That Is News To Me

Dark Souls

2011-12-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

If one were to go back and play old NES games like Contra or Kid Icarus, I think the nostalgia would be overwhelmed at some point by the cruelty inherent in these older games. There's no saving. There's little room for mistakes. And if you fail over the course of many hours of play, you start over. Who has the time or patience to deal with that kind of thing today? Who would pay money to experience that again?

The makers of Dark Souls apparently thought somebody would. The game has no pause button. There's very little instruction or story. The game is cruel, and when you die, you lose all of your souls, the game's currency. When you go to checkpoints and heal, all of the enemies in the game respawn.

One might think Dark Souls is just a needless nostalgia play, but they only adopt old gaming rules when they support the game's goal: give the player constant stakes. Give them a strong incentive to take care. Make them fearful to fail and jubilant at success. They hit that mark perfectly. I'm no gaming expert (I died 30+ times in the first few hours of play and nearly gave up), and even I have found the game incredibly rewarding. Fromsoft basically made a deal with the player: deal with our hurdles, and we'll reward you with incredible rewards in detail, feel, loot, and fun.

This is an incredible bet for a gaming studio; I can think of no other recent game that attempts to make this deal with the player. But after two excellent games in this vein (Dark Souls' spiritual predecessor is a game called Demon Souls and is similar), I think we may see a resurgence of the high-stakes game. Jaded players need stakes, whether they realize it or not. Here's to more stress and more rewards in gaming's future.

Public Internet Fora

2011-08-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

Cross-posting my G+ post here, as it was blog-length. The First Circuit decision I reference is covered here.

***

I'd like to see a law student comment comparing the recent decision linked to below to the arguments in defense of BART's cell shutdown. Clearly the 1st Circuit feels the 1st Amendment protects the ability of a person to film and post police activity via cell phone in a public square. The means of posting for any near-term journalistic purpose is an internet connection.

Some things for the student to consider: does it matter that a cell shutdown delays, but doesn't permanently enjoin, the communication of the speech? Must the government have a security concern, or can they stop immediate broadcasting arbitrarily?

I'll jumpstart the comment by providing some early thoughts. What comes to mind for me is the doctrine of a semi-public or private forum's transformation into a public forum based upon access. We tend to think of this caselaw as being about physical grounds - the military base, when opened for 1 day for a public parade, becomes a public forum and folks can bring anti-military posters on the grounds for that day only.

Similarly, when the BART folks decided to create cell service in BART stations, they unintentionally made such stations a "public internet forum," if not a public physical forum. This is why we shouldn't conflate BART's ability, for safety reasons, to control protests in BART stations, with their ability to control the non-physical public forum created by internet access.

I'd thus like to propose that BART may be able to make a valid constitutional argument that the physical forum of a BART station can be closed for security reasons if viable alternative physical fora for speech are available. But they cannot constitutionally invoke a security-based argument for closing a public internet forum except in the most extreme of circumstances (ex. specific knowledge of a cell phone bomb trigger in the area). Once the government decides to provide internet access and create a public internet forum, an individual should have the right to invoke a right like the one seen the case below (use a cell phone to record officers in public), and not have the means of speech dissemination inhibited by the government. Closing the internet public forum and delaying the speech dissemination is unconstitutional except in instances of immediate, specific, and deadly security concerns. Physical-space-based concerns, such as overcrowding, simply aren't valid for public internet fora.

Now I need a law student to make my normative argument about public internet fora into something grounded in some actual cases beyond the one below. :) If someone does it, I'll look forward to reading it!

By the way, I also recommend my former boss Nicole Wong's thoughts on this matter.

https://plus.google.com/115873428613023435238/posts/1dYGPQTTWRy

Google+ Invites

2011-08-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

I'm posting a lot of nonsense there. If you'd like to join, but haven't received an invite, use this link and you'll get one.

Google+

2011-07-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

The product I've been working on for half-past forever, Google+, is finally public. This product long caused me to state in vague terms what I did at Google. I'm very happy to no longer say "I still do Google Earth," or "I do ads stuff," when probed on my daily activities.

Check it out at plus.google.com. Sign-ups are opening from time to time, so keep plugging away if you're interested.

News Tip

2011-06-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

So far as I can tell, there is only one good source for nightly news on TV: PBS Newshour. One hour of commercial-free coverage of the top 4 or 5 stories of the day, plus a special report on something. They preview all of this for you in the first 30 seconds, so if nothing strikes your fancy, you turn it off. Also, don't miss Shields & Brooks on Fridays. The best weekly conversation on politics on TV.

As Adam Carolla noted, all cable TV news options are horrors. They are not worth your time. All network TV news shows are lacking in depth (partially due to time constraints) and easily distracted by stupid political stunts. My wife and I were proud to say a few weeks ago that we had no idea who Casey Anthony was. Such is the power of watching PBS Newshour: you can stay blissfully ignorant of incredibly stupid things.

Now, I don't begrudge people watching other news sources. I do think it's a waste of your time, but I also waste my time on things (see: baseball). I just think we should all recognize what's actual informative news and what's just a diversion. I'd really prefer not to be an NPR/PBS San Franciscan who considers people who don't follow what I follow to be inferior. Note the use of the word "prefer"; it is very easy to be sucked into the SF superiority vortex. Patting oneself on the back is a more popular physical activity than yoga here. Thankfully my abundant self-awareness keeps me from such self-congrat . . . shit.

8 Blog Facts, Courtesy of Google Analytics

2011-06-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

1. Twice as many visitors use Chrome to visit this blog than any other browser.

2. People spend about 90 seconds on the site.

3. Android and iPad are tied for the most popular mobile means of visiting the site.

4. 80% of visitors use Windows.

5. There are a decent number of French, Russian, and Spanish language visitors.

6. Traffic comes almost equally from my ad and organic search traffic. Clearly the ad is useful!

7. Besides "that's news to me," "bankruptcy" and "google lawyer" are popular search terms that lead one here.

8. That being said, sometimes weirder stuff leads to traffic. Like "91 toyota pickup 38s behemoth" and "any narrative skit for a poor wretched man with biblical lessons to draw as a lost son who finally comes home".

Fun!

Going to Vegas Tomorrow

2011-06-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

A colleague asked today about appropriate Vegas attire for a club. Goodness knows I'm no expert, but the funny thing about Vegas clubs is that shoes are key. They won't let you in with tennis shoes, even nice black ones. Gotta be leather, gotta be fairly nice. You can go jeans, you can go no jacket at most places if you have a collared shirt. But if the shoes could be used to hit a forehand winner, you have no shot of getting in short of paying-off the bouncer.

I know this rule well, as I brought the jacket/Adidas combo 7 years ago to LAX at Luxor. I was on the list for a birthday party that rented out a good part of the club. It didn't matter. Note that I was, and probably still am, too cheap to buy shoes on-the-spot to resolve the situation. I went back to my friend's house.

I half-expect that someday even a jacket and good shoes won't be enough. Some bouncer will tell I don't value the club experience and don't have the face of a clubber (is that what they call them?). "You look ok, but I can tell this is not for you." And homeward I will head.

Back in San Francisco

2011-05-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I spent a Monday - Friday in San Francisco. Observations about Brazil and Hawaii:

Brazil - casual, cheap drinking and good conversation every evening seemed like the local routine. Very fun, relaxed place. Absolutely no one outside of my office spoke English. At all. Including at a very popular museum. They had to find a fellow visitor to translate the tour for me. I got a one week membership at a local gym via gestures and semaphore.

Kauai - undeveloped. The north is stunning, like everyone says. All goods are ridiculously expensive, even for San Franciscans. Lots of fun stuff to do - we hiked, surfed, snorkeled, golfed (both mini and full), and ate. Surprising number of good places to eat. The little town of Hanalei is particularly stuffed full of good casual or sit down food options.

Despite all that fun, happy to be back.

Woefully Unprepared

2011-05-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

You know you've been travelling a bit too much when you realize the night before a flight to Brazil that you have no place to stay. I kinda let that item slip past me. Thankfully, a Brazilian contact came to the rescue.

I also didn't feel like packing last night, so now I'm packing a few hours before my flight leaves. I also haven't planned a single non-work activity. I don't even really know what the city I'm going to looks like. I think all of my Brazilian energy went into getting the visa. Now I'm tapped out and just hoping to show up on time.

This is how your turn a work trip into an adventure.

Obvious Sentiment of the Day

2011-04-29T22:09:00.000-07:00

Florida is very tropical. Quite different from California in this respect. California is palm trees, desert, and rattle snakes. Florida is palm trees, marshes, and alligators.

How are they similar, besides palm trees? A big one: Orlando and Orange County should declare themselves separated at birth. Two warm, Republican places in which countless acres of orange groves were sacrificed for 1. theme parks and 2. planned communities.

Miami Beach is pretty great - it's a grittier but prettier Santa Monica.

I don't know what Tampa is, but I enjoyed a Rays game. Gave me Kingdome flashbacks, though Tropicana Field is a far better, more intimate dome. Probably about as good as dome/AstroTurf baseball can get. Not competitive with any of the new parks but not a terrible experience either. I saw the construction in Miami of the Marlins' new joint. Tampa folks must be jealous.

Going to Florida Next Week

2011-04-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

Trying to determine what is better about Florida than California. There's gotta be stuff, but I haven't come up with anything yet. Not weather, not universities, not food, not beer, not wine, not sports teams. That's most of what I care about in this world. I suppose it's competitive in lunacy and intrigue. After all, the game is Germany or Florida?, not Germany or California?. I'll look out for that.

One fun thing

2011-04-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

One fun thing about (barely!) bringing this blog back to life is looking at site traffic. I get a little stipend from work, so I run ads too. Fascinating that the ads on search actually kinda work. Six people clicked already!

I've also learned that a majority of you use IE. Go Chrome. It's better.*

* I refuse to annotate this endorsement despite the FTC guidelines' mandate to contextualize blogger testimonials. Enjoy your unconstitutional guidelines while you can, FTC. Boo.

