Party in the city where the heat is on; Playboy calls U. of Miami top party school

On April 20, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Blaw, blaw, blaw

The rankings are out. And, no, I’m not talking about the U.S. News and World Report law school rankings due out this week that were leaked this past weekend.

Nope. I’m talking about Playboy’s rankings for the top party schools of 2009 (link NSFW).

3074506107_e00a8c4ff9Playboy has named the University of Miami its top party school for 2009, with the school garnering the top “bikini index score” and beating out schools like the University of Texas-Austin and San Diego State University for the top spot. According to Playboy, the study took a scientific approach (link NSFW) to the ten best by “developing algorithms to equally weigh all of the things that are crucial to the college experience.”

Playboy took measure of the Bikini index, campus life, sports, brains and sex. It’s not my cuppa tea, but if you want to go to a school that’s known for its parties, here’s the list with all 25 schools. (NSFW)

And here’s the top 10. If the university has a law school, I’ve given you a link to the law school web site:

  1. University of Miami – School of Law web site
  2. University of Texas (Austin) – School of Law web site
  3. San Diego State University
  4. University of Florida – Levin College of Law
  5. University of Arizona – Rogers College of Law
  6. University of Wisconsin (Madison) – Law school
  7. University of Georgia – School of Law
  8. Louisiana State University – School of Law
  9. University of Iowa – College of Law
  10. West Virginia University

Photo: Elin B / Flickr

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Frugal Finds (4/20/09): Super deal on Superman movie box set

On April 20, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Frugal Living

2892058635_da341cba5fThe Blawgirl crawls the Interwebz to find steals and deals for the frugal law student and the competitive bargain shopper. Find a new Frugal Finds 11:30 (ish) p.m. PST every Monday through Saturday! Also, each post is updated as I come across items. You’re welcome.

Gadgets and Gear:

Entertainment:

  • Free movie rental. Redbox.com offers a free 1-night DVD rental via coupon code “M6FR97″. Find your nearest Redbox kiosk location. (via DealNews)
  • Super deal on Superman box set. Best Buy offers Superman: 4 Film Favorites on DVD for $9.99 with shipping for $2.49 or free in-store pickup. (via DealNews) And, yes, these movies include the infamous scene where Superman throws his magic, cellophane ‘S’. For some reason, he hasn’t done it since. Check out the vids at the end of the article!

Odds and Ends:

  • $18 bookcase. Walmart offers a 3-Shelf Bookcase in black/light oak for $17.50 with shipping at $8.47 or free Site-to-Store. (via DealNews)

As promised, here are the Superman vids.

And here’s Family Guy’s take on the scene.

Photo: Steve Wampler / Flickr

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Frugal Finds Weekend (4/18/09): Get a gold star for frugality by checking out Goldstar Events

On April 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Frugal Living

main_on_blue_lWelcome to the Frugal Finds Weekend edition! The Blawgirl dishes out tips every Saturday morning on how she tries to be a smarter shopper.

Be sure to check back 11:30 (ish) Monday through Friday when The Blawgirl crawls the Interwebz to find steals and deals for the frugal law student and the competitive bargain shopper.

I’ll let y’all in on a secret. The Blawgirl loves her some Broadway musicals. Well, that’s not the secret. The secret is that you can get into local musical shows and other events for up to 50 percent off the ticket price by using a Web site I happened across called Goldstar Events.

Basically, the site has established relationships with 3,200 ticket suppliers across the U.S. in order to help them fill seats at shows. Because of these relationships, event people get a full house at their event, and you, the theater enthusiast, get a nice big discount off the seat the person next to you paid double for. I think that deserves some confetti!

I’ve already used the site several times in the past few years. I used it to book two shows when the Boyfriend and I went to Las Vegas, and to book two shows put on by a local theater company. All four times we got almost half price for some pretty darn good seats. With the money saved, we were able to go out for dinner, or save up for another event.

All you have to do to get similar deals is sign up on the Goldstar Events Web site (for free!), and you have access to their database of available events in Southern California, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, the D.C. Metro area, New York, Boston and Las Vegas. You make your purchase online, print up the order/ticket confirmation, present the print-out at will call, then stroll into the venue with an air of superiority because you are in on the secret of cheap seats. Ha.

If musical theater isn’t your thing, the site also has discounts to spa therapy sessions, sporting events, singles mixers, etc. And if none of those things are your thing, you can also purchase event tickets as a gift, like I did for my mum for Mother’s Day one year.

If you don’t enjoy a particular show or event, you can then post a review that other members can look at and rate. You can also rest easy knowing that you didn’t pay full price for the thing! And for that, Goldstar Events earns a gold star in my book.

Disclaimer: The Blawgirl has not been sponsored by Goldstar Events. She just happens to be one of their satisfied customers. However, if the Blawgirl ever does write an advertorial, a story that has been paid for by a sponsoring company, she will specify so at the start of the post.Thanks for reading, and see you on Monday!

