Oh my…

Words fail me.

40 dead, hundreds wounded in London.  All because of
intolerance.  Intolerance on BOTH sides.  When will we humans
learn?

And for that matter, when will these terrorists learn?  As far as
the bombing of the WTC, do they really think that ol’ Shrub gives a
rat’s crap about what happens to New York?  You know he
doesn’t.  It is a Democrat state.  Now, if the terrorists
really wanted to get Shrub’s attention, they should maybe think about
blowing up the buildings in downtown Dallas and Ft. Worth.  (Not
that I am advocating blowing up anything.  I think random acts of
terror are a really poor way to try and advance your agenda.)

And do these terrorists really think that bombing London is going to do
anything to advance their cause?  I don’t believe it will.

Of course, if all they are trying to do is exact revenge for the
hundreds of innocents slaughtered daily in Iraq and Afghanistan, then
they’ve made a start.

*sigh*

So, what do we do to fix the situation?  Is there a fix?  I have no idea.

I-Tunes radio is the best thing ever.  Really.  Listening to
Club 977 The 80s Channel - I just heard "19" by Paul Hardcastle, and
now they are playing "Wild Thing" by Tone Loc.  Making me laugh,
oh yes.

Virgin Radio UK is pretty damn good too.

It has been an interesting day...I got a call first thing this morning
that one of my clients died over the weekend in a single vehicle
accident.  I am sad about it, but for some reason
unsurprised.  I guess in my mind things like this happen all the
time, at least according to the news, so nothing much surprises me any
more.  I got the call from the attorney opposing me and then the
client's father called me as well.

Yep...single car accident.  I've wondered if perhaps it wasn't an accident.  Not that we'll ever know.

Other than that, it has been a fairly quiet, uneventful day...I've been working and doing research, taking calls, all the usual.

I did decide not to take that case I was thinking about last
week.  I took the weekend off instead.  Hubby and I drove
around looking at undeveloped land.  He wants some acreage. 
I am somewhat ambivalent about it.  I wouldn't mind buying land,
but I don't want to buy just some piece of flat pasture or
something.  I mean, if we are going to do this, we damn well
better get something on a hill and with a view of some water. 
Otherwise, it is not worth it.  We'll see what we can find - I am
certainly in no hurry though.

Alright - I am outta here.  I've got cases to read.

And then there are some days that are VERY interesting.  I have a
friend here in town…well, he’s becoming a friend.  He’s another
young attorney, and we’ve collaborated on some cases, he’s referred
cases to me, I refer cases to him, we’ve even opposed each other on one
case.  Through it all, we’ve gotten along great.

Yesterday he calls me, since he knows that I practice in a wide variety
of areas of the law.  He’s got a real estate case that landed on
his desk about a month ago (why he waited to call me, I am not
sure.)  This case is one really fucked up mess.  We are
trying to defeat a summary judgment motion by the two opposing
parties.  Interesting thing here, is that the case was originally
tried in Washington.  The land is here in Idaho, but the deceased
person is in WA.  I won’t try to go through the details here.

I’ve not yet decided whether or not to take this case.  It would
break the “three-attorney” rule if I did.  I’ve been told in law
school and by practicing attorney since then, that you never want to be
the third attorney on a case file.  If the client has had two
attorneys, and they’ve withdrawn, etc for whatever reason, when that
client comes to you, say NO.  It wouldn’t exactly be breaking that
rule, since the first attorney was on the WA case, and the second
attorney was actually the first attorney on the Idaho matter…but
still.  And the former Idaho attorney on the case - his motion to
withdraw isn’t reassuring.  Appears this potential client is a
huge jerk.

So, I read the case file.  (Thanks be to my father that I read so
quickly.  I’d have lost it otherwise…500+ pages in the
casefile.)  Yes, a huge clusterfuck detailed in court filings, etc
is presently sitting on my desk.

My job was to review the case file and find some way to defeat the
summary judgment motion.  I really think this one’s a loser. 
Of course, I am sure I could do some research and make some sort of
argument that there exists at least one little fact in issue.  I
am doubtful that would be at all successful.  I have found one
possible angle.  I am not sure, however, if it is advisable to try
it.

Now I just have to convince my friend that this case is a definite loser.  Hmmm…hmmm…hmmm

Some days I love my job.  Really, and truly.  These kinds of
interesting legal dilemmas were why I wanted to be an attorney in the
first place.

One slight monkey wrench here.  The brief in opposition to the
other parties’ summary judgment motions is due on July 6th.  Yep -
just one week to get it done.  Not sure if I want to give up my
holiday weekend.

