tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69526322011-04-21T21:33:55.521-07:00...keeping my eye on the ball. Politics, Current Events, Law School, Life, Books, and whatever else.Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.comBlogger5031100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1176410256023078192007-04-12T13:35:00.000-07:002007-04-12T13:37:36.046-07:00

Yeehaw, I'm employed!More posts coming soon.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1135146033255045212005-12-20T22:17:00.000-08:002005-12-20T22:20:33.266-08:00

I have a family law exam in about 8 hours. So frantic has my cramming become that I have begun snapping at my family.If this pattern holds, I should actually injure myself finishing my Occupational Safety and Health project and then kill someone when I start doing my criminal law project next week.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1134756401145937862005-12-16T10:00:00.000-08:002005-12-16T10:06:41.156-08:00

Yesterday, my son threatened to throw me out the window. I told him that the word is "defenestrate." Can't wait for the note from his teacher next year.It reminds me of the time I went to Frost's parent-teacher conference, and her teacher told me that during reading time, they had been discussing what the author was "inferring" in a suggestive bit of text. I bit my tongue, but told Frost about

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1134659500401204412005-12-15T07:07:00.000-08:002005-12-15T07:16:47.846-08:00

I have approximately 27 hours until my immigration final, for which I am woefully unprepared, when I run across this article discussing a movement to mentor children to become more studiously productive. I think I may check out some of these books, after finals.Back to studious productivity.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1133236231050298712005-11-28T19:48:00.000-08:002005-11-28T19:50:31.063-08:00

Today in a class, a classmate quoted "good fences make good neighbors" from Frost's "Mending Wall" for its truth value.I didn't think it was appropriate in a law class to call a classmate out for having no sense of poetic irony.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1131942578897689092005-11-13T20:27:00.000-08:002005-11-13T20:29:38.910-08:00

Is intentional homicide legally justified in cases where the deceased was a putative partner on a seminar paper who completely failed to do a damn thing the whole semester? Would it improve my chances of beating the rap if I was coming off a week without meaningful sleep due to said individual?Let me know.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1131851070674530852005-11-12T18:55:00.000-08:002005-11-13T00:02:47.310-08:00

Nerd-Pain: (n)1. The sensation of agony you feel when, fairly late on a Saturday night, you come up with the idea of having the Secretary of Labor issue a policy statement noting a particular safety hazard in order to place employers on notice that they have a general duty to alleviate said hazard under section 5 of the OSH Act, only to realize that there is no one in your life that you can tell

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1131826701296658272005-11-12T11:59:00.000-08:002005-11-12T12:22:39.646-08:00

Althouse points us to this article about Bush's speech "forcefully defending" his Iraq policy, saying that he should do more of that.I couldn't agree more. He should defend his policy, if he can. But Althouse, who reminds me of Hitchens without the vitriol when it comes to foreign policy, seems to cite approvingly to Bush's argument about Democrats now questioning prewar intelligence. After

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1131379425802651982005-11-07T08:00:00.000-08:002005-11-07T08:03:45.816-08:00

As of last night, the final draft of my law review article is submitted for publication. That leaves a massive and thorny memorandum for my internship, a complaint and settlement letter for my part-time job, and an enormous seminar paper on new governance in OSHA.Oh, and they're all due in the next 8 days. Shoot me now.UPDATE: No, seriously. Shoot me now.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1130770959783609572005-10-31T06:56:00.000-08:002005-10-31T14:21:34.973-08:00

The Writer's Almanac has Robert Frost's "My November Guest" as its poem today. It's one of my all time favorites, so enjoy.My November GuestMy Sorrow, when she's here with me,Thinks these dark days of autumn rainAre beautiful as days can be;She loves the bare, the withered tree;She walks the sodden pasture lane.Her pleasure will not let me stay.She talks and I am fain to list:She's glad the

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1130445140720417272005-10-27T13:25:00.000-07:002005-10-27T13:32:20.760-07:00

U.S. Military deaths in Iraq reached 2,000 yesterday. In an unrelated note, back in 1999 I started a college fund for my oldest daughter. Mostly, I invested some money in S&P 500 Index funds, but I picked some individual stocks for a small portion of the fund. One of those stocks was JDS Uniphase, a Nasdaq company specializing in Internet infrastructure components.When the bubble burst, the

