It Would Have Been Deadly if I Had Eaten It

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

In Re: Anti-American Billboard

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

I love it.

"Pahmping" Them Up

The Governator puts in a good word for the Minutemen:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I Say About a Year

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

Should Have Been Done Eons Ago

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

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

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

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

Smut

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

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

It All Adds Up

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

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

Will There Soon Be Altar Girls?

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

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

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

More Garbage From Al Reuteera

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

Martin Luther Must Be Rolling in His Grave

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

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

Blithering Nonsense

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

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

Can People Be Weapons of Mass Destruction?

Yeah, I think so.

Culture of Death Indeed

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

Is There a Catholic Equivalent?

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

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

Slouching Toward a Sell-Out

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

Liked by the LDS

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

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

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

(...)

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

In other words, join the LDS Church.


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

Great Guy, But Too Bad He Was Catholic

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

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


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

Not Even Fit for Birdcage Lining

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

The Persecution Continues

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

"Quality of Life"

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

A Life of Suffering That Was Well Worth Living

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

The Blessed Sounds of Silence

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

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

In Propria Persona

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

Time to "Sack It Up" Jeb

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

Hail, Mary

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

The Left's Warped Sense of Federalism

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

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

He's Either Stupid or Conniving

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

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

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

Canada: The Great North American Afterthought

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

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

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

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

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

It Didn't Have to Happen

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

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

Views From the Left

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

Two Places at the Same Time

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

There They Go Again

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

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

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

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

Agreeable Sentiment, But Wrong

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


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

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

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

A Pro-Life Swann

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

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

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

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

Papal Deathwatch 2005

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

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

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

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

I Knew He'd Cross Over Sooner or Later

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

Fatima, 13 and the Fall of Soviet Communism

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

Blogs for Terri

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

Seattle or Southern California?

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

I Had Dinner with the Pope

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

Buckley Jumps the Shark

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

Still Around

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

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

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

Update On Me

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

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

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

Driver Licenses for Illegals?

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

Brand New Start

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

Wussies

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

Thanks for Filing and Wasting Our Tax Dollars

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

Another Reason to Homeschool

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

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

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

Representative Democracy is So Yesterday

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

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

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

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

Diplomatic Bunglehead

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

Good Call by the SCOTUS

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

The People Have Spoken

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

Eighth Grade Name Calling

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

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

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

Sadly Not Surprising

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

Hitpiece

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

Happy New Year!

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

Movin' On Down

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still Pining for a Gore Presidency

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

Hi-ho Silver, Eh?

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

Yet One More Reason to Homeschool

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

Judge Wears Ten Commandments on Robe

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

Another Example of How Barbara Boxer is a Freakin' Nut

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

Doing God's Work

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Power of Ordination Belongs to State and Federal Judges

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

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

That Would Be "Aiya!"

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

"Christophobia"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe Target Did A Good Thing

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

73*



The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

By and Large, AIDS is a Homosexual Disease

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

Unhinged

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

Detroit Not Only Has Basketbrawl

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

SCOTUS Won't Review Mass. Case

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

Blackballed

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

On Vacation

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

Thought Exercise

Primary Mission of the Catholic Laity: Apply Principles Taught by the Church to the Secular World. That, to me at least, was the general underlying theme of the insightful lecture I attended last night given by Fr. Michael Sweeney, O.P. at St. Dominic's church. Within the realm of American politics, this is an incredibly challenging goal, especially when one considers the inherent conflict between the traditional emphasis that our culture places on individualism (which all too often has lead to destructive self-centeredness -- see, e.g., the Sexual Revolution) and the prime importance that the Church gives to self-sacrifice and doing things for the common good.

It is, of course, important to make a distinction between principle and doctrine. Although both are taught by the Church and can be upheld by Her as infallible truths, it seems to me that principle tends to transcend religion. As such, even an atheist can embrace and believe in a principle that the Church recognizes as being from God. The most obvious example would be the prohibition against murder (which, legally defined, is the intentional killing of another person with malice).

