JMBzine.com
















by J. M. Branum

JMBzine.com is a free and independent media outlet protected by the Bill of Rights, First Amendment.

ABOUT ME:
  • 27 yr old male
  • jesus disciple
  • 2d yr. law student
  • peace activist
  • an okie green
  • former austinite
  • writer

    Email: jmb(at)jmbzine.com

    icq me

    sign guestbook

    view guestbook

    < ? austinbloggers # >

    < ? law blogs # >

    powered by blogger

    with help from blogskins

    Hosted by AJY Design

    This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?


    visits since 8 Aug, 2001
    FastCounter.com

    Visitors:


    Creative Commons License
    This work is licensed under a
    Creative Commons License.



    favorite L-student blogs

    - Sua Sponte -
    - Janeway speaks -
    - Omer Poos -
    - Mellow-drama -
    - Zipsix.com -


    blogs by L students, Pre-law geeks, and recent L school grads

    - AndrewRaff.com -
    - gTexts -
    - Mad Tea Party -
    - disLEXia -
    - Method2Madness -
    - Tarheel Pundit -
    - Waddling Thunder -
    - Ambivalent Imbroglio -
    - damn the muse -
    - Jeremy's weblog -
    - Jewish Buddha -
    - Liable -
    - Math class for poets -
    - Off the fence -
    - Paul's Boutique -
    - thelifeoferin -
    - retrorocket -
    - The Rattler -
    - Santagati.com -
    - beingkate.com -
    - Statonlaw.net -
    - Antioch Road -
    - Volokh -


    Austin blogs

    confessionalism.com
    Bedheaded
    emoomega
    Indieandra
    kaci archer
    goodmorning
    Creamy


    Music I adore

    The Magnetic Fields
    Robert Earl Keen
    The Great Divide
    Madison Greene
    Miranda Stone
    UHQ
    Bill & VOL
    Five Iron Frenzy
    Brave Saint Saturn
    The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
    Belle & Sebastian
    Cake



    Music I dig

    Steve Earle
    Calibretto 13
    Nickel Creek
    Gillian Welch
    S. Austin Jug Band
    Jim's Big Ego
    The Decemberists
    Echoing Green
    Cross Canadian Ragweed
    Guardian
    Finch
    Natalie Merchant
    Rusted Root
    The Asylum Street Spankers
    Barenaked Ladies
    Blues Traveler
    Jimmy Eat World
    Lenny Smith
    Alison Krauss
    Cherokee Nat. Children's Choir
    Delirious
    Duncan Sheik
    Iron Butterfly
    Austin Lounge Lizards
    Bela Fleck
    Bad Faces Clan
    Bob Marley
    Bruce Hornsby
    Fleming and John
    Element 101
    Ballydowse
    The Crossing
    Havalina Rail Company
    Godspeed you...
    Jeff Buckley
    Nick Drake
    They Might Be Giants
    The Beatles
    Guster
    AZX
    Pedro the Lion
    Ani DiFranco
    Bob Dylan
    Hank Williams III
    Junior Brown
    Lucinda Williams
    Weird Al Yankovitch
    Brooke Axtell
    Cross Movement
    Gin Blossoms
    Creed
    Shaded Red
    Waterdeep
    Acapella/AVB
    Eli
    K.C. Clifford
    Stryper
    Randy Thompson
    The Elms
    Superchic[k]
    Joy Electric
    Juliana Theory
    Pep Squad
    The Insyderz
    Save Ferris
    Walela
    O.C. Supertones
    Danielson Familie
    Third Day
    Echoing Green
    Chicago
    The Gypsy Kings
    Fold Zandura
    PFR
    MxPx
    Jimmy Buffett
    Jennifer Knapp
    Rick Altizer
    Bob Wills...
    Luke Brindley
    Blink 182
    Green Day
    Phish
    The Cranberries
    Peter, Paul & Mary
    Mamas and Papas
    John Denver

    Internet Radio (don't R.I.P.)

    JMBzine.com Radio
    KTSW - College Radio
    Radio New Braunfels
    Texas Rebel Radio
    Radio1Austin.com
    KHYI.com
    KOKF.com




    Blogroll and random




    Click for Law School Outlines

    Today's Verse
    Random

    Pedi-cab Poetry



    thanks to
    * m a y s t a r *
    designs
    • Monday, June 30, 2003

    Leaving for vacation



      Howdy to my regular readers. I'm heading out tomorrow afternoon for a week of camping in beautiful Eastern Oklahoma. The game plan right now is to head Southeast to Beaver's Bend State Park and then roll northward to make it to the Grand Lake area around the 4th to see the big fireworks display. After that I'm not sure where we're going... maybe Bartlesville and the Tallgrass Praire Preserve?

      In any case this'll be my last post for awhile. (For any friends who need to get in touch with me while I'm away feel free to call my cell phone and leave me v-mail. I'll be out of range most of the time but will likely check messages a time or two during the trip.)

