ring shopping

So today we went to O.C. Tanner and looked at wedding rings. I used to like my hands, but they looked so long and pasty against the rings. I really need some vitamen D and sunshine. I got so excited about my spring break and the warm weather this week, putting away all my sweaters and parkas into the storage bin and getting out my shorts and polos, but it looks like next week won't get above 50 degrees. So much for that.

It sure is scary these days to be a judge, now I know why the guards in the Matheson Courthouse made me take my leatherman off my keychain and leave it outside. The more one reads about this Nichols in Atlanta, the scarier he sounds. Since yesterday, he killed 3 people (a FBI agent, a state judge, and a court stenographer), severely injured another (court officer), held a woman hostage, stole 2 cars, and was on trail for rape before that (he took his girlfriend hostage for 2 days, threating to kill her and her family if she told anyone about the rape). This guy's going to get the death penalty, and I am sure Bush is going to fight to be the one to kill him rather than Georgia, where the case rightly belongs.

Hatch afraid of Matheson?

National Journal's "On The Trail" ranked Orrin's seat as 33rd out of 33 in terms of endangerment. The reaction? Sen. Hatch's campaign manager Dave Hansen: "I just hope Congressman (Jim) Matheson (D-02) takes a look at this and gets the idea that staying in the House where he will most likely be re-elected is much preferable to running against a 'sure winner' and ending his political career."

Like LaVarr Webb, I seriously doubt that Jim will run against Hatch or Bennett. Even in 1992 when Bennett's seat was open, then-nominee/ex-Rep. Wayne Owens (D) did not win. "That may be a long wait, but he's young and patient." The other money quote? "Matheson is a terrific campaigner, but it would be foolish for him to take on Hatch." I don't know if I would say foolish, but highly risky and unlikely.

Has Dave Hansen being hearing things I haven't? Why go yap to the press about this?


And then there's Paul Sarbanes, who after finally getting a important piece of legislation passed, is retiring. I hope Duncan and O'Malley reach a gentleman's agreement on who runs for Governor and who runs for Senate. That way, there won't be a clash of the titans. It seems like Ex-NAACP pres./ex-Rep. Kweisi Mfume will battle out the black vote with Rep. Al Wynn (04), who tried to block campaign finance reform and who's own wife campaigned against him along with CBC chair Rep. Elijah Cummings (07). Ambitious little twerps like Rep. Chris Van Hollen (08) will run and it will be like the 2004 Democratic Presidential Primary.

MIA

sorry for the long gap in posting. My laptop's harddrive suffered a mortal blow yesterday, I have been working with techies from the Law School, the bookstore, and Dell to try to fix it. It seems like a new one will need to be shipped out soon to replace it.

Unfortunately, there is almost no way of recovering the data in a timely matter. So all of last week's work is gone. Word to the wise: backup as much as you can as many places as you can, esepecially if you use a laptop. So yesterday I spent rereading all of last weeks stuff for 2-3 classes and retyping my notes. Worse yet are my outlines, Property, and my Methods paper which I had just reworked over the weekend into something to be proud of. Oh well. Good thing also Spring Break is coming up so I won't get too far behind. I wonder if I will get dumped on like I did for Fall break. So far so good.

Last night was our first basketball playoff game but the other team was a bunch of stoners so we just ended up playing against ourselves since they didn't show. Tonight we face another team, then if we win this, the number 1 seed. But I think we have a good shot to win the whole thing this year.

believing it wholesale

The mainstream press is so pathetic sometimes. They don't even bother to read the crap the GOP gives them, or even a critcal eye. There is an article today in the Knight-Ridder news service, which means hundreds of local papers (which are read a lot more than LAT NYT WP WSJ etc.) have picked this up off their wires and placed it somewhere in the A section.

Here's the telling graph:

A poll released Wednesday found that those ages 18-29 — the only age group that solidly supports Bush's idea of using their tax money to fund private retirement accounts — is also the only group whose support for the idea has increased in recent months, although by a statistically insignificant margin.

A statistically insigificant margin is all Bush can hang his hat on these days, yet the article goes to great length about how the GOP sees this as a way of ensuring a majority politically for decades to come through their "support" among young people, who by the way voted overwhelmingly for Kerry if they showed up at all last November. Why would people my age support such an initiative? Because we have been told over and over again that it won't be around when we turn 65, so why would we care what Bush does with it? We might just come out ahead, the thinking goes, something is better than nothing.

But I bet if you asked young people who voted for Bush why they did so, they might talk about terrorism, about taxes, about moral values and character, but never would the words "Social Security" pass their lips. Sure, it sounds like a good idea to them and other young people, but it is not something that will ensure GOP dominance for decades to come.

I think Bush needs to look himself in the mirror and admit that 1) there was no mandate and 2) his social security privatization plan won't even come up for a vote this year or next year.