The slump continues

I'm not bowling well. Last night I struggled to the tune of 122, 112, 136. Boooo.

I'm strangely competitive about this.

1997

Seattle Times recalls 1997. It was also the year David McGee was a precocious intern hanging around the Mariners locker room. I appreciate the reference to Zebulon, NC, and how the trip "enraged" players. I can second that, mister.

Go to hell, Jamie Moyer.

Fall recess

Fall recess has arrived. For me it has, anyway, since I don't have classes Thursday or Friday this week (my Jurisdiction professor is away), and we have Monday off for the "recess." So I have a five-day weekend. Woo! Not bad, I say, not bad.

Good friends Ben, Kim, and Mina are coming into town on Friday to spend a couple days in Ann Arbor. You might wonder: there are things to do in Ann Arbor to fill two days? Well, no. We'll have a do a couple things twice. Like go to Washtenaw Dairy and Zingerman's Deli. They've probably already been to a Trader Joe's somewhere, so that's probably out. Unranked Michigan plays Michigan State on Saturday (in East Lansing), so maybe we'll catch the game in a local tavern. Could be a pretty nice little Saturday. We could go to Home Depot, buy some wallpaper, get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed Bath & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.

Different expectations

This week, Michigan is unranked in the AP poll for the first time since 1998. The team just isn't very good right now, and it's now quite apparent how important Braylon Edwards was to the team.

And so, unsurprisingly, it has come to this: FireLloydCarr.us

My favorite part:
"While, we have garnered 1 national championship and 5 Big 10 titles in head football coach Lloyd Carr's tenure of 10 years, there are more telling statistics. . ." (emphasis added)

Holy crap. I understand that an insatiable hunger for championships is what keeps the top teams on top, but man, if any Stanford coach ever put together a record like that, he'd get lifetime tenure and the stadium named after him. (Instead, we can't even beat UC Davis.)

I'm not knocking the Lloyd-haters - I don't think he's a great coach. It's just a completely different set of expectations here. Can you imagine what they would have done to Buddy Teevens?

Sad

I'm sorry to report that Jamie Moyer lost last night. My heart breaks.

The CSI effect

Here's an article about how jurors now expect criminal prosecutors, even in white-collar cases, to present spiffy CSI-like evidence during trials. Craziness. This is good news for defenders, though. I used to talk about this with people at the SF Public Defender's Office. Even in a case where forensic evidence may not have helped or may not have been relevant, defenders can get up during the closing and ask, "Where is the DNA evidence? Where is the [insert CSI lingo here] evidence? There is none." And so on. Jurors believe this stuff.

Isn't TV great?

Bad bowling

Just so no one accuses me of only reporting my bowling scores when they're good...

Last night I rolled a 135, 143, and... 94. Crap.

The winner of the "That Guy" prize, though, was Grostic; he broke two glasses and knocked over a full pitcher. Not all at once, mind you, but in three separate incidents. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals better watch out with this guy around next year.

McGee of the day

Today's winner is Joe McGee.

Go LookSmart!

This is one way to get that stock price over $1 before the NASDAQ dumps you. Woo!

Har har

Look out

"It's going to take fans to a whole new level of fantasy," predicts Bill Walsh, the former San Francisco 49ers coach and a member of ProTrade's advisory board.

Whoa. We may never see Justin again.

ProTrade.com

Shame

That's what every Stanford player, coach, and fan should be feeling today after the pathetic Cardinal lost to UC Davis.

UC Davis.

Division I-AA school.

Lost.

Maybe we shouldn't have a football team.

TJ's

I went to Trader Joe's today. That deserves a haiku.

Dollar ninety-nine
For a box of cereal?
Don't mind if I do.

One of those days

Yesterday was one of those days. Ups and downs, anger, frustration, excitement.

All day long my back was killing me. I had a knot, or somethinng, in my upper back that hurt like the devil every time I moved. I loaded up on Advil, and it helped a little but not too much. The pain was constant and severe. As a consequence, I was a little more irritable than normal. Grrrr.

Yesterday was also the first day judges were allowed to start calling clerkship applicants to set up interviews. I'm applying for clerkships, so it was a nervous day. So far, I haven't received any calls. I'm told this is totally normal, as many judges have their own schedules and will call when they're ready. But damn, it's nerve-racking to know that they could be calling, but they aren't. Grrrr.

