Thanks for stopping by

I recently signed up for one of those monitor-your-webtraffic whatchamacallits (yes, that is the technical term, btw), and it's been far more entertaining than I originally anticipated.

First off, I get far more hits per day than I originally thought. Granted, I suspect most of these are the same ten or so people coming back to compulsively check my blog to see if I've updated yet -- and then leaving seconds later disappointed that I haven't added something insightful or witty for ages. Let me take the opportunity now to apologize to anyone who's been left in a lurch because I've failed to post something entertaining. The upside for those of you who stop by is that this new monitor-your-webtraffic thingamabob will probably encourage me to update more often, if only to see the effect on daily traffic.

Additionally, I have plenty of random visitors. Most of these are, I'm guessing, poor souls who stumbled upon this site due to randomly clicking on a link from one of my fellow bloggers (Brendan, Derek, and Brooke are my most frequent referrers). In addition to these visitors, there are also some people who happen upon my blog due to a google search gone terribly wrong. I looked into this, and was amazed to discover that if you perform a google search for "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal" or "ICBING," my site tops the results.

But wait, there's more! The cool monitor-your-webtraffic doodad also lets you know the location of your visitors (based on ISP address). I've had visitors from coast-to-coast here in the states, and even from such far-off distant lands as Brazil, the Netherlands, Norway, and the Phillipines. Arguend-Ho has gone global!

Bright orange irony

Sorry for the absence. I've been pretty busy this week, with a pretrial conference and order for Trial Ad and the MCA brief due today. (Why MCA? Moot Court Appellate.) The best part of turning in the rough draft of the brief, aside from not having to work on it for a few days, came from a fortuitous coincidence in scheduling. But to fully appreciate this, I have to lay out some background...

The brief for MCA is about the Solomon Amendment (10 U.S.C. 983 for any law nerds out there) which conditions federal funding to colleges and universities on providing military recruiters with equal access (as compared to other employers) to that institution's campuses (campi?) and students. Law schools with Non Discrimination Policies do not want to accommodate and assist military recruiters because of its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy (10 U.S.C. 654) which discriminates against homosexuals.

This isn't really a problem here at ND, which to my knowledge does not have a Non Discrimination Policy that includes homosexuals. In fact, the school refuses to recognize AllianceND (a student group that represents ND'’s gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/queer/questioning community) as an official student organization.

Today happened to be "Orange Shirt Day," where students who disagree with ND's policy wear bright orange shirts (new link - old one broke) with the slogan "GAY? Fine by Me." written across the front. So I got to turn in my brief (for the government, supporting the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment) while wearing a "GAY? Fine by Me." T-shirt. Ah, the irony.

(This message brought to you by the Society for Liberal Increase in Prolific Use of Parentheses (SLIPUP))

When Irish (Buck)eyes are smiling

It was another good day in college football. First, Ohio State crushed Iowa 33-6, then ND beat Washington 36-17.

Unfortunately, there was no free food at the community center for the game (what gives, people?).
But there will be food tomorrow night at a Cyberlaw makeup class.

And now it's back to incredible amounts of moot court and trial ad. Fun, fun.

P.S. ...and Michigan loses! The trifecta is complete.

A random insight

Most law students are horrible at predicting how well they did on their law school exams. Apparently, they are also horrible at determining how well an interview went.

Or maybe it's just that the "callback process [is] rather like the AP football polls- so random at times." -- Kate

Irish Football

Well, tomorrow is the first ND home game, and after winning two games on the road against (arguably) respectable opponents, the atmosphere here is bound to be high spirited and all-around crazy. I skipped out on the big pep rally this afternoon, but I did get to see the ND band perform and rally the cheers of students and visiting alums alike. Emily regaled me with stories of the band (she's a band alum from her undergrad days at ND), and we discussed everything from the personality traits associated with various instruments to why all the tuba players are named Hank.

It'll also be my first time attending a game here at ND (Unlike last year, this time around I bought season tickets. All the cool kids were doing it. I decided to draw the line when they started talking about some bridge off of which they were planning on jumping. I'm not that much of a lemming.) ND is playing Michigan State, so all the fans who have balked against the new "The Shirt" (because it's yellow) will show up in green. Granted it's probably a different shade of green as compared to Michigan State's colors, but it's still going to be a bit weird.

Hopefully Michigan State will put up a good but ultimately futile fight. After the game, one of my 2L classmates, Dmytro, is hosting a big party. Apparently jello wrestling is to be one of the featured events. Since Brendan will undoubtedly be there, camera in tow, to document the festivities, I strongly encourage anyone contemplating a future in public office not to participate.