Because of the failure of many American Catholics to make a distinction between principle and doctrine, self-identified and elected Catholic politicians like Mario Cuomo, John Kerry and presumably Gavin Newsome have pretty much "gotten away" with making convoluted public statements about personally being against something that the Church also opposes (e.g., abortion) but nevertheless supporting its legality. In the view of these politicians, the use of their public authority to apply a transcending principle that is dogmatically upheld by the Church equates to an impermissible imposition of religious doctrine. This is plainly untrue, and it’s also scandalous to the extent that many other Catholics have been persuaded into embracing the same false belief. That being said, while no one of us in the Catholic laity can claim perfection in carrying out the primary mission we have been given by the Church, those Catholics who refuse to even engage in the mission by raising the false legal pretense of "separation of church and state" would seem to be especially culpable.

If Only They Weren't Required to be Celibate and Allowed to Marry

A California DMV employee is arrested and charged with sexually molesting seven teenaged girls during driving tests.

Living The Faith After The Election

That's the title of a speaking event tonight at St. Dominic's church is San Francisco. Probably won't be nearly as unintentionally humorous as the upcoming Gavin Newsome Show on Nov. 22 at St. Vincent de Paul's (which I sadly won't be able to make, because I'll be in L.A.), but it should be interesting.

Only in Berserkeley

Despite running a $7.5 million defecit, the city of Berkeley spends in excess of $70,000/year storing shopping carts that were stolen and abandoned by homeless people.

Meanwhile, the chancellor of UC Berkeley was named yesterday to oversee the implementation of California's "loan for clones" pogrom scam program.

This Oughtta be a Hoot

Mayor Gavin Newsome, the man who violated state law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and who probably supports legalized abortion, will be giving his "perspective" on being a Catholic politician at an upcoming Young Adult Group meeting at St. Vincent de Paul church in San Francisco. Given the certain predictability of his comments, and my thin skin for outright stupidity, I'm going to need some other incentive to show up for this meeting.

Support Ahnuld for Prez TV Ads

My fellow Cahleefonians, starting this Monday there will be a series of television ads running encouraging the adoption of a constitutional amendment that will allow naturalized citizens, like Ahnuld, to run for President. You have been warned girly-men!!

Power, Like Nature, Abhors a Vacuum

Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, warns against secular democracy and that if the West isn't careful, Islam could very well be the communism of the 21st century.

Update:Arrrgh! Registration is required to read the article linked above. Here's a summary from Catholic News.

Chairman of SF Abuse Panel Resigns

And while going out the door accuses the archdiocese of obfuscating and engaging in a public relations scheme. (link via Amy Welborn)

Sad Local Note

Acclaimed author and Bay Area resident Iris Chang has apparently committed suicide, leaving behind a husband and 2 year old son. If you ever get the chance, read Ms. Chang's book The Rape of Nanking, a very haunting and controversial chronicle of the atrocities committed by the Japanese in China during WWII.

Not Sure I Like This

According to Al Reuteera, President Bush will be nominating White House Legal Counsel Alberto Gonzales to be the next U.S. Attorney General. In light of the reports that Gonzales has squishy positions on affirmative action and life issues, conservatives should definitely be concerned about this apparent nomination.

State Rankings on the Greatest Virtue

Not a blue (Kerry) state among the top 25.

The Anti-Janet Reno Resigns

And I mean that as a complement. Nice job Mr. Ashcroft, and thank you for your service.

Kill the Sick and Useless Among Us!!

Such effectively is the calling cry of two California state legislators who plan on introducing a bill that would legalize physician assisted suicide. Ahnuld, having made one too many Terminator movies, is apparently undecided on the matter.

A Real Choice

Some Federal employees in Illinois now have the option of choosing a Catholic-run health insurance plan that doesn't cover abortions or contraception. Predictably, Planned Parenthood opposes the providing of such a choice by disingenuously confusing reasonable accommodation for religious indoctrination. Plus, I'm sure those baby butchers don't like the fact that they'll be losing money from this.

Aiming for Arlen

Folks at The Corner think that pressure should be applied to deny Arlen Specter the Chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee for his warning remarks to President Bush about nominating judges who are openly critical of Roe v. Wade, while conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt thinks pro-life efforts should be focused on changing the Senate rules that have allowed pro-abortion Democrats to obstruct Bush's judicial nominees. Frankly, I don't really know who's right on this, but I will say it's a most unfortunate situation that probably could have been altogether avoided had Bush shown a little bit of courage and not endorsed Specter over Pat Toomey in the Pennsylvania GOP primary.