The real pisser was when I ran into my clinical professor from last semester, who updated me on a case that I had been working on. Our client was seeking asylum in the United States after having fled Guinea to avoid being subjected to female genital mutilation. She had already undergone the beginnings of FGM (I won't go into details, don't worry), but she escaped the country before the job could be finished. If she returns to Guinea, it is guaranteed that the job will be finished. I picked up the case after she had already been denied asylum. I helped put together her response to the denial. The denial was based on moronic, ignorant, and dishonest arguments, and our response directly refuted everything. We included statements from doctors and asylum experts at Amnesty International. We included graphic photographs of the damage already done. Yet, for some reason (I haven't read the most recent letter), the application was denied again. This makes me angry in so many ways. It makes me lose respect for our government and the people who run it. It makes me sad for my country. It makes me sad for my client. I'm no longer working on the case, so it's out of my hands, but I'm told there are still some legal steps to take. It doesn't sound promising, however.

So that sucks.

That's a lot of downs... so what are the ups? Nothing that can make up for that crap, but the day ended with a little bit of fun. The bowling league started up again, and I rolled a 153, 139, and 164. Not bad for starters. And before I went out to bowling, I found $5 in my pocket.

The Fighting Sioux

SI.com's Seth Davis has a surprisingly thoughtful and accurate discussion of the University of North Dakota's appeal to the NCAA to use their nickname (The Fighting Sioux) in postseason games. Davis is right on target here. It's surprising and refreshing to see a member of the mainstream media show this much understanding of the issue, especially when the popular, macho thing to do is call the idea "oversenstive" and "overly PC."

Seth is right; if the NCAA doesn't reject UND's appeal, then the rule really has no teeth.

Roberts hearings

Any cyber-law-dorks out there can follow the Roberts confirmation hearings here, live-blogged on SCOTUSblog. NPR also has it, I think.

Good (and bad) sports weekend

There was lots of good sports this weekend, but my teams didn't fare too well.

I went to the Michigan-Notre Dame game on Saturday, on a glorious Michigan day. 80 degrees and sunny -- I got sunburnt, but I don't really mind. The game though, ugh. I was worried about the UM defense, but it was the offense that sucked all day. Quarterback Chad Henne was absolutely awful. They had three turnovers in or near the ND endzone. It should have been a Michigan blowout, but instead, yet another year of national championship hopes are dashed in early September. Happens every year around here. People were crying in the stands.

Shockingly, Stanford managed a win against Navy. Nothing to brag about, beating Navy, but it's still a win. We'll take it. We don't get many of those.

The Seahawks -- oh boy. Yeah, it was a tough game... it would have been impressive to beat JAX on the road. But five turnovers? Pathetic. I was happy to see the defense get some stops, but they need more sacks and they need to cause a turnover once in a while. The offense just needs to take care of the ball. Next week will be tough, too, against Atlanta. An 0-2 start will get a lot of people sniping.

Lastly, good job CTR (my old ultimate team) for making it to regionals. Wish I could be there.

I heart Trader Joe's

This will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever lived with me or near me, but I love Trader Joe's. So much so that I've added a permanent link to TJ's in my "Links" list. Also, every so often, I think I'll write a haiku about Trader Joe's. Why? Because Trader Joe's is awesome.

Fifteen salsas and
Frozen guacamole make
A mouth fiesta

First day, part II

Just so you aren't completely jealous that I'm in school and you have a real job, I'll let you know that in my Jurisdiction class I was stuck next to a guy who reeked of cigarettes, and in Crim Pro next to a girl who would not stop farting. At least, I think it was the girl. It seemed to come from her direction, and she never displayed any inkling of uncomfortability (uncomfortableness?), while I was trying everything I could to spare my nose from this geyser of foulness. Not that this can't happen in a job too (I recall Ben Wang flatulently forcing his officemate out of the room back in the Caliper days), but... dude. Thank God the seating charts come out tomorrow, and not today. If this girl comes within three rows of me, I'm picking up and moving.

First day of classes

No matter how old I get, I can never sleep the night before the first day of classes. I tossed and turned until 2:30 or so last night, for no good reason. It's been this way since I was five... just can't sleep. It's just like Christmas Eve... but without the presents.

