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...

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.

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.

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.

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. . . ."

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.