Saddam is Trustworthy

Such is the inference one can only draw from a Sept. 8 Senate Intelligence Committee report which basically takes the former dictator at his word and concludes that Saddam had no ties to al-Qaeda or Islamofascist terrorism.

And if you believe that, then you won't mind if I start calling you Ms. Sheehan.

Fight On 'SC!

Beat the Cornholios!

I Support the Pope

But you probably could have already guessed that. It's good to say, and see in other places, anyway.

Religion of Rage Rages On

How making a sincere critical inquiry into Islam gets you mindlessly branded as another Hitler and Mussolini. (link via Drudge)

A Small Sample of the Fruits of Liberalism

The continuing, and altogether predictable, downfall of Air Scamerica. (link via Drudge)

It's One Thing to Criticize Accuracy

It's quite another to threaten outright censorship. Click here for some of the clips from Path to 9/11 that the Clintoons don't want anyone to see (maybe because it might actually be accurate?).

Shut Up and Act!

Brad Pitt on when he will marry Angelina Jolie: "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able," the 42-year-old actor reveals in Esquire magazine's October issue, on newsstands Sept. 19.

Given the fact that Angie has been known to make out with her own siblings, I'm presuming 'ol Brad is including brothers and sisters in his altogether idiotic remark.

Proof of Liberal Media Bias No. 8928329839...

Clinton bitches, ABC caves and switches.

9/11 Commemoration Rally in L.A.

This looks cool. I may go. Sign message suggestions welcomed. (link via Michelle Malkin)

Better Late Than Never?

Either the AP has been duped (again), I'm seeing things (which is possible) or the Klan has radically changed its membership requirements.

Law Schools O'Plenty in California

Seems like there's new ones, most of them correspondence schools, popping up every other month.

Also looks like the Inland Empire (i.e., San Bernardino and Riverside Counties) finally has an ABA accredited law school to call its own. Really should have happened years ago at UC Riverside, which is my undergraduate alma mater, but the much talked about establishment of a law school there just never came to fruition.

Evangelicals and Foreign Policy

I was at a bookstore yesterday and happened across this written piece by Walter Russel Mead in Foreign Affairs on Evangelical Protestantism and U.S. foreign policy.

I've only glanced through it real quick, but this paragraph caught my eye:

Why focus exclusively on Protestantism? The answer is, in part, that Protestantism has shaped much of the country's identity and remains today the majority faith in the United States (although only just). Moreover, the changes in Catholicism (the second-largest faith and the largest single religious denomination in the country) present a more mixed picture with fewer foreign policy implications.


Not exactly sure what Mr. Mead means by this and, unfortunately, it doesn't look like he elaborates.

Booty Answered the Call

USC 50
Bubbaville 14

The Post-Bush Era Begins Tomorrow in Arkansas

Fight On!

The New MTV Generation: Just Plain Dumb

Video footage here to prove it. (link via Michelle Malkin)

The Party of Death is Also Anti-Semitic

"In the last year, grassroots contributors like us gave more than $300 million to the Kerry campaign and the DNC, and proved that the Party doesn't need corporate cash to be competitive. Now it's our Party: we bought it, we own it, and we're going to take it back." - Statement from MoveOn PAC 12/9/04

In light of the above, the information contained in this article about MoveOn.org certainly leaves no doubt that the 'Rat Party hates Jews. (link via The Anchoress)

You Know You're a Self-Righteous Knee-Jerker When...

You classify stuff like this as "torture." (link va Drudge)

Living Up to the Name "Meathead"

Rob Reiner, who as far as I know has never come clean about the campaign scandal he was recently inolved in, wants Mel Gibson to admit that The Passion of the Christ movie, which the late Pope John Paul II pretty much thought was faithful to the New Testament, is anti-Semitic. (link via Drudge)

Fox Reporters Freed After Forced Conversion

I'm not about to criticize the two Fox News Channel reporters who were kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists and did what they felt was necessary, i.e., "converted" to Islam at gunpoint, to stay alive. In fact, I think they are very brave men. Nevertheless, it does make me think. If it were me in that situation, would I have been willing to die and be a martyr for Christ? I'd like to think I would, but by the same token, if you could be reasonably certain you would be allowed to live and even freed by going along with the demand to "convert," I probably would have done the same thing that these reporters did.

Update: Kathy Shaidle provides a great reminder on the power of defiance and the grace to actually do it.

Quick Observation

Or a rant. From my various verbal battles on different political bulletin boards, I've come to the conclusion that self-described moderates are the most politically pretentious people around. Just because they refuse to categorize themselves as either Left or Right, so-called "moderates" have this annoying tendency to anoint themselves as the objective voice of reason in criticizing the positions of self-admitted conservatives and liberals.

Something About (the Blessed Virgin) Mary

There's a new movie coming out this December called the The Nativity Story which apparently focuses on the impending birth of Christ from the Blessed Mother's perspective.

