cell Phone vs. Bible

2007-04-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like
we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it as we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
This is something to make you go ...hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't ever have
to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already
paid the bill!

All For You

2007-04-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

All For You
Sister Hazel

Finally I figured out,
But it took a long long time
Now there's a turnabout,
Maybe cause I'm tryin'
There's been times, I'm so confused
Down my road, will it lead to you?
Just can't turn and walk away

It's hard to say what it is I see in you
Wonder if I'll always be with you
Words can't say it, I can't do
Enough to prove, it's all for you

And I'd thought I seen it all,
Cause it's been a long long time
Oh bothered that we'll trip and fall,
Wonderin' if I'm alive
There's been times, I'm so confused
Down my road, will it lead to you?
I just can't turn, you walk away

Its hard to say what it is I see in you
Wonder if I'll always be with you
Words can't say, and I can't do
Enough to prove it's all for you

Rain comes pourin' down,
Fallin' from blue skies
Words give out a sound,
comin' from your eyes

Finally I figured out,
But it took a long long time
Oh now there's a turnabout,
Maybe cause I'm tryin'
There's been times, I'm so confused
Down my road, will it lead to you?
Just can't turn, you walk away

Its hard to say what it is I see in you
Wonder if I'll always be with you
Words can't say, I can't do
Enough to prove it's all for you

Well it's hard to say what it is I see in you
Wonder if I'll always be with you
Words can't say, I can't do
Enough to prove, it's all for you

Hard to say
Hard to say, it's all for you

Holocaust

2007-03-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

I've never read something that so succinctly explained what I feel about the Holocaust, and why it just represents the extent to which men can be evil.

"One of the most important outcomes of the experience of World War II is the scale of human atrocity. The most visible, if not morally paralyzing, aspect of the atrocities of this period is capsulated in the term 'the Holocast.' The Holocaust, seen in the context of the World War II experience, provoked serious reappraisal of the adequacy and morality of the forms of human governance on a global basis. The Holocaust was an event involving a self-conscious policy on the part of the Nazi Herrenvolk to use the apparatus of state power to systematically extinguish whole groups of human beings on the basis of group labels of identity. It was a process facilitated by the technological capacity of an industrial state waging an industrial form of total war. Hidden under the veil of political and judicial sovereignty, the Holocaust represented complete denial of people's right to existence, subject to Nazi dominance. A form of governance based on apparently limitless sovereignty it raised a profound question about the fundamental rights of persons caught in the web of sovereign omnipotence."

-Winston P. Nagan & Vivile F. Rodin
Racism, Genocide, and Mass Murder: Toward a Legal Theory About Group Deprivations

It's About Time!

2007-03-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

So this is my preacher back in Abilene. This video is HILARIOUS for those of you who get the CoC jokes :-)

What Would A Human RIghts Theorist Do?

2007-03-27T15:26:00.001-07:00

In God and the Constitution I read that politics is actually far more entrenched in a Christian ethic now than we realize, and that there is a place for a human rights theology within that ethic. This leads me to wonder, what exactly a foreign policy guided by this ethic would look like.
The analysis is made, when discussing the Cain & Able story, that all injustices that go unanswered appeal directly to God. However, as an intermediate step to this appeal, after the covenant with Noah and all creation, men were to exercise a judicial function and to protect rights. So what happens when the judicial system of a state fails? What exactly does the role of the Christian government to intervene and protect look like? Is this theology mean to imply that the existence of a judicial system of any kind, no matter how ill-equipped, represents the human responsibility to maintain justice? So for example, if a country like say the Philippines, is incapable of providing a higher level of justice then their current infrastructure allows, do we just chalk that up to human development and allow their justice system to develop as it will? Do we, in other words, accept this lacking justice system as a good faith effort toward intervening on behalf of the oppressed? Or, do we assume that it is our duty to ENSURE that all cries of oppression are met with justice?
Or, do we say that the unsuccessful efforts of other nations to fight injustice represent an example of a cry to God, and that God’s intervention and answer is the use of human servants to carry the day [much like the people in Egypt cried out, God speaks to Moses, Moses and Aaron go with God’s protection]?
And if we decide that we must intervene when justice systems fail to meet a specific standard of justice, how do we determine what standard will govern our interventions? Do all justice systems which persecute Christians require intervention? What about those which persecute women? Homosexuals? Are all justice systems which allow detention without access to a lawyer to be condemned, unless they are American military tribunals? From what text shall we draw this standard?
Additionally, if we have an obligation to fight back against unrighteous treatment, where does that belong in a hierarchy of rights? Do we intervene to provide justice as a foreign policy? Can that be allowed to trump other foreign policy objectives?
What about a situation like the Darfur or the situation in Northern Uganda? If I am a Christian subscribing to a human rights ethic somewhat like the one we’ve discussed in this class [as for instance seen in God and the Constitution] what do I do about the Darfur? Do I say, for instance, that I have a duty as a Christian to use the resources at my disposal to answer cries of injustice? Does this obligation trump, for instance any domestic obligations I may have to my constituents?

Eyah asher Eyah

2007-03-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Moses then said to God, `Look, if I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The god of your ancestors has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is his name?” what am I to tell them?

God said to Moses, `I am who I am’.
-Exodus 3:13-14

Is a human rights framework an inherently religious creation, or can it be conceived absent Christianity? This question does not, I believe, evoke a need for an intense discussion of complicated cosmologies. Instead, it simply leads us backwards, watching a flower bloom in reverse to the original question of life on earth [and everywhere else]: is God the beginning and end of all? Is Yahweh the Alpha and the Omega?
The Psalmists tell us that God is known by His justice. And we are given the responsibility as humans, to live a life of stewardship, as it says in Genesis 1:28: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’”
When the Queen of Sheba hears of the fame of King Solomon and comes to see him with her own eyes she says to him: “Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in your and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.” I Kings 10:9. And what might this justice - the Lord’s justice - look like? In Psalm 72, the writer asks God to “Endow the king with your justice, O God,...He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.” Psalm 72:1,4.
What is it exactly that God is rescuing his children from? The terror from who’s hands God will snatch his children is not unlike modern Human Rights litigation. Job 5:4 says “His children are far from safety, crushed in court without defenders.” Ecclesiastes chapter 1 notes that nothing is happening now that has not been happening, or has not happened before. And the Old Testament would seem to confirm that such horrors have been plaguing man for quite some time. Psalms 10:2 says “[i]n his arrogance, the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.” Ezekiel 22:29 observes “[t]he people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.” Joel 3:3 says “[t]hey cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine that they might drink.” Isaiah tells of worker abuse, and slavery, Amos tells of merchants cheating the poor, and Psalms further tells us about trafficking of persons - weaving tales of the wicked who lay in wait and capture the innocent and drag them from the village.
These cries, much like those from the abandoned villages in Northern Uganda or Burma or Guatemla that we hear today magnified through the megaphone of Human Rights NGOs like Restore International or the International Justice Mission, are lonely and loud, but do not escape God’s ears:
“Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” Psalm 12:5
Interestingly enough, God is not adding to the pool of rights or entitlements of the poor or the down-trodden. Rather, he is in the business of restoration - he is restoring them to the state they were in, a state of human dignity. God is in the business of returning the dignity of human beings, made and crafted in His image, to its condition before oppression. He is making right the wrong done in their name, “For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.” Pslam 9:12.
But what is the justice he is bestowing upon them? Where does the inherent dignity come from? The answer to that question, I believe, lays squarely within the debate on the existence of God himself. When Moses asked God “Whom shall I say sent me?” God responded “Eyah asher Eyah,” a biblical play on words if you will. God responded I Am he who is called I Am. For the Christian who truly believes God is El Shaddai, the Lord must be the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. If the justice and dignity the Lord were restoring to his people was not originally derivative of His being, than justice would be a concept existing outside of God. It would be a value or value cosmology if you will, which exists outside God that God may and ought to be judged against.
The explanation for the Christian cannot be that God can be judged against a standard of justice which man has created. It is God who is the justifier. At the end of the book of Job, after God has heard Job complain for what will be the last time, it is written:
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm: “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer me. Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s and can your voice thunder like his? Then...unleash the fury of your wrath,...crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.” Job 40:6-14
Either the Lord is right all the time, or we are. Either we can save ourselves, or we cannot. And if we can, then we are the justifiers and the dignity of all human beings comes from what we award ourselves. If not, then he is the Justifier, the King, El Shaddai and the source of justice forever, amen.

Into Africa Day #2 - I Hate London

2007-02-18T15:36:00.000-08:00

We arrived in London around 2 in the afternoon (London time), today. We poked around Heathrow, got something to eat, and then pretty much parked it outside our gate.

Because I had already sat for far too long, I decided to poke around the shops. You'll never BELIEVE what I found - that's right folks, A DR. PEPPER!! I bought the last two in all of Heathrow [and I'm willing to believe, all of London - sine I hate London. If we were say in Croatia or some other place I actually liked I might be willing to go ahead and give it the benefit of the doubt and say there may still be Dr. Pepper dwelling somewhere within the geographic bounds therein...]. I am now drinking one, and the other is tucked up inside my cute little bag for later. I also procured Cadburry White Chocolate...

On the tram over to this terminal we met a guy who was on our plane over from LAX who is also going to Uganda. He is from USC and grew up in SoCal and has all these wierd connections with Matt. I would like to take this time to note I have had it UP TO HERE with the whole soCal thing. Moving on...he's also a Xtian, and he's looking at a job opening with some missionaries as a teacher. Astounding how God works through those who praise him, no?

Well, I'm up for some much needed rest - but we've reached that place: the Point of No Return. Let's just say that when I wake up, I'm GETTING ON THAT PLANE!!

Into Africa Day #1 - And They're Off!

2007-02-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

Today Matt & I caught our plane from LAX to Heathrow in London. Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 8:30 but it was at LEAST an hour behind. Either way was good for us though as it provided us the opportunity to get our affairs in order.

We drove to Ira'as house in BelAire and left my car there, in his trust, and he drove us to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. We had checked in online so gettin' our bags in was easy - we just went and dropped them off without incident.

The plane was really cramped, because there was barely enough room to breathe. Somehow that doesn't matter to me though.

Here Am I Lord, send me! [I don't read a qualifier there... I don't think Isaiah would've turned around if the camel was crowded...]

So Funny

2007-01-26T14:13:00.000-08:00

Dave Barry is SUCH the genius! Read this article by him Partner found in the Miami Hearald!!

THE YEAR IN REVIEW
From Pelosi to Pitt, perverts to Paris, Dave Barry offers a last laugh
BY DAVE BARRY

It was a momentous year, a year of events that will echo in the annals of history the way a dropped plate of calamari echoes in an Italian restaurant with a tile floor. Decades from now, our grandchildren will come to us and say, ''Tell us, Grandpa or Grandma as the case may be, what it was like to be alive in the year that Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Britney Spears and Katie whatshername all had babies, although not necessarily in those combinations.'' And we will smile wisely and emit a streamer of drool, because we will be very old and unable to hear them.

And that will be a good thing, because there are many things about 2006 that we will not want to remember. This was the year in which the members of the United States Congress, who do not bother to read the actual bills they pass, spent weeks poring over instant messages sent by a pervert. This was the year in which the vice president of the United States shot a lawyer, which turned out to be totally legal in Texas. This was the year in which there came to be essentially no difference between the treatment of maximum-security-prison inmates and the treatment of commercial-airline passengers.

This was the year in which -- as clearly foretold in the Bible as a sign of the Apocalypse -- Howie Mandel got a hit TV show.

Also there were many pesky problems left over from 2005 that refused to go away in 2006, including Iraq, immigration, high gas prices, terrorism, global warming, avian flu, Iran, North Korea and Paris Hilton. Future generations are going to look back at this era and ask us how we could have allowed Paris Hilton to happen, and we are not going to have a good answer.

Did anything good happen in 2006? Let me think. No. But before we move on to 2007, let's take a moment to reflect back on the historic events, real and imaginary, of this historic year, starting with . . .

JANUARY

. . . a month that dawns with petty partisan bickering in Washington, D.C., a place where many people view petty partisan bickering as honest, productive work, like making furniture. The immediate cause of the bickering is the Republican ethics scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, both of whom you can tell, just by looking at them, are guilty of something. The Democrats charge that the Republicans have created a Culture of Corruption and should be thrown out of office so the Democrats can return to power and run the scandal-free style of government for which they are so famous. The Republicans respond that the Democrats are soft on terrorism soft on terrorism soft on terrorism softonterrorism. Both sides issue press releases far into the night.

The other big focus of the bickering is the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. As always, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings provide high-quality TV entertainment as the nation tunes in to see if Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be able to successfully remember the nominee's name. The bulk of the hearings are spent in the traditional manner, with Democrats trying to trick the nominee into revealing his views on abortion, and Republicans reminding the nominee that he does not have to reveal his views on abortion. The subsequent exchange of press releases is so intense that several government photocopiers burst into flames.

In the War on Terror, Osama bin Laden, who may or may not be dead, nevertheless releases another audio tape, for the first time making it downloadable from iTunes. Bin Laden also starts a blog, in which he calls upon his followers to destroy the corrupt infidels and also try to find out how a person, hypothetically, can get Chinese food delivered to a cave.

In the Middle East, Palestinian voters elect the militant Hamas party, which assumes control of government functions such as street repair, which Hamas decides to handle by firing rockets at potholes. Canada also holds elections, which are won by some Canadian, we assume.

In economic news, the big story is the retirement of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, who, after 19 years as the person most responsible for guiding the American economy, steps down, taking with him the thanks of a grateful nation and a suitcase containing $11 billion. But the financial news is not so good in . . .

FEBRUARY

. . . when President Bush, delivering what is billed as a ''major address on energy policy,'' reveals that the nation has an ''addiction'' to ''foreign oil'' which comes from ''foreign countries'' located ''outside of the United States'' which are getting this oil from ''under the ground.'' To combat this problem, the president proposes the development of ''new technology'' in the form of ''inventions'' such as ''a Lincoln Navigator that gets 827 miles per gallon,'' although he allows that this could take ``time.''

But this bold energy initiative does not get nearly as much attention as the administration's decision to allow a company owned by the United Arab Emirates to operate six U.S. seaports. This outrages Congress, which briefly ceases partisan bickering to demand that the White House return control of the ports, in the interest of national security, to Anthony Soprano.

Speaking of guys who avoid the limelight: Vice President Dick Cheney, attempting to bring down a quail with a shotgun, shoots attorney Harry Whittington. Local authorities rule the shooting was an accident, noting that if the vice president was going to intentionally shoot somebody, it would be Nancy Pelosi. The quail is eventually tracked down and vaporized by an F-16.

Internationally, the big news comes from Denmark, center of a mounting furor over some cartoons, published the previous year in a Danish newspaper, which depict a prophet whom, in the interest of not offending anybody, we will refer to as Fohammed. This upsets several million of the prophet's followers, who request a formal apology from the newspaper, greater sensitivity to their religious beliefs, and, where necessary, beheadings. Eventually everybody realizes that the whole darned thing was just a silly misunderstanding. That is all we are going to say about this.

In sports, Super Bowl XVXXLMCMII takes place in Detroit, and by all accounts it's a big success for the Motor City, with huge crowds thronging to both of the restaurants. The Pittsburgh Steelers win a game featuring a controversial play in which an apparent Seattle Seahawk touchdown pass is called back after the Steeler defender -- in what is later ruled an accident -- is gunned down by Vice President Cheney.

But the big sporting event is the Winter Olympics, a glorious quadrennial celebration of world-class virtuoso athletic accomplishment in sports nobody has ever heard of. Surprise winners include Latvia in the 500-kilometer Modified Nordic Combined; the Republic of Irvingkahnistan in the 2,300-meter Slavic Personified; and U.S. skier Bode Miller in Most Nike Commercials Featuring A Competitor Who, In the Actual Competitions, Mainly Falls Down.

Speaking of falling, in . . .

MARCH

. . . the real-estate boom appears to be over, as the government reports that, so far in 2006, only one U.S. homeowner managed to sell his house, and he had to offer, as an incentive to the buyer, his wife. But the employment numbers remain strong, thanks to strong growth in the sector of people trying to get you to refinance your mortgage for, like, the sixth time. Meanwhile, as the average gasoline price creeps past $2.50, the Hummer company, having downsized from the massive Hummer to the somewhat smaller H2, and then to the even smaller H3, begins development of the H4, which the company says will be ``a very rugged skateboard.''