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1130166026988788892005-10-24T07:53:00.000-07:002005-10-24T08:00:27.033-07:00

Kay Bailey Hutchinson, today in NYT talking about impending indictments (emphasis mine):Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, speaking on the NBC news program "Meet the Press," compared the leak investigation with the case of Martha Stewart and her stock sale, "where they couldn't find a crime and they indict on something that she said about something that wasn't a crime."Ms.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1128549263112102442005-10-05T14:47:00.000-07:002005-10-05T14:54:23.120-07:00

Any of you experienced lawyers out there able to help me clarify something?My wife has serious, chronic, but undiagnosed migraine headaches. She is finally acceding to my suggestion to see a doctor and get it diagnosed this week. Last week, she had to leave work on Thursday, and by doctor's orders, was not permitted to return Friday because of a severe, crippling migraine that left her barely

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1128111840450963732005-09-30T13:07:00.000-07:002005-09-30T13:58:47.816-07:00

BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1127503988761449212005-09-23T12:24:00.000-07:002005-09-23T12:33:08.770-07:00

At 5:18 this morning I woke up from a dream. In the dream, I had gone with a friend to some sort of construction site, where, unbeknownst to me, my friend was casing the joint to steal an enormous pile of gold bricks. On the way out, there were some folding tables set up in the lobby, which looked a lot like the lobby at my high school, with little boxes of candy on them. Divining that the

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1126916412933331952005-09-16T17:13:00.000-07:002005-09-16T17:20:12.940-07:00

At what point do we admit that we lack the political will to either stop spending or start raising revenue? I'm no economist, but I know what my bank would do if I refused to work but continued writing successively larger checks.The enduring emblem of this administration will be the exposure of the political canard that Democrats are the fiscally irresponsible party. If the Dems are

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1126745805888027082005-09-14T17:52:00.000-07:002005-09-14T17:56:45.896-07:00

For my immigration law class, we are exploring the source of federal power to regulate who comes into the country. Most of the legal wrangling over this started long before Mexico had a sufficient population to worry us with immigration. The seminal cases on the subject were in the 1848 and on, when we had just finished building the transcontinental railroad.Comments now written in the margin

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1126371658250313252005-09-10T09:59:00.000-07:002005-09-10T10:00:58.256-07:00

I have, among my several classes this semester, a seminar on regulatory reform. It meets for the first time this coming Monday, so I figured to myself, "I'll do the reading on Saturday with my other homework."Uh, yeah. It's 5 full law review articles. Probably should have started that earlier in the week.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1125593064962623662005-09-01T09:28:00.000-07:002005-09-01T09:44:24.980-07:00

John Tierney, pontificating from his posterior:They're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic while the righteous fly past them in the far left lanes. Those freeway lanes used to be reserved for car pools, but they've just been opened to a new group: those of us virtuous enough to drive the right hybrids. ...But even if these new privileges put more fuel-efficient cars on the road, I'm afraid the net

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1124903989446795092005-08-24T10:18:00.000-07:002005-08-24T10:19:49.453-07:00

I got this as part of an e-mail forward recently:When you receive this, please stop for a moment and Say a prayer for our servicemen. There is nothing attached.... This can be very powerful.... Just send this to all the people in your address book. Do not stop the wheel, please.... Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Prayer is the very best one.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1121904556295835392005-07-20T17:09:00.000-07:002005-07-20T17:12:23.896-07:00

This picture ran on the front page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today. As I looked at it more and more, I thought:Wow, this guy's getting nominated for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and his kid is doing a funky dance. Look at the mom! Mortified! Roberts himself seems to be watching the kid rather than listening to the president. I can't feel too bad about my kids in a restaurant

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1117134752481388512005-05-26T12:07:00.000-07:002005-05-26T12:12:32.496-07:00

A preemptive strike.As I mentioned, I've been working lots of nights and going to bed between four and six A.M. My daughter Frost still has to get up for school at 6:30, and getting her ready was always my job during the school year, a job which Sharon graciously took over so that I could sleep for more than an hour at night.This morning, though, the alarm was going off and I woke up first,

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1116445269789600332005-05-18T12:29:00.000-07:002005-05-18T12:41:09.806-07:00

In a desperate move to make some cash to pay my rent this summer, I became a prostitute a drug dealer a waiter at a pancake restaurant. It's a 24-hour place, which means that the only shift they had available was late, late, nights.I've been sleeping all day in an attempt to adjust to the late nights. It's weird to me, going to bed as it's getting light outside. Most of the bleary-eyed people