      Also to any friends who will be at Cornerstone Festival this year, I'm sorry I couldn't make it. I really wish I could go but my finances won't permit the transportation to Bushnell, IL. I'm kinda sad about missing it. This would have been my 5th year to attend and I would have loved to have been there for their 20th anniversary. Oh well, Lord willing I'll be there next year.

    posted by JMB at 1:16 AM | link |


    Sunday, June 29, 2003

    Austin Photos - #6



      This is my last set of Austin photos. They show the drive from Zilker Park (where Barton Springs Pools is located) to Mt. Bonnell, and then lots of pictures from on top of the mountain. (the first picture is one of the famous Austin "Moontowers", depicted in the classic movie Dazed and Confused

































    posted by JMB at 4:52 PM | link |


    Austin Photos #5



      These pictures were taken at Barton Springs Pool, located at Zilker Park in South Austin.

































































































    posted by JMB at 4:51 PM | link |


    Austin Photos #4



      These pictures were taken while walking South down the Drag (I really like the new mural at the Rennaissance Market)...
































      The next few pics are from walking through the UT campus to my old Alma Matter Austin Graduate School of Theology. The second picture is of lovely (in a Ghetto kind of way) Tower Manor, my home from 1997-2000, and the next two are of AGS. The rest are mostly of stuff on the UT campus.





































    posted by JMB at 12:35 AM | link |


    Austin Photos #3



      These pictures are from the North end of the Drag (Guadalupe St.)




















      These shots are from Central Market (on North Lamar). The Live Oak Tree that is some of the shots is of one my favorite Austin trees. It is a majestic grandfatherly tree that is in the "Central Park" (a mini park surrounded by Central Market, Austin Heart Hospital and the State Mental Hospital.)














    posted by JMB at 12:07 AM | link |


    Friday, June 27, 2003

    Photos: Austin - Part 2



      Here are the second set of photos from my recent Austin trip. (click on the picture to view a larger version 1600x1200, you're free to use them for noncommercial purposes, click for details)

      More pictures are coming soon...

      This is of Taquieras Arandinas on Riverside. It's not bad but not as good as the Taquieras Arandas on Burnet Road.







      The next few shots were taken on North Lamar around 6th Street. Lots of good stuff there: Book People (killer indy book store), Waterloo Records, and of course the G-M Steakhouse (where the funniest scene in the classic Richard Linklater movie Slacker took place










      The next three shots are of the intersection of MLK and Guadalupe near the UT campus. I lived about 1 block from here from 1997-2000 so I have lots of fond memories of this area, particularly of strolling through the area late at night on my way back from the Dog & Duck. --- One sad memory though is of a bicycle activist who was killed near this intersection by a careless driver on October 2, 1998, Ben Clough.













      These last few pictures are all of the Drag (Guadalupe). So much has changed but a lot has stayed the same (thank God)
























    posted by JMB at 11:02 PM | link |


    Photos: Austin - Part 1




    posted by JMB at 10:38 PM | link |


    Linkback



    • Thanks go out to Aprendizdetodo.com for talking about my earlier post on the Tornado Intercept Vehicle.

    posted by JMB at 10:09 PM | link |


    Big Brother is watching you...



    • E!/Yahoo: Big Brother Is Watching--and Suing --- The RIAA can go to ****. They have no business bellyaching about being stolen from, when they constantly assault our culture with garbage and exploit artists.

      Maybe I'm too dogmatic here but I'm beginning to think that popular mass culture as dictated to us by the RIAA, NAB (National Association of Broadcasters), FCC, etc needs to die. We need to listen and make genuine music, true art, honest literature. It's time that we throw off the chains of social oppression and cultural death! We must rise up with a new kind of revolution, a revolution of the mind, of the heart, of the soul!

      This RIAA thing is just the tip of the iceberg. The issue isn't really how much the RIAA abuses those who buy its products, but rather what these prosecutions say about the RIAA's attitudes towards the people.

      The RIAA and the corporate propaganda scheme as a whole does not care about us. This story makes this clear. The real issue is why do we let them do this to us? Why do we listen to their insipid music? Why do we watch their so-called "reality" tv shows? Why do we let them tell us how to dress, how to look, and how to feel about ourselves?

      No more. It's time to revolt.

    posted by JMB at 2:41 PM | link |


    Austin Skyline



      The picture at the top of this page was taken on Tuesday, June 24 from the deck at the Schlotzky's on South Lamar in Austin.

    posted by JMB at 12:26 AM | link |


    Thursday, June 26, 2003

    Reza Baluchi's visit to Shawnee, OK




    posted by JMB at 3:39 PM | link |


    Oklahoma Law





    posted by JMB at 11:19 AM | link |


    New Blogger



    • Well it looks like today my blogs were all changed to the new Blogger interface. Thus far I really dig the new look and feel.

    posted by JMB at 11:18 AM | link |


    Tuesday, June 24, 2003

    Last hour in Austin



      I'm doing a quick email check here at Schlotzky's before heading to Barton Springs Pool (more info also here)for a quick swim and then hitting the road north to Oklahoma. I have tons of pictures to post later but just wanted to write this now to memorialize the moment for myself. It is so strange how alien yet how familiar things feel in this city full of friendly ghosts. I miss Austin and I haven't left yet, but I also know it is no longer home either. What a strange feeling this is...

    posted by JMB at 5:15 PM | link |


    Monday, June 23, 2003

    Online at Schlotzky's



    • The good news is that they now offer free Wi-fi service at Austin-area Schlotzky's (which is where I am posting this from now). The bad news is that they have poorly done cybernanny type programs that make it impossible to check my web-based email. This is really lame.

    posted by JMB at 7:43 PM | link |


    Goodbye Herbie




    posted by JMB at 2:47 AM | link |


    Sunday, June 22, 2003

    In Austin



      Life is gloriously good here in Austin, TX.