Mixed results

It's been a day of highs and lows for an Irish Buckeye.

First, the Irish pulled off a 17-10 victory over that team up north. ND's proving to be quite a team this year, winning its first two games, both on the road. The Irish defense looked particularly good today. After this game, all I needed was for my alma mater to win to seal a very nice college football trifecta.

But Ohio State just lost a very close game to #2 Texas. A record crowd turned out to see the night game at the 'Shoe, and the Buckeyes led for most of the game. But the team seemed to self-destruct in the last few minutes of play, allowing OSU to, as Derek might say, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. OSU's defense played very well, but the offense struggled. Still, with just over two minutes to play, all OSU needed was to get down the field and score a field goal. But it wasn't to be as OSU's one turnover of the game, a fumble by Zwick, pretty much sealed the game's fate. OSU's tough loss, combined with losses by Michigan and Iowa today, made it a rough day for the Big Ten.

Still, it was a great day of football. ND won, and even though OSU lost, it was a good, close game.

Return of the sprinklers

Yes, the dreaded scourge has returned to the campus of Notre Dame, and with a vengence. After lulling us into a false sense of security by not popping up during the first two weeks of classes, these watery menaces have once again reared their ugly heads. Be it morning, noon, or night, none are safe from the sprinklers. As always, they are not content to merely water the grass; they insist on cutting off pathways and flooding low-lying sidewalks. And while I've been mostly successful in navigating these misty obstacle courses (due in part to practice in the dungeons of Super Mario Bros.), one never knows when one will be ambushed by a particularly cunning sprinkler head's surprise attack.

Yes, the well groomed green lawns of Notre Dame are a sight to behold and make for attractive recruiting posters. Parents and alumni love to see the magnificent grounds. But lurking below the surface lies the sinister truth -- the sprinklers are waiting...

Mr. Loy, our new celebrity...

Although he hardly needs any additionaly publicity, my fellow classmate Brendan Loy (how cool is it to have your own Wikipedia entry?!) has hit the big time. As many of my readership are undoubtedly aware, Brendan runs a little blog during spare moments here at NDLS. His blogging efforts ran full force during the hours before Hurricane Katrina hit. His site was a remarkable repository of news, links, and insightful commentary. His blog garnered a lot of attention, and traffic at his site soared (in fact, he's had to switch to a back-up site due to all of the web traffic).

He's already been on several radio talk shows, been the subject of several newspaper stories -- both local and national -- and recently appeared on MSNBC. They're all running with the tagline that he's a self-described "weather nerd" who tried to warn of Katrina's landfall while government officials dropped the ball. To see some of the press he's received, look here.

Anyway, a hearty congrats to Brendan on his success, though I'm sure we all wish it could come at a happier, less tragic time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

In addition to surving her first week of law school, Honor turns 21 today! Though I wish I could be in Boston to help celebrate, I'm there in spirit as you and your classmates enjoy spirits.

(Ba-dum-bum-ching... yes, that was bad, I know.)

Once again, Happy Birthday! All visitors feel free to leave Honor a message in the comments.

A long overdue post

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, I promise. But my first semester of 2L has picked up a bit, and I've been pretty busy with that. And when I'm done working, it's been difficult to muster the energy to think of something interesting to write here.

A couple of big events warrant mentioning, though. First off, a little bit of college football. Last weekend was the season opener for both ND and OSU. And as those of you who follow such things already know, both teams won. Though he doesn't have a recap of the game, Derek was there. For an interesting description of the trials and tribulations of attending a game at the 'Shoe, see this recap from a recent alum (worth a read even if you're not a football fan). I didn't watch the OSU game, but I did get together with a few friends to watch ND beat Pitt. Although it got off to a rough start, ND ultimately prevailed with a whopping 42-21 victory. Both OSU and ND have tough games tomorrow: ND faces Michigan (boo, hiss), while OSU faces #2 Texas. Brooke is throwing a little get-together for the game tomorrow, so we'll be rooting for the Irish. Hopefully I'll be able to catch some of the OSU game later.

On Thursday, Brooke, Kristine, Meghan, and I joined Professor Dutile and his wife for dinner at the University Club. We had bid on this dinner last spring at the Women's Legal Forum auction, and finally got around to scheduling it. I had a blast. Prof. Dutile was his typical hysterical self. His wife is a wonderful woman and very engaging. The food was really good too. We talked about everything from Hurricane Katrina to Crim Law (albeit sparingly) to each of our respective backgrounds. It was a lot of fun, and I'll be looking to bid for the dinner again if it's offered this year.

