12/27/2007
The biggest problem with the World
I have decided that the biggest problem with the world is a lack of respect. I do not know how it started, though there has been much speculation on what causes it. I see it everywhere I look. Something that is important to one person (like, I don't know, their safety) is carelessly risked and treated with disdain. Not only that, but if someone slights another person, more often than not the slighted person responds with escalation. One sees it on the roads. One sees it in public gathering places. One sees it on the internet. I do not think we should all agree on everything, but if you have a disagreement with another person, understand that there can be reasoned views and positions on either side of an issue/disagreement. there is no need to be mean and nasty. Respectful discussion and patience can lead to understanding even if agreement is impossible.
12/21/2007
Warming up to Mitt again
So I have been pretty down on Mitt Romney. I really disagree with him on a number of issues. However, for the strangest reason I am starting to like him again, and here it is. I don't think he is telling the truth about where he stands on a number of issues. I really think that he is more liberal than he is letting on. And with the piss poor republican field this year, that is all it really takes for me. Who else is there? Guiliani- he is the definition of unqualified. McCain- He is the definition of keeping a bad thing going. Huckabee- He is a bigot. Thompson- Is he even still alive?? Romney- good for economy (probably), short sighted on immigration (probably), flip-flopper (definately), did good things in Mass. (definately). So while I freely admit that I am probably biased by that fact that we share the same religion and so I tend to relate to him more, I think he is the republican that I support. Not the (hopefully) forceful endorsement that I give to Obama on the Dem. side, but right now that is where I stand, though open to reasoned argument to change my mind.
12/04/2007
Double the fun
Today I got my notice that I have been admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. It would be impressive if it had required more than a two page form and a check for $160.
My favorite line from the times today
Bill Ash, a former assistant to Mr. Tobias, said he had told the police that Mrs. Tobias confessed to him that she had cajoled her husband into the water while he was on a cocaine binge with a promise of sex with a male go-go dancer known as Tiger.
12/02/2007
Why Romney will not be president
Very simply, because he is running a bushesque campaign and he is a mormon. Bush was elected twice because he appealed to the uber conservative core of the religious right. He won the general election because those people turned out in record numbers. Romney appears to be running the same type of campaign. He talks of guantanamo as if it were the greatest thing our country had ever done. He talks of immigration reform as if it were a capital offense to come to this country illegally (more on this potentially later). I do not know if he actually believes what he is saying, but it is very appealing to those people who ushered bush in. If those people get excited enough about a candidate, I believe that they have the ability to get almost anyone elected.
Now the problem. There are a number of those people who in the primaries are talking of voting for Romney because he is the lesser of evils. They cannot get over the fact that he is mormon. They seem to think that being mormon is evil. I wish a fundy christian read my blog so they could tell me why being mormon is so evil, but I doubt it. Anyway, the point is that Romney cannot get these people excited enough to come out in enormous numbers to get him elected. And the positions he is taking are so contrary to what most of the country believes that he has no hope of winning the swing vote. (though I still dont believe there is a swing vote in this country) The long and the short of it is, his religion will keep him out of the white house because: 1) the groups he is trying to appeal to are intollerant to others, 2) he is taking positions that are also intollerant of others, and 3) if he wins the nomination, those intollerant people he is appealing to fail to support him enough because of their intollerance of his religion to get him elected.
As an update, I had my staples out and it was good. didnt hurt at all.
Now the problem. There are a number of those people who in the primaries are talking of voting for Romney because he is the lesser of evils. They cannot get over the fact that he is mormon. They seem to think that being mormon is evil. I wish a fundy christian read my blog so they could tell me why being mormon is so evil, but I doubt it. Anyway, the point is that Romney cannot get these people excited enough to come out in enormous numbers to get him elected. And the positions he is taking are so contrary to what most of the country believes that he has no hope of winning the swing vote. (though I still dont believe there is a swing vote in this country) The long and the short of it is, his religion will keep him out of the white house because: 1) the groups he is trying to appeal to are intollerant to others, 2) he is taking positions that are also intollerant of others, and 3) if he wins the nomination, those intollerant people he is appealing to fail to support him enough because of their intollerance of his religion to get him elected.
