Legal Stuff: Tired Head Warning

Today the Supreme Court heard arguments about the legality of Oregon's law that allows doctors to assist in suicide. (You are close to death, you want to get it over with, and you ask your doctor to provide you drugs to facilitate your impending death). If you ever heard the word "federalism", this is the perfect case to define it. The people of Oregon elected their state representatives. Those representatives decided that the people of Oregon would like a law passed that would allow doctor assisted suicide. They passed that law. Then the federal government came in and said "nope", that law violates a statute passed by Congress. The fight before the Supreme Court is simply one of semantics: Does the wording of the federal law prevent the people of Oregon from doing what they want to do? Of course, the bigger question is this: What business is it of the federal government to tell states what they can't and cannot do in this area? The Bush administration told the Court that the federal law should prevail over the wishes of the people of Oregon. Sheesh. So much for "state's rights".

A Worldwide Phenomenon

Fifteen year old golfing phenom Michelle Wie turned pro today. Her initial reward? A $20 million, four year, Nike contract. She also has signed a deal with Sony for an amount I haven't been able to determine but it should be in the same ballpark as the Nike deal. (And we haven't begun to count the money she will win from...er...golfing). Since the Asian markets appear to be ripe for capitalistic exploration, she may become the biggest worldwide star we've ever seen. (Or at least that is what ABC News said tonight).

Baby, Baby, From The Moment We Met

The Church of Scientology is getting larger.

Why Helicopters . . .

. . . should not fly too close to each other. (Video)

For Political Junkies Only

This Supreme Court stuff is getting good. Now George Will jumps on the President for the Harriett Miers nomination.

Time Waste

Link

Focus On The Family

More about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. . . From today's New York Times: "By day's end, [head of Focus on the Family's James Dobson], one of the most influential evangelical conservatives, welcomed the nomination. 'Some of what I know I am not at liberty to talk about,' he said in an interview, explaining his decision to speak out in support of Ms. Miers. He declined to discuss his conversations with the White House. " How is that James Dobson knows more about Harriet Miers than the Senate will ever know?

OK, I'll Leave Bush Alone For A While After This

From yesterday's press conference about nominee Harriett Miers: "THE PRESIDENT: Correct. And I'll say it again: There is no litmus test. Q But she is not someone you interviewed for the job that you didn't know. You've known her a long time. Have you never discussed abortion with her? THE PRESIDENT: In my interviews with any judge, I never ask their personal opinion on the subject of abortion. Q In your friendship with her, you've never discussed abortion? THE PRESIDENT: Not to my recollection have I ever sat down with her -- what I have done is understand the type of person she is and the type of judge she will be. " He's never discussed abortion with her? No way.

Trust Me

President Bush continues to take a grilling over whether Harriet Miers is conservative enough to serve on the Supreme Court. Since she has served as many days as a judge as I have (zero), there is no track record for the hardliners to rely upon. In essence, Bush said today in a news conference, "Trust me, this nomination will be fine." The far right wing is apparently not willing to do so. I wonder why?

It Just Seems A Little Weird

Fox 4 News ran a story last night about the Attorney General's office "cracking down" on those in Internet chat rooms "searching" for underage girls. They had an AG representative show how their undercover operation works and he tells the camera, as he looks at a computer screen with Yahoo Messenger activated, "I've logged on as 'CheerQueen95'". Then the camera panned back and there were about three or four AG agents doing the same undercover work. It just seemed weird that a bunch of grown men spend their time posing as teenage girls on the Internet while collecting a salary from taxpayers.

There Is A Special Place Somewhere For Those . . .

. . . "Nine Charged With Stealing Katrina Funds".

Debra Messing . . .

. . . is-a-good.

Nerd Alert

Sun Microsystems and Google have announced they are teaming up in the are of office software. The field, currently dominated by Microsoft's Office 97/2000/XP, might become actually competitive. Sun is behind "Open Office" a little known, and free, software package that includes word processing, a spreadsheet and a "powerpoint" equivalent. It's great for those that don't want to shell out big bucks for MS Office or for those that just hate Microsoft. Open Office info is here (you can download it for free - but it's a huge file so you'll need a high speed connection - or buy the CD for 10 bucks on Ebay).

I Know You All Hate Sports . . .

. . . but did you see that the Texas Rangers hired Jon Daniels as General Manager? But that's not the big story. It is Blog-worthy because he is 28 years old. That makes him the youngest GM in the major league.

Commander in Chief

Anybody checked this out yet? Looks promising.

This Completely Changes My Vacation Plans

"MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Half a dozen Mexico City prostitutes have been arrested for using eye drops containing a sleep-inducing drug to knock out and rob their clients, leaving at least five men dead, a newspaper said on Monday. "

In The Internet Age . . .

. . . even a questionnaire filled out in sixteen years ago can come back to bite you. Harriett Meirs, in her run for city council in Dallas, said she supported same civil rights for gays as non-gays. (While, oddly, she would not want to repeal a portion of the Penal Code - like a councilperson has anything to do with it - criminalizing homosexual conduct). The form is here in pdf format.

Money, Money

"BANK EMPLOYEES THREATENED — Robbie Clyde Thompson, 34, of Chico was arrested yesterday morning after officers said he threatened to kill employees of the First State Bank in Chico." More in the Update. He thought "Severe Penalty For Early Withdrawal" applied to the bank, not him.