The Intolerant Left Strikes Again

This time with soda cans filled with marbles that were thrown at people before the start of a meeting in Garden Grove featuring Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist.

Still Not Quite Right

The correction should read "The institutional Church and orthodox Catholics believe it is His body and blood." (link via Amy Welborn)

I Like Apple Pie Because Chicken Tastes Good

Makes about as much sense as saying legal immigration will be undermined by beefing up border security and allowing the police to arrest someone because he is in this country illegally. God save Los Angeles.

Attack Journalism

Al Reuteera publishes the following "facts" about Priscilla Owen, whom the Senate finally voted on and confirmed to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (link via Powerline):

Owen, 50, recently received the worst rating on the Texas Supreme Court in an annual judicial evaluation poll by Houston lawyers. With 350 votes cast, 39.5 percent said she was outstanding, 15.2 percent rated her acceptable and 45.3 percent said she was "poor." None of the court's eight other judges had as many "poor" votes and only one had fewer "outstanding" votes.

Looks bad, but I'm sort of interested in knowing who exactly conducted this poll. And aren't there more than 350 lawyers in Houston? It's also curious that Al Reuteera doesn't mention the fact that Justice Owen received the highest possible rating from the American Bar Association (hardly a bastion of conservatism).

Owen is a member of the Federalist Society, an increasingly powerful legal society that describes itself as "a group of conservatives and libertarians" who believe "it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be."

Gee, I'd hate to see what Al Reuteera would say if Justice Owen was as member of Opus Dei.

Owen graduated in 1977 from the law school at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, as the top student in her class. She worked as a corporate lawyer with expertise in oil and gas at a large Houston law firm before being elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 1994 in a campaign aided by current White House adviser Karl Rove. She was re-elected in 2000 with 84 percent of the vote.

In other words, Owen is just another pawn in Karl Rove's master plan to rule the world, and the 84% who voted for Owen are all brainless robots.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has endorsed Owen's nomination but they clashed on a number of cases when they were on the Texas Supreme Court, most famously in an abortion rights case in 2000. Owen was a dissenter on the court's vote upholding a teenage girl's right to abortion without notifying her parents. In his opinion, Gonzales wrote that dissenting justices advocated a position directly contradicting state law and that adopting their view "would be an unconscionable act of judicial activism."

Read this, then try to tell me that most "journalists" in the MSM aren't a bunch of lazy hacks who don't bother to investigate any claim that coincides with their leftist agenda.

Owen is a divorcee who lives in Austin, Texas, where she teaches Sunday school and tends the altar at St. Barnabas the Encourager Evangelical Covenant Church, which split from the Episcopal Church last June because of disagreements with national church leaders who ordained a gay bishop and allowed dioceses to consider blessing same-sex unions.

In other words, Owen is a hypocritical fundamentalist Christian who needs to be feared.

Note to Al Reuteera: Let us know when you stop confusing so-called facts about a person with whom you disagree with uninformed partisan commentary.

Our Nutty Fundie Friends

Of course, it's stuff like this which adds fuel to the fart winds of pandering blowhards like Congressman John Conyers. (via Drudge)

Our Fathers

On Showtime tonight. I don't have cable or satellite, so I obviously can't watch it. Even if I could, I probably wouldn't, as I'm sure there will be plenty of unwarranted and unsubstantiated slams against the Church that have little or nothing to do with the Situation. I mean, for crying out loud, uber-Hollywood leftist Ted Danson is in this thing.

In Case All the "Sith" Showings are Sold Out

You can try catching the other prequel Exorcist movie that was made a couple of years ago but never released until now.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

John Conyers is a pandering Left-wing dolt. (HT: ChronWatch Blogs)

An Islamic civil rights group is urging all "people of conscience" to support a Democrat-sponsored resolution recognizing that the Koran, like the holy book of any other religion, "should be treated with dignity and respect."

The resolution, to be introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), also "condemns bigotry and intolerance against any religious group, including our friends, neighbors and citizens of the Islamic faith."

"This resolution expresses America's respect for the holy texts of all faiths. If passed, it will also reiterate our nation's condemnation of bigoted behavior and religious intolerance," said Corey Saylor, CAIR's government affairs director.

When I read that line from CAIR, the milk I was drinking sprayed out of my nose.

What I'm Reading

Because I frankly have nothing else to blog about right now:

Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President

Someone Needs to Close Up the "Big Tent" Flaps

WorldNet Daily reports that "actress" and former California gubernatorial candidate, Mary Carey, will be attending a GOP sponsored fundraiser dinner for President Bush.

"I'm hoping to run as lieutenant governor of California next year," Carey said. "Since Arnold [Schwarzenegger] is a Republican, I thought this dinner would be a great networking opportunity for me."

"I'm especially looking forward to meeting Karl Rove," Carey added. "Smart men like him are so sexy. I know that he's against gay marriage, but I think I can convince him that a little girl-on-girl action now and then isn't so bad!"

How do you respond to such silliness?

The Left Hates Traditional Believing Christians

And longs for the institution of religious litmus tests for the judiciary. Such is perfectly illustrated by this headline in the New York Times and this picture which briefly appeared on the website of Moveon.org.

May As Well Throw In World Peace and a Cure for Cancer While You're At It!!

That's what I felt like blurting out at a court hearing today in Los Angeles on whether there should be public disclosure of the personnel files of several former employees of the Diocese of Orange who had been accused of sexually molesting or abusing minor children. I was specially representing one of the non-priest employees who did not want his personnel files made public.

In the papers that I filed, I basically argued that since my client was not an expressly named party in the action against the Diocese of Orange, his personnel files were protected by the right to privacy under the California Constitution. Absent his consent, the only way that my client's files can be publicly discolsed is if the requesting plaintiffs can show a "compelling interest" and the information they seek cannot be gathered from any other nonconfidential source or by way of deposition.

At the hearing today, plaintiffs' counsel (there were several of them) essentially argued that getting "the truth" out about all the allegations that led to the sexual abuse lawsuits against the Diocese of Orange was a compelling interest. In counsels' collective mind, unless the personnel files are publicly disclosed, the plaintiffs in the matter will have no proper sense of "closure," even though they've all been paid a boat load of money in a settlement with the diocese. There was also a nonsensical suggestion that not getting "the truth" out would somehow deny the public of having any knowledge that there was/is a sexual abuse problem in the Church. On this, I felt like yelling out in court, "Just so you know: Japan militarily attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941!"

