Former Cal/Phoenix Suns stand out point guard, Kevin Johnson is running for Mayor of Sacramento

Yep. Former Cal/Phoenix Suns point guard, Kevin Johnson, is running for mayor of Sacramento. I read this in the SF Chron the other day, and I was a little surprised. Apparently up there in the land of the sun he's been running his own non-profit organization, St. HOPE, and, in the process, has begun to turn around Sacramento schools. This led to him thinking he could turn around the city of Sacramento. He seems to be pretty serious about this. Even the Sacramento Police Officer's Association has endorsed him. Not sure about the political scene up there, but I wish him luck.

Bare Animus, Official Team Photo, Spring 2008

USF Law School flag football team, Spring 2008, Bare Animus. Official team photo. Lookin pretty sharp in our authentic jerseys if I don't say so myself.


Special thanks to Super Fan #1, Kristen, for taking this picture.

Rex Walters Named New USF Mens BBall Coach

Recently, the USF athletic department announced Rex Walters as the new men's bball coach. He comes from Florida Atlantic University, and was a star player at Kansas, as well as an NBA veteran.

To be honest, I don't know much about Rex Walters. It's too bad they couldn't get a bigger name to incite some excitement in the fan base. But maybe I'm wrong and maybe he's a good coach/ recruiter. We'll see. More thoughts next season. Go Dons!

Thought I'd let folks know that I worked in "yes we can" into my closing arguments for my trial practice class.

Here's the excerpt:

But, if you think that is something that we cannot accept. That we should hold people responsible for their mistakes. If accountability is something you value in society, then, right here, ladies and gentleman, we have the opportunity to change this. We can do it. Yes we can. We can send a message today that we are standing up for all that is right in society. We are taking back the morals we learned as children. We can bring back honesty into our life’s work. By holding the defendants responsible for their actions, we will be sending a message to the business world that we, as citizens, demand accountability. We demand safety. And we demand honesty. And if this is what you believe, then you must find for the plaintiff, my client, Joe Minor. Because that is what he believes. And that is what justice demands.

Dead Heat in Pennsylvania

The newest Zogby poll show a dead heat in Pennsylvania:

The survey, which was conducted April 15-16, 2008 and came out of the field midway through Wednesday's contentious debate between the two candidates in Philadelphia, shows Clinton at 45% and Obama at 44%, with 12% either wanting someone else or left undecided.

The telephone survey, conducted using live operators working out of Zogby's on-site call center in Upstate New York, included 601 likely Democratic primary voters in Pennsylvania. It carries a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points.

Clearly, Obama has been holding his own and has managed to shrink the once sizable gap. This has largely been due to the fact that Pennsylvanians have gotten a better chance to know Obama due to the unprecedented spending on ads, etc. in the Pennsylvania media market ($2.2 million per week on television ads, twice as much as Hillary; it's estimated that by the time all of this is done, the pair will have spent over $40 million in ads for the primary).

Looking at the numbers, as was predicted by most, such as Hillary supporter, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, Obama's comments tended not to hurt him. The debate didn't go so well for Obama, but it's unlikely that will hurt him either. Obama is still very, very likely to be the nominee. Simply a matter of going through the motions and not screwing up too badly. At this point, these primaries, and primary polls, just give folks some fodder to talk about.

Bush Talks About Retirement with Jon Stewart

Simply awesome.

Kareem supports Obama, but not Horton Hears a Who

Just to mix it up a little, I'd like to let you guys know that it's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's birthday (he's 61) and that he supports Barack Obama, but not Horton Hears a Who. In his blog, Kareem explains that while the book is perfectly delightful, the movie adds a different twist he takes issue with:

To make the story long enough for a full-length movie, a sub-plot was added about the mayor of Whoville who has 96 cheerful daughters and one brooding son. This is where things take a nasty turn. Basically, the mayor ignores his 96 daughters in order to groom his uninterested son to become mayor. Why doesn’t he groom one of his much more enthusiastic daughters? And, of course, it is the brooding son who, in the end, saves the entire world of Whoville. The daughters? They get to cheer from the sidelines.

