Power!

Not that I think there is a mass conspiracy afoot...but, think about the following. In the midst of a national energy crisis, what is the president in the news for most often (besides, of course, his "occasional" verbal slip)? Social Security. What is on the mind of the average voter? Gas prices. In addition to looking ahead to the next 40 years of social security, which is great, I think something more needs to be said about the next 40 years of energy also. That doesn't stop at the debate about the Alaska. It means moving away from oil to other forms of energy. Other energy sources would help us cut off those nasty OPEC ties. This isn't going to happen overnight, so a long term plan needs to be put into motion now. But where is the dialogue on this topic? I haven't seen much. "Alternative" energy sources seem to be left to the leftys, the hippies, "those" people. Of course, this is only one person's perspective. But I am none of the above, and I am most definitely for getting away from oil as our main energy source. There are a number of things that could replace it. Wind power is becoming pretty big here in west Texas. But that isn't it. We could have a number of sources or we could move to one main, streamlined form of energy - like hydrogen or hydro-electricity. It could be government or privately run. (That is a whole other debate). Regardless, something must be done and soon.

Who does he think he is?

Bill Gates was at it again, dabbling in something his "education" doesn't really qualify him to do. I understand that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation gives a lot of money to high school programs. I understand also that it might take someone who has experienced something to really know the bad impact of it. That said, Bill Gates goes beyond the reach of his mouse pointer when he shows up at a Governor's convention this past weekend saying high schools are obsolete. I understand he was a corporate sponser, so he is more than entitled to get up and speak. Still, what qualifies him to give suggestions to our elected governors on how schools should be run? Where is his Masters in Education and Business Administration? Oh that's right, he dropped out of college. So when he says high schools today aren't preparing kids for a college education and that every kid today needs to go to college, he must really know...right? He was smart enough to get into Harvard, but his high school teachers never taught him the value of education. Wrong. He attended Lakeside School, Seattle's most exclusive prep school. There, he got the education that took him to Harvard and that enabled him to drop out so he could become a software developer. Further, Bill Gates has no idea what it is like in the high schools to which he refers - the ones that are obsolete because they don't prepare kids for college. Those are typically the poorer schools, that have less funding due to whatever reasons, be it a poor state finance system or what not. Bill Gates never went to such schools...not when his mother was a trustee on various corporate boards and his father was a corporate lawyer. So where do his credentials come from that he is qualified to advise on such a matter? I grow very tired of money and power being the only two criteria one must meet before you are a guru on every subject. Governors should be listening to teachers, principles, parents, and students in these "obsolete" high schools to get the real picture. Corporate sponsorship is fine - but that is where it should end, at sponsorship. The goal of education reform is good, but the means choosen to effect that goal - coporate lecturers - have no rational relationship to that end. When will our politicians get a clue?

Law School Culture

I have decided that I really don't understand the law school culture. Competition ^ infinity. Ugh. Why can't we all just get along? Like those crazy English majors? Then again, I really don't like English majors....they think too much and do too little. At least law is a profession that can change the world. English can of course too, I suppose, but when was the last time English gave you a speeding ticket, settled a million dollar law suit, or held an election in a place that isn't even a country. No, law is much more exciting and intriging. But way too mean.

Yes I know, cry me a river. I was reading some of the introductory stuff in my Con Law book right after Marbury. Wonderfully thoughful material. It made me excited to be in this profession. But then I started reading blogs and such, where people talking about T1, 2, 3, and 4 schools. Who Cares! Tell me, what are people at Harvard learning that is so much more golden than me at Tech? Give me a break.

Well anyway, I'll just stick with my books. They seem to be nicer.

Back at it again

::silence:: ::silence:: ::BANG!:: The horses are out of the gates again. Many a law student has experienced this once in a life time event...the beginning of the second semester of One L. Grades are back, and no matter how you did, you wonder how everyone else did and if you are in the dreaded last spot.

No matter how you did, you still have to play the game. You still have to look interested in class...typing away like a madman. But I've noticed long looks in the hallways of people who were previously jovial and the first people to ask me last semester, "How are you doing? Are you understanding everything?", and then to continue without pause to say, "Yeah, whew, I just finished compiling my completed outline with the one the Law Review editor gave me."