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1115746707025355232005-05-10T10:35:00.000-07:002005-05-10T10:38:27.386-07:00

I had my last exam yesterday, Civil Procedure II (or CivPro2 for those in the know). It was alright. I'm particularly proud that I managed to avoid a blog post talking about relationships in terms of the rules for joinder of parties.I would tell (both of) you that this means life will return to normal, but after two years of law school, I'm not sure I'm qualified to identify normal any more.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1115486567749729362005-05-07T10:08:00.000-07:002005-05-07T10:30:08.896-07:00

Thursday I had my Admin Law exam. Hard.It was a three hour exam, and out of roughly fifty students, two finished before the last five minutes. We'll see how that ends up going. As I'm taking an advanced seminar on Admin Law next semester, I hope it went well, or I'm going to feel pretty stupid.Speaking of next semester, I get to do a for-credit internship through our judicial internship

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1115225028869369562005-05-04T09:27:00.000-07:002005-05-04T09:53:58.990-07:00

Will Baude, discussing opposition to Wal-mart, says:In other words, these unnamed critics ask why Wal-Mart cannot spend 65% of its profits on paying its workers above-market wages. I mean, I suppose Wal-Mart could decide to spend its profits that way (corporate law problems notwithstanding) but that seems like rather extraordinary philanthropy. And even if Wal-Mart were interested in spending

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1115188469367834262005-05-03T23:23:00.000-07:002005-05-03T23:34:29.733-07:00

Had a fairly strong deja vu while reading this today:A new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows that 48% of Americans approve of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president. But when the poll-takers asked respondents if they approved or disapproved of the way President Bush is handling six specific issues, the results weren't as good.This reminds me of the West Wing where Josh gets some

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1115168557219267452005-05-03T17:56:00.001-07:002005-05-03T22:25:56.996-07:00

I just wrote out the Constitutional phrase "he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed" in an outline, and Microsoft Word thinks I should change "be" to "are." There's no joke here. Only sadness.UPDATE: I added in this:Art. II § 2 cl. 2: “He shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1115053554906696312005-05-02T09:55:00.000-07:002005-05-02T10:05:54.906-07:00

Just in the midst of finals. Next up: Administrative Law, Thursday.I took my Trusts and Estates final on Saturday. It was the final that I was probably the most nervous about, owing to the fact that I hadn't actually read half the textbook as of about Wednesday last week. Normally, I'm not that law student, the one that has to cram at the end of the semester. This semester, though, I had two

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1114735733657731862005-04-28T17:46:00.000-07:002005-04-28T21:26:08.183-07:00

I found out today that my article on Pharmacist Conscience Clauses will be published in issue 6 of next year's Wisconsin Law Review. Huzzah!Otherwise, I have about 37 hours to learn a four-credit course in which I foolishly chose to take a grade instead of opting for pass/fail. Truly, I am deserving of your most derisive mockery.*inside joke, don't ask.UPDATE: His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1114456187208280222005-04-25T11:58:00.000-07:002005-04-25T12:09:47.210-07:00

I get a little cuckoo when the pressure gets on. Here's a recounting of a conversation that just took place.Sister In Law: All right, peace out people!Me, to wife: No, peace in.Wife: What?Me: Everyone is always trying to put peace out. I don't know if you've heard, but they're talking about hunting feral cats around here. I'm just saying, let's let peace come in, give it a saucer of milk...

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1114280174095898312005-04-23T11:15:00.000-07:002005-04-23T11:16:14.096-07:00

Yeah, it was decaf.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1114273147814549222005-04-23T09:13:00.000-07:002005-04-23T09:19:07.816-07:00

It's Bill Shakespeare's birthday. Happy Birthday, Bill! How's it feel to be 441?Writer's Almanac has a sonnet for his birthday. It's a good one.Here's a different sonnet, more appropriate for a law student:When to the sessions of sweet silent thoughtI summon up remembrance of things past,I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:Then can I drown an

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1114272776626770122005-04-23T09:06:00.000-07:002005-04-23T09:23:22.086-07:00