It's an interesting take by Kareem. I haven't seen the movie myself (but I do hear it's pretty good) so I can't comment on it. Thought I'd just let you all know that Kareem thinks Hollywood puts out sexist cartoons. Kareem generally has interesting things to say (must have been that UCLA education).

Kareem trivia: one of his favorite martial arts movie is Dragon Inn (1966). So if you see Kareem fitting himself into the first class section of a Southwest airplane like I have, be sure to chat him up about Dragon Inn. I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

Happy Birthday Kareem!

Hillary Clinton Can't Handle Her Booze

I know zdh will love this story. Hillary Clinton took a shot of Crown Royal whiskey at a bar the other night. But, apparently she was too good to A) drink American whiskey and B) not take the WHOLE SHOT. Now, I suppose I can overlook the choice of whiskey (I like to mix it up myself), but come on Hillary... if it's something America knows how to do, it's take a shot of booze. Obama knows what I'm talking about. Obama seems like a guy who can take one down. Probably did some wild stuff in his day.

Obama Supporters not Happy with "Bitter" Blogger

For those who don't know, the person who first reported Mr. Obama's "bitter" comments was a 61 year old blogger named Mayhill Fowler. She blogs for the Huffington Post's blog, offthebus, a blog that follows the candidates on the trial.

Well, apparently Mr. Obama supporters aren't happy with Mrs. Fowler. They argue that the fund raiser she was at, when the comments took place, was a "closed fundraiser" meaning that journalists weren't invited. Even more so, she was not personally invited, but came as a guest of someone who was invited. Therefore, she should not have blogged about the event.

Aside from the complicated questions of what journalistic duties fall upon an unpaid blogger who was known to the Mr. Obama campaign; and aside from the fact that these comments could be a major blow to Mr. Obama's campaign (we won't know yet- who knows, maybe voters won't care about the comments...); my first thought was: would Mr. Obama supporters be admonishing a blogger who, in the same manner as Mrs. Fowler, recorded a "closed fundraiser" event of Mrs. Clinton or Mr. McCain, upon which that candidate made the same remarks as Mr. Obama?

Probably not.

That being said, Mr. Obama supporters who are upset with Mrs. Fowler need to back off and reassess any potential hypocrisy. Mr. Obama simply shouldn't have said what he said.

Barack Obama Likes Duck Hunt

Barack Obama believes people hunt ducks with pistols.

While speaking to union workers at labor gathering here, Obama mocked Clinton, calling her Annie Oakley.

“She’s running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment, she's talking like she’s Annie Oakley!,” Obama said.

“Hillary Clinton’s out there like she's on the duck blind every Sunday. She’s packin’ a six shooter! Come on! She knows better. That’s some politics being played by Hillary Clinton. I want to see that picture of her out there in the duck blinds.”

To be honest, I don't hunt. I don't know much about hunting. But, from what I do recall, the last time somebody used a pistol to hunt ducks was in 1984 when Nintendo released Duck Hunt where folks would put their Nintendo Zapper Light Gun up to the screen to cheat their way to victory. Now, like I said, I don't hunt, hunters use shotguns. Now, I could be wrong, and out of touch with the hunting world... but then again, I don't go around and insult people for their use of guns. If Obama is going to criticize for someone because he believes they are false in their belief in guns, maybe his assertion might be more credible if he were able to come off as someone who knows a little something about guns and gun use.

Maybe Obama really is out of touch with those small town Pennsylvanians who"have rifles because their fathers taught them to hunt at an early age." Or maybe he should stick to bowling with a tie on. It'll be an opportunity to let Pennsylvanians know he's really not pretentious.

Obama gives the ol' "switcheroo"

It appears as if Obama is now looking a little less "above the political fray" and now just your standard politician: saying one thing to one group, then turning around and saying another thing to another, just to get a nice applause line.