      I left for Austin late, late Thursday night (or rather early Friday morning) and then drove to Ft. Worth, TX. I slept at a roadside rest stop from about 4 a.m. until it got too hot to sleep in my car around 9:30 a.m. and head on South to Austin. Driving into Austin I was struck how much things seemed the same, yet how much things had changed too. Everything was so much more built up than I remembered (especially on the far North side up by Round Rock... aka yuppie suburban h**** with lots and lots of "big box" style stores and the like.) but Central Austin seemed to have not changed much (except for the new skyscraper under construction... not sure what I think of it. It certainly looks cool but I'm not so sure it fits in with the other buildings in the Austin skyline.)

      I got to Austin around 12:30 and came straight to my friend K's house. They live in far South Austin (IMHO, the coolest part of Austin these days. Things are still reasonably cheap there since the yuppies haven't taken over yet, and there are tons of neat little Tacquieras and Mom & Pop kind of places) and hung out there for the rest of the day on Friday and most of Saturday. Lots of good times talking about the good ol' days and arguing about thelogy and politics.

      Then this evening I left to go to the wedding of my friends, Bill and Nicole at Hope Chapel. The wedding itself was wonderful! The sanctuary was PACKED with at least 400 people! (many of them old friends of mine from my days at Hope Chapel and at their sister church Hope in the City) They also had TWELVE groomsmen and TWELVE bridesmaids (more than I've ever seen at a wedding before).

      The ceremony itself was really neat. Jack Dorman (one of the elders at Hope Chapel and long-time worship leader) conducted the ceremony. I just love his humble way of speaking and the kindness he shows everyone that he knows. What I really liked about the ceremony the most was that Jack talked some about how that Bill & Nicole have committed their lives to service to God and to loving Jesus, and that they wanted to celebrate that love on this day. Then they had about 20 minutes of worship music conducted right then with a band and everything. By the end of that time half of the crowd was singing and lifting their hands up and just enjoying that moment in time.

      After the ceremony was over we all headed over to a local hotel for the reception. The reception was SO much fun. For the first half of the night they had a Mariachi band (Nicole is hispanic) and then the rest of the night they had live DJ's for the dancing and food.

      I think the craziest thing was they had what they called "dollar dances" (I asked later and someone told me it was a Mexican tradition) where you gave a dollar bill (or a 5, 10, or 20) to either the bridesmaid or the best man, and then you got to dance with either the groom or the bride for a minute or so until they switched out to someone else. I have never seen anything like that before.

      I finally left at about 12 midnight completely wore out but feeling so good. I saw so many old friends, people I've known in good times and bad, who loved me during all kinds of crap even when I wasn't the easiest guy in the world to get a long with. It was so, so good. (I even saw my old friend Sonia who I haven't seen in years! I was so happy seeing her I almost cried.)

      I know life goes on and I do dig my life in Oklahoma, but I gotta say that being back in Austin with so many of my old friends was so wonderful. I know I'm using way too many superlatives but I can't help it. It really was that good. Right now at this moment I'm already thinking about when I can move back to Austin... hehehe, of course life is far from perfect here either. It's a whole lot harder to live autonomously here, with the high cost of living and everything. I definitely have a lot more freedom in Oklahoma, to be able to someday have a realistic dream of owning my own land and farming someday, but I do miss the community and support and love I felt in Austin. Oh well... I'll enjoy Austin while I can and then go back home to enjoy Oklahoma for everything it is. It's nice to visit where things were good once upon a time but you also have to live in the here and now today.

    posted by JMB at 2:50 AM | link |


    Thursday, June 19, 2003

    It's done



      The law review comment is done. What a bloated monstrosity. I feel like I've given birth to a really ugly baby.

    posted by JMB at 10:34 PM | link |


    More L-school junk



      Well after that last post I talked to my friend K some via icq and that helped. I'm still disappointed but I can't let it shake me. I know I wrote a good exam. If the prof didn't see it that way then phooey on him. Law profs might be smart folks but they're still fallible and sometimes are dead wrong. So there.

      Anyway, tonight I've slugging away on the law review comment. I stayed at the library working on it until 11 p.m. when it closed, and then after that drove over to Perry's (a 24/7 greasy spoon at SW 89th and May in OKC) which turned out to be a very good move. They let you smoke in there which is cool and the vibe is much more laid back than at Denny's, IHOP, or Waffle House. (the food is cheaper too) So anyway I got about half of the "comment" written from 11- 3 a.m. while sitting in there. (I still say if they wanted a "comment" on a case, I could give 'em a good comment in a paragraph or two. "Comment" is most definitely the wrong word for anything that has to be at least 15 pages.)

      So from here, the plan is to crash for a few hours, then in the morning start back on the law review comment and maybe finish it in the late afternoon/early evening so I can turn it in, pack and then hit the road for beautiful Austin, Texas (woohoo!) for a few days of bliss, chilling with my friend K and getting to see all of my old friends from Hope Chapel and Hope in the City.

    posted by JMB at 3:01 AM | link |


    Wednesday, June 18, 2003

    Bitter



      I gotta say the more I think about my Contracts grade the more upset I am. I do not think I got a fair grade at all.

