Minneapolis Woman Thinks Lebanese Beautiful

Looks like Lebanon ousted their Syrian-backed government. Bravo! Let's wish them the best of luck in keeping the Syrians out of their business. Click here for article. What of all the disappeared Lebanese that have been languishing in Syrian prisons? I am hopeful about how this will all unfold. Incidentally, I think that the Lebanese are the most beautiful people in the world.

Student Counts Days Until Spring Break

Hey gang. Realize I've been kind of absent the last week, in addition to studying for midterms am struggling with feelings of crankiness and the desire to just get in my car and drive away. This happens every few months, it will go away. School becomes really daunting every now and then, not just because it's hard but also because the end isn't in sight. Spring break is March 22-26--was informed last week that the Crim Law mid-term is a take-home to do over break, and also will be assigned a motion worth 70% of our grade for my writing class right before break. Well, I'll not sit here and whine, I got myself into this mess, will just keep trudging forward. Am probably just hormonal.

Al Franken's speech was awesome. He spoke in the atrium of our school, all the seats were full by 6:30 (he spoke at 7) and people were standing in the back and leaning over the railings on all four levels overlooking the atrium. He was hilarious. After the talk, Sarah and I went to Gameworks with my classmates for Bar Review, which was super sweet, they gave us 3 hours worth of games for free. Dance Dance Revolution was pretty much the biggest hit of the night.

Friday night we went to two gallery openings--the Squad 19 show at Creative Electric, which was cool but packed. We also went to a show by Ken Avidor, Andy Singer & Roger Lootine in the warehouse district, I don't remember the name of the show but it was all their anti-car cartoons and art. They say cars are coffins and everyone should ride bikes, etc. It's an interesting political view, I dig it, but as much as I love the idea of riding my bike everywhere I just can't bring myself to do it. My bike was stolen last year plus I'm a wimp about riding in the winter and don't really want to ride in my business suits, skirts and/or heels. Mostly I guess I'm just too big of a baby to jump on board. I like my car, okay?? I'm sorry!

Watched two movies this weekend: "The Paper Chase"--do people like that movie? People kept asking me if I've seen it (because it's about law school) so now I guess I can say yes. Maybe I need to think about it more, but I don't think I really enjoyed it. Of course when Bell said the others couldn't take the test without his 800-page outline, I thought that was pretty hilarious, and the panic, etc. The other movie I saw was "Good-bye, Lenin," a German movie that most people didn't like. I really liked it though. I thought it was sweet, and poignant, and kind of funny, and sad, and historically interesting. A major part of the movie was about how the family was torn apart by the East/West German divide, and I remember being really intrigued by that history when I visited the museum at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, but this was a really sad reminder of how politics can destroy families. So anyway, I think I'll give it 4 stars on my Netflix queue. Would any of you haters at least agree that the scene where the mom comes out of the coma and is walking down the street in her bathrobe and looks up to see the statute of Lenin's torso and head being transported via helicopter was super sweet?

I have a new little cousin--Lucas. (He's the recipient of the quilt posted last week). Matt, Angie and Lucas came home from the hospital on Friday. My sisters (Greta & Sarah) and I went over there last night (they live about 1-1/2 miles from me). I made a green curry with chicken and vegetables and some fried rice and a salad and brought it over. Lucas is a cute little peanut, and Matt, a first-rate swaddler, had him all wrapped up into a little package. He wasn't much for entertainment, though, just slept the whole time.

Woman Briefly Emerges from Under Rock, Finds Real Life Scary and Hurriedly Retreats

Am feeling a little under water right now. Am trying to organize some stuff for our Amnesty International chapter and am tied up in bureaucratic crap. Had a Con Law exam this morning. Was assigned a pre-trial motion/memo of law for school. Have Property exam next Wed, and Crim Law exam after that. Going to see Al Franken tonight at school, sister Sarah coming to see Franken and is staying with me for the weekend. Shad is going to Fargo for the weekend. Mom and relatives going to Vegas for the weekend. That's the update, thanks for checking, I miss you all, sunlight is scary, am retreating back under my rock now.

Law Student Takes Pride in Furry Pen: Dots I's with Hearts

Elissa gave me a pink feathery furry pen just like Elle Woods! I immediately used it to take notes and felt very cool. It was a congratulations gift for my new job. Now if I could just get a little heart-shaped notebook.

Am feeling kinda under the weather today. Could use some more sleep. I went to work and apologized to Greg for the piece of crap brief that I wrote. He said, "Did you even proofread it?" Ouch. I told him I thought that was pretty harsh. Turns out just he didn't like a pervasive editorial decision I had made. I fixed it in about 10 seconds using the "replace" command.

Am making checklists for the Con Law exam. I usually don't do outlines, due to my copious notes, so I take issue checklists into the exam and go from there. Am meeting with Matt later to go over some problems. Have more mid-terms next week. Am not feeling quite so on the ball this semester.

Baby Secrets Wields Butcher Knife in Shower

Really, the Baby Secrets shenanigans are getting out of hand. When I pulled back the shower curtain this morning, there she was, staring up at me with those glassy blue eyes with a butcher knife in her little poly hand. I carefully removed the knife and put it back in the kitchen, then brought her to the bedroom and tucked her in next to Shad. Which might explain his comment on the previous post.

The prof offered me that research assistantship. I accepted. We're meeting Wednesday to discuss the details and the costume. (Kidding!) Summra offered to give me a refresher course on sexual harassment.

