New Spin-Off Blog

From the creator of the Southern Appeal blog comes But God's First.

What's Good for the Goose

Looking to take advantage of the Supreme Court's pro-government land grab ruling in Kelo, the CEO of Freestar Media has applied to build a commercial hotel on some property in New Hampshire owned by Justice David Souter. (via Michelle Malkin)

Nice sentiment, but it's probably not going to work since I doubt any land owned by Souter, who voted with the majority in Kelo, would be situated in an allegedly blighted area in need of redevelopment.

What the...?!

The font on my posts have mysteriously changed from arial to times new roman.

"Working" Late

As I'm writing this, it's roughly 7pm and I'm sitting in the office waiting for a workers' comp client to finish reviewing her deposition (which she's been doing for about 2 hours!) in preparation for a possible trial this week. So while I wait, I'm just going to cruise the 'net for a while and think about finishing up a memorandum in opposition to one of the most ridiculous demurrers that ever has to have been written in the history of law.

I've Been Remiss

Although I have had time to update this blog over the past week, for some reason I just couldn't think of anything to post.

For my two readers out there, I am profoundly sorry. I'll try to pick things up on a more consistent basis starting Monday since I'm going to be out of town for the next couple of days. Aloha!

Dogs, Cats and Pigeons Are Verboten

But go on ahead and eat that human fetus if it tickles your fancy.

Jeffrey Dahmer has gotta be kicking himself in Hell right now.

Ever since the story broke about a Kansas City abortionist accused of eating fetuses questions have been raised about why he wasn't charged with a crime besides losing his medical license.

The short answer, according to law enforcement authorities involved in the investigation of Krishna Rajanna, is: Because there are no laws against eating fetuses.

(...)

"Julia went on to describe how she and the other girls actually witnessed Rajanna microwave one of the aborted fetuses and stir it into his lunch," explained Detective William Howard of the Kansas City Police Department, the investigating officer. "Julia claimed that she shared this (information) with some of the other employees, who confirmed that they had seen him do the very same thing."

His First Name is Well Earned

The fact that Senator Durbin has the freedom to make stupid and unsubstantiated remarks about the military should have been an indication to him that his remarks here were, well, stupid. Then again, maybe he knew that and is simply counting on the general public to be too stupid to care.

"Reprehensible" is the word used by the White House to describe remarks made by Sen. Dick Durbin earlier this week comparing the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to victims of Nazis, Soviet gulags and Cambodia's Khmer Rouge.

(...)

Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita commented Thursday that Durbin may want to see the prison before he criticizes it.

"Anyone who would make such outlandish comments has an obligation to visit the facility at Guantanamo Bay. Our records suggest Senator Durbin has never been there. He may also want to visit the memorials to the victims of Pol Pot and Stalin and then decide if he wants to live the rest of his life with that comment," DiRita said.

Meeouch!

Add little kittens to Howard Dean's personal hate list. =8^p

This is Your Brain on Scientology

100% RC

Except for my perfect RC score (no surprise) the results below are a little different than the first time I took the test. I tried posting my first results, but I ended up deleting it because I messed around with and screwed up the HTML coding. (HT to PSB)

Roman Catholic 100% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Neo orthodox 68% Charismatic/Pentecostal 50% Emergent/Postmodern 39% Fundamentalist 39% Classical Liberal 36% Modern Liberal 29% Reformed Evangelical 25% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Christian Porn Queen?

If ever there was a mind-boggling paradox...

Pornographer Mark Kulkis says tonight's presidential fund-raiser, which includes him and his date, XXX porn star Mary Carey, will make pop-culture history.

But the National Republican Congressional Committee seems more intent on using President Bush's $2,500-a-plate speech to make political fund-raising history.

Congressional Republicans expect to add at least $23 million to their party campaign funds at the event featuring the president.

(...)

Carey, who says she is a Christian who prays and reads her Bible every night, said she's excited about the possibility of speaking personally with Bush.

"It would be an honor to meet him," she told WND. "I'd like to talk to him about issues like freedom of speech and the crackdown on the adult industry. Maybe he can give me some political pointers."

In Other Non-Jacko Wacko Celebrity News

In addition to not growing up, Katie Holmes apparently "digs" Scientology, and will soon be converting to it.

Holmes, in London to promote her new film, "Batman Begins," said Monday that she's excited about her lessons in Scientology, a religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

The 26-year-old actress and Cruise went public with their romantic relationship in April. The former Catholic and star of television's "Dawson's Creek (search)" grew up with a poster of Cruise on her bedroom wall and has said she grew up wanting to marry him.

