As Far As You Know

Okay, I've finally joined the blogosphere.

For the few hardy souls who might actually stumble into this corner of cyberspace, you may find, from time to time, something to amuse you . . . perhaps even inform or inspire you. Or this may just end up as a vehicle for my rants on the universe that no one ever will see. Either way, I intend to have fun with it.

The Yankees/Red Sox showdown at the Stadium on Sunday was a disaster from the point of view of New York fans. The Yanks are 1-for-7 against Boston in 2004. So much for the supposedly huge payroll advantage the Bombers have! Ah well, it's April . . .

(By the way, I snapped the pretty good photo above: Pedro Martinez in the process of shutting down Derek Jeter--again!)

The High Court today heard oral argument regarding the government's detention of U.S. citizens suspected of collaborating with terrorists. The central question in this case is: does the policy of holding alleged terrorists--who are U.S. citizens--without access to a lawyer or other aspects of due process violate the Constitution?

In my Constitutional Law class, I argue that the Court consistently has sided with the government during wartime; civil rights and civil liberties have been trumped by national security concerns. (The habeus corpus cases during the Civil War, the treatment of anti-draft activists during WWI, and the notorious Korematsu case in WWII all illustate this point.) Usually the Court reverses itself later, however, when the national crisis has passed.

I'll be very interested to see how the Court handles this case, as the war on terror seems fundamentally different from the wars we've fought in history, in that it may NEVER end. This may lead the Court to break the pattern described above. We should know by June.

Citizens of the U.S. who will be at least 18 years of age by this November 2: visit this site, make the pledge, and enjoy a free iTune!

Point your browser here for a cool exercise selecting a running mate for presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry. This is from the excellent "On Politics" section of the Washington Post web site.

The sections of the world map above that are in red indicate the countries that I have been to at some point in my life. A lot of "uncharted" territory still out there for me!

Make your own map of your travels by clicking here. You can make a map of states in the U.S. that you've visited, as well.

We are fast approaching the golden anniversary of perhaps THE great milestone in sport: Roger Bannister's breaking the four-minute mile "barrier." In 1954 the English medical student thrilled the world by doing something the supposed experts had thought might be impossible. Click here for more details.

He set a world record that he only held for weeks. And in the past fifty years, hundreds of athletes--some of them just high school runners--have bettered Bannister's achievement of 3:59.4. In fact, the world record in the mile is over sixteen seconds faster than it was when Bannister set it. But he got there first. And he did so before the many advances in the science of sports physiology and training, before helpful developments in equipment and track construction.

Most important of all, Bannister's is a wonderful example of a life well-lived. Like the Arch "Moonlight" Graham character in A Field of Dreams, this is a guy who thought his career as a doctor was far more important than his attainments as an athlete. But he will always be remembered for his successful effort to, as he put it in his memoir The Four-Minute Mile, "do one thing supremely well." Bravo, Sir Roger!