As objectively weak and surreal as the above arguments are, the presiding judge in the hearing, Peter Lichtman, was clearly buying into them. In fact, while I was making some remarks on behalf of my client in support of his disclosure objection, Lichtman rhetorically, and somewhat brusquely, asked me if I wouldn't make the same argument as the plaintiffs. When he said this to me, I pretty much knew that I was wasting my breath. Lichtman was basically signaling to everyone in the courtroom that he thought plaintiffs' thinly veiled desire to publicly humiliate the Diocese of Orange was a compelling enough interest to undermine the privacy rights of certain individuals who were never criminally charged or personally sued for doing things they have only been accused of committing. Given the disposition he displayed today, I will be absolutely shocked if Lichtman doesn't allow public disclosure of the personnel files in question here.

Sidebar Note: Looks as though Judge Lichtman is quite an ambitious jurist.

Update: Qualified shock. Although several personnel files were ordered to be publicly disclosed, it seems that many of them were withheld because of the objections that were made. I didn't stay around to see if Lichtman was going to make a ruling from the bench, and since my client is in pro per, I'll have to wait for him to get notice of the ruling in the mail before I know how he made out.

The New Archbishop of San Francisco

Who will it be now that Levada is going off to Rome? I'm hoping the Holy Father has a strong sense of poetic justice and names Fr. Joseph Fessio.

A Rashomon Moment

Rashomon is the title of a classic Japanese language film whose story centers upon the rape of a woman and murder of her husband. The hook of the movie is that every witness who claims to have seen the crimes take place, tells a different story of what happened. To a large extent, the movie is an illustrative commentary on the imperfectness of human nature and the strong tendecy we all have to see and interpret things as we want, rather than as what they are.

The underlying theme of Rashomon seems to have reared its head at Southern Appeal over this recent article written by Pat Buchanan on President Bush's celebration of the 60th anniversary of VE day in Russia. Seems that SA, and several of its combox commentators, think that Buchanan's criticism of Bush is a thinly veiled condemnation of America's involvement in WWII, and a backhanded slight toward all those who fought and sacrificed their lives in that war. I think, however, a closer reading of the article shows something entirely different, and is not what some people are interpreting it to be.

As Buchanan rhetorically asks, "But were we and the Soviets ever fighting for the same things, as FDR believed?" The asking of this question essentially sets up the premise of Buchanan's main argument: that the Soviet Union's involvement in WWII was primarily about preserving its world expasionist goals, and not resisting Nazi aggression. In light of this, Buchanan is expressing befuddlement as to why an American President would go and celebrate VE Day at ground zero for historical world communism.

I can only speculate as to why the good folks at SA seem to be misinterpreting Buchanan's article. This is only a guess, but I suspect that their reading of the piece is colored by their frustration with Buchanan's occasional alignment with the Left on various issues like the war in Iraq, his borderline anti-Semitic blatherings, and his pejorative labeling of any conservative he disagrees with as a "neo-conservative." I certainly share in this frustration about Buchanan, but it shouldn't be a reason to start imputing a belief on him that he never expressed.

Sigh

Assuming she didn't give her consent, I suppose Jennifer Wilbanks is enough of a "newsworthy event" to where this company can try to make money directly off of her image.

It's still sad commentary on our culture, though.

What to Make of It

There seems to be some teeth to the rumor about San Francisco Archbishop William Levada going to CDF. (link via Amy Welborn) While I don't think this would be a great move by PBXVI, it may not be all that bad. First, I highly suspect that no matter who is made the new head of CDF, PBXVI will be keeping a pretty tight reign on it. Second, we can start wildly speculating about the possibility of Fr. Fessio being elevated and appointed as the new Archbishop of San Francisco.

Update: Do I know what I'm talking about, or do I know what talking about? (via Amy Welborn)

Blatant Dishonesty

Tom Berg at the Mirror of Justice Blog writes the following in response to an argument that St. Thomas University Law School's express disavowal over being labled a "conservative" school will lead people to think that the school is not very serious about its Catholic identity, and is, in fact, liberal:

Mr. Adkins doesn't actually claim that being inclusive is the same as softening the teachings; he backs off to saying that "that is the message folks are going to take away from the [St. Thomas] disclaimer." Sorry, folks, but that reminds me of CNN smuggling a scandalous story onto the air in the guise of reporting about how other media are reporting the story. If people interpret a law school's statement that it does not "ascrib[e] to any political agenda" as being "anti-conservative," this will likely be in part because they read commentators who describe the school that way (inaccurately in this case, as I've said in my comments on the Seventh Age blog).

Apparently, Mr. Berg, a self-identified Protestant, has forgotten the following comments by the dean of STU Law School that he (Berg) had posted on the MOJ blog just two days ago:

There is nothing politically “conservative” about our mission, and the people we have attracted prove this. The vast majority of our faculty and student body are left-of-center politically. Our faculty includes individuals who are openly gay, who support abortion rights, who oppose the death penalty, and who have worked on behalf of other “liberal” causes.

Translation: She's an "Uncle Tom"

How else to interpret this comment about D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Janice Rogers Brown by Democrat Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid: 'She is a woman who wants to take us back to the Civil War days.'

I Love You Mom. Kill Me.

That would seem to be the message of this bracelet that NOW is selling and suggesting as a Mother's Day gift.

What a bunch of sick lunatics.

We're Just as Left-Wing as Any Other "Catholic" Law School!!

Via the Mirror of Justice blog, the St. Thomas University Law School is up in arms at being labled a a "conservative" institution by National Public Radio (whose opinion is apparently much valued by STU Law). According to the dean, STU Law's (alleged) seriousness about its' Catholic identity does not equate with pursuing a "conservative" political agenda. In any event, notes the dean, "There is nothing politically 'conservative' about our mission, and the people we have attracted prove this. The vast majority of our faculty and student body are left-of-center politically. Our faculty includes individuals who are openly gay, who support abortion rights, who oppose the death penalty, and who have worked on behalf of other 'liberal' causes. We have chapters of the National Lawyers Guild and Out!law on campus, but we do not have a chapter of the American Center for Law & Justice. We are one of the few law schools in the country to require all of our students to do public service as a condition of graduation, and the American Bar Association recently singled out for praise the high number of our graduates who have taken Legal Aid and other public service jobs."