Bad Medicine

Surprisingly, the Supreme Court O Canada finds a Quebec law banning private medical insurance to be unconstitutional. (link via Hugh Hewitt)

The ruling stops short of declaring the national health-care system unconstitutional; only three of the seven judges wanted to go all the way.

But it does say in effect: Deliver better care or permit the development of a private system. "The prohibition on obtaining private health insurance might be constitutional in circumstances where health-care services are reasonable as to both quality and timeliness," the ruling reads, but it "is not constitutional where the public system fails to deliver reasonable services." The Justices who sit on Canada's Supreme Court, by the way, aren't a bunch of Scalias of the North. This is the same court that last year unanimously declared gay marriage constitutional.

The Canadian ruling ought to be an eye-opener for the U.S., where "single-payer," government-run health care is still a holy grail on the political left and even for some in business (such as the automakers). This month the California Senate passed a bill that would create a state-run system of single-payer universal health care. The Assembly is expected to follow suit. Someone should make sure the Canadian Supreme Court's ruling is on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's reading list before he makes a veto decision.

Dwindling Numbers and a Significant Demographic Shift

At the Mass I went to this morning, the priest during his homily provided some intriguing statistics on the number of priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Orange. Last week, seven men from the Diocese of Orange became ordained priests, while only three were ordained from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Of the seven Diocese of Orange priests, four are Vietnamese, one is Hispanic, and the other two are Caucasion.

Of all the priests in the Diocese of Orange, thirty percent are Vietnamese.

How reliable these numbers are, I don't know. However, since the priest who gave out this information (who, BTW, is Vietnamese) regularly works for the diocese of Orange in some administrative capacity, I'm inclined to believe that they are fairly accurate.

Fundies to Catholics: We Don't Like You!

While I was driving home from work, I saw this on the outdoor marquee sign of the Strong Tower Worship Center in Westminster: "The Only Vitamin A Christian Needs Is B1."

Get it?

White, Republican, Christian

Three things that Howard Dean thinks are inextricably linked, bad and to be loathed.

The GOP really ought to send this guy a "thank you" note for all the increased donations he is getting for them.

Back to the Future

Sixty-three years ago, probably when Justice Stevens was still in law school (man is he old!) the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Federal government to punish a farmer for growing an excess amount of wheat that he had intended to use for his own personal consumption. Applying the communist based dubious principles of that case, the Supreme Court today, via Justice Stevens, upheld the right of the Federal government to prevent California from allowing individuals to grow and use ganja for strictly alleged medicinal purposes.

Looking on the bright side, at least the SCOTUS didn't really do anything new in this case.

In Yoda-speak: An Enemy of the Jedi He Is

PBXVI bolsters his Sith credentials with his latest "absolutist" proclamation against "gay marriages." (link via Drudge)

Update: PS Bradley links to a couple of places that makes the case for the Empire and against "Jediism."

Political Hacks

I've always believed that Amnesty International was more interested in advancing a left-wing political agenda than being a watchdog of human rights violators. The group's ridiculous, and unsubstantiated, comparison of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay to a gulag just further proves the truth of this belief.

Only a Jedi Would Dispute This

You cannot be against human slavery if you do not believe there is anything wrong with having sexual intercourse for the sole or primary purpose of satisfying your sexual desire.

Being Ivy League Smart Doesn't Equate With Having Knowledge

Although the survey is unscientific, it appears there are quite a few students at Dartmouth College who cannot correctly name five current Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, three of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, or three of the twelve Apostles. (via Powerline)

On This Date...

Today marks the 16th anniversary of the Tiananman Square massacre in Beijing, China.

According to current estimates, as many as two-hundred-and-fifty Chinese are still serving prison sentences for Tiananmen-related activities. The world does not know the exact numbers of those killed, wounded or arrested because, sixteen years later, the government of China still has not provided an accounting. Instead, the government has imposed a near complete blackout of information about the event.

Update: Thousands gather in Hong Kong to remember. (Full article here)

Kick the Koran

And incur the wrath of lefty human rights groups and their enablers in the MSM.

Display a crucifix in a container of urine at taxpayer expense, and have it praised as art by the aforementioned groups.

Update: Michelle Malkin gives us information that the MSM won't disclose or tries to minimize.

Infanticide Upheld

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down today a Virginia State law that made it a felony "for a person to knowingly perform 'partial birth infanticide.'"

The basis for striking it down? The statute doesn't contain a "woman's health" exception.

From the dissent:

The majority’s opinion is a bold, new law that, in essence, constitutionalizes infanticide of a most gruesome nature...(Dissenting Op. at 19).