I went to the office early this morning to work on that brief I've been whining about for the past few weeks. I finished it in about 2-1/2 hours. I was really flying on that sucker. There's something really funny about procrastination. I don't want to procrastinate, but I am so remarkably efficient when I do. If I had done that brief two weeks ago, it would have taken about 15 hours.

I'm working on a new theory about happiness. I walk about 3/4 mile from school to work, through the skyway usually. When I was walking to the office this morning, just before 8 a.m., I was looking at people's faces and noticing that most people looked either unhappy or just emotionless/dead. Then I started to pay attention to the people who looked a little more happy, and I noticed that they were all carrying things. So, I'm calling this my carrying things theory. It excludes bags/briefcases. But the theory is that someone who is carrying something is MORE likely to be happy than not. I'll start with the obvious--a guy was carrying a baby=happy. Another guy was walking around with a 7-foot plant. He smiled. Maybe an embarassed smile (similar to the look women give each other when stepping out of a stall in the restroom), but I'm going to call that happy. Finally, people carrying coffee=generally happy. Geoff and I went out for coffee this afternoon and I told him about my theory. He started to get into causation and all that (for example: is the woman happy because coffee makes her happy, or do happy people drink coffee?). I'll have to do some more research on the causation issue as well as this theory in general. I will note, incidentally, that I am often very unhappy when I'm carrying things (e.g. big boxes). Carrying coffee, however, makes me pretty happy.

Had lunch today with Ngoc, a friend who works in the state public defender's office. I wanted Arica, my school buddy, to meet her because Arica wants to be a public defender. The three of us had lunch at Brit's. I had never really thought about being a public defender, but Ngoc loves her job, and that was kind of contagious.

Now am studying for the Con Law midterm which is on Thursday. This is a tough class, a lot of material, concepts all over the board. I have 70 typed pages of notes from just 6 weeks of class.

Students Escape from Library, Load up on Fajitas and Fixins

Had dinner at my place last night with some of my school friends--Geoff, Summra & Nachi, Matt & Andrea, and Elissa & Nathan. We had a great time. I made beer-marinated chicken and steak fajitas with all the fixins, sweet corn casserole, spanish rice, etc. Matt and Andrea blended up some delicious strawberry daquiris with Bacardi O and orange peel. Soooo tasty. Elissa made a fabulous kinda-spicy guacamole. Geoff wowed us all with his amazing 7-layer-dip-making abilities, and Summra copped out and purchased a super rich cheesecake instead of making her homemade flan. We drank a bunch of daquiris, beer and wine and had some great conversation. Car behaved herself mostly, but by the end of the night she was attacking & biting Matt's ankles with her usual spirit. We even pulled out Baby Secrets, who appears to be broken and I'm in the doghouse for that because she wasn't broken before I took her to school. I swear, I kept her in the box (mostly) and didn't do anything weird with her.

Al Franken to Speak to Law Students

The rumors have been confirmed! Al Franken is speaking at our school on Thursday, Feb 24th at 7 p.m. Sweet! Little sister Sarah may come down to watch and spend the weekend with us. Fun!

Ramp Security Camera Shows Woman Cursing Self Out in Middle of Night

I have always been kind of a klutz, but really since school started, simple everyday things have been getting more difficult. For example, I started misspelling simple words (e.g. started spelling "of" phonetically, "uv", in class notes). Stupid klutzy things are starting to add up and make life more difficult. I usually stay in the library until I am so tired I have just enough energy to get home. So when I went out to my car at 1:30 last night/this morning, was *delighted* to see that I had left my headlights on all day and the battery was dead. Woke dear sweet husband to come pick me up, he also had to bring me to school this morning. Summra jump-started it today. (Shad couldn't jump the car last night, because the ramp closes at a certain time & I could get out, but new vehicles can't come in.)

Summra, Chris and I went to a CLE today sponsored by MN Advocates for Human Rights, "Representing Muslims in a Post-9/11 World". It was great--now Summra wants me to start a Muslim Students Association with her. Has anyone ever seen the movie, "Rushmore"? We've been doing all kinds of stuff for Amnesty International this week, plus MJF, MWL, NLG, Dems & Bocce Society. I don't know, man. I need to cut something off the list. Have been corresponding with Prof. Erlinder from Mitchell--he's the head counsel for the defense at the International Criminal Tribunal in Rwanda (Summra and I went to hear him speak Tues night). I am hoping to arrange for him to come speak at St. Thomas, hosted by Amnesty. I'm thinking big lunch-time presentation in the atrium.

Clerk Admits was Being Big Baby about Work Project

The Table of Authorities didn't take very long.

Shad posted to my blog (below). Is he mocking my headlines?

Local Woman Sews Baby Quilt, Husband Posts Shocking Photo.

Outraged Citizens to Gather at Federal Building

Protests are being held across the country tomorrow in response to the Lynne Stewart verdict. In Minneapolis, people are protesting at noon in front of the Federal Building. I'll be stopping by. More information about the day of outrage can be found here.

Minneapolis Woman Seen Clambering Over Passenger Seat in Most Unbecoming Manner

Ugh! The whole reason I began leaving the doors to my car unlocked is because sometimes the locks freeze shut in the winter. After our recent bad carma I started to worry about my car getting stolen (really, the joke would be on them) so I started locking the doors again. Of course! This morning the locks were frozen. I was finally able pry open the passenger door and clamber inside. Meanwhile I was juggling a full garment bag, another bag of clothes (lending to friends for interviews--MJF summer clerkship interviews being held this week), my book bag, my laptop bag, a bag containing the quilt I had just finished (will be posting photo soon), my purse, and a crockpot full of chili. Yikes. I hope no one was watching.

