Ironic Paradox

Long-Overdue-Update

2006-07-05T11:56:00.000-04:00

Well. It's only been several weeks.

Blame it on the LSUC bar admission process. It's been occupying most of my study/thought/work time over the past month or so.

But I'll be back soon - the barrister exam is tomorrow, and that'll be the end of the process. Then I start work on the 17th.

Since I'm sure regular readers are interested in knowing my thoughts on my Canucks, I can say this:

Thank goodness Bertuzzi is gone. I can once again cheer for my favourite team with a clear conscience.

Some other thoughts:

This is a nice gesture...but I don't really think it is the long-term solution, and it just makes everyone look bad. Appoint security, and get it done with. Oh, and these dudes should just come forward sooner rather than later.

Random Liberal cheap shot of the day: Here.

Random CPC cheap shot of the day: Steve, you've done a lot of decent things so far...but this is just a weird picture.

Once I get into a regular schedule (IE - a non-studying-for-7-hour-exam schedule), blogging will increase back to my usual 5-6 post a week rates. Stay tuned.

WC: Day 4

2006-06-12T08:45:00.000-04:00

Australia 2, Japan 2
USA 2, Czech Rep. 1
Italy 2, Ghana 0

Current Daily Record: 5-3

Technical Difficulties

2006-06-11T12:06:00.000-04:00

So...I tried to delete some of my useless sidebar stuff (such as "London Gas Prices") and outdated links, and somehow I managed to delete the entire sidebar of the blog, which threw off all the other settings. Over the next couple of days, I'll be reworking the sidebar to include the links, trackers, Blogging Tories blogroll, etc. - so hold tight until then.

World Cup: Day 3

2006-06-11T00:57:00.000-04:00

Netherlands 2, S-M 1
Iran 2, Mexico 0
Portugal 1, Angola 0

Current Daily Record: 3-2

WC: Day 2

2006-06-10T11:02:00.000-04:00

June 10th games:

England 2, Paraguay 1
Sweden 3, Trinidad/Tobago 0
Argentina 1, Cote D'Ivoire 1

Current Daily Record: 2-0

World Cup 2006 Predictions

2006-06-08T18:39:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to decide whether or not to do a game by game prediction, or simply the finalists.

So I'll do both.

Check back for daily predictions for every game.

Or look at how I think they'll play out right now:

Group Stage Winners:
Group A: Germany, Ecuador
Group B: England, Sweden
Group C: Netherlands, Argentina
Group D: Portugal, Iran
Group E: USA, Italy
Group F: Brazil, Croatia
Group G: Switzerland, France
Group H: Spain, Saudi Arabia

Round of 16:
Germany over Sweden
Netherlands over Iran
England over Ecuador
Portugal over Argentina
USA over Croatia
Switzerland over Saudi Arabia
Brazil over Italy
Spain over France

Quarterfinals:
Netherlands over Germany
USA over Switzerland
England over Portugal
Brazil over Spain

Semifinals:
Netherlands over USA
Brazil over England

Final:
Netherlands over Brazil

June 9th Games:
Germany 3, Croatia 2
Ecuador 2, Poland 1

Kyoto: Who Really Understands?

2006-05-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

...Not Canadians, apparently.

I do wonder though, if a similar poll was done regarding the people who talk more about Kyoto than anyone else - the media. Have any of them read the accord, or are they just parroting what gets thrown around?

And is the Liberal party support borne out of an honest belief that it will actually work, or simply an attempt to save face? Afterall, didn't Martin basically say that Canada would sign the accord with the full knowledge that we could never implement it?

Hrmm.

Horrifying

2006-05-25T22:20:00.000-04:00

Regardless of where you sit on the Iraq war, this is somewhere between awful and disgusting.

The most pertinent tidbit:

In an interview with GQ magazine, the reporter asked him: "Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber - if there were no other casualties - be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?"

Mr Galloway replied: "Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it - but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq - as Blair did."

One of the most ridiculous examples of "two wrongs somehow make a right" logic that I've ever heard.

Humiliating.