      Sheesh... these grades are B.S. anyway, I don't know I'm letting it get to me.

    posted by JMB at 9:42 PM | link |


    Contracts grade



      The last grade is in. My Contracts grade was lower than I expected. Still respectable but not what I should have received. --- What is insane though is that I got the same grade in Contracts that I made in Property (!). I know Contracts law far better than Property law. I was lost all semester in Property --- heck, I quit paying attention in there around week 2 it was so incomprehensible.

      This proves once again how worthless law school grades are.

      But that's not true either. My grades while good in my eyes probably won't be good enough to get me into OU next year. Maybe I'm wrong about this (i.e. my classmates also went down some in GPA, or less folks apply to transfer than was expected) but I don't feel too hopeful.

      Well at least it is resolved. I do like OCU (Okla. City Univ) a lot. It's a good program (probably better than OU for the practice areas I intend to go into) and I have lots of god friends here, but it is just too jacked-up expensive. It is not worth $730 an hour, and you can guarantee that their continual tuition increases will guarantee that future classes at OCU law will be mostly rich white people, the last thing we need more of in the legal profession.

    posted by JMB at 6:37 PM | link |


    More links on the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (picture posted above)




    posted by JMB at 2:13 AM | link |


    Social Issues



      Here's two links on current social/legal issues in debate. My own view would fall with the "conservatives" on one of them, and with the "liberals" on the other (haha, I'll make everybody mad at me tonight ;-), which says a lot about how useless those labels are...

    • AP: Canada to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

      On this first story I'll probably surprise of my readers by saying I support the Canadian decision.

      It is not because I don't believe in the traditional definition of marriage, but rather that I think the church's definition of marriage and the state's definition of marriage can and should be two seperate things.

      Churches I think have the right (and dare I say the duty) to define marriage among their own members according to their conregation's/denomination's standards. If anything I wish churches held engaged couples to higher standards... required premaritial counseling, etc.

      But the state is something different. Allowing gay people to marry, will insure that all people have equal rights under the law.

      For instance, let's say that a homosexual man is in a horrible car accident and his partner goes to the hospital to see him. Under current law, his partner would have no right to see him. Certainly the hospital might let him visit but they would not have to let him in the same way that they would for a heterosexual spouse of one who is injured.

      Another example is inheritance. A homosexual couple might have bought a house together, but if they are not super-careful in the way they draw up the deed (and/or will), if one partner died, the other would not inherit the partner's half but rather other family member's.To me this is unfair.

      Let churches define marriage as they will, but as far as the government goes civil marriage should be right open to all.

    • AP/CBS: 'Roe' Wants Abortion Case Reversed

        The former plaintiff known as "Jane Roe" in the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion sought to have the case overturned in a motion filed Tuesday that asks the courts to consider new evidence that abortion hurts women.

        Norma McCorvey, who joined the anti-abortion fight nearly 10 years ago and says she regrets her role in Roe v. Wade, said the Supreme Court's decision is no longer valid because scientific and anecdotal evidence that has come to light in the last 30 years has shown the negative effects of abortion.

        "We're getting our babies back," a jubilant McCorvey said at a news conference while flanked by about 60 women, some who sobbed and held signs that read "I regret my abortion."

        "I feel like the weight of the world has just been lifted off my shoulders," said McCorvey, 55. . .


      I think the court should hear this case, because I don't think the court has ever really wrestled with the true issues at stake in abortion... the rights of the mother to control her own body versus the rights of the unborn child to be secure in his or her rights of life and liberty.

      This is not an easy issue and I think the courts took the easy way out in Roe with using the right of privacy argument. Privacy was ONE issue in this case but it was not the only issue.

    posted by JMB at 1:41 AM | link |


    Morpheus gets jury duty?



    • According to Jewish Buddha, Lawrence Fishburn was seen at the courthouse (not sure which one, but I think the Buddha lives in California) waiting his turn for jury duty.

    posted by JMB at 1:01 AM | link |


    Freaking out bad



    • OK, Mr. Contracts Professor. Even if you are one of my favorites (strangely though I'm one of the few in my section who would say this... not sure why folks don't like him. I know some of my classmates can't stand him because he's a liberal, but heck this is law school. What did you expect? So far, I've been disappointed by the lack of political diversity in this joint.), you're starting to push me right over the edge. Why, oh why have you not posted your stupid grades yet?!

      What is pathetic is even though I know all of the folks who work in student services went home for the night about 4 hours ago I keep checking my online report card every hour, just in case my Contracts grade magically will appear.

      Argghhh! Madness I say madness.

      What is really goofy though is the way we all get so worked about these grades when we know the reality is that these meaning-laden letters with little +'s and -'s attached to them really mean NOTHING. I really do believe that the grades show two things: (1) whether you had a little bit of understanding in the subject (but no real grasp... no way to convey a subject's material in 3 hours) and (2) whether you can explain thing in a way the Professor can track with or not.

