What do you want for dinner? at 10:53 PM

Not much happened this week and I'm pretty tired so I figured I would post a video:

BCW at 11:40 PM

My birthday is almost over and it is time for another blog.

I had a great BCW! (Birthday Celebration Weekend for those out of the loop) Had a practice test on Friday that went decently but after that, it was time to go to The Barrister’s Ball, or what we named it- Law Prom.

It was a night for us to get all dressed up and awards for teachers and such.

On Saturday, I went out to sushi with friends and of course Lara. I had a rough morning but those usually follow good nights.

Guy at my right is my friend Chris who is in all my classes

Two on the left are my study group Cheri and Pat- Guy on the right is Pat's roommate Luke

When Lara arrived for the weekend she had my presents all wrapped and in the car and had me carry them in. What Lara did not know is that I am good at figuring out what are inside presents before they are unwrapped, which is probably one of the reasons I dislike wrapping paper. Before I got from the car to my place, she was not happy that I knew what was in each box. My dad used to wrap my gifts in other boxes or do something to throw off the weight. He would also switch names on the gifts so I could not figure it out. I finally got an old timey popcorn machine!

::1 week until spring break::

it is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. the sane are usually attracted by other things than power. --david brin

The City at 10:37 PM

Had to catch up with schoolwork as I neglected it this weekend when my dad came in to town with my cousin and we headed up to San Fran. Lara’s parents were also in town so it was fun to see everyone for this President’s Day weekend.

After showing my family around Santa Clara (not much to do), we headed up to San Fran (where there is tons to do). We parked in Chinatown and our parking spot came with its own fortune:

We walked through Chinatown, where Brandon said he felt like a giant, through Little Italy, which has a couple of nice churches (this being one of them:)

One thing my dad insisted on was getting clam chowder at the pier so that was our first order of business:

We also went down to Pier 39 to see how the sea lions were getting along and got to see the ones too lazy to make the trip. Sometime in the fall, the sea lion clan that hung out at Pier 39 disappeared. Some say they went with the fishing, which has not been so good around the bay, and it had something to do with climate change.

My pops and Brando had to head back to catch a plane, so I hung around with Lara and her parents and did the touristy thing. Here is Lara looking cute outside Ghirardelli:

This weekend is my birthday and Barrister’s Ball, which is like a law school prom. I will make sure to have a good post next weekend as well.

:: deuce caboose::
if the destructive dice-box has pleasures for the father, the son will be a gambler. ~proverb~

Gah! at 10:52 PM

Had a busy weekend of me actually doing things so I hope you will forgive the substantive post being held over until tomorrow.

::deuces::

Not So Big Easy at 10:35 PM

In lieu of the great win my Nawlins this evening, I figured I would share my thoughts on a story that came out a couple of weeks ago. It is from New Orleans and is about prostitution. (Linkage)
The article is about how they are using the law to label arrested prostitutes as sex offenders.

There is no logical reason this law helps the problem. I will not even go in to how I do not see prostitution as being a crime in the first place as it hurts no one but willing participants. The law itself traps women in to still being prostitutes. If you are a woman in New Orleans and labeled a sex offender because you are a prostitute, what hope of getting a better job do you have? What job does not require a background check or an impressive resume? If you guessed prostitution, you are right. How are these people supposed to be “rehabilitated?”

I have an even bigger problem with the people who made the law. Who is the criminal in this scenario? Undercover stings typically are the device to bust a prostitute. The crime being committed cannot happen if there is not a willing male participant, but the public typically frowns on the man and sends them on their way. The truly evil person is the prostitute. Whom does the law not label as a sex offender? If you guess the man, you are amazing at my prostitution Q & A.

The point of a sex offender label is to protect those who are not of the right age or mind to consent to sexual acts. They label the true criminal as a sex offender, especially given the high recidivism (reoffending) rate of sex crimes, in order to protect the public and track them (Ice T busting them in the head is also a plus). Instead, the people in charge are perverting the law in order to hold consenting teenagers and now prostitutes in the same arena with people who perform sex acts with children.

While it might be hard out there for a pimp, I always thought prostitutes had it rougher.

::who dat?::
anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not. --václav havel