Am kind of sleepy today as Shad and I were up in the studio working on our respective projects until about 3 a.m. He has a big pitch tomorrow.

Competition for the golden ladle was stiff. I didn't stick around for the judge's results, but I suspect that "el diablo del pollo" was elbowed out by a mean green chili aptly created by Ryan Green. I tasted it myself and ended up with chapped lips and a runny nose. Elissa made a great turkey chili and Kathy had a delicious smooth white chili. The whole event was really fun, I tried lots of different kinds and I suspect we raised quite a bit of money. (The money is being used to provide grants for students to work in public interest clerkships for the summer--the clerkships my friends are interviewing for as described above).

Matt called to invite us over for dinner tonight--they're making grilled venison. Yum. Had to decline as am going to an event at William Mitchell tonight sponsored by their Amnesty Chapter (lead counsel for the defense at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda speaking). I'll stop over at their place afterward, though, to deliver the quilt.

Law Student finds Love in Kitchen

Am being Suzie-Homemaker-type person tonight. Made a 20-quart stockpot full of Mexican Chicken Chili (I call it El Diablo del Pollo) for the MJF Chili cook-off tomorrow. (Am in competition for the elusive+coveted "Golden Ladle") Also roasted a cornish game hen for dinner and get this--a pie. I made a damn pie. Okay, it was a store-bought frozen pie, but I baked it, you bet. Also, am doing several loads of laundry and working on that quilt. Maybe I'll just stay up all night and finish it. I made a pot of coffee and am kinda wired.

Starbucks Strike Called Off

Phwew. The Starbucks strike is over. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold out. I received two free beverage coupons in the mail, an apology, and assurance that the district manager of the location was informed of the problem. Once again, I can give in to the mighty Starbucks.

Community Outraged by Lynne Stewart Verdict

Anyone following the Lynne Stewart trial--NLG is sponsoring a national day of outrage on February 17 in response to the verdict. Stay tuned for more info.

http://www.lynnestewart.org/

http://www.lynnestewart.org/whylynne.pdf

Grad Earns Right to Declare Some Literature "Pure Crap"

I make a list for myself almost every day. Before each item, I put a little check-box and it is such a joy to check off the items. Sometimes I add things to the list that I've already done or will obviously do (e.g. "Take Coffee Break") just for the sheer joy of checking off the little box.

I am always, always, always overzealous in creating this list. Often I will have ten things on the list and only get two or three of the items done. Today's list had me finishing up my property homework by 2:30 and being at the office by 3pm. It is now 9 p.m. and I have finally arrived at the office.

Took a dinner break (that was NOT on the list) (well, maybe I'll add it to the list so I can check it off ) to go to Chipotle with Shad. Then we went to Espresso Royale and met up with Greta and Corey for awhile. Greta is plodding her way through a George Eliot novel and doesn't seem to be enjoying it very much. I feel her pain as I also was an English major and spent a whole lot of time reading books I didn't get into and writing critical analyses about things I didn't care about. For awhile I told myself I needed to appreciate that highbrow crap, but since I now have the degree I think I earned the right to say that certain literature is just plain boring. I don't mean to be cynical/negative, I know it helps develop writing and analytical skills, appreciation for our literature canon etc., but I'd rather just kick back with some Tom Robbins. It's painful to read all the time but not be able to read the things you want.

The aware uglyjuice reader will note that the Ugly Juice CPWA is being awarded a bit late this week. I might re-name it to be the ICPWA (Intermittent Cool Person of the Week Award). The academy is currently considering several worthy contenders, including mother nature (gave us some fine weather this week, but academy is still holding grudge about the tsunami situation); dad (waited until 11 a.m. to call last Sunday a.m.--it took years of coaching to get him to stop calling at 7 a.m. as former roommates will attest) and Mark Dayton (pity award).

Students Alarmed by Flying Biff (New Guy Pees, Flies)

Last night I finished the top for a baby quilt I've been working on. First, though, I went to Jo-Anns and bought TWO seam-rippers. They cost $1.49 each. Who knew relief could be purchased so cheaply? You can't even buy a Starbucks coffee for that. When I got home I immediately sewed something wrong and got to spend 20 minutes ripping the seam. Pure bliss! If I get home at a decent time tonight, I'm hoping to sew the layers together and maybe get it finished this weekend.

I made tofu for the first time last night. It was delicious. I cut it into pieces and fried them a lovely golden brown in peanut oil with veggies and a chili stir-fry sauce.

I stopped at Julie&Zander's this morning on the way to the library to drop of a sewing machine for Julie. My mom had loaned me two of her old machines to use for awhile--so Julie's going to use one of them while she waits for the new one she's getting from her mother-in-law (*Lucky!*). I got to see their new cat, Boo!. (Boo! is an all-black scary cat and the exclamation point is part of his name). Boo! is a cute kitty who really likes to sit on Zander's shoulder. Zander got a laser-pointer and has been driving both of our cats crazy with it.

I'm at the library--settled into a study room on the 2nd floor with a lovely view of the glorious weather outside. Across the street, there is construction going on--another building for St. Thomas's graduate programs downtown. When we were studying for mid-terms last semester, my friends and I were all sitting in this room when suddenly someone pointed out the window and shouted "Flying Biff!" We all looked out and sure enough, there was a porta-potty being lifted by a crane about 60 feet in the air. I suppose they were just moving it from one side of the construction site to another, but I like to think they were just playing a little trick on the new guy.

Student Pleased with Self

They posted the Dean's List today!

I'm on it!

Whee Hooo!!!!!!!!