My first exam is a week from today, and there isn't a single class that I feel like I have a handle on this morning. So, preparing to study, I decided to make an extra strong pot of coffee. I grabbed the bag of french roast beans, and.. oh, crap. There are like three beans in the bag. Starting to panic now, I start to dig through the freezer in search of some long forgotten bag of Kona or

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1114134585398502172005-04-21T18:46:00.000-07:002005-04-21T18:50:43.330-07:00

I apologize in advance for this post.I was working today on the third draft of my law review comment at the Memorial Library computer lab. That lab has all the computers and printers named so as to make it easier on brain dead college students. The law library computer lab, by contrast, has exciting names like "Lab41." I was working on a computer named Scooby that was, you guessed it, amid a

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1114042448152801242005-04-20T17:13:00.000-07:002005-04-20T17:14:29.376-07:00

You are 'regularly metric verse'. This can takemany forms, including heroic couplets, blankverse, and other iambic pentameters, forexample. It has not been used much since thenineteenth century; modern poets tend to preferrhyme without meter, or even poetry withneither rhyme nor meter.You appreciate the beautiful things in life--thejoy of music, the color of leaves falling, therhythm of a

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113959556095121092005-04-19T18:06:00.000-07:002005-04-19T18:13:42.190-07:00

Mary Jane, Reefer, Ganja. Should it be legalized, or at least decriminalized? Beats the hell out of me. Never tried it, and at my age I probably never will. Still, I laughed out loud when I was reading one of the free local arts papers in Madison. They have a sort of "person on the street" feature each week, where they ask a question of various people on State Street and then print their

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113871622100782902005-04-18T17:34:00.000-07:002005-04-18T17:53:14.813-07:00

My son Hale confuses adjectives sometimes. In particular, he says, "Daddy, I'm boring," when he can't find anything he wants to do. I hope I never forget that.This reminds me of something my father used to say, nay, bludgeon me with when I was young. "Dad, I'm bored," I would complain on those small-town summer days."That says more about you than anything else," he would say (with a warning

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113846333011414872005-04-18T10:19:00.000-07:002005-04-18T10:45:33.013-07:00

Professor Althouse points to this article about a group at Princeton that is encouraging abstinence. More power to them, I say. I have no problem with abstinence programs (even if ineffective) provided that the federal government isn't funding them with tax dollars to the exclusion of other forms of sex education. But this quote struck me as a silly statement in profound garb:Jennifer Mickel,

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113531796159237982005-04-14T19:18:00.000-07:002005-04-14T19:23:16.160-07:00

Wendell BarryWhen despair for the world grows in meand I wake in the night at the least soundin fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,I go and lie down where the wood drakerests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.I come into the peace of wild thingswho do not tax their lives with forethoughtof grief. I come into the presence of still water.And I feel above me the

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113521614862317932005-04-14T16:27:00.000-07:002005-04-14T16:33:34.863-07:00

There was a "Get The Troops Out of Iraq" protest march that ended up on Library Mall today. Professor Althouse has some pictures of the march here.As I was walking across library mall shortly after noon, I heard the protestors chanting, "Out of Iraq, Out of our school, Troops home now!" It had a nice cadence, but the phrasing (which I assume refers to military recruiters) had me thinking, "Hmm,

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113438337440287712005-04-13T17:23:00.000-07:002005-04-13T17:25:37.440-07:00

My law review article, which I have been working on for approximately six months, is about this.To quote a wise man: "Now who wants to f---ing touch me?"

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113243480120857022005-04-11T11:15:00.000-07:002005-04-11T11:18:54.966-07:00

Check out PostSecret, where people mail in a post card with their deepest secret. It's engrossing and strangely intimate.(via E.Spat)

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113242965144541592005-04-11T11:08:00.000-07:002005-04-11T11:09:25.146-07:00

...to those of you interested in Health Care if I didn't point you to this morning's Krugman.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113103469854498702005-04-09T20:23:00.000-07:002005-04-09T20:24:29.856-07:00

Satan! Today only! My soul, on sale for piano virtuosity!Who am I kidding? Every day.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113090718191781502005-04-09T16:50:00.000-07:002005-04-09T16:51:58.193-07:00

Since I started law school, I've often wondered: "How could one fail as a judge with a name like Learned Hand?" I mean, that's the ultimate judge name. It's like when Wolf Blitzer got his break covering the first Iraq war.Of course, that means that I have no less than two perfectly named ice princesses for daughters. Look out, young men of the world.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1113079768214944422005-04-09T13:48:00.000-07:002005-04-09T13:49:28.216-07:00