      Lots of bright intelligent hardworking people will bomb their exams because they can't get into their professor's heads well enough to guess how they want the material to be explained to them in esay format. On the other plenty of other lazy bums (like myself) will not be that prepared, yet will do better than the smart hard workers because we were better at playing the game and thinking like the professor wants us to.

      While I am glad that I can play the game pretty well, I know the truth. These tests mean little. Those who work harder than me will make better lawyers, plain and simple. It is unfortunate that the exams do not reflect the actual reality.

      But, despite this lack of signifiance these grades are held over our heads so much by the powers that be (since the grades decide if you can do law review or not, whether you get to interview for the hotshot soul-robbing big law firms or not, whether you can transfer to an affordable school or not), that we the students begin to believe their over-inflated importance.

      Oh well, despite this little speech I'm still going crazy. I feel better once I know what I made in Contracts. If it's good then I'm probably going to be at OU next year, if it's bad then I'll probably won't get into OU and will stay at OCU. At this point, I don't care that much which it is, I just wish it was settled one way or another

    • Since I'm too braindead now to think coherently to B.S. this law review comment, here's something humerous I read on a 15 year old's blog:

        If you could design your perfect mate what would he/she look like and be like?

        ALRIGHTY. They would be smart, but no so smart that they make me feel like a moron. They would be HILARIOUS, but know when to stop. They would be nice, but not so nice that he volunteers at an animal shelter instead of coming over for my booty call. He would me musically talented. He would be good with kids. He wouldn't kick dogs. He would be able to deal with my parents. He would have webspace for me. He would like the same music that I like, and introduce me to more bands. He would get along with my friends, but not try to hook up with them. HE WOULD HAVE THE BIGGEST KITCHEN I HAVE EVER SEEN. He would tell me everything about himself, yet still be mysterious, yet not so myterious I have to keep asking him where he's going and wondering if he's cheating on me. Loyalty would be a must. If he cheats on me, I WILL CASTRATE YOU.. I mean him. He'll know when to give me space. He'll be the sweet kind of guy who would go out and buy tampons for me. . .


    • If you want to really cook your noodle read The Matrix Essays (a blog)

    posted by JMB at 12:09 AM | link |


    Tuesday, June 17, 2003

    Blog Template Change



      Well as you can see I'm procrastinating again from writing my law review comment (bleh...) so I decided to change the templates on JMBzine.com (thanks to Maystar Designs and Blogskins for the template that I started from). The old content (political blog, nonblog content, etc.) can still be found in the archives, but otherwise I've consolidated JMBzine into one central blog.

      BTW, the picture at the top (which I plan to rotate periodically) is of the "Tornado Intercept Vehicle" (more info on this vehicle can be found on Stormchaser.ca). I took the picture when driving down Main Street in Norman after a storm just passed.

      From what I heard on the news, these guys are planning to drive this vehicle directly into the path of a weak tornado (F-0 or F-1) and then film from the ground directly into the eye of the storm. Kinda nuts if you ask me (the TV weatherman says that tornadoes can change fast and if it gets stronger their armor will do little good), but it is not something you see everyday.


      posted by JMB at 7:18 PM | link |


    Random




    posted by JMB at 4:44 PM | link |


    L-School Grades



      I've checked the OCU Law school website dozens of times over the last week or so hoping that maybe the grades were posted. None were until today. Now all but one of mine are up.

      Here's the tally thus far:

    • Civ Pro - Very happy about this one... this one is the highest thus far and is two points higher than it was last semester.

    • Property - Not a good grade but one that is respectable and that I'm proud of considering the fact that my teacher did not make much sense of property for me (I didn't "get" property until a few days before the final.)

    • Criminal Law - about what I expected. On the low end of average for the class.

      That leaves me with Contracts (for those of you who are wondering I dropped LR&W awhile back)... so far my GPA as it stands now is a little lower than last semester, but I'm holding out hope for Contracts. It was my best grade last semester and if I get the same grade I'll be just a hair from my GPA from last semester. --- I really feel like someone playing Roulette now, hoping that the Dealer (in this case Professor Contracts) will give me the grade I need.

      OK... enough blabbing. I gotta go check the grades website again.

    posted by JMB at 2:22 PM | link |


    Monday, June 16, 2003

    Justice



    • NY Times/AP: 12 Are Released From Jail in Appeal of Texas Drug Busts (Also from the NY Times: Click here to view a picture of Joe Moore being released from the prison he was held in unjustly)

      I have avoided political diatribes on JMBzine.com lately (you can still read them from time to time at OKIMC.org or at the OKGreens Discussion group though) but this story is too important and long over-due not to comment on.

      The Tulia cases was an onorous example of modern-day state sponsored racial persecution that was ignored for too long. I am extremely pleased to see the Texas legislature and Governor Perry of Texas do the right thing for once in this case.

      However, while I'm glad to see that Lady Justice has finally woken up, I still believe that the four years these men and women spent in PRISON for crimes they did NOT commit is an outrage.

      I hold responsible those who directly contributed to this injustice: the lying deputy sheriff who perjured himself countless times, the law enforcement agencies who believed his lies, the DA's who refused to investigate the credibilities of the lies, the spineless judges who refused to the right thing and throw these cases out for lack of evidence learly on, the juries who must have been packed with racists to rule in such an unjust manner, and especially those who could have acted to right this wrong but didn't: George W. Bush (then Governor of Texas) and most of the members of the Texas state legislature.