Gee, with those kind of credentials, how could NPR have been so dumb as to call STU Law a "conservative" school? And, as strongly suggested by the Mirror of Justice bloggers, to call STU Law "liberal" simply lacks "nuance." What a load of highfalutin crap. Although I would agree that one cannot catergorize orthodox Catholicism into an ideological classification, I find it incredibly difficult to believe that any objectively orthodox Catholic could be a left-wing liberal. As such, it seems clear to me that STU Law, through its lauding and admitted recruitment of faculty members and students who hold and promote viewpoints that are decidedly anti-Catholic, is pretty far to the left of the political spectrum. In this sense, I would question whether it is even accurate for STU Law to claim that it is serious about its Catholic identity.

Update: Although it's not specifically the law school, here's more evidence supporting STU Law's claim that it is not "conservative" (as if it's a bad thing to be).

Bad News for Folks in Grand Rapids, Michigan

The Beast is apparently residing within your telephone area code. (via RelapsedCatholic)

Satanists, apocalypse watchers and heavy metal guitarists may have to adjust their demonic numerology after a recently deciphered ancient biblical text revealed that 666 is not the fabled Number of the Beast after all.

A fragment from the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament, dating to the Third century, gives the more mundane 616 as the mark of the Antichrist.

Ellen Aitken, a professor of early Christian history at McGill University, said the discovery appears to spell the end of 666 as the devil's prime number.

"This is a very nice piece to find," Dr. Aitken said. "Scholars have argued for a long time over this, and it now seems that 616 was the original number of the beast."

Curiously enough, there is a small town in Michigan called Hell. It's not in the 616 area code, though.

Maybe It's Just Too Obvious

Out of curiosity, I did a Google search to see if there were any law schools in this country named after St. Thomas More, the most well known patron saint for lawyers. To my surprise, I couldn't find one.

University of Sacramento

This is a new university started by the Legionaires of Christ. Not much publicity about it, possibly because the university doesn't yet have a full blown campus or an undergraduate degree program. (The school currently only offers Master's degrees in Education and Liberal Arts).

Given the founders of the school, the positive references to Ex Corde Ecclesiae in the Mission section of the website, and the fact that folks like Mary Ann Glendon and Russell Hittinger are on the Academic Advisory Council, the University of Sacramento looks to be a solidly orthodox Catholic institution. Or at least let's hope it is.

It Would Have Been Deadly if I Had Eaten It

Talk about overreaction. Police in New Mexico lockdown a middle school over a 911 report of a possible weapon that turns out to be a big carne asada burrito wrapped in tin foil. (via Drudge)

In Re: Anti-American Billboard

In response to this garbage, talk radio station KFI 640 is putting this up throughout the Southern California region.

I love it.

"Pahmping" Them Up

The Governator puts in a good word for the Minutemen:

"I think they have done a terrific job, and they have cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants by a huge percentage, so it just shows that it works when you go and make an effort and when you work hard. ... It's a shame the private citizen has to go in there and secure our borders," he said.

Despite a firestorm of criticism, Schwarzenegger has stood by his comments, telling a news conference, yesterday: "I think the most important thing to note is I am a champion of immigrants. I promote immigration. I am an immigrant myself. I think it's extremely important that we do it in a legal way."

"[The federal government's] job is to secure the borders and they have not done their job," Schwarzenegger continued. "And when the government – the state or the country – doesn't do its job, then the private citizens go out and it's like a neighborhood patrol."

Sidenote: If you've heard about them, there's a "Los Angeles, CA Mexico" billboard near where I live in Orange County. Absolutely ridiculous.

Update: When it comes to illegal immigration, the normally rational Professor Bainbridge chooses politics and hyperbole over law.

A Paper That's Barely Fit to House Train Your Dog

Patterico examines the latest effort by the L.A. Times to distort the news in order to rip the U.S. military.

I Say About a Year

Until we see a made for TV movie about the bizarre story of "runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks.

Should Have Been Done Eons Ago

The Archdiocese of New York derecognizes (unrecognizes?) Marymount Manhattan College as a Catholic institution. (via the Corner at NRO)

Update: A good cause of action for derecognizing Loyola Marymount University in L.A. (It'll never happen, of course, as long as Cardinal Hollywood Mahony is running things)

It's Not Exactly Harvard, but C'mon...!

A black female student at Trinity International University (the mother ship of this humble attorney's law school) is criminally charged with making racial slurs and threats against fellow students. Why did she allegedly do it? Apparently, she just doesn't like going to TIU. (via RelapsedCatholic)

Smut

There must be really something wonderful about fatherhood when it makes someone who actually works in the sleaze industry write a book complaining about our oversexed culture.

Update: An unlikely solution in Reavill's book, but I like it.

It All Adds Up

Anyone know where Karl Rove was during the conclave? (raised eyebrow influenced by Amy Welborn)

Update:On the basis of unnamed sources, foundationless asertions and a determination to portray the Catholic Church as just a political institution that happens to like talking about God, Time magazine will be reporting that "the campaign" for pope resulted in Cardinal Ratzinger getting 95 out of 115 votes. (via Drudge).

Will There Soon Be Altar Girls?

Since moving back down to the OC earlier this year, I've been attending the parish I was baptized and confirmed at, St. Mary's by the Sea in Huntington Beach. Up until fairly recently, St. Mary's had been a kind of pre-Vatican II traditionalist holdout in the diocese. For not only was the Tridentine Mass presided over every Sunday at St. Mary's (by indult, of course), the Novus Ordo Masses there were done in a very "conservative" manner (e.g., most people knealt to receive communion, no one held hands during the Our Father, and the "sign of peace" gesture was always omitted). However, with the retirement last year of it's longtime pastor, Fr. Daniel Johnson, St. Mary's has been undergoing some "Spirit of Vatican II" changes that I'm frankly sorry to see.