"I have powers beyond reason!" says Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor destroyin the National Guard with her judicial fire breath. Florida circuit judge George Greer laughs an uses his mind beam to topple the Empire State Building; the Avengers are crushed...."Kneel before Greer!" says Florida circuit judge George Greer. I am forced to kneel on accounta Congress refuses to set limitations

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112929969997393822005-04-07T20:09:00.000-07:002005-04-07T20:12:49.996-07:00

Do you ever get the feeling that liberals and the progressives have spent the last 11 years saying, "they can't be serious" about the crazy things that come out of people like Delay and Cornyn? Remember when Cornyn made those remarks about gay marriage being the same as allowing a man to marry a box turtle? Remember when the Republicans tarred Max Cleland's war record, questioned his patriotism

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112928973741450412005-04-07T19:28:00.000-07:002005-04-07T19:56:13.743-07:00

Professor Madison theorizes that the peculiar Republican politics that vilify the federal judiciary are actually a ploy to convince Americans that only ultraconservative judicial nominees are fit to restore the judiciary's integrity.That could very well be the case. But it's not the possibility that I find the most troubling. No, not at all. I fear that the attack on the judiciary is more

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112824650331922962005-04-06T14:56:00.000-07:002005-04-06T14:57:30.330-07:00

I rented some Mr. Show DVD's, and I just saw this for the first time. Classic.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112819771729569402005-04-06T13:33:00.000-07:002005-04-06T13:36:11.730-07:00

How come when the girl in front of me at Starbucks orders a "grande lowfat skim mocha light on the whip cream, extra chocolate" the barista can rattle it right back at her,-but-when I order a large, black coffee, somewhere between the counter and the coffee machine, he has to turn back around and ask "room for cream?""Yes, when I said I wanted black coffee, I meant with cream."

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112667370224800072005-04-04T19:12:00.000-07:002005-04-04T19:16:10.226-07:00

I was just watching a rerun of the West Wing episode "Posse Comitatus." West Wing fans will recognize the episode as the one where C.J.'s body guard Simon Donovan is killed when he walks in on an armed robbery. I love this episode.So maybe that's why every time I watch it, I watch the scene in the Korean grocery with the hope that somehow it will turn out differently this time. Maybe Simon

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112467173655031402005-04-02T10:29:00.000-08:002005-04-02T12:43:56.946-08:00

From The Wasteland:APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain....Unreal City, Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. Flowed up

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112385441002879702005-04-01T11:55:00.000-08:002005-04-01T11:57:21.003-08:00

Ha ha ha. Oh, and ha. As Drudge says, Developing...

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112325252090541432005-03-31T19:12:00.000-08:002005-03-31T19:14:12.093-08:00

I was checking out my referral links on Statcounter, and apparently "next blog" brought me a visitor from another blogger site, in another language, that has sexual images of children. I need a shower.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112324044244434742005-03-31T18:55:00.000-08:002005-03-31T19:05:28.396-08:00

Up to #3 for "Object Permanence" on google. Making my debut appearance at #6 for "Uberdork."Fear me, cosmos.Unrelated update: Curse you, Blogger!Unrelated Update 2: No, f--- you, Blogger.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1112304634022452782005-03-31T18:42:00.000-08:002005-03-31T18:42:30.793-08:00

It feels to me like half of the posts on Object Permanence for the last few months have been variations on "My son/daughter is sick." Well, she is. Winter has had a nasty rotovirus since Monday night, which culminated in her being admitted to the hospital yesterday for intravenous fluids and an overnight stay. My poor little one year old, tiny little Winter, had to be held down so they could

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111956243208547372005-03-27T12:38:00.000-08:002005-03-27T12:44:39.656-08:00

Yesterday, I overlooked Robert Frost's birthday. Belated wishes to America's greatest.PUTTING IN THE SEEDYou come to fetch me from my work to-nightWhen supper's on the table, and we'll seeIf I can leave off burying the whiteSoft petals fallen from the apple tree(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite,Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea);And go along with you ere you lose sightOf

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111830618550391992005-03-26T01:48:00.000-08:002005-03-26T01:50:18.553-08:00

