have you seen this?

The Alabama quarter has Hellen Keller on it and says "Spirit of Courage." Hellen Keller is great an all, but there has got to be a more acurate representation of the state's attitude and heritage.

How 'bout:
Alabama - One of three states that still incorporates the Confederate St. Andrew's Cross in our flag.


Of course, to say that the flag "incorporates" confederate bars is a little misleading since the flag IS the Confederate cross. At least it's not the Battle Flag, like Mississippi. Florida is the 3rd state, although their's is probably the least obvious.

And in all fairness, Alabama adopted its flag in 1895, so they at least have some argument that keeping the flag is about heritage. Georgia, on the other hand, added the Confederate Bars to its state flag in 1956.


But replaced the flag in 2001 or so, and now flies a non-racist flag:


Does this vest make me look fat?

INJUNS!

"I could care less what the Seminole Tribe in Oklahoma think. They're in Oklahoma," said [Florida State University] trustee Richard McFarlain, a Tallahassee lawyer. "They got run out of here by - who was it, Andrew Jackson or somebody like that? The Trail of Tears? The real Seminoles stayed here."

quoted in St. Petersburg Times, August 11, 2005, P 1B.

Of course, the Seminoles were eventually granted an exemption by the NCAA, allowing them to retain full use of their racist mascot, which the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota were not:

NCAA: N. Dakota Can't Use Fighting Sioux

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:36 p.m. ET

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) -- The North Dakota Fighting Sioux will remain on the list of college nicknames the NCAA doesn't want used in postseason play.

The university's appeal was rejected by an NCAA review committee because it did not have the support of the three federally recognized Sioux tribes of North Dakota, the association said Wednesday.

''Although the University of North Dakota maintained that its logo and nickname are used with consummate respect, the position of the namesake tribes and those affected by the hostile or abusive environment that the nickname and logo create take precedence,'' NCAA vice president Bernard Franklin said.

North Dakota President Charles Kupchella said he would appeal the decision to the NCAA's executive committee.

"And the walls..." or "Busted"

I am torn as to whether this post should be named after the John Cougar Mellencamp tune:
Some people... ain't no damn good
You can't trust 'em, You can't love em
Second best is what you get
'Til you learn to bend the rules
Time respects no person
And when you lift up must fall
They're waiting outside
To claim my crumblin' walls

Saw my picture in the paper, Read the news around my face

When the walls
Come tumblin' down
When the walls, Come crumblin', crumblin'
When the walls, Come tumblin', tumblin'
Doooooown


Or the more fun Young MC song, Bust a Move:

Girls a fakin' ... goodness sakin'
They want a man who brings home the bacon
Got no money and you got no car
Then you got no woman and there you are
Some girls are sophistic... materialistic
Looking for a man makes them opportunistic
They're lyin on the beach perpetratin a tan
So that a brother with money can be their man

But either way, today is a good day. There is hope in the universe.

DeLay Indicted in Campaign Finance Probe

House Majority Leader Says He Will Temporarily Step Down

By William Branigin and Amy Goldstein

Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; 2:51 PM

A Texas grand jury today indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) on a criminal count of conspiring with two political associates to violate state campaign finance law, and DeLay announced he would temporarily step down as House majority leader.

hurricane emergency

slap shot

You'd think she might be more worried about the women who were getting raped in the Superdome. Why do so many people in the world pay attention to the wrong shit? And why hasn't the National Counsil of Women's Organizations figured out that this woman has done more to delegitimize their cause than Andrew Dice Clay? There is still sexism in America, and it should be delt with - but not by this press-hound.

Burk plans to protest new NHL ad campaign
ESPN.com news services

The NHL's new advertising campaign is getting attention, but not the kind it was likely hoping for.

According to a report from The Canadian Press, Martha Burk, the chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, said she intends to write letters of protest to the NHL and NBC over the NHL's new ad campaign, which is set to begin next week.