In the Academy Awards, the overwhelming favorite for best picture is

Brokeback Mountain, the story of two men who discover, while spending many isolated weeks together in the mountains, that they enjoy exchanging instant messages with Mark Foley. But in a stunning upset, the Oscar for best picture instead goes to Crash, a documentary about Bode Miller.

In other entertainment news, a book by two San Francisco Chronicle writers revives suspicions about possible steroid use by San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, alleging, with extensive documentation, that as recently as 10 years ago, Bonds was a woman.

In other science news, thrilled NASA astronomers, in what they describe as a ''smashing, surprising'' discovery, announce that they have found evidence of pockets of water beneath the surface of Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn, which strongly suggests -- as has long been suspected -- that astronomers do not get out much.

In foreign news, Israeli voters give a parliamentary majority to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, because his name can be rearranged to spell ''hot eel drum.'' Meanwhile in Paris, thousands of demonstrators take to the streets and shut down the city to demonstrate the fact that, hey, it's Paris. In the Middle East, tension mounts in response to mounting tension. We don't know specifically what is happening in Africa, but we know it is bad.

Speaking of things we know are bad, in . . .

APRIL

. . . Tom DeLay decides not to seek re-election to Congress, making the announcement via audio tape from a cave somewhere in Pakistan. Republican leaders express relief over DeLay's decision and issue a statement pledging that there will be ``no more Republican scandals, unless somebody finds out about Mark Foley.''

Meanwhile in the Middle East, tension mounts still higher when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully produced enriched uranium, although he claims that his nation plans to use it only for peaceful purposes ''such as cooking.'' In Iraq, there is good news and bad news for the Bush administration: The good news is that rival Iraqi leaders have finally agreed on a new prime minister. The bad news is that it is Nancy Pelosi.

Domestically, the national debate over illegal immigration heats up as thousands of demonstrators take to the streets of major U.S. cities, thus causing a total shutdown of Paris. Meanwhile the Mexican government, in what is widely viewed as a deliberate provocation, convenes in Milwaukee. But the big story is the price of gasoline, which continues its relentless climb toward an unprecedented $3 a gallon. Responding quickly, Congress, in a rare display of decisive bipartisan action, takes a recess, with both sides promising to resume bickering the instant they get back.

Speaking of your tax dollars at work, in . . .

MAY

. . . the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has a budget of over $3 billion, predicts that the 2006 hurricane season will be worse than usual. This item will seem funnier later in the year. In related news, the voters of New Orleans re-elect Ray Nagin as mayor, proving that Hurricane Katrina killed far more brain cells than was previously believed.

On the terrorism front, the Bush administration comes under heavy criticism following press reports that the National Security Agency has been collecting telephone records of millions of Americans. Responding to the outcry, President Bush assures the nation that ''the government is not collecting personal information on any individual citizen,'' adding, ``Warren H. Glompett of Boston, call your wife back immediately, because your dog has eaten your entire Viagra supply.''

In another controversial move, the president announces that he will use National Guard troops to stop illegal immigration. The initial troops are assigned to guard the border between Mexico and Arizona, with California, New Mexico and Texas being covered by Dick Cheney.

In Houston, former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are convicted of fraud by a federal jury, which apparently is not persuaded by the defense's claim that Skilling and Lay could not have been responsible for the collapse of the $100 billion corporation because they were, quote, ``both getting haircuts.''

TRUE FACT: After the verdict, Lay says, ``We believe that God in fact is in control.''

ANOTHER TRUE FACT: Less than two months later, Lay will die of heart failure.

In sports, Barbaro, the popular racehorse who won the Kentucky Derby, breaks his leg in the Preakness after a freak collision with Bode Miller. Barbaro is forced to retire, although his agent does not rule out future appearances on Dancing With the Stars. Meanwhile, the hottest show on TV is the much-hyped finale of American Idol, which is won by crooner Taylor Hicks, who narrowly edges out Nancy Pelosi.

Speaking of competition, in . . .

JUNE

. . . the big sports story is the start of the World Cup tournament, with U.S. fans hopeful that our players have finally caught up with the rest of the world in soccer. The American team arrives in Italy brimming with confidence, only to be informed that the tournament is being held in Germany. Undaunted, the team boards a train for Geneva, with the coach promising that ``we will score many touchdowns.''

In politics, the debate over Iraq continues to heat up, with President Bush insisting that ''we must stay the course, whatever it may or may not be,'' while the Democrats claim that they would bring the troops home ''immediately,'' or ''in about six months,'' or ''maybe not for a long time,'' depending on which particular Democrat is speaking and what time of day it is. On a more positive note, U.S. troops kill Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who is identified by intelligence experts as ''a person with a really terrorist-sounding name.'' In another hopeful development in Iraq, the Sunnis and the Shiites agree to try to come up with a simple way for Americans to remember which one is which.

On the legal front, the Supreme Court rules that the Bush administration cannot try suspected terrorists in ad hoc military tribunals, after the court learns that the administration is interpreting ''ad hoc'' to mean ``under water.''

Dan Rather, who stopped anchoring the evening news in 2005, announces his retirement from CBS after a career spanning 44 years and several galaxies. Explaining his decision, Rather cites a desire to ''explore other options'' and ``not keep getting maced by the CBS security guard.''

On a happier note, the United States marks the 50th anniversary of the Interstate Highway System -- an engineering marvel consisting of 47,000 miles of high-speed roads connecting 157,000 Waffle Houses. A formal ceremony is planned, but has to be canceled when Dad refuses to stop.

Speaking of speeding while high, in . . .

JULY

. . . the Tour de France bicycle race is once again tainted by suspicions of doping when the winner, American Floyd Landis, is clocked ascending the Alps at over 200 miles per hour. Landis denies that he uses illegal drugs, attributing his performance to, quote, ``gears.''

In other sports highlights, Italy defeats France in a World Cup final match that is marred by a violent head-butting incident involving Bode Miller. The U.S. team fares poorly in the World Cup, failing to win a single match; the players blame this on their inability to adjust to the ''no-hands'' rule.

But the month's big story occurs in the Middle East, where violence flares along the Israel-Lebanon border in response to the fact that, because of terrible planning, the two countries are located right next to each other. In another troubling international development, rogue state North Korea test-fires seven ballistic missiles, including two believed to be potentially capable of reaching U.S. soil. World tension goes back down when the missiles, upon reaching an altitude of 200 feet, explode and spell ''HAPPY BIRTHDAY.'' American military analysts caution that these missiles ``could easily be modified to spell something more threatening.''

In other rocket news, the troubled U.S. space program suffers yet another setback when the launch of the shuttle Discovery is delayed for several days by Transportation Security Administration screeners, who insist that the astronauts remove their shoes before they go through the metal detector. Finally, however, Discovery blasts off and flies a flawless mission, highlighted by scientific experiments proving when you let go of things in space, they float around, same as last year.

Outer space remains in the news in . . .

AUGUST

. . . when the International Astronomical Union rules that Pluto will no longer be classified as a major planet, on the grounds that it is ''less than half the size of James Gandolfini.'' A top U.S. law firm immediately files a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Pluto, as well as ``anybody else who has been hurt by this ruling, or has ever experienced neck pain.''

In sports, a French medical laboratory burns to the ground following the catastrophic explosion of Floyd Landis's urine sample.

Fidel Castro is rumored to be seriously ill following publication of photographs showing worms crawling out of his eye sockets. Cuban authorities insist that the aging leader is merely recovering from surgery, and that for the time being government operations are in the capable hands of Nancy Pelosi.

As the situation in Lebanon deteriorates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warns that, if violence continues, the United States will have no choice but to dispatch Vice President Cheney to the region to hunt quail. Within minutes a cease-fire breaks out, with both sides agreeing to resume fire at a mutually convenient future date.

Meanwhile, commercial air travel turns into a total nightmare. No, wait, it was already a total nightmare. But it turns into an even worse total nightmare after Britain uncovers a terrorist plot targeting international flights, which results in a whole new set of security rules, including a total ban on all gels and liquids, including spit, urine, heavy perspirers and lactating women. After days of chaos at the airports, the TSA issues a new directive stating that ''passengers may carry small quantities of liquids on board, but only if they are inside clear, one-quart, sealable plastic bags.'' This leads to still more chaos, as many TSA employees interpret this to mean that the passengers must be inside the bags. Eventually the TSA issues a clarification stating that ``if necessary, the bags can have air holes.''

Elsewhere in the War on Terror, the Bush administration suffers a setback when a federal judge in Michigan rules that U.S. authorities cannot call up suspected terrorists and try to get them to switch long-distance carriers.

In crime news, a man in Thailand claims that he had something to do with the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey. It quickly becomes clear that the man is an unstable creep whose story is totally unbelievable, so the cable-TV shows drop it.

Ha ha! Just kidding! The cable-TV shows go into days of round-the-clock All-JonBenet-All-The-Time Wallow Mode. Battalions of legal experts are brought in, some of them so excited at the opportunity to revisit the JonBenet tragedy that additional janitors have to be brought into the studios to mop up puddles of expert weewee.

On the weather front, the until-now quiet hurricane season erupts in fearsome fury in the form of Tropical Storm Ernesto, which hurricane experts, using scientific computer models, predict could become a major storm and inflict devastation upon Texas, or possibly Florida, or Connecticut. A state of near-panic sets in as millions of coastal residents jam gas stations, hardware stores and supermarkets, while many schools and businesses close. Tension mounts for days, until finally Ernesto slams into Florida with all the fury of a diseased fruit fly. Life slowly returns to normal for everyone except the ever-vigilant hurricane experts, who immediately begin scanning their scientific computer simulations for the next potentially deadly threat.

And speaking of deadly, in . . .

SEPTEMBER

. . . Steve ''Crocodile Hunter'' Irwin, filming an underwater episode of a TV show, is fatally wounded when -- in what biologists describe as a freak accident -- he collides with Bode Miller. Meanwhile, Americans -- already on edge because of concern over terrorism, avian flu, AIDS, nuclear escalation and global warming -- find themselves facing a deadly new menace: killer spinach. The lethal vegetable is removed from supermarket shelves by police SWAT teams; many units of innocent produce are harmed. Paris shuts down completely.

Speaking of vegetables, the United States Congress is rocked by yet another scandal with the publication of e-mails and instant messages sent to male pages by Congressman Mark Foley of Florida, in which he explicitly discusses acts of a sheepherding nature. As the scandal expands, House Republican leaders issue a statement claiming that they ''are not aware of any so-called Congressman Mark Foley of Florida.'' Democrats cite Foley as another example of Republican corruption, declaring that they would never, ever, under any circumstances tolerate such behavior, unless it involved a consenting page.

In other political developments, The New York Times prints a leaked top-secret government report expressing doubts about the war in Iraq. The Bush administration holds a secret meeting to prepare a response, but within hours The Times prints leaked details of the meeting, including who went to the bathroom, and why. The administration then attempts to take out The Times building with a missile, but the Times, using leaked launch codes, redirects it to The Washington Post. As the debate over Iraq heats up, President Bush pledges to ''keep on continuing to stay the present course while at the same time not doing anything different.'' Democratic leaders declare that they have a ''bold new plan'' for Iraq, which they will reveal just as soon as The New York Times leaks it to them.

Abroad, Pope Benedict XVI gets in big trouble when he gives a speech suggesting that the Muslim religion has historically been linked to violence. Ha ha! What a crazy idea! The pope soon sees that he has made a big mistake and apologizes several times.

Rumors about Fidel Castro's health continue to swirl following publication of a photograph showing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shaking Castro's hand. The rest of Castro's body is nowhere to be seen.

Speaking of the Communist Menace, in . . .

OCTOBER

. . . North Korea conducts an underground nuclear test, which is especially troubling because the ground in question is located in Wyoming. This goes virtually unnoticed in Washington, where everybody continues to be obsessed with the growing body of instant messages generated by Mark Foley, who, despite his busy schedule as a lawmaker, apparently found time to attempt to become sheepherding buddies with pretty much every young male in North America.

In other political developments, Sen. Barack Obama, looking back on a career in the U.S. Senate that spans nearly 20 months, allows as how he might be ready to move on to the presidency. Obamamania sweeps the nation as millions of voters find themselves deeply impressed by Obama's views, and the fact that he was on Oprah. In a gracious gesture from a potential 2008 rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton sends Obama a good-luck card, which is stapled to the head of a horse.

Opponents of illegal Mexican immigration cheer when Congress authorizes the construction of a 700-mile fence. Their cheers quickly fade when they learn that, because of wording inserted at the last minute by Senators Robert Byrd and Ted Stevens, 650 miles of the fence will be constructed in West Virginia and Alaska.

Vice President Dick Cheney again becomes the center of controversy when, appearing on a radio show, he defends the interrogation technique known as ''water-boarding'' as a legitimate anti-terrorism tool, not torture. At first the host disagrees, but after several ''commercial breaks,'' Dick brings him around.

A strong earthquake shocks Hawaii, causing Paris to shut down completely.

In sports, a football game between the University of Miami and Florida International University is marred by violence, prompting both schools to seriously consider banning players from carrying handguns onto the field. In baseball, the New York Yankees, despite being clearly the best and most expensive team the world has ever seen, fail to even get into the World Series, leaving Yankee fans to spend yet another bitter off-season wondering why their team can't simply be awarded the championship, and not have to play these stupid games against clearly inferior teams from dirtball cities that don't even have subways.

But October ends on a happy note with the celebration of Halloween, a night of magical fun when millions of youngsters, all over America, are kept indoors. The most popular costumes this year, according to retailers, are Power Ranger and Nancy Pelosi.

As the election approaches, polls show that the Democrats have a good chance to regain control of Congress. But then disaster strikes in the form of John ''Mister Laffs'' Kerry, who, addressing a college audience, attempts to tell a joke, which is like a fish attempting to play the piano. This has major repercussions in . . .

NOVEMBER

. . . when Kerry's ''joke'' causes widespread outrage, prompting Kerry, with typical humility, to insist that it was obviously humorous, and anybody who disagrees is an idiot. Kerry is finally subdued by Democratic strategists armed with duct tape, but not before many political analysts see a tightening of the race to control Congress.

As the campaign lumbers to the finish line, the Republicans desperately hope that the voters will not notice that they -- once the party of small government -- have turned into the party of war-bungling, corruption-tolerating, pork-spewing power-lusting toads, while the Democrats desperately hope that the voters will not notice that they are still, basically, the Democrats. The actual voters, of course, are paying no attention, having given up on politics months ago because every time they turn on the TV all they see are political ads accusing pretty much every candidate on either side of being, at minimum, a child molester.

Thus nobody really knows what will happen as the voters go to the polls. In Florida, nobody knows anything even after the voting is over, because -- prepare to be shocked -- many electronic balloting machines malfunction. Voters in one district report that their machines, instead of displaying the candidates for Congress, showed Star Wars Episode IV. (By an overwhelming margin, this district elects Jabba the Hutt.)

Nationwide, however, it eventually becomes clear that the Democrats have gained control of both houses of Congress. President Bush handles the defeat with surprisingly good humor, possibly because his staff has not told him about it. For their part, future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and future Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid issue a joint statement promising to ''make every effort to find common ground with the president,'' adding, ''we are clearly lying.'' Pelosi sets about the difficult task of trying to fill leadership posts with Democrats who have not been videotaped discussing bribes with federal undercover agents.

The first major casualty of the GOP defeat is Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who, the day after the election, is invited to go quail-hunting with the vice president. He is never seen again. As Rumsfeld's replacement, the president nominates -- in what is widely seen as a change in direction on Iraq -- Barbra Streisand.

In other celebrity news, Michael Richards, a graduate of the Mel Gibson School of Standup, responds to a comedy-club heckler by unleashing a racist tirade so vile that even John Kerry realizes it is not funny. A chastened Richards apologizes for his behavior, citing, by way of explanation, the fact that he is a moron.

Speaking of which, O.J. Simpson is once again in the headlines when Fox TV announces that Simpson will be interviewed on a two-night special show in conjunction with his new book, If I Did It, in which he will explain how, ''hypothetically,'' he would have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. This idea is so sick, so disgusting, so utterly depraved, that it would undoubtedly get huge ratings. But Fox, faced with withering criticism, is forced to cancel the project, which is the brainchild of publisher Judith Regan, about whom you could write a ''hypothetical'' book titled If Judith Regan Had the Moral Standards of a Tapeworm.

