Halloween Hullabaloo

A word of wisdom to all you Tricker-Treaters before you embark on this evening's festivities, from the gerMan whose Reformation Day makes Halloween look like nothing more than, well, childish games and candy:

"Germany would be much richer than she is, if such store of velvets and silks were not worn, nor so much spice used, or so much beer drunk. But young fellows without their liquor have no mirth at all; gaming makes not merry, nor lasciviousness, so they apply themselves to drinking. At the princely jollification lately held at Torgau, each man drank, at one draught, a whole bottle of wine; this they called a good drink. Tacitus wrote, that by the ancient Germans it was held no shame at all to drink and swill four and twenty hours together. A gentleman of the court asked: How long ago it was since Tacitus wrote this? He was answered, about fifteen hundred years. Whereupon the gentleman said: Forasmuch as drunkenness has been so ancient a custom, and of such a long descent, let us not abolish it." - Martin Luther, King of Hops (no joke, true nickname)

Sooo, better to have beer than money?

Go Protestants.



Nota bene: speaking of Protestants and their booze, check this out: http://www.calvinus.ch/

If you could ask the Chief Justice one question, what would it be?

A fun query for many of us, we often ask ourselves what question we would pose to different individuals, given the chance. Usually, we wonder about high profile individuals, often they are people unique to our situations/context. For instance, the theologian might quizz Calvin or Luther, while the business man might question Rockefeller or Henry Ford. Most Americans would probably want to interrogate President Bush, or God.

For the lawyer, aspiring or practicing, the one person to whom we'd love to posit a question is the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, to wit, the highest ranking judicial officer in the entire world.

I wonder what I'd ask him? Actually, I KNOW what I'd ask him. Because I already did.

Yes, our beloved Chief Justice John Roberts came to the USC law school yesterday to preside over the final hearing of our student Moot Court Bar Competition. He wasn't alone;there were plenty of secret service agents that were walking around in the library while I was trying to study yesterday morning, and the panel of guest judges also included:
The Hon. Jean H. Toal, chief justice, Supreme Court of South Carolina;
The Hon. William W. Wilkins, chief judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit;
The Hon. Kaye G. Hearn, chief judge, South Carolina Court of Appeals; and
The Hon. Joseph F. Anderson Jr., chief judge, U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

So, to take advantage of the once in a lifetime opportunity to stare eye to eye and dialogue with the king of stare decisis, I had to ask the Justice a question. And, being the good the 'ol Carolina boy that I am, it had to include football.

"Do y'all tailgate at Redskins games?"

Actually, it was a little more intelligent than that. And the heart of my question was a genuine curiosity as to what life for a justice is like behind the closed doors of the Supreme Court. It was a good question. Clear. Concise. Sincere. It wasn't one of those let-me-show-you-how-much-I-know-by-pretending-this-is-a-question questions. And on two occasions, my query made the Chief Justice (and the rest of our packed out auditorium) burst into laughter. Top that, Jay Sekulow.

"Could you talk about the relationships between the justices outside the conference room and your discussions of different cases before the Court? I know that here at the USC law school, one of the biggest skills we are learning is the ability to argue and disagree with your classmates in class, but still be able to go out with them for happy hour afterwards. So I'm curious what the camaraderie is like between the justices, even when you may disagree on certain issues. I mean, do y'all tailgate at Redskins games on the weekend?"

Roberts laughed, told us that he was in fact a Bears fan, and then gave a serious response to my mostly serious question.

And that was it. I talked to John Roberts. He talked back. Probably the coolest thing I've done in a while. I love law school.

So be ready, in case YOU ever get the chance to ask that one person that one question that you've always wanted the answer to.
I know what mine is: "What'd you think of my first question?"

Can I get an Amen!?

It's high time the AP recognized the mad, perilous life of a goalkeeper.

Law School Life Imitates The Office (BBC)

"In my public presentation of this illustration at the University of Notre Dame in 2005, I used the Star Trek character of Spock rather than Sarek in my example. It was, however, pointed out by the moderator, Gerard V. Bradley (Professor, Notre Dame Law School), that the character of Spock is half-human, and thus my illustration was not quite to the point. So, that is why I employ the character of Sarek, Spock’s full-Vulcan father, in the published version. Special thanks to the logical Professor Bradley for correcting me on this matter. May he live long and prosper."

- Francis Beckwith, Legal Professor at Baylor University, who in his lecture today (which I attended) on Roe v. Wade used the Vulcan illustration when discussing characteristics of personhood versus human being.



"Oh, let's not rake up old graves. I don't wanna talk about whether Spock was a human or Vulcan or vice versa."

- David Brent, on discussing the last time Gareth was Quiz Master, where controversies over Quiz Mastering nearly cost The Dead Parrots their win. David relives the fateful evening in which Gareth had the incorrect answer to the question "What type of alien is Mr. Spock?" Spock is not a full Vulcan as Gareth claimed, but half-Vulcan and half-human. To that Gareth says now what he said then, "Look at his ears." Apparently, David was so convinced of his answer that he rented a cab to go home and get some Star Trek literature to prove his point.

Slippery is one proud Cock

I have a good friend here at home who is one of the pastors at First Baptist Church of the booming metropolis of Chapin. We have reconnected since my return to the Promised Land, and have had a good time re-establishing our friendship. Not to generalize, but if there are a few key things that my friend knows about me, it's that I am a diehard Carolina Gamecock, and that my friends now call me Slippery.

To generalize in return, my pastor friend is a huge Clemson fan (yet still a Christian - I've yet to reconcile that one), and a notorious prankster.

Which explains my surpise, and yet not suprise, when I drove by his church the other day (just up the road from our house) to see the below message on the church marquee:



I'm working on a response. Any help is appreciated.

Monday's with Murray: Fine Art

Picture used by permission from the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy. Special thanks to Jamey for finding this.