Sunday, December 16, 2007

A bit of legalese

I enjoy legalese. I think most law students do, though they pretend not to. As mere students, we have none of the status, money, and power that lawyers like to show off to the laity. So, we must make do with what we do have: words... lots and lots of words. If you're unfortunate enough to know law student, you'll know what I'm talking about. He's an example from a book about the law of real property:
The future interest retained by the grantor of a fee simple determinable is a possibility of reverter; the future interest arising in the grantor of a fee simple on condition subsequent is a right of entry for condition broken.
If you ever hear a law student say something like that, you can probably go ahead and punch him in the stomach. He won't sue you because he's too busy studying. And he won't fight back because he knows if his response is disproportionate and he ends up killing you, he'll probably be liable for manslaughter.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Neil deGrasse Tyson Gets It

D.J. Grothe recently interviewed Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Point of Inquiry podcast (again). That guy gets it, man. Here's what he had to say about our old friend, Science v. Religion:
The conflict is not whether or not you're going to Heaven of Hell, or whether or not you believe Jesus is your savior. That's not where the conflict is. That's not what's going on in the school boards. What's going on in the school boards are people who, based on their religious texts, assert that they have knowledge of the physical universe that is demonstrably false. That's where the conflict is. And I got something to say about that.... If you're going to tell me that Noah had dinosaurs on his ark, I am sorry, you are ignorant and scientifically illiterate. And you don't belong in the science classroom.... You want to teach that in Bible school, I'm not going to go knocking on your door to stop you. By the way, there is no tradition of scientists beating down the door of Sunday school, saying, 'That might not necessarily be right.' Yet, you have fundamentalist religious communities trying to knock down the door of the science classroom. And that asymmetry there bothers me.... [T]he moment you take your religion and put it into the science classroom and claim something that is demonstrably false, I'm going to be up in your face, telling you, "Go learn about how the universe works."

My hero, Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Scott Green's patented "Five Minute Study Plan"

Here is a great column from UIUC College of Law 2L Scott Green.

This part is great, for those of you who only have the time (or the attention span) for short bits of reading:
I've also learned how to procrastinate in tiers. How it works is, instead of studying, I'll decide to clean; but cleaning is boring too, so I'll decide to go for a jog. But jogging takes effort, so before I head out for my jog, I play some Madden '08. But video games can be frustrating, so before I finish it, I take a little nap: the fourth degree of procrastination. Of course, once my nap is over, I will get right back to that Madden game, so I can finish up that jog, so I can clean my apartment, so I can study. But first, I should probably get something to eat...

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Tennessee, I don't care for you

If you need a reason to dislike Tennessee (I know I have more than a few), here's a real gem from the state constitution.
No atheist shall hold a civil office.

No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State.

Tenn. Const. Art. IX, § 2

It was written a long, long time ago, when Bible Belt Christians didn't have political correctness and the ACLU to hinder their efforts, but it's still the law today.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Mitt Romney throws the dogs a bone

If you're ever looking for an example of specious inanity, this is it. Mitt Romney spoke in front of a group of conservative Christian leaders in Texas [I feel sick just thinking about such a setting], and this is what he said.
Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.

Ewww. Don't you feel dirty now? It's so imbecilic I shouldn't even have to refute it, but sadly, this is the kind of tripe that the demos just lap up like hog slop. So, here we go... [sigh]

#1. Freedom requires religion.
No, it doesn't. Proof: Europe. More freedom, less religion. Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes, and yes, even the French, all have more civil liberties and much less religiousness than Americans.
#2. Religion requires freedom.
Gah, even George Bush wouldn't say something so stupid. There is very little freedom in the Muslim world, and the fact that it's called the Muslim world should tell you how much religion there is. (A lot.) Next.
#3. Freedom opens the windows of the soul...
Ohhh... kay. First, souls are just pretend. Second, even if they were real, no one ever said they had windows. And even if they did have windows, what evidence is there that freedom would open them? Yes, I know, this is just a metaphor, but let me tell you, it's a bad one. Maybe you could get away with "Love opens the windows of the soul" or "Music..." or even "Ben & Jerry's Berried Treasure Sorbet..." but freedom? Come on, Mitt. Get a speech writer with some, ahem, writing skills.
#4. ...man can discover his most profound beliefs...
I actually like his use of "man" instead of "humankind" or "people" or some other lame compromise of a PC word. But I do not like the idea of discovering beliefs. You can't do that. If you believe something, you know you believe it. If you didn't know and you had to "discover" that you believed it, you could hardly call it a belief, now could you?
#5. ... commune with God.
You can have that one, although it might be a topic for another discussion. But not here.
#6. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.
Yikes! Someone tell Mitt Romney that the Cold War is over. Again, just look at Europe: lots of freedom doing just fine without religion. No perishing going on there. And now the Muslim world: lots of religion cranking alone with very little freedom to help it out. No signs of perishing in sight, unfortunately.

I didn't read the rest of the speech. I don't even want to imagine what other nuggets of horse hockey I might find.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Losing faith in democracy

There is nothing like a presidential election to get the cynical juices flowing. People like to blame politicians for the flaws of our government. But there is only one place to lay the blame in a democracy: in the demos itself. And if you pay attention, you'll soon realize, that our demos are idiots.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Learn Something


"In the seventeenth century, a theologian called James Usher worked out the age of the universe based on the chronology of the Bible. It was created, he concluded, in a week in October 4004 B.C. Even today, millions of people still believe that this seventeenth-century calculation is about right, and that the overwhelming evidence of geology, cosmology, paleontology, chemistry, astrophysics, geophysics, stratigraphy, and biology is wrong. . . ."

Monday, December 3, 2007

This makes me laugh every single time


Family Guy - The Big Bang - For more of the funniest videos, click here
Jesus... USA #1. Ha.

Somebody Please Mess with Texas

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:30

Maybe there is hope yet for this country, but I think it may be necessary to first cut out the cancer of a state called Texas. Look how beautiful this map is.

If you're wondering why I'm feeling so antitexican, read this article.

I've never trusted Texas, and it doesn't look like things will be changing soon.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Help me, world!

Sometimes I think this country is just beyond help.

Poll finds more Americans believe in devil than Darwin.

[Sigh] I'm surrounded by troglodytes. (If you don't know what a troglodyte is, but you're pretty sure it's not in the Bible so you'd rather not know what it means, you are one.)

[Edit: And this graph from a couple years ago is still pissing me off.]

Saturday, December 1, 2007

My favorite Illustration

There are publications called "Restatements of the Law." They are very useful. Most sections have something called illustrations -- examples, often taken from real cases, that show how the rule in a particular section applies. My favorite is illustration number 17 of section 222A (conversion) of the Second Restatement of Torts. (Conversion is like the civil law equivalent of larceny. If someone takes your stuff, don't call the police and get him thrown in jail, call your lawyer and get paid.) Here it is:
A intentionally shoots B's horse, as a result of which the horse dies. This is a conversion.
It makes me smile every time. :)