On the economic front, the holiday shopping season officially kicks off with ''Black Friday,'' and retailers are pleased with the numbers: 2,038 shoppers hospitalized, up 37 percent from last year.

In other good news, with four days left in the virtually storm-free 2006 hurricane season and still no storms in sight, U.S. weather experts, citing new data, predict that the season will end up having been very mild. This forecast turns out to be right on the money, but the experts waste no time on self-congratulation, as they immediately begin making scientific predictions for next year's hurricane season, which, they warn, could be a bad one.

Speaking of bad . . .

DECEMBER

. . . gets off to a troubling start, with the worsening situation in Iraq worsening faster than ever. The nation's hopes for a solution are pinned on the Iraq Study Group, a presidentially appointed blue-ribbon panel consisting of five Republicans, five Democrats, and the Wizard of Oz. In accordance with longstanding Washington tradition, the panel first formally leaks its report to The New York Times, then delivers it to the president, who turns it over to White House personnel specially trained in reading things.

In essence, the study group recommends a three-pronged approach, consisting of: (1) a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops, but not on a fixed timetable; (2) intensified training of Iraqi troops; and (3) the physical relocation of Iraq, including buildings, to Greenland. Republican and Democratic leaders, after considering the report for the better part of a nanosecond, commence what is expected to be a minimum of two more years of bickering.

With the Iraq situation pretty much solved, the world's attention shifts to Iran and its suspected nuclear program, which becomes the subject of renewed concern after U.S. satellites detect a glowing 400-foot-high spider striding around Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insists that it is ''a peaceful spider'' that will be used ''only for mail delivery.'' Shortly thereafter, North Korea -- in what many observers see as a deliberate provocation -- detonates a nuclear device inside the Lincoln Memorial.

Finally responding to these new threats to international stability, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the U.S., the U.K., Russia, China and Google -- hold an emergency meeting in Paris, where, after heated debate, they vote to have a bottle of 1959 Chateau Margaux with their entrée. Unfortunately, they cannot agree on a dessert wine, causing the city, which had just reopened, to shut down completely.

In other food news, New York City, having apparently solved all of its other problems, bans ''trans fats.'' Hours later, police surround a Burger King in Brooklyn and fire 57 bullets into a man suspected of carrying a concealed Whopper. The medical examiner's office, after a thorough investigation, concludes that the man ``definitely could have developed artery problems down the road.''

Speaking of health problems, rumors that Fidel Castro is ailing gain new strength when, at an official state dinner in Havana, a waiter accidentally tips over the longtime Cuban leader's urn, spilling most of him on the floor.

In other deceased-communist news, British police decide to treat the mysterious death of a former Russian spy in London as a murder, caused by the radioactive element polonium-210. New York immediately bans the element, forcing the closure of 70 percent the of city's Taco Bells.

As the year, finally, nears its conclusion, Americans turn their attention to the holiday season, which they celebrate -- as generations have before them -- by frantically overbidding on eBay for the Sony PlayStation 3, of which Sony, anticipating the near-homicidal level of demand, manufactured an estimated 11 units. Millions of Americans also head ''home for the holidays,'' making this one of the busiest air-travel seasons ever. The always-vigilant TSA responds by raising the Security Threat Level to ''ultraviolet,'' which means that passengers may not board an airplane if they contain blood.

But despite the well-founded fear of terrorism, the seemingly unbreakable and escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East, the uncertain world economic future, the menace of global warming, the near-certainty that rogue states run by lunatics will soon have nuclear weapons, and the fact that America is confronting these dangers with a federal government sharply divided into two hostile parties unable to agree on anything except that the other side is scum, Americans face the new year with a remarkable lack of worry, and for a very good reason: They are busy drinking beer and watching football.

So happy new year.

(Burp.)

Here's the Scoop

2007-01-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

As many of you had heard around the water cooler - I'm on my way to Africa in a few weeks. I haven't been blogging because I'm revamping my site [as you can see] so that I can blog while I'm gone, and because I'm not allowed to disclose a lot of information about my trip for reasons of safety and government security [some government people are accompanying us, who shall for this time remain nameless].

However, as Matt & I are going with Restore International, I thought this post from their blog would be helpful. This was posted in August as the planning for this and how it would all go down began...

ENJOY AND GOD BLESS

Remember Their Chains,

Miss Elizabeth Alvarez
SEEK JUSTICE
Isaiah 1:17

"Remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them, and those ill-treated as though you too felt their torment." Hebrews 13:3

August 17
Impacting a nation!
“Restoring the Twin Pillars of Truth and Justice”

Dear Friends:

The last few months have been a flurry of activity. Here’s an update:

Four of us from Gig Harbor traveled to Uganda where we were able to personally assess each of the proposals we have been considering. The travel team included Danny DeWalt, Tom Jonez, Jason Black and Dave Duea.

While in Uganda, we met with the Director of Rhema Ministries who has had a vision of rescuing minor girls from forced prostitution in the streets of Kampala, Uganda’s capitol. This has led to a signed agreement to partner with Rhema to rescue minor girls. We have agreed to call this the “Rahab Project.” We have further agreed to partner in this work with “Cornerstone” Ministries which operates a boarding school that will receive rescued girls (after an initial period of restoration in a group-home setting). We will rescue 30 girls by March 2007. This three-way partnership between Restore International, Rhema and Cornerstone leverages the strength of each partner to facilitate a long-term solution.

We were also able to meet with the Chief Justice of the Ugandan High Court to confirm plans to co-sponsor a conference for all of the Judges and Justices of Uganda. The purpose of this forum is to improve adjudication of cases where people require intervention by the courts to address human rights issues. This is a ground-breaking effort that will impact the entire national court system in Uganda.

Consistent with this, we will partner with the Justices this October and November to bring to trial cases that have been severely delayed in the northern city of Gulu because of the history of rebel activity. These “Gulu Sessions” will serve as a pilot project for other regions of the Country. US-based attorneys will write 150 case briefs as part of the effort to assist with this initiative.

The final project is the establishment of a secondary school (“high school”) in Attiak, a key city that has been ravaged by the effects of rebel activity in Northern Uganda. This school will train future leaders of the north and effect practical, tangible, restoration in this war-torn region.

In short, we have the opportunity to work with the victims of trafficking, the leaders of the nation and the young emerging future leaders in the north of Uganda. It is clear that the doors have swung wide-open for Restore International to have a strategic impact in Uganda at a pivotal moment in that nation’s history.

We are grateful for your continuing support as we press ahead with the goals and objectives we have shared with you. Please do not hesitate to be in touch if we may be of service to you in any way.

The Restore International Strategic Team

Romo - I don't want to talk about it

2007-01-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

So Romo's latest "fumble" - I don't want to talk about it.

My homework for immigration law is kindo of taxing [no pun intended]. II'm so tired. But check out this paragraph from Justice Murphy's opinion in Schneiderman v. United States:

"We are directly concerned only with the rights of this petitioner and the circumstances surrounding his naturalization, but we should not overlook the fact that we are a heterogeneous people. In some of our larger cities a majority of the school children are the offspring of parents only one generation, if that far, reoved from the steerage of the immigrant ship, children of those sought refuge in the new world from the cruelty and oppression of the old, where men have been burned at the stake, impriosoned, and driven into exile in countless numbers for their political status as citizens in a free world in which men are privileged to think and act and speak according to their convictions, without fear of punishment or further exile so long as they keep the peace and obey the law."

So Funny

2006-12-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

Comments???

2006-12-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

Ashton sent me this, wanting my comments. I will let y'all read it, post comments, and then in a few days I will give MY THOUGHTS

New York Post
THE DAMNED OF DARFUR
By RALPH PETERS

December 11, 2006 -- A HALF-million dead in Darfur; 2.5 million refugees - not counting the corpses lost in the sands or terrified survivors in hiding. Surely, the world will act?

No. The world talks. While the militias kill - and years pass. The United Nations looks away - its signature gesture when human rights are violated.

Welcome to the triumph of global hypocrisy.

Europe wrings its hands - as Europe always does - but declines an invitation to the dance. After all, "responsible" governments can't play fast and loose with another state's sovereignty. No dictator or president-for-life would be able to get a decent night's sleep.

So Sudan's Islamo-fascists continue to kill with impunity.

Our own left mourns theatrically for Darfur's dead - but no one has formed a new Lincoln Brigade to take on Sudan's Muslims fanatics. And the uncomfortable fact that Arab Muslims are slaughtering black Muslims goes ignored. It doesn't fit the left's comfortable worldview.

Oh, yes: Those on the left demanding that we "bring the troops home" from Iraq would be delighted to send American troops to rescue Khartoum's victims. But our military is occupied with other cases of fanaticism and genocide in the Muslim world this holiday season.

Isn't it curious that, when it comes to liberation, Iraq didn't count? For the endlessly hypocritical left, there's one magic difference between the half-million dead of Darfur and the 1.5 million people killed by Saddam in his internal massacres and neighborhood wars: Bush.

Now the global intelligentsia is getting yet another lesson in what happens when the United States and its fellow English-speaking democracies are otherwise engaged: When the "Great Satan" doesn't act, the killing continues.

It doesn't matter that those oh-so-much-wiser Europeans have plenty of troops available. Latin America, that beacon of liberation, has plenty of soldiers, too. Asia has a number of excellent militaries - and China certainly has troops to spare.

But the world outside of Africa won't fight to save black lives. And China backs the Khartoum government at the United Nations - for the sake of Sudan's oil. Europe does what it loves to do: Weep piteously over the dead, but do nothing to save the living.

It tells you all you need to know about Europe's "conscience" that Guantanamo matters more to its citoyens than the genocide in Darfur.

The problem is that changing the world for the better costs blood. Only Anglo-American civilization has ever provided the leadership necessary to stop this kind of killing. For which we receive only abuse from the world's hypocrites and cowards.

As the massacres and mass rapes continue in Darfur, rich countries watch the destruction of an entire culture while arguing sanctimoniously that "We must let Africans solve Africa's problems" - knowing full well that Africa's militaries are too weak and poor, too ill-trained and ill-led to cope with so grave a crisis.

The oil-rich states of the Middle East could have funded the now-failed African military mission - after all, the victims in Darfur are fellow Muslims. But to the bloated princes and sheiks of Arabia, there are Muslims and then there are Muslims. Khartoum's Arabs count as "real" Muslims - unlike the black-skinned Africans who foolishly believed the Prophet's teachings that all believers are equal before Allah.

And the sanctimonious mourners realize that a mission to Darfur wouldn't be for peacekeeping. There's no peace to keep. It would be for peacemaking. And none of these folks thinks black lives are worth a fight.

Whether our domestic laments for Darfur come from The New York Times or a Web site, there's no indication that the left is really serious. Even those who want to send in our troops refuse to acknowledge that, in order to rescue Darfur from its "sovereign" government, an intervention force would need no-nonsense rules of engagement, resolute leaders behind it - and the intention of staying for years.

Indeed, the only way to build a lasting peace would be to break up the artificial state seated at the United Nations as "Sudan" - but the U.N. would never countenance such an act of justice. So the Khartoum junta will just go on killing its "own" people - as it has done not only in Darfur in the country's west, but in its impoverished south and east, as well.

One begins to suspect that all too many on the left enjoy pitying Darfur as they wait in line for their lattes. Others, of course, just refuse to accept the troubling fact that this broken world's problems demand more profound solutions than a chant of "Stop the killing."

The killing will never stop until we stop pretending that every dictator or junta seizing power is entitled to claim sovereignty over the millions who never had a voice in choosing their government. After the oppression of women, the sovereignty con is the world's greatest human-rights abuse. And for all of its damnable incompetence, the Bush administration understood that one great truth.

Darfur deserves more than self-satisfied words. As does Iraq. And Afghanistan. And Zimbabwe. And Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and so many other "sovereign states."

But if we're ever going to stop the killing, we first have to stop the lying. Especially the lie we tell ourselves about the universal desire for peace: Try telling that one to the Janjaweed militaman raping your wife, burning your house, taking your children into slavery - and cutting your throat.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese government laughs at all of us. Khartoum is so confident that the world doesn't give a damn about black Africans that it's recently moved to destabilize neighboring Chad.

The hypocrisy of the intelligentsia, here and in Europe, stinks to the throne of God. No campus seminar ever provoked a cease-fire, and no demonstration ever halted a massacre. Those who are unwilling to fight injustice will ultimately face injustice and a fight.

Ralph Peters' latest book is "Never Quit the Fight.

AMAZING

2006-12-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, Blood Diamonds was the AWESOMEST MOVIE!!! Going to this private screening was the coolest experience ever. Let the story-telling begin...

It all started when I decided that if I waited until sometime AFTER 3 the traffic to Burbank would be ridiculous. So, I left right from my spine specialist's office in Augora, and drove straight there early Thursday afternoon. I arrived in Burbank around 3:20, and located the appropriate gate I was supposed to use to enter into the studios at game time. So, I decided I would find a Starbucks and chill until then. I wasn't supposed to get there until around 6:30 so I figured I had plenty of time [which was cool since I had my work with me...]

Guess what - no friggin' Starbucks.

It's a STUDIO

WHERE IS THE COFFEE???

Sigh; so I ended up chilling out at a little coffee shop with the "good ol' boys" chillin' out inside. When I walked in with my Macbook in tow in a brown pinstripe pantsuit - they most def stopped and looked at me. Oh well... :-)

So around 6:00 or so I packed up, paid my $3.00 coffee tab and drove to the studio. There was like quadruple security at the studio, but once I got through it the magic began. I arrived to the theater the private screening would be at. There were Blood Diamond prints and posters to warm you up to the idea. Inside there was a bar and a bunch of maitre dees dressed to the T. They were running around with silver serving trays giving you the opportunity for ALL KINDS of fab food :-) and drinks. They would then come back with little silver trays for your trash. Random? I think so...way more important than I'm used to...they don't hand stuff out for free on Skid Row...especially not little mini chocolate rasberry cakes with PAINTED ON star designs...ridic

Anyway; the movie was shown in this HUGE gorgeous theater which reminded me of the one they show in Anne. :-) The CEO of Warner Brothers talked for a while - he is also on the International Board of Human Rights Watch. There were some more speeches by other important people.

Then the movie.

What else is there to say???

I cried so much - it was amazing.

GO.

I Promise, I'll Get Back To Studying Soon

2006-12-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Well, one more post [so I say]. I just got an email from one of my good friends and all it said was "Go to this Link Lizz and Read the Story you will be hapy."

So I did.

And I was.

And I'll include the story here so you can be happy too.

DiCaprio film may hurt diamond demand: analysts
Mon Dec 4, 2006 1:54 PM ET

By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Blood Diamond," the Warner Bros. thriller that hits movie theaters on Friday, could spark public concern about illicit "conflict diamonds" and hurt demand during the key holiday shopping season, analysts said on Monday.

But any financial impact to retailers should be modest and brief, they added.

The film, staring Leonardo DiCaprio, highlights the precious gem's role in Sierra Leone's civil war during the 1990s. So-called conflict diamonds, or blood diamonds, refer to stones mined in war zones and sold illicitly to fund war, insurgencies and human rights abuses.

James Hurley, an analyst with research firm Telsey Group, said the movie will likely affect sentiment with its star power and advertising push.

But he doubts people will stop buying diamonds, which would hurt retailers such as Zale Corp., Tiffany & Co. Inc., Blue Nile Inc., and Signet Group Plc, which operates the Kay Jewelers chain, as well as diamond processor De Beers Group, which is 45-percent owned by mining company Anglo American Plc..

"What a diamond means and what it stands for has been ingrained in people's psyches for decades, if not centuries. That's a pretty powerful attachment to ... destroy with just one film," Hurley said.

CL King analyst William Armstrong said the movie would likely alter buying patterns for a small group of shoppers.

"But how much that would be ... I'd be very surprised if it was a material amount," Armstrong said, adding that the issue is not new and that large retailers already have strict programs in place to prevent or minimize the possibility that their diamonds have left a bloody trail.

To help prepare for a possible public backlash, the World Diamond Council, a trade group, earlier this year hired a crisis public relations firm to design a campaign stressing the industry's efforts at reducing the number of blood diamonds. The campaign included full-page advertisements in national and international newspapers and an educational Web site, www.diamondfacts.org.