Student Pays $25k for Solitaire

I'm sitting in Property right now. I sit in the back of the class. In my current line of vision, I can see about 40 computer screens:

6 people are checking their email
3 are on instant messenger
5 are playing games (free cell/solitaire/minesweeper)
3 are browsing miscellaneous web sites
2 people are shopping online (J.Jill & Craigslist)
1 guy is reading a web site about UFOs

Mayo v. Satan & His Staff

Okay, I thought I'd be letting you all down if I didn't post a nerdy little law school thing every now and again. Below is an opinion from the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. It makes me snicker. The Plaintiff, Mr. Mayo, tried to sue Satan (and his Staff) for violating his civil rights by allegedly placing deliberate obstacles in his path and causing his downfall. (The court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction over the defendant--the court also noted the impracticability of a class-action suit because of the high number of potentially interested parties and the problem of serving the complaint on the defendant, a "foreign prince")

UNITED STATES ex rel. Gerald MAYO
v.
SATAN AND HIS STAFF.
Misc. No. 5357.
Dec. 3, 1971.

Plaintiff, alleging jurisdiction under 18 USC Sec. 241, 28 USC Sec. 1343, and 42 USC Sec. 1983 prays for leave to file a complaint for violation of his civil rights in forma pauperis. He alleges that Satan has on numerous occasions caused plaintiff misery and unwarranted threats, against the will of plaintiff, that Satan has placed deliberate obstacles in his path and has caused plaintiff's downfall.Plaintiff alleges that by reason of these acts Satan has deprived him of his constitutional rights.We feel that the application to file and proceed in forma pauperis must be denied. Even if plaintiff's complaint reveals a prima facie recital of the infringement of the civil rights of a citizen of the United States, the Court has serious doubts that the complaint reveals a cause of action upon which relief can be granted by the court. We question whether plaintiff may obtain personal jurisdiction over the defendant in this judicial district. The complaint contains no allegation of residence in this district. While the official reports disclose no case where this defendant has appeared as defendant there is an unofficial account of a trial in New Hampshire where this defendant filed an action of mortgage foreclosure as plaintiff. The defendant in that action was represented by the preeminent advocate of that day, and raised the defense that the plaintiff was a foreign prince with no standing to sue in an American Court. This defense was overcome by overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Whether or not this would raise an estoppel in the present case we are unable to determine at this time.If such action were to be allowed we would also face the question of whether it may be maintained as a class action. It appears to meet the requirements of FRCP 23 that the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, there are questions of law and fact common to the class, and the claims of the representative party is typical of the claims of the class. We cannot now determine if the representative party will fairly protect the interests of the class.We note that the plaintiff has failed to include with his complaint the required form of instructions for the United States Marshal for directions as to service of process.For the foregoing reasons we must exercise our discretion to refuse the prayer of plaintiff to proceed in forma pauperis.It is ordered that the complaint be given a miscellaneous docket number and leave to proceed in forma pauperis be denied.

Scientists Study Law School Time Phenomenon, Earn Millions, Save World

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but we need to get some of the world's top scientists on top of this law school time phenomenon pronto. If we could somehow get the formula down, I think we could stop global warming, etc.

Here's what happens: When I'm sitting in class (let's say Constitutional Law) every minute is equivalent to about 1 hour. But then, when I'm sitting in the library trying to catch up on my reading, or if I'm trying to catch up on my workload at the office, every hour lasts about one minute. The natural consequence is that my days generally go pretty fast and I can't get everything done that needs to be done, but I grow gray hairs and start to fall asleep while sitting in class.

Talked to little brother Pete last night. He's struggling with a nasty cold and a terrible workload at UND. I don't know whose bright idea it was to load him down with Chemistry, Physics and Calculus all in one semester (and I assume 1 or 2 other classes) but that is just sick. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

Also got an email from my godmother, Rose, last night. She offered to help me plant an herb garden this spring! Yippee! I've been having big dreams about my splendid secret garden ever since. Rose has the most amazing gardens you ever saw, covering her whole backyard. I, on the other hand, have never been able to keep a houseplant alive for more than a few months and the only herb I ever tried to plant (basil) grew to be three inches tall and died of frost before I even got to use it.

Napoleon Dynamite Sound bites

Rumor has it the guys who made Napoleon Dynamite are Mormon. (Note the Rick's College T-shirt Napoleon is wearing in the one scene where he's having lunch w/Pedro)...they sure showed us how much fun can be had without sex & profanity.

http://www.collegehumor.com/news/2005-01-20.napoleon.php

Need a good cup of coffee

It was a long day today. A lot of my classmates have the flu, so I've been nervous about getting sick, too. I actually went home early last night and went to bed (at 10:30!) without doing today's homework. Which means it will be an extra-long night tonight.

I had a meeting at 4 p.m. today with one of my professors. He had sent me an email last week asking if I'd be interested in being his research assistant part-time (flex. 10 hrs/week) this summer. He needs help for a book he's working on for West on the topic of professional responsibility. He mentioned that he is also talking to 2-3 other people and will be making a decision in a few weeks. Obviously I think it would be real swell if he selected me, I was honored to be singled out at all, great for my resume etc. but I am planning to work at the law office full time this summer, so if I'm not chosen I won't really feel put out. We'll see what happens.

There's a picture in his office of him shaking hands with George W. Bush. Yikes.