Just like that

2011-04-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

We have a new domain: thatisnewstome.com. Very easy to buy a custom domain, it turns out.

Read a Real Blog

2011-04-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

By the way, check out a real blog, The Red Humor. It's beautifully written by a friend of mine. I expect a book deal shortly.

Back From the Dead! (kinda)

2011-04-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

I see Tom has long given up on blogging here, and I don't blame him. I haven't been active here in 7 years. But I thought I'd at least repost some items I do share via Twitter and Reader, with the occasional real blog post thrown in. I'd also like to use this page to test some of our ads and analytics products from a user perspective.

Site News

2010-08-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

For various reasons, I've opted to delete virtually all of the posts I've made to this blog. I'm currently doing much more focused blogging on another site, and don't anticipate going back to blogging on current events, political stuff, law (outside of strictly professional posts), or general blogging. I did, before deleting my contributions, save copies of them, so hit me up on the blog email address if you want a copy of anything.

Hmphf

2010-01-13T19:40:00.001-08:00

I don't know why I still have this. I'm not updating it, but worse, I'm bookmarking lots of stuff with the vague and sure to be unfulfilled intention of posting it here. Time to stop that.

Best Books

2009-01-22T20:41:00.002-08:00

I've recorded every book I've read* since December 2003. I used to do book reviews on here regularly, but have since stopped that for one reason or another. Still, I feel like I should tell you, my mythical reader, what's worth reading. So, by year, here are the books I've read that have been good. Note here the definition of "good" is "books you should consider reading even if you normally don't read books like that."

2004
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Beyond Fear by Bruce Schneier

2005
An Empire of Wealth by John Steele Gordon (Americans only)
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
Hyperion by Dan Simmons

2006
America's Game by Michael MacCambridge (Americans only)
The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The American Revolution: A History by Gordon Wood
Dune by Frank Herbert

2007
The Price of Admission by Daniel Golden
Americanism by David Gelernter

2008
1491 by Charles Mann
The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (I violated my "don't read a series until it's done" rule for this book, and I don't hugely regret it)

These are far from the only books I read those years, but they're the only ones I can say really are good.

Holy Day of Obligation Preview

2007-07-20T17:18:00.001-07:00

NOTE: GUESSES ONLY. NO SPOILERS. I WOULD NOT DO THAT TO YOU.

I've been far more absent from TNTM than I've planned lately, but wanted to get this up tonight.

And Harry remembered his first nightmarish trip into the forest, the first time he had ever encountered the thing that was Voldemort, and how he had faced him, and how he and Dumbledore had discussed fighting a losing battle not long thereafter. It was important, Dumbledore said, to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated. . . .

And Harry saw very clearly as he sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over. He could not let anybody else stand [for him ...] There was no waking from his nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died[.]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, p.644-45 (US hardback first printing). Slightly over two years ago, I read those words, and something quite specific came to mind. I posted about it then, without explicitly making the connection clear, lest it be considered spoiler-ish. Now, on the eve of Deathly Hallows, I feel no such compunction.

What would you do / if you were asked to give up your dreams for freedom?
What would you do / if asked to make the ultimate sacrifice?
Would you think about all them people / who gave up everything they had?
Would you think about all them war vets / and would you start to feel bad?
Freedom isn't free / it costs folks like you and me
And if you don't all chip in / we'll never pay that bill
[...]
'Cause the only reason you're here / is 'cause folks died for you in the past
So maybe now it's your turn / to die kicking some ass

PREDICTIONS:
R.A.B. is Regulus Alphard Black.

The remaining Horcruxes are (1) Voldemort's remaining soul, (2) the locket, (3) the cup, (4) Nagini, and (5) the Marauder's Map.

We will return to the Room of Requirement. Snape's old Potions book is in there. So is a Horcrux, likely the brain of the Marauder's Map, which has some connection to Rowena Ravenclaw.

Voldemort will die.

Harry will "go on to the next great adventure" (i.e., die).

Snape will betray Harry to Voldemort, and Voldemort to Harry. While I'd like to see Harry kill him, Voldemort will.

Arthur Weasley will become Minister of Magic, though possibly not until the epilogue/last chapter.

Which is a good thing, because Mrs. Weasley will die. So will at least 2 Weasley children.

If Harry dies, Ron and Hermione will live. If I'm wrong and Harry lives, either Ron or Hermione will die.

Madam Sprout will die, likely in a battle at Hogwarts. This way Neville can be Herbology professor.

Peter Pettigrew will fail to deliver up Harry to Voldemort, and will die for it.

The Hepzibah Smith who owned the cup and the locket will prove to be kin to Zacharias Smith and his haughty father mentioned in HBP.

Really out on a limb: Regulus Black is still alive, and was the huge blond death eater who kept missing all the non-death eaters with jinxes in the battle at the end of HBP.

Aberforth Dumbledore is the bartender at the Hog's Head. Aside from JKR's wink and a nudge w/r/t RAB = Regulus Black in the LeakyMug interview when HBP came out, this is the common projection in which I place the most faith.

I think John Granger is probably right when he posted that Hagrid was the one character JKR planned to kill, then decided to save.

See also here for some of my predictions (name "tojgow"). I particularly stand by Malfoy gets to live because he's an idiot.

Ollivander will show up. The theory that he's been helping house elves get wands, and we'll see the house elves of Hogwarts defend the school is an interesting one, but not one I personally subscribe to.

Harry is NOT the Heir of Gryffindor. I can't remember if JKR has officially debunked this or not, but it certainly doesn't seem as popular as it did a few years ago.

Something will happen w/r/t the Dursleys, but I haven't figured out what exactly, nor do I know what Dudley is most scared of.

In all probability, I have overestimated the number of people to die.

Finally, a sure bet: after only sleeping from about 2:15 to 6:35 last night, I will be very tired when I finally go to bed tonight after finishing the book. I will likely write up spoilerrific material, but WILL NOT post them on here. I'll grab some webspace elsewhere, put them up there, and post a link here.

It's Been A Long Time

2006-06-07T00:15:00.000-07:00

Too long, my friends, too long. So long that I feel a bit like I'm placing blog graffiti (blograffiti?) on Tom's work. But I found too cool a music service to stay silent about: last.fm.

Here's how it works: you download a couple of things, blah blah blah, and then it monitors your iTunes choices. After a sample of a few hundred songs, it finds other people with the same music taste as you, lets you make album cover collages, look at how each album you own is rated track-for-track by others, and other fun stuff.

I came upon last.fm via Slashdot, which reported on some analysis of all the online music programs. Last.fm is "by far" the best, they say. Plus, it has plug-ins for different players and alternative OSes like Linux.

Anyway, I will end this post by trying some embedded something or another, which will display my music faves for the week (I just played my iTunes top-rated songs all in-a-row this week, so this isn't indicative of my current listening habits). Here's hoping it works:

Hyde Park Restaurant Renaissance?

2005-11-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

I haven't seen Hyde Park in a few months, but I ran across this post by Daniel Drezner indicating that culinary changes are at hand. Not that a Potbelly isn't a renaissance of its own.

Route 66

2005-09-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Tom for the parting hymn. Turns out Nat (or the guy that wrote the song for Nat) knew what he was talking about - I went through all of those towns. Conspicuously absent from the lyrics, however, is my favorite stop - Santa Fe, NM. Reminded me of a less-commericalized Santa Barbara. I found both New Mexico and Arizona to be a welcome breath of beauty and culture into the trip.

Northern Texas was completely blah. Stopped off in Amarillo, thinking that a town I've heard of must have some kind of food to eat downtown. Boy was I wrong. Ain't nuthin' goin' on in main street Amarillo at 4:00 pm on a Thursday. I used my car's navigation system to find a Thai restaurant, which turned out just to be an office space with a few tables in a pseudo-living room. Interesting. But hey, a big plate of pad thai was $5.00. It was edible.

More surprising was St. Louis. Ain't nuthin' goin' at 4:00 pm on a Wednesday there either. That downtown was as dead as the Hypercolor T-Shirt Movement (that's very dead in my book - remember the arm pit accents?). "FOR LEASE" signs everywhere, hardly a person on the street, hardly a single decent spot to eat. Maybe I was missing something - are the hotspots in these South/Mid/West-ish towns in the periphery? I know that was sort of true in Atlanta. That's basically true in LA. Kinda true in DC too, though downtown at 4:00 pm would be lively in the latter two places regardless. Seattle and Chicago would be packed. Anyway, St. Louis left me nonplussed and a little disappointed. But the arch was cool.

Oh, and Tulsa, OK - no thanks. Can't comment on Oklahoma City, as I only gave it a drive-by.

A stat: total number of Acura TSXes (my car) seen on the entire trip: 1. Where? 110, downtown LA, in the last 20 minutes of the 4-day tour. In my first few days in Santa Monica, I've seen a half-dozen more. TSX's are not a hot-ticket item in the heart of Route 66 country, I guess.

Speaking of the car, let me recommend to all who might see a cross-country trip in their future: buy an XM radio if you can. Channel 133 - NPR, uninterrupted, across the country! 47 - Savvy rock selections, unedited, nonstop! 175-189 - every baseball game! Some random channel - an exclusive hour-long interview with Rush! Oh, and the navigation system on my new car was incredibly useful. I know they can be pretty expensive, but I'd still recommend one if you A. Love maps, and like to know where you are and where you're going at all times; B. Like to price shop. Yep, that's right - I'd call ahead to all hotels in a given town (the Nav system has all of them and their phone numbers), and then pick the cheapest. Worked like a charm. You can do the same thing for gas too. You can tell yourself that you're making up for the XM/Nav expenses with savings. Just stick with the system for 50-odd years and it'll be like you turned a profit!

And with that bit of business wisdom, I'm off to join the corporate world. Wish me luck. Clearly I'll need it.

Sunday Feature, Slightly Belated

2005-09-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

M'pologies for the delay, but I've been helping my sister and her fiancee with suggestions for music for their wedding and reception. Pity that the Church has restrictions on what songs they can use, else I might have been able to talk them into using "Procession of the Nobles." In any event, this weekly selection is for Brian. No, it's not a Rush song, but instead Nat King Cole's "Route 66," in honor of his departure from the Windy City:

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.