The most significant change was the elimination of the Sunday Tridentine Mass. The diocese, or more specifically, Bishop Tod "Mahoney Clone" Brown, is of the belief that the indult to preside over the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's is personal to Fr. Johnson and does not apply to the parish. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.

Other changes that are being implemented by the diocese at St. Mary's include the appointing of extraordinary ministers and having people line up in two single file lines down the center aisle to receive communion (thus, effectively eliminating use of the communion rails). Unlike the elimination of the Tridentine Mass, I really don't have a huge problem with these changes. However, since the only reasons that have been given for making these changes are that they fall within the liturgical norms of the Church and Bishop Mahoney Clone desires to see them, I highly suspect that at some point in the near future, the insufferable music of Marty Haugen will be used for the processional and recessional hymns. Ugh!!!

More Garbage From Al Reuteera

Powerline exposes yet another thinly veiled attack by Reuters against the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict XVI.

Martin Luther Must Be Rolling in His Grave

Like so many others, I was very happy to learn that Cardinal Ratzinger was selected to be the new pope. On my way to lunch today, I heard on the radio that Pope Benedict XVI is the first German pope in some 900 years.

Update: According to MSNBC, it's been 500 years since the last German pope.

Blithering Nonsense

Episcopalian Bishop V. Gene Robinson at the recent Planned Parenthood prayer (to Moloch) breakfast (via Ignatius Insight Scoop):

"Our defense against religious people has to be a religious defense. ... We must use people of faith to counter the faith-based arguments against us," he said.

Can People Be Weapons of Mass Destruction?

Yeah, I think so.

Culture of Death Indeed

Or, to put it less charitably, Leftist Morons on Parade.

Is There a Catholic Equivalent?

One of the bloggers at Mirror of Justice pointed out this forthcoming book by Mark Noll, which appears to provide an examination of contemporary Roman Catholicism from an Evangelical perspective.

Having read The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, my tendency is to belive that Noll will be pretty fair in his assessment of the Church and her teachings. I do find it kind of odd, though, that there are so many books out there about Catholicism, some of which are pure garbage, that are written by self-professed Evangelicals. Even more amazing is that there doesn't seem to be any Catholic books which give an assessment of Evangelicalism. Seems that most, if not all, Catholic literature that discuss Evangelicalism is normally done within the context of apologetics or a conversion to Catholicism. If this correct, I wonder why.

Slouching Toward a Sell-Out

Looks as though the Vatican is on the verge of severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan in the naive hope that the ChiComs will reciprocate and extend greater religious freedom to underground Chinese Catholics. (via Amy Welborn)

Liked by the LDS

As I was reading this roundup of Protestant/Evangelical perspectives of JP II's passing, I started thinking to myself (don't ask me why), "I wonder what the Mormons think?" Here's a sampling from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Walter Whipple, who was an LDS mission president in Poland and now teaches Polish culture at Brigham Young University, called John Paul "a man of faith, vision and intellect, and one more thing, courage."

Despite Mormon teachings about how Christianity lost its way after the death of Jesus' apostles, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley offered his respects, even adulation, for the man believed by a billion Catholics to be St. Peter's successor.

(...)

The pope "has been a true Christian his whole life and a marvelous example of Christian charity and love to the whole world. He has 'restored' much dignity to Christianity and has played an active role for the good in world affairs," wrote John Fowles of Salt Lake City on the blog bycommonconsent.com. "I am confident that he will make the right choices in the spirit world."

In other words, join the LDS Church.


BTW, on the same day that JP II passed, the 175th conference of the LDS church opened. I'm still trying to figure out if there's any meaningful significance to this. (Maybe God's way of casting the attention of misguided believers toward His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church?)

Great Guy, But Too Bad He Was Catholic

I'm thinking that Al Mohler has never tried to make a good faith effort to find out if what he believes about Catholicism are actually true, or that he read JP II's last book.

Even in his most recent book, released in the United States just days before his death, John Paul II continued to define the work of Christ as that which is added to human effort. Like the church he served, John Paul II rejected justification by faith. Beyond this, he rejected the biblical doctrine of hell, embraced inclusivism, and promoted an extreme form of Marian devotion, referring to Mary as "Co-Redemptrix," "Mediatrix," and "Mother of all Graces."


And by the way Hugh, it's not the differences between Catholic and Protestant theology that Mohler illustrates, but rather, stereotypical Protestant ignorance about Catholic theology.

Not Even Fit for Birdcage Lining

Powerline has the scoop on the New Yuck Times' apparent inability to find someone who liked JP II.

The Persecution Continues

The Captain's Quarters notes that despite worldwide reports of Pope JP II's impending death, the ChiComs have stepped up their crackdowns on so-called underground (i.e., non-governmentally approved) Catholic churches. One can only speculate that the ChiComs' actions are based on a belief that the pope's illness and death will only inspire "illegal" Catholics in China to be more "subversive" in their behavior. If this is in fact the case, it certainly provides powerful testimony to how valuable and influential even the most infirm person in this world can be.

"Quality of Life"

A most disturbing term as applied to end of life issues, since it necessarily implies that at some point, a person ceases becoming a person or human being, and therfore can be disposed of like an old pair of shoes. This is basically why Terri Schiavo was starved to death, and we should all be frightened over the fact that the government has given its official stamp of approval to how this term "Quality of life" is being used.

A Life of Suffering That Was Well Worth Living

I can find no other way to describe the incredible life of Pope John Paul II, who, it seems, will soon have the burden of being Christ's visible vicar on Earth lifted from his shoulders.

The Blessed Sounds of Silence

A real nice tribute to JP II by Marc Thiessen at NRO. (via Michelle Malkin, who also links to a CNN report about the pope being given "last rites.")

How blessed we are to have such a teacher in our midst; to receive the precious gift of his suffering; and to be living witnesses to what may one day be considered the greatest days of the greatest papacy in history. John Paul was once asked why he does not retire, and is said to have given this reply: "Because Christ did not come down from the Cross." The Lord will take him from us when He is ready. 'Til then, give us this silent pope.

In Propria Persona

You know that saying about a person who is his own attorney has a fool for a client? I sort of saw this today with a non-attorney litigant who will soon be getting a fairly intimidating written lesson on local pre-trial rules and procedures.