Am having issues with the local coffee shops and my coffee breaks are moving farther away from my home base (3rd floor of the library). Had the worst experience at the Starbucks that was just built 1/2 block away (sent an irate letter to corporate headquarters, we'll see what happens); Loring Coffee tastes like pennies; Caribou has been kind of hit-or-miss the last week...so have been going to Espresso Royale, which is quite a hike (about two blocks). Have even broken down and bought coffee from the Nescafe machine in the student lounge which is a total stomach bomb but only 60 cents for a "cappuccino"--the quotes are necessary because I have no idea what is in it (think: whirled sugar/water/powder).

Today's News

Didn't see this news on any US news sources today:
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=7032

I don't really think a party is big news, but I think Americans need to be careful about our image overseas. It's interesting that this was a major headline for Al Jazeera.

Looks like Sen. Dayton is not seeking re-election next year. Amy Klobuchar is considering running for the office. I think she's awesome. It will be an uphill battle for us, but may be fun to watch.

Just a brief onslaught of materialism...

I have been stalking the clearance racks at Marshall Fields the past few weeks holding out for that super sweet score. Okay, I haven't been holding out, I've been loading up. Now I'm not really materialistic, but I do enjoy nice clothes and I need to dress kind of "lawyerly" sometimes. I can justify the situation by saying that I need these clothes due to my future career and I'm doing myself a great favor by loading up while the prices are marked down. There is nothing so sweet as finding that perfect steal. My best score was an Anne Klein blouse marked down to $20 (originally $200. ) I also bought a sweet Anne Klein suit marked down to $70 (was originally $360) and a Marc Jacobs skirt for 7 bucks. The unfortunate thing is that I have to walk through Marshall Fields every time I go back and forth from work to school. It's getting trickier and trickier to sneak these finds into the house.

US Treatment of Asylum Seekers

Below is an article that appeared in today's NY Times. It's kind of long, but I think it says a lot about America's floundering justice system. The United States floats on this reputation as being a champion for human rights, but the immigration policies relative to the treatment of asylum seekers is pathetic. I could rant in general about how broken our penal system is, but to lock up refugees--in particular, women and children--is downright embarrassing and, I think, makes a mockery of international law.

Asylum Seekers Treated Poorly, U.S. Panel Says
By NINA BERNSTEIN and MARC SANTORA
Published: February 8, 2005

Thousands of people who come to the United States saying they are seeking refuge from persecution are treated like criminals while their claims are evaluated - strip-searched, shackled and often thrown into solitary confinement in local jails and federal detention centers - a bipartisan federal commission found in a report to be released today.

The report, by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency created by Congress in 1998, describes an ad hoc system run by the Department of Homeland Security that has extreme disparities in who is released or granted asylum, depending on whether someone seeks refuge in Texas or New York, comes from Iraq or Haiti, or is represented by a lawyer.

The New York metropolitan region ranks among the harshest in terms of the conditions of detention centers, with constant surveillance, stark quarters and degrading treatment. Those awaiting a court decision on asylum are also less likely to be freed. For example, 3.8 percent of asylum seekers were freed from the detention center in Elizabeth, N.J., compared with 94 percent in San Antonio. There were 8.4 percent released from the detention center in Queens, while in Chicago 81 percent were let go.

One of the experts who examined the centers for the commission, Craig Haney, a psychologist who briefed the Senate Judiciary Committee on the subject yesterday, said he was shocked by what he found.

"I was taken aback by the severity of conditions, the severity of deprivations and, frankly, the expense," he said in an interview. He said that one of 19 centers examined handled asylum seekers differently from criminals - in Broward County, Fla., where many seeking refuge are from Cuba and where former Cuban refugees form a potent political force. At $83 a day, the Florida center costs less than half the $200 per detainee of the Queens detention center, though both are run by the same company.

The report said that women and children seeking asylum, "whose trauma histories and emotional needs may be more severe and require more specialized training," were at greater risk of harm.

Among other recommendations, the commission urged that a high-level protector of refugees be appointed to monitor the system and correct inequities.

Manny Van Pelt, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within Homeland Security that oversees the detention of asylum seekers, defended the system.
"We have a robust inspections program that conducts audits of our detention facilities nationwide, and our detention facilities are accredited and subjected to regular inspection by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees," he said in an interview. "They are clean and they are safe environments. Even better, the detention system protects the public."

The commission had been asked by Congress to examine the effectiveness of the nation's asylum regulations, created in part as a response to the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, in an effort to balance the country's desire to shelter those suffering from persecution abroad with its need to keep out criminals and terrorists.

The system, known as expedited removal, requires those seeking asylum at airports and borders to be sent back immediately unless they are found to have a "credible fear" of persecution when questioned by immigration officers. Those who pass the test - a vast majority - are then detained until an immigration judge decides the validity of their claim. Unless they are released pending a decision, the average detainee is held for 64 days and a third stay more than 90 days - some even years, the report found.

The number of asylum seekers, and the rate at which they are freed, have both dropped sharply since the terrorist attacks of 2001, the study showed. But rates of asylum also differed sharply by national groups between 2000 and 2004, with more than 80 percent of Cubans given a permanent right to stay, along with more than 60 percent of Iraqis. By contrast, just more than 10 percent of those from Haiti and fewer than 5 percent of those from El Salvador were granted asylum. Detainees represented by lawyers were up to 30 times more likely to gain asylum, but in some places fewer than half the detainees had lawyers.

With the exception of the operation at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, the report found that asylum seekers were not pressed to withdraw their asylum claims before the interview, nor were claims summarily denied. But it found that judges often wrongly used airport statements to deny asylum later.