Curiously enough, this film was written by an Evangelical Protestant, which somwhat contrary to the conclusion of this article about the movie (link via Mirror of Justice) seems to confirm the rising interest (dare we even say devotion?) among Evangelicals in Mary as a perfect role model of Christian faith.

Goldwater: Democrat Hero

That seems to at least be the conclusion some will take away from this upcoming HBO movie on the late U.S. Senator from Arizona. Even though Barry Goldwater is generally viewed as a forefather of political conservatism in this country, his pro-abortion and gays in the military positions frankly made him more libertarian (or, should I say libertine?) in my eyes than anything else. (link via Drudge)

The "Tolerant" Left's Deranged Obsession with Ann Coulter Continues

The latest example from the San Francisco Chronicle. This Peter Hartlaub guy bears an amazing resemblance to a clueless and unhinged liberal I used to skewer on the discussion forums at Catholic Match. As far as I know, though, the other guy's name is Mike and he's from Ohio.

Fres-yes

Long road trip today to and from downtown Fresno for a court appearance that lasted all of about five minutes and resulted in a desired continuance so that I could get a motion for a change of venue (i.e., transfer the case to So. Cal.) on file.

Didn't have much of an opportunity to look around, but Fresno sure did have a small town feel to it. If it wasn't for the hot summer weather, I think I'd consider living there...maybe.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Al Gore's glaring hypocrisy: priceless (link via Southern Appeal)

Public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va. (He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.) For someone rallying the planet to pursue a path of extreme personal sacrifice, Gore requires little from himself.

Then there is the troubling matter of his energy use. In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy. In Nashville, similar programs exist. Utility customers must simply pay a few extra pennies per kilowatt hour, and they can continue living their carbon-neutral lifestyles knowing that they are supporting wind energy. Plenty of businesses and institutions have signed up. Even the Bush administration is using green energy for some federal office buildings, as are thousands of area residents. But according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use green energy in either of his large residences. When contacted recently, Gore's office confirmed as much but said the Gores were looking into making the switch at both homes. Talk about inconvenient truths.

I Need an Exemption from Job Interviews

Because I just totally suck at them; today being example number 234249230493.

Staring Down an Idiotic Nutbag

OK, so I'm at a Labor Board Hearing today representing the owner of a small mom & pop bakery in L.A. whose own brother and sister in-law, both of whom were unrepresented, filed a complaint against him for failing to pay them due wages. The brother and sister in-law claimed they were owed about $25,000, while my client was of the position they were owed nothing because they were never employed with him. Although my client had witnesses and documentation to back up his position, my client, upon my strong recommendation, settled the case for less than 10% of what the brother and sister in-law were claiming.

The reason why I encouraged settlement in this matter was because the State Labor Board is notorious for being employee/claimant friendly. Indeed, the experience at my firm has been that even though an employer may have great evidence to present at a Labor Board "trial," Labor Board hearing officers, who aren't even attorneys for crying out loud, will more often times than not award an employee what he is asking for.

When it looked as though there would be no settlement between the parties (all of whom are Mexican and speak little english) the interpreter that we were using left the room to get the hearing officer. In the interim, my client's brother started talking a bunch of smack to my client in Spanish. When I told the brother, in english, to stop speaking to my client, he started getting mad and told me to quit pointing my finger at him. When I "asked" him what he was going to do about it, he "answered" by repeating my question and told me in a hushed aggressive tone to stop pointing my finger at him. At that point, I asked him if he was threatening me. Possibly knowing better not to do that, he again repeated his command for me to stop pointing my finger at him, even though I wasn't. When I then sarcastically asserted that he didn't understand english, he angrily mumbled some gibberish about my not understanding something or other. After that, we just stared each other down for a minute or so until I looked away with a slight smile.

I tell ya, if it wasn't for the total unpredictability of Labor Board hearing officers and the amount of money my client possibly could have been personally liable for, I would have loved to have tried this case. Clearly, I had gotten under the skin of this nutball brother of my client(during settlement discussions, he and his wife were being argumentative when I brought up the evidence I intended to present to prove that my client never employed them). But, alas, the interests of my client came first, and since these two crooks were willing to take the absoulte amount of money my client was willing to give them to just go away, settling was the most prudent thing for him to do.

Sometimes Republicans Make a Wrong Choice

But I've yet to see in my lifetime one elected Democrat executive appoint a competent, non-politicized judge. Carter appointee Judge Anna Diggs Taylor is just the latest example of why electing a Democrat basically means making the judiciary into a super legislature. Her ruling on the Bush Administration's NSA intercept program is so bad and political, it makes otherwise sympathetic liberals cringe, as noted here and here.

Same State Court, but Different System

My first, and probably last, encounter with the Fresno County Family Court has been interesting. Apparently, Fresno County segregates family law cases where the parties are in pro per (i.e., not being represented by an attorney). Hearings for such cases are heard by a rotating panel of temporary judges and commissioners, and they are held on Fridays in a courtroom that is normally used for small claims actions. In short, in pro per family law cases in Fresno County seem to almost be treated like, well, small claims cases. I'm not saying whether it's bad or good. Just different.