      As far as I'm concerned, while I celebrate today's actions, I also say that this isn't good enough. These folks need their day in court, not only to vindicate their names, but also to see that those responsible for institutional racism be punished. Those responisble should be relieved of their offices of trust and those who committed the most egregious of crimes should be punished by both civil and criminal sanctions.

      The cases of those persecuted in Tulia was nothing more than a resurrection of the 19th century world of racism, slavery and oppression. It's high time that the Black residents of Tulia be secured their constitutional and God-given human rights.

    posted by JMB at 6:37 PM | link |


    The World



    • Washington Post/MSNBC: Brazil engages in new race debate --- New quota policies force Brazil to reexamine views of equality

    • US News: Gulag Nation --- Unseen by the outside world, North Korea runs vast prison camps of unspeakable cruelty --- A haunting story that will hang in your mind and heart. This portion especially spoke to me...

        Another graduate of the prisons, Lee Soon Ok, had a rougher time of it. She had handled accounting and managerial work at a party distribution center. But when she rebuffed a security chief who demanded an extra jacket, Lee's fate was sealed. She was accused of embezzlement and disobeying party policy. The result: seven years at the No. 1 prison camp at Gaechun. "My family was split apart in one day," she says grimly.

        At the camp, Lee was tapped to supervise production of exported goods: artificial silk flowers bound for France, handmade wool sweaters for Japan, decorative needlework for Poland. Suits and dress shirts were sold through Hong Kong, getting their origin labels there, before shipment to Europe. If quotas were missed, Lee says, she faced torture. Guards stepped on her head, knocking out teeth and skewing the left side of her face. During one beating, her left eye started to pop out of its socket. She pushed it back in with her fingers. Her arms were injured after she was hung in chains from a ceiling. Even now, she has difficulty sitting or standing for long periods.

        Water torture. In interrogations aimed at forcing a confession, Lee, now 56, was also subjected to water torture. She says guards force-fed her water by pushing the spout of a canister into her mouth. They laid a wooden plank across her abdomen--and pressed down, forcing water out through her mouth, nose, and bladder. "It feels like your intestines are exploding. There's no way even to describe the pain you feel," she recalls, with no trace of emotion.

        Tears well up, however, when she ponders why a true believer in the system like herself was punished. "I believed that Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were basically gods," she says quietly. "I was so loyal to the party, and I don't know why they put me through this."

        Lee won release in 1993, apparently for her success in meeting production quotas, she says. The earnings had gone into a fund to celebrate Kim Il Sung's 80th birthday the previous year. By then, though, Lee was in no mood to celebrate. "As soon as I got out of prison, I decided I didn't want to live in that hell," she says. Lee fled with her son in 1995. She converted to Christianity, having marveled at jailed Christians who refused to renounce their faith in the face of torture and execution. Lee moved to an apartment block on the outskirts of Seoul. Still, she is plagued by feelings of guilt about those left behind. Her new life's mission is to expose the terrors of the camps. "I want the world to know how evil Kim Jong Il is," she says. "The world needs to put more pressure on North Korea."


      These stories and the others recounted in the US News story tell me that the oppression occuring in North Korea is on a level that approaches that of Cambodia in the 70's, or even the genocides of Hitler and Stalin.

      But can we do? War is not the answer. The reality is that North Korea even without using nuclear weapons could kill millions in the first day of a conventional war just by shelling Seoul, and the human cost in both the North and South (or for that matter the tens of thousands of US troops currently stationed near the DMZ) are too awful to contemplate. Yet how can we let such horror continue?

      Reading this makes one wonder how human beings can be so evil, yet at the same time I am struck by the strength of those who stand up in spite of it (such as the Christians that Lee saw in prison who refused to renounce their faith even when faced with torture and execution).

    posted by JMB at 2:28 PM | link |


    Gregory Peck



      I just found out that Gregory Peck has died. He was one of my favorite actors and from what I've read about him he sounds like a truly good man.

    • US News: A GENTLEMAN'S DISCERNMENT (Scroll down to the second story to read about Gregory Peck)

    • Madison.com: Editorial: Atticus Finch & Gregory Peck

    • UPI: Actor Gregory Peck dies at 87

    • The Telegraph (UK): Obituary of Gregoy Peck

    • MSNBC: Gregory Peck, last of noble breed --- Actor was royalty to Hollywood

    • NY Times: Gregory Peck, a Star of Quiet Dignity, Dies at 87

      Here's one excerpt that I want to share:

        Although Mr. Peck was nominated as best actor for "The Keys of the Kingdom," "The Yearling," "Gentleman's Agreement" and "Twelve O'Clock High," he did not win an Oscar until "To Kill a Mockingbird," which dealt seriously with racism and social injustice at a time when the civil rights movement was gaining national attention.

        "For Peck, it is an especially challenging role," a critic wrote in Variety, adding, "He not only succeeds, but makes it appear effortless, etching a portrayal of strength, dignity and intelligence."

        Mr. Peck called "To Kill a Mockingbird" the picture "closest to my heart and the high point of my career."