Object Permanence is now #4 for "object permanence" and #1 for Whaaaaaaaa, Democrats.Now I just need to get my rank up for Uberdork, and the cosmos will be my plaything.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111830343111067322005-03-26T01:41:00.000-08:002005-03-26T01:45:43.113-08:00

From "Ode and Burgeonings"Only a few miles at night,the drenched distancesof the country dawn,a handful of earth separated us, the transparentwallsthat we did not cross, so that life,afterward, could put allthe seas and the earthbetween us, and we could come togetherin spite of space,step by step seeking each other,from one ocean to another,until I saw that the sky was aflameand your hair was

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111830814430483782005-03-26T00:53:00.000-08:002005-03-26T01:53:34.430-08:00

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111706611516690232005-03-24T15:09:00.000-08:002005-03-24T15:23:31.516-08:00

We just got back from our brief vacation. A few drive-by observations and thoughts from the past few days:Every parent should drag their kids down a water slide at least once. Hale, my 3-year old son, was practically kicking and screaming, with me working hard just to get him on the slide. After that, the hard work was getting him not to run around the pool to go again. Casinos suck. I would

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111416191493041612005-03-21T06:41:00.000-08:002005-03-21T08:42:13.236-08:00

Well folks, this afternoon I am going out of town with my family for a few days. I'll be back either Wednesday or Thursday. Posting will be light non-existent.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111350660265770472005-03-20T12:30:00.000-08:002005-03-20T12:31:00.266-08:00

The FDA, close to approving Plan B for over the counter sale? Could it be?

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111172765090918112005-03-18T11:03:00.000-08:002005-03-18T11:29:50.640-08:00

I started spring break a little early today. I had Admin Law at 9:55, but the Boys High School state basketball tournament is at the Kohl Center today. After driving around campus looking for a parking spot for 20 minutes and nearly being killed by ultra-aggressive drivers, I gave up and went home. I'm serious, it was like downtown Chicago driving down around the Kohl Center today -- people

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111125688476809262005-03-17T21:55:00.000-08:002005-03-17T22:01:28.480-08:00

Professor Volokh is (rightfully) ripping on Slate's Bushisms here.The quote in question:"In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis; you don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, 'How do you think my standing will be?'" — Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005Really not on the level with "I know how hard it is

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111122103445739902005-03-17T21:00:00.000-08:002005-03-17T21:08:04.376-08:00

This blog is all the way up to #5 for "Object Permanence" on Google. The last time I checked, I was on the third page!UPDATE: Also #5 for "Whaaaaaaaa, Democrats." Note: that is Whaaaaaaaa, with 8 a's.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111121869624979682005-03-17T20:57:00.000-08:002005-03-17T21:11:59.920-08:00

I'm an intellectual.Oh, who am I kidding?

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111092733524373602005-03-17T12:51:00.000-08:002005-03-17T12:52:13.526-08:00

Via Eschaton, this.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111022520562843832005-03-16T17:13:00.000-08:002005-03-16T17:22:00.563-08:00

The interview went pretty well, I think. I won't say more just yet because I don't want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing.I'm off to go outside, spin around three times, and spit.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1111000358300089352005-03-16T10:55:00.000-08:002005-03-16T11:12:38.303-08:00

Dylan writes:A couple of weeks ago I read a comment on some other blog bitching about how health insurers won't pay for preexisting conditions. I'd mentally written a scathing rejoinder before I realized the next three comments already explained that, duh, it's insurance against risk, not a discount program to make other people pay for your problems. If it's not a suprise, it's not the insurers'

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110922573064123452005-03-15T13:30:00.000-08:002005-03-15T15:11:26.373-08:00

I was offered a very out-of-the-blue job interview with my Madison dream-firm for a spring and possibly summer clerkship. It's tomorrow at 3:30, and I am already getting nervous about it.If asked "what is your greatest weakness," I will quite honestly answer, "job interviews."Seriously, I'm a good researcher and a good writer. I can be an effective advocate orally, given preparation. I just

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110892692520753942005-03-15T05:17:00.000-08:002005-03-15T05:18:12.520-08:00

Alternative: You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110846441865414862005-03-14T15:45:00.000-08:002005-03-14T16:31:41.443-08:00

Oscar Madison, who I recently had the pleasure to address as Professor Madison, muses about Universal Health Care. He observes thatWhen it's your own health that's involved, it's hard not to take that far more personally than, say, lousy service at your auto mechanic. Still, bad customer care is not always the same as bad health care.I think that's quite right, but I disagree with where he goes