An Illustration of the Paradox that is Evangelical Christianity

An interesting article here about the near unanimous embrace of artificial contraception by Evangelicals who, I think, are normally against the legal right to abortion. (link via Open Book)

Now, of course, a good majority of my fellow Catholics in the United States probably also embrace the "contraceptive culture." While this is certainly distressing, the fact that the institutional Church remains steadfast in holding an opposing position certainly says something about how much value the Church places upon things it regards as enduring and transcendent truth. No amount of "evolving attitudes" in society will sway her to change. This, in my view, is one of the significant distinctions between Evangelical Prostestantism and Catholicism. An Evangelical Protestant (or "mere" Christian) is still an Evangelical Protestant if he dissents from what, say, the Evangelical Free Church of America believes and teaches about contraception. Indeed, it is more than likely that an Evangelical "church" will change or conform its beliefs to those of its members or potential members (i.e., so-called "seekers"). A Catholic, however, has effectively ceased being Catholic if he dissents from what the instituional Church teaches.

Yes, Popes Can Be Wrong

When not speaking ex cathedra and on matters outside of the faith. (link via Open Book) Pat Buchanan and his ilk must be jumping for joy over Benedict's seeming "belief" that war brings no good to anyone, including the victors . And don't think for a moment that they won't try to make Benedict's misguided ruminations into an article of faith that Catholics are bound to abide by.

Go to Mass Tuesday!!

More of a reminder to myself than anything else. But if it helps you out too, great!

Just 3 More Weeks...

...until USC football kicks off its new season in Charlie Trie-land. Can hardly wait.

Coming Soon

It's actually for my own edification more than anything else, but in the next few weeks I'm going to start posting rants and complaints against certain lawyers and firms I've been dealing with the past two years, and who have earned permanent spots on my personal Sh!t List. Stay tuned.

Throwing Stones in Glass Houses

Chutzpah doesn't even begin to describe Robin Williams. (link via RelapsedCatholic)

At Least Gibson Was Drunk #2

The last acceptable form of bigotry in America indeed. Don't hold your breath for any Gibson-like apology. (link via Open Book)

So That's Why Johnny Can't Read

I'm supportive of this school district's policy to "ban" cleavage, but things would be a whole lot easier if they just required school uniforms. And don't even get me started as to why this story is even considered news.

Catholic and Republican

I often hear and read how many Catholics in this country refuse to identify with either of the two major political parties because, it is claimed, there are aspects in each party's national platform which run counter to the Catholic faith. It's pretty easy to see how this is true with the Democrat Party, what with its express support for abortion and homosexual rights (pg.38), as well as embryonic stem cell research (pg.31). I don't, however, see anything in the GOP platform which goes against unchangeable Catholic tenets. Am I missing something, or are people just talking out of their rear ends?

Prank Call the Hezbos!

Real phone numbers listed here. (link via Michelle Malkin)

Say it Loud! Say it Proud!

Ms. Magazine wants women and girls who have had an abortion to stand up and proudly proclaim that they have killed their unborn babies.

[sarcasm]Outstanding.[/sarcasm]

At Least Gibson was Drunk

Yeah, Jimmah didn't expressly lash out at Jews here, but we all know what's driving his long held and public contempt for Israel. C'mon now.

Mel's Lapse Into Extreme Stupidity

Yeah, yeah, everything's alleged at this point, but I'd say there's a 99% chance Gibson did what he was cited for by police.

Update: Wow. How incredibly sad, if this is true.

Update 2: Gibson apologizes.

Have You Forgotten?

A reminder, in case you have.

Ann Coulter: Snark Attack

The Unhinged Left usually deserve it, but Charlotte Allen is neither Unhinged nor a political leftist, so the 'tude AC gave to Charlotte in this interview was disappointing. (link via RelapsedCatholic)

How Many Like This Are in the CIA?

John Hinderaker at Powerline highlights recent public threats that former CIA employee and current DemonRat Party darling, Larry Johnson, made to conservative bloggers.

Of worthwhile note about Mr. Johnson is that immediately before 9/11 happened, he actually wrote in the New York Times that the threat of terrorism against Americans was declining! And yet, Johnson is apparently still viewed and hailed by the Dems as an "expert" on terrorism. Unbelievable.

Sheehan Rolls

Exhibit A of how to "fast" and still gain/not lose weight.

Disproportionate Propaganda

The MSM keeps on drinking up the terrorist Kool-Aid.

Muy Caliente!

It's around 9:00pm and according to The Weather Channel website, it's about 81 degrees with 61% humidity in the central OC area. Blech!

3rd Circuit Says L@p Dancing Not Protected Speech

At least not when there's booze around. More details here. No indication that there were any visual demonstrations.

John Yoo and Jim Chen

Two Americans of Asian descent who clerked for the great Justice Clarence Thomas and are now prominent university law professors (Yoo at Berkeley and Chen at the Univ. of Minnesota).