It winds from Chicago to LA,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.

Now you go through Saint Louie,
Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty.
You see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino.

Won't you get hip to this timely tip:
When you make that California trip,
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.

Won't you get hip to this timely tip:
When you make that California trip,
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.

Leaving Chicago (with random thoughts)

2005-08-30T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day in Hyde Park. Very sad. Not that I've been around much - I've logged almost 40 days of travel since the end of June. But I'll still miss the place greatly. Next up: Santa Monica, via Historic Route 66.

I felt somehow compelled to place "Historic" before the "Route 66." I think that's because all of the ads for taking the Route call it that. Whenever an epithet is consistently used to describe something, I'm always highly skeptical of the description's truthfulness. I think the technique is invoked by those with something to prove. Alexander wasn't that Great, and King Richard wasn't all that Lionhearted.

Ok, maybe I'm being a little tough on Alexander because the movie sucked. And by the way, can we officially endow Oliver Stone with the Paul Verhoeven Chair in Being a Has-Been Director and Yet Somehow Still Conning Large Studios To Hand You Tons of Cash for Box Office Bombs? I will accept other nominations (Kevin Costner, maybe?). Why don't these guys suffer Michael Cimino-like fates?

Time for bed. Goodnight all. Goodnight Chicago.

Life Does This

2005-08-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

For the past three years, I've lived in Hyde Park. It has a lot to offer if you dig deep enough, but no amount of digging led to the discovery of a Potbelly Sandwich Works. I've mentioned my love of Potbelly before. They're ubiquitous in the Chicago area, and yet UChicago's Potbelly needs were completely ignored. I have complained about this fact to many an unwilling listener since I arrived here. Well, this week Ben and I were walking back from the (far inferior) 55th St. Quiznos when we see something strange in the Co-Op Grocery parking lot: COMING SOON: POTBELLY.

Our prayers have been answered, right? Funny thing. That was Ben's last day in Hyde Park (he's a fellow Potbelly lover), and I leave for Europe on Tuesday, only to come back and immediately move to Santa Monica. In Santa Monica, heck, in the entire Western U.S., a Potbelly is nowhere to be found.

There's a joke there, but it isn't all that funny. I'll leave it.

Goodness knows I've tried to solve this problem. Awhile ago I began an email campaign - consisting of me - requesting that Potbelly start a single store anywhere in SoCal. I don't care where. I'll make pilgrimages on the 10, on the 405 EVEN, to get to it. Here was Potbelly's response:

***Hi, Brian! Thank you for writing us!

We're so happy to hear that you love Potbelly!

And, we appreciate your suggestion for opening a location in Southern
California. We're always looking for exciting new locations. We'll
continue to announce all of the details concerning our new store
openings on our Web site at http://www.potbelly.com/stores3.2.html.

Keep checking back and hopefully we'll be coming your way soon!***

"Hopefully we'll be coming your way soon!" If I received that response from a girl I'd asked out, it would be . . . disheartening, to say the least. No sir, that won't do it.

So, a call out to all of our displaced Chicagoan readers who love Potbelly and currently reside in the greater Los Angeles area: bug Potbelly until they bring a store out to us. Our massive reader base must contain scores of people fitting this profile, right?

I'm screwed.

Back From The Bar

2005-08-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

I just got back. Some numbers:

9 Days in California

3 Days of Bar Exam

6 Essays Answered

2 Performance Exams Taken (one very poorly, I might add!)

200 MBE Questions Answered

2 Days Studying Furiously at Cal Tech

4 Days Searching Furiously for an Apartment

30+ Apartments Visited

1 Lease Signed (on a place I found the morning of the last day!)

3 Movies Seen (Recommended: The Aristocrats)

1030 Miles Driven in a Rented Dodge Neon

Thousands and Thousands of Dollars Spent

Needless to say, I'm spent too. But don't cry for me. I leave for Europe next week.

Grokster

2005-06-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

9-0 majority opinion, though not per curiam as I came to suspect it might be. Souter wrote the majority, and Ginsburg and Breyer wrote concurrences about Sony. Lots of analysis over at Picker MobBlog; I think Lichtman and Lior have it right. More tonight, probably, and on Brand X, too.

Grokster Prediction

2005-06-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

Making a prediction on Grokster could make me look really good tomorrow, or confirm my foolishness. But hey, my McCain Feingold guesses worked out ok, so I'll take the risk. Here's my Grokster guess:

I can see three primary consensus points for the Court: 1. Sony is either adaptive or irrelevant, leaving room for a more refined rule of law. 2. Actual inducement is a useful theory for copyright law, and ought to be applied independent of Sony as a theory of secondary liability. The case will be remanded for determination of this issue. 3. Innovators must not be stifled while their creations are in their infancy. This is true even if they aid copyright infringement to a significant degree, so long as the product has a capacity for non-infringing uses.

On the fringes are two issues that will likely receive some attention in the opinion, but may be glossed over for the sake of consensus. Both Justices Souter and Scalia made clear that Judge Posner had the better argument in the willful ignorance debate—turning a blind eye will not bar a contributory infringement claim. But it is far less likely that this theory will lead the court to impose the Chicago “affirmative duty” regime upon content creators. Not only did this theory receive virtually no attention at oral argument, but seems to be too large a departure from Sony.

Secondly, the Court may make some mention of the role Congress should ultimately play in how the law approaches copyright in the future. Justice Ginsburg’s “rebuttal” to the respondents’ congressional deference theory, that “the Court is now faced with two apparently conflicting decisions,” indicates that the Court sees a need to take a first crack at the problem for harmonization purposes. But it would be odd for the Court to ignore that the policy issues inherent in balancing corporate profits with incentives for innovation are primarily the province of the legislature.

Bringing all of these strands together, I see a real potential for court-wide consensus in Grokster. I envision an opinion that begins by placating Judges Stevens and Breyer. I believe the Court may posture the case as a vindication of Sony’s concerns for promoting innovation. Substantively, however, the Court will limit the “substantial noninfringing use” safe harbor to situations in which either: 1. the primary uses are noninfringing; or 2. the product is in its infancy, perhaps less than a few years old. If the product has been on the market for more than a year or two and the primary uses are infringing, an actual knowledge/willful ignorance regime will apply. Thus, the contributory infringement rule will be expanded beyond the Ninth Circuit’s view. The secondary liability discussion will not be framed as an “affirmative duty” rule, though it may lead to that result in practice where the defendant can maintain control over the product. Alternatively, a “taking steps to mitigate infringement” rule may be fashioned by the Court as a secondary liability defense, or as a way of limiting damages.

Cutting across the Sony discussion will be a new copyright inducement regime. This rule will be completely independent of the refined Sony rule. The inducement rule will enable a plaintiff to assert a valid claim of bad intent regardless of the maturity of the defendant’s product. This will provide some comfort to the Justices concerned about more Groksters; in practice, all firms will adapt to avoid being so notorious. As Justice Scalia put it, “the inducement point doesn’t get you very far.”

Applying the new rule to the facts of Grokster, the Court will vacate the Ninth Circuit’s opinion, and remand the case to the district court for determination of 1. the breakdown of infringing vs noninfringing uses; 2. assuming a finding of primarily infringing uses, Grokster’s knowledge/willful ignorance of infringement; 3. Grokster’s intent for inducement purposes.

Or, you know, they could just punt.

Note the Washington Post: Rehnquist is not Retired/Dead Yet

2005-06-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

Funny thing, RSS news feeds. Ocassionally, a newspaper or blogger will post something, only to quickly remove or edit it. Often the feed remains, and the results can be interesting. Case in point: check out what my Washington Post feed via the brilliant Safari RSS gave me this afternoon:

**Chief Justice Rehnquist Retires/Dies

Charles Lane in washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.

Today, 02:02 PM

When a grade-school teacher asked young William Hubbs RehnquistÖ what he was going to do when he grew up, the loyal son of anti-New Deal parents did not hesitate: "I'm going to change the government," he said. Read more…**

**Key Rehnquist Decisions
washingtonpost.com in washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.

Today, 01:53 PM

May 27, 2003 Nevada v. Hibbs Rehnquist rules that state governments have to obey the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. * FindLaw Case Documents * Post Article: Justices Extend Family Act's Reach * Post Editorial: States' Rights Muddle &rvar29=April 1, 2003 Gratz v. Bollinger, University**

**Rehnquist: A Justice's Journey

Today, 02:10 PM

William H. Rehnquist was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Milwaukee to Margery and William Rehnquist. His father was a paper salesman. Read more…**

**Key Rehnquist Decisions

washingtonpost.com in washingtonpost.com - US government, national security, science and national news and headlines.

Today, 03:21 PM

Known as a conservative, Rehnquist was particularly influence in the areas of federalism and states' rights. Read more…**

Reminds me of a film that stands as a glaring omission from the silly AFI list:

MORTICIAN: Bring out your dead!
Bring out your dead!
[clang] Bring out your dead!
[clang] Bring out your dead!
[clang] Bring out your dead!
[clang] Bring out your dead!
CUSTOMER: Here's one -- nine pence.
DEAD PERSON: I'm not dead!
MORTICIAN: What?
CUSTOMER: Nothing -- here's your nine pence.
DEAD PERSON: I'm not dead!
MORTICIAN: Here -- he says he's not dead!
CUSTOMER: Yes, he is.
DEAD PERSON: I'm not!
MORTICIAN: He isn't.
CUSTOMER: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
DEAD PERSON: I'm getting better!
CUSTOMER: No, you're not -- you'll be stone dead in a moment.
MORTICIAN: Oh, I can't take him like that -- it's against
regulations.
DEAD PERSON: I don't want to go on the cart!
CUSTOMER: Oh, don't be such a baby.
MORTICIAN: I can't take him...
DEAD PERSON: I feel fine!
CUSTOMER: Oh, do us a favor...
MORTICIAN: I can't.
CUSTOMER: Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He
won't be long.
MORTICIAN: Naaah, I got to go on to Robinson's -- they've lost
nine today.
CUSTOMER: Well, when is your next round?
MORTICIAN: Thursday.
DEAD PERSON: I think I'll go for a walk.
CUSTOMER: You're not fooling anyone y'know. Look, isn't there
something you can do?
DEAD PERSON: I feel happy... I feel happy.
[whop]
CUSTOMER: Ah, thanks very much.
MORTICIAN: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
CUSTOMER: Right.
[clop clop]
MORTICIAN: Who's that then?
CUSTOMER: I don't know.
MORTICIAN: Must be a king.
CUSTOMER: Why?
MORTICIAN: He hasn't got shit all over him.

