Incoming 1L helpline
July 29, 2008 – 10:18 am by Andy
Pretty selfexplanatory: if you’re an incoming 1L and have any questions–and we’ve no doubt you do–post them here and we’ll try to answer them.
New JibJab
July 16, 2008 – 7:13 am by AndyDean Strickman resigns
June 30, 2008 – 5:13 pm by AndyAs I’m sure a lot of you know, Dean Strickman announced today that he plans to resign on July 1, 2009.
As always, we’re curious how the student body feels about it.
I want to caution everyone, however, that I will not tolerate personal or unfair attacks on the dean, though we do encourage warranted criticism. Just remember, before we give in to reactionary and self-pitying arias, that the dean has accomplished some magnificent tasks when it comes to FIU CoL–a lighting-fast accreditation, a debut in the third tier, to name a few–and our professional and academic lives are better because of him.
Putting Things in Perspective
May 14, 2008 – 9:30 am by AdamFor those of you who think that getting a C in Property is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you, here is a story from ESPN.com about a guy, Rai Henniger, who I worked with at the Colorado Springs Sky Sox baseball team back in 2006. Jerry Crasnick, whose book License to Deal is a good read, writes a touching piece about a guy that valued life and loved his job who, one day, found himself on the other end of a fireworks shell and lived to tell the story, or at least what he remembers of it.
Updated: May 12, 2008
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The reactions come in three types, depending on age, gender and sensitivity level. Men, true to form, cast a sideways glance at Rai Henniger and divert their gaze, as they might when encountering a panhandler on a street corner. Women respond with Oprah-like tenderness and empathy, mixed with smiles and kind words meant to nurture and encourage.
And children, who have yet to embrace the concept of diplomacy, see his reconstructed face and get right to the point.
“Mister, what happened to you?” they’ll say.
“It’s from fireworks,” he gently tells them, in his new capacity as a walking cautionary tale.
It’s been precisely a year since a 2½-inch spherical titanium shell shattered Henniger’s face, turning Security Service Field into a makeshift battlefield scene, and a glance in the mirror is all it takes to remind him that his life will never be the same. For 17 years, he’s been the main community link for the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox — the senior vice president of marketing, on-field master of ceremonies and goodwill ambassador for the franchise. (Full Story)
I’m not part of the reality-based community!
May 4, 2008 – 6:39 pm by AndyI don’t dislike Hillary Clinton as much as the average Obamaphile. I would have no problem with her being president. But stuff like this makes me dislike her a little bit more everyday:
Clinton raised questions about Obama’s ability to connect with working-class Americans while dismissing economists who have said her plan to suspend gas taxes over the summer would do little good.
“I’m not going to put my lot in with economists,” Clinton said when asked to name an economist who backed her proposal.
“We’ve got to get out of this mind-set where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans,” said Clinton, a former first lady who would be the first woman president.
Elite opinion? I’m not going to consult economists on economic matters? What the fuck?
I thought it was McCain who was running as Bush lite.
How come black preachers get all the attention?
May 2, 2008 – 10:52 am by AndyE.J. Dionne wonders:
The catalogue goes back to Bailey Smith, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Speaking at a 1980 religious convention that was also addressed by Ronald Reagan, Smith declared that “God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew.”
Reagan later asserted that he thought Jewish prayers were answered, but he was less than definitive. “Everyone can make his own interpretation of the Bible,” the Gipper said, “and many individuals have been making differing interpretations for a long time.”
Two days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Jerry Falwell, appearing on Pat Robertson’s ”700 Club,” declared: “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way – all of them who have tried to secularize America — I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.’ ”
Robertson replied: “Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda at the highest levels of our government. And so we’re responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And the top people, of course, is the court system.”
To their credit, many conservatives condemned Falwell and Robertson. The ministers backed away from their words, but Falwell’s retraction was, at best, partial. “When a nation deserts God and expels God from the culture,” Falwell insisted, “the result is not good.”
What’s telling is that neither preacher lost sway in Republican circles. Before Falwell’s death last year, John McCain actively courted his support, and Rudy Giuliani, one of the heroes of Sept. 11, welcomed Robertson’s endorsement of his own candidacy. “His advice is invaluable,” Giuliani said.
And, of course, there is the endorsement of McCain by the Rev. John Hagee, founder of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, who has called the Catholic Church “the great whore of Babylon” and “the anti-Christ.”
Whore of Babylon, huh? I don’t remember having that much fun at church.
SCOTUS Trivia
May 1, 2008 – 2:15 pm by AndyCongratulations to Jennifer Levin who won the SCOTUS Trivia prize drawing yesterday. A total of nine students submitted correct answers for this question. They are: Jared Stitz, Cristina Rivera, Jennifer Levin, Melisa Pena, Philip Santa-Maria, Cameron Bates, Kristin Carter, Evan Rosenberg and Brandon Hectman.
SCOTUS Trivia will take a little hiatus during the summer months–not unlike the Court itself–and will resume in the fall.
Hot off the press in your inbox
May 1, 2008 – 11:50 am by AndyNow you can get the latest Hot off the press post in your email inbox by entering your email address in the subscribe field on the sidebar.
Fair and balanced
April 30, 2008 – 11:19 am by AndyWell, yesterday we spotlighted Obama’s preacher, and today we turn our attention to McCain’s preacher. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Pastor John Hagee:
Papa don’t preach
April 29, 2008 – 1:58 pm by AndyI used to think that Jeremiah Wright was mostly the victim of the 24-hour news network’s persistent disservice to journalism, but the latest round of video clips is making it harder to defend that position. The Reverend, instead of helping out the Obama campaign and laying low for the next six months or so, decided to go on a freelance media tour. This is what ensued (with colorful commentary by John Stewart):
And here it is, your moment of Zen:
And finally, an indictment of Wright, which is worth reading though I don’t completely agree with it, by Christopher Hitchens.