Obviously, these guys are really smart, but I gotta tell ya, John Yoo's writing is as dry as cardboard (see, e.g., The Powers of War and Peace, which I just started reading) and a lot of Jim Chen's stuff is a bit beyond the scope of my comprehension (science and math were never strong suits of mine).

The Strangest of Bedfellows

The ACLU is representing Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church (of "God Hates F@gs" fame) in a lawsuit against the State of Missouri over a law which restricts protesting at funerals. (link via Drudge)

The church and the Rev. Fred Phelps say God is allowing troops, coal miners and others to be killed because the United States tolerates gay men and lesbians.

Missouri lawmakers were spurred to action after members of the church protested in St. Joseph, Mo., last August at the funeral of Army Spec. Edward L. Myers.

The law bans picketing and protests "in front of or about" any location where a funeral is held, from an hour before it begins until an hour after it ends. Offenders can face fines and jail time.

Given the track record that the ACLU has with promoting g@y rights, I wonder if anyone is asking Phelps how he is allowing himself and his "church" to be represented by folks whom he obviously thinks are going to Hell. Now that would be something to see and hear.

Big Surprise: LA Times Runs Misleading Story...Again

Paul at Powerline notes how the LA Dog Tranier's July 3, 2006 story about the difficulty Mitt Romney would have if he ran for President in '08 isn't exactly truthful. Although I personally don't think I could support a Romney nomination, it wouldn't be because he's Morman.

That's a Rhetorical Question

I saw a spliced up clip on YouTube of a recent interview that Stephen Colbert did of Bart "Misquoting Jesus" Ehrman, and Colbert posed the following question to the self-admitted agnostic: "Isn't that [an agnostic] just an atheist without balls?" Classic.

Update: Here's the full interview from the Comedy Central website. I had trouble viewing it before with Mozilla, but it works with Explorer.

A Thin Silver Lining to Hezbollah Attacks on Israel

This got called off.

In Between Episodes IV and V

So this is where Vader was before the Death Star was rebuilt!

Arlen Specter is a Tool

In support of his position for the bill that would have expanded embryonic stem cell research, the senior Senator from Pennsylvania resorted to making up history about the Catholic Church. (link via Open Book)

The Absurdity of Lee vs. Weisman Continues

This landmark 1992 case, of course, essentially made religious prayers at public school graduation ceremonies verboten.

Fourteen years later, this asinine ruling has resulted in the prevention of public school students in Washington State from playing an instrumental version of Ave Maria at their graduation ceremony. A lawsuit by one of those students has now been filed.

Are They Really This Dumb?

Looks like the Dems, as a whole, are set to launch an attack on every state marriage protection initiative that is on the ballot this November. Although the source of this report is unnamed, it's not hard to believe the Dems are planning this attack given Screaming Howie's comments earlier this month.

And This is a Surprise, How?

From the "Why Not?" country comes the latest affront to all that is good and decent in Western Civilization: legal recognition of a pedophile political party.

While the Cat's Away...

Looks as though "the Vatican's" condemnatory statements on the Lebanon bombings by Israel were unauthorized by Papa Ratzi, but we'll have to wait and see if any sort of clarification is issued (i.e., Sodano gets the smack down) once he gets back from vacation.

Update: If al-Reutereea's reporting is accurate, the pope is significantly more balanced than what was put out there by Sodano. However, it still doesn't appear as though the pope understands that Israel's actions are justified.

Weeeeeee!!

More signs of the Cultural Apocalypse. (link via The Anchoress)

Vatican Ignorance

I echo the thoughts ofCaptain Ed regarding the critical statements the Vatican made on Israel's recent bombing of Lebanon.

In a nutshell, the Vatican either needs to be better informed or it just has to keep quiet about matters for which it clearly does not know much of anything about.

Funny in a Multi-Layered Contradictory Way

What is one of the last things you would ever think of finding in a book on anti-Catholicism? Jeremy Lott, author of a book titled "In Defense of Hypocrisy," found it.

National Security

Click here to see what Harry Reid thinks about it. (link via Michelle Malkin)

Thanksbutnothanks

Due purely to finances, the little firm I'm currently at has advised me that they are going to have to let me go in the next few months. Because he's a really nice guy, the office manager of my firm has been asking other law firm managers he knows if they might be looking for a new associate. He got a bite this past Monday from the office manager of a mid-sized insurance defense firm, so I accordingly talked to that office manager and e-mailed my resume to her later that evening.

Because the office manager of that firm actually called my office manager to request that I forward my resume, I thought I had a pretty good shot of at least getting an interview. However, when I got home this evening, there was a form letter waiting for me from this firm which basically said they weren't interested in hiring me.

Unless this office manager was mistaken about her firm wanting to hire another associate attorney, I just can't help but think that the law school I graduated from is the reason for why I got rejected so fast. Comparatively speaking, I think I've accumulated more litigation experience in the last two years than most graduates from ABA accredited schools get in their first five years of practice with a big or mid-sized firm. How many first or second year associates at the big or mid-sized firms write and argue law and motion matters? Probably almost none. I tell you, the bias against non-ABA law schools really sux.