Raising the Price of Fame

2005-06-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

I may not be posting much, but I do take requests. Alas, I think Brian got the thrust of Norman Augustine's opinion piece absolutely, totally 100 percent wrong. My take on his piece is that he's absolutely not making any sort of argument for limiting executive pay scales at all. Instead, he seems to be mocking what Congress has done, limiting companies' deduction for executive pay to $1 million, unless performance-based, and further limiting the compensation of chief executives of, say, defense contractors, like maybe Lockheed Martin, of which Mr. Augustine was CEO, to $473,318.

Now, the main problem with this "he's mocking Congress" idea is that the article appeared in the NYT; had it been in the WSJ, I'd be perfectly fine leaving my analysis at that. But the cause of CEO of defense contractors' pay wouldn't seem to be the sort of thing that would normally take up the valuable op-ed page of the NYT. So, why'd the NYT publish it then? Well, they might just have taken him at face value, as I think Brian did. Alternatively, maybe they're trying to branch out, and open their page to other viewpoints. Or maybe there's something else I'm not thinking of, since I'm not feeling very clever right now.

UPDATE: Going back and reading this post, I probably come off a lot harsher toward Brian than I intended. Really, no malice was intended at all. Really, I just laughed when I was reading the op-ed, and was in that mood of jocularity when I wrote the post, though I guess maybe it didn't come across very well. N.B. I haven't heard anything from Brian about this, so I guess this is mostly just a record correction.

Raise the Price of Fame?

2005-06-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

The premise of Norman Augustine's opinion piece in the NY Times leaves me befuddled. Here's a snippet:

**The occasional good chief executive aside, how could anyone defend the extravagant compensation of Bernard J. Ebbers (who pocketed more than $400 million in salary and company-secured loans before WorldCom crashed); Kenneth L. Lay (who received more than $100 million in compensation the year Enron went belly up); or Richard M. Scrushy of HealthSouth ($125 million over five years).

Assuming that having Congress seek to influence pay scales in the private sector is good public policy, we must ask ourselves - even recognizing that chief executives are now about as popular as Attorney General Eliot Spitzer at a Business Roundtable picnic - why focus only on chief executives?**

And what public policy, exactly, does influencing private pay scales support? Augustine's public policy seems like a substantive unconscionability or "shocks the conscience" approach to compensation. If it's "just too much," we have to do something about it.

Why?

I want someone to come up with the best argument they can. "It's just too high" isn't an argument. Is it that corporate boards don't really care about shareholders, and just want to enrich their friends in management? Meanwhile, shareholders are too lacking in influence or lazy to do anything about it?

I want to know what makes a former CEO like Augustine think this way. Tom, maybe you know. It's completely beyond me.

A definitive and comprehensive list of African-American actors and characters appearing in films directed by Stanley Kubrick

2005-04-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

It's extensive, and only rivaled by this list.

To Get Everyone in a Baseball Mood

2005-02-28T09:34:00.000-08:00

Vin Scully calls the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax's perfect game

No. 9 Arizona 85, No. 14 Washington 93

2005-02-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

I know I'm completely biased, but I think the Huskies have a great shot at the Final Four this year. They've often overachieved in the Tournament, and have some experience behind them now. Seattle basketball is really good this year. Later I think I'll opine on whether the Mariners can follow suit.

Three Random Things

2005-02-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

It's always funny until someone gets hurt . . . then it's just hilarious.

-Faith No More, "Ricochet," From King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime

Be sure to check out Google Maps. It's awesome.

Lastly, this compilation of websites about LA is also fun. I like Yesterdayla.com, a pictoral history of LA using postcards.

Murders by pirates 'on the rise'

2005-02-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

BBC NEWS

Some things never change. Arrr.

Amber Alert: Dr. King's Legacy Reported Missing

2005-01-22T11:46:00.000-08:00

Scappleface

Scott Ott's hilarious piece reminded me of the University of Chicago's recent King celebration at Rockefeller Chapel. Upon receiving the program schedule, it was obvious that this was not going to be a celebration of King so much as a celebration of being liberal, with a healthy dose of Bush-bashing for good measure. Here's a sampling:

Wading through a group of campus socialists in front of the Chapel, who were handing out their newspaper to the passers-by.

A reading from Qur'an that contained passing mention to the terrible fate that will befall nonbelievers (but that warm feeling inclusiveness gives everyone allowed the moment to pass).

A representative sample of King's writings: "On the Vices of Imperialism and National Hubris." No "I Have A Dream" or "Letter from Birmingham Jail" or anything like that. It's a little known fact that King's forte was international diplomacy. A completely unbiased choice by the event planners there.

An introduction to the keynote speaker by Cathy Cohen, director of the Center for Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. I don't really remember what she said, but I don't think she likes President Bush much - a cursory search of her literature brings up a lot of stuff about "oppression." One can only imagine who the oppressors are.

The keynote was by Kwesi Mfume. The Maroon described a portion of his speech this way:

"Audience members responded kindly to Mfumes strikes against the Bush administrations economic policy, whose emphasis on nation-building has ignored critical domestic problems. Dr. King would want us to make the point that our country should be less concerned with building Iraq than our own country, he said."

Actually, Mfume listed quite a few Bush policies King wouldn't like, including the partial privatization of social security. I had no idea King had staked out a position on that issue. Perhaps the organizers should've read that speech. I'm curious to hear what King thought about the Tsunami relief efforts and Randy Johnson's trade to the Yankees.

But even more vexing than Mfume's ability to channel King for insights into Iraq and the social security system is reconciling these views with Mfume's concluding remarks. The audience, after holding hands for a bit, were supposed to think of oppressed children everywhere living in fear and tyranny. Apparently we are supposed to care about helping children, unless they're in Iraq. Helping those children is just a pretext for getting oil. And what starving child on his deathbed wants to be saved as a pretext to enrich America? I'm sure the child appreciates the policy implications, and would rather just die. Let those Americans "build their own country" first - Chicago's impoverished South Side has a clear shortage of malls, for example.

And no King celebration would be complete without a shout-out to the "Counter-Inaugural Event" on campus. The event provides "an intellectual and physical space for reflection, analysis, and hope in response to the inaugural of George W. Bush. The events will have symbolic, political, intellectual, and moral import and are framed by two fundamental questions: What has happened? What can we do about it?" Sounds like a completely impartial intellectual endeavor.

What struck me about this whole event wasn't that organizers of a King commemoration would take such a tack on him - I'm sure many campus celebrations all over the country were similar. No, what disappointed me was that this happened at the University of Chicago. It's as if the organizers thought a King celebration couldn't go any other way, and that everyone in the audience would be receptive to the presentation. There was no reflection on the difficult questions King's "content of character" focus should provide to a true believer in diversity and multiculturalism as campus liberals understand them. There was no thought into the potential differences between Vietnam and Iraq, and how those differences might color King's views. Instead, we got a big gathering of people only looking to confirm their own beliefs and ignore the other intellectual half of the University. All told, it was a bit of an embarrassment.

New Multiplayer Gaming Numbers

2005-01-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

MMOGCHART.COM

I've posted on this subject in the past, and the industry continues to grow rapidly. Check out some of the charts at the link above - World of Warcraft, among other titles, is really making moves.

To Try to Net Killer, Police Ask a Small Town's Men for DNA

2005-01-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

New York Times

Very interesting article on investigative sweeps that target everyone in a community who fit a broad profile - in this case, simply being a man. This is a topic we discussed at length in Criminal Procedure. Many of the residents of Truro want to sue, which is an understandable but likely futile endeavor.

In Brown v City of Oneonta, 221 F 3d 329 (2d Cir 2000), the police knew only that a black person committed the crime at hand, at least according to witness descriptions. The town's population was 2% black and most were college students. The police decided to question every single black student. The Second Circuit found such tactics constitutional because police may make racial classifications based upon available evidence. Moreover, no Fourth Amendment search occurred (thus triggering enhanced protections) because requesting that students answer questions was not a "seizure" within the meaning of the Amendment. Only when the police ordered students to talk to them did a potential seizure occur. This decision is backed up by the DOJ guidelines on racial classifications in criminal investigations - the police can act on specific information on race without more-specific individualized suspicion.

Of course, in the situation described in the article, the scope of the investigation is roughly 50% of the town's population, not 2% (though the raw number of people is similar - 300 blacks in Oneonta, and the town in the article has about 790 men). It is an interesting debate which number matters more - in a practical sense, it is probably only worth it to do protective sweeps where the universe of suspects is below the thousands. However, the percentage theory is a closer fit to our perception of individualized suspicion.

Perhaps the issue is of less significance for Truro, since gender-based classifications receive less scrutiny than race-based classifications. But the whole situation certainly doesn't feel right to those being subjected to the classification, and perhaps gives the men of Truro an insight into the stigmas racial classifications can impose.

Once Again, The Problem Arises: What To Take?

2004-12-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

Despite just finishing my finals 3 days ago, I can't help but consider what to take next. As a 3L, this is it. No more chances. Right now, I'm thinking about Evidence, Tax, English Legal History, and Corporate Fraud. I'm worried I shouldn't be taking any of these classes, but instead expanding my horizons somehow. Can I really be a lawyer and not no anything about wills and trusts? Graduate without ever taking a Con Law course on Equal Protection? Why did I take that Class Action seminar 2L year instead of taking advantage of these offerings last year? For all the first and second years out there: consider these things now. Create a plan. Don't be like me, turning down offers to do wills left and right, doing so on the basis of gender, and not comprehending the consequences.