        Reflecting on Atticus Finch in a Saturday Evening Post interview nearly 30 years later, Mr. Peck said, "It was easy for me to do. It was just like putting on a comfortable, well-worn suit of clothes.

        "I identified with everything that happened in that story, with the small-town life which reminded me of the California town where I grew up," he said in the interview. "And I think that Atticus Finch was a popular man. For a long time I was a very busy fellow on the freeways, waving back to well-wishers at red lights, who would grin and yell, `Hi, Atticus," and I would grin right back."

        By all accounts, Mr. Peck and Mr. Finch were a perfect blend. Publicly and privately, throughout his adult life, he had maintained outspoken, liberal positions on public affairs.

        A staunch advocate of nuclear disarmament, he said in an interview on the "Today" program: "I would give up everything I do and everything I have if I could make a significant difference in getting the nuclear arms race reversed. It is the No. 1 priority in my life."

        When he received the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 1989, he warned of the dangers in having "all pictures and television" made by "two or three of these behemoths who happen also to own magazines, newspapers and cable stations."

        He continued: "If these Mount Everests of the financial world are going to labor and bring forth still more pictures with people being blown to bits with bazookas and automatic assault rifles with no gory detail left unexploited, if they are going to encourage anxious, ambitious actors, directors, writers and producers to continue their assault on the English language by reducing the vocabularies of their characters to half a dozen words, with one colorful but overused Anglo-Saxon verb and one unbeautiful Anglo-Saxon noun covering just about every situation, then I would like to suggest that they stop and think about this: making millions is not the whole ball game, fellows. Pride of workmanship is worth more. Artistry is worth more."


    posted by JMB at 2:28 PM | link |


    Quote of the Day



        "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."
      - Atticus Finch To Kill a Mockingbird

    posted by JMB at 2:28 PM | link |


    Thursday, June 12, 2003

    The Matrix... Banned in Egypt





    posted by JMB at 4:55 PM | link |


    Law School





    posted by JMB at 3:37 PM | link |


    Fun



    • Loobylu.com - a nifty blog by an illustrator (I really like her characters.)



    posted by JMB at 11:28 AM | link |


    Austin Pedicabs




    posted by JMB at 12:39 AM | link |


    Wednesday, June 11, 2003

    God is Black




    posted by JMB at 9:19 PM | link |


    New Feature - JMBzine.com




    posted by JMB at 1:51 PM | link |


    Tuesday, June 10, 2003

    More on Zen




    posted by JMB at 12:43 PM | link |


    Zen (and Christian-Zen interfaith) Links




    posted by JMB at 12:10 AM | link |


    Monday, June 09, 2003

    More on life



      Things are getting a bit busy but not too crazy yet. I'm starting today on my law review "comment" (15+ pages is way too long to be only a "comment") as I want to have it finished by Friday of next week (which means I have to put writing my book aside until the comment is finished).

      The good thing though about getting the "comment" done is that I'll then be free the following weekend to go Austin that for a friend's wedding (and get to see another dear friend as well which will be nice). It'll be a quick trip but even a few days in Austin is a joyful thing.

      The other major thing in my life is that I'm in the midst of a personal decluttering/organization/health/spiritual awakening campaign. In short, this summer I want to start being the person that I've always wanted to be... a man who knows who he is and lives out of that awareness in an intentional and deliberate fashion. I've tried to be this person for a long time but my own personal disorder (messy house, messy car, fast food eating, etc.) has kept me from this for too long.

      So far it has gone well. My car is clean (my friends are shocked by this to say the least) and my return to Atkins has gone well, but there is still a lot that I need to do. One big change for me is that I'm no longer watching TV before I go to bed. This was a bad habit I had got myself into (I live in very small studio apartment, with my front door and window about 25 feet from a busy highway, so I used to have the TV on almost all of the time to drown out the road noise.) but the change has been good. I sleep much better without the TV yapping (the big trucks driving by are loud but at least they don't invade my subconscious the way having the TV on when sleeping does) and even falling asleep is not as hard as I thought it would be. Now I just read until I get sleepy.

      I'm still not brave enough yet to get rid of my TV (silence might be good but it is scary too) altogether but I'm beginning to think I ought to.

      Reading wise I'm still plugging away at Emerson: The Mind on Fire. The bio is very interesting but also very dense. Emerson is definitely an interesting person. I dig a lot of his ideas but he makes me sad too. He seems so close to connecting with God but never does. I don't understand that.

      I've also been doing some reading on Asian philosophies, especially Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Both are intrigueing and have some interesting commonalities with Christianity (but of course so major differences as well).

      The books I've been reading are the Tao Te Ching, The Idiot's Guide to Zen Living by McClain & Adamson, Thoughts on the East by Thomas Merton (Merton, a Trappist Monk and author, has been one of my best teachers in the the discipline of Christian contemplation and meditation), and Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh (a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and friend of Thomas Merton). --- After I finish these books, I also want to read Zen for Christians which from the reviews of it on Amazon sounds worthwhile.

      But, despite my interest in Eastern thought right now I can't get past the non-theistic viewpoint of traditional Buddhism. My own experiences seem to say so clearly that there is a God. Sometimes God seems close, sometimes he seems far away, sometimes I wonder if he's asleep and ignoring this world altogether, but even in those moments of doubt, I never doubt that He exists.