Before the change in the law, only asylum seekers with criminal records were detained. Now, nearly all are locked up with ordinary criminals. In 2003, 5,585 men and 1,015 women seeking asylum were jailed. To cut down on that number, the commission recommended that the airport interviewers, and not just immigration judges, be given the authority to grant asylum on the spot when warranted.

Severe psychological damage is among the effects of throwing people seeking refuge together with criminals in "stark conditions," the report said, describing 24-hour lights, chained walks to go eat, no privacy even to use the toilet and little chance to exercise outdoors. Detainees are allowed to work but paid $1 a day.

Five of the 19 detention centers examined had mental health staff, and none had guards trained to work with victims of torture or repression. In most places the treatment for those considered suicidal was solitary confinement. A footnote pointed out that isolation was "likely to exacerbate depression," not prevent suicide.

"The whole detention system is there to break you down further," one former detainee told interviewers in the report. "You are not even allowed to cry. If you do, they take you to isolation."

Cut off from the outside world and not allowed incoming calls, even from a lawyer, the detainees are at high risk for depression, the commission said, and some even said they gave up their quest for asylum because of the unbearable conditions.

Since the 1996 change in immigration law, critics have complained that the system is subjecting those fleeing torture and repression to harsh conditions in detention that can drag on for years. But this is the first bipartisan examination based on an inside view.

One of the Republican commission members, Michael K. Young, the president of the University of Utah and an adviser to President George H. W. Bush, said great pains were taken to make the two-year effort politically balanced. "That is one of the things that gives this report real strength," he said.

Preeta D. Bansal, a Democrat who chaired the commission, said more research is needed, especially on the reasons for the sharp drop in asylum seekers. "We have been told that in foreign countries the Department of Homeland Security is being employed to prevent people from even getting on board airplanes," said Ms. Bansal, a former solicitor general of New York State. "We think further follow-up needs to be done."

The report comes the same week that asylum legislation is to be introduced in the House by Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., a Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Among other provisions, the bill, known as the Real ID Act, would make it harder for refugees to get asylum.

Costly Cookies

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/04/costly.cookies.ap/index.html

Asylum Hearing

I went to our client's asylum hearing this morning. Three of my school friends also came to watch. I was so nervous for our client--my stomach was all knotted up. He's a member of a political party in the Republic of Guinea that is opposed to the country's military dictatorship. Because of his party activities he was imprisoned twice and tortured repeatedly--has horrible lasting scars from this torture. Members of his family have been attacked, raped, and killed because of their political affiliations. Finally he fled the country to come to the USA. He's waited a very long time (five years) to have his case heard by the immigration judge, and in the time he hasn't seen his wife and children, who are in a refugee camp. Usually the immigration judge grants or denies a case in the same day, but she did not issue a decision today. She is inclined to grant the case, however, pending results on some credibility issues (they check fingerprints and photographs to make sure that he doesn't have a criminal record, etc.). Obviously it would have been wonderful to get a grant today, but we are very happy with the results and will be filing a motion to grant asylum at his next hearing in May.

I had hoped to be back at school by noon because we had a great speaker come in, Joe Marguiles. He is a professor at the University of Chicago, and has been representing detainees at Guantanamo bay. He was counsel in a landmark case last year (Rasul v. Bush) and was recently in the news because of the Habib case (the Australian guy who was recently released). Our student chapter of the National Lawyer's Guild (progressive lawyer's association/alternative to ABA) brought him in to speak last semester and he was amazing. My classmates left the hearing early, but I decided to stay, so I didn't make it back to school in time to see Mr. Marguiles. It sounds like he had a great socratic-style lecture on torture that I missed out on. Greg and I stopped for lunch on our way back from court and I got back to school just in time to slip into Constitutional Law.

Summra, Mike and I went to Happy Hour at Eli's after class to discuss the founding of the UST Amnesty International Chapter. We're hoping to show some films and bring in some speakers etc. If any of you know of a potential speaker please let me know. The Federalist Society is kicking our butts at bringing speakers to the school so we're trying to get some representation. Right now we're looking for a good speaker to talk about prisoners of conscience in Cuba or China.

Am planning to spend the night at the library catching up on everything I should have done this weekend when I was busy washing my silk dress and going to Law Prom.

Sushi

Took a break from studying at 7pm to have dinner with Shad, Dave & Jen at Midori's Floating Island Restaurant on Lake Street. Had some delicious sushi and tempura shrimp and vegetables.

After dinner had to run across the river to Greg's (my boss) house to drop off the exhibit for the hearing tomorrow. I always get out of whack in St. Paul. I know it's psychological. For the most part the streets are nice and straight but I feel like I never know where I am. The streets names have no reason. At least in Minneapolis they're alphabetical, numerical, chronological Presidents, etc.

Have a paper due Tues--can't seem to get working on it. Have been a little bit cranky all day. Should probably just go to bed and do the paper tomorrow. Am sick of being at the library.

Buca::Ryan Kelly::Law Prom

After a few pathetic hours in the library yesterday, I decided to go home and figure something out for Law Prom. I decided to wear a pink silk dress that I made a few years ago. I last wore it at Matt & Angie's wedding, where I got a little stain on the front. I should say, you can't even see the stain unless you're standing in the light just so. I spent the afternoon trying to remove the stain--lovingly hand-washing it, treating with Oxy-Clean (I LOVE OXY!), un-taping and re-taping the hem. (Ah, yes, here's a practical tip: If you're too lazy to sew a hem on your dress [as here] or just afraid of ruining the fabric [as here--was a very nice silk] just tape it! It works just fine until you have to wash it). I won't belabor this. The point is that after much hand-washing, re-taping, air-drying and ironing, (and being scared to death the whole time that I was going to ruin the silk) the stain existed in exactly the same form it had been in hours earlier. I wore it anyway.