Photo: Goldstar Events

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Frugal Finds (4/17/09): Deals on notebooks, leather jackets, David Bowie

On April 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Frugal Living

2591519056_79f7785eddThe Blawgirl crawls the Interwebz to find steals and deals for the frugal law student and the competitive bargain shopper. Find a new Frugal Finds 11:30 (ish) p.m. PST every Monday through Saturday! Also, each post is updated as I come across items. You’re welcome.

Gadgets and Gear:

Entertainment:

  • The Amazon MP3 Store has downloads of David Bowie’s Heroes for $1.99. The same 10-song album goes for $6.99 at the iTunes store. (via DealNews)

Odds and Ends:

That David Bowie album in the entertainment section reminded me of this. Before she took on The Hulk, Jennifer Connelly took on the not-so-hulkish Jareth (David Bowie) in the movie Labyrinth. Big hair, big dresses, tight pants, guy-liner … gotta love it. Happy Friday!

Photo: Darren Hester / Flickr

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Zot! Zot! Zot! Not! The Blawgirl is one of 2,741 students turned away from UCI

On April 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Blaw, blaw, blaw, Just Julie

3370291997_3e96b89486I was expecting it. People on law school boards were saying that only about 100 applicants out of more than 2,000 were getting offers to attend. I turned in my application a little later in the cycle. I didn’t receive anything in the mail inviting me to Admitted Students’ Day. No follow-up emails. No calls. No fat envelopes. No quirky musical montage. Things were not looking up.

Still, I was a little disappointed when I received that skinny envelope from the fledgling U.C. Irvine School of Law last week. I did not get the golden ticket, the free law school education that was promised to any member of the school’s inagural class. I would not get to be an anteater. Twas a sad day in Julie-ville.

Then, yesterday I read on The Shark blawg that Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s grand expedition into the law school yonder had turned away 2,740 other students who were hoping to hitch their wagon to the new California law school. And I realized that it may have been a sad day in many other people’s villes as well.

In the spirit of reject solidarity, I offer you, the other 2,740 of my brothers and sisters in reject-dom, this.

Despite the fact that we’re not going to be going to their totally awesome school (which they themselves acknowledge is totally awesome and is almost as awesome as Harvard and Yale), we can make our peace with the fact that we will not be endowed with awesomeness. How can we accomplish this awesome feat, you ask? By learning how totally not-that-awesome U.C. Irvine’s mascot, the anteater, is:

Random Anteater Facts

  • The name anteater usually refers to the Giant Anteater but is also applied to the aardvark, the numbat, the echidna, and the pangolin. Together with the sloths, these animals comprise the order Pilosa. All these animals are known to eat ants and termites.
  • The tongue of the Giant Anteater is over 2 feet long. (via www.randomfacts.org)
  • Giant anteaters walk with a slow shuffle on all four legs with their nose pointed to the ground. The anteater does not walk on its paws. Instead, with the claws curled up into the paws, it walks on its “fists.”
  • Giant anteaters have no teeth but a specialized tongue that allows them to eat up to 30,000 ants and termites each day.
  • An adult female giant anteater gives birth to a single baby (twins are rare) while in a standing position, propped up by her strong tail.
  • The giant anteater’s main enemies are jaguars and pumas
  • The  giant anteater has been around for 25 million years (via www.sandiegozoo.org)

OK. Well, maybe they are kinda cool. And I have to admit that they can also be kinda cute. Here’s “Anteater eating a creamsicle”.

Here’s one called “Stewie walks on two legs”.

And I leave you with “Baby Anteaters”.

With cute, almost anything can be forgiven. Even a law school rejection. Sigh.

Photo: Smithsonian’s National Zoo / Flickr

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Interrogation memos released; allowed methods include waterboarding, insects in confinement box

On April 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Blaw, blaw, blaw

117048243_7cc6bb0b87The Obama administration today released previously undisclosed memos regarding the use of torture by the Central Intelligence Agency, but has decided not to go forward with the prosecution of CIA interrogators who performed the acts described in the documents.

Attorney General Eric Holder, in a press release from the Department of Justice, stated that President Obama has stopped the use of the interrogation techniques described in the opinions. “We are disclosing these memos consistent with our commitment to the rule of law,” he stated.

From the press release:

“Holder also stressed that intelligence community officials who acted reasonably and relied in good faith on authoritative legal advice from the Justice Department that their conduct was lawful, and conformed their conduct to that advice, would not face federal prosecutions for that conduct.”

Holder further states that the government would provide no-cost legal representation to any employee in any state or federal judicial or administrative proceeding brought against the employee based on such conduct, and would also indemnify any employee for any monetary judgment or penalty ultimately imposed against him for such conduct and will provide representation in congressional investigations.

You can download the memos at the New York Times Web site. If you don’t want to download them on your own, you can read them at The Huffington Post, which is seemingly outsourcing the digging through them to its readership. And here’s a link to President Obama’s statement regarding the release of the memos.

Included in the documents is a memo published by the Office of Legal Counsel August 1, 2002 (under Jay Bybee and Chapman Law visiting professor John Yoo) which the New York Times had previously reported as “a legal authorization for a laundry list of proposed C.I.A. interrogation techniques.”

The memo discusses the case of Abu Zubaydah, described as one of the highest-ranking members of Al Qaeda and one of the planners of the Sept. 11 attacks.

