Geeky Chic

The White Stripes ought to license their name and likeness to Hallmark for a
greeting card featuring their photo, with the interior message, “I hope
that we can become as cool with each other as Meg and Jack White.”

Coincidentally, I always thought it would be fun to dress up as them for Halloween.

Cough…cough…this conspiracy meme (not indigenous to me) is circulating:

Is there any possible connection to last week’s London bombings and the
timing of the Congressional negotiations to extend and expand the
Patriot Act?

After the bombings, Bush’s first public speech in the U.S. reiterated his call, “The terrorist threats against us will not expire at the end of this
year, and neither should the protections of the Patriot Act.”

Now, both Democrats and Republicans alike are in support
of reauthorizing and extending the Act (though you would not be able to
guess this from the article’s headline, “Parties Failing in Joint
Review of the Patriot Act”).  The only thing that they
are fighting about is the GOP’s desire to make the surveillance powers permanent,
and the Dem’s desire to put some curbs on the types of information that
law enforcement agencies can collect (i.e. one’s library records).

Gastronomic observation of the week: I’ve developed a new fondness for
Pancetta (and mushrooms) on New York-style pizza.  It’s downright
comforting.  And just to pre-empt any comments about my pizza
habits, I  remove the cheese only 50 percent of the time now.

**

And with the words, “We saw [blank] at Mezzanine!” I now have
confirmation that every single Asian male friend from high school (with
the exception of Toasty), does not share my sexual orientation. 
No wonder I was teased about being from San Francisco in college.

**

Strange alliances: The Conservative Christian response to the recent SCOTUS eminent domain ruling (the Kelo v. New London case). 
They have nothing to fear under this decision.  Their rhetoric
harkens back to my poli sci prof’s quote, “Separation of Church and
State doesn’t exist to protect churches from the State, but the State
from the churches.”

This isn’t taken out of context:

“echan, how much do second or third year associates earn?”

“in new york?  about $145-165K base, with a $30-50K bonus.”

“um, that’s not enough for me.  i want someone at my level.”

**

WTF?  It’s forcing me to side with Andrea Dworkin (who I respect,
but who with whom, I do not agree) that [for some] marriage is a form
of institutionalized prostitution.

**

Oh, and to lighten this post up, I met little Greta last week for the first time.  She’s got a head of hair that rivals a Monchichi. 
I’m a tad disappointed that she lacks the non-Asian eyelid (my mother’s
genes are required, I guess, based on my observation of my other sisters’ eyes).

**

Warning: There’s a bit of a
lighthearted cat fight taking place in the comments section, but that’s
what happens when finance people tell lawyers, “You don’t make enough.”

When confronted with the choice between a 5:30 and a 10:00 p.m. dinner
reservation, opt for the earlier slot.  I learned this lesson the
hard way this weekend while dining at the ever reliable Del
(always 4 stars in my book).  To kill time and to stave off hunger
between 7:00 and 10:00, my party simply drank to the point where we
were completely gone by the time the pasta course arrived.  I
dozed off during half of the meal, and remember being kicked every few
minutes so that I could pep up to tell the waitress in my groggy state,
“Yes, the salted cod is lovely.”  Though I am known for being the
narcoleptic drunk, the pre-dinner drinking and wine at dinner knocked out
the rest of Team Lowell as well, and they fell asleep at Sadlands.

**

I’m off to hunt for some BBQ-appropriate beer.  May your 4th be meatilicious.

I don’t call people names, unless it’s deserved.

Only the type of hack who could write a glowing biography of Justice Thomas could author this book, The People v. Harvard Law, and argue that HLS has been hijacked by Critical Legal theorists?  He even uses the snivelling Kiwi Camara as a symbol of someone whose speech was repressed.

No, the Crits were dead on campus by the time of my arrival.  I
was a San Francisco fiscal liberal with a social libertarian slant when
I arrived at HLS.  While there, I was reprogrammed.  More
than half of my classes were taught from the law and economics
perspective, even when the professors themselves weren’t that
conservative.  I grew fond of Richard Posner (I even link to him on my side bar).  I nodded along in ConLaw with Professor Fried
(I am still half-in-love with the way we would pronounce a legal tidbit
as “delicious morsel.”  His patrician voice– the trill, what a thrill!).  HLS
passes out Olin Fellowships to train lawyers to argue passionately for
deregulation. Basically, the university does what it’s supposed to do
as a corporate lawyer factory, it churns out big firm attorneys who are
ready to shill for the highest bidder.  There’s little to no
imprint of critical legal theory on any student upon graduation.

And what do I do now?  Let’s just say, WRC asked, “How come you’re
always helping someone evil everytime a talk to you?”  A question
answers a question.

Actually, no complaints.  With the exception of the all
nighters, I do find this job mentally engaging.  Though, yes, I do
find it emotionally cauterizing at times.  I now have an affinity
with all the harried, overworked old men. So, really, yes, two complaints, but sleep and emotion, they’re overvalued, correct?

Unanimous decision against Grokster. 

Edit: I have issues regarding the decision, but upon further reflection, despite its murkiness, it’s not quite armageddon.

**

I, the sleep-deprived, need a day off to review the backlog of this year’s SCOTUS decisions.  Does this make me a geek?

Notice, “Home” appears nowhere in this title.  That’s a quick synopsis of Friday to the present.

**

Tomorrow is D-day!

**

I’d like to take out the digital equivalent of a felt tipped marker, and draw a red arrow from NYT story #1 —> NYT story #2. 
Until last year, DeBeers had a 60-year-long feud with the DOJ related
to its price fixing practices for industrial grade diamonds. 
During that period, it could not sell diamonds directly to the U.S.,
and had to use intermediaries.  But after settlin’ with the
Justice Department last year, it’s now going to inundate us with more
craptastic, “Diamonds are Forever” ads.  I can’t quite comprehend
how this message cancels out the company’s connotations of colonialism,
apartheid, conflict diamonds, child labor, and monopolization, but then again, they can throw a good party.