I'm slowing fixing my links section, so if I accidentally leave someone out, let me know.

Short news items from law school land.

A. Yesterday afternoon, I was on my way out the door to go running when I heard a wierd scraping noise from the parking lot. Out of curiousity, I jogged by to witness the MSU parking minions attempting to tow a Porsche 911 parked illegally in a handicapped spot. To put it mildly, I recognized the car, whose graduate student owner habitually parks in the handicapped space. I suppose that this small inconsideration shouldn't bother me, but it was very enjoyable to watch the towing process. The owner of the car showed up while the tow truck driver was attempting to free the car's bumper from the curb, leading to some very animated conversation...and frankly, I suspect the driver is an arrogant ass, which made the whole thing more fun to watch.

B. I'm taking an enviromental law class this semester, which is basically just schedule filler for me, as I have no desire to practice enviromental law. Anyway, the class is going pretty well, the professor is interesting* , and the material isn't nearly as boring as I thought it would be. Unfortunately, I spent about half of Monday's class stuggling to supress my desire to utterly tear into one of my fellow students, who looks like Metzger's friend Andy, and appears to knee-jerk to liberal political positions without any critical thinking. It isn't so much that I disagree with him on everything, it is truely the failure to think critically about his positions that kills me.:

Student "X": So, even if a given air pollutant only effects a couple of people with a rare disease, they have a civil right to be able to do anything a healthy person can. It is just like the ramps at the post office, we have a moral imperative to stop whatever pollution causes them to have disease and suffering.

Professor: Umm, well, what about the cost issues, I mean it was predicted to cost $2 Billion/year to institute that NAAQS control plan, and perhaps that money could be better spent.

Student "X": You can't weigh costs, that minority of people that suffer from this pollutant have a right to exactly the same jobs, and living conditions we all have. They HAVE A CIVIL RIGHT NOT TO NEED AN INHALER that is worth more than any amount of money....we can't disciminate based on medical consitions to allow our economy to function.

(At this point I'm doing all that I can not to ask Student "X" how he proposes to allow those afflicted with Down Syndrome fly the space shuttle, or a similar comment)

Professor: I know yo ufeel strongly about this, but there has to be some balancing, I mean what if the people that have that particular medical condition would rather not have the moral weight of having spent all that money...

Student "X": What they want is of no concern, the have a civil right to breathe air that doesn't make them cough, no matter how few of them there are, or what they want...

Then, class ended.


I'd like to think that I've gotten more mature because I didn't tear into Student "X", but I did watch the Porsche towing with much glee....

Zippo Lighters

Is there a more distinctive sound that a Zippo lighter opening? I doubt it. In anycase, I've always had a fondness for Zippos, not becuase they work better than butane lighters in the cold, or burn hotter (enough to light magnesium ribbon, but that's another story, or any other practical reason. They simply appeal to me the same way that radial engines, Indian motorcycles, and certain combinations of nitre blued steel and nice walnut do.

So, my little emotional attachment to Zippo lighters took a turn for the worse last May when I left mine on top of my car, then without thinking, allowed Will Hill to drive it across Hillsdale. Buying a new Zippo out has been an oddly time consuming process with the 400+ choices availible, and I'm still not certain that I go it right. In anycase, my new lighter sh0uld arrive sometime next week, and I'll see if a slim-line, metallic blue model can replace the lost 1940's brushed chrome model.

Well, Metzger, Krupa, and Luke are all posting up a storm now, so I shall try to be more regular as well.

In response to several posts from Metzger about pickup lines, and one post by Dan Greene
about catholic dating, I would offer up the following :

I have on good authority that a certain friend of mine once convinced a young lady to sleep with him on the basis that he was planning on entering the preisthood (which he most certainly was not). I guess that the idea was that is was a one shot opportunity to have a little taste of flesh, and she would be complemented as the only woman he would ever "know". In one of the versions of the story, he told her that he hoped a breif illicit hetreosexual fling would be keep him away from the altar boys.

....it worked for him

Wave-Particle Duality and the Abortion Debate.

Anyone remember the argument that Blandus and I fought over the non-therapuetic use of ultrasounds, espicially 3-d ultrasounds?

Anyway, the New York Times just did an piece on it, complete with the official dumb quote of the week:

"There's no radiation involved with ultrasounds, just high frequency waves," Dr. Yemi-Komshian said.

Thinking about the Sci 101, and Physics 102 labs that I taught, and the high numbers of pre-med people in 102, I'm very afraid that I didn't spend enough time explaining the double slit experiment.

I'm very, very busy this week, so a few breif highlights:

Started a small batch of wine.

Fixed the horrible noises caused by heavy passengers in my car. (worn body mount allowed body to contact transmission with enough weight in the cab)

Overheard an undergrad girl giving a VERY dense boy the "I like you as a friend" talk. At one point he asked if this meant that she wanted to start having sex.

I've always enjoyed combining hobbies:


Examples
Beer and smoking.
Computers and Car Repair.

But this is the coolest combination EVER:

Urban Exploration and Classic Films


At the very minimum, it makes me wonder how hard it would be to slip all of my Urban Exploration equipment into France to have a look. Or to find a big enough underground space to built a movie theatre in...