The new view

Cleaning out my camera

Just recently popped some new batteries into my Kodak EasyShare for the sole purpose of pulling all six or so of my summer pics off of the thing.

A small but vocal minority of Minnesotans have demanded that the post-bar exam mustache make an appearance for the wedding. Thoughts?

Other recent photos:

Snapped one at the border a couple weeks ago.

St. Charles Hall, Carroll College

I managed to snap only one shot at Murry and Annie's wedding. Why? Because the frickin' Neveready batteries I'd bought only minutes beforehand had zero juice in them whatsoever (the name should have tipped me off, really). I got gypped, man. So, uh...that's where they got married. You'll just have to imagine that they're actually in the photo.

CC in the NYT

I absolutely insist that everyone who visits this blog read this article. Best article on Carroll College football and everything it represents that I've read to date. Doesn't even matter if you don't know what I'm talking about. Just read.

Ahmadinejad: Holocaust Invented to Embarass Germany

Remember that creepy letter that Big Mac Ahmadinejad sent German Chancellor Angela Merkel inquiring as to what they should do about the Jewish question? The contents were finally disclosed. In it, Ahmadinejad posits that the Holocaust was invented by the Allied powers to embarrass the Germans. And further we go down the rabbit hole:

Is it not a reasonable possibility that some countries that had won the war made
up this excuse to constantly embarrass the defeated people ... to bar their
progress?

Whose anatomy?

Well, I guess I need her to marry me now... ;o)

Otherwise, I'm homeless and possessionless.

Yesterday we donated practically all of my furniture to Good Will (since Lea's is all new and mine looks like it came fresh from the dorms). My apartment lease ends on this Thursday. Until then I'm sleeping on an air mattress and living out of boxes. So I pretty much have to marry her at this point. If, God forbid, she were to give me the bum rush on Thursday, then you can find me carrying a cardboard sign at the corner of Hennepin and Oak Grove on Friday.

T minus 27 days to the big jig in the G Funk.

"Human rights group" is a misnomer here...

This has been boiling under my skin for awhile now and I feel it is still a relevant issue in the midst of Israel and Hezbollah's ceasefire. Israel is being accused of war crimes by the UN, Amnesty International, the international media, and especially the Muslim world for its attack on Lebanon and the civilian casualties that ensued. In doing so, Hezbollah's accountability for those casualties, as well as Israeli casualties, is a mere afterthought.

Hezbollah intentionally (1) hides its weapons caches in apartment complexes, (2) fires rockets at Israel from Lebanese houses, and (3) dresses in civilian clothing so as to blend in amongst noncombatants. Each of these tactics is designed to utilize Lebanon's civilian population as a shield. They are holding civilians hostage for a two-fold purpose: either (a) discouraging the likelihood of Israeli counterattacks for fear of harming civilians, thus allowing Hezbhollah to continue lobbing rockets south towards Israel without consequence, or (b) bringing international condemnation upon Israel when Israel does strike back. Obviously, we now know option (b) as reality. And the international community fell for it. The tactic worked.

Thus, my point: human rights groups like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch actually increase the likelihood that organizations like Hezbollah will continue to use this tactic in the future. This will happen again, in Lebanon and elsewhere. When it does happen, the UN, Amnesty, and everyone else who failed to condemn Hezbollah for their misdeeds will be complicit in the civilian casualties that follow. They can count themselves amongst those responsible because they made the strategy effective.

Will they condemn Hezbollah next time? Of course not. When the ceasefire breaks (which it will), Israel collaterally harms civilians while attempting to destroy weapons caches, and Hezbollah launches rockets at Haifa with the sole purpose of killing civilians, these organizations will still save their ire for Israel only.

The reason? They dislike Israel. They side with the Palestinians in the "other" conflict ensuing along the Mediterranean and impute their displeasure to this conflict. But even if you disagree with Israel regarding Palestine, it's no reason to hop into bed with every group that counts itself amongst Israel's enemies. To do so is to betray the human rights cause that these groups supposedly stand for.

**UPDATE**: Amnesty International just published its report on the conflict, alleging war crimes by Israel. And as for Hezbollah? "The briefing does not...address the attacks by Hizbullah into Israel and their impact on civilians – these are being addressed elsewhere. "

Uh huh. I bet. They made sure to crank out that report accusing Israel of war crimes, but as for what Hezbollah's done here...Eh, maybe someone else will do it. AI has no interest. That subject is being addressed in the vacuous "elsewhere."

