Open Memo
Two words that make every law student question if law school is really what they want to do.
Working on my Open Memo, so postings have been light.
Will be back to normal next monday.

Hardee’s introduces 1,420-calorie burger
It's about time! Americans like big things, and this is definitely big!

"St. Louis-based Hardee’s Food Systems Inc. on Monday rolled out its Monster Thickburger — two 1/3-pound slabs of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese and mayonnaise on a buttered sesame seed bun. The sandwich alone sells for $5.49, $7.09 with fries and a soda."

Powell quits as secretary of state
Not completely unexpected, but still would have preferred if he stayed. This will definitely feed new rumors of a possible run for the Presidency in 2008.

If Rice replaces him, and ends up overseeing the stabilizing of Iraq and some type of Israeli/Palestinian peace deal, her stature would increase. This would definitely put her in a good position to be a VP pick in 2008, or to run for statewide office.

Study: Public-school teachers' kids go private
(from Dean Esmay)
This is an interesting study, and may be a piece of an argument to support vouchers. There are problems with the lack of information given on the details of the study. The basics given about the study are too vague to be interpreted in any clear way. It does not deal with many of the other factors involved in making the decision to send a child to a private school.

How many of those teachers are African Americans?
How many of those teachers have the household incomes to afford private school, compared to the parents in those urban schools?
How many of those teachers live in the same places that they teach? I
If these teachers live in suburban areas, and still send their kids to private schools, is it about the values of a religious private school?
The quality of suburban public schools is usually much higher than the public urban schools, but these teachers still decide to send their kids to a private school - why?

Steelers!
I am a die-hard, avid, out of control Steelers fan. I have not said much on here, because I have that fear, that if I start getting too excited they will find a way to lose.
I am thoroughly impressed with Ben Roethlisberger. His poise and decision making is way beyond what is expected from a rookie. It does help to have two of the best receivers in the league, and a great offensive line and two great running backs. That Steelers defense also comes in handy.

I still have concerns about the pass defense, especially since their best CB Chad Scott is out for the season.

Lawyer gives up big salary to join Army
(from lawyer resource blog)

"A chance meeting in Subway restaurant with an Army recruiter changed the life of Michael Brown, a Dallas lawyer.
Brown, 26, leaves for basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., on Thursday, cutting his annual income from $120,000 to $18,000 to serve in the Army"

Great article about Jay Z from MSNBC:

"At the age of 34, with an estimated fortune of nearly $300 million and enough awards and platinum albums to fill even one of his several palatial homes—not to mention his romance with the bootylicious superstar Beyonce Knowles—Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, is living a life that must have been hard to imagine when he was growing up in the crime-ridden Marcy projects in Brooklyn. Earlier this year Carter announced his retirement from recording—a move insiders saw coming—and he has now been offered the top job at Island/Def Jam Records. (According to sources familiar with the deal, he's mulling over the details.) He's also busy running his own Roc-a-Fella enterprises (including the Roc-a-Fella record label), which generates about $1 billion annually, and he's a part owner of the New Jersey Nets."

What Voter Fraud? Sore Losers!
The left is salivating with their conspiracy theories about the election being stolen by Bush in Ohio and Florida. Olberman has been at the forefront of giving credibility to these wacko claims.
So here we go, lets deal with these lies!!!

The 93,000 votes in Ohio that are supposedly more than the number of registered voters, look here:

"Salon has examined some of the most popular Kerry-actually-won theories currently making the rounds online, and none of them hold up under rigorous scrutiny. For instance, there's an easy explanation for the odd results in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where Olbermann insists there were 93,000 more votes than voters. According to Kimberly Bartlett, a spokeswoman for the county, the reporting software the county uses to display the unofficial summary of election results on its Web site is simply buggy. For some reason, the software combines absentee ballots from several voting precincts into one precinct, and therefore makes it appear as if there were more votes cast in a particular area than there were registered voters there. But this bug does not affect the final election results, because the more detailed "canvass" of all the votes cast in the county shows the correct count, Bartlett told Salon. For example, this canvass indicates that in Fairview Park, where Olbermann says there were 18,472 ballots cast by 13,342 registered voters, there were actually only 8,421 votes cast in the presidential race -- fewer than the number of registered voters."

also: The county's Web site was confusing -- it lumped several precincts' absentee ballots together and then counted them several times, for each precinct. But those were glitches in vote-reporting -- not vote-counting. The "phantom" voters who mysteriously appeared and voted for Bush in the county -- which voted overwhelmingly for Kerry -- did not exist other than in the imagination of Democrats upset about Kerry's loss.