Time to "Sack It Up" Jeb

And just order state troopers into the hospice where Terri Schiavo is being starved to death and feed her. I mean, really; who's going to hold you accountable for "breaking the law" and not killing Terri? Judge Greer? If I were you, Jeb, I'd publicly dare him to come after me.

Hail, Mary

Just ran across this past week's Time magazine, which has a cover story chronicling an apparent movement among Protestants toward a more "Catholic view" of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If this is in fact true, I highly suspect it has a lot to do with the Passion of the Christ movie, which gave a great visual portayal of how Our Lady was intimately involved in Jesus'redemption of mankind.

The Left's Warped Sense of Federalism

I haven't read the editorial, because I frankly don't think I could stomach it, but the New Yuck Times is apparently all up in arms about Congress possibly intervening to save Terri Schiavo from being starved to death by decree of the Flordia State courts. The Times seems to think that such a "rash assumption of judicial power" by Congress is "nothing short of breathtaking." However, as noted by Ramesh Ponnuru and Mark Levin over at The Corner, the Times' incredulous concern over the sanctity of states' rights in the killing of a handicapped woman is about as phony as a three dollar bill. (I especially like Levin's observation that Congress is actually coming to the aid of Florida elected officials -- e.g., Gov. Jeb Bush -- who tried to enact legislation to save Terri, but were thwarted by anti-life judges in the Florida courts). Dollars to donuts that the Times would be screaming for Federal troops if a Florida judge had made a ruling that was preventing a woman from getting an abortion.

Speaking of Terri Schiavo, go to Blogs for Terri on the latest happenings in this most disturbing affair.

He's Either Stupid or Conniving

My firm is representing a small company who is being sued by a former employee who claims that our client failed to pay him his due wages as required by the California Labor Code. At first, the attorney representing the former employee filed a complaint wherein he tried to claim punitive damages on top of the penalties that are imposed by the Labor Code. That, of course, is a no-no under established case law, and my firm (via me) accordingly filed a motion with the court to have the extra punitive damage claim stricken from the complaint.

Since here in California a plaintiff has the right to amend his or her filed complaint one time without having to get permission from the courts, the former employee's attorney did so, and I went ahead and cancelled the scheduled hearing on the motion I made. However, rather than just taking out the inappropriate punitive damage claim, the former employee's attorney went and added a common law cause of action for fraud. Based upon the original complaint he filed, it's obvious that the former employee's attorney is trying to make a backdoor claim for additional punitive damages in the amended complaint. The real kicker about this added cause of action for fraud is that the former employee is essentially alleging that my firm's client intentionally misrepresented to him that it would not violate civilly prosecutable State and Federal labor laws regarding the payment of due wages. This is about as logical as the government criminally prosecuting someone for not only murder, but also for intentionally misrepresenting that he wouldn't commit murder.

Needless to say, a demurrer (i.e., a legal "so what?") on the added cause of action is being prepared.

Canada: The Great North American Afterthought

And yet, as chronicled by the Weekly Standard's Matt Labash, the country can't stop looking down it's collective nose at the U.S.

JUST HOW PERFECTLY GOOD a country Canada is, is a matter of dispute. The expats I eventually meet buy into Canadian self-mythologizing without so much as giving the tires a kick. Yet even some Canadians gag on the constant stream of virtue-proclaiming advertorials that are, for lack of a better word, a crock. This is self-evident in the pathological Canadian claims of modesty and politeness.

Will Ferguson is a cockeyed nationalist and brilliant satirist, who calls his country "a nation of associate professors." In his book Why I Hate Canadians, he writes that his countrymen even boast about their Great Canadian Inferiority Complex. While it's difficult to go five minutes without hearing how collectively nice Canadians are, Ferguson says, "what we fail to realize is that self-conscious niceness is not niceness at all; it is a form of smugness. Is there anything more insufferable than someone saying, 'Gosh, I sure am a sweet person, don'tcha think?'"

This strain of nails-on-the-blackboard nationalism is most evident in the recent bestseller Fire and Ice, an Americans-are-from-Mars, Canadians-are-from-Venus study of the two countries' values by Canadian sociologist Michael Adams. Based on three head-to-head values surveys done over a decade, it shows Americans coming up short on matters from militarism to materialism. This is hardly news. But Adams pushes his luck, giving conventional wisdom a twirl by advancing that it is the Americans who are actually the slavish followers of an established order, while Canadians are rugged individualists and autonomous free thinkers.

Give Adams points for cheek. His is, after all, a country that didn't bother to draft its own constitution until 1982, that kept "God Save the Queen" as its national anthem until 1980, and that still enshrines its former master's monarch as its head of state. Her Canadian title is "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen (breath), Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith." Maybe they should change their national anthem again, to Britney Spears's "I'm A Slave 4 U."

It Didn't Have to Happen

The recent courthouse shooting in Atlanta prompted a Michelle Malkin blog reader to pass along some interesting, if not prophetic, quotes from a 2002 written opinion by California Supreme Court Justice, and GW Bush nominee, Janice Rogers Brown. Justice Brown was dissenting in a case where the majority of the California Supreme Court ruled that the criminal defendant could not be required to wear an electronic shock belt. As noted by the reader, the Court's decision back then sent shockwaves throughout the nation's legal system to where the recent events in Atlanta, while distressing, was not all that surprising.

Update: Unless the legal restrictions on restraining criminal defendants are done away with, I fail to see how imposing the death penalty in this country can be deemed, from a Catholic perspective, to be unjustified.

Views From the Left

Re: the SCOTUS' recent ruling on the death penalty for minors.

Two Places at the Same Time

The laughs that could be had if I worked for White & Case, LLP.

There They Go Again

Because he is only serving a temporary recess appointment, Bill Pryor must be confirmed by the Senate in order to permanently sit on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Staying true to form in their love of ideology over competency and integrity, Senate Democrats have filibustered Pryor, even though he enjoys near universal support in his home state of Alabama.

The liberal Anniston Star, for instance, in the same editorial that urges filibusters against most of President Bush's nominees, writes that "Pryor, who possesses a brilliant legal mind, cannot be so easily dismissed. . . . Pryor has been proven capable of setting aside his ideology when it matters most. . . . [He] helped shut down [Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's Ten Commandments] sideshow and, in the process, displayed personal courage. That alone ought to convince Democrats currently blocking a vote on Pryor to give him a chance."

