National Novel Writing Month starts tomorrow

I may actually attempt it this year.  The problem is that I write for a living, all day, everyday; I read pages and pages of medical records, daily, then draft a legal analysis.  By the time I get home, I am usually burnt out on writing anymore that day. But if I ever want to do any substantial fiction writing, I have to perservere through the fatigue.  A goal of 50,000 words by the end of November is possible.

http://nanowrimo.org/

Judges :SMH:

http://www.local10.com/news/florida-supreme-court-removes-judge-who-sold-religious-books-from-office/29430960

F#@k You AT&T

I knew there was something strange going on.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/10/28/the-ftc-is-suing-att-for-throttling-its-unlimited-data-customers/

Things I'm thankful for (early addition)

Just one week left until Election Day, and I don't have to see or hear all of the stupid Goddamn ads!!!

Oooooooooooh, I hates politician!!!!!!!!

Psychics...lolz

This gem comes from The Honest Courtesan.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Presented without comment:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-police-are-still-out-of-control-112160.html

Well, I'm going to be busy all day and most of the evening, so I don't think I will have time to make a post relevant to any current events*.  So how about a bit of fiction I wrote last year?  This was in response to a prompt on a writing site.  The prompt was given around Halloween.  The word limit was 500.  The prompt was about finding a mysterious journal from someone you knew but who you never expected to have a journal.  It being Halloween, I tried to give an air of mystery and foreboding to the story.

A dick prosecutor, an out of control DEA, and fallout from the total failure called the War on Drugs.

I heard about this awhile back when word got out about the Federal Magistrate's unconstitutional requirements for bond were made public.  However, after reading the whole saga, it becomes clear we have to do something about unaccountable prosecutors and out of control law enforcement.  Our liberties have been consistently curtailed in the name of the so called War on Drugs.

Jesus wept

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/showbiz/2014/10/22/ac-ridiculist-pat-robertson-aids-comment.cnn.html

If so many people didn't take everything this ignorant asshole says as the "word," I would just roll my eyes in disdain.  However he has a dangerous control over the minds of many sheeple.  STFU you ignorant asshole!!!!

There once was a man from Nantucket (NSFW)

Religious freedom, not religious privilege

Okay, this will be a quick one because the overreacting from certain quarters is causing me to bang my head against my desk out of frustration.  The Idaho wedding chapel case is not an assault against religious freedoms or a violation of the first amendment.  The place in question is a for profit wedding chapel.  Not a church, but a wedding chapel where people pay to be married.  Because of this, they cannot deny a couple because they are gay.  Just like some ignorant racist cannot refuse to serve someone because they are black.  What's that you say? I'm justa godless heathen who don't understand the word of Jaysus [bad grammar and spelling was intentional]?  Well then, read someone else's take on it.  And before you dismiss his view, read a little of his bio, he is not a heathen.

Too many people incorrectly say religious freedom, when what they really mean is religious privilege.  They want their views to trump the beliefs of everyone else.  Contrary to christian opinion, there is not a war against christianity going on.  There is however, a movement to bring christianity to the same level as the other religions, as well it should be.

My review of "The Judge"

The wife and I saw "The Judge" on Saturday for our date night. It was wonderful. As a lawyer, I tend to view all legal-themed movies with a critical eye; this movie seemed to get a lot right. Not to say there were not some errors in procedure and questioning that would not have flown in an actual courtroom, but overall it was semi realistic.

The movie is about Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.), a typical clichéd rich criminal defense attorney living in Chicago who returns home for the first time in many years for the funeral of his mother.  He apparently has not been home in many years due to a contentious and intolerable relationship with his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall).  The two fight throughout the time leading up to the funeral.  After the funeral, they have a big blowup and Hank (next day.  While on the plane, he receives a call from his brother that the Judge is being charged with killing a man who had a history with the Judge, in an auto accident.  He immediately goes back to the town to represent his father.  Of course, with the contentious dynamic of their relationship, the Judge does not want Hank to represent him and instead, hires a local bumbling attorney C.P. Kennedy (Dax Shepherd).  We soon meet the smarmy prosecutor Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton), and it becomes quite clear that C.P is not up to the task.  The Judge reluctantly allows Hank to represent him.  During the course of the trial, we learn more about the fractured relationship between Hank and the Judge.  Frank discovers that his father is ill, which quite possibly played a part in the accident.  To keep from giving out any major spoilers, I will leave the plot synopsis at that.  Suffice it to say, the ending was no big shock.

This movie was both funny and sad.  There were several “laugh out loud” moments and several tearjerker scenes as well.  Mrs. Moderatarian Man alternated between laughing and crying.  I highly recommend everyone go see "The Judge". Both Duvall and Downey give outstanding performances.

Been wanting to do this forever

Well, I finally did it, I created a blog.  Now I just have to hope that there are at least a couple of people out there that care about what I have to say.  Let me begin by telling you a few things about the great [sarcasm] ModeratarianMan.  While I do intend to maintain a certain modicum of anonymity with this blog, I will tell you a few things about myself in my view of order of most importance:

1.    I am a father to a beautiful and wonderful 3 year old daughter and a stepfather to a beautiful and wonderful 18 year old stepdaughter (she currently has shoved her head very far up her ass, and has violated the trust of her mother and I; she is on my shit list), and a wonderful 16 year old stepson.

2.    I am husband to a beautiful and wonderful wife who puts up with all my bullshit.

2.5  I sometimes use profanity as exhibited in the previous factum.  If the occasional use of profanity offends you, you might want to stop reading now and never come back to this page again.

3.    I am a Freemason.

4.    I am an attorney with the U.S. Goverment, specifically with the Social Security Administration.  While I am an attorney, this is in no way a blawg.  I will not be commenting with any expertise on the legality of things going on in today's society.  That is not to say I will not be giving my opinion on such things, just take what I say with a grain of salt, unless I happen to comment on Social Security disability issues.  I will not give legal advice to anyone (note to self, add a disclaimer to the blog).

5.    I am a moderate independent when it comes to politics, though there are some politicians and talking heads I despise with a passion.  As far as my economic views, I am again a moderate;  I will support whatever works, just as long as you are able to prove it works.  Socially I lean (somewhere between 45 and 20 degrees) libertarian.  Hence my blog handle, Modera(te liber)tarianMan.

6.    On a daily basis, I generally read multiple newspapers online, read many blawgs, and read multiple news sites.  I try to stay well informed on current events.

7.    I love art and love to paint, though I have not had the time to paint in a long time.  However, I intend to change that soon and start painting again.

8.    I love to write fiction.  But as with painting, time has been a limiting factor and it has been nigh impossible to put pen to paper, or to describe it more modernly, fingers to keys.

9.    I am not particularly religious. If you know anything about the masons, you know I am not an athiest. However, I hold no love for organized religions, and tend to view them and their followers cynically and critically.  I will at times tear into some of these people for their hypocrisy.

It will take me some time to get this blog's appearance and format to my liking, but I will endeavor to get it finished as quick as possible.  As soon as I can, I will post a blogroll of all the sites I frequently read.  A bit of a disclaimer, I don't necessarily agree with all the blogs (in fact some make me bang my head on the keyboard in frustration), but I believe in being well informed.  That requires you to step out of the echo chamber.  If you want a good start on blogs and blawgs to read, here are two that I read daily: http://volokh.com/ and http://www.popehat.com/.  If you start to explore the listed blogs on popehat, you will get a preview of my blogroll.

That is it for now, until next time.