Ham Sandwich Indicted!

So, I got on the horn on Monday and emailed Mr. Kenneth Goldsmith, Legislative Counsel for the American Bar Association. I inquired about the next steps in the process for the APA/PD loan repayment program, and he explained that the next step would be adoption of regulations (ie: how one would apply, how the funding would be disseminated around the country, etc.), as well as actually GETTING the funding. Apparently, this bill authorizes the funding, but does not provide for it. Scrounging up the millions of dollars needed is the next major challenge. Mr. Goldsmith also wanted to point out that much of this is due to the hard work of Senator Richard Durbin (IL), who has been fighting for this bill for several years. The ABA is working with Senator Durbin's office as well as the National Association of District Attorneys' in collecting questions, comments, and insight as to how the final program should look as it gets sent over to the Department of Justice. To that end, he encou...

On August 15, President Bush signed into law the Higher Education Opportunity Act, part of which includes the John R. Justice Prosecutor and Public Defender Loan Repayment Program. (The official text of which is here .) Basically, the attorney general will be responsible for paying up to $10,000 a year for those individuals willing to offer three years of service as a prosecutor or public defender. The total amount available is capped at $60,000, meaning you can "re-up" for another three year stint after your first three years are completed. This is GREAT news. The government finally realized that making $50K or less a year makes it damn near impossible to pay off your law school loans AND not live in your parent's basement. (And yes, I know several responsible, intelligent prosecutors and P.Ds who can't afford to move out of mom and dad's house.) They've also come to the brilliant understanding that if you actually pay your prosecutors, ADAs, an PDs, they mi...

Capping off a weekend of pure gluttony, the family and I grilled out at the parent's house on Labor Day. Burgers from Whole Foods were the main dish, a few sides, and a pie rounded out the meal. First, dessert. Being the end of summer, strawberry seemed appropriate--easy, fresh, and seasonal. Most everyone would agree that it requires little to no talent to create a strawberry pie. You are correct. Store bought graham cracker crust? Check. Strawberries cut into halves or quarters? Check. That red goop you buy in a plastic tub? Check. Woah....hold on there. Don't get me wrong, I grew up on that goop. It's good stuff. But you can do better. Try using a good strawberry preserve--or, if you're feeling crazy, raspberry or red currant--in place of the red goop. You gain a lot more flavor, and you lose a lot of preservatives and Red Food Dye #5. Everyone wins. And hell, if you're going to do that, why don't you just buy a pint of heavy whipping cream, a couple tablespo...

Stadium snack food-- What could be better than that? Pizza, hot dogs, beer! I'm here for the junk, Not the Caesar chicken wrap. Why'd dad bring me this?

It's not everyday that your friends decide to host a spur-of-the-moment pig roast. Fortunately for me, the Coopers are some of the most spontaneous and ambitious folks I know, and thought nothing of throwing a pig roast together in all of 6 days. I missed much of the pre-roasting prep, but got the details upon arrival at the party. Brian and Patty (the Coopers) have a friend who was able to provide the pig roasting tools seen above--namely, a bunch of concrete blocks, and a custom made grill grate (essentially, a giant pig panini press). They found a 120 lb pig at a farm in Utica, Ohio, where it was cleaned, gutted, and butterflied for them, and they brought it home in a baby pool full of ice. (The baby pool is no longer kosher.) They seasoned it all over (inside and out) with a dry rub from Penzy's , sandwiched it between the grilling grates, and then waited (about 8 hours). They obtained their pig-roasting advice from Three Guys from Miami . I showed up around 5pm, just as th...

For the most part, I really love my job. My co-workers are fantastic, I'm rarely lacking for excitement, and I get to handle drugs and guns on a semi-regular basis. Sometimes, however, the failures of the system, the idiocy or cruelty of juvenile delinquents and the tragedy of poor parenting makes me want to do something drastic. Thankfully, the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy offers an outlet for those frustrations. This past Wednesday I volunteered as a person in crisis for OPOTA's Hostage Negotiation Training. My job was to be a person in a hostage situation and allow the trainees to use the skills they'd learned in the previous days to "talk me down." It was awesome, exhausting, and surprisingly therapeutic . I was given a brief sketch of my character, then allowed to elaborate at will. For two 45 minute periods, I paced up and down on a catwalk, muttering, screaming, and hysterical, while threatening to throw myself and/or my 6 month old baby over ...

Watch out, folks--this post is a rant. I encourage responses. It has come to my attention* that the Catholic Church, in all of its omniscient power (cue celestial hoards of angels), has sent down a new set of regulations for responses during mass. Thanks to the guys pictured above, Catholics in English speaking countries are now facing a more 'elevated' series of responses and phrases, set to be phased in over the next several years. For the record, I'm a born and raised Catholic, and still try to make it to mass on a semi- ish -regular basis. While I think I could be considered faithful, I'm not sure you could call me completely dedicated. I have however, been reciting the same things for the past 20-odd years of my life, and, as I think most Catholics will agree, there's a lot of comfort/satisfaction in that. There's a security in being so familiar with the language of the Mass that I don't need to look at the church missal, and can rattle off any r...