We had dinner at Buca with about 15 law school buddies. Buca is always delicious but I usually feel like napping or throwing up afterwards. We had calamari, chicken marsala, macaroni rosa, spaghetti aglio oglio (just 'cuz it was fun to say) and garlic mashed potatoes. Oh and a 3-liter bottle of Chianti. Was a great meal.

After dinner, Shad and I ran over to Ox-Op gallery for the opening of Ryan Kelly's show. His stuff is really creepy and neat. Then we zipped over to dinkytown to grab a quick cup of coffee at Espresso Royale before going to law prom. We saw Shad's "Ashtray Hearts" poster on the bulletin board at Espresso Royale--thought that was pretty sweet.

Law prom turned out to be super fun. We did a lot of dancing and drinking and eating. I have some pretty cool classmates--should have taken a few photos to post. We stayed pretty late.

Got up at 8 and came down to work. Am putting together some very last-minute evidence for an asylum hearing tomorrow. Have been working with a private investigator in West Africa who doesn't speak English and my rudimentary French is barely enough common language for us to get by. Finally got the document I needed from him via email this morning, so this is a weight off my shoulders. Now am working on a brief for another asylum case (this one at the Board of Immigration Appeals) and then will go to school for awhile to work on some research and a client advice letter for class. Who wants to watch the stupid superbowl anyway?

Battle of Algiers

Watched The Battle of Algiers last night on DVD. It was amazing. The French had grossly underestimated what the Algerian people would sacrifice for their independence and their pride. Was awesome. I love historical documentary type films like that.

Seam Ripper

Have been searching for the seam ripper for a half hour and am feeling like total loser. Could have been to Wal-Mart and back by now (only seam-ripper-store open at this hour) but refuse to patronize that business. Also could have made it to Amy's and back by now but love Amy too much and probably would not have returned home until several hours/bottles of wine later. Dang. Am going to cut my losses and wear different dress. Boo!

Incidentally, I found two pea-coat buttons during the search. Authentic. From Navy pea-coat that has since been delivered to Goodwill (minus two buttons). I know those suckers are hard to find and also know they often fall off so email me or post comment if you want them.

Rosa Parks

It's Rosa Parks's 92nd birthday today!

Law Prom

Dang!

I had been planning to wear this fabulous Jackie-O-ish gold gown to Law Prom tomorrow night. I got the dress about four years ago at a groovy little boutique in Boston. (Amy and I drove to Boston that summer & went to every vintage clothing store we could find there). What I forgot until I tried the dress on about 10 minutes ago is that I have gained about 15 pounds since that trip. So now I want to alter the dress, but I can't find my seam-ripper. How is this possible? How do I lose a seam-ripper! I used to have about 50 of those stupid things! Ack! Dang it! I should run over to Amy's house and borrow hers. I tried to sew my Supergirl costume for Halloween this year without the seam-ripper, and spent an awful amount of time trying to rip apart a seam using a scissors and a needle. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Just opened a bottle of cheap red wine. This is called "Jindalee"--a 2003 Shiraz with an orange turtle on the front. $6.99. It's pretty decent but too sweet (raspberry-ish.)

From 4-8 tonight I went to a CLE ("Continuing Legal Education") with Geoff and Summra. It was a panel on art and entertainment law. The attorneys who spoke represented rock bands, film producers, etc. Very cool stuff. I'm not interested in that so much, but with so many (v. talented) friends in comics I'm thinking it would definately be worthwhile to be able to offer some competent advice/representation and hopefully help them in their careers. After the presentation there were drinks and appetizers so we stuck around to socialize etc. I ran into an old co-worker from Chino Latino. Was great to catch up with her--she's going to school at Mitchell now and is also interested in immigration so we'll have to keep in touch.

Bar Review

Am going to The Lodge tonight for Bar Review. Bar Review is a law school, er..."networking" activity...we review a new bar every week. I usually don't make it to bar review but tonight is special because for every $5 we donate to the Tsunami fundraising committee, they'll give us a free drink. (You can be sure this was orchestrated once again by our little world-saver, Summra)

It's Leigh Anne's birthday today! http://www.livejournal.com/users/askthegnome/

State of the Union

Here's what Al Jazeera is reporting about Bush's State of the Union address:

Bush launches staunch warning against Iran and Syria 2/3/2005 3:00:00 PM
"The U.S. President George W. Bush prepared the world for more death and destruction on Wednesday when he warned Iran and Syria that they were next in his sight and that he would confront them." ...

Meanwhile, Fox is telling us the speech was about Social Security, and the BBC and Agence France Presse reported that the speech was about freedom, liberty, and democracy.

Whoopsy, doopsy!

Thanks for visiting!

I just sent a group email inviting family and friends to the blog.

If you are a family or friend, welcome! The truth is I felt real shy (me??? no!!!!)(REALLY!) sending the email because I know how self-serving this is.

But then I thought about how I check my friends' blogs every day and I really like seeing what they're up to.

So I'm going to roll with it.

Again, thanks for visiting! Come back often & leave me comments! (Words of desparation/longing from someone who has been at school since 8:30 a.m....)

Big Time Attic is cool

Sometimes people ask me, "What does Shad do?" I used to say "I don't know" until he started sending me the Attic's monthly news letter.

It always brings joy.