Long faces and game playing aside, I really distress that grades are such a big deal. No matter how people did, most of the class is glad to not be at the bottom of the curve; that Glad It Isn't Me mentality. At orientation, we were told we all deserved to be here or we wouldn't be. We are the best of the best. But then, why the Ds? And why are 28 people on academic probation? Though I am fully aware that law school is about learning how to deal with the competitive field of law, and I know in general what it feels like to get good grades and feel proud of what you did, some days, I really feel law school should be pass/fail. You fail if you really don't know the stuff and you pass if you are someone above that. The Bar Exam will distinguish the real lawyers from the pretenders.

In all this mess, there are still the good people. The people who did well, but don't brag. The people who didn't do as well, but are happy for those who did. The people who have high spirits in general, and know that law school isn't the be all and end all, and that 40 years of practice will be what makes you, you. I aim at being one of these people; they are the ones that I want to practice with and the ones that I will be proud to say are my colleagues.

Post Exam

I keep reading and hearing different things that people did to study for exams. It worries me immensly because it makes me think I am going to fail. I really don't want to fail. I have never failed before. But this is the first time I really think I stand a chance. Then again, I didn't know anything else to do to study for exams. You see, I didn't make tons of flash cards. I found increasingly they were a waste of time. And I didn't look at every old outline that was out there; that wasn't nearly as effective and trying to construct my own. The more I think about it, the more things I could have done so differently. There is always next semester, provided that my grades aren't so low that I get a letter from the Dean saying, "Don't bother to try again." There are things that I did do. I read all of the can briefs available! And I said lots of prayers. And I talked to people who weren't doing as much as me to make myself feel better. I made sure I had all of the black letter rules of law down. And I looked ahead to next semester to decide the things I would do differently. Like, reading all the cases and not just most of them. And, focusing on the big picture all the time rather than worry about the tiny little facts of the case the professor might catch me and make me look stupid for all of 6 seconds. Yes, my life as a first semester One L was difficult...mostly because I had no clue what I needed to be doing. But now that I have a clue...well...I'm hoping that I make it to next semester to implement my new found clueness.

War

As evil as it may seem, often necessary and perhaps indispensable, war is a part of life. Never in history has there been a period of world peace. There is always an aggressor and a need to defend. I think it naive that liberals seem to think the world would be a "better" place without Bush. Not to say it is better with him, but really, does it matter what leadership commands?

I would argue that such answers lay in history. Notorious, almost, for our individualism, America has long been the home of cowboys and movie stars; big business and arrogance. Yet, for all the symbolism and pretense, I think that America's role in history is undercut by, in a sense, "macrohistoric" factors. Not to digress, but only to name a few: Hitler, Vietnam, the League of Nations and the United Nations, China, and the Soviet Union.

So what does that mean? It means that our relation to the history is defined by our relationships and actions, not by our essential purpose or meaning. Today, for example, America is known as an aggressive hegemon; a dictator of democracy. That makes to no sense. I would argue that America is a great counter balance to world powers such as Europe, now the EU, China and the nations and factions that comprise the Muslim world. Our decidedly Christian, moral, individualistic, "arrogant", powerful, a proactive existence makes the world better because without it, the void would be filled...and filled by something most likely much worse.

I say worse because the balance is rather clear. This is not Huntington's Clash of Civilizations. This is bigger than that. The world is going to be divided in the future, and that divide will be more than politics of war and peace. It will be a divide of existence, and the US's existence is only one half of that. The existence of the other side, the "pro-peace", pro-apathy, pro-state, pro-appeasement, pro-elite is clear. It was through appeasement and pro-peace efforts that WWII started. No one was willing to stand up to Hitler and say no. And today, but for America standing up and saying No to the Muslim terrorist, where would we be? Many argue the Muslim terrorist is a reaction to the US, but that holds no water, as the saying goes. The Muslim terrorist would exist regardless, because his purpose, his mission is not to get rid of America but to seek world power. That is what it is all about. Power. And power is exactly what man has never, and will never, have. Secular power is worthless anyway since the secular is incontrollable.

The power of war to change things is undeniable. The loss that America is willing to sustain to win that war is honorable, but the cost is great. The sad thing is, we will loose this war with the terrorists; it cannot be won. But the noble thing to do is to stand up and try anyway. The "other" side can only whine; but the existence of the American "hegemon" is balance and is powerful in and of itself. Notwithstanding the many sad and tragic stories of its founding, this nation began its formation in the 17th century, was founded in the 18th century, and continues to be in the 21st century something different from what was; something else. Something that history would one day see as a nation that stood up when others wouldn't and didn't back down from what should be done.