Here and There and Everywhere

2006-05-12T00:34:00.000-04:00

A Few Thoughts:

1) Huh?

It smells like a joke. And the supporting comments all sound like exactly the same person.

Either that, or someone's really desparate.

2) Judging Judges

Maurice Vellacott goes down. Because he doesn't like comments like these from SCC CJ Bev McLach:

"The rule of law requires judges to uphold unwritten constitutional norms, even in the face of clearly enacted laws or hostile public opinion. There is certainly no guarantee or presumption that a given list of constitutional principles is complete, even assuming the good faith intention of the drafters to provide such a catalogue ... Judges have the duty to insist that legislative and executive branches of government conform to certain established and fundamental norms, even in times of trouble.''

See...the funny thing was, I always thought that "rule of law" implied that the law was supreme, not some judges' interpretation of "principles" that are found goodness-knows-where....yeah. I've already ranted on this so much that I better not do it again, but I did like how that editorial ended with: "...At least it would be, if our politicians truly believed in another Charter right -- free speech."

Hmm...then there are those cartoons...

3) Michael Coren

If true in the way that that story articulates it...sigh. I like Michael Coren, not agreeing with everything he says, but I like the guy, but regardless: stuff like that doesn't exactly encourage my opinion of the CBC, let's just put it that way.

Underway in the Bar Admissi....I Mean Licensing Process

2006-05-09T15:02:00.000-04:00

Whenever you change the name of something (Bar Admission Course --> Licensing Process Course), it always causes problems. The instructor has really been struggling with that change for the last 2 days.

The course itself isn't bad, just a little slow. Not exactly riveting material, although it does appear very useful, and it's not difficult.

The reason for the 2 week gap between posts was due to the fact I just returned from a vacation in Williamsburg VA for 9 days. It was a great time to relax, visit the historical sites, play some golf, read a lot of books and watch a lot of TV.

I've been enjoying that the CPC has been steadily inching upwards in the polls over the last few weeks. The budget looks good, and I've been overall fairly impressed so far. They really have a lot of free reign, since it is clear that the Liberals have no interest in an election anytime soon.

And I promise updates will be more regular - now that I'm back, it's time to end the blog-rest and return with a vengeance.

Me, LL.B.

2006-04-24T11:27:00.000-04:00

And that's all for UWO law, folks.

My friends here like to joke that I have nothing to fall back on, due to my lackage of a B.A. Well, I've heard that joke for the last time!

WOOHOO!

2006 NHL Playoff Predictions: Round 1

2006-04-21T17:00:00.000-04:00

Eastern Conference
Ottawa in 5.
Carolina in 6.
New Jersey in 5.
Philadelphia in 7.

Western Conference
Detroit in 5.
Dallas in 4.
Anaheim in 6.
San Jose in 6.

Overheard In The Law Library

2006-04-20T10:09:00.000-04:00

I just overheard the most delightful exchange between 2 first year law students I had never met before.

The time is 10 am.

Law Guy 1: Hey, man - you're hardcore! Early bird!
Law Guy 2: Yeah, something like that.
Law Guy 1: (looks at LG2's books) You studying for criminal?
Law Guy 2: Yeah.
Law Guy 1: (with complete sincerity) Do you really need to study for that?
Law Guy 2: (with equal sincerity) Not really, no.

Just for the record, the library opens at 8:15 am. I don't consider 10 am to be "hardcore". Furthermore, the criminal exam is tomorrow. Now, we're either dealing with the brightest, most prepared law students on the planet; or else the guy DOES need to be studying for criminal. At the same time, if you're the brightest, most prepared law student on the planet and you are all prepared for the exam a day in advance, you would by nature still be studying the day before.

At least, that's my 2 cents.

Best Web Video Ever

2006-04-18T18:26:00.000-04:00

This has to be the coolest internet vid I've ever seen.

It is the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 7 of the 1986 World Series - in NES baseball. Complete with Vin Scully doing the play-by-play. Bill Bucknor's error...everything. The guy who made this has been on pretty much every sports website since.

Check it out.