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110703286844423322005-03-13T00:41:00.000-08:002005-03-14T16:30:13.463-08:00

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110596191143529702005-03-11T18:31:00.000-08:002005-03-11T18:56:31.146-08:00

Senator Russ Feingold took part in a forum at the Law School today. It was called "A Conversation on the Role of Constitutions in Developing Democracy." With the Senator were South African Ambassador to the U.S. Barbara Masekela and UW Professor of History John Kaminski. It was a really interesting panel discussion. As interesting as the topic was, of course, I really went to see Senator

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110547627723425262005-03-11T05:25:00.000-08:002005-03-11T05:27:07.726-08:00

Check out Fafblog.Great Moments in History, 1787: God Writes the Constitution"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please," says God. "I believe I have the solution. You may call Me old-fashioned, but I believe the governing structure of this new law should be based firmly on the Biblical principles of a strong executive, an independent judiciary, a bicameral legislature with an upper and lower house, checks

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110519002137207702005-03-10T21:28:00.000-08:002005-03-10T21:30:02.140-08:00

We outgrow love, like other thingsAnd put it in the Drawer - Till it an Antique fashion shows - Like Costumes Grandsires wore.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110515645809509472005-03-10T20:24:00.000-08:002005-03-10T20:34:05.810-08:00

It's not that I have nothing to say tonight, it's that I have too much.Ever feel that way?

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110514664650790882005-03-10T20:17:00.000-08:002005-03-10T20:17:44.650-08:00

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110343234853048722005-03-08T20:32:00.000-08:002005-03-08T20:47:42.393-08:00

Check it out here.One additional factor contributing to the effectiveness of the VA and Medicare that he didn't mention is the absence of a profit motive. For profit health care creates a perverse incentive: the health care provider can increase profits by decreasing the quality of care. I don't have statistics at my fingertips (and my homework beckons), but suffice it to say that Medicare runs

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110342272965786322005-03-08T20:24:00.000-08:002005-03-08T20:24:32.966-08:00

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110248900181826682005-03-07T18:22:00.000-08:002005-03-07T18:28:20.183-08:00

The Writer's Almanac today notes the anniversary of Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." It's a great story; Frost apparently wanted to publish it with forty pages (!) of footnotes. Maybe he was having a little T.S. Eliot "The Wasteland" envy.Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village, though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110248028086094352005-03-07T18:12:00.000-08:002005-03-07T18:13:48.086-08:00

A good analogy:People who made big bucks through their lives don't get a particularly good 'deal' from Social Security, if you insist on seeing it in investment terms. But that's a distorting prism, sort of like thinking you got a rotten deal on your medical insurance if you never have a catastrophic illness.True dat.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110136664831009042005-03-06T11:13:00.000-08:002005-03-06T11:19:23.923-08:00

After making a full* recovery from pneumonia this week, my 8-year old Frost had a fever all night. This morning, my wife took her to Urgent Care.Prognosis? Fever was 104.7, accelerated heart rate, and her lungs have filled up much more. She's out of school for at least 10 days, with a full course of antibiotics and whatever home remedies we can devise to make her comfortable. If she gets any

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110087903946080182005-03-05T21:37:00.000-08:002005-03-05T21:45:03.950-08:00

Professor Bainbridge speculates on Hilary `08. One Clinton scandal that was never properly ventilated was his eleventh hour (and fifty nine minute) pardon spree, especially the highly controversial pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. (Remember that?) Yes, there were some investigations. But nobody seemed to have the heart in it, not even bulldogs like Dan Burton. Everybody rather quickly

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1110082275188543252005-03-05T19:57:00.000-08:002005-03-05T20:11:15.190-08:00

I just added a new link in my UW-Law Blogs sidebar. He's one of the Senior Managing Editors of the Law Review.And here, with another edition of "When keeping it real goes wrong..."UPDATE: WU TANG!