High-end retailer Tiffany, which said it tries to assure the responsible mining of all materials used to make its jewelry, said it encourages consumers to ask jewelers how they support efforts to promote responsible mining.

"The film 'Blood Diamond' serves as a horrific reminder of the terrible costs of uncontrolled diamond trading ... and we are hopeful it will contribute to ongoing international efforts to assure history does not repeat itself," Tiffany told Reuters in an e-mailed statement.

Blue Nile, Zale and Signet did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

In 2002 diamond production companies and most countries involved in the mining and trade of diamonds agreed on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which is a process designed to prevent blood diamonds from entering the mainstream diamond market.

"The industry has worked hard and effectively to keep conflict diamonds from the mainstream markets, including certifying stones as conflict-free," wrote ThinkEquity Partners analyst Edward Weller in a note to clients. "Though the industry has, we think, done a very good job, the release of this movie could temper overall demand modestly, we believe, and briefly."

The fourth quarter, which includes the all-important holiday shopping season, accounts for the lion's share of the year's sales for jewelry retailers. Telsey Group's Hurley said that signs such as recent strength in the stock market bode well for strong holiday jewelry sales.

(Additional reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman)

© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Additionally; I'd just like to point out that I've been invited to a PRIVATE screening of this movie BEFORE it opens. I'll see it Thursday night in Beverly Hills. :-)

I'm a human rights activist - officially - that's how I got an invitation. :) Life's lookin' up guys!!

And yet, I'm still unhappy because the movie poster [seen above] is so glamorous. If I were going to publisize this; I'd use something like this if I were serious.

Finals Blows Goats

2006-12-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

Ok guys; so there is this song I thought of today. It's a REALLY OLD Wierd Al song called "One More Minute" which may be THE BEST break-up song EVER...but I thought of it for a different reason. Wouldn't it be the perfect law school song if you changed just a few of the words? Here we go [the words i changed are BOLDED]

Aahh....

Well I heard that I passed (passed')
Gonna have another semester (semester)
'Cause my Torts Professor passed me
I decided that this is a disaster (aahh..)

So I pulled (I pulled) all the names out (name out) of my Rolodex (oohh..)
And I tore all my pictures in two
And I burned down the malt shop where my friends used to go
it reminds me of what real people do (dippity dippity doo)

That's right (that's right) you ain't gonna see me cryin'
I'm glad (I'm glad) that i'm not number 1 or 2
'Cause I'd rather spend eternity eating shards of broken glass
Than spend one more minute in law school.

I guess I might seem kinda bitter
Remedies got me feeling down in the dumps
'Cause I'm stranded all alone in the gas station of love
And I have to use the self-service pumps

Oh, so honey, let me help you with that Authentication
Wills & Trusts (Con Law) gonna break my heart in two
'Cause I'd rather get a hundred thousand paper cuts on my face
Than spend one more minute in law school.

I'd rather rip out my intestines with a fork
Than watch one more Westlaw search go
I'd rather slam my fingers in a door (yah)
Again and again and again and again and again

Oh, can't you see what I'm tryin' to say, Mom...

I'd rather have my blood sucked out by leeches (leeches)
Shove an icepick under a toenail or two
I'd rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tongue
Than spend one more minute in law school.

Yes, I'd rather jump naked on a huge pile of thumbtacks
Or stick my nostrils together with crazy glue
I'd rather dive into a swimming pool filled with double-edged razor blades
Than spend one more minute in law school.

I'd rather rip my heart right out of my ribcage with my bare hands
and then throw it on the floor and stomp on it 'till I die
Than spend one more minute in law school.

Shepardize THAT!

Enough Said

2006-12-04T02:52:00.001-08:00

It wasn't really sad the way they said good-bye
Or maybe it just hurt so bad she couldnt cry
He packed his things, walked out the door and drove away
And she became the girl from yesterday

He took a plane across the sea
To some foreign land
She stayed at home and tried to understand
How someone who had been so close could be so far away
And she became the girl from yesterday

She doesn't know whats right
She doesn't know whats wrong
She only knows the pain that comes from waiting for so long
And she doesn't count the teardrops
That shes cried while hes away
Because she knows deep in her heart
That he'll be back someday

The lights on in the window; shes waiting by the phone
Talking to a memory thats never coming home
She dreams of his returning and the things that he might say
But she'll always be the girl from yesterday
Yeh, she'll always be the girl from yesterday

Hopefull

2006-12-03T01:28:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen of the supposed jury, this is Chewbacca... [I'm totally kidding, although that is quite a good episode of south park. Really though, it's 1:30 in the AM and I'm still going strong - I want to ACE these finals, secure my ranking and be able to relax all vacation. And by relax, I of course mean write my Dalsimer brief but who cares about that??? As long as I can write my brief from my wonderful room in Texas with my gorgeous dog and wonderful family, even the First Amendment could be appealing.

What's at the top of my list of worries right now, is not the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Administrative Procedure Act, or even the various types of liability for Heads of State for War Crimes. Instead, what's at the forefront of my worries is whether or not tomorrow afternoon the great TONY ROMO can put the Cowboys two games ahead of the Giants. As my boys prep to play at Meadowland, let me just say Eli Manning - the bell tolls for thee!!

Worst Idea EVER

2006-12-02T23:04:00.000-08:00

One of my fellow law school compatriots just sent me an email in which she inquired: Is it bad that I'm pulling my eye brow hairs out with my fingernails? I've pulled out like 15 so far...

To which I replied NOTHING I repeat NOTHING is a worse idea then these stupid markers. Don't even get me started. Or better yet, get me started the day AFTER my War Crimes Exam.

Now; after having been told this, my friend wrote the following correspondence:
Dude- I have an original box of the multicultural crayons that they first came out with in ’92 when my mom was at a teachers convention. We laughed at them at the time, but there are days when I’m drawing people where I really crave my mulitcult colors.

While this may seem a reasonable response, I would JUST like to take this moment to point out SHE is not named after a Southwestern Decor Motif, a type of Pottery, or the color of all the overpasses in El Paso [or for that matter, the dirt in Abilene]. I am TERRA COTTA colored.

Hurumph.

But white people are "porcelin" colored. Sorry I AM NOT NAMED AFTER FINE CHINA OR CUTE LITTLE HARLEQUIN DOLLS. I am apparantly, ugly dust colored that you wipe off the cute little porcelin doll's size 6 feet.

As if life Couldn't get any more hectic

2006-12-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

This is the email we all go this morning from Public Safety.

There has been a major water main break on Pacific Coast Highway, approximately one quarter mile east of Big Rock.

The break has damaged both eastbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway, leaving a large hole 30 foot x 30 foot hole. Traffic on Pacific Coast Highway will be routed to the two westbound lanes, with one lane for traffic in each direction. Expect traffic delays.

It is estimated that repair work will take about one week to complete.

I think "traffic delays" is the understatement of the year. Have you SEEN L.A. traffic NORMALLY? oh man...

Schedule

2006-11-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

I hate my life

8:00am: Wake-Up & Thank God for giving me another day, then curse him it wasn't the day AFTER my Evidence Final.
9:00am: Leave for physical therpay - cut someone off on the 101 on the way there because I forgot the elements of the Prior Inconsistent Statement Exception
10:00am: Therapy - bore my therapist to tears reciting the test for proper Notice & Comment under the Federal Administrative Procedure Act
11:00 am: Drive home from therapy - cut someone else off because my therapist clearly retaliated against me cause he doesn't like the Federal APA...
12:00pm: Shower while reciting all the ways to Authenticate Evidence under Federal Rule 901(b)...
1:00pm: Student's Guide to Hearsay
1:30pm: Study break and Golden Girls
2:00pm Cali Lesson - boy these things make you feel dumb
3:00pm: Goodbye Hearsay, Hello Character Evidence!!!
4:30pm: Call Dad
5:00pm: Check my facebook account...YES NEW PHOTOS!
5:30pm: Bye-Bye Character Evidence, Hello Best Evidence Rule
7:00pm: Call Minister
8:00pm: Look @ Practice Test
9:00pm: Toy with blowing up TWEN headquarters
10:00pm: Write a practice essay
1100pm: South Park
12:00am Pray to wake up; hopefull sometime next week..

If you can relate fellow law students, POST A COMMENT

Dallas Cowboys Bible

2006-11-27T20:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, I posted this in September because I had hopes we wouldn't lose. Then we started sucking and I was sad. But behold, there comes under the star of Bethlehem, a savior which is TONY ROMO!!

Thus again I shall post the sacred text, and ask if anyone has found the Dead NFL Scrolls which contain the prophesy foretold of the one that would revive us to the grand days of the triplets, PLEASE alert the great scribes Ryan Thomas and Joshua Massingill so that the new chapter can be recorded.

Dallas Cowboys Bible

The following is a list of excerpts from the Dallas Cowboys Bible (copyright 2003 by Josh Massingill and Ryan Thomas). Please note: these are intended to be humorous – don’t take them too seriously, and please don’t be offended.

Enjoy!
_____________________________________________
_______

In the beginning was Emmit. And Emmit was with God and Emmit was nearly God. He was sent to Earth to show man the way to the end zone.

And the angel said unto Mrs. Smith "You are to have a son. You will name him Emmit. He is the one that has come to reconcile the Dallas Cowboys." Mrs. Smith had difficulty believing this as she was old and barren, but to her surprise, she was soon with child. The Lord had fulfilled the prophecy of Tom Landry "Out of Florida will come Dallas's most mighty player. He will adorn the number 22 and become to the all-time rushing leader."

As the Cowboys spited the evil 49ers to march into the land God promised them, Steve Young cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi Eloi, llama cowboint mei oth plaicthani" which means, "My God, My God, why couldn't you have let me play for the Cowboys?"

Thus, at that time, the Lord ordered the lyrics to "Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" be changed to "Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be 49ers." And it was good.

In the second year of the reign of Jimmy Johnson the archangel Tom Landry appeared before the Buffalo Bills in the locker room before the 93 Super Bowl. "Evil are your ways oh Bills! Woe to you! Woe to the Buffalo Bills. You are destined to lose every super bowl you ever make it to forever and ever.”

…and the bills wept.

…then the Lord blessed the Cowboys and all their followers by giving them the best stadium in the world, and the hottest cheerleaders in Heaven and on Earth, they are disease free forever and ever amen.

Jimmy pled with the Chief of the Dallas drug enforcement office where Michael was being held saying "let my people go!" But again the Chief said no. Because of this the Lord unleashed the plague of bad publicity on the city.

Jerry replied to the questioning fans, "What business have you claiming I am a 'meddling owner'? Was it not I that handpicked Jimmy Johnson to be coach in 92? Was it not I that suggested the drafting of Troy Aikman? You brute of vipers!"

…and the Lord said to those who blasphemed against Jimmy Johnson, "Surely you will never see the promised land. The Cowboys will wander in the hot, nasty desert of Losing Seasons for 40 games before they will be allowed to enter the Promised Land"

Deion Sanders then continued to sign multiple-year contracts with every team in the league, systematically suffering "injuries" which rendered him useless to the signing team. He now works for CBS.

And the Lord had mercy on the honorable Troy Aikman, and took him out of football peacefully so he wouldn't have to experience the pain of a mid-season 'death'. Also, the Lord presented him with many car dealerships to supplement the income he was used to.

And then the false prophet Dave Campo attempted to take control of the Lord's team for himself. God spited him and his entire family for that offense, or should we say "lack of offense".

Two of Jerry Jones' spies reported back to him that there was a great evil army in the south known as the "Texans". Jones commanded that the Cowboys go forth to Houston and crush the Philistine Texans and reclaim their title as "America's Team". But the cowboys had done evil in the eyes of the Lord and thus suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2002 season opener by the philistine expansion team. It was not until the following season that the Lord's team was able to crush the evil Texans.

Using injuries, dropped passes, bad calls, and incompetent players, God cursed the House of Jones for many seasons. The Cowboys wondered why God would curse his team. Then they cast lots and realized it was because He hated Dave Campo, so he was thrown into the fiery furnace of retirement. Later, God presented the Cowboys with Bill Parcells, telling his people, "Using a revamped roster, and old school coaching style, he will lead you to the Promised Land"

And as it was announced that Bill Parcells would be the head coach of the Cowboys, the clouds opened up, and a loud voice said, "This is my prophet with whom I am well pleased." and the people knew that the prophet Bill was the real deal and thousands scrambled to give money back to God in the form of Cowboy's season tickets.

While Bill Parcells was up on the mountain still receiving the new playbook from the Lord - the evil fans plead with the Texan millionaires saying, "What shall we do? We have no winning team?" So they made themselves an idol in the shape of a calf (the team symbol of the Texans) and bowed and prayed to it. When Bill returned and found this he was so angry he smashed the first playbook on the ground.

But Emmit would never see the return of the glory days in Dallas as he was vanished from the land of milk and honey to the desert wastelands of Arizona to play for the Cardinals. Troy Hambrick then stood before the team in the locker room and said, "Choose for you this day whom you will play for. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Dallas Cowboys."

May the Lord bless his team forever and ever, amen.

Da Boys Are Back!!

2006-11-27T19:11:00.000-08:00

It's finals time again, and nothing would please me more than for the Federal Rules of Evidence to go up in a billow of smoke. But alas, as I study for my exams which are at this point all but inevitably coming [barring a miracle from God...I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME BIG DUDE], the only thing that makes me smile is one thought - the thought that is first in my head and first on my tounge when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I thank God for in my prayers before I go to bed. And that thought, ladies and gents, is this: DA BOYS ARE BACK BABY!!

That is all :-)

Hard To Believe It's True

Mickey Spagnola - Email
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
November 27, 2006 6:26 PM
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IRVING, Texas - Almost makes you wants to pinch yourself, doesn't it, just to make sure this all is not some sort of fantasy.

Because there sure seems to be Sugar Plum Fairies dancin' out here at The Ranch these days.

I mean, the Cowboys win three straight, and four of their last five.

The Giants lose three straight, and three of their last five.

The Eagles lose quarterback Donovan McNabb, and five of their last six games.

The Panthers lose to Washington, and three of their last five.

The Falcons lose four straight, and five of their last seven.

The Vikings managed to win one Sunday, interrupting their four-game losing streak.

The Saints managed to win one Sunday, now giving them just two wins in their past five games.

The Seahawks must play Green Bay Monday night, but knowing they go into the game having lost three of their past five.

And the Chicago Bears, winners of their first seven games, now stand 9-2, losing Sunday, their second in the past four games.

Good gosh almighty. Is this stuff for real?

The Cowboys, at 7-4, with a one-game lead over the New York Giants (6-5) in the NFC East and a two-game lead over the Philadelphia Eagles (5-6)?

The Cowboys, going into Monday night's game with Seattle (6-4) playing Green Bay, tied now with only the New Orleans Saints (7-4) for the second-best record in the NFC, and obviously the Seahawks could join them by beating the Packers?

The Cowboys, just two games behind the suddenly struggling Bears for the top record in the NFC, and tied with the Saints, Chiefs and Broncos for the sixth-best record in the entire NFL?

And to think, after seven weeks of play the Cowboys stood a mediocre 3-3, having just lost two of the last three, including that Monday night, nationally-televised embarrassment to the New York Giants. To think everyone was pulling their hair out, figuring Bill Parcells was on his last leg in Dallas; Terrell Owens was far more trouble than he was worth; the defensive coordinator didn't know squat about pressure defense; the offensive line was indeed offensive; the safeties couldn't save Christmas; and the fate of the team was in the hands of a fourth-year quarterback with nary a start under this NFL chinstrap.

Amazing.

What has happened since the Cowboys stood 3-3?

Well, as for the rest of the NFC, check this out: The eight other teams that headed into the Week 12 games with at least 5-5 records have now combined to go 16-23 since the Cowboys were 3-3, and only two, Chicago (3-2) and San Francisco (3-2), have played above .500 these past five weeks, with Seattle (2-2) having a chance if it beats Green Bay Monday night.

So when you hear the Cowboys are the hottest team in the NFC, that would be correct. They have gone 4-1, and are within one block on that field goal at Washington of 5-0.

But if you remember, the indicators were there back then that the Cowboys going on such a hot streak was possible. They just had to change two things: Turnovers and sacks, and it certainly appears they did so when Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells made the decision to change quarterbacks, benching Drew Bledsoe in favor of the unproven and inexperienced Tony Romo.