First Attempt

First Attempt at an email post. 

Exam Poem

I Study For This Exam: A Meditation

I study for this exam.

I study for this exam knowing that it will be arbitrarily graded, that 125 papers is too much for any man to stay awake through (let alone care about), that my professor’s four-year old will be given free reign with a gigantic red crayon, and that a slight hitch in the wrist of the blindfolded chimpanzee throwing my particular dart could mean the difference between an A+ and a C+. But still, I study for this exam.

I study even though there are important football games to be watched, real books to be read, terrible wrongs to be righted, flowers to be smelled, babies to be kissed, animals to be petted. I study knowing that all over the world there are people who wake up each morning thinking “My God, it is great to be alive!” instead of “My God, there are only two days left until the exam and I haven’t done a single practice question yet I am totally fucked and should probably quit right now to save myself the pain and humiliation of being the ballast at the ass-end of the curve and flunking out after only one semester please someone, anyone, HELP ME!” I know this. And I know it is wrong. But still, I study for this exam.

I study for this exam in the hopes that it might impress someone, that the girl from my section in the coffee shop will think "My, isn't he dedicated," so that my professor might, upon reading my exam, declare that I should immediately be given not only an A+, but a JD, an LLM, and a tenured professorship. I study because I believe, on some deep, visceral level, that my studying will yield an exam so perfect, so sublime, so deserving of the highest imaginable praise that Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. himself will show up on my doorstep and ask to shake my hand. And I study because I have not yet let go of the delusion that I might be the one who breaks the cycle, who ends up pleased with his grades, who makes it to February still liking law school. Irrational? Yes. Delusional? Certainly. Will that stop me? Not likely.

Because as the hours continue to melt away, each one taking with it another ounce of self respect, another shred of dignity, I am certain of very little. I'm not sure why I came here, I don't know where I'm going, and as of this moment I'm only marginally confident that I can remember my own name. But, when this is all over, let it not be denied that, if nothing else, I did indeed, study for this exam.

Credit for this Poem goes to Mike @: http://wingsandvodka.blogs.com/blog/exams/index.html

Federalism through Kahan

Interstate competition: quieted by Federalism as the structure does not allow for differences between the states. There must be minimum contacts such that exercise of PJ would not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice for a state to exercise personal jurisdiction. Therefore, when states do not have PJ over an actor, there can be no competition in the treatment of that actor.

• securities law? (parties other than the issuer are regulated by traditional Sec Law)
• divorce (not unless consensual)
  
• (in marriage it is effective because no PJ required)
• corporate law
  

First Posting

One more exam to go. Then home! Occassional digressions from school soon to come.

20/20 Foresight

It has become a habit of mine recently to complain. Everyone has negative things in their lives, but recently for some reason, I've thought that my burdens were somehow greater or more important than others...that it was time for me to have some "self" time.

Listening to Third Day's "Cry to Jesus" made me change my thinking.

Several years ago, I began loosing weight. Back in 2001, I weighed significantly more. Four years later, I'm 110 pounds lighter. I've manage to keep all the weight I've ever lost off; that is truly a blessing. When I was heavier, I use to wonder why God had allowed me to become that way at such an early age. I remember back into elementary school being overweight. At that point, it was more my parent's duty than my own to make eating choices for myself. Over the years, their bad habits became my own. It took going to college and living on my own to change. I wondered many times over those years why God hadn't provided me with a different situation.

However, God walked with me through my weightloss; I did indeed cry to Jesus many times. Since that journey, people are always shocked to find out I weighed so much more at one point. What was a burden at one point, what drove me to incredible self-hatred before, grace has turned into a blessing. I've been able to be a real, personal role-model for dedicatedly changing something about myself. One of my friends is loosing weight right now and says that she knows she can because I did. God has given me the opportunity to witness in a way I never thought possible: by using my own struggles to glorify him - I never would have made that journey but for God's grace.

Today, when I struggle, I complain. It seems I've forgotten that God uses our struggles to teach us and others. What I learn today, I can share tomorrow. If Christ was as self-centered as I've been recently, if he had as much self-pitty as I do, man would the world be in trouble. The saying goes that hindsight is 20/20. I say that for Christians, so is foresight. No matter the problems I have today, I know that God will use the lessons I learn in my life and the lives of others. I know that I am here for a reason and I won't be here longer than he needs me to be.

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