Paul Haven of The Associated Press is reporting that Spanish prosecutors are likely to make a decision this week regarding whether to pursue criminal charges against six former Bush administration officials, including Chapman University School of Law visiting professor John Yoo, for enabling torture.
Haven writes:
“Under Spanish law, once the judge receives the prosecutor’s recommendation, he can either drop the case or open a full-blown probe that could lead to an
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Susan Boyle of Britain’s Got Talent did. The 47-year-old singer, who says she’s never been kissed, impressed the three judges of the talent competition – including the ever-cynical Simon Cowell – after waddling onto the stage in an ivory granny dress and opaque grey tights and gyrating her hips just moments before her stunning performance.
Maybe it was Ms. Boyle’s song selection of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables and the honesty of her performance, or maybe it was just my hope of seeing the underdog prove the cynics wrong, but the YouTube video had me cheering in front of my computer, and, yes, wiping away a tear or two.
I didn’t think I could be as surprised as I was when I first saw Paul Potts sing Nessun Dorma on the same show a couple years back, but Ms. Boyle, thanks for putting a smile on my face.
I hope your dreams come true!
The 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 (April 15) specials:
- 10 percent off clothing. Today only at Bluefly.com, an online designer clothing retailer, get an extra 10 percent off everything. If you’re on a tight, tight budget,
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The 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:
- $520 notebook. The HP Home & Home Office Store offers its HP Pavilion G60t Pentium Dual-Core 2GHz 16″ Widescreen Notebook for $519.99 with free
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Welcome 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.
There was a commercial a couple years back that showed two college-age guys, we’ll call them Harold and Kumar, riding around the streets of a city when they happen upon a free couch on the sidewalk. I don’t remember what the commercial was about, or what it was selling, all I remember is this couch.
The guys load the couch into their car, and are like “Dude! Free couch. Score!” for a while until they get these looks on their faces that say something is not right. Kinda like the look I gave this when I first saw it. Sniff, sniff. Sniff, sniff. The guys take a look at each other with a “Dude? Whiskey tango foxtrot?” when it suddenly dawns on them that the eau d’gym socks and hummus is not a result of their over indulgence in Chipotle burritos and Activia yogurt earlier in the day: It’s that friggin’ couch. So the couch gets left on another sidewalk for another bargain hunter to pick up and get the same fun surprise.
Thanks to the crazy magic that kept humans and dinosaurs from eating each other dinosaurs from obliterating humans thousands of years ago, which also happened to create the Interwebz, we now have Craigslist to keep us from suffering Harold and Kumar’s fate. Confetti!
Craigslist is a great resource for the frugal shopper because it’s a great resource for that other great “F” word (not THAT F-word, although some people get that too if you believe 60 Minutes). I mean “Free” stuff, you sick, sick people.
You can pretty much furnish any room in your home with the things offered through Craigslist. You just need to be willing to drive somewhere, have enough room in your ride to haul whatever you need away, and be patient enough to put in a little bit of work to get your new furniture looking decent.
For wooden furniture, you may need to pick up some sandpaper and some paint or wood stain to give pieces new life and to help them fit into your decor.
For couches, you can pick up a fitted slip cover at discount prices from brick and mortar stores like Big Lots and Ross, or from online stores like Amazon.com or Overstock.com. And just to be safe, maybe some Febreze.
If you’re super lucky, you may even find people giving away big appliances like washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and microwaves.
Here are some stuff I found looking in the Orange County free section this morning:
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Photos: Daniel James / Flickr, Craigslist.com, DavidSC78 / Flickr
The 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.
Alerts:
- Seven7 jeans for $11. If you’re going to be living in jeans for the next three years as a law student, why not pick up some designer pairs? Amazon.com is
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The Chapman University School of Law dean and a professor at the Orange County, Calif., law school gave LA Times readers a preview of what the upcoming debate between former Bush administration legal adviser John Yoo and professors at the school could look like.
