Clinton v. Obama: Experience

Lets look at the "35 years of experience" that the Clinton Camp keeps harping on:

The Facts:

Senator Barack Obama

1996-2004 (Illinois State Senator)

2005-2008 (United States Senator)

12 Years of Elected Office Experience

Senator Hillary Clinton

2001-2008 (United States Senator)

7 Years of Elected Office Experience

(FYI - George W. Bush had 6 years in office before the presidency)

So, 35 years that Hiliary keeps talking about, less 7 years of elected office = 28 years

Here are the remaining 28 years -

8 Years (Lawyer)

12 Years (First Lady of Arkansas)

8 Years (First Lady of the U.S.)

28 Years of Zero Elected Office Experience

Since when is 20 years of being a first lady equal the type of experience needed to be president?

Does that mean that the wife/husband of a heart surgeon is qualified to transplant my heart?

Don't let Clinton Supporters blindly throw "experience" in the face of voters - share this with other voters.

At the very least, it is absurd to imply that being a member of a state legislative body is not "experience" while being the spouse of a governor or president is.

Her experience is valid, and important - but it does not significantly distance her from Barack Obama in a discussion about who is ready to lead this country.

Stay Tuned...

Top 10 Signs Its Exam Time

Direct from the home office in Knoxville, Tennessee -

The Top 10 signs its exam time:

10. The lights in the law school have switched to "reserve power" meaning that I am at the law school after 1:30am;

9. I have not slept in more hours than I can count;

8. My diet consists mostly of sugar free red bull, diet coke and pharmaceuticals (as properly prescribed, don't get the wrong idea);

7. Aaron needs a haircut;

6. I am buying CDs on iTunes just to avoid listening to The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack for the 40th time today;

5. I can feel my heart beating in my throat;

4. I am wasting time desperately trying to come up with ten items for this list instead of finishing my take-home Disability Law exam;

3. I've taken to watching season 2 of Prison Break as a means of rewarding myself for solid stretches of diligent work;

2. I'm going to waste even more time by taking this away message and posting it on the blog; and

The #1 sign that it is exam time again:

I just had to go back and reverse the numbering on this list because I'm so tired that I screwed it up. Yet, I was so concerned about this away message that I was willing to waste the time to fix it instead of doing my work!

Stay Tuned...

Roadtrip Anyone?

What better way to cleanse the body of the Tennessee Bar Exam than a 11461 mile, 4 week road trip?

Knoxville, TN to Fairbanks AK (by way of Lake Nebagamon, WI and the BWCAW)

to Vancouver, BC

to Seattle, WA

to Los Angelas, CA

to Las Vegas, NV

to Salt Lake City, UT

to Denver, CO

to Santa Fe, NM

to Jaurez Mexico

to San Antonio, TX

to Austin, TX

to Dallas, TX

to Houston, TX

to Memphis, TN

to Knoxville, TN.

11461 miles.

183 hours of driving - according to Yahoo! Maps.

A visit to Camp Nebagamon.

A night or two in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

A week in Denali National Park.

A day or two in British Columbia.

A drive down the Pacific Coast.

A day or two in L.A.

Three nights in Vegas.

The Great Salt Lake.

The Grand Canyon.

A voyage of literary proportions. The kind of trip that will wash our lives of all the mundane and clear our souls for the begining of the rest of our lives.

Done on the cheap, with no firm plans, reservations or accommodations - just a starting date, an ending date and a list of things to do.

The things we dream of during exams.

Stay Tuned...

The Procrastination Flowchart

This was found at the My Million Dollar January blog.

Very accurate, and probably made while someone was procrastinating.

Stay Tuned...

Let me save us all the trouble...

Let me save you the trouble.

I hate Auburn.

I hate Tennessee.

I hate LSU.

I hate going 6-6.

I hate losing to Auburn.

I hate losing to LSU.

I love beating Tennessee.

I am embarrassed to lose to La. Monroe.