This report fails to understand or even consider that when otherwise "civilian" targets are being used for "military" purposes, it becomes a military target. Thus, if Hezbollah is using a house to store munitions, then that house is a military objective, plain and simple. The report avers that Israel did not take care to avoid civilian casualties, as would be required under the rules of war, but it makes no mention of the steps that Israel did take, such as leafleting (in fact, the only leaflet mentioned is the one warning people not to use vehicles in a particular portion of Lebanon).

Even when AI concedes that a target has been used for military purposes, it asserts that Israel has a duty to avoid civilian casualties. How Israel is supposed to do so, it does not explain:

Hospitals are by nature "civilian objects" and may not be attacked unless they are being used for military purposes. If Hizbullah was indeed using the al-Hikmah hospital as a headquarters or base, then they rendered it subject to attack, although Israel would still have been under an obligation to take precautions to protect civilians and avoid the loss of life or injury to civilians.

So Israel was supposed to do what exactly? Bombs don't discriminate between civilian and combatant. So here's an idea: don't put your militia headquarters in a hospital. Does ever occur to AI that maybe this is part of the reason that the hospital was bombed?

Anyway, I'll look forward to that report on Hezbollah coming from "elsewhere," but I'm not holding my breath.

And why is it that people don't trust Iran again?

On Monday, Iran meets with the Romanians to discuss the development of bilateral ties.

On Tuesday, they shoot rockets at them.

(Credit to uponaroof at Guardian Unlimited Talk.)

Sequal maybe?

BEES ON A PLANE!

As it turns out...

...Dolphins are dumb.

No need to worry anymore, humanity.

Just in case you were wondering what Ryan Leaf was up to...

SI.com ran a story from the "Where are they now" file on former Washington State phenom and San Diego washout Ryan Leaf. Leaf, unfortunately, is the most famous graduate of my alma mater, C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls, Montana. Anyone with a superficial knowledge of football knows his story: Leaf drove Wazoo to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1930s and was the second overall pick in the subsequent NFL draft, second only to Peyton Manning. Leaf was to be the future of the San Diego Chargers. Instead, his professional career to this day is considered to be the greatest bust in NFL history.

That's the story the nation knows anyway. The story in Great Falls is a bit more nuanced. We were proud as hell of the kid as he led the Cougars to glory and foresaw a fantastic future for him, whether it would be with the Colts or the Chargers. Here he was, the product of a Montana high school football dynasty at CMR, ready to take the NFL storm. Ryan Leaf at that time was the Electric City's first son.

Or so we thought. Prior to the 1998 NFL draft, ESPN Magazine interviewed Leaf and Manning. Leaf stated in the interview that he was from Washington and that he did not consider himself to be from Montana. From that moment forward, Leaf was persona non grata in his hometown. He later apologized for the remarks and bought his old high school some Nike cleats, but the damage was done. We all knew Leaf was kind of cocky, but to disown the town and state that gave you your fortune in the first place is unforgivable. Without CMR's skipper Jack Johnson, the Rustler football program, and the fans of Great Falls, Ryan Leaf sure as hell never would have become the big man on campus at WSU, let alone a prime NFL prospect. We were livid.

And as it happens, kharma is a bitch. He immediately had spats with teammates, coaches, reporters, and fans. To make matters worse, he would throw only 14 touchdowns in his short pro career, a total that would not add up to even half of the 36 interceptions he would throw during the same time span. Michael Ventre of MSNBC dubbed Leaf the "the biggest bust in the history of professional sports." Today, he's the Roy Munson of the NFL.

Today Leaf is a quarterback's coach at Division II West Texas A & M. Seems to indicate that maybe he's grown up a bit...Realized that he isn't the greatest there ever was and ever will be. What a waste of God given talent. 6'5", an arm like a cannon. If he'd had the maturity and modesty of Peyton Manning, then he very well might have become the greatest.

A conversation overheard at New Line Cinema circa May, 2005.

"Bill, I think we've got a fresh idea for a movie."

"Alright, lay it on me."

"Well, it involves Samuel L. Jackson on a plane."

"I like it. Go on."

"OK. And there's, like, an assassin on there."

"To kill Samuel L. Jackson?"

"Uh, no. Someone else. Maybe someone in Witness Protection or something. Doesn't matter. Focus on Sammy here."

"K."

"And Samuel L. Jackson saves the entire plane."

"Huh. Pretty good, but it needs something more. Guns? Bombs? Jihad?"

(silence)

"What about some snakes?"

"Snakes! Great! But if you're trying to assassinate somebody on a plane, would you really use snakes? I mean, you're still stuck on the plane too. There's just as good a chance that you're going to get bitten as the other guy. That, and it's kind of an inefficient way to kill a guy, isn't it? Wouldn't it be better just to shoot the guy or poison his cereal or--"

"Dude--Samuel L. Jackson. Plane. Snakes."

