Say it aint so, Governor Perry...

Ok, let me preface this post by stating, up front, that I'm a Republican. I'm a firebreathing, gun-toting, pro-life, small government Republican. I voted for George W. Bush twice. I have always supported Governor Rick Perry...up until Friday that is.

As most of you know Governor Perry spent this past week going on and on about state's rights. He supported a Texas State House resolution affriming Texas State sovereignty. In support of the resolution Perry stated "I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,". The Governor then followed this statement with a series of national media interviews railing against the Federal Government and relaying the expressed desire for Washington lawmakers to keep thier collective noses out of Texas' business. Governor Perry also attended several "Tea Parties" on tax day, and continually updated his Twitter "tweets" claiming pride for the Texas "patriots" that were fed up with the intrusion of the Federal Government into their lives.

When I heard about what GovernorPerry was doing I was excited; I thought to myself "here's a man that speaks truth to power, here's a man that represents the minority opinion. Here's a man that speaks out against big government spending, and stands up for what he believes is right, not matter how unpopular his position may be." Unfortunately I was decieved - I was wrong. I was suckered in by Rick Perry's shameless pandering to the base of the Texas Republican Party. On Friday, April 17, Governor Perry posted a "tweet" practically begging for Federal asssistance in the wake of torrential showers that left devastation in many parts of Texas...this is a complete reversal of his earlier position of states rights...



...this is complete reversal of his position of not wanting the U.S. government to interfere. So which way do you want it Governor? You can't talk about kicking out the Feds one day, and ask for Federal assistance the next. Men of principal don't do that; only shameless politicians that care for nothing other than votes do that.

Unbelievable!

A few years ago my car got totaled and I was stuck with a Suzuki Aerio as a rental for a couple of weeks (which I have to admit, for an entry level car, it actually performed well and seemed well engineered...anyway...). This car had a CD player in in that would automatically find hidden tracks on any CD. This was around the time that Dashboard Confessional released Dusk and Summer (see where I'm going with this?). There are 2 hidden tracks on that CD; one of the is Vindicated, which was released on the Spiderman 2 soundtrack, and the other is a song called Write it Out, which has never been released and for which I've looked everywhere for copy! Well now I've found it!!!...it's one of my faves..enjoy

Mid-Week Update

Lot going on these days in the world of National Security news. First the Somali pirates are stepping up their game after the "3 shots, 3 kills" incident over the weekend.

Benyamin Netanyahu is taking a hardline approach with Iran in the wake of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim that Iran now has 5000-7000 centrifuges at its Natanz facility capable of enriching uranium (this nearly 2 months after the fact that is was discovered that Iran is already in possession of enough enriched uranium to produce at least one bomb).

Earlier this month North Korea successfully launched a Tae PoDong II missile. Bear in mind that the rest of the world is calling the launch a failure in that the missile wasn't actually able to put a satellite in orbit. In reality, the DPRK already has that capability with the Tae PoDong I. The test was an attempt to prove that the Tae PoDong II missile was able to achieve a longer range than its predecessor...which it did, traveling approximately 2000 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. DO NOT believe the Western press reports that the launch was a failure!!! If you think that the DPRK wont have long range capabilities within the next five years, you're crazy!

Finally, (well there's tons more, but no one likes my "boring" blog posts, so I'll keep it short) China is working on its next big export: A carrier rocket capable of launching multiple satellites on a single trip. It's not a huge step to outfit this thing with MIRV capability, ya know.

Musical flavor this week is one of my longtime favorites: The New Pornographers. I saw them open up for Spoon last year...amazing. And Neko Case is so much hotter in person!

The Week Ahead...

So here I am, a little after 1am Monday morning sipping a St. Arnold's, posting to my other blog and thinking about the week ahead. This is my crazy time of year; T.S. Elliot was right. Let's see what I have lined up...need to complete my FAFSA, file for an extension for income taxes (now is just not the time to dig through all of those receipts...I'll do it after finals), I have a paper due in 1 week, a customer deployment in California, a customer here in Texas that needs attention, not to mention my regular work duties...oh well, at least I'll be busy and the week should go by rather quickly.

My paper topic is pretty kick-awesome: Pentateuchal Sources of the Just War Doctrine (Jus ad Bellum). Which is just another way of saying "how the Old Testament justifies war". I've already collected most of my research, now I just need to synthesize content...wish me luck!

Great picnic with the peeps yesterday and great bike riding today. My only regret is that Huntsville left me so tired that I didn't have any energy left to go hang out with my family for Easter...I guess that's the price you pay for glory...

Oh, they're good...

Ok, this is a sort of an anonymous blog in that I don't publish my name ANYWHERE on the site and, as far as I know, I've never received a comment that mentions my name. However, the Franklin Pierce Law Center, in Concord, NH (see previous post) found it! They visited yesterday and looked at 3 pages. So to the Franklin Pierce Law Center I say kudos!...I'm pretty sure I figured out how they found the Hobo (I have theory, which I will post later, that is so elegant in its simplicity), but I gotta ask them directly...how'd you do it?

Final Round

Well, the final round of law school apps has been sent out; the lucky recipients this round were George Washington University (D.C.) and Franklin Pierce Law (Concord, NH). All that remains is to wait around and see what happens...it is truly out of my control at his point.

It feels weird not having to go to Mock Trial practice everyday...I'm not sure what to do with my free time...guess I better be productive and do homework! So now that it's all over we're asking ourselves if it was worth it and I gotta say this: Mock Trial was the most demanding and excruciating program in my college career...but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

New Musical Flavor of the Week: The Sainte Catherines, they're kinda awesome.

Walking in Memphis

Well, The ol' mock trial team didn't exactly win this past weekend, but we did crack a few heads in the process. Fucking Rhodes College was comprised primarily of doucebags so we gave them hell. When I was taken on cross examination one of the questions I got was "Was it reported in the media that your brother-in-law cheated on his income taxes?". My response, "My brother-in-law is an idiot", had the entire courtroom in stitches. After the crossing attorney made a "Witness is Non Responsive" objection, I was forced to answer the question. Of course, I didn't. My next response was "I'm not H&R Block" hahaha. Fuck 'em...does anyone else find it odd that 3 of the judges in that round were Rhodes College Alumns?...shenanigans much?

Memphis was a really kick ass down. Beale street was particularly awesome considering the NCAA Sweet 16 was in town; the street was full of revelers. In addition, the food was freakin' awesome!

On Sunday we were hanging out in the bar after the final round of competition with none other than actor/comedian Eddie Griffin and his homey J.C. Eddie and J.C. were cooler than the other side of a pillow. We watched the UNC/OU game and drank some brews. They hooked us up with tickets to Eddie's comedy show and after the show we all hung out back at the bar. Eddie now has a fan for life, in spite of the fact that I disagree with his politics.

Speaking of NCAA did anyone catch the Pitt/Villanova game on Saturday? How sick was the last 5.5 seconds?!?!!??

That was a weekend that will not be topped soon...