Can we not see that our discussions and the law we make in striking down Virginia’s prohibition are unfit for the laws of a people of liberty? I wonder with befuddlement, fear, and sadness, how we can so joyfully celebrate the birth of a child, so zealously protect an infant and a mother who is pregnant, so reverently wonder about how human life begins, grows, and develops, and at the same time write to strike down a law to preserve a right to destroy a partially born infant. If the disconnect is explained by personal convenience, then we must reason that all morality is personal, without commonality and source. The product of such chaos is unfathomable. (Dissenting Op. at 45).

Over the Top Bad

If you're on the West Coast, you may have seen the incredibly inappropriate Carl's Jr. commercial featuring Paris Hilton. I can't imagine that the founder of Carl's Jr., Carl Karcher, is very happy about it given his past support of socially conservative causes in California like Prop. 22 (which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman) and the fact that his son, Jermone, is a longtime Catholic priest in Orange County.

Since Mr. Karcher is a fairly elderly man (probably in his late 80's) I'm left to wonder if he even has any direct control over the company he founded anymore.

Protest at the University of Western Ontario (Canada)

The school is apparently giving honorary degrees to a couple of pro-abortion zealots, as well as the president of Notre Dame, Rev. Edward Malloy. More information here.

Beatification

PBXVI has officially kicked off the the process for John Paul The Great.

The process to beatify Pope John Paul II has officially begun with an edict inviting witnesses to testify about his saintliness and asking anyone with his manuscripts, letters or other documents to give them to the Vatican.

(...)

It will take years for the Vatican to gather all of John Paul's writings and hear from witnesses testifying about his virtues. It must then certify a miracle attributed to his intercession after his death for him to be beatified. Following beatification, a second miracle is needed to be confirmed before he can be made a saint.

Criticism Kills

That's the opinion of at least one judge who thinks that some of the recent violence that has been committed in America's courtrooms are, in part, the result of criticisms directed at judges by politicians.

"Fostering disrespect for judges can only encourage those that are on the edge of the fringe to exact revenge on a judge who ruled against them," [Judge Joan] Lefkow said.

Unless the rhetoric actually advocates revenge, this argument is as nonsensical as the argument that banning guns will prevent crazy people from committing murder.

I don't know what Lefkow's political leanings are, but I wonder if she thinks the sliming of President Bush's judicial nominees by the Democrats, and the Left in general, falls within the scope of disrespect for judges that she believes Congress has a duty not to foster.

Update: The article doesn't explicitly say it, but I think it pretty clearly reveals Lefkow's politics.

Update 2: Actually, it's a joke that came to mind after reading Lefkow's dumb suggestion that being "harshly" critical of a judge is the same as telling someone to murder that judge. As told to me by someone at my firm: What do you call a lawyer with a 30 IQ? Your Honor.

Good Mormon Mr. President

Mass. Governor Mitt Romney is a potential GOP candidate for President, and The Weekly Standard investigates whether his LDS background will hurt his chances. (via Hugh Hewitt)

The article brings to mind a conversation I had a few years ago with an Evangelical friend of mine on this very topic. To my surprise, my friend said that while she wouldn't have a problem supporting a Republican presidential candidate who was Mormon, she couldn't see herself voting for a woman for President. The latter just wasn't biblical.

Pot, Kettle, Black...

A painting which depicts President Bush being sodomized was taken down from open display in an art gallery after Michael Friedman, an "artist" who had painted a picture of Pope Benedict XVI with several swastikas in the background, complained that the sexually explicit painting of Bush was offensive and tasteless. (via Powerline)

"Sodomy in a public forum is not, from my perspective, considered art," [Friedman] said. "I think somebody has to draw the line somewhere. I like political satire. However, that type of image...I don't think is artistic."

Friedman's right about the sodomy depiction, of course, but I'm trying to figure out [toungue in cheek] how his suggestion that the pope is a Nazi is artful satire rather than illustrated bigotry or hate speech.

Class of '87

It's been a while since I've done it, but Amy Welborn has kind of inspired me to google some people I knew in high school to see where they might be in life today. Here's what I was able to find:

For some reason, I'm not surprised he has a tattoo.

Absolutley no surprise that he's doing what he's doing. (Kind of funny, though, that I found him on the same business networking website as the guy above).

I indirectly keep in touch with him through a relative.

Haven't had any luck finding any of the gals I knew in my graduating class, probably because most of them are married now and have changed their names.

T-minus two years until my 20th year reunion. Yikes!

Update: Although this guy (scroll all the way down)was into theater and acting back in high school, he was a fairly decent cross country and long distance runner as well.

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.