What Do You Know About the Supreme Court?

I'm about to finish "The Nine," written by CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin. The book is interesting and provides inside information about the court and especially the relationships between the nine justices. For instance, did you know former justice Sandra Day O'Connor (appointed by a Republican but generally a liberal justice) and current justice Antonin Scalia (appointed by a Republican but generally a conservative justice) are very good friends and travel partners? Interesting stuff.

I do have one criticism though. I notice he has a tendency to say "so and so believes this," but does not include a direct quotation or even cite that information in the back. I noticed this particuarly with information on Justice Clarence Thomas. I finished reading Thomas' memoir a few months ago and found the information in Toobin's book to contradict. Anyway...just a heads up. Eric, I know you read it...what do you think? P.S., I called the justices either liberal or conservative. Technically, that's not correct. It is better to say something along the lines of living constitutionalist (liberal) or textualist/strict-constitutionalist (conservative).

Snapshots Of My Journey....

Pyramids of Giza (outside Cairo)

Valley of the Kings (location of King Tut's tomb)

Garden of Gesthemane (where Jesus prayed before his death).

Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where Jesus is said to have been crucified).

Hmmm...What to Blog About?

I'm sitting on the couch in my living room...doing homework. I'm still studying for my American Foreign Relations final. I'm presently looking over the 9/11 Commission Report (which is actually an interesting ready) and comparing it to U.S. Policy toward the Middle East since WW2. I have the final at 8AM-10AM tomorrow. Then my Metals Studio final from 10:30AM-12:30PM. Then I will be done. So the question remains: what are you doing right now?

Huh?

I’m studying for my History of American Foreign Relations final. This class is enough to make me wish I was not a Political Science major (not really, but you get the point). I’m looking at the study guide right now which has 18 questions. He will randomly pick two and require us to answer them. Here is just one of the questions. If you can answer this, I’ll give you a million dollars (not really, but you get the point).

“Contrast the post-Vietnam realism of Nixon and Kissinger with the neo-Wilsonian idealism of Jimmy Carter. What long-term tendencies in foreign policy approaches do they exemplify? What can you endorse in the views and actions of each? What makes you feel uncomfortable in each case? Contrast the spirit of détente in the 1970’s with renewed Cold War rhetoric of the early 1980’s. Again: what do you approve, and what do you regret, in each case?"

Now Its Time to Say Goodbye...

Graduation is Saturday. I am thankful it comes so soon. But in the meantime, I have what should be an unlawful amount of homework to do. Three finals, one paper, one art project etc. Nonetheless, it's a great time in life and I'm thankful for it.

Count 'Em: Seven Days!

Only seven days until I leave on my trip. First stop: Tel Aviv. I will be staying with a friend of my parents they know from church. She works at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and it should be very interesting to learn from her while we're there. After a few days in Tel Aviv, I will travel to Jerusalem for eight days. Then a few random stops around the country and I'll be off to Egypt. As we say in the "biz," more information as we get it.

Will She Stay or Will She Go?

That is the question all of American wants the answer to. You'll remember over the weekend the DNC ruled that delegates from Michigan and Florida will count as "half-votes." That means bad news (and trouble) for Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign. Tomorrow is the last of primaries (with voters in Montana and South Dakota going to the polls). Then what happens next? It seems any normal person would drop out. But Senator Clinton? Who knows. As my friend Eric points out, if you look at the word "fighter" in the dictionary, you see a picture of the Clinton family. For the sake of news and my own love for political unrest, I hope she fights it all the way to the convention.

Also..here's some interesting information from the Associated Press.

Next stop: Montana primary
At stake: 16 Democratic delegates
2004: George W. Bush won the state with 59 percent in the presidential election.
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Next stop: South Dakota primary
At stake: 15 Democratic delegates
2004: George W. Bush won the state with 60 percent in the presidential election.