David's Tangled Thoughts

<<--See also: Eminent Domain. X over at the Geek Crew brought this article to my attention: WorldNetDaily 28 June 2005 Supreme Court justice faces boot from home? Developer wants 'Lost Liberty Hotel' built upon property of David Souter by Ron Strom A private developer contacted the local government in Supreme Court Justice David Souter's hometown in New Hampshire yesterday asking that the property of the judge – who voted in favor of a controversial decision allowing a city to take residents' homes for private development – be seized to make room for a new hotel. Logan Darrow Clements faxed a request to Chip Meany, the code enforcement officer of the town of Weare, N.H., seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road, the present location of Souter's home. Wrote Clements: "Although this property is owned by an individual, David H. Souter, a recent Supreme Court decision, Kelo v. City of New London, clears the way for this

It used to be thought that Eminent Domain did not mean that the government could not take away private property and transfer it to another private entity. (There are minor exceptions to that but I won't get into detail.) First lets look at what laws affect me: Federal Constitution, Amendment 5 of the Bill of Rights: "...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Michigan Constitution, Article 10 Section 2: "Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation therefor being first made or secured in a manner prescribed by law. Compensation shall be determined in proceedings in a court of record." Well, what is public use? It had been thought that public use meant that the government could only take your private property in order to convert it to public property. For example, they were going to build a road, a military base, a school, park land, or things of that nature. A case coming out of New England

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down a ruling in which displays of the Ten Commandments could or could not be displayed on public property depending on the context of situation. In order to decide the constitutionality of such a display, someone needs to find it to be nuetral. If the display has the intent to endorse a religion, it is illegal. Confused? Sure. Basically it means that no more Ten Commandment stuff can be put up but if it's old and been there for a while, it's okay. That saves half of Washington (including the Justices' own chambers) from being sandblasted but keeps future monuments from being erected. Cowards.

There are plenty of other blogs that I read that I don't link to. The reasons vary. Sometimes they are personal. Sometimes, the blog itself is to well known that I don't feel its necessary to link to it. One that I will now be adding is " National Guard Tanker in Iraq ." I could go into a political tirade about the War on Terror but I won't. I just want to say that a lot of weight which governs my opinion comes from people who are actually involved in the issues that I am interested about. When it comes to the War on Terror, I make it a point to try and find the perspectives on what the members of the military are thinking. There are plenty of blogs written by soldiers and all of the ones that I read are relatively well known except for this one. I just happened to run across it one day as I was hitting the "next blog" button. I made a note of it in a file that I keep of interesting websites to check back on. It never made it onto my blogroll until now b

Saturday was pretty hectic. My sister held her graduation party on the same day as my high school reunion was being held. So I will break this post up into the two areas. --Okay, you’re just going to have to ignore my previous post. I don’t have many pictures of any substance. But, I guess I’ll throw out the ones that were taken. Kristel’s Graduation Party Preparation for my sister’s party actually started a couple weeks before it was held. Here you can see my mom cleaning and rearranging the living room. In the picture is also the new couch and curtains that she bought. I swear, I should have bought her a horse whip. She made me do quite a bit of chores to get this thing done. I don’t know why she made such a big fuss about having the house spotless. The plan was to have this party outside. Well the weather got to be pretty bad for the day. It was in the mid 90’s with high humidity and no breeze. It was actually worse than Philippine weather. So I suppose that making the house clean

… large posts are coming your way along with pictures! Expect them late Sunday or at latest, Monday.

See this Washington Post article. The Department of Defense wants a database of high school students aged 16-18 as well all college students to be used for recruitment purposes. Information to be collected will be name, birth date, social security number, and addresses which, so far, is not unexpected. In addition, however, they will be looking at a person’s grade point average, ethnicity, and area of study. Now I can understand that the DoD has an interest in achieving a certain readiness level by having a pool of recruits. Don’t they have that info from my registration with Selective Service? The government does not have a compelling need to have access to a person’s GPA, ethnicity, or area of study. In fact, my University does not release that information to anyone… not even my parents unless I give them permission. Now they must or possibly face the threat of losing federal funding. Of course, the DoD would say that individuals can opt out… but the procedures on how to do that are