MJAWL, Part II

2006-04-18T15:17:00.000-04:00

Here's some more. Note: I have decided not to restrict these lists to Top-5's anymore. The need for disclaimers on blogs really astounds me, but nevertheless:

Professors (Although Some Are Also Doctors):
5. Prof. B. Welling
Welling annoys a lot of people, but he's always been good. He makes you think, and makes you work, but you're always better for it. There's nothing quite like getting told your work is "duckspeak" or that your question "does not compute". He might make you feel stupid, but it's always constructive, and you don't make the same mistake twice. And the whole "corporation is a robot" gig is still priceless.

4. Prof. G. Demeyere
Beyond a doubt: the nicest professor in law school. Genuinely cares about students, and gives us DVD's and Timbits (yes, she's the Employment Law professor). And her class material is perfectly organized, and easy to follow.

3. Prof. G. Huscroft
Besides teaching my favourite class (and Admin - the class I liked, but everyone else hated), I happen to agree with almost everything he says about the structure of our political sphere. Sometimes I go further than him, but that's the beauty of political discourse.

2. Prof. A. Parachin
In addition to making a boring subject (for me) entertaining, Parachin has been by far the most supportive of our CLF group at UWO, which is (for anyone reading this), a surefire way to make it to the Top-5 Prof List. And the dude can dunk on a 10 foot net. That's just cool.

1. Prof. B. Hovius
My original small-group professor (who I think hated a bunch of us for a while because we weren't paying attention in class). Incredibly smart - often too much so for us poor 1L's, organized and just an excellent "teacher" - an underrated and often forgotten talent at UWOLAW. And a very, very underrated killer sense of humour, that is made all the funnier coming from him.

Books - Biggest Wastes (Don't Worry, This Isn't Exhaustive...)
5. Canadian Legislation on Intellectual Property
Simply because I never opened it. All the material for the exam was contained in the material provided, and it will likely sit on my shelf forever, thanks to wonderful websites like Canlii.

4. Law and Economics
I enjoyed the course fine, but unfortunately it's going to be utterly useless to me in my working life. If anyone wants to buy...I paid $120 for it, and I'll sell it to you for the low, low price of $119.99!

3. Getting to Yes
From the negotiation class mentioned yesterday. There's just the one problem. Using the tactics in the books simply don't get you to yes.

2. Income Tax Act, 2004
Not sure why people don't just use the online version. $90. Ouch.

1. Principles of Canadian Income Tax, 12th Edition
The only thing worse than the ITA...is of course the casebook with cases about the ITA.

Books - Best Values (Yes, They Do Exist...)
5. Corporate Law in Canada: The Governing Principles 3rd Edition, Welling
Unfortunately, this book wasn't out when I took the course, but I guarantee it's a good value. The only law school book I will likely go out and buy, and read - just for learning value. It's that good.

4. Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts, Brown
Best organized book in 1L. And that alone made it the best course in 1L - meaning it definitely deserves to be on this list.

3. McGill Guide
I'll actually use this again. And it was one of the very few books that you actually NEEDED in paper format - the rest were all easily done online.

2. Family Law, Hovius
This was the best-written book I've read in law school. A casebook that you actually learn the principles from, while still getting the synopses of the important cases. It's all there. Family law in 500 pages or less.

1. Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edition
Really, this is simply because it's a beautiful red hard cover book that sits menacingly on my desk, daring anyone to open it. The one book from law school that I think will look fabulous on my official lawyer book shelf. And it's a surprisingly interesting read.

My Journey at Western Law, Part 1

2006-04-17T19:17:00.000-04:00

This series will hereinafter be referred to as "MJAWL".

With my very last week ever at UWO winding up, I thought it might be good to drop some Top-5 lists. So that's what I'll be doing for this entire week. Feel free to leave *tasteful* suggestions as to other lists that I can make, and please remember that this blog is public. And yes, those of you who feel like this disclaimer is directed at you - it IS directed at you.

On to the first few Top-5's.