      What I do like about Buddhist practice (but Zen particularly) though is the idea of mindful living and making time for stillness. It really fits in well with the changes I'm trying to make in my life right now.

    posted by JMB at 2:48 PM | link |


    Wednesday, June 04, 2003

    Life goes on but sometimes it really sucks



      The last couple of days have been semi-eventful. Yesterday I drove up to Enid (100 miles North of OKC) for a Microsoft training conference (mostly to get a free(!) copy of Windows Server 2003 --- normally $1100 retail for the office). The conference itself wasn't bad either, very useful training which I would highly recommend for anyone who is thinking of going with a Windows server system.
      .
      Anyway when it was time to drive back my car wouldn't start. The battery had plenty of juice but no gas was getting to the engine.

      So, I had it towed to a local mechanic shop (A&C Garage. They checked it out and said that the fuel pump was bad and it would be $744! That seemed mighty jacked up to me so I paid them $25 for the labor to check it out and had it towed by AAA to my local repair shop here in Newcastle. Guess what... that fuel pump is far cheaper (still mighty expensive though) and total cost with install will be $550-650. (hmm... makes me think A&C was playing "let's rip off the tourist")

      Anyway though, this is where things get sucky... I'm beginning to think that I will have to cancel my Cornerstone trip. With this extra car repair expense, I'm finding it harder and harder to justify the cost of C-stone (my guess is that the combined cost for the trip including travel expenses both en-route and at C-stone & what I'll lose from not working that week would be $750-1000).

      I guess it was inevitable that I would miss a year of C-stone someday but it is still sad. It has been such a good part of my life these last 4 years, and I was super-looking forward to this year since it was the 20th anniversary of the festival and it would be Five Iron Frenzy's last time to play there.

      Sad times indeed but that's the way it goes sometimes. The good news is though that FIF will be coming through this part of the country (dates in Dallas, OKC and Tulsa) in October so maybe I can go to some of those shows (what would super-cool is if my friend K would come up for the Dallas show), but missing Miranda Stone and Madison Greene (sigh) woe is me.

      But you know life is still good even when it sucks. Last night when riding in the tow truck from Enid to Newcastle I saw such incredible beauty. The wheat fields were all ripe with expectancy, golden (the fields yet to be cut) and coppery (the color after the field is cut), stretching out to the horizon with the sun shining through the clouds and the dark blueness of the stormy sky setting it all off --- it is amazing even just two hours away how much the landscape is different. Northern Oklahoma is almost like Kansas, the topography is more gentle (while it is praire in the southwest as well, it is more stark in the south, with more hills).

      In a way, I do think a change is happening inside of me. I finding more peace than I've known in awhile and some good changes are happening. I wasn't sure until now if the changes were real but the fact that I can live with missing C-stone tells me that the changes are real. (a month ago not going to C-stone would have made me semi-suicidal)

      OK, enough confession for now. Back to work...

      P.S. I'm still planning my Oklahoma road trip (a week of camping with a couple of friends later in the summer) though. That will be much cheaper than C-stone and should be a blast.

    posted by JMB at 11:24 AM | link |


    Random:




    posted by JMB at 10:42 AM | link |


    Monday, June 02, 2003

    Texas BBQ



    • ILoveStubbs.com - fan club for fans of Stubbs BBQ. (If you join you get a free coupon for $1 off Stubb's BBQ sauce.)

      Of course my favorite memory of Stubb's is seeing Guster play there. Oohhh that was a good show.

    posted by JMB at 11:45 PM | link |


    Get ordained for free




    posted by JMB at 1:33 AM | link |


    Personal peace



      This is random I know but I feel good about life right now. Partly is because I've had some very good conversations with my Mom and I feel like that she and I are learning to laugh again. I know know why we argued so much. It was stupid and was really about nothing.

      Everything else is good too. I feel more at peace about preaching (not to say that I don't have serious moments of doubt, but right now I do feel good about what I'm doing) and I also feel inspired to make solid changes in my life --- to live a neater more orderly life (I have been very neglectful in housekeeping this last year) and to get rid of much of the junk that is weighting me down, and also to get back in shape. I started back on Atkins today and I hope to start biking this week too.

      I know this, if I want my life to be better I have to take positve actions. It's time.

      On another note, the book is progressing well. I'm now on the third draft of the first four chapters or so but will also probably start hammering out the first draft of the next few chapters now as well. It is satisfying work and I think I would like to keep doing this, maybe as career or at least as a joyful diversion --- which brings me to another topic, law.

      I'm having serious doubts as to whether I want to be a lawyer or not. I just don't know if I believe in the system in anymore, especially the criminal law. It is so incredibly unjust that I don't know how comfortable I would feel in being an "officer of the court." Then again, as the old saying goes maybe the best place to throw rocks at the system is from the inside? (I would appreciate y'all's comments on this question.)

    posted by JMB at 1:10 AM | link |


    Quotes



      I jotted down several excellent quotes when visiting a friend's office. (These were all posted on her door) I post them for inspirational purposes...

        I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more, if they had known they were slaves. - Harriet Tubman

        Whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

        There is no game if you refuse to play - Rachel Jackson

    posted by JMB at 1:02 AM | link |


    maystar maystar maystar designs | maystar designs |