Sea Scouts Appeal to SCOTUS

The legal battle between the Sea Scouts and the city of Bezerkley over free access to the latter's marina berths has been going on since 1998. When this case was first appealed to the California Court of Appeal back in 2002 (I think) I wrote an amicus brief for the Pacific Justice Institute in support of the Scouts. Obviously, it didn't do much good.

While I certainly hope the SCOTUS agrees to review the case and renders a ruling in favor of the Scouts, I'm not overly optimistic that it will happen. Fact of the matter is, Berzerkly is only denying the Scouts free access to the city's marina berths, and the city does unfortunately have a right to expressly refuse to subsidize any organization which discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation. What the Sea Scouts do have going for it, though, is that it has never discriminated against g@ys. Bezerkly is bascially excluding the Sea Scouts simply because of its' association with the Boy Scouts of America.

The Steele Man Cometh

Since everyone has used "Man of Steele," that's the best I can do.

Anyway, I like to think Michael Steele's run for the U.S. Senate is the real reason The Mighty Barrister is no longer blogging (i.e., he's too busy working on Steele's campaign).

Purpose Driven Ego?

Get Religion reports that uber-Evangelical Protestant preacher Rick Warren has accepted an invitation from North Korea to speak to some 15,000 North Korean Christians. That's right, NORTH KOREA.

Upon raising the strong possibility that the whole event is probably being staged by the Communist government for purposes of identifying and arresting "illegal" Christians, Warren replied to reporters that "I know they’re going to use me...So I’m going to use them."

Uh, OK. I wonder if Warren is this ambiguous in his jumbotron broadcast sermons.

Post-Independence Day Trivia

Charles Carroll was the only Catholic to have signed the Declaration of Independence. He was also the last surviving member among the signers, having died at the age of 96 in 1832. (link via Totus Pius)

Ted Kennedy: Big Fat Joke

Are the voters of Massachusetts that clueless?

Just six months after quitting the all-male social club to which he belonged for 50 years, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is questioning one of President Bush's nominees to the federal bench about his membership in an all-male dining club.

"What is your reason for failing to resign from the club any earlier than February 2, 2006?" Mr. Kennedy demanded in writing of Oklahoma lawyer Jerome A. Holmes, nominated to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Documents provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee and obtained by The Washington Times show that Mr. Holmes belonged to the Men's Dinner Club of Oklahoma City but quit after expressing interest in becoming a federal judge.

Mr. Holmes told the committee in writing that he never perceived the dining club to harbor any bias toward women but he resigned to clear up any appearances of impropriety.

"Its membership consisted of widely respected business, community and government leaders, including at least two judges of Oklahoma's courts of last resort," he explained to Mr. Kennedy. "I recognized in February 2006 that some might perceive the Men's Dinner Club as being an improper organization of the kind discussed above. That was unacceptable to me."

In January, Mr. Kennedy quit the Owl Club after The Washington Times revealed his continued membership in the fraternitylike organization for Harvard University's select male students and alumni.

Mr. Kennedy's ties to the Owl Club came to light after he interrogated Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. over his association with Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a group founded to combat campus liberalism at Princeton University.

If the GOP Loses Control of Congress in November

It will have no one to blame but itself, because 'Rat Chairman Howard Dean just can't help dragging his party down the toilet.

Lack of SCOTUS Restraint May Cost Lives

Such is perfectly illustrated by the recent Hamdan v. Rumsfeld ruling where the military tribunals that were set up to try the captured terrorists at Guantanamo Bay were struck down. Professor John Yoo, who worked in the Bush Administration from 2001-2003, further explains:

The court's decision in Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld ignores the basic workings of our separation of powers and will hamper the ability of future presidents to respond to emergencies with the forcefulness and vision of a Lincoln or an FDR.

Long-standing U.S. practice recognizes that the president, as commander in chief, plays the leading role in wartime. Presidents have started wars without congressional authorization, and they have exercised complete control over military strategy and tactics. They can act with a speed, unity and secrecy that the other branches of government cannot match. By contrast, legislatures are large, diffuse and slow. Their collective design may make them better for deliberating over policy, but at the cost of delay and lack of resolve.

Bwahahahahaha!!

Fire in a rabbit cage, 9/11? Yeah, I see the similarities. (link via Relapsed Catholic).

Just So You'll Stop Staring at His Hairplugs

Joe Biden in all his foot-in-mouth glory. (link via Drudge)

Violent Peace Activist

Reason #959039403943409 as to why I never take these hypocritical yayhoos seriously.

On anything.

A New Zealand peace activist is facing serious assault charges after he allegedly punched a rock singer in London, leaving the man in a coma.

Christiaan Briggs, 30, who spent three weeks in Iraq with the Truth Justice Peace Human Shield Action Group in 2003, appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Tuesday to face a charge of grievous bodily harm.

Police say the incident occurred on June 22 when Briggs allegedly punched 19-year-old Billy Leeson, causing the rising rock star to hit his head on the ground.