Why do Alabamians so strongly back Judge Pryor? Because they've seen him in action defending Democratic lawmakers against Republican lawsuits, defying the Republican governor (Fob James) who appointed him, and spending countless hours establishing a youth mentorship program through the attorney general's office. They know him, up close, as a man of integrity and compassion.

National critics have gone to prodigious lengths to muddy that home-state record. Unfairly so. Consider that critics have accused Judge Pryor of being insensitive to women because he successfully argued against one small portion of the Violence Against Women Act. But Judge Pryor's constitutional point was virtually incontrovertible, namely that rape doesn't qualify as "interstate commerce." His goal was to keep authority for prosecuting rapes in state courts, where (in Alabama at least) the juries are likely to be harder on rapists than elsewhere. Meanwhile, he has been praised throughout Alabama by groups that aid victims of domestic violence. Mobile's Penelope House women's shelter even named him to its Law Enforcement Hall of Fame.

Agreeable Sentiment, But Wrong

By a 5-4 vote, the SCOTUS finds the imposition of the death penalty on minors to be unconstitutional. From Scalia's sober dissent:


But Hamilton had in mind a traditional judiciary, “bound down by strict rules and prece-dents which serve to define and point out their duty in every particular case that comes before them” [citing Federalist 78]. . . Bound down, indeed.

What a mockery today’s opinion makes of Hamilton’s expectation, announcing the Court’s conclusion that the meaning of our Constitution has changed over the past 15 years?not, mind you, that this Court’s decision 15 years ago was wrong, but that the Constitution has changed. The Court reaches this implausible result by purporting to advert, not to the original meaning of the Eighth Amendment, but to “the evolving standards of decency,” . . . of our national society. It then finds, on the flimsiest of grounds, that a national consensus which could not be perceived in our people’s laws barely 15 years ago now solidly exists. Worse still, the Court says in so many words that what our people’s laws say about the issue does not, in the last analysis, matter: “[I]n the end our own judgment will be brought to bear on the question of the acceptability of the death penalty under the Eighth Amendment.” . . .

The Court thus proclaims itself sole arbiter of our Nation's moral standards--and in the course of discharging that awesome responsibility purports to take guidance from the views of foreign courts and legislatures. Because I do not believe that the meaning of our Eighth Amendment, any more than the meaning of other provisions of our Constitution, should be determined by the subjective views of five Members of this Court and like-minded foreigners, I dissent."

A Pro-Life Swann

That would be Lynn Swann, sports reporter, former Pittsburgh Steeler and USC alumnus, who is looking into running for governor of Pennsylvania.

Swann, who campaigned for President Bush last year, said his conservative views and opposition to abortion began early.

"I wasn't supposed to be born," Swann said, explaining that his parents wanted to stop at two children.

"My mom said, 'Try for a girl.' My dad said, 'No.' My mom said, 'Have a scotch.' And I was born. That's good enough reason to be pro-life."

Papal Deathwatch 2005

It is in full swing, and as usual, the media just doesn't get how ghoulish they are acting.

But even as John Paul II battles to recover, Irish bookmakers Paddy Power have begun taking bets on the identity of his successor.

The company has made 70-year-old Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, the Archbishop of Milan, its firm favourite as next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Archbishop Tettamanzi, at 5-2, is ahead of 74-year-old Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, 3-1, and 68-year-old Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino of Cuba, 11-2.

I Knew He'd Cross Over Sooner or Later

The conversion of University of Texas political theory professor J. Budziszewski to Catholicism isn't a real big surprise to me. When I was still attending the Evangelical law school I eventually graduated from a few years ago, I had the opportunity to sit in on a couple of lectures on natural law that Prof. Budziszewski (pronounced "Bud-ja-zev-skee") had been specially invited to give. While I was listening to him talk, I kept thinking to myself, "This guy can't be an Evangelical."

Fatima, 13 and the Fall of Soviet Communism

Joseph Bottum ties them all together in a nice little tribute to the late Sister Lucia dos Santos.

Blogs for Terri

Please go there for the latest news and what can be done to help save her life.

Seattle or Southern California?

I'm not one for hot weather and actually like occasional rain, but the downpours we've been getting down here lately in So. Cal. are beginning to really really annoy me.

I Had Dinner with the Pope

Not literally, but at the Buca di Beppo restaurant I went to last night for the first time, there was an encased bust of JP II in the middle of my table. On the walls around my table, there were numerous framed pictures of not only JP II, but of Pope John XXIII and I think St. Therese. Being that it was a Friday during Lent, I couldn't have thought of a better place to have dinner.

Buckley Jumps the Shark

It's one thing to hold the opinion that John Paul II in no longer effective and should resign from the papacy, but to actually pray for his death in order to have a new pope is just plain nuts.

Still Around

Just really haven't had an opportunity to post anything lately. Almost all this week, I was preparing documents and trading nasty phone calls with a jerk-wad opposing attorney for a case that was set trial on Monday, but now has pretty much gone away because the parties yesterday agreed on a settlement where nobody gets anything.

Since I'm still kind of new at litigation, it's taking me a heck of a long time to put together a pleading that a more seasoned attorney could probably do in an hour or two. Yeah, I know there's a normal learning process, but man is it discouraging.

Anyway, still hoping that things will start to settle down so that I can more regularly update the blog.

Update On Me

Things have been kind of busy the past couple of weeks, what with the new job and all. For the first time in my relatively brief career as a civil litigator, I "argued" my first motion last Thursday. Inside legal speak: The motion was specially set on an ex parte application, so there wasn't any kind of tentative ruling from the judge, as is the usual practice here in California. Needless to say, my performance was less than stellar as there were some comments made by opposing counsel that I probably should have made a rebuttal to but didn't, and I had overlooked some details that I didn't realize I overlooked until after the hearing was over. Based on the moving papers that I submitted, it seemed as though the judge was pretty much on our side, but now I don't know.

Other than experiencing the growing pains of being a "young" lawyer, I'm still looking for a permanent place to live down here in the OC. Rents are so ridiculously high that I've decided I'd be better off buying a condo.