The Pistons won Game 6 of the NBA finals, 95-86. I'd write more... but I'm so damn tired right now, I'm going to bed. I'm excited though... really I am.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin apologized for his remarks regarding the soldiers at Guantanamo Bay. He has been under pressure from the republicans and even by a few of his fellow democrats to apologize for comparing U.S. soldiers to Nazis. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called on him to apologize. Could it be because Daley’s son is in the military? Last week he refused to apologize saying that his comments were taken out of context. I’m not so sure. Looking at the Record, his words were pretty bad and if I was in the military, I would be offended. Truthfully, I didn’t care if he apologized or not. I don’t have a high opinion of him anyways and anything he said would have fallen on deaf ears. But his “apology” today made me even more enraged. Those fake tears and wavering voice… give me a break! Your “apology” wasn’t even an apology. Translated, he said, “I apologize if you were offended.” Nothing new from what he said last week. Kiss my grits Eddie Haskell*. *Watch “Leave it to Beaver” and

I must live in an era of extraordinary cosmic coincidences. Another event is set to occur that won’t reoccur until I’m long dead. I’m kind of bummed about missing our last total solar eclipse but at least the next one will be in 2012 so with luck, I will still be alive. From the 24th to the 27th of this month, the planets Mercury, Venus, and Saturn will converge in the early evening sky coming within a degree of each other. You could cover them up with the end of a finger with your arm fully stretched out. Mercury and Venus will actually be so close, that you could see them in the same telescope view. Location is at East Lansing, at 9:40 in the evening looking west-north-west. To see it in your location, look towards the west as soon as the stars come out after sunset.

Cardinal Sin, the former Archbishop of Manila died early Tuesday (or late Monday, for those in America.) He was 76. As I had indicated when Pope John Paul II passed away, I don't agree with the church on a lot of issues. I've even been guilty of saying not-so-nice things about the two earning a strong rebuke from my mom. I've actually been harder on Cardinal Sin (couldn't he have changed his name?) Mostly because I felt that he was overly political and advocated policy that was far too conservative--even for my taste. I mean c'mon... no divorce or birth control or dare I say abortion? It makes me think that the Roman Catholic Church has got an iron grip on the country and to me, that's not necessarily a good thing. My social views may have differed with the Cardinal but I can still admire someone who clearly has more faith than I have.

I had over a page worth of stuff that I was about to blog but as I looked over it, I realized that much of it had to deal with personal issues that I am sure my friends do not want shared (even though I can count the number of regular readers here on one of my hands.) But if you are still curious, I gave a little hint during a previous post. Yes, it still has to deal with the whole Sara/Adam deal. I want to remove myself from this whole situation but that means cutting ties with people that I care about. I feel guilty about that because as a friend, I feel that I should stick it out to the end. I'm waiting for people to hit rock bottom and yet all they seem to do is keep sinking. It's gotten to the point where I just want to get out. Well maybe getting out isn't the correct way to say it since I was never really "in." Perhaps, turning away is better. My circle and I are well into our twenties now. Isn't it about time we grew up?

This evening I got a letter from State Senator Cameron Brown. A rejection letter. Thank you, Sen. Brown. No... I'm not being sarcastic here. Sen. Brown's office has been the first to actually write me a rejection. Up until now, I have either heard nothing from the offices that I have applied to or I have had to speak to an office aide who told me that the position has been filled (or something along those lines.) Although, I am obviously hurt by another rejection, I still see this as a huge courtesy on their part. Come Monday, I think that I will write him back. Who knows maybe it will keep my name in his head. Couldn't hurt could it?

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting married? Excuse me while I vomit in the nearby trash can... Okay, so this has got to be one of the most disturbing Hollywood pairings. I mean, damn! He's freaking 16 years older than her. Ten would have been much more tolerable--but sixteen? And now Katie is converting to Scientology? There's just something that reaks of wrong and I can't quite put my finger on it. Age? Freaky religions? Emotional outbursts? Passive demeanor associated with cult members? DistressedJeans has something to consider: If you need further proof that Tom is gayer than a pink silk bedroom with leopard print pillows and the boisterous tunes of Liberace's piano in the background, Tom says, "I've seen Dawsons Creek and I've seen her work and you go, Man, that girl is really talented." Was he forced to watch Dawsons Creek? Did he also watch Melrose Place? Was he an avid fan of Beverly Hills 90210? DO I HAVE DUMB WRITTEN ON MY FOREHEAD? For

