Supplemental Jurisdiction

This is a pretty typical representation of law school.

Also, it's probably poor form to shoot pictures from the front row with your iphone.

Don't Let the Bastard Grind You Down!

This is professor Dworkin. He teaches torts. He is not the bastard.

His class has taught me many lessons about law, life and love. Maybe not love... but i needed a third L word.

All of these lessons are from Cobbs v. Grant.

1. Procedure is everything.
In law, like in life, you can say the right thing at the wrong time and mess everything up.
2. Look out for formulaic standards, they are usually worthless.
3. There is a difference between a fact and a reason.
4. Question the ability of a concept to achieve its stated goals.
5. Words are nothing but bundles of consequences. Choose them carefully.
6. Always question authority.
7. Don't let the bastard grind you down.

The last one is my favorite because it encompasses all the others. It reinforces how absolutely essential it is to be your own person and never lose sight of what you're after. Sometimes you need to give the finger to a cop. Or maybe just blow off your homework. Boom!

Resolution

1) To deal with successfully
2) To make clear or understandable
3) To reach a firm decision
4) To progress from dissonance to consonance

People arrive preprogrammed with an intense desire for it. It gets played out over and over again in stories, music and real life. I would even go so far as to say that the desire for love, acceptance, and justice all fall within its grasp.

It's tough to look at your own life and the world around you and see all of the issues that need resolution.

For me, the most fulfilling side of God is the side that one day "will set all things right."

Also, I really wish I was at the beach right now.

May I Proposition You?

Last week Tommy and I stood up and created a list of all the people who have gotten engaged lately. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like there have been a lot of people lately who have been making the move from just dating to being engaged. Now, personally, i don't really get what the engagement is all about. As far as the man is concerned, it's just more time he has to wait before he can... umm... legally... be the perfect husband? And I know it isn't about giving the bride time to plan a wedding because she started that long before she met you.

The only reason i can think of for being engaged is to give each person a major heads up. Being engaged seems to say, "Hey! If you don't change something, this is going to happen! You will have to spend the rest of your life with this one person! Or lose half of your stuff!" I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty scary. I do know a few couples who seem to have it all figured. And that is great for them. However, i have a proposition for the rest of us. I'd like to proposition you if i may...

Recent science suggests that humans were made to be monogamous in three year increments and then move on to share different things with different people. So, in light of this, instead of opting for the more traditional arrangement that currently has a less than 50% success rate, I think it would be interesting if people lived their lives in "combinations."

In a combination, a group of men and a group of women would coexist in a certain area. I haven't thought it out far enough to know if this would be in one house or one piece of property, or a community, but I'm leaning towards one piece of property with multiple buildings... I'm not sure. Anyway, in this living arrangement, each person would be able to draw on the collective talents of the entire group to meet their needs. Say one night you really wanted to do something musical, you would have the option of hanging out with Alban and I and making some music. Maybe after that you really felt like you wanted to go and have an intelligent discussion about the true purpose of education and how to raise children? In that case you would go and spend some time with Cody. And then after that you really wanted to have a good conversation with someone who would listen, not judge you, and provide some meaningful feedback. In that case Phil would be your man.

Now, i know that you are all thinking about the elephant in the room... Well, clearly that would be left to Tommy.

Just kidding... I think in this arrangement it would probably be best not to share that kind of thing with everyone. I think it would probably be best to have some sort of a functioning "marriage" situation that would allow two people to live in a committed relationship within the context of the combination.

Think about it... most people who consider entering a relationship say, "Man, i don't know. I really like these things about that person, but i really wish they were more... "musical," "athletic" or whatever. Now in this way, you would be able to have a meaningful relationship with someone, and not worry about that person being responsible for meeting all of your needs. It's sort of like taking vitamins to supplement your vegan diet. A "supplemented marriage" if you will.

This combination also makes life easier for those people who lack certain skills. Maybe you're not good at fixing stuff or balancing a checkbook? I'm not a good cook. But that problem would be solved if i lived in a combination with Phil because he's a fantastic cook. Actually, as i think about this... Phil is a good cook, well read, sensitive, funny, athletic, and manly... Phil might be one of the few men who are qualified to go out on their own. Well done Phil.

For the rest of you, the combination known as The West Whitman Estate will begin accepting applications early next week.

Getting political action ...

while Cody is away has come as a bit of a surprise. Through a series of religiously charged decisions, The Estate has found itself in a controversial bubble bath. The party responsible for filling the tub has yet to be determined, but here are the facts: one, it is what it is. Two, The Mask censored our mask photos earlier this year. Three, David and Cody wrote an opinion article about it entitled "University administration narrowly prevents terror attack."

Four, Anonymous responded with an article entitled "Mask photo censorship a wise decision."

Five, the current 'politically incorrect' members of The Estate were featured on Brendan's Backtalk like this.

Six, our children's rap last weekend at OPS Amateur Hour, which featured drums and referenced Snoop Dog, inspired several members of the audience to go home early.

Cody, we're not doing this on purpose. It's not as if we said, "Op, Cody's gone, wouldn't it be funny if ...."

.

Filtered

Today I was reminded of West Whitman Estate alumni, especially two of them. While I was sitting in Monte Buell's office, the topic of "sexting" was brought up in conversation. (Sexting: A term used to describe a wide range of media communication from passively being texted by a member of the opposite gender to phone-sex). The term "sexting" has grown in popularity since its conception. "I think it was even printed in the Collegian last year," Dr. Buell remarked. I don't remember who to thank for that publication, but I think it's safe to assume it was a fruit that grew as a result of a cross pollination, if not direct contact, with a member, or members, from the Estate. Cutting edge literature of this sort, fathered by the unique culture of the TC, was commonplace during the 09-10 school year. It often led to confusion and or disgust with the average trying-to-live-a-somewhat-clean-minded-and-appropriate-lifestyle kind of person. It was also censored form time to time.

Also and furthermore, censorship has once again been the topic of discussion around the dirty dishes. Apparently Christians dressed as Middle Easterners quoting the Koran is too much for an ASWWU publication at this time.

Z pattern starting in bottom right: Tommy, Jon, Alban, Jordan.