Published in the LA Times Opinion section Thursday, Dean John C. Eastman and professor Lawrence Rosenthal wrote separate pieces arguing whether Chapman visiting professor John Yoo, who teaches at U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall, is fit to mold and Socratize young legal minds.
Mr. Rosenthal, whose piece ran above Eastman’s, stated that Mr. Yoo should not be teaching because the memos he produced for the Bush administration, including one that said the president could allow torture, were flawed in their legal reasoning.
Mr. Rosenthal writes:
“While I yield to no one in my respect for academic freedom, the memos reflect a kind of tunnel vision that I would not tolerate in a student’s work and certainly not in the work of an attorney for our government.”
Dean Eastman disagrees, stating that Mr. Yoo’s presence on the campus inspires healthy debate, and Eastman even goes so far as to disagree with those who have criticized Mr. Yoo.
Mr. Eastman writes:
“As the dean of the law school, I welcome his presence and the debate it has provoked. The opportunity to confront positions with which one disagrees is the hallmark of a first-rate education. As a constitutional law scholar, I should also note my disagreement with Yoo’s detractors.”
Read why Mr. Eastman disagrees with the critics of Mr. Yoo’s memos here.
There’s no mention of the recent developments in Spain, where prosecutors took the first steps toward a possible criminal investigation for six Bush officials.
Mr. Rosenthal is one of two professors at Chapman scheduled to debate Mr. Yoo 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 21 in the university’s Memorial Hall in a dialogue titled “Presidential Power and Success in Times of Crisis”.
If you’re planning on going, it sounds like it would be a good idea to show up early. The university, in anticipation of a large turnout, has moved the event to a larger location than originally planned and will not be including lunch.
For more information on the event, Chapman’s Web site says to contact Barbara Babcock at bbabcock@chapman.edu.
Photo: John Yoo Wikipedia page / Wikimedia Commons
The 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.
Alerts:
- Last night hotel stay for free, and $40 a night at select beach hotels. Get in a wet T-shirt contest or two, or whatever you kids are doing these days, before school starts in the fall. Expedia.com is currently holding its Spring Break sale where travelers can get their last night’s stay for free on qualifying stays of three, four or five nights at over 700 hotels. Destinations include Las Vegas, Cancun, New York City, the Caribbean and Hawaii. Book by today for travel through May 15. Also certain beach hotels are available starting at $40 per night during the Beach Sale. Book by May 5 for travel by July 14. (via DealNews)
Gadgets and Gear:
- $480 notebook. Get the Dell Inspiron 15 Pentium Dual-Core 2GHz 15.6″ Widescreen Notebook in Pacific Blue for $479 with $29 for shipping from Dell Home. The laptop retails for $619. (via DealNews)
- $725 notebook. Get the HP Pavilion dv6t Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz 16″ Widescreen Notebook in Espresso Black or Moonlight White for $724.99 with free shipping from the HP Home & Home Office Store via the directions found at DealNews.
- $818 notebook, all-in-one printer, case, USB flash drive bundle. Walmart.com is offering a Toshiba 14.1 Satellite M305-S4907 Laptop bundle with a 4GB USB flash drive, laptop bag, and deskjet all-in-one printer for $818 with about $8 for shipping. This deal is only available online.
- $840 widescreen notebook. Sony Style offers the Sony VAIO Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz 16.4″ Widescreen Notebook for $839.99 with free shipping via directions found at DealNews.
- $1,300 notebook with leather accent. Get the Dell Studio XPS 16 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz 16″ Widescreen Notebook in Obsidian Black with Leather Accent for $1,299 with free shipping from Dell Home. The laptop regularly retails for $1,516. (via DealNews)
- $30 printer, scanner, copier. Toys R Us is offering the Epson Stylus NX200 Multifunction Printer for $29.99 with $4.86 for shipping. The printer, which retails for $79.99, also scans and copies. (via DealNews)
Entertainment:
- Free music samplers. If you haven’t already, pick up Amazon.com’s free Sub Pop Sampler, which features 11 songs from Sub Pop Records artists including Fleet Foxes, Flight of the Conchords and Iron & Wine. While you’re there you may also want to check out the free Anti- Sampler, which features 13 songs from Anti- Records artists including Neko Case and The Aggrolites.