Best Summaries I Personally Created (IMHO)
The implication, of course, is that this list does not include summaries that I got from others, all of which were far better than the ones I created (Trusts and Constitutional Law are the first 2 that come to mind. If either of you who created those is reading this, thank you so much once again.)

5. Torts, 1L
One of the first ones I made, and surprisingly, looking back, one of the best. Probably had something to do with the fact that I was scared to death and made it extremely professional looking. Apparently, however, my first term one was better than my second term one, if my marks are any evidence.

4. Contracts, 1L
This was largely due to the fact that I had something fall into my lap that summarized every single case in the book. It made doing my summary very easy.

3. Family, 3L
Family is going to come up several times on these lists, I am sure. I think the reason I liked my family summary so much was because I felt I really understood the material backwards and forwards, and really enjoyed it. The book was amazingly written, the professor was phenomenal, and the summary was just a logical extension of that.

2. Law & Economics, 2L
This was my 2L January term course, and the summary was so good because we had all kinds of time to do it (Jan Term is generally either pretty slack, or pretty intense, and both years I lucked out with slack courses). Unfortunately, the summary didn't help with the mark, although I blame that on the professor, of course.

1. Admin, 2L
I think I might have been the only student who actually liked Admin Law. Furthermore, since I had zero people I knew in the class, I was attending every lecture and really stayed on top of the material. As such? Voila! Good summary.

Least Favourite Courses (And That's Putting It Mildly)
These classes were not fun. Although, thanks to the wonders of MSN Games and various news websites, that did not mean that fun was not had in them.

3. Criminal Law, 1L
If any class is going to be at 8:30 in the morning so the prof can go out and golf starting at 11 am, it better be really good and the prof better be amazing. This class was neither. The cold-calling didn't help.

2. Civil Procedure, 3L
This was an excellent course, and the material was presented in a very clear and straightforward manner. But a 3 hour class in my last term of school on a Friday afternoon, that is all technical and mindless boilerplate copying? Please spare me. (Side note: I DO like litigation, and am looking forward to practicing lots and lots of civil procedure. Learning it though? Ugggh.).

1. Income Tax, 2L
True story: I played a full game of Madden 2003 during one tax class. Thanks to the magic of "ALT-TAB", I still took notes in the tax lecture, and finished with more notes than my friend who was sitting next to me reading SI.com for the whole lecture. That pretty much sums up tax for me.***

My Favourite Courses (UWO Law Only)
These were the 5 classes that I enjoyed almost every day, regardless of whether or not the internet was down. If you have a chance at any point in your life, take classes 1, 2, and 3 on this list. Even if you're not in law. Trust me.

5. Intellectual Property, 2L
An interesting topic, with an interesting prof, taught in an interesting way. Straightforward, and just a lot of fun. The fact it was on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-8 pm was also nice (Jays games live webcasts on MLB.com started at 7 pm every night, and then the playoffs after that!).

4. Negotiation and Mediation, 2L
A very useful course, even though I think I took all the wrong things away from it. The prof wanted us to get to the position that "interest-based, conciliatory, gentle-approach" negotiating was the best way to go. After I got absolutely mercilessly slaughtered by a fellow CLF member the first week while trying to use this method, I quickly refined my skills so that would never happen again. By the end of the course, I learned how to use hardball negotiating to its full advantage, while still appearing nice. The poor prof would have a heart attack if he ever read this...

3. Family Law, 3L
All things considered, I think this was the best course in law school. In terms of balancing everything - from workload, to retention of material, to teaching style, to method of evaluation, etc. I would very, very highly recommend this course, even if you are not interested in family law. It is a true winner.

2. Employment Law, 3L
I really enjoyed the subject matter of this course, and it was very clearly taught by an excellent prof. And what other class do you win DVD's in for correctly answering questions? Answer: None. But in Employment Law, I won OfficeSpace: The Special Edition with Flair! and we had Timbits almost every day, courtesy of the prof.