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109984784561474202005-03-04T17:03:00.000-08:002005-03-04T17:09:25.593-08:00

Look at this.No, seriously. Testicle implants for dogs who've been neutered.And in case you were wondering (from the FAQ):Do Neuticles come in different models?Neuticles are available in three models: NeuticleOriginals (rigid firmness) NeuticleNatural (natural firmness) and Neuticles UltraPLUS. Each are crafted from FDA medically-approved (for human use) materials- replicating the animals

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109980946297898142005-03-04T16:00:00.000-08:002005-03-04T16:02:26.296-08:00

Veeeeeeeeeeeery long week is now blessedly over. I hope that the obsessive office remodeling around the house this weekend won't prevent me from relaxing at least a little bit.Anyway, TGIF.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109903141684053892005-03-03T18:25:00.000-08:002005-03-03T18:25:41.686-08:00

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109901435162569422005-03-03T17:50:00.000-08:002005-03-03T17:57:15.166-08:00

Everyone is talking about Bradley Smith's CNET interview talking about the end of blogs.How can the government place a value on a blog that praises some politician?How do we measure that? Design fees, that sort of thing? The FEC did an advisory opinion in the late 1990s (in the Leo Smith case) that I don't think we'd hold to today, saying that if you owned a computer, you'd have to calculate what

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109735111236662882005-03-01T19:36:00.000-08:002005-03-01T19:45:11.236-08:00

I screwed up a cite check packet. Sorry. In a completely related note, constructive criticism works, people!What he said:"In the future, please approach packets with the assumption that everything the author did was wrong."What I heard:"In the future, please approach packets with the assumption that your managing editor will be a total and complete jackass to you if you get it wrong."What he

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109715892397813142005-03-01T14:17:00.000-08:002005-03-01T14:32:50.126-08:00

Working on a brief in the computer lab. It's lots of fun trying to do legal analysis when cold medicine makes you feel like your head is a helium balloon on a string considerably longer than your neck.I wanted to weigh in on Roper, but I think trying to pick through the opinion right now might be beyond me. Let me just say that I strongly oppose the death penalty (check my May `04 archives, I

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109633212343807402005-02-28T15:24:00.000-08:002005-02-28T15:26:52.346-08:00

Well, here we go again.As I mentioned last week, my kids have been sick. Sure enough, Sunday I wake up with a huge-ass fever. Now I have:Job applications due (deadline March 1st)Labor law brief (due Tuesday night)Law Review comment rewrite (due Thursday night)Law Review cite check (due 3/9)Not to mention my ordinary homework. Ugh.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109444877039414542005-02-26T10:47:00.000-08:002005-02-26T11:07:57.043-08:00

Like millions of Tori Amos fans everywhere, I am listening to her new release "The Beekeeper." If you look at the Amazon reviews, the reviewers love it. I don't dislike it, but where's the piano? Tori's albums have previously featured at least a few songs where she really wails on the keys to show off her virtuosity. By contrast, you can only hear the piano used here as sort of a ... background

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109299498232642652005-02-24T18:40:00.000-08:002005-02-24T18:44:58.233-08:00

Stephanie pointed me to this story:CHICAGO (AP) - An appeals court said a man can press a claim for emotional distress after learning a former lover had used his sperm to have a baby. But he can't claim theft, the ruling said, because the sperm were hers to keep.Phillips accuses Dr. Sharon Irons of a "calculated, profound personal betrayal" after their affair six years ago, saying she secretly

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109293819033636232005-02-24T17:07:00.000-08:002005-02-24T17:10:19.033-08:00

We decided to do the traditional thing, and ask my daughter what she wanted for her birthday dinner. "Spaghetti?" we asked. "Pork chops? Sloppy joes?" She decided we should have what we call "boiled dinner." Boiled dinner is something we do when we are in a hurry or don't really want to cook, and it is just what it sounds like: boiled potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and kielbasa. Frost really

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109270147206762402005-02-24T10:35:00.000-08:002005-02-24T10:35:47.206-08:00

Frost is 8 today. Happy birthday, sunshine.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109222620495513682005-02-23T21:05:00.000-08:002005-02-23T21:46:18.290-08:00

It's crunch time again for Mr. Matt, and I have been experiencing the disquieting feeling that there is literally nothing to which I am looking forward. For the last few days, nothing interests me; not my studies, not the future practice of law. It feels as if there is only the petty creep from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time. I'm sure I am just overtired and

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952632.post-1109218278552884682005-02-23T20:10:00.000-08:002005-02-23T20:11:18.553-08:00

If you find this hilarious, you are probably a nerd.Like me.

Matthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11770859324077383827noreply@blogger.com1