This afternoon, the Web site that first raised the questions about the Cuyahoga votes took it all back. "OK," wrote the Webmeister at "Americans 4 America," "finally had a chance to figure this out. I apologize for any anxiety that went along with these numbers. It seems that data is useless without knowing how counties arrived at the numbers and this was a particularly tricky process."

In regard to Lafayette County, one of the counties in question, it is true that there are far more registered Democrats in that county than Republicans (3,570 to 570, respectively), and that the county elected Bush in this year's election, but the county elected Bush in the last election, too.

Four years before that, the Republican presidential candidate, Bob Dole, won in Lafayette County as well, as did the first President Bush four years before that.

YASSER ARAFAT 1929-2004
I think Jeff Jacoby expresses my feelings:

God bless his soul? What a grotesque idea! Bless the soul of the man who brought modern terrorism to the world? Who sent his agents to slaughter athletes at the Olympics, blow airliners out of the sky, bomb schools and pizzerias, machine-gun passengers in airline terminals? Who lied, cheated, and stole without compunction? Who inculcated the vilest culture of Jew-hatred since the Third Reich? Human beings might stoop to bless a creature so evil -- as indeed Arafat was blessed, with money, deference, even a Nobel Prize -- but God, I am quite sure, will damn him for eternity.

Bush revives bid to legalize illegal aliens
I hope Bush fails in his attempt to offer these "guest passes". My problem with this, is that it lacks the stick. There is no proposal to increase drastically the enforcement of our borders, and the removing of illegal aliens from the country.

The language from the left leaning blogs, seems hellbent on following the Michael Moore strategy of lies and exaggerations.
I only read blogs like DailyKos or Oliver Willis when I need a good laugh, or some extreme conspiracy theory. These blogs are popular, and draw lots of viewers. They are proof that blogs can be popular, and lack any real content or redemptive value. Maybe they will realize that they are only continuing the destruction of the Democratic party.

Dems have been screaming that the young support them, and in due time they would become a majority party. The problem with this ides, is that those young people, get married have children and become more educated- then become Republicans.
Not sure who to attribute this quote to, but it is a good one.

"If you are not a socialist at 20, you have no heart. If you are still a socialist at 30, you have no brain."

Poverty does not cause terrorism, according to John F. Kennedy School of Government researcher, Associate Professor of Public Policy Alberto Abadie.

"Though after the 9/11 attacks most of the work in this area has focused on international terrorism, Abadie said terrorism originating within the country where the attacks occur actually makes up the bulk of terrorist acts each year. According to statistics from the MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base for 2003, which Abadie cites in his analysis, there were 1,536 reports of domestic terrorism worldwide, compared with just 240 incidents of international terrorism.

Before analyzing the data, Abadie believed it was a reasonable assumption that terrorism has its roots in poverty, especially since studies have linked civil war to economic factors. However, once the data was corrected for the influence of other factors studied, Abadie said he found no significant relationship between a nation's wealth and the level of terrorism it experiences."

Bush's Black Vote
The LA Times exit polls show a national Black vote of 14%, while CNN.com shows 11%. Both are an increase from Bush's 2000 total of 9%.

This could be the beginning of a shift away from the Democratic party. I still believe if republicans stick to their agenda and push vouchers, and social security accounts they will increase their black vote in 2008 drastically.

If the Republicans get their support up to 20%, especially in many swing states, it will change the entire electoral process.

Democrats Wake Up!
I try to talk to Dems about what will help their party. I understand their lack of believing I am sincere. I want two strong parties vying for our votes. I do not want a one party oligarchy.
Since 1904, in 100 years, the Dems have had only FDR and Carter win 50% or higher of the popular vote. Carter got 50.1% against an unelected Ford.
Think about it!
You have never been a majority party.
Bush is not some abnormality of the electorate, he is the norm.
Take a look at your candidates, and your core beliefs.

The Arrogance of Losers
Liberals are extremely arrogant, especially considering they lose so many elections.
I went to a meeting on campus today, with my Bush-Cheney 04 sticker on. Someone commented that Bush only won because of "those people" in the middle of the country. I laughed, and responded "That's why Kerry lost, because of the same attitude you are expressing".
They really believe they are better than thos ein the "fly-over" states. They see them selves as very "european", advanced and cultured.
I see them as losers!!!