Leeson, the lead singer with rock band Les Incompetents - who have supported Pete Doherty's group Babyshambles - was "still very ill", said Scotland Yard spokesman James Nadin.

His condition was described as "critical but stable".

This Will Surely be a Classic

From the campaign of Vernon Robinson, a Republican running for Congress in North Carolina. I love it.

(link via Jimmy Akin)

Happy Independence Day



To quote the great Catholic Brit, GK Chesterton:

"The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man." - Chapter 19, What I Saw In America, 1922

Can "Sola Scriptura" Protestants Authenticate the Bible?

I'm working on a case right now that looks like it may go to trial, and there is a potential issue regarding the admissibility of a document that I might try to offer as evidence. This issue involves authentication and it got me to thinking a little bit about the "Bible-only" approach to Christianity that many Protestants follow.

Within the lexicon of civil law, to "authenticate" a document during a trial generally means to establish its' claimed source of origin. For instance, any police report allegedly written by Officer Smith is inherently questionable and unreliable unless Officer Smith provides sworn testimony that he in fact wrote the report. Without this sworn testimony, no one can be certain as to whether Officer Smith really wrote the report or if it was just made up by someone out of thin air.

With this in mind, I'm geuninely curious as to how any non-Catholic Christian who subscribes to sola scriptura (i.e., there is no other authority for Christianity except the Bible) is able to authenticate the Bible. (The principle of self-authentication would not appear to be an option, since even that requires recognition of an external authority).

From Our Bulging "Al Gore is Full of It" Files

Al's not a scientist, and he doesn't even play a very good one on TV. The latest reality hit on Gore's globaloney crusade:

Mr. Gore assures us that "the debate in the scientific community is over."

That statement, which Mr. Gore made in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC, ought to have been followed by an asterisk. What exactly is this debate that Mr. Gore is referring to? Is there really a scientific community that is debating all these issues and then somehow agreeing in unison? Far from such a thing being over, it has never been clear to me what this "debate" actually is in the first place.

The media rarely help, of course. When Newsweek featured global warming in a 1988 issue, it was claimed that all scientists agreed. Periodically thereafter it was revealed that although there had been lingering doubts beforehand, now all scientists did indeed agree. Even Mr. Gore qualified his statement on ABC only a few minutes after he made it, clarifying things in an important way. When Mr. Stephanopoulos confronted Mr. Gore with the fact that the best estimates of rising sea levels are far less dire than he suggests in his movie, Mr. Gore defended his claims by noting that scientists "don't have any models that give them a high level of confidence" one way or the other and went on to claim--in his defense--that scientists "don't know. . . . They just don't know."

So, presumably, those scientists do not belong to the "consensus." Yet their research is forced, whether the evidence supports it or not, into Mr. Gore's preferred global-warming template--namely, shrill alarmism. To believe it requires that one ignore the truly inconvenient facts. To take the issue of rising sea levels, these include: that the Arctic was as warm or warmer in 1940; that icebergs have been known since time immemorial; that the evidence so far suggests that the Greenland ice sheet is actually growing on average. A likely result of all this is increased pressure pushing ice off the coastal perimeter of that country, which is depicted so ominously in Mr. Gore's movie. In the absence of factual context, these images are perhaps dire or alarming.

They are less so otherwise. Alpine glaciers have been retreating since the early 19th century, and were advancing for several centuries before that. Since about 1970, many of the glaciers have stopped retreating and some are now advancing again. And, frankly, we don't know why.

Starting Off on the Wrong Foot

According to this story in the Washington ComPost, the number of weddings within the Church in the United States has been steadily declining since 1970. One of the apparent major reasons for this is that marrying Catholics want the ceremony performed "on their own terms." If they can't do this, then they'll have the ceremony at a non-Catholic faith community, or just get hitched at city hall.

With this kind of selfish attitude, is it any surprise that the divorce rate in this country, even among Catholics, is around 50%?

The Always Amusing Bobby Jones U.

Ever wonder which 37 places in America are in most dire need of Fundy Churches? Now you don't have to, thanks to good 'ol BJU.

And, of course, it's just a coincidence that most of these places are "dominated" by Jews and Catholics.

Catholic University Library Unsubscribes from Blabbermouth NY Times

Great move by the University of the Incarnate Word in my opinion. I just wish the dunderheads who don't agree would at least realize that nobody's being banned from or going to jail for bringing or reading their own copy of the Times on campus grounds, and that students can readily access the catbox liner online.

Holy Begeezus!

Praise be to God for the Internet! I'm looking for another job, and my brother tells me he works with someone whose wife is an attorney at a nearby firm that wants to hire a new associate. Even though this firm mostly does family law, which I don't like too much, I figure I'd give my brother's friend's wife a call anyway to see if her boss or bosses might be interested in talking to me. Turns out they did, and I guess the interview went well enough that I was offered a job the next day. (Note: Because he had actually heard of my law school and asked what seemed at the time to me to be sincere questions about how the school integrates, if at all, Christianity and the teaching of law, I had thought the partner who interviewed me might be a Christian with somwhat conservative political leanings. When viewed against the backdrop of the stuff to follow, now I'm not so sure.)

