Trap

As I finish up law school in the next week, the best advice I can give you is:
Don't go unless:
1) You get a full ride and you are o.k with going to a school "below" yourself
2) You are super confident you will not only be in the top 10% of the class but you will interview well when the big firms come around for 2L summering (and even then only if you are comfortable with completely devoting your life to writing briefs and drafting memos for a number of years)
3)Somebody is paying your way through
4)You want to go into public interest law (DA, PD)

I only learned about the attractiveness of option 4 today. Apparently, Congress has established a program offering serious, serious loan forgiveness to public interest attorneys. Say you make 40k as a DA somewhere. You pay 15% of your DI a month 120 times, and everything else is forgiven.

To put that in perspective, with interest, a standard repayment plan on $100k in loans will cost you something like 180k over 10 years to pay off. Yup, thats right, 18k a year in loan payments. New program, lets say 15% of your DI is 5k on a year. You pay that for ten years, you save $130k (even though the benefit is taxed)

So in terms of establishing skewed incentives, the best jobs financially to take now are:
1) Entry level salary 120K +, then
2) Public interest 35k-50k, then
3) Private sector 50k-80k

if you are willing to put the ten years in. Strange.

BTW, can the U.S please go ahead and create a national oil company that would not only be OPEC's biggest customer but would also be able leverage foreign policy beneficially to secure lower oil prices? Reponse: Anticompetitive. Paradox since we are paying $3.60 a gallon for gas and obviously have no alternative? Wait, anticompetitive? The current oil fiasco smells a lot like the same consumer price gouging that the deregulation of electricity allowed Enron to profit so keenly on before it went down. Deregulation and free market doesn't mean abuseless in three and four party adhesion markets.

Go Baltimore. I wish the Eagles would grow a pair in a draft sometime and pick out of there comfort zone. Guys like David Tyree don't make big plays when the team philosophy is "be really adequate all around so that nobody can criticize us" rather than "fuck it, lets take a shot".

I'm not a big Boston fan, but at the same time, I think I like Atlanta less than New Orleans at this point in terms of whiny jawing. At least Washington is somewhat tongue in cheek with their bullshit. We'll see what Paul does against a fired up Tony Parker, and better yet, what Tyson Chandler (HA!) does against Duncan. As far as Atlanta goes, Bibby looks ridiculous and J.R smith and Hortford are overrated. Two nice games, but this would be like Igodaula or Andre Miller telling Rip Hamilton he's a pussy after losing game 3. Even if it might be effective on some street ball level I don't understand, you are much more likely to just look like a douchebag.

I have a feeling Utah is going to be a fun game to watch tommorrow night after Game 4, as will Phoenix. The Philly series cements my suspicion that the Sixers could be a legit Eastern threat if they find a big veteran with poise to settle them down in situations just like thier meltdown in Game 4. Please Garnett? Please? Nah, maybe Jermaine O'Neal or Jason Richardson for a draft pick, Thaddeus Young, and Andre Miller.

I'm politically moving to Canada

First, sports:
1) Who would have thought New Orleans was for real? I'm not a Chris Paul fan but damn. Even though I have SA v Dal in the next round, I would really like to see Nash match up (somehow) with NO in the next round
2) Utah looks like they are going to give LA a big run. Def best series of playoffs.
3) Go Sixers? If Philly can win two at home and go up 3-1, there's certainly a good chance they could beat the Pistons in Game 6, although I think they have no way of matching up with Orlando anyway
4) Houston needs to trade for a big man this off season. Like a Dampier or Haywood.
5) Washington? HA!

More importantly:

I have never been too interested in politics. Today is the only day I have ever emotionally reacted to a change in the political landscape in American. I have lived in Bumblefuck, PA for the last two months and have been inundated with the Democratic primary here since it became strangely relevant.
When the democratic primary began, I slightly leaned towards Hillary as an electable alternative to any Republican who would continue this mess of an administration. Today, I can honestly say that I am thoroughly embarrassed to live around people who honestly though Hillary Clinton deserved a nod to be the next president. The level of unethical bullshit that she has pulled, ranging from lies to barely guised racism, is extraordinary.

The only three reasons I can think of why anyone could somehow overlook her incredible negativity and unprofessionalism and support her are:

1) She has more experience than Barack

Experience in what? Lingering around 20 years of Bush-Clinton-Clinton-Bush-Bush-Clinton!!!!. Does anybody honestly think that anything will meaningfully change in this country if she is elected? Same senate, same politics, same negativity, same bullshit reform promises, same cronies. By voting for her you either 1) naively believe that she somehow has the courage to cut ties with old politics and shake things up, 2) think the country is fine the way it is, or 3) realize huge material flaws in American political culture but are too scared of change. Remember, 2o years of experience as a high level executive in a company that is culturally and economically collapsing as a result of adherence to groupthink may not be better than taking a chance on someone with obvious talent and unassailed character.

2) Barack's name is Hussein Obama/He's black/He's a closet muslim/He likes Louis Farrakhan/He doesn't wear flag pins/He has cooties

I think this is the vote that shaped the election today. And this is why I am politically moving to Canada if Hillary is the democratic nominee. If she becomes the democratic nominee on these terms, I am deeply embarrassed for those people who buy into this shit, and I am embarrassed to be any part of a political machine that would allow this type of behavior to be publicized or even in some cases lauded. No more political anything, ever again.

3) Her policies are awesome

HA! Wait, the merits? Instead of exit polls asking people whether a comment in San Francisco affected their opinion of the candidates, I would love to ask some 40 year old trucker from Lancaster what he thinks about Hillary's stance on health care reform is compared to Obama's.


Campaign so far:
H: You embarrassed me by fucking that intern, you better get me elected.
B: How I am I going to get you elected? You're not electable. You're part of the same mess everybody is tired of now, plus you obviously don't have a backbone or you would have divorced me after 6 billion people found out I liked a chubby intern more than your Senatorial self.
H: You owe me motherfucker. Go on some speaking tours, round up some money, and use your connections to get me to the right people
B: I guess if you got elected I would be a first man. I could just hang out in the Presidential Library (chuckle)
H: Yeah plus if we were both president we would have so much networking capital at the end of my term we could do whatever we wanted the rest of our lives
B: Shit girl you're already a Senator, and I was a president, do you need more power?
H: I'll be damned if some brother from Illinois is going to rain on my parade. Round up the troops. Get me some dirt. If you say stuff that I can't but is still effective negativity, and I get some cold blooded staffers to try to stroke the xenophobic, slightly racist core of most of the middle-class, I think I have a shot
B: You know you are like 95% fucked on paper right? You would have to win the next two states 100-0 to catch up?
H: I don't care. Fuck this dude. Shit, if McCain gets elected, at least I'll still have some friends in big places. You think Barack will throw me a dime after the shit I pulled?
B: True. I guess when you lose, you can still write a book about "your struggle", and be some kind of American feminist hero for being so tenacious.
H: Yeah. That would definitely even me out after looking like such a pussy when you cheated on me.