Accepted

Today I was told I was accepted to Rutgers and Florida State law schools in Camden, NJ and Tallahassee, FL, respectively. To celebrate, here's a picture of an animal that London is trying to save. I think it's well worth it.

Nice Story

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6788291

Lethal Injection

For all those Pro-Life or just Anti-Death Penalty:

The Executioner's Wrong

Jan 4th 2007 | WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition

Florida, California and Maryland suspend lethal injections

ON DECEMBER 13th, Angel Diaz, a convicted murderer from Florida, became the latest victim of a botched lethal injection. The doctor who served as executioner bungled the first set of injections, sliding the needle straight through the vein and pumping the toxic chemicals directly into the underlying flesh. Mr Diaz writhed, grimaced, andattempted to speak until a second dose killed him. That was 34 minutes later; the execution should take only a fraction of that.

Two days later, Jeb Bush, in his last month as governor, suspended all executions in the state. He also set up a commission to consider whether Florida's lethal injections are constitutional.

Resolutions and Photo

Really quick, because I got a client coming in in less than an hour, here is my New Years resolution. I resolve to live the rest of this volunteer year to the fullest I can, especially with regards to things that may not be as accessible to me in the future. What that means is that I will try to use more time to read, to write, to learn guitar, to pray. I will start spiritual direction to see how it goes. I will try to sleep at a reasonable hour because I wake up early. I don't know what else I will do, but I'm sure this list is not exhaustive.

For those of you that don't have facebook, i.e. Orlando, I include for you the new profile picture I have. I had some free time the other day and got a little happy with Microsoft Paint. It combines 3 pictures for both Monica and me, though my legs haven't looked like that in a long time. I thought it was fun and funny. Hope you do too.

Feliz Ano Nuevo

How obscene is the Spanish word for year with the funky 'n' (pronounced enye, but I can't write it here. Merry Christmas to all those around the world, and happy Epiphany to our Eastern friends. In Tampa, the Greek Orthodox Church has a big event where a bunch of youngin's dive into a deep lake to find a cross, and the person who finds it gets a special blessings from some cool guy with a sweet beard.

While in Tampa for a week and change I sent out 8 law school applications, and then 5 more in Milwaukee. There are divided up into 5 cities, plus a straggler. Two cities had 3 applications, but the rest had two (and then the straggler). So the total now is 13 schools. The cities/schools are:

L.A.- USC and Pepperdine (Malibu)
Chicago- Loyola, U Chicago, and Northwestern
Philadelphia- U Penn and Rutgers (Camden, NJ)
New York- Fordham and NYU
Boston- BC, BU, and Northeastern
Florida- Florida State

We'll see what the future holds for Jorge.

New Years resolution....to be continued. My boss is giving me a ride. Peace.

What have I been up to?

I know all of you have been asking yourselves that. It's only natural when you know someone as coolio as me. Well, the 17th we had an ugly sweater party at our home in Milwaukee. Lots of ugly sweaters, deserts, and holiday beers to be had. Sunday, after church and football, I went to my first Posada. I didn't know it existed. Maybe it's a Mexican thing.

You go door to door with Mary and Joseph lookng for a place to crash before she burst. You get a lot of 'no's and 'not here's until you find that special lady who says you can use their garage/stable. Jesus is born, then you beat up pinatas and eat candy. Just like 2000 years ago. Monday was work and celebrate my roommate Kyle's birthday. Went to a bar called Wolski's to play darts. Tuesday, Marquette basketball with floor seats c/o my coworker. Dwyane Wade was there, but I was too busy to say hi to him. Plus, he'd have a hard time getting through my security. Wednesday was a Christmas dinner chez JV Milwaukee. We had all seven of us, one of our community-night helpers, her son, and a friend. True to Polish tradition (c/o Dorota) we had an extra place-setting in case any body showed up, in honor of those that can't join us, and of course for Elijah. Maybe not that last part. He never makes if for Christmas anyways. Thursday was to celebrate Erin, my coworker's birthday. Went out with another coworker and my roommate Mathew to do the trick. And yes, she was there too. It'd be weird to celebrate a birthday without the birthday-ee. Though, my mom and dad did it this past Thanksgiving. Friday I went to work and then home. Yes, home. Tampa. Since then I haven't done much. Watch some football today. Shopping with dad yesterday. Beach today, though most of the time was putting together an electric grill. Kinda felt like the stereotypical assembling of the bicycle Christmas present.

The needy

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
(Is 41)

AWESOME!!!

Wednesday

For some reason, all day today I have been thinking its Thursday. It's not. Just Wednesday. For today's treat, I spew all the randomness of my mind.

There was an explosion today in Milwaukee. I don't know exactly what happened, but my windows rattled all the way in the south side where I work. I wonder what blew up. I haven't hear about people dying, only being hurt. I hope no one did.

The show 24, with Jack Bauer, is the best show I have seen on TV in a long time. Well, actually, its on DVD thanks to one of my roommates. I don't think I would watch it otherwise b/c I don't have a schedule that conforms to TV for the most part. I started to with Law and Order SVU, but that fizzled out. Jack Bauer entertains me on weekend mornings when other people are still asleep. That's cool.