However, since I'm not all that fond of family law, I told this firm that I'd like to think about it a little and that I would get back to them the next week. "Not a problem" they basically responded to me.

Given the salary that was offered, and the fact that this firm is just down the street from the very small firm I'm at right now, I was actually leaning toward accepting the position. That is, until I Googled this firm's name and discovered they just recently represented an openly g@y male couple who made a direct legal challenge to California's Defense of Marriage Act!

Needless to say, I don't think I'm going to be working for these people.

Justice Thomas is the Man

If there is ever one great thing on the domestic front that the first President Bush ever did, it was to nominate Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. Exhibit No. 930423842 comes from his dissent in today's SCOTUS ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. (Justice Thomas' dissent starts on pg. 127 of the PDF document).

An excerpt via Webloggin:

Moreover, the President’s determination that the present conflict dates at least to 1996 is supported by overwhelming evidence. According to the State Department, al Qaeda declared war on the United States as early as August 1996. See Dept. of State Fact Sheet: Usama bin Ladin (Aug. 21, 1998); Dept. of State Fact Sheet: The Charges against International Terrorist Usama Bin Laden (Dec. 20, 2000); cf. Prize Cases, 2 Black, at 668 (recognizing that a state of war exists even if “the declaration of it be unilateral” (emphasis in original)).

In February 1998, al Qaeda leadership issued another statement ordering the indiscriminate—and, even under the laws of war as applied to legitimate nation-states, plainly illegal—killing of American civilians and military personnel alike. See Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders: World Islamic Front Statement 2 (Feb. 23, 1998), in Y. Alexander & M. Swetnam, Usama bin Laden’s al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network, App. 1B (2001) (“The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it”). This was not mere rhetoric; even before September 11, 2001, al Qaeda was involved in the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City in 1993, the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the bombing of the U. S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the attack on the U. S. S. Cole in Yemen in 2000. See id., at 1. In response to these incidents, the United States “attack[ed] facilities belonging to Usama bin Ladin’s network” as early as 1998. Dept. of State Fact Sheet: Usama bin Ladin (Aug. 21, 1998).

Based on the foregoing, the President’s judgment—that the present conflict substantially predates the AUMF, extending at least as far back as al Qaeda’s 1996 declaration of war on our Nation, and that the theater of war extends at least as far as the localities of al Qaeda’s principal bases of operations—is beyond judicial reproach. And the plurality’s unsupportable contrary determination merely confirms that “‘the Judiciary has neither aptitude, facilities nor responsibility’” for making military or foreign affairs judgments. Hamdi, 542 U. S., at 585 (THOMAS, J., dissenting) (quoting Chicago & Southern Air Lines, 333 U. S., at 111).

IRS Vice?

Some, like CNN, are calling it a tax on p!mps and h*okers, but this bill by Senator Grassly, as he himself points out, is more akin to how we finally got Al Capone thrown in prison. I like it.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning approved a bill sponsored by committee chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, authorizing at least $2 million toward the establishment of an office in the IRS criminal investigation unit to prosecute unlawful sex workers for violations of tax laws.

The bill's approval gives the IRS harsh new criminal penalties for use against those in the underground criminal economy. According to Grassley's office, the majority of the victims of sex trafficking -- those who are often smuggled in from other counties and virtually imprisoned in a house set up for prostitution -- are girls ages 13 to 17.

More Slimy Lawyers

Those slimy lawyers that I talked about here were at it again today. They filed a "Reply" to my opposition to their ex parte motion, and within it they blame me, or my client, for not complying with certain local court "meet and confer" rules. What these slimeballs have basically asserted is that I, as plaintiff's attorney, had the responsibility to contact them about meeting to discuss xyz, even though the local rules say no such thing (they basically just say the parties shall do xyz; hence suggesting that if it's not done, all parties are to blame). What a bunch of liars! I'm telling you, it's freakin' scumbags like these which give attorneys a bad name.

Waaaaay Too Much Info Joe

I'm sure his kids, who must be fully grown by now, can't be too happy to have this vision in their heads:

Because he was the first Democrat to step up and say publicly last year that he’s exploring running for president, we can assume that Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) is plenty interested in the office.

But like most other men, apparently there are things that interest him more.

Speaking to a group of 130 twenty- and thirty-something supporters of his leadership PAC last Thursday, Biden indicated that while he thinks he could be an effective chief executive, as far as the job itself goes, he could take it or leave it.

“I’d rather be at home making love to my wife while my children are asleep,” he said.

What are the odds Biden picked this line up from somewhere and failed to attribute the source?

Slimy Lawyers

I'm currently going against some from a big law firm here in the OC. The jerks had the nerve late last Thursday to serve me, or my client, with an ex parte motion to dismiss. A "motion" is basically a request that is made to the court. There are usually a set of procedures for making a motion, and they cannot normally be bypassed without special permission. When you ask for special permission to bypass these procedures, you're making an ex parte application.

