Human Weapon

The History Channel had on an episode of Human Weapon regarding Tae Kwon Do. I thought it was odd that they included Hwarangdo and Tae Kyon. In my experience and in most of the historical literature, the modernHwarangdo and Tae Kyon have little to no connection to modern TaeKwon Do, and other arts like Tang So Do, Hapkido, JuJitsu andShotokan Karate are much closer to TKD than what they showed on theshow. If they billed it as a Korean martial arts episode rather thanjust TKD, then I wouldn't have much of a problem with it.

Southwick Approved!!!

On the Tom Joyner Morning Show this morning, several people complained that the Senate approved Judge Leslie Southwick to the 5th Circuit. The complaints centered not on whether Judge Southwick was qualified, but rather that he wouldn't let left-leaning political positions influence his decisions. A large part of rant came against Sen. Diane Feinstein who voted to approve the nomination out of committee. I can't believe that some people still think the court room is the proper place to resolve political disputes rather than the electoral box.

DC Sets New Metdata Rules

http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/ethics/legal_ethics/opinions/opinion341.cfm

"We conclude that when a receiving lawyer has actual knowledge that an adversary has inadvertently provided metadata in an electronic document, the lawyer should not review the metadata without first consulting with the sender and abiding by the sender's instructions. In all other circumstances, a receiving lawyer is free to review the metadata contained within the electronic files provided by an adversary."

Who's Who

Catherine Tate is now David Tennant's companion in season 30 of Dr. Who.

Al Gore's Son Arrested

Al Gore III, Al Gore's troubled son, was arrested a second time for illegal drug possession, including, but not limited to, marijuana, Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall.

All Hail, the King is Dead

Takeru Kobayashi, who even wasn't supposed to compete, lost handily to Joey Chestnut 66 hot dogs to 63. With the disappointment of not even being in the America's Cup finals and the loss of the 2004 Olympic Basketball Team, it's so nice to see America back in the lead for something.

Commute! Commute!

Scooter Libby's sentence was commuted yesterday, and of course all the Democrats have been screaming about favoritism. Now, come on, their most recent poster child admited to doing what Libby was convicted of, cost the nation millions in expenses that led to several of his compatriots ending up in jail regarding crimes that they committed, and he merely got a slap on the wrist. Now Libby was convicted to obstructing justice and committing perjury while a special prosecutor was investigating something that wasn't a crime in the first place that was perciptiated by Joe Wilson in the first place, and yet Libby maintains his innocence to this day. For me, the commutation was at least what the President could do.

Leadership Broward

I was just accepted into Leadership Broward, XXVI class!

What was that?

OK, we Dolphins' fans had a questionable time with the draft, but now the Heat as well? Riley may not return, Mourning may not return, Eddie Jones and Gary Payton may leave, and the team is looking to trade Udonis Haslem and Jason Williams for Ron Artest. Come on, I want to be a Miami/Florida fan, but this is getting a little ridiculous.

Leadership Boca Graduation

Today I graduated from Leadership Boca, Class of 2007. For those who have the opportunity, a Leadership program is a terrific development program.

Beware of Frivolous Cases

Today's decision in Pearson v. Custom Cleaners, a/k/a the Missing Pants case, shows a very clear message to plaintiffs who bring frivolous cases: beware! I'm just waiting to see the final award of attorney's fees and court costs.

Faith OK

The Supreme Court ruled in Heine v. Freedom From Religion Foundation that ordinary taxpayers do not have the right to challenge an initiative that helps religious charities get Federal grants. Although I think that Alito got the end decision right, I think he got the reasoning wrong. I really think Scalia's admonition that Flast v. Cohen should be repudiated sounds much more logical and could represent a much more coherent Consitutitonal jurisprudence rather that a hodgepodge of meaningless judicial distinctions.

New Definition of Free Speech

There were two opinions out of the Supreme Court today on free speech. In the first one, Federal Election Commission v. Wisconson Right to Life, the Court held that McCain-Feingold, as applied to issue advocacy (these are those ads that don't support a particular candidate but support a particular position on an issue that is candidate neutral and may apply to multiple candidates across party lines) is unconstitutional.