You should subscribe! In addition to finding out what Shad does, you can have a shot at winning a fabulous prize every month! Whee hoo!!!! Go to: www.bigtimeattic.com/mailinglist

The truth is, he does a lot of cool stuff. Like this: http://www.bigtimeattic.com/albums/es_poster.html

Sodomy Laws! Adultery!

Mood: Happy and Amused
Music: Coltrane

Money cannot buy the entertainment I got this afternoon in Crim Law. The discussion was about the constitutionality of sodomy laws. Let me just say it was class act.

Did you know that in Minnesota, a woman could be imprisoned for one year for committing adultery? [MSA §609.36(1)] Although the male in that relationship could be prosecuted by law, there is no corresponding statute for married men. Wow, this fair progressive state is right up there with, um...Syria?

The Outside World

Had lunch today with Scott & Beth Marks. I ended up on a treadmill next to Scott at the Y a few weeks ago and we decided to meet for lunch. They are both attorneys working at *big* *fancy* firms downtown so of course I think they are super cool and it's always nice to see that there is life on the other side of law school and to hear their opinions on school, etc. They're great.

We went to Roly Poly Sandwiches and I had my standby--the basil cashew chicken. It is super yummy--chicken, sprouts, avocado, sri racha, cashews, leaf lettuce--man, I love food.

Baby Ruth

I'm giving it to you straight here. I was brought up a down-home rural Minnesota girl and among other things this has instilled in me a great appreciation for bars. Summra organized a fundraiser today to help rebuild a village in Sri Lanka that was destroyed by the Tsunamis. I contributed some Baby Ruth Bars. I sneaked a few for myself (& obviously cleaned out the bowl and spoon)...

Baby Ruth Bars:

1 c. corn syrup
1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar

Stir in saucepan over medium heat until smooth. (I don't bring it to a boil)

THEN, while still warm, stir in:

6 cups corn flakes, 2/3 cup peanuts, and 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Spread in (greased) pan. Try to let it cool before you dig in!

Wear RED on Friday

Friday, February 4, is the American Heart Association's National Wear Red Day. Join Americans nationwide by wearing red to raise awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women.

Creepy!

I'm alone in the library with Baby Secrets! When she's in an upright position (as now), her glassy blue eyes are WIDE open. I took her out of the box earlier tonight and now I'm too creeped out to put her back in the box ...I don't want to touch her.

I was suddenly made aware of my aloneness with Baby Secrets because there was a gold bow haphazardly stuck to her box (a second-hand gift bow, I can only assume, stolen from the 8-year-old girl that Baby Secrets ate prior to her mysterious appearance at our Queen Ave abode) and it suddenly fell off the box onto the ground just a moment ago. As far as I can tell, no external force caused the bow to fall. I was just sitting here, alone, reading Con Law... I'm telling myself that time had eroded the bow's stickiness and it was bound to just fall off sooner or later....right?...

I thought it would be funny as hell to get Baby Secrets on some kind of motion sensor and settle her between some books on these shelves.

"I'm your best friend!"
"I have a secret only you can hear!"
"I want to eat your family!"
"I'm a happy baby secrets!"

Fightin' the Man

Met with a guy tonight from Project 504, a non-profit in my neighborhood dealing with housing issues. I'll start volunteering there next week--my job is to review weekly Supreme Court and Appellate Court opinions in MN to find cases relating to landlord-tenant law. Then I'll write a summary of the case in lay person's terms to disseminate to a group of advocates and pro bono attorneys who work on tenant advocacy issues in the area.

That taste in your mouth

Mood: Craving something
Music: Ornette Coleman

You know how sometimes there's a delicious or horrific taste in your mouth that sticks around for weeks or months? Right now, I have four lingering tastes: Delicious: creamed peas w/shallots, made by Dave & Jen a few weeks ago, Leigh Anne's killer curry, and gingersnaps that Molly and I made in early December (consisting of approx. 90% butter). The bad taste is a mocha from Loring Coffee that tasted like pennies. It was about a month ago, but it was just that bad.

Bad Carma

I got in my Kia this morning & noticed that my stereo was stolen.

I've been leaving my car unlocked for some time now. I started doing it because sometimes the locks would freeze open and sometimes they'd freeze shut, and I was sick of cranking on the door and/or climbing in through the passenger seat. Since I have a detachable CD face, and I don't have anything else of value in the car, I just decided to leave it unlocked, thinking if someone really wants to get in my car, they'll break the window anyway.

Well, no other cars on our street appeared to have been broken into, so I guess maybe it would have helped to lock the doors. On the other hand, I sure am grateful that I don't have to pay to replace a window. I wonder why they didn't take any of my law books from the back seat?

On Saturday, Paul (neighbor) woke us up to inform us that our Subaru had just been smacked in a hit & run. It was just after 9 a.m. He heard it, and saw the car drive away from his living room window--didn't get a license plate number but was sure it was a gray car. He and Shad went out to survey the damage and after a few minutes decided to drive around and try to find the guy.

Check it out. They actually found the guy about a mile away. Unbelievable. The guy pulled over on a side street, and Shad pulled over in front of him. There was a dumpster in between them so the guy didn't really see Shad, but Shad could see in his side-view mirror that the guy was just sitting in the car. He called the cops.

The cops showed up, and told the guy to put his hands up. Cop opened the car door and the first thing that comes out is an open container. Dude is drunk. Cop searches him and finds a bag of weed and a bunch of money. The cop looks in the trunk and finds a safe, more money, a bunch of baggies and a huge stash of weed.

Awesome.

I decided to bring Baby Secrets to the library. She's been a big hit, but I will admit that several surrounding tables have cleared out and glances have been thrown my way that I could describe only as "sidelong."