1. Advanced Constitutional Law, 3L
In what other class can you say truly outlandish things (things I can't even repeat, due to classroom confidentiality), and get your marks raised for it? Again - answer: none. Always entertaining, and one of the few law school classes where the focus is on critical thinking, evaluating various ideas, and creating a mindset through which to view the world; rather than simply cramming ideas down your brain.

That's all for today. Stay tuned!

***UPDATE: I won the Madden 2003 game. My Miami Dolphins (who else) defeated the Baltimore Ravens at home, 31-0.

Last Day Of Law School Classes

2006-04-13T11:16:00.000-04:00

Today is the last day of law school classes.

Mine was cancelled, so it was actually yesterday for me, and one of yesterday's was cancelled, and I left the other one early because my computer power cord got cut in the desk.

So really, this post should have been written on Monday, when I had my last full class.

But anyways.

Dez does a nice job of wrapping up the last day for him. It was a little weird to realize that his first day of school ever (Sept 5, 1984) was one month to the day before my birth. I'm not sure what exactly that means, but it's pretty weird/cool/strange.

Like Dez, I really only have positive memories of school - I think all the bad ones generally blur out. Getting nicknamed "Spice Girl" in Grade 9 by the one-and-only bully in our homeschooling group was pretty embarrassing, but that was only because I schooled him at basketball (the one and only time you will ever see "me" "schooled" "basketball" in the same sentence). But on the scale of traumatizing memories, that's gotta rank pretty low.

One thing is for sure. It will be nice to receive the degree on June 12th. As everyone here at LS always reminds me: I still don't have anything to fall back on.

Well, as of June 12th, boyz and girlz, that'll change.

Thanks all. It's been a heckuva ride.

Electoral Lockdown

2006-04-12T01:36:00.000-04:00

So Manitoba now decides to ban floor-crossing by MP's.

I don't like this idea.

I never supported it when certain Tories called for it after the Belinda defection, and I didn't support it when certain Liberals called for it after the Emerson defection.

The only thing that this is going to do is strengthen the grip of party discipline in Canada, and increase the importance of political parties (which I think most people agree is a bad thing).

MP's and MPP's should be allowed to properly support their constituents, and if that means that crossing the floor is in the best interests of their constituents, they should have that right. If, at the following election, the electorate decides to turf the MP/P then, that is their prerogative.

A certain fellow named Winston Churchill crossed the floor and back again several times, and it never really hurt him. Would it have made sense for him to run in a byelection every single time? I highly doubt it.

Or what if a person leaves the governing party because they believe that that party broke a promise (see David Kilgour). Should that person have to face a byelection? Something about that doesn't seem to make much sense. We are only really concerned when a person leaves an opposition party and joins the governing party. Which seems to me to be a bit of a two-faced and wrong approach to take to the issue.

Pammy On The Seal Hunt...Yes, Again...

2006-04-07T12:47:00.000-04:00

I should have known.

Pamela Anderson is urging Harper to take up that US businesswoman's offer that I was talking about yesterday.

But you really have to read what she says to fully understand why she should just stick to doing...well, whatever it is Pamela Anderson does when she's not rambling about the seal hunt:

Anderson, who has accused Harper of being "in the back pocket of special interest groups rather than the leader of the people," says the offer is an example of growing support for the anti-sealing campaign.

The "back pocket of special interest groups?" What? Canadians on the whole strongly support the seal hunt. Maybe if Pam actually, you know, lived in Canada or, you know, read a newspaper or something...

"People of all walks of life are coming out of the woodwork all around the world to stop this senseless slaughter," Anderson told eTalk. "Canadian taxpayers should be outraged...since it would save the millions of tax dollars that currently support (the) hunt."

Oh wow - now Canadian taxpayers should be outraged?? Over the seal hunt? Of all the things we should be outraged about as CDN taxpayers, I think that "monies donated to the seal hunt" should probably be low on the list. At least it is actually helping Maritimers, rather than simply giving lots of nice dinners to already rich people.

Making Sense of the Bad Math

2006-04-07T11:03:00.000-04:00

In a tongue in cheek response to this post, Abe...