So far, so good.

The Cowboys' quarterbacks had been sacked 18 times over the first six games. Now, just six in the past five games.

As important, if not more, the Cowboys had committed 14 turnovers in the first six games, including Romo's three, second-half interceptions against the Giants. But in the past five games, all starts by Romo, the young prodigy has only been intercepted twice and the Cowboys have lost only one fumble (his).

Don't ever underestimate this: The Cowboys' turnover differential after six games was minus-2, tying them for 21st in the NFL. Today, the Cowboys are tied for fifth with three other teams at plus-8. That means in these past five games, the Cowboys are a plus-10.

And it's not as if they suddenly have gone on a takeaway tear to forge this difference. They have 13 in the past five games. They had 12 in the first six. So not huge.

But here is the difference in all this: Nine of the 14 turnovers in the first six games led to points by the opponent; six touchdowns and three field goals, totaling 51 points, and let's not forget Romo was responsible for 17 of those points in the second half of the 36-22 loss to the Giants.

Yet here over the past five games, the Cowboys have only aided and abetted the opponent to just seven points on turnovers - off the interception at Carolina. That's it. Just seven points. So with one game to go, that's a difference of 44 points. So, huge.

How huge? Well, at the six-game mark, the Cowboys had outscored their opponents by 41 points, 169-128. In the past five games, the Cowboys have outscored their opponents by 70 points, 140-70, and right now have a 309-198 advantage, or 111 points. Only Chicago and San Diego have a larger differential.

There are more numbers to suggest this Cowboys' 7-4 record, which certainly could be at least 9-2 if not for all the point-costing turnovers the first half of the season, is not a mirage.

The Cowboys' 309 points is tops in the NFC and ranks second in the NFL, behind only San Diego's 353 points.

The Cowboys' 198 points against rank second in the NFC to only Chicago (137), and are tied for fifth in the NFL.

Only Chicago (34) and Baltimore (29) have more takeaways than the Cowboys' 25.

The Cowboys' red-zone, touchdown-scoring percentage of 62.8 leads the NFC and is fourth in the NFL.

The Cowboys' 49-percent third-down conversion rate tops the NFC, and is second only to Indy's other-worldly 56.7.

The Cowboys are the only team in the NFL with its offense and defense ranked in the top five, both ranked fourth going into the Monday night game, and just one of three teams to have its offense and defense ranked in the top 10, San Diego fourth and ninth, while New England is seventh and sixth.

The Cowboys also own the NFC's leading scorer among non-kickers, backup running back Marion Barber now with 66 points, which includes a conference-high nine rushing touchdowns. Third would be none other than wide receiver Terrell Owens with 50 points.

Then there is Romo, leading the NFL with a 110.8 quarterback rating. Now granted he has only 180 passing attempts, which is 199 fewer than Peyton Manning (100.2), 174 fewer than Carson Palmer (99.9) and a whopping 233 fewer than Drew Brees (97.8), and hey, no one would argue more at-bats don't make a difference.

But Romo also leads the NFC in three other categories: Completion percentage (69.4), percentage of touchdown passes (7.2) and, to me this one is what's big, average gain per attempt (9.2) - the latter two also leading the NFL.

Uncanny.

Oh, and there is one other thing, and shhhhh, don't tell Bill I said this, and for good measure maybe you ought to knock on some serious wood to cover me, but the Cowboys have to lead the NFL in this category 11 games into the season: Only three starts missed due to injury. That's all season now. The Giants had more than that just on Sunday.

All this for real?

Hmmm, them Wooden Soldiers ought to be parading by any day now

LET'S GO ROMO!!

2006-11-20T12:21:00.000-08:00

I really don't know what to say other than, to quote an old ACU friend, "Don't you know that Tony Romo is Spanish for Brett Farve?"

That is All.

GO COWBOYS!!!

NFL: Colts Lose to Cowboys, No Longer Undefeated
By VOA Sports
20 November 2006

The Dallas Cowboys scored a pair of late touchdowns to beat the Indianapolis Colts, the last undefeated team in the National Football League.

Cowboys running back Marion Barber found the endzone twice in the fourth quarter Sunday to secure the 21-14 victory in Dallas. The Colts had four turnovers, including two interceptions thrown by quarterback Peyton Manning.

Despite its loss, Indianapolis shares the best record in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, with nine wins against one loss in the 16-game regular season. The Bears were held scoreless in the first half Sunday before blanking the New York Jets, 10-0.

In late action, the San Diego Chargers rallied in the second half from a 17-point deficit to beat their division rival Denver Broncos, 35-27. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson led the Chargers with four touchdowns, and posted his 100th career TD quicker than any player in NFL history - 89 games.

The Pittsburgh Steelers also made a late comeback to beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-20. Willie Parker scored two of Pittsburgh's three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including the game winner. The Baltimore Ravens had a big third quarter to overcome the Atlanta Falcons, 24-10.

The Tennessee Titans upset the host Philadelphia Eagles, 31-13. Perhaps the biggest loss for Philadelphia was a season-ending knee injury to veteran quarterback Donovan McNabb.

The San Francisco 49ers used a strong defense to beat the struggling Seattle Seahawks, 20-14. The Cincinnati Bengals held off the New Orleans Saints, 31-16. The New England Patriots pounded the Green Bay Packers, 35-0.

Elsewhere in the NFL Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals got by the Detroit Lions, 17-10. The Kansas City Chiefs downed the Oakland Raiders, 17-13. The Carolina Panthers eclipsed the St. Louis Rams, 15-0. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tripped up the Washington Redskins, 20-17. The Miami Dolphins downed the Minnesota Vikings, 24-20. The Buffalo Bills beat the Houston Texas, 24-21.

The Jacksonville Jaguars host the New York Giants in the weekly Monday night contest.

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

Oh MAN!!

2006-10-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

How many times have I told you guys that IMAO.us is the BEST website ever? If you believe me not, read this:

Democrats' War on Terror Strategy FAQ
Posted by Frank J. at 11:40 AM

Many people have wondered whether the Democrats have a strategy for dealing with terrorists. In fact, they do, and we here at IMAO have obtained this FAQ which details out this new and inventive strategy:

DEMOCRATS' WAR ON TERROR STRATEGY FAQ

Q. What is the Democrats' strategy for the War on Terror... I mean, other than raising the minimum wage and other gay things?

A. I'm glad you asked that. Ours is a spectacular strategy designed to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. Imagine you're a terrorist in Iraq, angry at the world because of the lack of concern of climate change, and you head out to attack the American forces. When you reach their camp, though, you find... nothing!

Q. What? Where did the Americans go?

A. Yes, that's exactly what the terrorist will ask himself. "There were supposed to be Americans here!" he'll say. "But now there is no one! It's like something out of the Twighlight Zone!"

Q. Do they even have Twlighlight Zone reruns in the Middle East?

A. You're missing the point! Think of how devastating it will be to our enemies when they see how we can just disappear at will. They'll fear us like gods!

Q. I dunno. This sounds a lot like a "cut and run" strategy.

A. But it's not! It's a "Ninja Magic" strategy! You know how ninjas can suddenly throw down a smoke bomb and then just vanish? That's what the American military will be like! They'll be just like ninjas, and everyone is scared of ninjas.

Q. Chuck Norris isn't.

A. Yes, but, in Islamic culture, there is no equivalent of Chuck Norris. They will be defenseless to our ninja ability to suddenly disappear!

Q. I thought the reason people fear ninjas is more due to how ninjas fight with swords and kung fu and throwing stars?

A. We're not emulating those aspects of the ninja. The ability of a ninja to magically disappear is much more difficult and impressive, anyway.

Q. I still don't see how this is going to scare away terrorists. How will this stop them from attacking us on American soil?

A. If we can disappear in foreign countries so quickly, won't we be able to disappear even more easily on our home turf? The terrorists will fear that, if they come to America to attack a city, it will be completely empty as soon as they get here. It will totally freak them out!

Q. We're going to run away...

A. Magically disappear like ninjas.

Q. We're going to "magically dissappear like ninjas" from our own homes if the terrorists attack?

A. It will take the support of the American people to intimidate the terrorists like this. Everyone will need to keep a suitcase packed.

Q. When the terrorists see us "disappear" every time they attack, won't they consider that a victory over us?

A. That's ridiculous! When a magician disappears at a magic show, do you think you won a "victory" over him? Of course not. That's stupid. You're stupid for suggesting it.

Q. Still, shouldn't a strategy for dealing with terrorists involve like... you know... shooting at them or something?

A. That was the old strategy. The old strategy has failed. The Democrats want to win, so we're not going to use old methods that fail. Instead, we're going to use our Ninja Magic strategy that is new and proven by logic to work. If you want to continue failing like a fool, vote Republican. If you want to disappear like a ninja, vote Democratic.

I Suck

2006-10-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

I definately just failed Brendan's geography test - oh yes, yes I did. He showed me a picture of a place in the world and I had to identify it. Let's just say on the latest question, I was like two continents off. Sigh. But just to let you know, I most def. failed the state capitals test when I was 13. I also got like a 77 on the "label the New England States" quiz in 7th grade.

So you may think I'm dumb...but I think I'm consistent.

And that's what American's like.

My Prayer Tonight

2006-10-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

How long, O Lord? WIll you forget me forever
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes...

Pslam 13:1-3

No Matter Where I Go - It's Still There

2006-10-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

The human mind is an odd creature - with all the power and mysticism surrounding it; even with all it's potential, a broken heart it can't forget.

Portrait of An Apology
Jars of Clay

Look what I've done
This picture I've painted
It looks like my heart
Or what still remains

Convinced of the weight
Your interpretations
Are not what I see
I wish they could be

I remember it much redder
I remember it much brighter

Can you stay for a while
Try to imagine this
Could you be for a while
I can't remember it
Could you fall for a while
I can't escape from this

I'll try to explain
The way that the frame
Doesn't quite fit the image
Or surround the edge

It stands on display
What do you see?
Behold all the new grey
What's become of the old me

I remember it much redder
I remember it much brighter

Can you stay for a while
Try to imagine this
Could you be for a while
I can't remember it
Could you fall for a while
I can't escape from this

Calling, crying, ashamed of what I am not
Really failing, falling into this cage and I can't escape
I can't escape

Look what I've done
This picture I've painted
Doesn't quite fit
Or surround the edge
I remember it much redder

Can you stay for a while
Try to imagine this
Could you be for a while
I can't remember it
Could you fall for a while
I can't escape from this

I can't escape, I can't escape, I can't escape

Quote

2006-10-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

Best quote of the week:

"No self-respecting Hispanic could shop at a store called 'Banana Republic.' That would be just like a Japanesse person shopping at a store called 'Internment Camp'."

I Don't Know What I Would Say To Him

2006-10-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

When We Two Parted
-Lord Byron

WHEN we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow -
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me -
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee,
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met
In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.

I Can't Go - I Have Trial Team

2006-10-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Ok so I feel like this whole facebook group thing is out of hand. I'm reading my news feed a few days ago and my friends back in ol' A-Town have created a Facebook Group called "I Can't Go I have Rehursal" and I thought to myself. That's true - I feel that

But then I thought I need a group too. I should make one - and it would be called "I Can't Go - I Got Trial Team". Then the question is...ok then um where the group for "I Can't Join Anymore Facebook Groups - It Makes My Profile Page Too Long."

This is so fun - an exercise in Threat Construction [for all you debaters out there].

In other news I really can't go.

I got Trial Team.

Old School Jars of Clay

2006-10-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Old School Jars of Clay is soooooo good.

In our Violence Against Women Room - one of the songs played while the open house was going on was Tea and Sympathy...love it

Fare thee well
Trade in all our words for tea and sympathy
Wonder why we tried, for things that could never be
Play our hearts lament, like an unrehearsed symphony

Not intend
To leave this castle full of empty rooms
Our love the captive in the tower never rescued
And all the victory songs
Seem to be playing out of tune

But its not the way
That it has to be
Dont trade our love for tea and sympathy
cause its not the way
That it has to be

You begin
And all your words fall to the floor and break like china cups
And the waitress grabs a broom and tries to sweep them up
I reach for my tea and slowly drink in

Chorus:

cause its not the way
That it has to be
Dont trade our love for tea and sympathy
cause its not the way
That it has to be
Dont trade our love for tea and sympathy

So fare thee well
Words the bag of leaves that fill my head
I could taste the bitterness and call the waitress instead
She holds the answer, smiles and asks one teaspoon or two

[chorus x 2]

Dont trade us for tea and sympathy
Dont trade us for tea and sympathy
We can work it out
Dont trade us for tea and sympathy
Dont trade us for tea and sympathy
We can work it out
Dont trade us for tea and sympathy
We can work it out

good song :-)

Speaking of Violence Against Women - Jeremy - good luck tomorrow TAKE IT TO THE HOLE...be the light God made you to be in that Courtroom tomorrow!

Violence Against Women Day - Once A Liar Always A Liar

2006-10-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

Today we focused on violence against women in our symposium and it got me thinking, or rather reflecting on some real-life applications [or recent events] if you will. I'll tell you what really roasts my grits - when Men get away with behavior that women are villanized for, at women's expense. Let's take the issue of Domestic Violence. Domestic Violence is the abuse of trust for control. Domestic Violence extends farther than hitting your girlfriend, beating your fiance, or raping your wife. It extends to manipulation of women for control. When men lie and say they love a woman while fully intending to cheat on her or do her wrong - it's abusive of trust for control. The use of the words "I love you" or "I want to marry you" or "I want to be with you forever" or "I will follow you anywhere" when he doesn't really mean it are used to keep a woman close by, keep her on lock so to speak so that a man gets to keep his security blanket.

It is used to allow a man access to thing a conservative christian woman wouldn't ever let a man have access to - most of all her innermost thoughts, feelings, dreams, and trust - so that he can feel better about himself. These men want the GOOD that comes from being with a good woman - but they want it at a discount.

What's perhaps even more cruel is when the woman gives in - her "man" has already cheated on her or lied to her or beaten her and so she starts out doing all she can to tell him no - she tells him to leave her alone because she can't ever trust him and he begs you for another chance.

LISTEN UP WOMEN: He begs you to believe him begs you to love him and begs you to SAY OUT LOUD that you BELIEVE him and BELIEVE that he is telling the truth. He wants you to SAY OUT LOUD that yes, you'll be there for him to that YES you love him. He wants you to SAY OUT LOUD that yes you want to marry him because then HE'S GOT YOU.

LISTEN UP VICTIMS: He can manipulate you anyway he wants - once he raises a hand ONE TIME you're his if you don't walk away. If you don't make it known his behavior is not acceptable the first time he disrespects you that way it's over because he doesn't think you have the nerve to say TO YOURSELF he NEVER meant it and I AM SO FOOLISH that I BELIEVED A LIAR AND A CHEAT. He doesn't think you have the hutzpah TO SAY TO EVERYONE he's that cruel and that you're just that sad.

AND THEN when the day comes when he says I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE or let's be special friends where I get everything from you but I can get play when you're not here he doesn't think you can say no because he's abusing your trust in him. He'll come around, or I don't want to lose him, or I'll consent to anything he wants because I already said I loved him and I don't lie.

But sometimes they don't know that they don't mean it right? I guess that's even more heartbreaking - because then bridges are burned that don't have to be...it makes me so sad.

The best part is when he does this - "men will be men". This is what you get. Or "he's just scared of committment" or "that was a lot for him to deal with at once". Or there is always the "give him some time and space - all men are like that". YOU MUST BE JOKING. If I did the same thing to him that he did to me I'd be a whore or a b*tch or a monster. I'd be a slut - I'd be a psycho hose beast. But when he does it he's a playa. He's a serial bachelor and he becomes MORE ATTRACTIVE to all the women chasing him, to the woman who always thought that he was cheating on her with me when he was cheating on me with her. He becomes an enigma - the man everyone wants to tame. If I did it I'd become the woman everyone should stay away from. If he had any money I'd even be a gold digga. But what if he took my money? What if he drove my car? Used my stuff? Did whatever he wanted all the time and used me - then I'm just stupid for believing his crap. I should've known.

YOU MUST BE JOKING ME.

THERE IS NOTHING DIFFERENT BETWEEN THIS AND THE BABY BABY BABY I'M SO SORRY AFTER HE HITS HIS GIRLFRIEND EXCEPT THAT NOW MY SOUL IS DESTROYED...and those bruises will NEVER heal...at least without Christ...

