It's the end of the world as we know it...

Politics, philosophy, the law, current events, left leaning debates, religion, baseball, football, pop culture, growing up Greek, random events in my life...whatever hits my mind at the time.

30.3.05

You can read about the ADEA disparate impact case here, for the few who are interested. I was gonna get into it, and then I realized, "OK, I'm the only person who really gives a damn." So I won't. Nevertheless, the decision completely revamped my day. What I was gonna work on (pretending to be busy in the am, leave around lunchtime) got changed. Unfortunately. It was SO nice out today, and I had to work. On a NONBILLABLE project. :( Warmth and sun and I was trapped inside. Sigh. And Saturday, when I'll be outside almost the entire day, it's gonna be cold and snowy. Gotta love Cleveland weather in April...(I admit, I mind the cold much less when it's intersperced with 70 degree days. Go ahead. Snow all you want. I know you ain't gonna stick around. Yup, this is the time of year when spring is having it's way with winter. "You have failed, winter. I am spring, like the season four before me." (Ok, so that didn't quite work, AND I managed to highlight what I dork I am. Oh, well, Star Wars comes out 7 weeks from tomorrow, what do I care?))

A few current events:
Terri Schiavo. I have largely stayed out of this debate. Not that I don't have my opinions (who, me?) I do. But the debate is overdone; I'm simply oversaturated. But the Eleventh Circuit's opinion today illustrates why I support judges appointed for life: they don't need to worry about public support in deciding cases. "While the members of her family and the members of Congress have acted in a way that is both fervent and sincere, the time has come for dispassionate discharge of duty." The judge then smacked down the politicians who made Terri their "causes," saying that the White House and lawmakers "have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people - our Constitution." Keep in mind that the Eleventh Circuit is largely considered a conservative one. And the fact that she is still "alive" astounds me. 13 days without food or water...

Michael Jackson. I seriously cannot put up with several more months of this. Hey, media. I.Do.Not.Care.

The Pope. He's now getting nutrition through a tube in his nose. Will someone who knows about the Catholic laws explain why he doesn't retire or whatever. Can they do that, or are popes the "Pope" until they die? Also, can anyone tell me whether the story of Pope Joan is true or not?

Cleveland commentary.
Hey! Those in the Cleveland area, don't forget about the East v. West Forum tomorrow (the speakers tomorrow are Steve Gleydura, Cleveland Magazine editor; Harvey Pekar, author of American Spendor; Helen Knip-Smith, former counselwoman for Cleveland Wards 8 and 14; and Pastor David Hunter, Bright Star Missionary Baptist Church.
and then Saturday is the scavenger hunt. I've personally written a few clues...You can get details here.

Some television commentary:
Lost. I swear, if Hot Brother dies, I will be CRUSHED. Simply crushed. I adore him. The problem is, in all the storylines, he's one of the most expendable. I beg of you, PLEASE kill Jack. Just don't kill Hot Brother.

Alias. The entire buried alive thing petrifies me. Truly, it does. I shall have nightmares tonight.

The Amazing Race. I've been discussing with people today whether Romber should have stopped or at least slowed down to see if the brothers were ok. The one side argues that it's a race. I think that it shows that some things are more important than a game. This was one of them. For those who watch the show, any opinions.


Finally, in my refusal to watch The Apprentice (unless, of course, Peter is on it), I evidently missed a classic line: "As a former beauty queen, I know what a crown is but I don't know what crown molding is." That is going to be my future line, and it comes highly recommended to all. Can you imagine our conversation??

Me: "As a former beauty queen, I will blog more tomorrow."
You: "Ok, as a former beauty queen, I'll look forward to it."

So as a former beauty queen, I'm out for tonight...
(Former beauty queen's favorite painting "honored" by Google)


7 Comments:

  • At 12:00 AM, Blogger Jim Eastman said…

    The pope is pope until he dies. There's no organizational mechanism for retirement.

    Also, Pope Joan, not true.

     
  • At 2:24 AM, Blogger Dennis! said…

    I haven't read through the opinion thoroughly, but my impression is that while it allows for age claims to proceed regardless of intent (permitted a disparate impact claim based on age), it still permits affirmative defenses like legitimate business decision -- i.e., "we laid off all of the older workers because they're the ones who were being paid more, so it made sense to cut the highest paid as a cost-cutting measure." Which then screws the older workers.

    I'm glad someone with some authority finally had the cojones to speak up about how badly Congress (BOTH parties) f'ed up when it interfered in the Terri Schiavo matter.

    And race schmace, when there's a car wreck and you know the people involved in it, you stop and make sure everyone's okay. There was a frigging cameraman on the ground bleeding, fer cryinoutloud. Have those two no decency at all? I loved Rob's hypocrisy about the whole taxi thing: "That's the way you're gonna play it? Okay, no more Mr. Nice Guy." As if Mr. "Pay the Driver Not to Open the Back Door" and "Steal the Girls' Taxi" was ever playing it "nicely."

     
  • At 2:51 AM, Blogger Jennifer Wertkin said…

    do you know that the Schiavo case is the most blogged about incident ever (according to MSNBC).. even more so than the election. I've stayed out of it too. I totally agree about the pope. I mean, WTF? Can this guy really be a leader? Ah well...hopefully we'll make better choices in men soon....
    -jw

     
  • At 3:00 PM, Blogger Melissa said…

    Hey, I too will be crushed if Hot Brother dies, but no offering up Jack!

     
  • At 3:00 PM, Blogger Melissa said…

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

     
  • At 4:17 PM, Blogger -Me said…

    Jim/Jason, So the consensus is that Joan wasn't real (even though the Catholic Church at one time acknowledged her) and that the Pope *can* retire? Then why they hell *won't* he?? That seems pointless to have him in charge when he truly can't be.

    Dennis! That's somewhat true, but before the Circuit Courts were using the RFOA as a shield. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about allowing disparate impact for reasons based on age. I think I might agree with O'Connor's concurrence - it's not in the legislative history anywhere. As for whether it's right, I don't quite get it. They are allowed to make decisions based on economics, but that would dispararely impact older workers, for the most part. So...they are allowing them to sue, for reasons that are legal and ok. That seems like a horrible waste. But I wholeheartedly agree that I'm glad SOMEONE in the judicial arena FINALLY pointed out what we all knew - Congress and Dubya were horribly overstepping their boundaries. And that's my opinion on TAR's car crash too. And you are dead on about Rob's hypocrisy with the taxi thing. He's brilliant at reality tv, but he should be able to take as much as he gives.

    Jen, THE most blogged about event ever? That's so sad, considering how short a timeframe it really was.

    M with an I, But I don't LIKE Jack. I find him one dimensional and boring. I'd LOVE it if the show would kill him. Sorry.

     
  • At 4:38 PM, Blogger Sarah said…

    Outside of the media, who does care about the Michael Jackson crazy?

    There's no way they'll kill off Jack, which is fine with me because I like him, though not as much as my beloved Locke and Hurley. Besides, the way he fucked with Sawyer last night was awesome.

    Boone looked like he was in really bad shape, and I agree that he's the most expendable character. I wouldn't be too broken up if he died, but I was enjoying his relationship with Locke.

    When Syd was buried alive, that was just so intense. Clearly, she wasn't going to die (she's the main character, no one ever really dies on Alias), but the whole thing was very haunting.

     

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