Would you say that
the suffering and death of thousands of innocents, the degrading of an
entire culture, and the deaths of hundreds of soldiers is worth it when
the war in question was entered into for a personal vendetta, and upon
the false information given to not just the US but to the entire world
by one of the most corrupt governments known to the world today is
WORTH IT?



That's what ol' Shrub has to say in an address to the US today.



From excite news:

""Like most
Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is
horrifying and the suffering is real," Bush said, according to excerpts
released ahead of time by the White House. "It is worth it.""



I disagree.  I do not think
this war has been worth it - not by any measure.  And I am
flabbergasted that Shrub has the stones to come before us and say that
it IS worth it.  He's trying to salvage his political reputation,
that is all.

Sigh.  What is there to do?  I am at a loss.

Ok, because Renee asked so nicely, I am updating.

*grin*

News of the week - Terri Schaivo's autopsy came back and showed that
she had irreversible brain damage and would not have recovered no
matter what kind of therapy she had received.  Um, yep.  No
surprise there.  But has anyone apologized to the judge in the
case?  Of course not.

Hmmm...what else?  Hubby and I went to a ren faire this past
weekend.  It was fun, but a little disappointing in that most of
the shows (jousting, mud show, etc.) weren't happening that day. 
I guess it is because the faire here is a 6 weekend event and we went
on the 5th weekend.  There weren't very many vendors either. 
Still, we had a good time.

I've been re-reading the "Harry Potter" series, since the new one comes
out on July 16th here in the US.  I am very much looking forward
to the next one.  And to think that I was so incredibly resistant
to reading them in the first place since they are "kids books." 
Still, they are enjoyable.  I think perhaps I shouldn't have
started re-reading them so early, since I've still got about 3 weeks
before the next book is out.  But that's ok.

Not much else new to report.  How's everyone doing out there?

Oh.

My.

Gawd.

Michael Jackson has been acquitted of all charges.

I am stunned, actually.  Yes, it is true what they say in law
school - you cannot pick the facts (and when you practice criminal
prosecution, you cannot pick the victims), and yes this victim and his
family definitely weren’t ideal…but still.

All that testimony about prior bad acts.  That stuff rarely gets
admitted because it is just SO prejudicial.  Apparently not in
this case.

So, Wacko Jacko the child molester walks free.  (And I have no doubt that he IS a child molester).

Great day for the US justice system.

And who says a black man can’t get justice in America?

Hubby and I went to a friend’s daughter’s middle school graduation
ceremony last night.  I have to say, I was completely floored by
the attire of about half of the graduates.  Jeans, shorts, sweats,
logo t-shirts. Apparently these kids (and probably their parents too)
don’t realize that a graduation ceremony is one where you must dress
appropriately…as in no jeans, no shorts, no flip-flops.

Yes, my elitism is showing again.  So what?  There are times
to be causal…like going out to the grocery store or to a friend's
house.  There are times to be sloppy…like cleaning the house or
garage.  And there are times where you simply must dress up…like a
graduation ceremony.

I am aware of the fact that some people think a “graduation” from
Middle School/Junior High (whichever, depending on your region of the
US), is not such a big deal.  But the way I see it?  If the
school is going to go to the trouble of having a ceremony, and the kids
are going to take the time to attend, then kids AND parents can damn
well dress appropriately.  Show some respect, people!! 
Respect for your child’s achievement, respect for the faculty and staff
who have put this event together, etc.

Ugh.  I know this town is very casual.  Even at the REALLY
nice restaurants (and there are a few) it is not uncommon to see
patrons in jeans and t-shirts.  But come on!  

These same friends have another child who is graduating from high
school on Saturday.  We’ve been invited to that as well. 
When she invited us, she said “remember, you have to dress up for
this.”  Well, duh!  I am not sure why she felt the need to
tell us that.  Except that I think she has told everyone that, and
she’s been living in this hyper-casual town just a bit too long. 
I wouldn’t dream of appearing at a function like that without dressing
up!!

What was I wearing?  Black dress slacks with a pink pinstripe and a pink sweater, black pumps.

Ok…I will shut up about it.

In other news…hmmm.

There is no other news.

From Excite News:

"Throughout the trial, Republican attorneys argued that election errors, illegal votes and fraud stole the election from Rossi.

"This is a case of election fraud by the upper management of the King
County elections," Foreman alleged. "This election was stolen from the
legal voters of this state by a bizarre combination of illegal voters
and bungling bureaucrats.""