I'm not embarrassed to lose to Miss St.

I'm embarrassed to have lost to Auburn tonight.

You want to talk shit about my coach being paid $4 Million dollars and going 6-6?

I'll be happy to point you in the direction of Mike Shula and the talent that he left on this roster.

I'll be happy to make excuses.

I'll tell you all about injuries, and the poor play of John Parker Wilson.

I've got all that if you want to hear it.

What I really want to tell you is that 6-6 doesn't matter.

That the calendar year of 2007 will be judged by the recruiting class - the 22 commits, two 5-star and twelve 4-star kids - and what they mean to the program when the are two years into their college career.

You want to talk shit about Nick Saban?

That is jealousy, because the god's honest truth is that every school in the country would take him at the helm of their program.

Every Auburn fan would take Nick Saban.

Every UT fan would take Nick Saban.

Every LSU fan would take Nick Saban.

Well he is the Alabama Coach, and as long as Coach Nick Mother Fucking Saban coaches in Tuscaloosa the future is bright.

Yeah, we went 6-6.

Yeah, that sucks.

Yeah, Auburn has won 6 straight against us.

Yeah, that sucks too.

But watch out...and enjoy it while you can.

Roll Tide Roll!

Stay Tuned...

Law School: The Musical

For those of you in need of a break from the realities of law school (or practicing law) - feast your eyes on this classic video:

Click here to watch "Law School Musical"

I hope this has helped stem the stress of the "early exam prep" period and given you the burst of energy you need to keep mindlessly typing up those hand-written notes you took. That was a bright idea, in retrospect...

Props to Jhasta Moore for the find - I can't take credit for this diamond.

Stay Tuned...

Radiohead Fights Piracy - Gives Away New CD Online!

So called "Music Piracy" has dominated the intellectual property headlines ever since Lars Ulrich (of Metallica) decided to punish his fans and take on Napster. Well the times they are a changing. For those of you who are not aware, Radiohead has found a new way to fight music piracy - Give the music away to your fans and allow them to pay as much or as little (£0.00) as they feel like paying! You heard me right! The new album In Rainbows is available at Radiohead.com for any amount.

A recent survey of U.K. listeners indicated that as much as 2/3 of all downloaders paid some amount to the band, and some paid as much as £20 (almost $40). One Radiohead fan even paid £100 for the album! The early reports are that Radiohead will ultimately make the same profit that they traditionally make. This will set an interesting precedent in the music world. Clearly there are only a handful of bands that could afford to take such a gamble. In the last 15 years (since piracy became an issue) bands have relied heavily on concert ticket sales to balance out their bottom line. With that being the trend (and ticket prices going up as much as 40% over that span), will more artist take a gamble on the "good faith" of their consumer and put their work out for public consumption? Perhaps the larger issue is the quality of the music that many of the artist are putting out today.

I can personally say that I did not pay anything to download the album. That being said, if I like it I will go back to the site and pay them something (though I am not sure how much) for the music. I am a firm believer in rewarding artists that put out quality music, not just 15 tracks of crap and 1 radio-play single.

Legally Radiohead, unlike many artist who sign with big labels without equal bargining power, was in full control of thier music and could make this release if they choose to. There are a lot of other artist who do similar things, but you tend to see that from small artist trying to get their name out there and are thus willing to spread their music far & wide in the hopes of landing a record deal. Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails, has recently taken the music industry head-on in an attempt to put out the second half of the Year Zero album in much the same way. Reznor released this statement October 8th on the Nine Inch Nails Website:

"...as of right now nine inch nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to finally be able to have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate."

The long story short is that artist are starting to stand up for their fans and challenge the record executives. The RCAs and Sonys of the world are nothing without their talent and their fans, and when the two join forces freedom might be obtainable. For now, we will settle for a free album.

Kudos to Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails for taking a chance on their fans - I hope it works out, and I hope other artists learn from it. Thats right Metallica - I'm looking at you.

Stay Tuned...