Anyway, that's the latest on me. I'm hoping things will settle down in the next few weeks so that I can regularly update this blog.

Driver Licenses for Illegals?

If you're an advocate of it, which I most certainly am not, you can pretty much kiss the cause goodbye if it turns out the guy who caused the Metrolink train wreck in Glendale yesterday is an "undocumented" alien.

Brand New Start

Just finished my first week at the small civil litigation firm that hired me recently, and so far so good. The managing attorney is a bit too free in dropping the f-bomb and other choice four letter words, but he's a pretty nice guy, as is the rest of the office staff. In terms of the work itself, I'm getting thrown into the deep end of the pool a little sooner than I like -- next week alone, I'm going to have to argue an ex-parte motion and might have to go to "trial" on a single issue in a workers comp case -- but the expectations on me aren't all that high, and it's a great learning opportunity.

Wussies

Word in the blogosphere is that the Fox network has caved in to CAIR's complaints about the portrayal of Muslims as terrorists in the show "24".(link via Michelle Malkin)

Thanks for Filing and Wasting Our Tax Dollars

For striking out on his latest stupid crusade against religion, Michael Newdow should be required to have a big "L" tattooed on his forehead.

Another Reason to Homeschool

Based on the reported conversation that occurred in the classroom, I'm wondering if there might not be some criminal charges involved.

According to Fried and students who attended the talk, Fried told one group of about 16 students that strippers can earn as much as $250,000 a year and that a larger bust -- whether natural or augmented -- has a direct relationship to a dancer's salary.

He told the students, "For every two inches up there, it's another $50,000," according to Jason Garcia, 14.

Representative Democracy is So Yesterday

Check out this recent quote from Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer:

"U.S. law is not handed down from on high even at the U.S. Supreme Court," he said. "The law emerges from a conversation with judges, lawyers, professors and law students. ... It's what I call opening your eyes as to what's going on elsewhere."

And you thought having a constitution and voting for a so-called lawmaker actually meant something. (See more at Powerline).

Update: American University law professor Kenneth Anderson says the Breyer quote above was misreported by AP. It appears Breyer was speaking within the narrow context of interpreting legal texts that have already been established and informed by various democratically elected institutions. Nevertheless, the level of deference that Justice Breyer gives to international law in the interpretation of U.S. law -- as reflected in the last quoted sentence -- is something that Anderson has a bone of contention with.

Diplomatic Bunglehead

Other than out of anti-American sentiments, I just don't see why Cardinal Pio Laghi felt the need to publicly complain that President Bush broke some vague "promise" to him about fighting the Iraq war "quickly" and "favorably." Indeed, my suspician about Cardinal Laghi's actions being driven by sheer hostility toward the U.S. seems to be supported by comments he made back in March 2003 where, after meeting with the President, he stated that "military force [in Iraq] can only be taken within the framework of the United Nations." (news link via Drudge).

Good Call by the SCOTUS

In what could be interpreted as an affirming nod to federalism (i.e., states' rights), the Supreme Court declined to review a challenge to a Florida law that prohibits self-identified homosexuals from adopting children. Now if the Court would just extend the principles of federalism to things like sodomy and abortion.

The People Have Spoken

Caught the tail end of The People's Choice Awards last night -- I was watching the season premiere of 24, which IMHO, is the best show on television right now -- and was very happy to see that The Passion of the Christ won the award for best movie drama. It looks as though The Passion is going to be snubbed from Oscar consideration, but in view of the fact that the Hollywood elite is falling all over films about abortionists, Che Guevara and deranged sex researchers, this probably isn't a bad thing.

Eighth Grade Name Calling

Asked to point out an example in support of his charge that Justice Clarence Thomas is an embarrassment because he writes poorly written opinions, Democrat U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid brought up the case of Hillside Diary, Inc. v. Lyons. In Reid's view, Justice Thomas' opinion in this case resembles an "8th grade dissertaion compared to somebody who just graduated from Harvard."

After reading Thomas' part concurrance and dissent in Hillsdale Diary (which is little more than a paragraph), I share in the perplexity expressed by others over the charges levelled by Reid. In an age when Supreme Court decisions can be readily accessed by anybody at anytime, and the MSM no longer has a monopoly on reporting news, I'm amazed that someone like Harry Reid still seems to assume that nobody is going to check out the validity of what he is saying and expose any flaws. (Hat tip to PSB).

Update: In addition to refuting Reid, former clerk to Justice Thomas, John Yoo, writes an interesting piece here where he essentially argues that Thomas would lose influence on the Court if he were ever to be named Chief Justice.

Sadly Not Surprising

After three years of a legally recognized marriage, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his soon to be ex-wife are getting a divorce. The reason? The "demands" of being a bicoastal couple. With such a compelling reason for ending a marriage, I can now really see why Newsom thought it would be a good idea to give marriage licenses to homosexual couples.

Hitpiece

I noticed this article about Clarence Thomas in the L.A. Times yesterday, and just by reading the headline I knew it was a biased slamjob. Ken Masugi of the Claremont Institute elaborates on just how much of a ridiculous hitpiece this is.

Happy New Year!

Or as we Chinese sometimes say, "Xin Nian Hao!"

Movin' On Down

As the new year approaches, I will be moving back down to So. Cal. where I've accepted a job with a relatively new and small law firm in Orange County. Hopefully, this job will work out a lot better than the last associate attorney position I held, and civil litigation won't be something that I hate so much.

Although I am sad to be leaving No. Cal., I do plan to make my way back up here in the next 2-3 years.

Just Watch. He'll Be Called an "Uncle Tom" Liberal

Set for publication this week in the Stanford Law Review is a controversial article written by UCLA law professor Richard Sander. In this article, Sander essentially concludes that affirmative action admission policies in our nation's law schools hurts minorities (e.g., blacks) more than it helps them.