THIS IS STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND I FOR ONE WILL NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE.

and you shouldn't either

but what do you do when you really belive he didn't mean it - are you just stupid or is he really not as bad of a person as he thinks he is?

Either way - good luck and godspeed to those who fight this everyday - his children shall not e crushed in court without defenders anymore

South Park

2006-10-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

Dude South Park cures it all! I'm so friggin exhausted it's RIDICULOUS. I have all this work to do and trial team and an interview - I'm too busy to care but now that I'd discovered the coolness of the South Park character quizz :-)

Best Note Ever

2006-09-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

So someone wrote me a note...

L-Dog; You are the Best! Meet Me at the Carwash. [heart] Love, F-Diddy.

Comments??

justice resources

2006-09-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

King Babar

2006-09-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Ok so I heart Babar. He's an elephant. To be completely correct, he's a young elephant and he's a King. It's a French cartoon - my mother and father showed me as a young child. I LOVE IT. And it's definately ON TV AS WE SPEAK. Oh I heart it. :-)

It's so cute...

I have a stuffed Babar somewhere...now off to find it.

Last Song For A While I Promise

2006-09-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah
Rufus Wainwright

I heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift, the baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof, you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair, she broke your throne, she cut your hair, and from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

Maybe I have been here before, I know this room; I have walked this floor, I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch, love is not a victory march, it's a cold and its a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

There was a time you let me know whats really going on below, but now you never show it to me, do you? (and)
Remember when I moved in you; the holy dark was moving too, and every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu----jah

Maybe there's a God above, and all I ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
And its not a cry you can hear at night, its not somebody who's seen the light, its a cold and its a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu--jah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelu---u---jah

Toast is Serious?

2006-09-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hey so yah - I didn't know you could have a serious song that makes reference to toast...but I guess I was wrong.

Lay Down the Burden of Your Heart
Acappella

It's a cold, cold world, that we're walking through,
Lay down the burden of your heart.
But it's warm as toast, walking two by two,
Lay down the burden of your heart.

Chorus:
Lay down the burden of your heart,
I know you'll never miss it.
Show your Father where it hurts,
And let your Father lift it.

Its a fine, fine line betwix love and hate,
Why, it's tough to tell the two apart.
But you'll know it's love that He offers you,
Lay down the burden of your heart.

Repeat Chorus (x2)

Show your Father where it hurts,
And let your Father lift it.

Scriptural Reference:

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29

Song In My Heart - Every Now And Then

2006-09-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

Every Now And Then
FFH

Every now and then I get
a little wrapped up in myself
and I...
I can't see you reaching
Every now and then I get
a little overwhelmed by the world
and I can't hear you calling
You have always told me
you'll always be there.
You are only one prayer away.

Every now and then
You whisper peace to me
with your tender words
unexpectedly.
And when I'm at the end
and taking my last breath
and drowning in my pride
I got nothing left.
Oh and I can see you
coming around the bend
Yeah you're taking me
to that place again.

Every now and then I get
a little tired of my reflection
and I want to break the mirror
And every now and then I get
blinded by my own perception
and I need to see you clearer.
But you have always told me
you'll always be there.
You are only one prayer away.

Every now and then
you whisper peace to me
with your tender words
unexpectedly
When I'm at the end
and taking my last breath
and drowning in my pride
I got nothing left.
Oh and I can see you
coming around the bend
Yeah, you're taking me
to that place again.
Every now and then...

Every now and then
you whisper peace to me
with your tender words
unexpectedly
When I'm at the end
and taking my last breath
and drowning in my pride
I got nothing left.
Oh then I can see you
coming around the bend
Yeah, you're taking me
to that place again.
Every now and then...

Oh, and I can see you
coming around the bend
Yeah, you're finding me
in this place again.
Every now and then...

Song In My Heart - Before It Was Said

2006-09-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

Before It Was Said
FFH

Every day I sit and pray to God above
To watch over me and my family
But every day I seem to pray the same old thing
In the same old way, and I start to think

That maybe I should change
And find something better to say
But I've learned to believe
You always hear me when I pray

So I get down on my knees
'Cause I'm stronger than these
Voices inside of my head
They try to deceive me
And make me believe
That I would be better instead
To take my requests and put them to rest
But You're already one step ahead
You knew just what I would say
Before it was said

Every night I lie awake wondering
If You're listening to every heartbeat
You've told me that You know the deepest part of me
And You'll watch over me and my family

So I guess I shouldn't change
'Cause You hear every word that I say
And I knew You are here
When I come to You this way

So I guess I shouldn't change
'Cause You hear every word that I say
And I knew You were here
When I knelt down today

I Hate Facebook Meddlers

2006-09-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

I think I may even hate the internet. It gets people into all kinds of trouble. Who could predict that my friend using the wrong description of his relationship with his girlfriend on facebook could cause them to break up? Who would predict that ANOTHER friend of mine would be dumped because of what his girlfriend saw someone had posted on his MySpace wall? Or that YET ANOTHER friend of mine would be in serious trouble with her boyfriend because of some pictures that a friend from HIGH SCHOOL posted that are like 9 years old??

As far as my pesonal experience - I HATE FACEBOOK MEDDLERS. People who use facebook as a motive, means, and opportunity to involve themselves in things that are none of their business. You know who you are.

Stop it.

Leave me alone.

What is "Bloggable" Anyway?

2006-09-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

So seriously - my question for the masses today is what is worthy of being blogged? How do you know if something is "bloggable" or "blogworthy" [as some prefer]? I suppose if we were to try and divine some kind of objective standard, most of us would be out of luck. I mean, for instance, who really cares that Pierce Brosnan himself washed my windshield last Saturday afternoon? Or, who cares that I'm watching my favorite movie, The First Wives Club , on USA, or why it's my favorite movie, or my reflections on life in general as related to said televisual feast? Who cares that I had my nails painted a shade of red called "I'm Not Really A Waitress" this morning? Or that I botched my cross at practice this morning?

Answer? I have absolutely no idea that's who. Maybe my parents care that I'm awake and alive on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe my trial team partner appreciates my positive knowledge of my need to like pay attention during direct. Maybe my brother cares about the status of my fantasy football team. Maybe my boyfriend cares that about my preference for movies with latent feminist undertones. But then again, maybe they don't.

But guess what...I don't care who cares. The beauty of the internet is, if there were some kind of objective standard of what ought to be allowed, then there probably wouldn't BE an internet. So anyone who attempts to comment on my choices in what to blog about would vanish in a poof of applied metaphysics.

And maybe my feminism isn't latent. Maybe this movie isn't feminist - maybe it's what SHOULD be the norm. Women should not be used and abused and discarded. What's wrong with a movie where Sarah Jessica Parker gets ditched. And who says opening a domestic abuse center is something reserved for women? Ridiculous...yes yes it is.

So I mean I could sit here and give you all the play by play on my life. But I don't want to - and it's my blog so I can do what I want.

Get your own traffic.

Dallas Cowboy's Bible

2006-09-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

I thought this deserved a revival

Dallas Cowboys Bible

The following is a list of excerpts from the Dallas Cowboys Bible (copyright 2003 by Josh Massingill and Ryan Thomas). Please note: these are intended to be humorous – don’t take them too seriously, and please don’t be offended.

Enjoy!
____________________________________________________

In the beginning was Emmit. And Emmit was with God and Emmit was nearly God. He was sent to Earth to show man the way to the end zone.

And the angel said unto Mrs. Smith "You are to have a son. You will name him Emmit. He is the one that has come to reconcile the Dallas Cowboys." Mrs. Smith had difficulty believing this as she was old and barren, but to her surprise, she was soon with child. The Lord had fulfilled the prophecy of Tom Landry "Out of Florida will come Dallas's most mighty player. He will adorn the number 22 and become to the all-time rushing leader."

As the Cowboys spited the evil 49ers to march into the land God promised them, Steve Young cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi Eloi, llama cowboint mei oth plaicthani" which means, "My God, My God, why couldn't you have let me play for the Cowboys?"

Thus, at that time, the Lord ordered the lyrics to "Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" be changed to "Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be 49ers." And it was good.

In the second year of the reign of Jimmy Johnson the archangel Tom Landry appeared before the Buffalo Bills in the locker room before the 93 Super Bowl. "Evil are your ways oh Bills! Woe to you! Woe to the Buffalo Bills. You are destined to lose every super bowl you ever make it to forever and ever.”

…and the bills wept.

…then the Lord blessed the Cowboys and all their followers by giving them the best stadium in the world, and the hottest cheerleaders in Heaven and on Earth, they are disease free forever and ever amen.

Jimmy pled with the Chief of the Dallas drug enforcement office where Michael was being held saying "let my people go!" But again the Chief said no. Because of this the Lord unleashed the plague of bad publicity on the city.

Jerry replied to the questioning fans, "What business have you claiming I am a 'meddling owner'? Was it not I that handpicked Jimmy Johnson to be coach in 92? Was it not I that suggested the drafting of Troy Aikman? You brute of vipers!"

…and the Lord said to those who blasphemed against Jimmy Johnson, "Surely you will never see the promised land. The Cowboys will wander in the hot, nasty desert of Losing Seasons for 40 games before they will be allowed to enter the Promised Land"

Deion Sanders then continued to sign multiple-year contracts with every team in the league, systematically suffering "injuries" which rendered him useless to the signing team. He now works for CBS.

And the Lord had mercy on the honorable Troy Aikman, and took him out of football peacefully so he wouldn't have to experience the pain of a mid-season 'death'. Also, the Lord presented him with many car dealerships to supplement the income he was used to.

And then the false prophet Dave Campo attempted to take control of the Lord's team for himself. God spited him and his entire family for that offense, or should we say "lack of offense".

Two of Jerry Jones' spies reported back to him that there was a great evil army in the south known as the "Texans". Jones commanded that the Cowboys go forth to Houston and crush the Philistine Texans and reclaim their title as "America's Team". But the cowboys had done evil in the eyes of the Lord and thus suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2002 season opener by the philistine expansion team. It was not until the following season that the Lord's team was able to crush the evil Texans.

Using injuries, dropped passes, bad calls, and incompetent players, God cursed the House of Jones for many seasons. The Cowboys wondered why God would curse his team. Then they cast lots and realized it was because He hated Dave Campo, so he was thrown into the fiery furnace of retirement. Later, God presented the Cowboys with Bill Parcells, telling his people, "Using a revamped roster, and old school coaching style, he will lead you to the Promised Land"

And as it was announced that Bill Parcells would be the head coach of the Cowboys, the clouds opened up, and a loud voice said, "This is my prophet with whom I am well pleased." and the people knew that the prophet Bill was the real deal and thousands scrambled to give money back to God in the form of Cowboy's season tickets.

While Bill Parcells was up on the mountain still receiving the new playbook from the Lord - the evil fans plead with the Texan millionaires saying, "What shall we do? We have no winning team?" So they made themselves an idol in the shape of a calf (the team symbol of the Texans) and bowed and prayed to it. When Bill returned and found this he was so angry he smashed the first playbook on the ground.

But Emmit would never see the return of the glory days in Dallas as he was vanished from the land of milk and honey to the desert wastelands of Arizona to play for the Cardinals. Troy Hambrick then stood before the team in the locker room and said, "Choose for you this day whom you will play for. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Dallas Cowboys."

May the Lord bless his team forever and ever, amen.

Work

2006-09-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

I went to work again yesterday, at the Mission, and everytime I go I am always prepared for my heart to be broken - and everytime I drive home I cry because it was.

When I got there yesterday, I was faced with a number of things all on one day that were difficult for me. In an effort to avoid ethical dilemas, I will skip the details of each case, and just present the questions with which I was faced yesterday:

1) Can I, in good faith, expunge the criminal record of an adult who's offenses included Driving While Intoxicated and Vehicular Assault?

2) What can I do for a man the system has ignored? What can I do to help the immigrant who is perhaps being extorted by law enforcement - who's lost his job and has no food and is desperate because someone somewhere lost a sheet of paper and is waiting for the replacement to come in triplicate? Why don't legal ethics permit me to help him? How can I be satisfied with my work if I have to watch him walk out the door still starving?

3) WHy am I so tired - why are all my compatriots so tired but we haven't made a dent??? Why is it that despite all the grand efforts of hundreds who came beore me, that still when I drive home from work, there are tents on every available space and childen without shoes??? Why does downtown LA still look like a refugee camp? And why do I have Dr. Pepper in my fridge for extra caloric intake while they are starving??? And perhaps more importantly - why do many codes of legal ethics, including The ABA Model Code, PRECLUDE me from helping them??? Why can't I feed them - why can I ONLY help them with tickets or visitation rights but cannot assist them in surviving?

While I was serving dinner down in the cafe after finishing my work at the clinic, an old woman shook her cain at me, insulted me and told me that it was "just an accident my oreo [butt] was on that side of the chains" and I didn't know what I could say. Maybe it's not an accident, maybe it is. Either way - she's still hungry and I just ate a banana.

Lonely

2006-09-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

What are you supposed to do about lonliness? I think I was in the 7th grade when I first became familiar with the concept of being lonely even while surrounded by people. I believe this realization came from reading the Phantom Tollbooth and learning that Milo, although surrounded by people was lonely, and although surrounded by stuff, wasn't happy.

Now that I'm older, I realize that lonliness comes in all shapes and forms. I suspect many of you will not understand what I'm about to say, but I would contend that has very little to do with the subjective reality of my opinion.

Society is ridiculous - they teach you that you can't be completely happy without a "significant other" of some type. I don't really think that's true - I think that I was quite satisfied with my life when I was single. That isn't to say there was no room for someone else, it is simply to say that it is possible to exist independently of another person.

But, and I hate to say it, I'm almost more lonley now then I was then. I'm definately more miserable now - knowing isn't enough. Knowing someone loves you isn't really what fills the space you found when you realized you loved them is it? Or maybe it does, and it's just that a different space opens up when they get on a plane and fly right out of your time zone.

Just around the corner doesn't really go well with so many miles. And I'm not sure that phone calls cure the phenomenon of two people looking at two different oceans at the same time with nothing but facebook in between. And "I love you" is sometimes the most painful thing right after "I love you too" a person can hear.

Growing up teaches you that life isn't always happy endings and smiley faces and white girls jumping up and down because the Frat boy in Act II finally admitted he cares for her. In plays, that's always the end of Act V isn't it? The curtain falls and everyone sighs with relief - as if him saying he cares for her and her saying she cares for him was all it took to conquor the void caused by a whole lot of cognitive dissonance in Acts I-IV. But let me tell you folks, that's only Act I, Scene V. The real question is NOW WHAT.

Act II is where the families go at it - all giving their opinions and most of them less than helpful if not downright hurtful. Act III is the sad and pathetic attempt to squeeze in a vist or two that only seems to make the whole situation worse. Act IV is where we find out she's more miserable then she was before and he doesn't know what to do about it. As for Act V I don't know what that is...and although I sincerely hope it's not true, I may never know.

I guess we'll all just have to keep watching...and hope that the Screen Actor's Guild doesn't convince the leads their talents would be better utilized in some other film with a more predictable plot, a curtain drop after "aww I care about you too" and no difficulty after an empty "I love you". But you never know, Unions can be pretty persuasive.

I guess it's a good thing Unions are basically illegal in Texas.

Tail Between My Legs

2006-09-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Allright Allright. I'm back. I'm back with my tail between my legs. It seems that although my mac Blog LOOKS cooler it's WAAAAAYYYY to much hassle to mess with. So I've decided to come back to blogger. Sorry for the inconvenience ya'll.

Well, you can still see all the entries I made on my Mac Webstie since June, so I'll just go ahead and start where I am.

I had trial practice this morning, and I was here at 6:30ish. My partner was supposed to be here for 7:00. Yah so not so much. He had a flat tire, and then realized he'd left his laptop home so all in all his day sucked more then me having to hang out here all morning so I'll deal.

Right now I am thinking about when I'm going to do all the stuff I need to get done. I have Admin Law in about half an hour and then after that, I need to finish and print out the semester paperwork for IJM and turn it in. Then I have pysical therapy at 2:30 or so, and then I'll spend the rest of the night slaving over Arabian. The Arabian moot is tomorrow and even though I don't have a round until 11:30 I'm a little nervous seeing as I HAVEN'T READ THE CASEFILE YET. I haven't read the library, I barely know what's going on. I need to get my life in order.