I had two classes already this morning. Legal Imagination is a course that should teach me how to read and write better -- a lot better. The professor is renowned for markedly improving the writing of his students, no matter how good they are when first enter the classroom. Should be fun.

The second class was Jurisdiction, which is a pretty hard-core law class. Lots of case law and statutes and crap. The professor is well-liked, and he tells us today that the work is hard. If we can understand this stuff, we can understand anything. The reading assignment for tonight, he says, is "a bitch to read." Heh.

In fifteen minutes I meet with the professor for whom I am TA'ing -- it's the first-year Legal Practice class. I help the 1Ls learn how to write the crap they'll be writing for the rest of their lives.

Then I have Criminal Procedure, which looks good. And tomorrow I still have a seminar called The Idea of Equality -- lots of reading and talking about fluffy philosophical stuff. Wally would like it.

Chief Justice Rehnquist

The Chief Justice has died. Truly an end of an era; the man has been on the Court since 1972. The effect he has had on our jurisprudence, and in reality, on all of our lives, is hard to quantify. The sheer number of cases he has decided in the last 33 years is staggering. American life as we know it is a product of his career... for better or for worse.

I have never been a fan of the Chief Justice. He has written some truly appalling opinions, especially in the realm of criminal procedure and federal Indian law. He was anti-defendant and anti-Indian, and would occasionally employ very dubious arguments, supported by sketchy legal authority, to reach a result he liked. One particular case, Oliphant v. Suquamish, was not only wrongly decided but was also borderline racist.

He was obviously a brilliant jurist; many of his opinions are exceptionally incisive and well-written. But this is why his bad decisions were so frustrating to me -- he was too smart to have written them by mistake. He knew what he was doing, and sometimes he was way off the mark. These are things you will not hear over the next few days, but I believe they are true.

That being said, I do admire him for serving for so long and for taking so much pride in his work. He certainly represented his alma mater well.

UPDATE: I don't want to be overly critical, so I do want to accentuate his many good qualities as chief. From this obituary:

Over more than a decade with no changes in composition, the Rehnquist Court became like a family. Most striking is how much the other justices—even those who often profoundly disagreed with him on the most critical issues to come before the court—seemed genuinely to like their friend Bill Rehnquist. There has been little public comment about his extraordinary physical struggles to finish the past term. The other justices, and all those who work at the court were deeply moved at what they consider to be his truly heroic performance of duty. It was Rehnquist at his best.

And here's another good one:

A few years ago, lured by the promise of great seats for the Michigan game (the Fighting Irish won, though the chief thought they "won ugly"), the chief ustice [sic] visited Notre Dame and—after a game of doubles with me and two colleagues—spent an hour with my First Amendment class. The conversation quickly turned to advice about life and lawyering, balancing work and family, being a good parent, making a difference, and contributing to our communities. It meant a lot, to me and to my students, that he clearly cared more about helping these students find happiness in the law than about selling them on his legal opinions.

And finally, the justices themselves.
And, okay, two more: Professor Alan Dershowitz absolutely rips Chief Justice Rehnquist, and the New York Times talks about the reaction among the associate justices.

Kanye West

He's a rapper with a conscience. He made a big statement tonight during the concert for hurricane relief... so big that NBC censored him on the west coast. The video is here, but basically, he said this: "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Whoa.

UMLS opens up

This from the law school's dean, Evan Caminker:

I am proud that, as early as last Tuesday, students in our community initiated various disaster relief efforts to assist the people who remain in dire need in the affected areas of the Gulf Coast. I hope that you will reach out to help in another way as well: As many of you are aware, two law schools in New Orleans, Tulane and Loyola of New Orleans, are unsure of when they will be able to resume classes. Along with many other law schools across the country, we will open our doors to a number of displaced Tulane and/or Loyola upperclass students as visitors for the fall semester. We greatly appreciate your willingness to welcome them into our community and assist them in what is doubtless an extremely challenging set of circumstances.

From what I can tell, law schools around the country are doing the same thing.

The horror

Not much I can add to this description of life in the Superdome in New Orleans right now. So I'm just going to post some links to the Red Cross, The Humane Society, and an index of others.