As summarized by Terry Eastland at the Weekly Standard(article link via Powerline):

In the picture Sander draws, the admissions preferences for blacks are very large. This is the case with respect to almost all law schools. Which is to say, contrary to conventional wisdom, preferences aren't confined to the elite schools. Indeed, "affirmative action has a cascading effect through American legal education." The top-tier law schools enroll not only the small number of blacks who don't need preferences to get in but also less-qualified black applicants whose credentials would have sufficed to gain them admission under a race-blind standard to a second-tier school. Second-tier schools are then forced to choose between having few if any black students (under a race-blind standard) or using preferences to reach their racial goals. The second-tier schools make the latter choice, and so the effects cascade to the third-tier schools and on down the law-school ladder. There is thus a "system" in place whose net effect is "to move nearly all blacks up a tier (or two) in the law school hierarchy." Only at the bottom--in the lowest-tier schools--do you find black students who are probably unqualified for any law school.

The cascading effect leaves most black students "mismatched" with peers whose academic credentials (in terms of LSAT scores and UGPA) are superior. Which means, as Sander puts it, that "nearly all blacks [are placed] at an enormous academic disadvantage in the schools they attend." And so there are "mismatch effects." In their first year, about 50 percent of black law students end up in the bottom tenth of their class, and roughly two-thirds in the bottom fifth, with only 8 percent placing in the top half. The grades of black law school students go down a bit from the first to the third year. Black students have a much higher attrition rate than white students (19 percent compared with 8 percent). Sander finds that fact unsurprising, since students (of whatever race) with the very worst grades are those who are expelled or drop out. Finally, black law school graduates fail the bar exam at four times the rate of white graduates. Sander concludes that more than 40 percent of black students starting out to become lawyers never reach that goal.

Still Pining for a Gore Presidency

No doubt largely inspired by Barbara Boxer's most recent foray into the ridiculous, California's other left-wing U.S. Senator, Dianne Feinstein, wants to "fix" the national electoral system by proposing a constitutional amendment that would abolish the electoral college. (news link via Hugh Hewitt).

Hi-ho Silver, Eh?

The Supreme Court of Canada has been asked to determine whether the word "kemosabe" (most famously used in The Lone Ranger TV show) is racist. I imagine the Vancouver Canucks hockey team will be looking on with much interest.

Yet One More Reason to Homeschool

How incredibly perceptive of the Plano Independent School District to figure out that when people wear red and green colors around the Christmas holiday, they are trying to proslytyze their Christian faith.

Judge Wears Ten Commandments on Robe

A nice idea, although I personally find it a bit aesthetically awkward (I would have put a discrete, but noticeable, "PX" symbol).

Another Example of How Barbara Boxer is a Freakin' Nut

Images of a raging magalomaniac arise, as the left wing senator from California not so subtly threatens to put the Federal government hammer on college football if the private consortium that oversees the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) doesn't adopt some kind of a playoff system (as it currently stands, the top Division I-A football teams are more or less determined by some mysterious mathmatical formula that, of course, takes into account wins and losses). And oh yeah, Boxer's son is a graduate of Cal, whose football team this year got numerically squeezed out of a BCS bowl game that would have netted the school several million dollars. Quite a coincidence, eh?

Doing God's Work

A woman who has dedicated her life to saving babies from infanticide wins $27 million in the California lottery.

All too often, the ring of Debi Faris-Cifelli's cell phone means there is another abandoned newborn at the morgue, another forsaken child for her to name and bury in a shoebox-size coffin under a white cross in the California desert.

"Maybe it's the children saying, 'Thank you' for taking care of them when nobody else would," Faris-Cifelli said, bubbling with laughter. "It's a gift and one for which we feel an awesome responsibility."

It's what they did next that sets the Cifellis apart.

"That's a lot of money to be responsible for. We want to be really good stewards of that money. We feel like it's a gift," said Debi.

"And the first thing we thought of was a scholarship fund," said Steve.

The Power of Ordination Belongs to State and Federal Judges

So effectively suggests a Connecticut defense attorney who believes that Catholic priests should unionize in order to protect their "careers" from "baseless allegations" of criminal misconduct.

Wonder where this yayhoo was on the day they taught the First Amendment in law school.

That Would Be "Aiya!"

Michelle Malkin posts a story about how Nike is apologizing for running an "offensive" commercial that has since been banned in China, and what China does to folks who dare to exhibit courage.

"Christophobia"

It appears the Vatican is pushing for an adoption of the term by the U.N.

Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's foreign minister, said anti-Christian feeling had increased, exacerbated by the war on terrorism.

He said Christianity was often mistakenly seen as being inextricably linked with Western political policy, and had suffered as a result in the backlash against the West.

His comments, at a conference in Rome, were primarily aimed at Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, where insurgents have bombed a number of churches.

But he also echoed Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a leading contender to be the next Pope, who said last month that parts of Europe were so now secular that Christianity was being pushed into the margins.

A stupendously bad idea if you ask me. For one thing, a phobia is an irrational psychiactric fear, not an overt expression of ignorant hostility or hatred. Second, adopting this made up term only lends further credibility to ridiculous political words like "homophobia." Seems to me that if you want a word that adequately describes anti-Christianity, the word "anti-Christianity" should be used.

Maybe Target Did A Good Thing

In an unintentional fashion, the controversial decision by the Target Corporation to prohibit the Salvation Army from ringing bells (i.e., soliciting charitable donations) in front of their stores may very well be in the best interest for Catholics. (link via Amy Welborn)

73*



The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

By and Large, AIDS is a Homosexual Disease

This is certifiably confirmed by the fact that over 40 percent of those in America who are afflicted with the disease are homosexual males. Sure would be nice if the "gay community" would fess up to this and admit that their chosen lifestyle is inherently dangerous.

Unhinged

If the Democrat Party doesn't disassociate itself from folks like these, it can forget about ever winning back Congress and the presidency. (link via Michelle Malkin)

Detroit Not Only Has Basketbrawl

They also have Boy Scout troops that throw dinner parties for anti-Boy Scout congressmen. Huh.

SCOTUS Won't Review Mass. Case

The SCOTUS declines to review the blatantly activist decision by the Mass. high court legalizing "gay marriage." Since the rejection was made without comment, one can only speculate that it might be based on the proposed amendment to the Mass. constitution that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Blackballed

For daring to blow the whistle on John Kerry, 'Rat mafiosos (can there be any other way to describe them?) have apparently succeeded in getting Swift Boat vet Steve Gardner fired from his job. (link via Powerline)

On Vacation

And I have an annoying cold, so I won't be blogging for the rest of this week. Have a happy Turkey Day!