Well, I think I’ve made a decision. I’m going back to school. If not this fall, then probably in January. Things are not set in stone, so this could all change at a moment’s notice. I am currently looking at information about pursuing a second degree in Criminal Justice . My biggest hurdle will be trying to get student loans. Previously, my parents took care of the financial side of my education at least up to the point of tuition. The rest was covered by me. I’m eternally grateful that they helped me get through considering I went to the second most expensive public university in the state. (The University of Michigan being the first.) They haven’t given me any exact figures on how much my student debt is but I’ve got a pretty good idea. I’m sure that in a few months (when the bills start coming in) they’ll let me know. So I’ve estimated that I am going to need at least $20,000 to complete the second degree. Where am I going to come up with that kind of ca

I just got back from a good evening at the beach. I hadn’t seen Season since she has gotten back from Florida I thought that I would since I had the day off. The plan was to rent a movie ( Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle came to mind) and I would get a pizza. A cheap evening since, let’s face it, we’re all strapped for cash. Sara hadn’t answered my phone calls so I went to her house and dragged her out. BTW, she had a job interview. Keep your fingers crossed for her. So we go and find Season’s apartment, which we had not been to. She actually lives in a duplex and I could have sworn she said that her entrance was at the back so that’s where we went. Like close friends, I opened the door and saw the back of some guy. Ooops! Wrong apartment. I backed out quick, probably about to knock down Sara who was behind me. Beet red, I called out a loud “Sorry!” before we jetted for the front entrance where I phoned Season just incase the guy I just walked in on came out with a bat (it isn’t t

I ran across Mike the other day. We went to high school together and I think we got along okay. He was more of a friend of a friend but we pretty much in the same circle. He’s a good guy and I was disappointed to learn that he dropped out three months before we graduated. Three damn months! All he had to do was show up and he would have been good to go. Although, can I really bitch about that fact when he’s currently making good money and has a steady job and I don’t? Good for him on that but that’s not what I want to give congrats for. Actually, he told me that he had just gotten married. Mike? Married? Finally! Okay, okay, that’s sounds totally wrong considering that I’m almost at a loss for words when I hear that fellow classmates are getting married and even having kids. Yet, in his case… “finally” is exactly what comes to mind. See, he had been seeing another Galien student named Sheila. Most of us saw that there was something between those two even when they wouldn’t admit it. Wh

Tropical Storm Arlene Poor Florida. They just can’t seem to get a break! Well, I guess the winter and spring are a break… but what I mean is that they are just getting all the bad luck with storms. Tropical Storm Arlene is threatening the “sunshine” state. As Roe said, all these storms are going to lower the average age in Florida to like… 92 years old. Today’s Fashion Trends I headed for University Park to peruse through some of the sales. Actually I was there to people watch more than anything else. As I said in a previous post, I’m not a fashionable person so I thought that I would check out what people are wearing. I’m noting the people in polos and cargo shorts. I realized that some people just copied what a mannequin was wearing and bought the same thing. Although it was something that I could easily pull off, I still got self-conscious. First, I thought I would just be copying the latest fashion trends (but that’s dumb, considering I want to appear a little more fashionable.) S

Howard Dean WLS is currently doing a poll on their website. It asks, "Which party's membership is more fired up by DNC Chairman Howard Dean?" Choice of "Democratic" or "Republican." Of course, I have taken a second and voted. As of roughly 1750 EDT, 80% of respondents say that it is the Republicans that are more "fired up." Hey, I sided with the majority! Of course it is the Republicans. We couldn't have asked for a better gift from the Democrats than Howard Dean. As I have said before, in America, you always shore up your base and then go for the middle. Dean is great for the Democratic party base but he is even better at driving the moderates to the right. The people sitting in the RNC just sit back and smile inwardly every time Chairman Dean opens his mouth. Oh, I'll grant the liberal democrats saying that Dean is this great guy... for them. But does he actually attract the "real" moderate? I don't think so. It gets

I've gone through three blogs today that mentioned something weird that you can cook or eat. I thought that I would share with you all this picture of a balut egg. It's a Filipino delicacy-- a boiled and fertilized duck egg. There must be two different kinds of balut eggs. This one was eaten while I was at UPLB for study abroad in 2003. The first one that I had was in 1989. Maybe it's an Illocano thing, but the first one I had was a little more watery and the you could actually pull the duck out by its beak. Much to the disappointment of my lola, I refused to eat the duck and instead chucked it from the second floor balcony to see it make a rather nice splat. The rest of the egg was good though (for a stomach wrenching "delicacy"). I guess it will be another 14 years before I'm ready to try that again. So I guess I should start thinking for a 2019 vacation to the PI.