...I direct you to this story. (h/t Nealenews)

If they're going to be spending $5.49 for dinners, instead of $939 (5.49, according to my handy-dandy windows calculator works out to 0.58% of $939), we might be able to make up those lost GST monies pretty darn quickly.

:P

Sorry. I couldn't resist. :)

Seal Hunt

2006-04-06T19:31:00.000-04:00

I have never been in support for the seal hunt as strongly as I am after reading this.

Isn't it sad that she's all gung-ho to spend $16 million on saving seals?

Maybe this world would be a little bit better off if we committed that $16 million to, oh, I don't know - feeding children in Africa.

I think seals are cute just as much as the next guy, but this is ridiculous.

A hearty thumbs up to the governments of Newfoundland and Canada for not backing down in the face of ridiculous, hypocritical, outlandish pressure from uninformed celebrities.

Bible Thumping

2006-04-04T12:31:00.000-04:00

I have (quite rightly, I suppose) been labelled a Bible Thumper on several occasions. I'm sure it happens more behind my back, that's fine. I've never been one for slamming religion down anyone's throat, and quite disappointed with those that do.

But this news story disappointed me.

I'll pull out clips:

"I thought schools were neutral zones," said the 36-year-old graduate student and mother of a Grade 1 pupil. "I thought schools were secular, and organized religions didn't have a place in public schools."

Basically, this mother is concerned with the practice of the Gideons giving Bibles to students. Back in the day, the Gideons would come into the schools and distribute Bibles to every Grade 5 student. I assumed, based on this mother's objection, that this is what was still happening. I can understand concerns with that (understand, not necessarily agree, but understand).

The Richmond board's policy is to place a notice in school newsletters, and Grade 5 pupils may take a form home for their parents to sign if they want a Gideon Bible. The children return the form to the school, which relays the request to the Gideons, who bring the Bibles to the schools.

The Gideons no longer automatically bring Bibles to schools across the country every year, but wait for requests.

Whoa, okay then. Maybe not.

So the school puts a notice in the school newsletter. Based on this, the grade 5 pupil has to go request a form, get their parents to sign it, and then return it to the school.

Regardless of the ridiculous assertion that a school is a "neutral zone" (whatever the heck that means), this hardly means that religion is taking over our "secular" schools (another poorly chosen word. Just as a thought - does secular include the whole sexualization of society as discussed in yesterday's post?). Unfortunately, they continue to poll the public in the article, which just makes things more confusing:

B.C. Civil Liberties president Jason Gratl said he was surprised to learn that Bibles are still being distributed.

"It carries no threat of undermining the secularism of our school system, but it's a practice that ought to be quietly ended," he said yesterday.

Huh? So this dude admits that there is no threat...but says it should be ended. At least he realizes that it's not a big deal - I guess half-right is better than all-wrong.

Executive director Paul Mercer of Gideons International in Canada said that throughout Canada, 250,000 to 300,000 Bibles a year are requested by students. Years ago, schools and the Gideons decided Grade 5 was the appropriate age to receive the Bible, he said.

"It's been done since the mid-1940s, and the offer is made. Some can say no and some can say, 'we want one,' " Mr. Mercer said. "We just simply believe that everybody should have the opportunity of owning a Bible."

And really, when worded this way: what IS the big deal?

Surprise of the Century...

2006-04-03T16:23:00.000-04:00

.....no kidding.

Do we really need studies done to tell us this?

2006 MLB Preview and Predictions

2006-04-01T13:52:00.000-05:00

Maybe this will get me onto the Yahoo searches again - we'll see. Being the first hit when you did a yahoo search for "NHL Predictions" was pretty darn cool.

Anyways, without further ado. Parentheses indicate number of wins, brackets indicate league ranking, and asterisk represents wild card winner.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
AL East
New York (93) [3]
Toronto * (92) [4]
Boston (82) [8]
Tampa Bay (74) [10]
Baltimore (64) [14]

Any of the top 3 teams here could easily win the division. I don't think Boston is as good as in previous years. NY has health risks, the Jays have inexperience, Tampa Bay could be a lot better than people realize, and Baltimore is really, really bad. A whole year like their 2nd half last season wouldn't surprise me, and that should be cause for concern.