The first spot, titled "It's Time," shows a player (an actor, not an NHL player) in a locker room, surrounded by candles and accompanied by a woman who ceremoniously helps him don his hockey garb. The ads feature quotes from Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" along with dramatic camera work and music reminiscent of the film "Braveheart."

Burk told The Canadian Press that the ad is "offensive on many levels."

"The woman is dressed provocatively and when she asks the player if he's ready, it's a double-entendre in my view," Burk told The CP. "She's in the ad as a groomer, a sex object.

"The commercial is clearly selling sex and violence and the last image in that commercial is a young boy watching this, so he's clearly the customer they're after, or it's a misguided attempt to draw in families."

NHL spokeswoman Bernadette Mansur told The Canadian Press that was not the case.

"This ad shows no disrespect for women," Mansur told The CP. "On the contrary, the woman is the spiritual and physical trainer for the 'Warrior' and is his mentor."

Players, league personnel and media attended the unveiling of the campaign at The Museum of Television and Radio in Manhattan on Wednesday night.

The ads were conceived by a company called Conductor, an entertainment marketing company that has contributed to campaigns for "Spider-Man" and Green Day music videos.

For the NHL, the team created a series of commercials and print ads that will be released next week. The commercials will be packaged in a five-part story that will unfold through February.

how bad can things really be?

No matter how bad things may seem to be going, there is a certain baseline quality of life when you are able to sit at home on a Monday morning and read (in this case Labor Law) while listening to classical music and sipping on a cup of coffee?

Incidentally, if you stream music over the web, and you like / want to hear some classical, I highly recomend beethoven.com. They play more than just Beethoven, and since I listen to probably 5 hours a day, there is no way I can realistically develop a collection of classical music that would be adequately diverse.

New links

I've added Opperation Eden to the links at right - it's a guy going down to rescue his family post-Katrina.

I also came across this slideshow of 4 guys from Ole'Miss who loaded up with "6 chainsaws, 5 coolers, 180 gallons of gas, 1 12 gauge, 2 .40's with hollow tips, 1 baseball bat, 15 cases of water, shovels, axes, splitters, and plenty of food" and went down to "help out" immediately after the hurricane. Remember in Roadhouse when Patrick Swayze stitches up his own arm? These guys are the real deal.

is it coming through

I should be studying. I have a paper I need to be working on, but I think it's working on me.

As if the web didn't provide enough distraction to a tired disinterested law student, I discovered the "Next Blog" button up there in the top right corner.

I assume the only people who actually read this already know me.

It the cynical angst coming through? It's starting to take over.

Neil Young has his entire Greendale soundtrack streaming on the web at all times:
http://www.neilyoung.com/greendale_frames.html

I recommend watching the movie first though.

big time

I guess the key to "making it" with your blog is to include the words "kate moss nude" in the same sentence. I finally got Blog Spammed with that last post - I wouldn't recomend following the links provided in the comments.

[oddly enough "blog" is not in this blog's spell checker]

who wudda thunk it?

Kate Moss Is Dismissed by H&M After a Furor Over Cocaine

By GUY TREBAY and ERIC WILSON

In a move with little precedent in the fashion industry, Kate Moss, one of the world's most recognizable models, was dismissed from a planned advertising campaign yesterday after executives said she had admitted to recently using cocaine.

H&M, Europe's largest clothing chain with 78 stores in the United States, had photographed Ms. Moss to promote the global introduction in November of a fashion collection designed by Stella McCartney. But a spokeswoman for H&M said the campaign was canceled after Ms. Moss told store executives in New York that a report of her drug use in a London newspaper was correct.

"If someone is going to be the face of H&M," the spokeswoman, Jennifer Uglialoro, said, "it is important they be healthy, wholesome and sound."

...They must not have ever actually seen a photo of her. Sexy, maybe if you're into skinny chicks - but wholesome? Get outta here. Hearing that she has done cocaine should be about as shocking as finding out that the Catholic Church is cracking down on gay priests.

In other news, there are a shocking - at least to me - number of nude pictures of Kate Moss on the web.