Odds and Ends:
- $90 men’s bike. If you’re lucky enough to be within bike-riding distance to campus, Sears offers the Pacific Men’s 26″ Stratus Mountain Bike for $89.99 with $16.50 for shipping. (via DealNews)
- Boots from $12 a pair. Also, Sears is currently offering a selection of women’s boots for $11.99 a pair with shipping starting at $6.25. Check out the collection available here. The sizes are limited – I wear a size 5, so no shoezies for me – but some of the styles are actually quite workable. The boot styles vary from ankle boots, to mid-calf to knee-highs, so there’s a great, affordable selection to choose from. (via DealNews)
And for some reason, the last two entries made me think about this clip. Enjoy!
Photo: Julie Anne Ines / Negril, Jamaica, July 2008
If you’ve been listening to all the hullabaloo that’s been going on about the current state of our economy, then you’ve probably heard the line that says we’re in the worst economic period since the Great Depression. Maybe we are, maybe we’re not. I’m no economist. I went to J-School. But as our current president reflects on past presidents to guide his policy during this time, we can reflect on the frugal precedents (kaching!) our ancestors set, says Bill Shrink of the blog Shrinkage Is Good.
Before I go any further, I would like to praise Mr. Shrink for the name of his blog, Shrinkage Is Good. It takes some cajones for a dude to write under such a headline. Btw, pun intended.
Mr. Shrink notes that, despite the depressing nature of the Great Depresssion, people were able to stay afloat during desperate times using common sense practices that may not seem so common today . Mr. Shrink offers advice like buying only what you need and avoiding debt like the plague. And, get this dolls, he says to consider buying things used. Jeepers. Who woulda thunk it?
Read the rest of Mr. Shrink’s 16 Depression Era Money Saving Tips here. It’s the cats pajamas.
Photo: practicalowl / Flickr
Author and British barrister (lawyer) Philippe Sands told The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer: “If I were they, I would think carefully before setting foot outside the United States. They are now, and forever in the future, at risk of arrest. Until this is sorted out, they are in their own legal black hole.”
And who is part of the “they” in question?
Sands, who released a book titled “Torture Team” last year, singles out six former Bush administration officials, including John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer and currently a visiting instructor at Chapman University’s School of Law.
When Sands book – which accuses Bush officials of complicity in acts of torture – came out, his predictions seemed far fetched, Mayer said. But Mayer writes that last week “Sand’s accusations suddenly did not seem so outlandish.” That’s because a court in Spain took the first steps toward the start of a criminal investigation of the Bush Six, the group of officials Sands cited in his book.
Here’s what happened in Spain. According to the New York Times, an official close to the case said the case was sent to the prosecutor’s office for review. According to the article, the official stated it was “highly probable” the case would go forward and that it could lead to arrest warrants for the six, though experts have said the warrants would be more symbolic than practical.
Mr. Yoo declined comment on the Times’ story, telling them he had not seen or heard of the petition. But, if you’re in the area, maybe you’ll luck out and he’ll speak on the matter when he debates Chapman Law professors 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 21 in the university’s Memorial Hall in a dialogue titled “Presidential Power and Success in Times of Crisis”.
I’m no psychic, but something tells me this is going to be a debate to watch. The university, in anticipation of a large turnout, has moved the event to a larger location than originally planned and will not be including lunch.
For more information on the event, Chapman’s Web site says to contact Barbara Babcock at bbabcock@chapman.edu.
And here’s a Q&A with John Yoo from the local newspaper, The Orange County Register.
Photo: Joe Gratz / Flickr
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