Edison Film and Sound: Chronological Title List of Edison Motion Pictures - 1891-1896

2004-11-30T15:41:00.000-08:00

Some of the videos at the Edison Film and Sound site are really amazing, particularly the old videos of Los Angeles. Check it out. (from Laobserved).

The New York Times Finally Makes Sense!

2004-11-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Translate anything into Redneck. The whole world is now open to y'all.

You Don't See This Everyday

2004-11-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

I wonder if Bush has ever wanted to get out of Dodge more in his life.

Firefox Rocks

2004-11-12T15:16:00.000-08:00

Let me be the very last blogger to confirm what everyone's saying: Firefox 1.0 is awesome. It runs like butter, its open source architecture provides an incredible palette for modding, and it has built in RSS support. All that, plus tabbed browsing, better find functions, etc etc etc have made it clear to me that Firefox isn't just an great competitor to IE - it's a generation ahead of it. Definitely worth a look.

A Readable Lament

2004-11-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

Michelle Cottle's piece in the New Republic is one of the better post-election laments I've read. Here's a few snippets:

"Now I realize that regaining your zip can be difficult when everyone's yammering about the utter bleakness of your position. So to help jumpstart the recovery, I'd like to point out a handful of bright spots to come out of Tuesday. Most are minor, but, hell, this week, non-conservatives have gotta find solace wherever we can:

The Iraq mess. As badly as his team has bungled the occupation thus far, Bush still has a better shot at making things right than Kerry did. If nothing else, George and Dick will have greater freedom to request more money or troops (or, alternatively, to start calling the troops home) than would a Democratic commander-in-chief who had to keep one eye on the Republican Congress and one on his reelection chances."

A little honest realism there. Takes some guts to say that when your party is reeling.

"We will all be spared Teresa Heinz Kerry as First Lady. Forget Hillary: A few months of the imperious, impolitic Tuh-ray-zah would have convinced all of red-state America (and a fair chunk of blue) that maybe the Taliban was onto something with that policy about women being neither seen nor heard"

Yeah, Teresa got annoying fast. I tried to like her, but in the end, I think everyone realized that 4 years of Teresa would be intolerable. Half-drunk eccentric socialite heiresses are better left to the foreign countries they came from. Teresa is politics' answer to Karen from Will and Grace, and like Karen, Teresa can only be taken in small doses (aka, less than 23 minutes a week, with a much-needed break in the summer).

If the Country Is Divided . . .

2004-11-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

. . . the dividing line is placed in some spot in which the Republicans win everything.

Not that the House and Senate races weren't fairly predictable. Last December, I guessed 54-46 for the Senate, just based upon state stereotypes. I was only wrong about Daschle, who I expected to win back then. Little did I know Thune was such a star. Watch out for him. A handsome guy, that one, and to quote Chris Rock, "he's so well spoken!"

Anyway, as for the President thing, it looks like Kerry finally took control of his campaign, although it was one day too late. Mary Beth Cahill and Edwards seemed to think that Ohio could be won by the sheer force of lawyers. My theory is that thousands of lawyers were necessary not to file complaints, but to vote a couple of times for Kerry, thus making up the 125K+ deficit in Ohio. I'm glad he didn't take that route, although he didn't have much choice, given that he had a snowball's chance in hell of winning. Call it virtue by necessity.

Lastly, this map of the results by county is interesting:

Alaska doesn't have counties, it seems.

Advice

2004-11-03T00:58:00.000-08:00

It's almost 3 AM. My thinking is clouded, but this much is clear to me: Kerry is really making a mistake here. He desperately needs to weigh his chances of victory with the reputational harms of dragging this on. He could've left a tiny bit of uncertainty and ended the campaign on a note of class. Instead, he just brings out the Edwards puppet show and leaves everyone in the lurch, which I think says a lot about what kind of person Kerry is, and what kind of president he would've been.

P.S. Edwards' gestures after his speech were so embarrassing, I really felt bad for his party. If these are the shining stars, better start from scratch.

P.P.S. Phrases I'd prefer never to hear again until I die:

It's a divided nation (or its close cousin "this nation has never been more divided").

This could go on for a long time (as Wolf Blitzer licks his chops at the thought of an extended ratings boost)

Every vote needs to be counted (as if this has anything to do with whether one should concede or not. If Kerry had won by 350 electoral votes, would we respect Bush for not conceding because "every vote needs to be counted"?)

Bedtime.

Snafu University

2004-10-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

. . . because everyone deserves a college education. Apparently.

Electoral College Scenarios

2004-10-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

Things are getting a little dicier for President Bush. Though it seems increasingly likely that Bush will win the popular vote, it also seems increasingly likely that he will lose some "cushion" states in the electoral college. Obviously, the latter losses are all that matter, so it's time to get a little concerned if you're a Bush fan. Let's work through some situations, starting with some reasonably pro-Kerry assumptions:

Let's assume Kerry wins Delaware, Connecticut, Washington, California, and Michigan. That gives him 181 electoral votes (I won't list all the certain states). He needs 270 to win (a 269 tie kicks it to the House, where Bush will almost surely win). So Kerry needs to pick up 89 more votes. I think Kerry is going to win in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Maine, despite all being within the margin of error on some recent polls, giving him 23 more votes.

Now Kerry needs to pick up 66 votes from: Oregon (7), Minnesota (10), Pennsylvania (21), New Mexico (5), Iowa (7), Ohio (20), Wisconsin (10), West Virginia (5), Florida (27), North Carolina (15), Nevada (5), Colorado (9), and Arkansas (6). I consider all of these states to still be in play. They add up to 147 votes total.

If Kerry wins all of the above states, except Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida (the big ones), he'll have 79 votes, more than enough to win. This scenario is unlikely (I'd say less than 5% chance), but it goes to show that you don't absolutely need to win some combination of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to win the election.

Now let's say that Bush wins North Carolina in the above scenario. A recent Survey USA poll, largely unfavorable to Bush in other states, still gave him a 3 point lead here. Many other polls show it at about 7 points. Now we're at 64 votes for Kerry, and Bush wins.

I'm going to keep making educated guesses. Now let's say Kerry wins Pennsylvania, which the same Survey USA poll gave him at 6 point lead in. Kerry now has 85 votes, and Bush loses, even if he wins Ohio, Florida, and North Carolina. This is a tad more likely scenario, and again goes to show how Kerry's efforts in smaller states, combined with a win in one big one, gives him some chance of winning.

What kind of chance? Still not a good one. In the scenario above, Bush needs 20 more votes to pull of a victory. This is very likely to happen. Just winning Nevada, Colorado, and Arkansas will do it, and Bush is winning in all of those states, as he has been for a while.

So Kerry can't settle for just winning Pennsylvania in my scenario, even if he has a chance of winning with it alone. In reality he needs to aim for either supplementing Pennsylvania with any one of Nevada, Colorado, Arkansas, Ohio, or Florida. How likely is that? I give him better than 50% odds, if just slightly better. Call me a pessimist.

If Kerry picks off Nevada, Colorado, or Arkansas, Bush could compensate by winning a state like Iowa or Oregon. Iowa's the best bet there - that race is exceedingly close, equally likely to go to either side. But if Bush can't compensate, he loses.

Now let's say Bush keeps Nevada, Colorado, and Arkansas, but loses Ohio. This makes things tougher for the President, obviously. He needs to win West Virginia and New Mexico, which now lean slightly for him, plus add Iowa and a more unlikely small state, like Oregon. I give him less than a 25% chance of doing this. Or, Bush can win Wisconsin and any two of the states above. This is more likely to happen.

So Bush can lose Pennsylvania and Ohio, but still win the election by taking Nevada, Colorado, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and any two of West Virginia, New Mexico, Iowa, and Oregon. Overall, I'll give Bush a 33% chance of winning if he loses Pennsylvania and Ohio, an event that could very well happen.

But all of this analysis assumes one thing: Bush wins Florida. The same unfavorable Survey USA report has Kerry winning by 1 point now. If Bush loses Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, he's sunk. If he loses Florida and wins Pennsylvania or Ohio, he needs to win Nevada, Colorado, and Arkansas, plus gain an additional 22 votes somewhere. If Bush wins Iowa, then he must win either of Minnesota or Wisconsin, and then win Oregon, or New Mexico and West Virginia together. Obviously, winning Minnesota and Wisconsin will also do the trick. Still, the odds are sinking pretty low at this point - less than 25% chance of Bush winning with a Florida and a Pennsylvania or Ohio loss, I'd say.

Of course there's many more scenarios to throw out there, and my percentage predictions are about as reliable as Mariano Rivera was tonight. But hopefully this gives some idea of where the candidates are at - assuming things keep going Kerry's way, Bush's chances are diminishing quickly. Keep watching those Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania polls people, and keep ignoring those deceptive national polls showing Bush with a lead. They may be accurate, but they aren't helpful.

Oh, and thanks to Gerry at Daly Thoughts for providing a great way to keep up with all of this. Check out his Electoral College Breakdown. It's well done.

Jon Stewart v Crossfire

2004-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Crossfire is a really bad show. But the addition of the clapping/jeering audience made it so bad that I can't watch a second of it anymore. I think they should introduce the hosts, and then say, "and featuring our Shakespearian crowd of useful idiots! Aren't they great folks?" Thankfully, Jon Stewart's social capital recently rose to a point where he can remind, to Crossfire's face, that it's awful. I don't think that Stewart comes across that great either (the whole holier-than-thou "I'm for the people shtick" is obnoxious, and Stewart deep down does fancy himself a bit of a journalist, despite his "I'm on a comedy show" caveats throughout), but overall I enjoyed the exchange. Watch the video to hear, if nothing else, Stewart call Tucker Carlson a "big dick" as they fade to a commercial break.

Prius or Pancreas?