As for a few more mundane matters... classes are going well. Trial Ad remains fairly intensive, as we've now received our cases for the trials next month. Kristine and I will be working together on a criminal case, for the prosecution (that sound you hear is Derek's jaw dropping open in disbelief). It's an interesting case, but we've been busy rewriting portions of it to conform to a gender switch between the perpetrator and the victim. (I'll leave the "alleged" tag to the defense attorneys.) Cyberlaw remains very interesting, and I've started to do a little background research into topics on which I might write my paper. Evidence hasn't been quite as thrilling as I expected, though I'm sure it'll pick up soon. It is interesting to see how things really are, and just how bad some of the evidentiary objections/arguments were back in mock trial (though I'm still a big fan of 404(b) -- prior wrongs/acts not admissible to show conformity of action therewith -- what can I say, I'm a dork). And then there's Moot Court Appellate. It's a big class, much bigger than I anticipated. It's a one credit pass/fail class, but it's also a competition for ten spots on next year's Moot Court teams. It looks like an interesting case, though I'll be representing the side that I don't really agree with at the moment.

Beyond classes, OCIs have been progressing along. I've had a few interviews and some more coming up, but that's all I'm going to say here.

All systems operational

My new power cord arrived today, and I am now officially back online. Score one for Dell tech support. That's it for now. More posts to come soon.

Technical difficulties... please stand by

I had intended to be a bit more active in posting, but I've been temporarily derailed. For no apparent reason, yesterday the AC adaptor to my laptop stopped working. I've gone low-lech for the next few days until a replacement is sent. (I'm currently posting this from the law school computer lab.)

Fortunately, that should be pretty soon. I called Dell support yesterday and with any luck they've already shipped a new power cord my way. As much as some people may complain about technical support lines, Dell was pretty good about the whole thing. Sure, I may have been talking to someone in Mumbai, but if Dell still manages to get me a replacement part without much delay, I'm happy with their service. And I won't even quibble over how long they kept me on hold listening to muzak.

With any luck, I'll be up and running by Friday, and I promise a new post about something soon thereafter. Until then, feel free to browse some of my friends' blogs at the right. In particular, Brendan has been posting excellent coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath in New Orleans.

Back in the trenches

Yeah, I know, it's been a while.

Classes have started back up here at NDLS. I survived the intensive week of Trial Ad, and even had a lot of fun doing it. It was just like mock trial all over again... only there are a few things I need to change ("You must unlearn what you have learned") -- those bad habits that mock trial teaches you because it's more about performance (Razzle Dazzle...) than actual trial work. Still, there's an undeniable thrill of giving an opening or closing, or getting up to do your cross examination, or even make a clever point on redirect. Good times.

It feels a bit strange being a 2L. All of a sudden there are a bunch of 1Ls running around, and they look pretty stressed out about law school already. It's hard to imagine I was the same way last year. The rest of the law school tends to look upon the 1Ls with something like bemusement. Classes seem less stressful now, in part because we know what to expect, and (at least for me) in part because we weren't assigned much reading for the first class. Both of my classes today, for example, were the "hand out the syllabus and introduce the course" variety as opposed to the "let's get started, Mr. Ho will you discuss the first case" variety. In short, very different from the typical 1L first class scenario. It's nice to be able to ease back into the law school groove.

That's not to say that 2Ls aren't experiencing their own brand of stress. Interview season has begun, so there are 2Ls dashing around in suits interviewing for a position in nine months that may lead to an actual job twenty-one months from now. You know, something that will help pay off the mountains of debt we're all accumulating. It doesn't matter that we've barely started our second year of law school, we're expected to land a job now. No pressure, or anything.

I'm pretty excited about my class lineup for this semester. In addition to Intensive Trial Ad, I'm also taking Evidence, Cyberlaw, Business Associations (BA), and Moot Court Appellate. I'm in class by 8:30 everyday, but at least I finish early (9:50 am) on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Finally, it's been nice to reconnect with my classmates. And instead of seeing everyone at once, I've been catching up with my comrades in arms a few at a time over the past few times. It's pretty much just as you'd expect a sequel to reintoduce the main characters. Everyone seems to have had a great summer, and most people seem happy to be back. Of course that will likely change a bit as soon as the good weather is replaced by snow and howling winds cutting across the South Bend tundra...