In other news however, I was able to procure a lemonaide this morning...and it's tasty. So I will drink my lemonaide in peace for a while and be hapy with what little coolness I can afford.

My Human Rights Symposium is stressing me out - it's three weeks and counting till blas off and Im sooooo scared something will go HORRIBY wrong. This is my dream y'all so keep me in your prayers.

Finally - Jeremy, I'm praying for your hearings today honey - I know you'll defend those victiims of domestic abuse with the spirit of Christ - you will be their protector. I'm so proud of you.

Change In Website!!

2006-06-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well guys; my obsession with Apple has finally taken over my life. I have, for now, changed the location of my blog. To see what you think about it...please go to the following website:

http://web.mac.com/seekjustice

let me know your thoughts!

Closing In For The Kill

2006-06-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend My Jonathan [MJ] and I went to home the remix for my Tia Ana's birthday party. We left here Saturday morning and drove down and man oh man was it fun!! We left Sunday morning to come back in my Tio Beto's truck so that we could pick up Jonathan's new sectional sofa from "Chick" in Chino hills, and we brought my cousin Adam and his baby MinPin Uber with us for the week. It's really cool and oh so retro. Jay drove over from Loma LInda to help Jonathan load the sofa in the truck and tie it down.

Monday we all three went to Santa Monica and shopped and ate and saw famous people all over the place. We saw Lisa Kudro, Peter Jackson, that Gwen person from Desperate Housewives, Jennifer Anisten, Ace from the Real World....ridic I tell you; ridic.

Tuesday morning Adam and I went to the beach and then to trial practice. After watching a bunch of openings Adam said well there you go....

Tuesday night BROTHER flew in from Texas. HAdam and I drove to pick him up. HIs luggage was on a later flight so we decided we were hungry, and drove to Santa Monica and met MJ at El Cholo's for some food...he and BROTHER had a whole pitcher of Margaritas. Then we had to go back and get the bags.

Yesterday brother and Adam went to Home the Remix to get my car back, take Beto his truck and do a few other random things and I went to class. Brother should be back soon and then we'll go to trial practice. Tonight is Italian food with everyone...how exciting!!!

And tomorrow HUMPBACK WHALES...OH JOY!

Summer Is Rough

2006-06-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

So I was listening to the soundtrack to A Goofy Movie [perhaps one of my all-time favorite Disney movies...]; and one of the better songs is about how school is out for the summer and how everyone is excited. Now, usually I'm excited about summer time because it means it's time to well NOT be stressed out. But, I gotta tell you, this summer is ridiculous. I am so stressed out right now y'all - there just does not seem be enough hours in the day to do all I need to do...but I guess I had it coming. However; it looks like things will perk up next week for me:

1. My brother Jonathan [A.K.A. "Brother"] flies into LAX on Tuesday night. He'll be here in So.Cali for the rest of the summer!!!
2. Thursday my friends and I are all going Karaoking at the Gaslight for my birthday.
3. Friday, on my actual birthday, Mystery Man and I are going to Santa Barbara to go on a boat and go Humpback Whale Watching. Excited, I think so...

Summer Has Begun!!

2006-06-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

Well I have been in summer mode for a couple of weeks but it's time to FINALLY get back into a normal routine. Hi Everyone!!

Well; I have finished the first year of law school so I finally have time to update you guys. I was doing really well last semester and so now I'm just waiting for grades to be posted. If you are in the top 10% you can grade on to the Journal of your choice [Law Review, or the Dispute Resolution Journal, or the NALJ Journal -National Administrative Law Judges Journal]. The thinking here is that if I did as well as I did before...I will be able to grade on, otherwise I'll have to write an article to get on [an option for anyone in the top 50% - not an issue here...]

I landed a really good research assistant job working for Gregory Ogden. He's on the board of directors for CALI [Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction: the organization that does everything involving the use of technology in law schools...and even the practice of law...laptop technology, podcasting, etc.] and he's on the board of NALJ - which is why we publish the NALJ Journal here at Pepperdine. He's considered a national expert on legal ethics and administrative law. I am totally psyched. He was my Civil Pro I & II Prof so I already know him. I've been working for him for two weeks, and it's awesome. We are working on a plain language manual for Administrative Law Judges which is going to be published in the NALJ Journal in the Fall - I'M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!! Plus, Judges are going to use and cite this thing so I'm so excited.

In addition, I'm doing Trial Practice this summer which is basically like the debate team in Law School. :-) They do trials...compete with other teams it's so cool. I have my closing argument tomorrow in an armed robbery case - I'm the defense attorney and I can smell an acquittal. I knew I did debate and extemp for a reason...

I'm also taking Ethical Lawyering with Professor Ogden. Then, in August, I'm going to take the MPRE which is the test on Ethics that 48 states require that you ALSO pass in addition to the bar to practice law. I really lucked out to take the class and then take the test...haha knock it out early.

In August I'm taking a two week class with Kenneth Starr on religion and the constitution so that will be fun. What a cool opportunity: learn about the 1st Amendment from the best advocate in front of the Supreme Court alive today [he has a killer record...]

This year we also successfuly began the first IJM Law School Chapter in the country. We are setting up a lot of stuff with IJM now and soon will be able to launch a research for credit program, in addition to an endowment to provide scholarships to kids who want to do human rights internships. We have a large active membership [around 75], and it's still growing. What's more, Layne Rouse is going to start a chapter at Baylor in the fall and Jonathan Wilkerson in the fall at Texas Tech. They are using our constitution and bylaws, etc. and we are all going to have IJM awareness week at the same time on the three campuses in October [that's the plan anyway]. God bless Justice :-)

In July I have been asked to speak at a youth camp in San Jose. Some of you may know/remember Tommy Butler from ACU. He's a good friend of mine and a youth minister in Walnut Creek [San Fransisco]. I had the opportunity to be a guest speaker at his congregation last semester on the subject of human rights and God's call to justice. He and his youth group have been doing the IJM cirriculum. Well, news travels fast and a bunch of other youth groups in California have been doing the same. So at this annual summer youth camp, the decision was made that the subject for this year would be just that: JUSTICE. And, apparantly news also travels fast about speakers. A couple of the other people at the minister meeting asked Tommy if he could maybe talk me into being the keynote speaker for the camp. ARE YOU KIDDING? I'm so cool...just joking. But in all seriousness, I will be speaking for them on Monday the 10th of July, as the first speaker for their week and a half summer camp. I'm really pumped and thankful. I hope God will use me there so keep that in your prayers.

Finally; I moved on Thursday into a ranch house on Zuma beach and that's probably where I'll stay until it's all said and done. I'm excited to move somewhere with flowers and dogs and YES!! fun.

Thank-you to all of you for your support and prayers. I miss Texas but I'm where I'm supposed to be. It's back to work for me but keep me in your prayers, as well as God's work of Justice.

Miss Elizabeth
SEEK JUSTICE
Isaiah 1:17

Have You Ever?

2006-05-19T00:40:00.000-07:00

Well ladies and gentlemen - I DID IT!!! I finished my last exam Wednesday evening around 10:40 and I gotta tell ya, being a SECOND YEAR law student is a serious feeling. Unfortunately for me - I have class on Monday. Sigh. But guess what, that's life.

Have you ever looked back and asked if you would've done it differently if you could do it over? I must say, i never have really had a bad case of Hindsight until now. Funny thing is - what I want to do over has nothing to do with my grades. Sometimes people don't really turn out to be what you thought they were. What's a real shame about being an adult, is that time for easy relationship-building is fading fast. Soon you'll be at an office full of people you hate with a job that sux and a boss that sux worse. When I get a phone call from Layne or an AIM from Andrew or anything from a number of people from "home" or "back in the old days"; I smile.

It's a shame when you invest in a hope that people will be the same today as tomorrow: that they will even BE here tomorrow - or that they'll be the same as you thought they were yesterday.

Some people can be a real waste of valuable time - and I can't get it back...

Random

2006-05-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

These past few days have been really random. Wendesday Jay was really sick, so after the final I went to get him flowers. While there I made friends with John, the owner of the shop. Turns out my friend John, has a law degree from UCLA. He is also a third generation immigrant and a Republican. John and I get along quite well - and he went to his car and brought me a book to read: In Defense of Elitism by William Henry III. I'm so excited - I have a new friend.

Friday after the last scheduled final, all the 1Ls [who are now 2Ls] rushed out into the atrium, and then just stood there. We can't really believe it's over. So strong is our sense of disbelief that we weren't sure what to do - we just stood around for a while. Should we go home, relax? Sleep? What? We have no books, it's OVER. IT'S A GREAT FEELING LADIES AND GENTS.

Friday night, Jay, Judd, Jean, Dan, Judd's Dad, and I went to Geoffrey's for supper. It was unbelievable: mmm soo good. The ocean view; the great food, the attentive and snotty waiters: wonderful. :-) Wouldn't want to make a habit of it but every once and while; its great.

Afterwards, Jay and I talked for a while and looked at yarn for Hannah Parmalee's baby blanket. Around 12:30 or so he left and I went to bed. Saturday was also a blast. Jessica and I had lunch and then went to the Parmalee's for Hannah's surprise B-day party. Then Jessica and Thomas Griffen and I watched the village which I HEART. :-)

I'm gonna get some studying in for Torts today; and maybe do a practice test or something. It feels wierd with almost everyone out of the dorms and me still here - studying. It's cool. This whole next week is dead time so besides the tests I'm free :-)

Jay will be back on Monday night and we start summer school Trial Practice on Tuesday. [I actually start that Monday - I have Ethics. ] This is gonna be a killer summer; even though it's not in Texas.

Update

2006-05-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well; it's FINALLY OVER!! Well at least it is for everyone else. I'm sure you've all heard already but just in case you haven't, we'll do a quick recap:

1. Back pain gets worse - she goes to the specialist
2. Specialist needs new x-rays, films, and an MRI
3. New meds give me anaphylactic shock - EMTs come...
4. We find out what's wrong at the doc's
5. Shock again
6. New meds and she gets bed rest for a week
7. She misses the first week of finals and is now going to make them up tomorrow and Wednesday

See; nothing to it!

So I Didn't Make the Team

2006-04-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

But I think that I have had just about enough of politics making decisioins. The tryouts were almost as poorly run as the first year moot. Different people judging each round? A different NUMBER of people judging each round?

I mean, I thought this was about MERIT. This is what I do and what I do well. I am not at all pleased with the way this turned out. Furthermore I would like to know how the Moot Court Board, made up of people who are NOT all on the team gets to make decisions like this.

If this really were a merit based system I would be fine. If this were a system in which tryouts were run fairly and consistently I would also be fine.

There was quite a lot I could have done for this school. I competed very well for ACU and brought its name to be among the top five debate programs in the nation.

It is simply unreasonable to me that someone with talent and dedication to offer has to ride the bench.

Trial team I will do. And will I do Arabian - yes I will. If I win, would I accept an invitation to compete from them, probably not after the way this has gone.

I came here for many reasons, one was human rights, and the other was advocacy. I came here for many reasons, one was human rights, and the other was advocacy. This system is run so poorly it cheats the school and the students out of the chance to have their best advocates represent them.This system is run so poorly it cheats the school and the students out of the chance to have their best advocates represent them.

Bluebonnets

2006-04-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

I tell you what - I do indeed miss my Texas Bluebonnets!!

This week has been a bit busy for me. Friday Chris and I had our interview with the Mentor Week Co-Chairs so that we could be mentor group leaders for the 1Ls in the fall. We don't find out till the end of this week. I had kind of a long weekend after that: We all had lunch with Judd's mom who came in from Virginia.

After Contracts that day - my last class - I slept till 7:00, did homework till 8:30 - then sat around talking with Jay till like 1:30 in the morning. Saturday I went to look at the house I'm hoping to move into on June first. Sunday of course, was Easter Sunday. Jay went to the late service with me and he enjoyed it :)

Sunday evening Jay, Judd, Dan, Mona, and I ate at Coogies AND WE SAW BRITTANY SPEARS. My Malibu experience is complete.

My Mystery Man helped me prep for my Moot Court tryout from 9:00 that evening till 12:30 am.

I tried out Monday morning...and now we wait!!

In the meantime...I JUST WANT SOME BLUEBONNETS!!!

or daisies...

Moot Team :-)

2006-04-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

COULD I BE ANY COOLER??

From: sol-info@law.pepperdine.edu
Subject: Interschool Appellate Advocacy Competition Team Selection
Date: April 10, 2006 4:48:06 PM PDT
To: Community@law.pepperdine.edu
Reply-To: katrina.olson@pepperdine.edu

We would like thank the 92 students (20% of the 1L and 2L classes) who applied for the Pepperdine Interschool Moot Court Competition Team.

The following students have been selected, based on the writing samples submitted, to advance to the next step of the process, the oral tryouts:

Elizabeth Alvarez
Dan Bane
Hailey Benton
Brad Benham
Kyle Cox
Ari Friedman
Sally Goodfellow
Gunnar Gundersen
Wendi Gundersen
Melissa Higashi
K. Jake Hoffenagle
Jennifer Holliday-Bowden
Ted Holmquist
Mary Huebert
Erik Johnson
Joseph Le
Daniel Lengeman
Jean Loh
Audrey Maness
Jeffrey McDonald
Royi Moas
Jackson Moll
Justin Parkey
Andrea Prohaska
Natalie Rainforth
Emily Riley
Brian Roach
Mary Skouras
Rebecca Shult
Lauren Skophammer
Joshua Snead
Jamin Soderstrom
Kari Sowers
Emily Wallerstein
Eric Willis
Dina Yadegarian

Because of Passover and Easter, the orals tryouts will be held Monday and Tuesday, April 17 and 18. The students listed are invited to sign-up for a time slot with Patty Hayes in Room 206 (the Alumni Office next to the Deans' Suite) starting Wednesday morning.

Please do not be discouraged if you were not selected this time around. It is a highly competitive process here at Pepperdine Law School. We encourage you to participate in the Arabian Appellate Advocacy Competition in the Fall and submit an application in the Fall for the Spring 2007 Team.

Nancy McGinnis
Nancy L.N. McGinnis
Associate Dean
Advancement, Alumni and Public Affairs
310.506.6454

VICTORY

2006-03-25T22:16:00.000-08:00

I feel as if I never left.

WELL ladies and gentlemen - today was the 1st Year Moot. Let me just say that with my timer in hand, the same timer that has been with me since round one in Mercedes High School in the Fall of 1997, I felt right at home. I cannot TELL you how many rounds that timer has been through. Policy, LD, extemp, whatever man - you name it I've been there w/ that timer. Jay cut the speaker lines and today, on March 25, 2006, that timer went to it's first Appellate Advocacy Round.

I have been working hard on this for two weeks, and this morning I was ready. I knocked it out of the park. :-) After the round was over, my judges said I was the best performance they had seen out of a first year EVER!! Then, later that afternoon, I went off brief on the WRONG issue and STILL was told I was the best in the room and MUST be on the Moot Traveling team.

I am too exhuasted to finish this. But now this is ALL over I will be well rested and can write more this week :-).

XPANDOS Revisited

2006-03-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

I wish I could pen something of value this evening, but there really isn't much to say. I have noticed as the weeks have become seemingly shorter and shorter thatI am being drawn ever closer to the end of my first year of law school. It is Friday night, and although this past week was Spring Break, I don't really have much to report in the name of "fun" or "adventures".

A week ago today on last Friday, when school let out for Spring Break, our section had a Cigar Smoking Party. It was great fun - watching our profs smoke cigars with their kids. I didnt smoke a cigar though. Rather, I had a Sees Candies Chocolate Cigar which was provided for those of us with asthma or any other tendency that spurns us to avoid inhaling carcinogens.

Later that evening, I headed over to Kate's in Santa Monica where a bunch of us played Play Station Karoke and most everyone else had shots. Then, we all got into three cars and headed out to Club Cabana in Hollywood. This little troop of adventurers included Kate, Deborah, Lisa, Pam, Chevon, Jamie, Diana, Scott, Elina, Baggio, and myself. Once there, we met up with Dave, Dbor, Andy, S, Christy, and Osborne. It was pretty much a Section C take-over. It was so much fun. We stayed out at Cabana until almost 2, and then went to Mel's Dinner for some food. After that, we all went home and crashed.