According to the memo, Zubaydah is thought to be witholding vital information from interrogators, and because of the amount of “chatter” that was equivalent to that which preceded the Sept. 11 attacks, it was permissible to up the ante so to speak: to go from regular interrogation methods into the “increased pressure phase”.

And what does the increased pressure phase entail?

Ten techniques: the attention grasp, walling, facial hold, facial slap (insult slap), cramped confinement, wall standing, stress positions, sleep deprivation, insects placed in a confinement box, and the waterboard.

Page two of the documents gives a rundown of what each technique involves. Ultimately, the memo writers conclude that none of the techniques used on Zubaydah would qualify as “torture”.

According to the Associated Press, former CIA Director Michael Hayden stated that the Obama administration is endangering the country by releasing the memos.

The release of the memos today should make Saturday’s scheduled National Lawyers Guild Teach-In On Torture at Chapman Law’s Kennedy Hall and next week’s debate regarding Presidential Power and Success in Time of Crisis – with Mr. Yoo, Dean John Eastman, Professor Katherine Darmer, and Professor Larry Rosenthal – all the more timely.

Photo: Joe Gratz / Flickr

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Frugal Finds (4/16/09): Buy three suits for the price of one at Jos. A. Bank

On April 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Frugal Living

suitsThe Blawgirl crawls the Interwebz to find steals and deals for the frugal law student and the competitive bargain shopper. Find a new Frugal Finds 11:30 (ish) p.m. PST every Monday through Saturday! Also, each post is updated as I come across items. You’re welcome.

Gadgets and Gear:

Entertainment:

Odds and Ends:

  • $15 emergency kit. BargainOutfitters.com offers an American Red Cross Emergency Smart Pack for $19.97 plus $5.99 for shipping, but coupon code “BF631″ brings the price of the pack to $14.97. The kit includes five modular packs with water, food, first aid, alert, and shelter components that all fit in a larger backpack. (via DealNews)
  • $20 straightening iron. Folica.com has the Sexy Hair Curve Controller Straightener for $19.99 (Orig. price: $169.95), but coupon code “SEXY10″ drops the price down to $9.99 with about $6 for shipping. (via DealNews)
  • 3-for-1 hotness. Speaking of sexy. Hey, guys. Don’t wait until first-year oral arguments to pick up a suit. At Jos. A. Bank, you can buy one suit at its regular price and get two more for free with free shipping until April 18! All three suits must cost the same, and the discount only applies to their regular prices, which are at least double the listed sale prices, according to DealNews. Hint: Find a style you like, and pick up three in different colors. Suits start at about $350. Don’t know how to measure yourself for a suit? Check out this article.
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Torture, interrogation memos set to be released today; Spain not moving forward with criminal investigation of Bush officials

On April 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Blaw, blaw, blaw

5697895_5c57981a6dMemos from the justice department that condoned the use of torture and that outline the methods used by the CIA in secret prisons overseas are scheduled to be released today by the Obama administration, according to The Caucus, a political blog of the New York Times.

The Times writes that among the memos expected to be released is one penned by former Bush legal advisers John Yoo and Jay Bybee that is “a legal authorization for a laundry list of proposed C.I.A. interrogation techniques.”

Yoo, who is a professor at the U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law, is currently a visiting professor at the Chapman University School of Law.

It is unknown how much of the memos will be intact when they are released.

According to The Times, CIA Director Leon Panetta had pushed for weeks to have portions of the memos redacted because information contained in them could “pave the way for future disclosures of intelligence sources and methods, and would jeopardize the C.I.A.’s relationship with foreign intelligence services.”

The “most immediate concern of C.I.A. officials is that the revelations could give new momentum to a full-blown congressional investigation into covert activities under the Bush Administration,” The Times wrote.

The Spanish court was considering pursuing its own criminal investigation into six former Bush officials. The Times reported this morning, however, that Spain would not be opening an investigation of the Bush Six.

The Bush Six includes Yoo, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith; Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, David Addington; Justice Department official Jay S. Bybee; and Pentagon lawyer William Haynes.

Photo: mindgutter / Flickr

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Spanish prosecutors to go forward with criminal investigation of Bush Six, says Daily Beast writer

On April 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Blaw, blaw, blaw

117048243_7cc6bb0b87Scott Horton of The Daily Best is reporting that, according to sources close to the case, Spanish prosecutors will be going forward with a criminal investigation of six Bush administration officials, including Chapman University School of Law visiting professor John Yoo, over their role in the torture of five Spanish citizens held at Gitmo.

Horton writes:

“Baltasar Garzón Real, the investigating judge, accepted the complaint and

Continue reading »

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Frugal Finds (4/15/09): Take advantage of Tax Day deals on food and clothing

On April 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment · In Frugal Living

2892058635_da341cba5fThe Blawgirl crawls the Interwebz to find steals and deals for the frugal law student and the competitive bargain shopper. Find a new Frugal Finds 11:30 (ish) p.m. PST every Monday through Saturday! Also, each post is updated as I come across items. You’re welcome.

Tax Day specials:

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