... er... I mean St. Joe but... you know-- same thing. A gator was found in the St. Joseph river and was even photographed. See the WNDU story here . People who buy pets like alligators and boa constrictors need to be shot. Not only are they retarded enough to buy one of those things, but they are retarded for just releasing them into the wild when they grow too big. If they can't handle these thing they should kill them. Gator does make for some good eatin' ya know. Don't know about snake but if Crocodile Dundee is right... it may give you gas.

A storm off Lake Michigan. Yeah, I'm one of those freaks that loves bad weather. I was driving home last night from work and headed westward into a strong thunderstorm cell. Most of the lightinng was quick and contianed in the clouds but ocassionally, I would see a ground stike. This seems to be typicall of electrical storms here in the Midwest. Take a look at the picture above. That's pretty much how it looks like most of the time. A few years ago, I went on ASSIST to Ellsworth AFB . The plains states seem to have some of the most dramatic storms I've ever seen. As I was touching down at the Rapid City airport, we decended through the clouds and I marveled at all the lightning that was occuring all around us. I remember this one teenager who looked like she was traveling alone just gripping the arm chair and silently praying to herself. I'm sure if we got hit by a bolt, I'd be shitting myself too, but for the moment, I was having a great time. To date, i

My sister, Kristel graduated from Buchanan High Schoo l today in a short ceremony. The ceremony was held outside on the football field/track despite the threat of thunderstorms. Mom and I decided to be safe and brought our umbrellas. What kind of Filipinos would we be if we didn’t? :P After my December graduation at state, this almost seemed like a private affair. After all, there were just over one hundred students in Buchanan’s graduating class. Take that and compare it to State’s which had, I think, over one thousand. Yet, even that is small in comparison to spring where it is not even feasible for the entire graduating class to have a ceremony together. I would guestimate that somewhere around seven thousand graduate then. Grandma and Uncle Kenny turned out to watch Kris. We spotted them from across the bleachers and Dad went to fetch them. Uncle Kenny didn’t want to climb over people to get to where we were sitting so they just waited over there. The commencement was very short.

From The Manila Times : On Thursday Rep. Mary Ann Susano of Quezon City submitted a bill [HB 4370] adjusting the school calendar from June through March to September through June. This is quite a string of thought since this quote was from an article dealing with an approaching typhoon and is barely connected to what I have to say. The last time I was in the Philippines was in the summer/fall of 2003 when I participated in MSU's Study Abroad Program and went to UPLB. Before making my application to Study Abroad, I was planning to take a heavy summer session load plus a heavy fall load so that I could graduate on time. I was supposed to have graduated in May 2004. UPLB's semesters are staggered from MSU's. So it started in the middle of MSU's summer session and ended in the middle of MSU's fall semester. That meant that I would only be able to do one semester's worth of credit in the Philippines when I could have done two in America. I went to UPLB anyways and

Hello everyone. I'm in the Main Library here at Michigan State , taking a break from job hunting. I'm also here to collect some information about getting another degree-- this time in Criminal Justice. But anyways, I can see that I am completely invigorated. I stepped out of the hamster cage* with this huge ass grin and I can tell that people noticed. Oh yeah, I should mention that I'm wearing that awesome orange shirt that I bought the other day. I must say that I had a couple people notice me . It feels like I've returned home and I couldn't be happier. I have got to get a job up here! The trip up here didn't take long. Just over two hours. Oh, but how I hate those FIPs**! I swear all of them have lead foots as they were on my ass all the way through I-94. I also made sure to keep an eye out for all the beater trucks in case this was they day Chad Fox came through the state. Probably not, now that it sounds like he is stuck in Iowa. My first stop was to g