Since then I haven't really done much but work on this dumb Appellate Brief. They assign each first year either Appellant or Appellee in teams of two as per an appeal to the 9th Circuit. This assignment is basically our final in LRW II. The catch? They give it to you OVER SPRING BREAK so you can't go home or do anything fun. Sucks. I mean, I suppose it's better than having it during school, but still. Sigh. My Jonathan is my partner and we will in fact be TROUNCING everyone. That's all that NEEDS to be said about that, although it will not stop me from saying more. I must say, our brief is slammin'. What's more, a small portion of the grade is based on our performance in the 1st year Mock Appellate Advocacy on the brief on Saturday. It has come to my attention that there are those in my LRW Section who purposefully sought out another team to oppose so they would not have to risk opposing Jonathan and I in a luck-of-the-draw match. Jonathan and I had hoped to go up against Jay and his partner, Chris, but Chris wouldn't have it as he is scared of me. I am bemused. :-)

Jonathan and I have worked really hard on this brief and I think it's really good. But, we managed to have some fun during the week. We've had Marmalade's like 5 times, and yesterday had lunch at my favorite Mexcian Restaurant & Cantina. I just finished working up the MOI for oral args and would like everyone to know that I have indeed made XPANDOS for the occassion. So, for those of you who thought I would outgrow XPANDOS when I left my debate career behind in undergrad - THINK AGAIN. I AM THE DEBATE QUEEN AND IT IS ALL ABOUT COLOR-CODED XPANDOS.

Clearly, I need a nap.

[but maybe not since Saxer says that people who use "clearly" have not done their research..."

Home

2006-03-11T22:03:00.000-08:00

I wish I were home. It's spring break and I can't go home. I just; I have this dumb paper - an appellate brief - worth 65% of my grade in LRW and they give it to us OVER spring break. So, I can't go home. It's 7:07 now and I'm waiting for My Mystery Man to come and fix something for me. He's late - he's NEVER late, and he never forgets, so I wonder where he is??? Oh well. I have to leave soon to go Kate's house for a night on the town. If he doesn't show up soon, I'll miss him entirely and shan't see him till at least the end of the week.

Sigh. All I ever really loved I left at home...except that one thing that is with me wherever I go.

Michael Buble - Home Lyrics
Another summer day
Is come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know

And I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
"I'm fine baby, how are you?"
Well I would send them but I know that it's just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aerorplane
Another sunny place
I'm lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I've got to go home

Let me go home
I'm just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life
It's like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
But this was not your dream
But you always believe in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
And even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I'm surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel alone
Oh, let go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I've had my run
Baby, I'm done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all right
I'll be home tonight
I'm coming back home

I Feel So Lazy

2006-02-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

I feel so lazy because I never post. I haven't blogged in a while, this is true. But I'm so flippin' busy...

Friday evening Dan, Jay & I had supper at the cantina just north of here on the PCH. It is such good Mexican food...REAL Mexican food. I had carnitas. After supper was all said and done, we headed back to school. I don't really know what Dan did this weekend but Jay and I went to our "casas". I went to Tio Mike's and Tia Nancy's. Jay went home.

I have my own room at Tio Mike's and Tia Nancy's. It is soooo pretty: it has yellow walls and this gorgeous wooden bed frame from Mexico with a Sun and a field of lillies and sunflowers carved and painted on the head-board. The curtains have three dimensional flowers on it and the whole room is just simply gorgeous.

I had a wonderful time with la familia. On Saturday we went to Tia's brother and sister in law's house with all her family. You know you are Mexican when extended family includes the family of your aunts and uncles by marriage...I love it. There can never be too much family. I also got to watch Sleeping Beauty and Mulan this weekend - I have a strange obsession with Disney movies.

I bought my own Martinelli's Apple Juice this weekend...no longer shall I depend on Jay for my apple juice fix. In addition, I was able to procure those that come in the original glass jars. I gave Jay half: they don't make them in the glass jars anymore so WICKED is all I have to say.

Last night I tutored Gina in Spanish. I guess I forgot to mention that huh? Gina is the daughter of Lorraine G., Dean Saxer's assistant. I have started tutoring her in Spanish. It's a double bonus for me because now I don't have to spend extra time to do my own Spanish grammar everyday now, plus I get paid ($40.00 an hour...nice).

Jay showed his movie this weekend at La Sierra's homecoming: he said it went over really well. I'm really really proud of him. He has done such a good job doing all that stuff even while we are in school. He worked so hard on that movie and I'm glad it went over so well for him.

This week will be a busy week for us. Tomorrow is Project Uganda for IJM. We also have a midterm on Wednesday, and one on Friday. In addition, we have the ABA conference this weekend. Plus, we have a midterm next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Sigh.

I am exhausted but I do this for Justice.

Victims of child sex trafficking don't want to hear how tired I am. They want to see me at their front door with that arrest warrant and the sense of safety only justice can provide them.

Rough

2006-02-16T21:53:00.000-08:00

My Mystery Man and I had a bit of a tiff today: and I don't really want to talk about it, mostly because I am not ACTUALLY sure what it was about. It reminded me of a fight I once had with Jeremy. We fought for like 2 hours. When it was over, it was all traced back to a comment someone had made about Strawberry Jam...

This wasn't quite about Strawberry Jam, but it was started with something equally dumb: Jr. High Kids doing Hello Dolly. LONG STORY...so DON'T ask. Suffice to say I can't believe the people in the apratment didn't hear us.

I am home now: I came home about an hour ago. But it's all ok now...sometimes things take more work than you thought to make them work...but as my Mochi says: "Nothing will work if you don't".

When two different worlds co-operate at a distance, or occupy the same space with a large buffer zone in between them, negative energy and conflict are minimal. But as the two spheres of existence collide, and try to exist very close together in tandum things become more difficult.

That's not to say it cannot be done.

CHECK IT OUT MAN!!

2006-02-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not the Optimist or anything, but it looks as if my free reign of the school has begun!! This came out in the Pepperdine Undergrad Paper, THE GRAPHIC, just a few days ago. LOOK OUT PEPPERDINE!!

Campus group seeks justice

NICOLE KLIEST
Staff Writer

Senior Jonathan Hudson spent his sophomore year studying in Pepperdine’s Florence program. While most Pepperdine students spend their time overseas absorbed in Eurail and house drama, Hudson gathered much more while away.

He heard about human trafficking on a Spring Break mission trip to Albania attended by students from various overseas programs that year. It is there that Hudson first learned about the abductions of young girls who were forced to go into prostitution in Italy.

“It blew me away,” Hudson said. “It was then and there I vowed to do whatever I could.”

Upon returning to campus, Hudson found his outlet in Pepperdine’s chapter of International Justice Mission. Hudson, now president of the club, does his part by working to “inspire vision” and “engage the community” on campus.

Human trafficking is only one on a long list of social concerns touted by the club with chapters at college campuses like Pepperdine across the nation.

IJM’s official Web site explains that it is a human rights agency aimed at rescuing people around the world who are victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression.

Hudson said the club has a threefold purpose: to pray for resolution of social ills, to bring awareness of injustice to the community and to raise support for IJM’s national and international work.

“Prayer is our most effective weapon in the fight against global evil,” Hudson said. “We also seek to support other organizations fighting for the same causes.”

Pepperdine is the first university to have a law school chapter of IJM. First year law student Elizabeth Alvarez, who was highly involved as an undergrad student with the IJM chapter at Abilene Christian University, co-wrote the constitution for Pepperdine’s first graduate IJM chapter.

“The focus and goal of IJM,” Alvarez said, “Is to use existing laws and infrastructures to help rescue people who are victims of oppression.”

Hudson and Alvarez said they plan to take advantage of Pepperdine’s law school and undergraduate chapters to foster cooperation between the two.

“There are so many resources at the law school for this type of work,” Hudson said. “They bring unique assets, and we want to be able to compliment each other and work as a team.”

Pepperdine’s IJM chapter is unique in that it focuses on the spiritual aspect of social injustices, urging students to pray for both the victims and perpetrators of social injustices as well as for the safety of those who work to resolve the issues.

“The magnitude of the human rights issues is so daunting,” Alvarez said. “The people that work for IJM are out in the fields. They are giving everything they have for very little money to help people.”

Ashley Nolan, associate director of the Pepperdine Volunteer Center (PVC), said she agreed that the best way to support IJM and other organizations is to simply attend the events. Nolan said she hopes the programs like IJM on campus will inspire motivation in students and move them to want to make a difference.

“I think at times justice issues can seem very overwhelming.” Nolan said, “IJM has been successful in breaking these issues down and personalizing them. They educate in a way that is more approachable.”

Alvarez attributes the club’s rapidly increasing membership to this sense of approachability. Hudson said the club is now up to about 45 active members with a mailing list of more than 100. The club meets every Monday at 9 p.m. in CAC 304.

Hudson added that the club is open to working with others, to finding out “where God is moving” and try to help out.

For instance, IJM worked together with Intercultural Affairs and Amnesty International to put on events throughout the week of peace, hope and justice. The intent of the week’s events was not only to inform society about social injustices, but also to encourage them to use that knowledge.

“I think that as Americans we take simple things for granted,” Alvarez said. “We don’t realize that there are people all over the world who cannot even begin to dream what it is that we have.”

It's the Little Things In Life :-)

2006-02-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Jay gave me this brand new pillow so that I could like take it to class and stuff: it's for my back. He said it would be good for me...it's blue - a nice cobalt blue - and sort of suede like and soft. I got it just before I left town this weekend: he had it for me like two weeks ago but I never went and got it. He left it with Judd for me to get on my way out of town.

Let me just say that without that pillow I would NOT have made it this far this weekend. It was behind my back at the airport, on the plane, at the desk in the hotel late last night and in the early hours this morning while I do my work. The same is true right now and you can BET it will save me from almost unbearable pain at the tournament tomorrw while I'm judging like Parli outrounds. Ugg.

I like flowers...in fact I love flowers. I love daisies. I love stuffed animals. I love Skittles and bright colored pens and anything with glitter on it. But this weekend, NONE of those goofy things would've helped me much. This pillow combined with my heating pad [which is now with me EVERYWHERE I go] make my life bearable.

What a good thing to have..

It's the little things in life you know?

Tournament

2006-02-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but I am a debate coach for Pepperdine's Undergraduate team. DON'T ask me why I do this as a First Year Law Student and DEFINATELY don't ask me why I am in ARIZONA during P&A Memo II Week. I'm dumb.

Anyway, to add stress to open OPPRESSION wounds, I am THE ONLY COACH here at this tournament in Arizona, and I am exhausted beyond all reason. I WOULD sit here and blog ALL about the misery of today but there is no need: I already complained about it to Judd AND my mom. PLUS I know you won't know what I'm talking about ANYWAY.

As I sit here listening to Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake I realize that it probably doesn't even matter that today sucked butt since I won't remember Thursday night when I am frantically trying to finish my memo. And I am SURE that all the people in Africa who will be making bricks in the heat all day at the kiln today DEFINATELY do not want to hear about it. Let's just leave it at this:

CRY ME A RIVER

What a Long Week

2006-02-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

Ok you guys I have had like the LONGEST week ever. And since I am too tired at this point to tell you about it, I will do two things.

1. I will promise to tell you about it tomorrow.

2. I will appease you, my faithful readers, with a picture of who you have all been waiting to meet: My Mystery Man!

That really is him! Isn't he cool?

IJM

2006-02-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

Today was spent in the atrium of the law school...but for good reason: my officers and I sat all day long in attempt to garner membership for our club: THE FIRST LAW SCHOOL CHAPTER OF IJM EVER. I am SO excited - I just don't know what to say. We sat there all day and as of my last count, had almost SIXTY people sign up to join our chapter.

I can't even begin to talk about how happy I am. I clearly made the right choice as per law schools. Dean Gash and Dean Starr weren't lying when they told me that this would be the place to come if I wanted to start an IJM Law School Chapter and eat up all the human rights stuff I could hold.

Jay and Judd and I went down to the Law School Worship night this evening at Stauffer Chapel: it was great. Afterwards though, my real worship began: our law school chpater in conjunction with the undergraduate chapter showed Invisible Children at Elkins Audotorium. If you guys don't know about Invisible Children, your lives are lacking somethin' awful. Invisible Children i the story of Ugandan children who run away from home each night in search of a safe place to sleep: a place where the rebel army LRA will not find them. The run from terror and blood and horror. And the disgusting truth: that over 50,000 of them have already been kidnapped, is IGNORED by the world at large. They are invisible.

BUT THEY ARE NOT INVISIBLE TO GOD.

And so they are not invisible to me.

Elkins was full tonight; we had standing room only. I don't know what to say except that as I watched the movie, wrought with tears, I had a heart full or both horror and joy at the same time. What is happening will not be tolerated. But the fact that we got SO many to witness it means that God's justice will be done. And even if not tonight in Uganda, then tonight in the hearts of the newly broken.

SEEK JUSTICE.

This Weekend

2006-02-06T07:39:00.000-08:00

This weekend was so much fun. Friday morning I took Mel and Tyler over the conference. After my morning class and around lunch time I met Tyler in the atrium and took him to Contracts II with me. He LOVED IT!! He absolutely adored McDonald. :-) Melanie went to Torts with me and although Miller was a bit out control at that point it was great.

I was able to get out of the intramural soccer game and worked on homework and my memo while the ACU Super Four finished the conference. Afterwards Melane, Tyler, Joey, Jim, Jim's sister [who is a 2L here], her boyfriend, Judd, Jay & I went to Alegria's for dinner. We love Alegria's: best Italian food ever.

We all went our seperate ways Friday night. Saturday morning the ACU Crew had to go back to the conference. During the middle of the morning I had to take Melanie back to the airport. Tyler went with me and we ate at the Promenade on the way back. ...in the afternoon those [now three], me and Judd and Jay headed out. The two boys went straight to Santa Barbara and I took the ACU Super Three to see Air Force One at the Reagan presidential library.

We met up with everyone at Santa Barabara and had Peruvian food on State Street. We walked downtown, saw the pier, the Santa Barbara Mission; it was wicked.

THEY ARE HERE!!

2006-02-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

Well you guys, my Texas friends have arrived!! And WHAT a fiasco. I had my TA meetin' yesterday [Thursday] for our first Memo of Points and Authorities at 4:40. While I was in the meeting, Melanie called and left me a message stating that the airline had informed her that her bag was on the 9:15 plane out of DFW into LAX, meaning that her bag wouldn't be in LAX until about midnight. She stated that the options were to stay and wait for it or to have it delivered. I was torn. I wasn't able to talk to her though because by the time I got out of my meeting and heard the message, their plane had already taken off. Their plane was scheduled to get in at 8:09 so there really wasn't a practical way to wait around out there till midnight so I made and executive decision.

I went to Banana Republic.

I bought her a shirt and some socks etc. This way she would not have to meet the Dean of the Law School feeling icky in the same clothes, and we could have her bag delivered.

I left Malibu at 6:30 and got to the Inn & Out outside of LAX by 7:30, since traffic was unusually good. So, I waited. And waited [I was working on my memo and stuff OF COURSE]. I waited until almost 9:00 and got worried. Then the call came: their plane had JUST gotten in. 20 minutes later I was picking them up at the terminal only to discover that of the four of them, THREE of them had had their bags placed on the later flight by the airline. So, in Jay's words: "At least it makes the decision about waiting or not easier." Clearly.

We met Ryan Mannix at Inn & Out Burger to wait it out. He is the other founder of the IJM Chapter here, and Jim and Joey were going to stay with him. He had been having supper at his parents' house in Orange County and had been the back-up plan for Melanie's bag: he would pick it up on his way back to Malibu. Sinc he was already there by the time we left the airport [flippin almost 10:00] we went ahead and all ate together. On the brighter side the bags were going to be there at 11:00 or so...

We got the bags and Jim and Joey went with him and Tyler and Mel came with me. We took the 405 back to the 10 and decided to do a quick detour through Hollywood. So I took the 10 East instead of West and caught the 110 toward Pasadena to hop on the 101 North. We got off on Hollywood Blvd. and drove it past the Highlands and then turn around and went back. We pulled into campus around 1:30 or, exhausted but happy. Melanie stayed here [she's asleep in my bed right now...] and Tyler stayed downstairs with Jeddidiah.

Today's going to be a long day but WHO CARES??? My Texas friends are here...