The Tampa Bay Bucs are a terrible football team. I hate to say it, but they just aren't getting it done. We don't have a QB that works for us. We have a young offensive line (which will hopefully get better with age). We have an old defense that have games where they show their former selves. I think it has a lot to do with how long they are on the field thanks to a sloppy offense. But people score a lot of points on us. Back in the day, when our offense was even worse, Warren Sapp said that if the offense could put up 10 points on the board we would win the game. Those days are gone and so is Sapp.

Monica might be buying a car. A yellow VW Bug if she can get it done soon. I don't know if it will happen just yet, though. There are too many little things that need to be done and the car is in Milwaukee (where she is for this week) and she lives in Minneapolis. But, I am hopeful that she will get it. She loves it, it is safe, and there seem to be no problems. Just a priincess' old car that she needs to sell before she gets a new one...so her brothers are selling it for her cause she's a princess.

Christmas is coming up. I was telling Monica, and she returned the sentiment, that Christmas lights should not be put away after Christmas. Or at least there should be some other lights that people put outside their house. I am a fan of a green Christmas, but Christmas lights in Florida after Christmas are tacky. But up here, where thers is snow, where there is overcast skies, lights really spruce up the place. Maybe there should be Valentine lights or Easter lights.

That is all.

Hope is Good

I like this.

Before Nicaragua's Nov. 5 presidential election, U.S. officials had suggested U.S. aid to the Central American country could be cut off if Ortega won. But in the weeks since the leader of the leftist Sandinista party won the vote, the U.S. has adopted a wait-and-see approach to the incoming government.

The Associated Press

By FILADELFO ALEMAN

New Nicaragua...or same old?

Well, Nicaragua picked Daniel Ortega to be president again. I'm not sure if saying "again" is legit, cause his first election sure wasn't. That is not to say the most recent one wasn't. He definitely beat out a fractured Right in the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The future is uncertain, though. He has a checkered past. I wrote before on this blog that I think my parent's biases on the Sandinistas were sometimes just that, biases. They seemed closed to any of the positives that the Sandinistas brought to the country because of the negatives that came with it, not least of which (in their eyes) was a socialist system. Ortega had a rough first go in part due to the troubled circumstance that he began his rule: world recession and US support of the Contras. But reading about or talking to priests who had supported Daniel in the past, some of the biases my parents had seem to be spot on, or at least shared by some smart men. They tell of how they support the Sandinista ideals, but that Daniel ran and will run the country for his own personal betterment without regard to the people. An example is the Sandinista land reform which ended up giving the rich supporters of the Sandinistas the good land and giving bad land to poor people without training on how to financially manage a farm.

I consider myself lucky to be removed from the experiences from my parents and the experiences of these priests. Lucky in that I have not been scarred by a past Sandinista government and current scandals. Lucky in that I can be hopeful and optimistic that Ortega truly learned his lessons, has sincerely changed, has grown as a person and a president. Optimistice, but always critical.

What about me?

Allen Iverson. Any sports star? What is their debt to society? What good acts can they do that aren't considered a publicity stunt? What mistakes can they make that aren't blown up?

Read this article (click on the picture) and tell me that Iverson wasn't trying to be a good guy. And Charles Barkley. And other people. Its another type of stereotyping that happens. Yes, sport athletes have greater priviledge and therefore greater responsibility. Lets not scoff at them when they decide to act rightly.

Besides, A.I. went to the legendary Jorgetown. You can't go there and not be the coolest.

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Funny Joke

What happened when the school band played Mozart?
Mozart lost.

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You make me happy

And I do....

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. - George Burns

Miss you, family. Happy belated birthday to Silvio Delgado, who I am quite sure does not even know this blog exists.

An Economist's Sentiment

The Economist has brought up an intersting point about white-collar crimes. With regards to the conviction of Jeff Skilling of Enron, they had this to say:

Prosecutors and the public seemed delighted by Mr Skilling's long sentence. Yet there are growing worries about the severity of America's white-collar sentences, which treat bosses more harshly than drug dealers and some murderers. Twenty years ago, Mr Skilling would have got just seven years. America also treats white-collar offenders more severely than other rich countries. (http://economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=8082101)

Now, just reading this w/o the whole article does not do it justice, so let me bring up an idea that is mentioned later in the article. This kind of punishment is meant to be both retributive--that is, as a punishment for the billions of dollars lost and millions of lives adversely affected--and a deterrent to others. Not to say all punishments come out like that, but this one seems to have both aspects. We must ask what the goal of deterrence is, what are we trying to avoid. Coorporate scandal and unqualified risk-taking is not least among the goals, but is this the best way to acheive that? It seems that this kind of punishment might deter cooperate heads not only from excessive risk-taking, but might even make them play safe and pass up on some potential moves. That is not good for the economy as a whole, especially when other countries do not have as harsh of punishments and their companies would eat up this potential. More comprehensive reform and accountability schemes would do more to prosecute the problematic players and keep others safe.

Two more questions (at least) arise. First, who will make up this comprehensive reform? Not me. Second, should our moral and economic decisions be influenced by others? Absolutely, because morality is hardly black and white. Furthermore, we are required to think on the macro scale when decisions will impact it. That means looking at decisions' effects on local and world economics, poverty, employment, etc. If no man is an island, then what about coorporations?

All that being said, I think that Skilling, if really guilty, got a just punishment for the lives him and his decisions ruined. I just think that it should be clearer that his punishment is his and his companies. Not cooporate America's. They just need to know that changes are coming and that they should learn a thing or two of what not to do.

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