Chauvinistic Chocolate?

This is a chocolate candy bar that they sell out of vending machines here in London. Seriously, who in marketing thought this was a good idea? Doesn't this exclude a large portion of the typical target demographic for chocolate? Or is this a blatant attempt at reverse psychology, a ruse designed to ensure that women actually buy it? Is the idea to create an artificial demand based on the premise that people always seem to want what they can't have?

Sing a song of...

...none the richer.

My apologies for this really bad before and after.

Return to space

The Space Shuttle Discovery had a successful liftoff today. Despite numerous glitches and delays over the past two weeks, it was by all accounts a picture perfect launch. Discovery's launch marks the first shuttle launch in over two years; NASA had grounded the shuttle since the Columbia disaster in Feruary 2003. Discovery is set to conduct a number of experiments and rendezvous with the International Space Station to drop off supplies and perform repairs. The mission will last 12 days.

Full story here and here.

UPDATE: Not so perfect? NASA is currently analyzing some video footage that appears to show debris falling off Discovery during liftoff. First reports suggest that none of the debris hit Discovery. Falling debris hitting the shuttle during launch has been blamed for the Columbia's destruction as it reentered Earth's atmosphere. More details on the debris at CNN.

UPDATE 2: Pictures here.

UPDATE 3: More (and better) pictures here, including a photo of the shuttle hitting a bird during takeoff.

Another incident in London

There have been additional "incidents" in London this afternoon. Three Tube stations have been evacuated, and there are reports of another incident on a bus. No reports of injuries thus far, which is a relief. The BBC is speculating that these may have been "dummy explosions." Eyewitnesses have reported hearing explosions and smelling smoke. There's also been one report of shattered windows on the bus.

Once again I was at the school as all this transpired. I was actually about to head home when I heard the news. I'll stick around here for a little bit to see if I can learn more. For more, click here.

It's been two weeks to the day since the three Underground explosions and the explosion on the bus in Tavistock Square.


UPDATE: BBC now reports one injury. They're now describing the incident as "minor blasts."

UPDATE 2: There have been reports of armed officers surrounding University College Hospital. BBC reports that one of the suspects (involved in the Warren Street Tube Station incident) may have escaped there.

Tony Blair has met with the COBRA committee (COBRA = Cabinet Office Briefing Room A), the UK government emergency-response team, and expected to give a statement soon.

UPDATE 3: A man has been arrested outside Whitehall, which has just been cordoned off. Whitehall is very close to Downing Street, and in particular, the Ministry of Defense Building. There are not many details at this point.

UPDATE 4: Tony Blair is now speaking. It doesn't sound like he has any more information than anyone else; he's asking the reporters to direct their questions to police and emergency personnel. Blair is urging calm, and states that he will return to his daily schedule. Blair was meeting with the Australian prime minister when the incident occurred.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is now making a few remarks, explaining that terrorism is a global problem that threatens all free countries. He's also pledging Australia's support.

UPDATE 5: It seems everything is under control, though there still aren't many answers. Everyone's been encouraged to go back about their business, so I'm going to head back to the dorm. If I hear more I'll post further updates.

A few quick notes

Tavistock Square is once again open to traffic. We no longer need to carry passes to get back into our building.

Today, I went on a walking tour entitled 'Legal London.' It was arranged by the school and was very good. Alas, I did not have my camera along at the time. But I plan to recreate the tour in a few days and snap all the pictures I would have taken had I brought along my camera (and had the time to take all the pictures I wanted). Look for that in a few days.

Additionally, since a few people have asked, here's a rough idea of my post-London plans:
August 4: arrive in Columbus ~ 3:30 pm.
August 4-12: in Ohio; plans unsettled, but bound to include seeing Honor, catching up with friends, and preparing for 2L
August 5: my birthday; festivities TBA
August 12: drive to South Bend, move back into Fischer
August 12-13: reacclimate to living in South Bend
August 14: Trial Ad Intensive starts, kicking off 2L a week early

For additional information, leave a comment or email me.

And so it begins...

President Shrub has nominated John G. Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by Sandra Day O'Connor's recently announced retirement. I usually try to keep this site apolitical, but if anyone wants to start a discussion in the comments, I'd be happy to use it as a forum and share thoughts on the matter.

Quote of the Day

"Al[ex], if I ever run for a political office, I am going to hire you. I can't count the number of times that I've tried to make a point, only to have you say, 'What Derek meant to say was...' and be totally right."

I'm flattered, D.