Where have I been??
In hell...
Um, no. The roomie had unexpected major surgery, and a bunch of other stuff happened. Needless to say blogging was not a priority, and reading about the Schiavo stuff all over the place just made it worse.
Now, now it's back to the basic stuff. Little discoveries. Lent is over, and I've realized I've not lost my gift for biting sarcasm and subtle irony. ::cough, cough::
Carnivale is over (HBO don't be an ass), and Sin City made me see a whole other side of Nick Stahl that was quite interesting. Oh yeah, it was definately a must Clive Owen fix and a must see film... why are you still reading this?
I also recently discovered that the PMBR lectures can be ripped into mp3s, much to my glee. I've been using my expert pirating skills to very good use, and I'm almost finished with the entire set. I've uploaded a few to my iPOD, and it maked the bus rides interesting. The only downside is that I have a tendency to repeat a few things outload when I want to commit them to memory, and in doing so I forget that I'm not alone. I'm sure a few of the patrons of the 607 Route where intrigued Saturday when I started listing the 403 objections that have merit on appeal. Anyway...
I'm considering listening to the lectures and doing the study stuff at a nearby B&N. I can't stand being in this apartment any longer, and believe me, I can find distractions. Since I'm twenty times as determined to pass this test from hell, I'm thinking that changing the venue might help.

I just checked MSNBC and apparently there's been an 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia. I think they're expecting tsunamis any minute. Here's hoping that alerts have gone out and that people will be safer this time around.

Every two weeks I receive the obligatory Ticketmaster email that informs me of all the concerts and plays coming to San Antonio and the surrounding area. Why they tell me Miss Saigon is coming, I don't know. It's in Corpus, people. Do I have a car? No. Can I go? No. Why must you torture me by dangling such pretty musicals with no chance of attending. Bastards.
But this isn't a rant against Ticketmaster. Nor is this a post to gloat that Sparta is coming and neither my cousin or my brother can see them (sucks to be in school, doesn't it). No, this is about how sick and twisted the world can be. Can someone please tell me why Gloria Trevi is coming to San Antonio!!!! She is a child molester. She helped her manager rape girls. Girls who got pregnant. Girls who were either forced to abort their babies or make them disappear. This woman has a cd out again, and she's on tour here in the United States. I don't know, but this is sick.

Thirty Muslims were fired from Dell for praying at sunset. It was a hazard, an inconvenience, and frankly, it just wasn't right. Who would cover them at 7:20 today, 7:18 tomorrow, 6:55 the next day, or 7:05 later? Apparently accomodations for sunset prayer just aren't possible for the computer giant.
Via Wizbang

Arizona has convicted its first pirate! The teen was charged with illegally downloading music and movies and then selling them. Since he was a minor at the time this terrible crime was commited, he will be spared jail time, but the dummy will do probation.
My god, did he really have to go and try to sell these movies he downloaded. Such terrible quality not to mention he's giving the MPAA and RIAA more fuel with which to screw everyone else. It's teens like him who use filesharing programs so irresponsibly.

The PMBR cd on Contracts is amusing, yet strangely informative. I'm bound to have more moments of "Oh, I get it!" as the days progress because I've avoided everything bar related since July. I needed to. Now, well now I'm enjoying the refresher course, and remembering how to apply the stupid mailbox rule. And get this, the lecturer on this particular cd is from UC Davis, and he's funny. Here I thought I would be falling asleep. Glad to be disappointed.

I'm awake today. I know I am. Bright eyed and bushy tailed if I must be cute, but somehow the nerves in my brain are not connecting to the fingers. I'm forgetting to add words. So here's hoping I won't sound disconnected later!

... in one city in California. Have a noxious odor? The librarian can kick you out. (reg. req) If it happens to be the latest Britney Spears perfume, someone thinks you stink! I hope you still have your receipt!

Only in America can you be charged with manslaughter for giving a friend his own gun. So what if said friend kills himself after finding out he has terminal cancer and is suffering horrible amounts of pain.
His gun, his choice.
But no, since you cleaned and gave the gun to your friend this makes you a criminal unless you live in Oregan and have an MD at the end of your name.

Are bloggers journalists? If so, should they be given the same protections? Should their sources remain confidential, and when they refuse to reveal them, should there be any penalties? A case in California involving three blogging sites versus Apple is asking these same questions, and so far Apple is winning.
This isn't good news. Bloggers have something that is more valuable than money, and that's freedom of speech. They have an uncanny way of finding the real news before it's twisted and spun into some melodramtic tale on the 7 o'clock news. In this way they are like journalists because they have their sources, anonymous people who trust these bloggers to publish the dirt, knowing their identies are safe for yet another day. At the same time they aren't journalists because they aren't tied down by rules. Face it. We bloggers can write about anything. It's our own integrity that keeps us from going too far.
Apple's case could stiffle all of this. They're angry some of their secrets were revealed, well go after the people who revealed it to the blogging sites, not the bloggers. If this were a celebrity situation no one would bat an eyelash. If the information had been printed in a print magazine the circumstances would be different. Bloggers stand to lose their ability to publish freely if this isn't stopped.
Apple 1 Bloggers 0