AL Central
Chicago (96) [1]
Cleveland (88) [5]
Minnesota (80) [9]
Detroit (74) [11]
Kansas City (68) [13]

Chicago went out and got better, even though I hate Posednik and his hype. Cleveland lost some pitching, which concerns me. I don't totally understand their moves this summer - trading Crisp will likely prove to be a mistake. Minnesota's offence looks bad, really bad. Detroit could make a bit of a move up. KC should be able to avoid losing 100, barely.

AL West
Oakland (94) [2]
Anaheim (87) [6]
Texas (83) [7]
Seattle (72) [12]

Oakland has a lot of starting pitching, but I'm not sold on their bats. Anaheim needs some bats as well - and they desperately need Guerrero to stay healthy. Texas improved again, but they need more SP (what else is new). Seattle's still got a long way to go, more pitching required.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
NL East
Atlanta (92) [2]
New York * (91) [3]
Philadelphia (90) [4]
Washington (73) [12]
Florida (70) [15]

This, not the AL East, should be the tighest 3-way race in the league - Atlanta should have just enough pitching, as usual to hold off the rest. New York sacrificed pitching for hitting. Philadelphia will be close again, but losing Wagner hurts. Washington overacheived last year, and Florida is not as bad as everyone thinks.

NL Central
St. Louis (94) [1]
Milwaukee (88) [6]
Houston (86) [7]
Chicago (81) [9]
Pittsburgh (74) [11]
Cincinnati (71) [14]

St. Louis is the class of the league again, but they look like they've taken a small step back. Milwaukee, though unable to expect the same production from the pitching as last year, should improve enough to make it interesting. Houston desparately needs Clemens back, but even so, they can't expect another 2nd half miracle. Chicago looks ripe for a downturn. Pittsburgh is slowly improving, but they're still a ways out. Cincinnati will be lucky to hit 70 wins.

NL West
Los Angeles (89) [5]
San Diego (82) [8]
San Francisco (77) [10]
Arizona (72) [13]
Colorado (66) [16]

The real LA team is the class of a weak division - improvements all around. San Diego should be involved in lots of low scoring games at home, but will get beat up on the road. San Fran's fate is in Barry's hands, and I'm not liking those chances right now. Arizona's infield defense is improved...and that's about all. Colorado will be battling with Baltimore for the 29th overall spot in the league all year long.

PLAYOFFS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Blue Jays over White Sox
Yankees over Athletics

Blue Jays over Yankees

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cardinals over Mets
Braves over Dodgers

Braves over Cardinals

WORLD SERIES
Blue Jays over Braves

Free Speech and Cartoons

2006-03-30T11:31:00.000-05:00

I found this graphic floating around a number of websites recently, and apart from the fact I thought it was a cool pic (the flag is just neat), I figured that I could weigh in on this issue.

Especially since it's now spawned a lawsuit, and the Western Standard publisher's have responded.

I have seen the cartoons. They were sent to me by an Egyptian friend.

And my first, immediate thought was quite simply: "That's it?"

I've seen far, far worse cartoons of Jesus Christ in the local student newspaper (the Gazette) than any of the ones published by the Danish mag. And it's not like that's an isolated occurrence - there's generally one highly offensive cartoon of Jesus in the Gazette each year - if not more than one per year.

And although those would generally spawn a letter or two of complaint to the Gazette, I don't see the UCC being burned down.

A bit of an excerpt from that blog, if you haven't clicked the link:

He argues that we shouldn't be able to defend our right to publish the cartoons. The bulk of his complaint was that we dared to try to justify it.
He argues that advocating a free press should be a thought crime.

That might be a bit strong (although I haven't read the statement of claim). But if indeed it's true - that the Western Standard shouldn't be even able to try to justify freedom of speech - that's a bit of a scary thought.

Were the cartoons unnecessary? Probably, yeah. Helpful? Probably not, no.

But should the cartoons have been published? Should they be restricted from being published merely because of the content?

Of course not.