As an update, I had my staples out and it was good. didnt hurt at all.
11/13/2007
Staple follow up
So as I have talked to people about my staples, I have begun to wonder a couple of things. How exactly do they hold my skin together, and if they bend under on the bottom, how exactly are they going to take them out without ripping out my scalp. Wiki was helpful, but for a diagram that just explained it beautifully, I recommend this site. Warning, there is a video of a guy taking out staples with wire cutters and tweezers at the bottom.
11/12/2007
Staples in the head
Squishy has suggested that I share this story.
I came home from work last thursday for lunch. As i was parking in our garage I thought that I ran my car into the side of the garage. I reparked and went to check the damage. It turns out that the people that owned our house before us left and L bracket without shelves on it stuck to the wall. I didn't see it and walked into it. It obviously hurt quite a bit and I leaned against my car waiting for the pain to pass. As I was waiting, blood started dripping down my face and onto my car. I cupped my hand to catch it all, but that was futile so I got squishy to get me a paper towel so I could put pressure on it and stop the bleeding.
I got the bleeding under control and went to take a shower to rinse the blood out of my hair and assess the damage to see if I needed stitches. I decided that I did and had a quick lunch while squishy figured out where our emergency medicine provider was located. (believe it or not I hadn't been there yet). I got in quickly and saw the doctor. He took a look at my head and decided that I needed staples in my head instead of stitches due to the depth. I lay on my back as he pulled out a medical stapler and put three staples in my scalp. I am not sure exactly how to describe the sound, but it was earily similar to the straitline I have in my desk. So now that I have drawn out the story I can tell you that pictures are at the bottom of this and so go no further if you are squeemish.
I dont have pictures of the staples yet, but with enough popular demand I will post them. With this one all you can see is lots of blood and my hair is thinner.
I came home from work last thursday for lunch. As i was parking in our garage I thought that I ran my car into the side of the garage. I reparked and went to check the damage. It turns out that the people that owned our house before us left and L bracket without shelves on it stuck to the wall. I didn't see it and walked into it. It obviously hurt quite a bit and I leaned against my car waiting for the pain to pass. As I was waiting, blood started dripping down my face and onto my car. I cupped my hand to catch it all, but that was futile so I got squishy to get me a paper towel so I could put pressure on it and stop the bleeding.
I got the bleeding under control and went to take a shower to rinse the blood out of my hair and assess the damage to see if I needed stitches. I decided that I did and had a quick lunch while squishy figured out where our emergency medicine provider was located. (believe it or not I hadn't been there yet). I got in quickly and saw the doctor. He took a look at my head and decided that I needed staples in my head instead of stitches due to the depth. I lay on my back as he pulled out a medical stapler and put three staples in my scalp. I am not sure exactly how to describe the sound, but it was earily similar to the straitline I have in my desk. So now that I have drawn out the story I can tell you that pictures are at the bottom of this and so go no further if you are squeemish.
I dont have pictures of the staples yet, but with enough popular demand I will post them. With this one all you can see is lots of blood and my hair is thinner.
11/02/2007
I am voting Democrat (Maybe)
So throughout my life I have voted for very few democrats. This is not necessarily because I am republican, but because since I came of age to vote, this country's politics have revolved basically around abortion and gay marriage. since I am closer in view to the republican side of these issues (though by no means 100% on board with their crap). However, for the last 4-5 years I have been a big fan of Barack Obama. The more I have found out about him, the more I like what I hear.
1- He thinks through problems and then comes up with complex answers to complex problems. I am sick of rhetoric that tells us nothing, let alone how a person will handle the responsibilities of the office.
2- He believes that we can make a better world, not just protect ourselves in a crappy one. He thinks that things can get better and tells us that.