2004-10-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

According to the Sierra Club, it takes longer to get a Prius than an organ. But let's face it, Prius' are much cooler. I could do without a liver if I get keyless driving and bluetooth in return.

Bill Kristol Gets Pissed, or, How Crazy Can Susan Estrich Get?

2004-10-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

I happened to watch Greta Van Susteren's post-debate analysis, because I liked that Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry were on the panel. In particular, I think Bill Kristol is one of the very best talking heads on TV - he's scholarly, susinct, and insightful. He is also on the board of my old research institute, college roommate and best friend of my college mentor, and a very nice person. So obviously, I'm a little biased.

Susan Estrich, on the other hand, is a wacko. I think she gets on Fox News precisely because she's a wacko. Who better to have as your token representative of the democratics than a complete lunatic? Fox News couldn't do any better (or worse, I guess). She and Teresa Heinz have to be best buddies; that is, if there's room enough in one building for the both of them.

On a personal note, Susan Estrich is also very mean. She came to a conference put on by the aforementioned research institute a few years ago. To say she was a terror would be an understatement. She yelled at everyone from the moment she got there, acted like she couldn't stand being there the whole time, and generally made the experience very unpleasant for all involved. It was clear that she enjoys making a scene, even at students' expense. I will say that she later wrote a letter of apology to the students she was particularly harsh to, but let's just say the letter wasn't quite enough to make us cool with her. So obviously, I'm biased here too.

Anyway, with that background, check out this transcript from the post-debate discussion:

ESTRICH: I also think, I’ve got to make one more point because I hate it, hate it when people don’t tell the truth. And neither my friend Bill Kristol nor my friend Rich Lowry is telling the truth tonight. Now you may agree or you may disagree with Edwards’s defense of Kerry, but he does defend the record. I refer to the transcript here. He goes on at some length defending Kerry’s record on defense. You guys, you’ve just got to tell the truth. Here it is.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, well I got to let these guys respond. So Bill, I’ll start right there first with you.

BILL KRISTOL [THE WEEKLY STANDARD]: Well, I don’t respond to, I mean, I’m not on this show to be accused of not telling the truth, and I don’t--

ESTRICH: It’s right here in the transcript.

KRISTOL --no, Susan, that’s just ludicrous. John Edwards did not do much--did he defend Kerry’s vote against the ‘91 Gulf War? Did he defend Kerry’s oppositions to the defense programs? He just didn’t, and he didn’t--

ESTRICH: Yes, he did.

KRISTOL: He didn’t. I don’t believe he did. You could show me, if you want to waste a lot--

ESTRICH: I want to go back to what the Vice-President just said. “John Kerry has voted for the biggest military appropriations bill in the country’s history. He voted for the biggest intelligence appropriation. The Vice-President, when he was Secretary of Defense, cut over 80 weapons systems, including the very ones”--

KRISTOL: But that’s a really impressive defense of Kerry’s record, Susan.

ESTRICH: He’s going on and on, what do you want--

KRISTOL: He is not going on and on. There are two sentences. Look, OK, fine, you think it was a very fine defense of Kerry’s record. I’ve talked to Democrats tonight who don’t think Edwards did a terribly good job on that. But look, it’s a reasonable disagreement, you don’t accuse someone of not telling the truth, Susan.

VAN SUSTEREN: Wait, I’ve got to at least give Rich--

KRISTOL: You have a different interpretation of the debate. And I’m not amused by appearing on this show and have Susan Estrich say that I’m not telling the truth. That’s just ridiculous.

ESTRICH: Well he did defend it.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, well let me at least give Rich his bit. Go ahead, Rich.

RICH LOWRY [NATIONAL REVIEW]: Greta if I could just briefly also defend my truthfulness. Susan, I guess, didn’t hear what I said. What I said is that Edwards didn’t have a good explanation when he was asked by Gwen Ifill who said that France and Germany were not going to come into Iraq even if John Kerry was elected. What I said was Edwards didn’t have a good answer on that, and he didn’t. And I also said he didn’t have a good answer to the question of whether Kerry would have actually toppled Saddam Hussein or not. Susan can read from the transcript on that if she likes, but he didn’t give a clear answer on that because I don’t think anyone really knows what Kerry’s answer is on that question even as [unintelligible].

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, I need to call a halt on it...

I'll try to find video if I can - the transcript doesn't do justice to how angry Kristol was. Even if Estrich was right, the way she attempted to make her point was so childish that the whole thing just ended up embarrassing her. Decent commentators shouldn't have to face the disgrace of being on a panel with her again. I doubt Kristol ever will.

A Headline You Don't See Everyday

2004-10-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

Former NFL kicker sought in shooting at Siegfried & Roy home

Note that Hollywood recognized long ago the threat angry kickers pose to our society. Clearly we failed to heed its warning.

The Election Situation

2004-10-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

President Bush changed the topic of his speech today from domestic to foreign policy at the last minute. Very uncharacteristic of him. He also is very displeased with his own performance in the first debate. Because the time to stop Kerry's "momentum" (this could be some variation on "Joementum," mind, since the polls haven't bourne this out yet) is short, he's acting a little more desperate than usual. Republicans will have to hope this doesn't translate in the 2nd debate - he can't show too obvious an attitude change, lest Bush seem a sort-of flip-flopper himself. He should bring out Kerry's record more, but since the debate will be in the context of crowd questions, he should be kind of folksy about the whole thing. Just my advice. Bush never seems to take it, despite being a devoted reader.

And let's not take our eye of the ball - even if Bush messes everything up the next two weeks, it doesn't matter unless Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Missouri care. Without a significant shift in those states, Kerry's toast. Someone should give him some nice "Debate Winner!" trophies in consolation.

Ichiro! and My Predictions

2004-10-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

259 hits in one season (and counting). What an achievement.

Before the season began, I made this prediction:

God/Ichiro will really take-off this year, batting .350 and staying strong through September.

This was just about the only thing I was right about (actually I was wrong by about 25 points on the average). Just for fun, let's go through the others:

Jamie Moyer will come close to 20 wins. Wrong!

Freddie Garcia will too. Wrong!

Raul Ibanez will get some attention. Rich Aurilia won't. Wrong!/Correct.

Radical prediction: Both John Olerud and Edgar Martinez will bat around .300, hit around 25 home runs, and score around 100 runners. They've only been doing that every year since the dead ball era (aka the '80s). So, so wrong.

Some superstar-laden team will win the AL East, while some minor league team will win the AL Central. Pretty good, though Minnesota has some good people.

There won't be a subway series. You know, between the Cubs and the White Sox. Yep.

No one takes the red line between those two parks anyway. Why start now?Pitchers won't even bother will Barry Bonds. 600 AB, 600 IBB. He'll end the season batting 1.000, or .000, depending on what your childhood was like. Ok, just saw him hit a game-tying home run. He'll get some of those too somehow. Pretty much right.

Cubs, Cardinals, and Astros fans will all contend that their team is by far the best in the NL Central long into October, despite the fact that only one of those teams will still be playing. About right.

The Braves will win the NL East again, all this Phillies nonsense notwithstanding. Atlanta just doesn't know how not to. Right.

The Padres will feel much better about themselves now that they have new digs. They'll need it, since they're still a bad team. Way wrong!

I guess Arizona will win the NL West. I don't really know. That's what the smart people say. The smart people were stupid, and so was I for listening to them.

Ken Griffey Jr. will get hurt again. Oh wait, that's already happened! Still true.

(Real) radical prediction: The Mariners will win AL West. Anaheim will be a wild card (and thus the peace between my girlfiend and I will be kept until October). Tough luck, A's and Red Sox. Embarrassing.

Oh Patty, Patty Patty Patty

2004-09-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

George Nethercutt's new ad for the senate race in my home state of Washington is going to tighten up the race a bit. It shows Patty Murray talking up Osama. Bad move. But who knew there was video?!

Electoral College Time

2004-09-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

As November approaches and the debates loom, it seems like a good time to remind everyone that the national polls coming out daily don't matter much. Bush could drop 10 points in some national poll on Friday, but unless Kerry sees some serious movement in his direction in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, etc, this thing is over. If you need to get your electoral college fix, I advice the ECB. Get the RSS feed and obsess.

Conan is the Next Host of the Tonight Show

2004-09-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

A while back Ben posted on the difficult position Conan was in - Jay seemed locked-in forever, Conan wanted the 11:30 spot, but he wanted to stay loyal to NBC. Plus, there were questions about how well Conan's 18-25/12:30 AM focus would translate at 11:30 (though people said the same thing about Letterman). Well, NBC made the right choice. 11:30 will definitely be weird for Conan, but I think without some career advancement he was going to quit. We can't have that. Plus, the switch isn't happening until 2009, so by that time, Conan (and his audience) will all be old enough for primetime anyway.

My Girlfriend Is Smart

2004-09-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

The blog Agoraphilia came up with this puzzle:

Using only a coin, how can you generate a probability equal to exactly one-third?

Here’s more context, if you feel the need for it:

Suppose you want to vacation at the beach, mountains, or desert. You want to choose your destination randomly, with equal chances for all three outcomes. Your only randomization device is a coin. What should you do?

Lauren and I talked about this for a while last night. I came up with some simple-minded ideas, but she came up with The Answer (or at least the most "elegant" Answer). Apparently recognizing infinite series isn't in my skill set. I'll live, I guess.

Shocking Revelation

2004-09-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Instapundit links to a polling site, which notes that Wonkette is, in fact, a statistics nerd. The polling site, in turn, links to a George Mason profile of Wonkette. Here's the profile:

Ana Marie Cox is the editor of Wonkette.com, a many-times-daily updated compendium of Washington D.C. news, gossip, and satire. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago and was a Mellon Fellow of the Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley.

I guess Wonkette and Cass Sunstein have more in common than I thought.

10,000 Hits

2004-09-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Awesome. Thanks for reading.

The Dangers of Counterprotesting

2004-09-17T02:04:00.000-07:00

AP

Three-year-old Sophia Parlock cries while seated on the shoulders of her father, Phil Parlock, after having their Bush-Cheney sign torn up by Kerry-Edwards supporters on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004, at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington, W.Va. Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards (news - web sites) made a brief stop at the airport as he concluded his two-day bus tour to locations in West Virginia and Ohio. (AP Photo/Randy Snyder)

Editorial comment: that's not nice!