Earlier in the campaign, Obama was acccused of giving Canada (of all countries) the "wink, wink" regarding his stances on trade. Of course he denied it, and explained to the country that he was anti-NAFTA. Of course, his view on trade is currently in question, now that he's blasted small town Pennsylvanians for their "anti-trade sentiment."

On the issue of religion, Obama has paid all sorts of attention and homage to his faith. In 2006, he gave a speech on religion that was nothing short on phenomenal. On his website, he lists his "Faith Principles," stating that "progressives should boldly approach matters of faith," and that "God's presence is a source of hope." This is the message of faith he wishes to give to the public; a direct contrast to his statements to the small group of San Francisco elites where he implied that small town Pennsylvanians use religion as a crutch to hold up against their bitterness for their economic conditions, whereas as the small number of highly educated and wealthy Harvard graduates likehimself (and I'm sure others in the room), who don't have bitter feelings towards their economic conditions, can move past that sentiment, and simply "worship an awesome God in the blue states." In short, Obama appears to give the sentiment he is "holier than thou." Apparently, not just a character trait shared solely by Hilary Clinton.

Maybe Obamamania is wearing thin?

This was done by cartoonist Grey Blackwell of the Raleigh News Observer.

It's a semi- funny video, and I think something a lot of Clinton supporters have tried to point out about Obama supporters. With Obama's recent flare up it should be interesting where the media dialog (and the polls) go with it.

Can't you just shut up and smile?

In remarks first reported on the Huffington Post Web site, Obama said, "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them.

"And they fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not," he went on. "And it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Obama's comments came at the end of a lengthy answer in which he rejected the notion that voters were passing him over simply for racial reasons, saying instead that his campaign of hope and change was having difficulty in "places where people feel most cynical about government."

Remarks taken from the Washington Post.

I know I'm not going to add anything to the intellectual discourse of this nomination process, but, as a Democrat I'm compelled to this statement: Dammit, Obama. You were making such nice strides in Pennsylvania. Can't you just shut up, smile, and coast your way to the nomination?

At the rate he's going, pretty soon, he'll be making foreign policy statements like this.

Breakdown of Federal Convictions by Race

The Volokh Conspiracy today posted statistics regarding the race of offenders convicted of particular crimes. I won't announce the numbers, as we should give Volokh their due (and traffic), but let's just say the crimes that various races are drawn to (or more often guilty of) is rather unsurprising. The statistics come from the 2007 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics.

Dealing with Bored Students

A great post by UCLA law prof., Stephen Bainbridge, over at his Business Associations Blog, on how some professors deal with bored students in their classes (they text message, etc. and if the professor catches them, he simply walks out). And how Professor Bainbridge deals with texters (he simply ignores them, unless they're being really disruptive). Here is the meat of what he has to say on the subject:

Students have been bored forever. And they’ve found ways of idling away the time forever. I suspect some of Socrates’ students passed notes back and forth. I got kicked out of a law school course - not just a class session, but the whole course - for doing a crossword puzzle in class. (My students have a hard time believing a prof could do that and today most profs probably wouldn’t have the stones to do it. I don’t) Texting or web surfing or what have you is just the up to date version of an age-old problem.

Ah, college. I remember sitting in huge 300 person lecture halls playing tic-tac-toe or filling out crossword puzzles in the Daily Bruin. That was many years ago. I can only imagine what that's like now with wireless internet and iphones. Luckily (or unluckily) I have the space to bring my lap top and can just surf the web while taking notes. Multi-tasking.

But seriously, Prof. Bainbridge hits it right on the head. Students will always be bored. I mean, so would most people confined to listening to someone "profess" for two hours straight, day in and day out. Luckily, in my experience, most Professors seem to agree with him as well- as they were all once students- and tend to ignore our web surfing and IMing.

On a personal note, I was having a discussion the other day about whether a professor has the power to revoke a student from their course. And to what level of proof or legitimacy they needed. I wonder if a crossword puzzle would do it?