Come to think of it, Hewitt did support Bush's move to endorse Specter in the primaries, so perhaps his argument for restraint and analysis isn't as dispassionate as it should be. But he does nevertheless raise some good points, and I'm going to have to mull them over for a bit to see if I should jump on the "Axe Arlen from the Judiciary Chairmanship" bandwagon.

Update: I'm now leaning toward denying Specter the chairmanship.

Chief Justice Thomas?

All the scuttlebut surrounding William Rehnquist's health and who might succeed him as the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court kind of reminds me of the all the mostly media speculation that's been going on the last several years about who the next pope is going to be. In any event, Drudge is flashing a news report about how President Bush is supposedly looking into the possibility of elevating Clarence Thomas to the position of Chief Justice if and when Rehnquist resigns. A bold move to be sure, and one that I would wholeheartedly support. Between Thomas and Antonin Scalia, I personally think Thomas is the better jurist mostly because he appears to view the Ninth Amendment as a vehicle for Natural Law principles. The same can't be really said about Scalia who doesn't really seem to see the Ninth Amendment as anything more than an ink blot that conveys a nice sentiment.

Good Question

Howard Bashman at How Appealing asks what the election results of this past Tuesday mean if, as some people would have you believe, that it is impossible to fill a probable opening on the Supreme Court with a nominee who is a known opponent of Roe v. Wade.

California is a Weapon of Mass Destruction

In a state where abortion has been expressly proclaimed to be a fundamental right, it really isn't suprising that a ballot initiative which allows human beings to be created in a petrie dish and destroyed for purposes of "scientific research" passed with flying colors. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

My Sentiments Exactly

Addressed to the incredibly deep blue MSM.

Lefty Dem Dilemmas

First, they make vacuous promises to leave the U.S. and move to Canada if George Bush wins reelection, then comes news that they'd have to wait up to a year before Canada allows them to become citizens of the Great White North.

Wonder if some of these 'Rats have ever thought of Cuba? I'm sure Fidel would fast track their citizenship applications in no time.

I am Alone in an Ocean of Loony Lefties

The final tally on the presidential race here in San Francisco is Kerry 83% and Bush 15%. A local initiative that would actually have allowed non-U.S. citizens to vote in San Francisco school board elections barely lost 51% to 49%, while an initiative condemning President Bush as a liar and demanding U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq easily passed by a 63% to 37% margin.

Should I Feel Disenfranchised?

The type of voting ballot being used in San Francisco requires a person to fill in a broken arrow to a candidate of choice. At the polling place that I was at, a felt-tip pen was provided inside each voting stall. As most people might be aware, anything that is written with a felt-tip pen can be easily smudged, which is exactly what happened to a few of the markings I made on my ballot. When I asked the kid (he looked college-aged) who was running the ballot reading machine if this was a problem, he said "no." I remain skeptical.

Also, the voting for San Francisco Supervisors employed something called "ranked choice voting," which basically asks people to selct their first, second and third choices for a particular District Supervisor seat. The claimed purpose of this crazy voting method is to avoid prolonged and costly runoffs in case there is either a tie among two candidates or no candidate is able to garner more than 50% of the vote (I can't remember which one it is). Since there was only one supervisorial candidate in my district who I could vote for in good conscience, I didn't make a second and third choice. This seems to have been the reason for why the ballot reading machine didn't initially scan my ballot. After asking me if I had failed to fill in a couple of things on the Supervisor ballot, the kid running the ballot reading machine punched in a couple of buttons, and voila, my ballot got scanned. At least I think it did. Now I'm kicking myself for not asking.

Update: I noticed this guy's name among the candidates running for San Francisco School Board, and I just thought to myself, "This city is loony bin."

No Camelot for Kerry

At least as far as getting the Catholic Vote [tm] is concerned.

Several things of note in the linked article: 1). Apparently, the Daily Herald is amazed that any Catholic will not be voting for someone who claims (repeatedly) to have once been an altar boy; 2).The liberal/heretical Pax Christi is laughingly referred to as a "social justice group"; 3). Catholic concern about abortion is described as an "ideological shift" that occurred in the last 30 years; 4). Life related issues are qualified as "so-called"; 5). "Anti-abortion rights?"; and 6). Catholic Answers is described as being partisan and of the position that Catholics are required to "vote for a candidate who supports any one of five 'non-negotiable issues'"

If it wasn't for the fact that this article is being passed off as news, all of the blatant distortions and misleading comments that are made would be hilarious.