Ichiro In NYT

2004-09-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

My personal MVP choice has a feature on him in the New York Times today. Be sure to check out the "multimedia" pictures.

1972 Email Casts Doubt on Bush Guard Service

2004-09-10T00:58:00.000-07:00

Scrappleface

Says it all, doesn't it?

Virtual gaming worlds overtake Namibia

2004-09-09T01:39:00.000-07:00

BBC News

Namibians don't seem too concerned about it, if the picture in the article is any indication.

By the way, a while ago I wondered if the public (or at least public intellectuals) would start noticing the social impact of MMOGs. Here's your answer.

John Kerry's Office Plan

2004-09-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Wonkette's secret copy can be seen here. Observation: Howard Dean seems dangerously close to People Who Will Come and Take Your Guns Away. And who knew the Gang of 500 were more than just Kerry's inner circle?

The Power and Politics of Blogs at the APSA

2004-09-07T23:49:00.000-07:00

Two Chicago profs (including Cass) and Wonkette on the same panel - need I say more? Read a summary here. (from Intapundit)

Registration/Judgment Day

2004-09-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of registration at Chicago. Unlike past years, I now must choose my classes very carefully. This is it. If I don't take tax now, I guarantee I will never know anything about tax for the rest of my life. Consequently, I might innocently avoid some taxes, and innocently fail to disclose other taxable income, and might innocently be sent to straight to federal prison. If I ignore Criminal Procedure, I can kiss being a U.S. Attorney goodbye. And if Admiralty law and Patents continue to conflict on my schedule, my dreams of patenting an indestructible dock, and thus making Levmore's "the rule doesn't matter" theory of Ploof and Vincent moot, will be shattered (like the dock). If I don't take Judge Posner or Judge Easterbrook for something, they'll never know me, and thus won't recommend me to fill in their vacant seat on the 7th Circuit. And if I don't take a class with That Kid Who Is Going to Be President (whoever that may be), then I won't become his or her best friend and thus The Kid won't listen to the judges' recommendations anyway. Not that my history of tax evasion didn't already seal the deal.

The point being: registration isn't just about your classes, it's about your future.

U.S. Says It Won't Remove Dams

2004-09-01T10:28:00.001-07:00

Washington Post

I read this headline twice, and both times mistook "Dams" for "Dems." It's clearly an election year.

But either way, I'm glad the U.S. keeps all of its options on the table.

A Word To The Wise

2004-08-31T23:52:00.000-07:00

I dared click on the "next blog" link in the header above. It gave me this site. I'm not sure if I should be scared of the kids these days, or just depressed that they're our future. One can't deny the insightfulness of this observation, however:

-*watch cindwella st0wii+ -*new bAg+ -*new wAllet+ -*rAinb0w rEsuLtx+!!!

Indeed!

Conventional Wisdom

2004-08-31T23:34:00.000-07:00

Arnold - spectacular. You couldn't watch that speech and not feel good about the Republican party. You know you're a good politician when you can make a Nixon reference work. But to make it a highlight - that's special.

Bush twins - awful. Before their thing tonight, I didn't like them, but couldn't come up with a reason why. Problem solved.

Laura - boring.

My title to this post - cliche.

But hey, how about that Arnold!

College In A Nutshell

2004-08-28T13:05:00.002-07:00

Chuck Klosterman's review of another silly "real college" book in the New York Times is a much better (and shorter! and cheaper!) guide to college. Here's a sampler:

ACADEMICS: Your academic adviser will probably tell you to take at least a year to figure out what you want to do with your life, and there is no rush to pick a major. This advice is why everyone now goes to college for six years. Pick a major immediately. If you have no idea what you want to do, major in English; there are no wrong answers, and you can always change the totality of your life next semester. If nothing else, you'll get some reading done.

. . .

IDENTITY: If you are female and have a one-time sexual experience with another woman, you are probably exploring your physicality, expanding your morality, gaining an understanding of what you will (and will not) desire within the context of a mature, ideologically consensual relationship. If you are male and have a one-time sexual experience with another man, you are probably gay.

. . .

SEX: It will happen a lot, yet not enough. And it will happen to other people more.

His conclusion:

High school is hard. Life is hard. College is easy. Can you hang out and smoke cigarettes you hate for six hours a day? Can you advocate political movements you'd never possibly join? Can you hold polarizing opinions about books you haven't read and can you memorize things you never needed to know in the first place? Of course you can. And you'll be perfect.

Internet Gives Teenage Bullies Weapons to Wound From Afar

2004-08-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

New York Times

Reading this article first made me think, "boy, I'm glad I got out of high school when I did." Then I realized it really wouldn't be that different. I'm sure the vast majority of this bullying is just an electronic version of talking behind someone's back. Except now you have a better chance of finding the source! IM names aren't bulletproof, and blogs authors are even easier to figure out (not me, though. My anonymity is airtight. Sure, the RSS feed of this site had my full name for the first 6 months of the site, but whatever). So maybe all this electronic bullying is good for the bullied. Or at least a preferable alternative. Now if we could just find a way to limit beatings to electronic form only . . .

The Boys From 'South Park' Go to War

2004-08-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

New York Times

Check out the trailer here.

You Know Your Undergrad Has Hit The Big Time. . .

2004-08-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

. . . when it gets a mention on How Appealing. Of course, it's because some visiting prof destroyed her own car, but we'll take what we can get.

US News Rankings - Best Colleges 2005

2004-08-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

US News had this up on their site for a while, though I think it's gone now for some reason. Here it is:

1.
Williams College (MA)
2.
Amherst College (MA)

Swarthmore College (PA)
4.
Wellesley College (MA)
5.
Carleton College (MN)

Pomona College (CA)
7.
Bowdoin College (ME)

Davidson College (NC)
9.
Haverford College (PA)

Wesleyan University (CT)
11.
Middlebury College (VT)
12.
Vassar College (NY)
13.
Claremont McKenna College (CA)

Smith College (MA)

Washington and Lee University (VA)
16.
Colgate University (NY)

Grinnell College (IA)

Harvey Mudd College (CA)
19.
Colby College (ME)

Hamilton College (NY)
21.
Bryn Mawr College (PA)
22.
Bates College (ME)
23.
Oberlin College (OH)
24.
Mount Holyoke College (MA)

Trinity College (CT)
26.
Bucknell University (PA)

Macalester College (MN)

Scripps College (CA)
29.
Barnard College (NY)

Kenyon College (OH)
31.
College of the Holy Cross (MA)

Lafayette College (PA)
33.
Colorado College

Sewanee – University of the South (TN)
35.
Bard College (NY)

Connecticut College

Whitman College (WA)
38.
Franklin and Marshall College (PA)

Furman University (SC)
40.
Dickinson College (PA)

Union College (NY)
42.
Centre College (KY)

DePauw University (IN)

Occidental College (CA)
45.
Gettysburg College (PA)

Rhodes College (TN)

Skidmore College (NY)
48.
Sarah Lawrence College (NY)

Wabash College (IN)
50.
Denison University (OH)
51.
Wheaton College (IL)

Willamette University (OR)
53.
Agnes Scott College (GA)

Beloit College (WI)

Illinois Wesleyan University

Kalamazoo College (MI)

Lawrence University (WI)

Reed College (OR)1
59.
College of Wooster (OH)

Drew University (NJ)

Pitzer College (CA)
62.
Southwestern University (TX)

St. Lawrence University (NY)

St. Olaf College (MN)

Wheaton College (MA)
66.
Spelman College (GA)

Wofford College (SC)
68.
Hobart and William Smith Col. (NY)

Sweet Briar College (VA)
70.
Austin College (TX)

Birmingham - Southern College (AL)

Earlham College (IN)

Hendrix College (AR)

Mills College (CA)

Muhlenberg College (PA)

Ursinus College (PA)
77.
Gustavus Adolphus College (MN)

Knox College (IL)

Lewis and Clark College (OR)

St. John's University (MN)

University of Puget Sound (WA)

Virginia Military Institute *
83.
Albion College (MI)

Allegheny College (PA)

Randolph - Macon Woman's College (VA)

Washington and Jefferson Col. (PA)
87.
Hollins University (VA)

St. Mary's College of Maryland *
89.
Augustana College (IL)

Hanover College (IN)

Millsaps College (MS)

Ohio Wesleyan University

Presbyterian College (SC)

Thomas Aquinas College (CA)

Washington College (MD)
96.
Bennington College (VT)

Goucher College (MD)

Hillsdale College (MI)

Hope College (MI)

Principia College (IL)
101.
College of St. Benedict (MN)

Hampshire College (MA)

Juniata College (PA)

Luther College (IA)
105.
Coe College (IA)

Lake Forest College (IL)

Randolph - Macon College (VA)

Transylvania University (KY)

Wells College (NY)

Wittenberg University (OH)

Give 'Em Helland

2004-08-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

Eric Helland, a CMC prof (and occasional co-blogger Lauren's mentor), is guest blogging at Marginal Revolution. Thanks to Ben for the heads up.

Racial Composition of Los Angeles

2004-08-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

These animated maps are very interesting. LA used to be just a bunch of white people. Now its much more colorful.

Great Amicus in California Same-Sex Marriage Case

2004-08-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Example heading:

"Master of Universe or Earth Sole Owner's Heir on Earth in Place of Messiah Jesus Return to Earth, as World Divine Commander-in-Chief."

Read the rest here.

They Stole My Idea!

2004-08-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

Way back when, I posted on how great it would be if there was a "Bush blog." Well, here it is.

Teresa Heinz Kerry's Mouth

2004-07-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

This kind of stuff is going to hurt John Kerry, even if past stuff got a bit of a pass.

US flies 'illegal' Mexicans home

2004-07-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

BBC NEWS

The quotation marks around "illegal" are there because these immigrants "crossed the border" without authorization, making their act against the "law."