I have developed a saying since I have arrived on the east coast. It is about the different views on religion in the different regions, but it exemplifies the cultural differences.

In the south people ask "What church do you attend?"
In the midwest people ask "How often do you go to church?"
In the east coast people ask "You go to church?!"

Misc Thoughts on the Election

Is it just me, or did Edwards seem to shrink when placed on the national stage?

I know comments about the good of the process are easier for those who have supported the winner. Lets look at this election and realize that Americans stood in long lines, argued passionately about serious issues and proved to the world that we do care and have a say in our country. That is a healthy democracy!
There is nothing bad about that.

I think this will be a defining four years for both Dems and Rep. Will the Dems move towards Cliton style democrats, or Howard dean? Will the Republicans seriously attempt to at least cut the deficit?

The terrorists in Iraq should be very afraid. I am expecting complete no holds military action. Let su send the world a messgae, that we are still the most powerful nation on earth. That terrorists will truly be denied any safe havens. Lets kill them, kill them dead.

Look for tax reform and social security reform within the next six to nine months. Bush is going to go forward boldly and with big ideas.

I believe when Bush leaves office in 2008, his African-American support will be as high as 30%. this will dramatically change the Republican party.

Ken Blackwell, the Ohio Sec. of State, will be the next Governor of Ohio. He will be running in 2005, which means he could be a legitimate candidate for the Republican ticket in 2008 .

George Bush with the Republicans have a unique time to impact the country, and become a majority party for a long time. he is now the most powerful President since FDR. The candidates that he supported and chose himself, have won. His handprint is on this nation. He has coattails that Clinton and enev reagan was never able to show.
This is a huge victory, do not let the percentage of the win fool you. This is monumental!

If the dems attempt to impeach Bush or obstruct him, they will continue to lose. They must come up with a positive agenda, a vision that reaches across different groups.

The Dems claim to be diverse, but if you look at the statistics. Bush's voters crossed a greater spectrum than the dems. He got old southerners, union workers, african americans, hispanics, jews, young voters and a large portion of the first time voters.

I Will Gloat, No Humility Here!
I have taken a lot of verbal abuse over my support of Bush. Having my loyalty to the race challenged, especially being light skinned. Being on the liberal east coast, at a liberal law school is an experience that open eyes.

The hypocrisy of liberals is amazing. I have a classmate who called me closed minded. But he never has any facts to back up anything he says, and anytime I state an objective fact he dismisses it. Anytime I state that I understand a position, even though I dont agree with it, he just dismisses others opinions out of hand. He pointed to a paper that someone left on a table in the lobby of the law school, and called it "religous nuts, who shouldnt pass those things out at school. It shouldn't be allowed". It was a one page paper, on why Christians should vote. It didn't attack any positions or policies. He just saw something "christian" and wanted it banned.

I was in class, and mentioned that I wasn't understanding something. A classmate looked at me and said "If you wasn't wearing that sticker (Bush Cheney '04) then you would understand things". It wasn't said with any sense of humor, but with a sneer and disgusted look.

Another student. One who doesn't understand why socialism get a bad reputation. She stated that a Professor shouldn't get tenure, because he was too conservative.
These are the people who want to call other intolerant. LMAO.
I will gloat. LOL.

BUSH WON! He has done what his father and Clinton did not do - won more than 50% of the popular vote. That is called "elected" by any definition of the word.

Kerry is a loser, Kerry is a loser.
sorry, that was a little juvenile. LOL.

4 More Years! Bush.
I am looking at the numbers in Ohio, and it is looking extremely improbable that Kerry could even possibly win. Bush's lead is up to 145,000 votes. Even if there are 150,000 provisional ballots, all of them would have to be valid and for Kerry. I understand Kerry wanting to wait at least until this morning. I don't think dragging this out will be supported by the public, it could create a huge backlash against the Dem party. The Dems have no moral argument, since Bush has also won the popular vote by a comfortable margin. Al Gore was at least arguing to make the electoral vote match the popular vote. Kerry would be asking for the electoral vote to turn over the popular vote. That is a very different position.

One thing is very clear. Kerry did not connect with minority voters. Bush's African-American and Hispanic voter percentages were higher than in 2000. This is with an increased turnout. Bush in many of the exit polls almost doubled his black support. How the Dems respond to that will be interesting.

Torts Mid Term
Got my torts mid term back.
Lets just say, I definitely have a lot of work to do for the final.
The highest score in the class was 60 out of 100.