3- He calls it as he sees it, regardless of what the party line is.
I do not see this election as war v. no war or even about the issues at all, I see this election as a question of do we as a nation have the guts to still hope for something better. I want to, and there is only one candidate in any party that gives me that option. So I hope that those who vote in the Democratic Primary to give me a chance to vote for a Democrat and hope.
1- He thinks through problems and then comes up with complex answers to complex problems. I am sick of rhetoric that tells us nothing, let alone how a person will handle the responsibilities of the office.
2- He believes that we can make a better world, not just protect ourselves in a crappy one. He thinks that things can get better and tells us that.
3- He calls it as he sees it, regardless of what the party line is.
I do not see this election as war v. no war or even about the issues at all, I see this election as a question of do we as a nation have the guts to still hope for something better. I want to, and there is only one candidate in any party that gives me that option. So I hope that those who vote in the Democratic Primary to give me a chance to vote for a Democrat and hope.
10/27/2007
10/25/2007
revise the constitution
So those that know me from my law school days remember that I was really into revising the constitution because it was out of date and we could make it better. So imagine my surprise when I am wandering in Barnes and Noble and find an entire book on the subject, calling for a complete overhaul of the consitution. A lot of the ides were things that we had thought of, but there were some new ones that were interesting. Looks like there are more people out there that think its a good idea than I thought. Now I know there are two of us.
10/24/2007
Key to the Elgin Marbles
So I was reading a deposition this week, and during a discussion on an objection, one attorney said to the other, it is basically the key to the elgin marbles. I did not understand the reference and so looked it up.
It turns out that the elgin marbles are artwork taken from the parthenon by an english man named elgin. He had the permission of the turkish government which at that time was in possession of greece. There is a lot of conflict over whether the english should return the artwork to greece or not.
Here is the wiki article on the elgin marbles. However, this does not solve the problem. There is no reference to the key of the elgin marbles. I googled the phrase key to the elgin marbles. I have theories on what it could mean, but if anyone knows what that phrase actually means, I would appreciate a comment telling me.
It turns out that the elgin marbles are artwork taken from the parthenon by an english man named elgin. He had the permission of the turkish government which at that time was in possession of greece. There is a lot of conflict over whether the english should return the artwork to greece or not.
Here is the wiki article on the elgin marbles. However, this does not solve the problem. There is no reference to the key of the elgin marbles. I googled the phrase key to the elgin marbles. I have theories on what it could mean, but if anyone knows what that phrase actually means, I would appreciate a comment telling me.
10/07/2007
Bar Results
University of Colorado passed 95%
University of Denver passed 72%
Yet a lot of people think that DU is for intellectuals
University of Denver passed 72%
Yet a lot of people think that DU is for intellectuals
I got a tatoo
Today, I got a tatoo. I got it on my hip. It was of a popular animated figure. Ok, it was a dora the explorer tatoo. Luckily for me it was washable, but for the hour that it lasted I felt like a total fruitcake.
9/29/2007
I hate paying taxes
The only thing that makes me happy is that I should get all of them back this year again, and then I enter the wonderful world of deductions for mortgage interest. That should be good, so maybe I shouldnt look at it as paying taxes but as getting my money back in April without any interest, and subject to the whims of congress and the IRS. Yeah.
Cool experience
So I know that some of you are less than thrilled about organized religion (OK religion in general) but I had a really cool experience this week. I found out that one of the people I taught when I was in Mexico is now on a mission herself. I am not going to go into the details of when I was teaching her or anything, but it was amazing to me the change in her life that I got to be a part of.
9/08/2007
New House
SO buying a new house is incredibly stressful. Even when you find one you like you stop and wonder what they are hiding behind the coat of paint. Just an example, CO has a law that if you cook meth in your house and then sell it, you dont have to tell the buyers if you have had it cleaned by professionals. I dont know how much you know about meth, but you cant clean all that crap out.
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