I'd like to see the BBC expand this "careful" headline technique, creating headlines like "John Kerry 'says' he'll make a good president" or "the French 'claim' they're not all anti-semitic." Somehow I don't think that's going to happen.

4th of July Update

2004-07-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Not only are we on a quasi-holiday over the summer, but this is a holiday weekend. Plus, the Federer/Roddick Wimbledon final is going on at this very moment. And I'm in Seattle. So I wish we could say more blogging to come in the next few days, but I'd probably be lying if I did. Check back anyway, though - Tom's been much better at Ben and I at keeping the site active.

Have a great Independence Day. And remember, if it weren't for independence, Wimbleton would be our event.

Ok, maybe not a great example.

Funny Things You Find In Research

2004-06-24T00:09:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons this blog won't be updated as much this summer is that now I sit in front of a computer all day, instead of just most of the day at law school. This makes coming home to read more stuff on the computer less than attractive. However, that doesn't mean I don't find good stuff at work! For example, check out this holding:

The FTCA does not apply to tortious acts or omissions occurring in Antarctica.

And not just any court decided the case either. Check out the case here.

Guess Who

2004-06-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

From a Dorf Findlaw Article on Reagan's federal court legacy:

A former law clerk to a prominent Reagan appointee to the federal appellate court once told me that his erstwhile boss said he liked to dismiss at least one case per week on jurisdictional grounds. The former clerk was not joking, and the judge's remark was consistent with his and many of his colleagues' rulings.

Caught red handed! (and he looks it)

News Visualization Project

2004-06-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

It visualizes the news impact of certain individuals and events. You really have to see it to understand, but it's very cool, trust me. Try the sitehere. (from Slashdot)

The Terminal

2004-06-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

Just saw it. Initial conclusions:

1. Spielberg has finally solved in his own head the age-old problem: how do you end a movie? His answer: don't. Just keep it going.

2. Catherine Zeta-Jones is bad in this movie. But then again, Spielberg was never known for coaxing great performances from actors.

3. It's cute.

4. The set is really something. The set's embedded avertising is really something.

5. Don't underestimate the skills of Gupta, the cleaner.

For All You "The O.C." Fans (me included)

2004-06-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

This writer is one of us:

A proposal to rename the Orange County, Calif., airport after "The O.C." has disappeared faster than Marissa's little sister.

After being besieged by criticism of the proposal, Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby says he's dropping the idea, much as Ryan dropped Luke with a punch at the Crab Shack. John Wayne International Airport will keep its name and not be changed to "The O.C. Airport - John Wayne Field," as Norby suggested earlier this week.

"Let's just say it was a trial balloon," Norby tells the Los Angeles Times. "It crashed and burned." In effect, Orange County residents said "Eww" to the idea and shot it down, sort of like Summer did to Seth at first.

Read the rest here.

Newt Gingrich, Amazon.com Reviewer

2004-06-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

Check out this Weekly Standard piece.

A Tiny Little Blog Post

2004-06-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

This graphic on the ownership of The Strip is cool.

Not much of a blog post. Gotta warm up, you know.

Blog Update

2004-06-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

All bloggers still in the process of getting settled. Not to fear - I have first-hand knowledge that both Ben and I still exist. I hope to get back to blogging this week.

Recent Titles on the LA Times Editorial Page

2004-06-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

"Stinky Toilets, and, Maybe Worse, Stinky Grammar"

"What Some Texans Want Is Kinky"

"Sistani Is Winning, and That Helps U.S."

"Beneath Bombast and Bombs, a Caldron of Humiliation"

"You Have Rights -- if Bush Says You Do"

"A Potter of Gold for Those Who Think Big"

"Dumping on Girls: Now That's Mean"

"'No-Communist Zone' has No Place in America"

And that's just in the last week! They must have just given up, and are now simply amusing themselves. They're probably just stealing titles from The Onion at this point.

I hope so, for their sake.

South Park on Protesters

2004-06-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

[the U.S. Capitol. The Romanian father and two Romanian officials sit in Janet Reno's office]

Romanian Official: [no beard] Mrs. Janet Reno, you must understand, the father has right to his children.

Janet Reno: [flanked by two agents in riot gear] Yes, but the girls seem to wanna stay here. Why don't you all stay here in America, and this whole thing can go away.

Mr. Vladchick: Okay. [the official smacks him with the back of the hand] Heh!

Romanian Official: Our home is Romania. We love it there.

Mr. Vladchick: Ah, yes, uwuh we love it there.

Romanian Official: If daughters will not return on their own, you must force them to return.

Janet Reno: Gentlemen, this has to be handled very delicately. You don't understand Americans' power to protest.

Romanian Official: Protest?

Janet Reno: Look, people have it so good in America that they get bored very easily. And when people get bored they start protesting things.

. . .

[The Marsh house, day. The protesters leave one by one. The Marshes stand in the bombed-out ruins]

Sharon: Oh, Randy, it's gone! It's all gone!

Cartman: [arrives with Kyle] Dude, what the hell happened?

Stan: The government came and got the quintuplets. No more Cirque du Cheville for us.

Kyle: Damnit! How come every time we get a sweet idea, the government has to screw it up?!

Stan: Yeah! Well, not this time!

Cartman: Huh?

Stan: We've just gotta get that angry mob back on our side! [addresses the mob] Alright, everybody, listen up! Those bastards broke in here and took those poor quintuplets to the mayor's office downtown! But they haven't won yet! I say we all go over to the mayor's office, and demand to see the quintuplets right now!

Protester 1: Hmm.

Protester 2: Yeaahh.

Protester 3: I don't know. I usually like to stop protesting by 5:30.

Protester 4: Yeah, ah, do we get overtime for this?

Stan: Uh, sure, you can all get overtime.

Protester 5: Alright!

Protester 6: Yeah!

Protester 7: Down with Japan! [the mob moves away]

Ronald Reagan

2004-06-06T23:51:00.000-07:00

Lauren and I were sad to hear of the death of President Reagan on Saturday. It wasn't totally unexpected, of course, but sad nonetheless. If nothing else, growing up he was always the rote answer to the question: who is the President? We didn't know much about politics, but we knew that Ronald Reagan was the President, and he was protecting us from the evil communists.

Yet for a long time, I never really "got" the Reagan thing. I remember seeing a picture of him on a Claremont professor's wall and thinking, "was he really that special?"

I soon came to realize, however, that Reagan represented, perhaps for the first (and only) time in the 20th Century, a president that truly believed in the ideas of the modern conservative movement. He distrusted big government. He liked cutting taxes. And, perhaps most importantly, he despised relativistic thinking. He truly believed in the Declaration of Independence's principles, Lincoln's words, and 20th century conservative thinkers' writings. It's rare for such a true believer to enter the White House.

So whatever your politics, I think there's a lot to admire about Ronald Reagan. "Ideas" people are always preferable to wishy-washy politicians in my book. Thus, We should all hope Reagan's influence on public life endures, if not because of his politics, then because of his character.

The Perfect Question

2004-06-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun game: if you had to ask one question to figure out, say, whether someone is a lawyer or not, what would it be? In other words, what's something every lawyer would know, but every non-lawyer wouldn't?

Here's my suggestion: What is Erie?

I bet there's better ones though.

How about figuring out if someone lived in California?

My suggestion: What's a sig alert?

Perhaps I'm simply amusing myself. Good enough for me!

I'm Back . . .

2004-06-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

. . . but I'm sick. And I don't have much internet access yet.

Today I worked all day, like a normal person. Yesterday I did the same thing. Tomorrow, too. Weird. But even weirder: when I get home, I have nothing to do. Hasn't been a problem so far, since my first two days both lasted 12 hours or so.

I'm not complaining, mind you, just noting that jobs aren't like school. For example, heard yesterday:

"I'm not interested in the law. I just want to make money."

I'm not in Hyde Park anymore, kids.

The George Bush narrative

2004-05-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

John at Ex Nihilo links to, and discusses, this article from Mother Jones. Both the post and the article are interesting and worth reading.
Here is how Mother Jones characterizes the Bush presidency:

According to Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, & Co., the president of the United States of America is a great gentle warrior, the scion of a noble line: He’s a Texas cowboy descended from George Washington descended from the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. He’s a man of God and family. Truly, the story goes, he’s a simple man--wanting only to care for his own, tend to his plot of land, and go to church on Sunday.

I agree with John - the article's point is quite insightful. John goes on to point out that

What if, even in the haze of our "Reptilian brains" we are picking up on the truth of a situation through narrative. I am almost pessimistic enough to believe that everything in politics is a lie and a play (as the writer so obviously does) but the only reason the Bush narrative remains so effective (other than basic hatred of the left by many on the right and vice versa) is that it seems so real. Perhaps, in contrast to what the writer believes, it is real.

I'd like to write more, but it's crunchtime for my last final.

Help A Poor Guy Out

2004-05-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

I liked these:

Borrow my car for the summer: '91 Toyota Pickup (manual trans, no power steering, no speedometer) needs love while its owner is away. Take care of it, use it as you wish, and try not to get it towed. No need to wash. Contact Dan Levine, dlevine - at - uchicago.edu.
___
Sublet my apartment: Large 1BR on Woodlawn and 53rd that its lazy renter hasn't subletted yet. Bargain price of $600/mth. Feel free to use the Jacuzzi. Wash. Contact Dan Levine, dlevine - at - uchicago.edu.

For Anyone Heading to LA This Summer

2004-05-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

Avoid these beaches.

The Story of the Weeping Camel

2004-05-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

It's not about R.J. Reynolds, though they have reason to be sad too. Nope, this movie is actually about a camel. The trailer seems to contain just about zero dialogue (naturally), though the camels do get a few good grunts in. The movie reminds me of the great Police song (technically, "The Police"), "Behind My Camel," which coincidentally also contained no words. But, of course, no collection of songs about our dromedarian friends could be complete without mentioning the Elton John classic, "Camel in the Wind." Look for all of these hits and more on the Weeping Camel soundtrack, soon to be released by Death Row records.