The basic problem with ex parte motions, which the courts generally recognize, is that they can be made at the drop of dime, and the opposing party has almost no time to make a well thought out or reasoned response. Add to this the fact that the opposing party has to literally drop everything he is doing to address the application, and you can understand why the courts require a party to have a pretty darn good reason for making an ex parte motion.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, the attorneys I am going up against don't have a good reason to make an ex parte motion, and I think they know it but are just trying to throw whatever they can against the wall to see if it will stick. Hopefully, what I've filed in opposition to this ex parte motion will be seriously considered by the judge and he will deny the other side's application to bypass the normal motion procedures. Then again, you never know what a judge is going to do. Blech!

Discussion Forums

Just created one here. Check it out and post something. I'm still tweaking the look of it, and at some point, I'll put a permanent link to the forums on the side panel.

Don't Get Married Until After Age 45

Your chances of divorcing seem to decrease then. That's at least my take on the Census Bureau stats referenced in this advice article on prenuptial agreements.

According to the Census Bureau, 50% of first marriages for men under the age of 45 may end in divorce; and between 44% and 52% of first marriages for women in the same age group may end in divorce. As a result of more and more marriages ending in divorce, the number of people who marry for a second and third time is also rising.

Well That's Weird

I don't know why, but for some reason the font size and style for the com-box links aren't entirely consistent. Ah well. If it doesn't baddah you, it doesn't baddah me.

Update: OK, it seems to depend on the browser I'm using. It's all consistent with Explorer but not Firefox.

The Devil Won't Let Me Do It!

That's the excuse put forth by one congressional hopeful in Utah. I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict that this guy isn't going to win.

Kelo Be Damned!

President Bush issues an Executive Order to prevent the Federal Government from taking private property through eminent domain and giving it to a private developer under the pretext that doing so will increase tax revenues.

Coming to You in 2007

No, not Brokeback Mountain II. Wyoming Catholic College.

How to Get Banned from Catholic Match

Yes, I have been a member of this singles site for a while, which is why I haven't really been posting anything on here on a consistent basis. And actually, the title to this post is a little inaccurate in that it should be "How to Get Banned from the Discussion Forums on Catholic Match." But since that title is a little too long, I went with the above.

Anyhow, there's a discussion forum on Catholic Match devoted to politics, and I naturally posted comments on there quite frequently. Once in a while when I would see a really idiotic or inflammatory post that someone wrote, I'd respond accordingly. Well, that didn't always sit well with the Gestapo administrators at Catholic Match, so I would occasionally get these warnings about being "mean" to people and to cut it out.

I suppose I got enough of these warnings to where I was in someone's sh!t house at Catholic Match, because I was recently banned for life from its discussion forums for using the following two sentences in response to two separate posted comments by the same person:

1. Well, that certainly explains a lot.

2. Spare me your faux indignation and self-righteousness.

That's it. Talk about your hyper-punitive 3-strikes law that results in someone getting 25 years to life for stealing a pizza!!

In any event, my paid membership with Catholic Match is just about up, and this hanging judge decision by the administrators to forever prevent me from having full access to the site has pretty much convinced me not to renew.

Update(6/26): Well, after making an appeal, it seems as though my permanent ban has been lifted. Thanks Dan, and pay no attention to that Gestapo remark above.

Don't Call It a Comeback!

Well, I sort of guess it is. Anyway, expect more consistent updates. Or so I say...

So Where the Heck Have You Been?

Well, nowhere really. I just haven't been much motivated to blog anything for the past month or so. I blame it all on work.

Troubles at St. Mary's by the Sea

This is a church in Huntington Beach, CA, which happens to be my former parish and where I was baptized and confirmed. Before its longtime pastor, Fr. Daniel Johnson, retired a couple of years ago, St. Mary's was probably the most traditional and "conservative" parish in the entire diocese of Orange. But now with Fr. Johnson gone, the Bishop of Orange, Tod Brown (a Cardinal Mahoney clone if there ever was one) has eliminated the indult Tridentine Latin Mass at St. Mary's and has forced the parish to institute changes to the way it normally conducted the Novus Ordo Mass (e.g., no more kneeling during, and apparently after, the Agnus Dei).

Well, as one would expect, there were a lot of unhappy people at St. Mary's, and they weren't afraid to express this unhappiness to Bishop Brown. What do these people get in return? An "invitation" to leave both St. Mary's and the Diocese of Orange.

My reaction in 3 words: What the Hell?!

Google Hypocrisy

The web search giant, which owns Blogger, resists a DOJ subpoena for data on right to privacy grounds. Meanwhile, the agreement Google made with China to censor certain searches on its site moves forward.

If You're a Lawyer

You should find this caption, which really appeared on a pleading by an in pro per litigant my office is doing some scrivener work for, to be dang funny:

FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT TO REPLACE THE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT FILED ON...