America doesn't do drugs

Tuns out, if you're British and you've been convicted of a crime involving drugs (or anything else that implicates moral turpitude, a phrase that governs lawyers too and that I hate), you will not be permitted to enter this country without a visa. Brits can typically come to the states without one (just like we can go there without one). But they are literally turned away at the U.S. airports at which they land if they have drug convictions, or if they simply admit to having been a drug addict at one point. I get that we want to protect our country from villains and the like, but this is silly and absurd. Just because a person has done drugs, we turn them away. Murder, by the way, is not a crime involving moral turpitude, so I assume that convicted murderers in without a question. Because they're less dangerous? A British memoirist, who was arriving at Newark to attend a book party and book tour to promote his book, was deported straight away for this reason. I guess we'd rather get rid of him than read a book?

Lunch with the ducks

Well, that irritating girl (see below) may have almost ruined my morning, but Rex just said that we can have lunch by the pond and feed pizza crust to the ducks and/or geese. Now it's a GREAT day! I just have to wait until lunch time...
Here's a picture Rex made in anticipation of this terrific event:
It makes me smile so big my cheeks hurt. See, we're sharing pizza with the duck, and holding hands. Yay.

Sometimes, I just can't like everyone

Most law students are hideously irritating people, so it should come as no surprise that I wanted to shove pencils in my ears this morning. There's this girl in my administrative law class, and I don't know her name, but I was sitting here thinking about how annoying she is and how much I detest her, when she began to speak. The following ensues:
Annoying girl (AG): The people at Starbucks always make fun of me for ordering child size drinks.
Me (interjecting, OBVIOUSLY not thinking): You could order a short, which is what they call it.
AG (suddenly very agitated): I DON'T THINK I SHOULD HAVE TO LEARN A NEW VOCABULARY TO ORDER A DRINK AT STARBUCKS, AND I THINK IT'S UNREASONABLE OF THEM TO EXPECT ME TO.
Me (trying to calm down the crazy): Oh, well, 8 ounces is a traditional size for a cup of coffee (?).
And in my head: Holy god woman, if you hate it so much, why do you go there enough to know a guy who "always" makes fun of you for ordering child size? You don't have to like Starbucks and you certainly don't have to go there, they sell coffee lots of places. And you exaggerated by saying "the people at Starbucks always make fun of me" because you then gave away that it's one guy. Anyway, my strategy for dealing with places that I really don't like is to NOT GO THERE, if I can help it. And there is a coffee shop INSIDE THIS BUILDING, and it's not Starbucks. Like they say in the law, vote with your feet (and leave).

Transgender...gaining acceptance?

This is an incredibly long article about transgender and other gender identity issues (it occurs to me that the clinical term is gender identity disorders, but disorder sounds so wrong), but it's definitely worth reading. The article highlights the fact that, at least in some circles, the notion of fluid gender identities are acceptable or gaining acceptance. The article is touching and gave me chills--this is an issue that we have been tragically slow to accept, and that has caused a lot of suffering from our ignorance. While I post this article because I see it as somewhat encouraging, the article points out that employment discrimination laws in this country persist in excluding gender identity as a protection in seeking and maintaining employment. We may be on the path to acceptance, but we've got a long way to go.

Cute + Cuddly Article, to brighten things up a bit...

It's real because it was on CNN: A dolphin rescued whales from beaching themselves! It's too cute for words. This should break up the cynical, perpetually bitchy tone of my blog a little. Makes me want a pet dolphin...or perhaps a whale.

LOL Cats

You know those awful LOL Cats that I have a propensity to post? Because they are so irresistible? It turns out, I Can Has Cheezburger is an award winning website. Stunning. Sometimes I hate the world, and sometimes I love it. Today, I love it. If other intelligent, educated people read it, then dammit, so can I. Though, I suppose, I would anyway.

My Ethics Class is Bulls***, Part III

Today's topic: What makes good people do bad things. Is this really what I came to law school to learn? Really? Because I thought I came here to learn law, not psychology. If I wanted to study Zimbardo and his Stanford Prison Experiment, I would have studied psychology. Oh wait, I already did. But today, I get to study psychology. In law school. By reading blogs, because that is where the professor gets a majority of our readings. Psychology from the blogs. Now that's what I call not-a-waste-of-time-at-all-not-even-a-little-bit.

Obama's "Change"

So you know how Obama's campaign is all about "change we can believe in?" And how those of us who believe in Hillary are critical of it for being empty? I keep waiting for him to say what that change entails, and tonight I got my answer. While speaking to San Antonio, TX, Obama said that Hillary and McCain criticize the promise as empty, but that in fact, it was a change that came from the people. So it's not an empty promise, it's one he didn't even come up with himself. He took it from the people, and then still couldn't even fill in the blanks of what "change" means. I know the time may come (very soon, even) when I have to rally behind him because he is the nominee. So I am trying to like him more. But I'm liking him less, because he is sitting there, on the tv in front of me, proclaiming the same, empty promise of change. Again, Obama, I ask you: how will you pay for your programs? How will you ensure that ALL Americans get insurance, if you don't make it mandatory? How do you plan to withdraw from Iraq? What do you plan to do about the subprime mortgage crisis? And so on. I can answer ALL of these questions definitively for Hillary.

At least he is saying we have to do *something* about climate change. "We hope, we believe, yes we can." That's a direct quote.

My Ethics Class is Bulls***, Part II

If you've been following along, you may know that my Ethics/Professional Responsibility class is utter nonsense. If not, I promise you, it is. Today's reason: the reading for today's class taught me the following gems:

• It is bad to get into fistfights with other lawyers
• You should not complain to appellate judges that the trial judge is a moron/incompetent/an asshole
  
• When one lawyer asks for discovery, you should not hide the materials he wants (in other words, you should obey the law, which compels you to hand over such materials)

Really? Boy, I'm sure learning in this class...

Also, I am taking the Ethics portion of the bar exam on Saturday. My professors (there are TWO) have not made one mention of this test. Which I am taking on Saturday. And which, I'm pretty sure, does not ask "It is ok to punch other lawyers. True or False?"