Next, in Morse v. Frederick, I'm a little troubled by the Court's opinion here. They held that a school principle could restrict a student's speech at a semi-official school event. Despite Justice Thomas' historical contextual concuring opinion, I'm not sure they got the First Amendment right here. Even the dissents got it wrong as well. Justice Breyer tries to weasel out of the case by claiming the student couldn't get damages from the school district which would preclude the First Amendment argument all together. Justice Stevens' dissent agrees with the proposition that the students' banner should have been removed, but goes on to make a rare lucid statement that the school district shouldn't punish the students for their speech, although the rest of the argument falls short.

Hillary's Hillarious Commercial

Hillary Clinton's newest campaign commercial mocks the Sopranos' finale. Of course, a United States Presidential candidate has chosen a Canadian songstress Celine Dion's You and I. Of course if I were running for President, I would choose a campaign song that wasn't American.

Operation Valkyrie

It's official. Germany doesn't consider Scientology a religion. The German Defense Ministery has banned Bryan Singer from filming his film Valkyrie with Tom Cruise and Kenneth Branagh because Tom Cruise is a Scientologist. If things don't work out, then we're going to have to watch a Bryan Singer movie without that realistic feel.

Rotary Induction

I joined the West Boca Sunset Rotary Club. District Govenor Phil Lustig, who happens to be my swim coach, welcomed me into the Rotary family. The installation dinner was held at Gaucho Rodizio. A terrific place for any carnivore.

Haven's Heros

On Friday, June 22, Jim Garvillos of the Haven officially welcomed me as a Haven's Hero. I strongly encourage everyone to donate to the orgainization; it's a terrific cause.

Another New President?

Rumor has it that the Producers for 24 is looking for a new female actress to play their next US President on the show. If he doesn't make a decision soon, Fred Thompson may be available . . .

New Desktop Searches

It looks like Microsoft is giving into pressure to change its desktop default search enginge Instant Search to others such as Google's. The changes should be out in the first service pack to Vista.

Robot Chicken

Robot Chicken's Star Wars special was on last night. There was something majorly wrong about that episode! :)

Planet Earth

Prince's new album Planet Earth will be out on July 24, 2007. The first single, Guitar, doesn't impress me that much yet.

Fantastic Flop

They say that if you had a thousand monkeys banging away at typewriters for a hundred years you'll eventually get the works of Shakespeare and the Bible. The first hundred pages, I'm convinced, would be the Chronicals of Riddick. The next hundred pages is the script for this horrible movie.

I saw Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer last night, and wish I didn't. It was awful. It stunk. First the script has holes so large you can drive an 18 wheeler through. Next, the acting was horrible. The actors didn't seem to take it seriously. Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffud should have been in Team America: World Police. Doug Jones was wasted. Even Stan Lee and Brian Posehn in cameos were nothing.

One thing I hate about comic book movies is the director's almost automatic desire to reboot the franchise and do an origin movie. And to make Gah Lak Tus (as opposed to the more traditional Galactus) a cloud? Come on now . . .

Condo Life

Recently in Broward County, Judge Patti Englander Henning ordered Georgoulis to cover her condo floor with carpets after it became evident that there wasn't enough sound insulation between the floors to sound proof her tile floor from her neighbor's ears.

OK, I haven't seen the Declaration of Condominium for Sherwood Square. But the majority rule, which I agree with, is that if the Declaration provides that unless a guarantee of sound proofing is somewhere in there, there is no protection against your neighbor's sounds. This may be a simple solution, but shouldn't have cost over $10,000 and lasted over 11 years.

Want another Bud?

A European court upheld Anheuser-Busch's right to use Bud and Budweiser on non-beer items over an objection by a Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar. The court ruled that Budejovicky Budvar's appellation of origin argument applied only to beers

No Nukes is Good Nukes with Gary Gnuke

Today is the 25th anniversery of the No Nukes concert held in Central Park, NY, and featured such musical heavy weights as Bruce Springstein, Linda Rondstant and James Taylor. The purpose of the concert was to protest nuclear proliferation because "nuclear proliferation is bad". Of course, it was because of nuclear proliferation that finally freed millions under communist rule in Eastern Europe and caused the collapse of the Soviet Union. And of course it is the remenants of the old Soviet empire that are pushing for the next round of nuclear proliferation by deploying new missle technologies. Also, who could forget those countries like Iran and North Korea that thumb their nose at anti-nuclear proliferation works today. To those musicians that appeared at the concert, we salute you. You did so much to help the cause.