"Yeah, you're right...Bob, do you ever wonder if Americans will someday bore of the ill-conceived raunch we constantly subject them to?"

"No!"

"Me neither!"

(The two share a guttural laugh.)

So let me see if I understand this correctly...

1. Hezbollah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers and kills another in the process.
2. Israel begins an offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
3. Hezbollah's puppet masters, Iran and Syria, repeatedly call for a ceasefire due to mounting Lebanese casualties.
4. Israel, after taking a few weeks to bomb the area into the stone age, eventually agrees to ceasefire.
5. Hezbollah, Iran and Syria declare victory.

Taking kind of a loose definition of "victory" here, aren't we? I mean, it wasn't exactly a route by Israel because they didn't send in the ground forces from the get go, but what has Hezbollah gained here other than a ceasefire? Israel hasn't ceded any territory. Hezbollah's infrastructure, along with just about everything else in southern Lebanon, is in ruins. Anywhere between a third to a half of their rockets have been destroyed. Their leader is giving his victory speech while still in hiding. The victory? Israel stopped bombing? Wait a week. Olmert won't make the same mistake twice. They're just lucky Sharon wasn't around to conduct this war. No one has more experience when it comes to invading Lebanon on a whim than that guy.

Considering a logo.

Thing's have been mad busy the last few days (including a 2,158 mile solo shot back and forth across the Badlands to Helena for a weekend wedding) and I'll make sure to put in an update. In the mean time, I'm considering a new logo. Came up with the design 100% on my own. Check it:

Update

It's been awhile, but things are pretty busy here in Minnetropolis. Here's what's new:

The MPRE. Finished that sucker up on Friday finally. I should have taken it a long time ago, but there was always a wedding or moot court or NPTE...I walked into the place with Charlie and Pavlak. The lobby was full of people we recognized as UST 2Ls. Charlie remarked that we looked like the seniors who failed English second semester and had to suffer through summer school post-graduation. Not too far off the mark.

For those who have never heard of it, "MPRE" is law nerd for "Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam." It's comprised of 60 multiple choice questions taken over the course of two hours on the Rules of Professional Conduct. The RPC can be boiled down to a single, simple rule: "Don't do dumb things." Don't spend your client's money. Don't represent people with interests directly adverse to those of your clients. Don't sleep with your clients. It gets slightly more complicated, but that's the basic gist of it.

And now that the Bar and the MPRE are out of the way...

The Wedding. Lea and I are getting really excited. It's hard to believe that it's only about six weeks away. St. Ann's Cathedral in Great Falls, Montana on September 23. One show only. In the mean time, we're both preparing to pack up all of our possessions and move into our new abode over by the Greenway. I'll move over at the end of the month and Lea will officially move in once we get back. After the wedding, we'll hop in the car and head on a honeymoon up in Banf, Alberta. We're excited about the wedding, but more excited for what we'll actually be celebrating. :o)

Bad news out of Idaho. I found out just recently that my roommate from freshman year of college, Blaise Black, died in a horrible accident at a biodiesel plant in New Plymouth, Idaho last month. I haven't seen or talked to Blaise since he left Carroll in December of 1999, but his younger sister Lindsay attended the following year and I'd hear from her the occasional tidbit about how he was doing. I remember him as a quiet guy who missed his family and didn't enjoy being so far away from home. We ran on very different schedules--just about every week he had rodeos around Montana and Idaho to attend while I was off at debate tournaments in Colorado and Oregon. I didn't know him as well as I would have liked, but understood that he was a good guy with a positive outlook on the world.

The news about Blaise really has me thinking about things. When we were 19, no one would have believed that Blaise only had six years left in his life. Everyone naturally imagines themselves going when they're older, having lived a full life with grandkids and a pension. But you never know. Blaise had just gotten married in April. He was attending classes at Boise State in the summer and keeping up with rodeo. He was in the prime of his life. Tragedy like this could happen to anyone at any time. Makes you appreciate the time that you do have, simply because you never know just how much of it is left. Anyway, my thoughts and prayers are with the Black family and Blaise's wife Lindsay.

Gettin' the league back together. Seems pretty trivial after that number, huh? Had our draft last night. Now a bright person probably wouldn't have picked up Priest Holmes since he had himself a nice spinal injury, but then again, I'm not all that bright. Completely forgot about it and took him at the last second. Eh. He might not ever play again, but it could be worse. I could have ended up with Brett Favre and Javon Walker again.

Other than that, things are finally returning to normalcy. I'm working full time without having to worry about studying. I've got the wedding to look forward to in September and hopefully a license to practice in October. Til later...

Duh.