Hmmm...sounds like Florida in 2000.  I guess the Republicans can't
take it when THEY are the victims of supposed voter fraud.

From excite news:
*****************

Internet Group OKs 'Xxx' Web Addresses

By TED BRIDIS

WASHINGTON
(AP) - The Internet's primary oversight body approved a plan Wednesday
to create a virtual red-light district, setting the stage for
pornographic Web sites to use new addresses ending in "xxx."

The
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said it would begin
negotiations with ICM Registry Inc., run by British businessman Stuart
Lawley, to iron out technical issues and prices for the new Web
addresses.

Adult-oriented
sites, a $12 billion industry, probably could begin buying "xxx"
addresses as early as fall or winter depending on ICM's plans, ICANN
spokesman Kieran Baker said. The new pornography suffix was among 10
under consideration by the regulatory group, which also recently
approved addresses ending in "jobs" and "travel."

ICM
contends the "xxx" Web addresses, which it plans to sell for $60 a
year, will protect children from online smut if adult sites voluntarily
adopt the suffix so filtering software used by families can more
effectively block access to those sites. The $60 price is roughly ten
times higher than prices other companies charge for dot-com names.

"It will
further help to protect kids," said John Morris, staff counsel at the
Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology. Morris predicted
some adult sites will choose to buy "xxx" Web addresses but others will
continue to use dot-com.

*****************************
Now,
can someone please tell me, why it is that ICM thinks ANYONE in the
porn industry will "voluntarily" give up their .com addresses? 
Especially if ICM is charging ten times the cost for a .xxx address?

Better
idea, if they were really concerned about making filtering
easier?  They'd offer some sort of incentive for the porn sites to
switch to .xxx rather than trying to charge them so much more than they
have to pay for addresses they already have.

My
guess?  Since $60 per year really isn't all that much for a porn
site to have to pay, most of the larger porn sites will keep their .com
addresses and also purchase .xxx addresses.  And for us pervs,
that is a good thing.  Makes it easier for us to find our
porn.  But does nothing to help libraries and parents filter out
those "smut" sites.

Fricken idiots.

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you are jumping
around trying to put out little fires, before all those little fires
can combine into one huge conflagration?

I’ve had two weeks like that.

And really, I shouldn’t be taking the time to update right now, but I
am almost completely brain-fried and need a few minutes to get my head
back together.

On the 11th Hubby and I went to Twin Falls, Idaho for a conference
about Bankruptcy law.  The conference was enjoyable, and I learned
a whole lot (including learning that I may not be practicing bankruptcy
law after the new statute takes effect.  It is some bad stuff,
man!)  On Friday the 13th we went to Jackpot, Nevada with some of
the other conference attendees.  It was fun, but definitely an
unlucky day.  I couldn’t win a single hand of blackjack to save my
life, and Hubby couldn’t seem to hit anything on the slots
either.  Still, we had a good time.

We drove to Twin Falls - it is about a 9 hour drive.  It made for
a VERY long trip.  We enjoy traveling together that way, but that
meant we left on Wednesday and came back on Sunday…so I was away from
my office for three days.

And when I got back?  Things were nutso.  I’ve got new
clients coming in all the time, and I’ve been over at the courthouse
filing papers nearly every day for the past two weeks.  The phone
keeps ringing and ringing and ringing.

Oh yes, it is busy.  This is not me bitching, even though it may
sound like that.  I am glad to be very busy - it means the office
is doing well.  Just some days, I get tired of jumping from crisis
to crisis.

We saw “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” a few weeks ago.  It was
very enjoyable.  I adore Alan Rickman.  He did a PERFECT job
as Marvin the Depressed Robot.

We also saw Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith  on the 20th.  No,
we didn’t go on opening day…but we did go the day after.  It was
GOOD.  I really enjoyed it, for the most part.  Natalie
Portman was annoying, and I was glad that I wouldn’t have to hear her
whining again after her character died.  And the end of the movie
was really really really great.

*sigh*  I certainly hope that this was not the last Star Wars
movie.  I know George Lucas has said that he’s not going to make
another one…but I’d really like to see some more.

In other news, my tailbone has healed completely.  Hooray!!

“Relax, have a cigar, make yourself at home. Hell is full of high court
judges, failed saints. We've got Cardinals, Archbishops, barristers,
certified accountants, music critics, they're all here. You're not
alone, you're never alone. Not here you're not. Okay, break's over.”
    - “St. Augustine in Hell” by Sting