He gets the ball; he scores again...

Ladies and gentlemen, lock up the liquor, hide the women and children, and get ready for my comprehensive review and preview of all UEFA Euro 2008. In case you are unfamiliar with Euro 2008, it is a World Cup style tournament featuring the best 16 teams in Europe (Or at least belonging to UEFA.) If you are unfamiliar with Euro 2008, you might want to just stop reading now. Without further ado, let's begin with Group A....

Group A Standings After 1 Game
Portugal 3 points (+2 goal differential)
Czech Republic 3 points (+1)
Switzerland 0 points (-1)
Turkey 0 points (-2)

After one game, Portugal showed their class and prove that they will easily win Group A. While the 2-0 win over Turkey was not quite a walk in the park since the insurance goal came at the death, no one in the group will be able to challenge Portugal. Tomorrow's clash with the Czech's should determine the group winner, Portugal's potentially ferocious offense should carry the day. Lead by Manchester United's (soon to be Real Madrid's) flop happy, Euro 2008 Mr. Handsome Christiano Ronaldo, you can go ahead and pencil Portugal into the Euro semis. The interesting plot-line out of this group is who will claim the second place spot and a chance to face probable Group B winners Germany. The winner of the Czech Republic/Turkey clash will most likely end up in second. The phenomenal goalkeeping of Chelsea's Petr Cech will be enough to see the Czech Republic out of the group stages and into the knockout rounds. Co-host Switzerland still has a chance, but the loss of leader Frei severely dings their hopes.

Group B Standings
Germany 3 pts. (+2)
Croatia 3 pts. (+1)
Austria 0 pts. (-1)
Poland 0 pts. (-2)

As with Portugal in Group A, Germany should cruise into the semis. The 4 to 1 favorites entering the tournament, their easy 2-0 win over Poland further cemented their favorite status. The battle for second in the group will turn on the Poland/Croatia match. Croatia managed a penalty kick winner over Group B whipping boy Austria in the first game. I personally have been down on Poland ever since the U.S. national team blitzkrieged them 3-0 in Poland. However, after watching the first games in this group, Croatia looked flat while Poland looked legitimately frisky. I think Poland will prevail over Kovac, Kovac, & Assoc. despite Croatia's obnoxious checkered uniforms. Austria, not even ranked in FIFA's top 100, has no business in the tournament. They are a non-factor.

Group C Standings (The Group of Death)
Holland 3 pts. (+3)
France 1 pt.
Romania 1 pt.
Italy 0 pts. (-3)

I like the Dutch in this group. The Oranje and their "total football" provided an entertaining match against the ancient Italians. Holland seems to have the right balance of experience (Van Der Sar and Van Nistelrooy), hard workers (Liverpool utility man Dirk Kuyt and Wesley Sniejder), and youth (Arsenal man Robin Van Persie). They do not seem to be too impacted by the loss of Liverpool starlet Ryan Babel and serial injury absentee Arjen Robben. The only hitch in the Dutch domination is if France shakes off their first game rust and comes out guns blazing. Holland has all the momentum, and I predict them to carry the group easily. Italy, France, and Romania are relegated to a battle for second. Romania, though ranked 12 in the world, do not have the firepower to stay. Italy, the defending world champions, are headed for an early exit, much to the relief of their aging lineup, who don't want to miss bingo night at their nursing home. Against Holland, Italy trotted out 10 starters that were older than 30. In the footballing world, that is ancient. France, while also aged, at least has some young legs to throw on in a pinch. I see France advancing in second.

Group D Standings
Spain 3 pts. (+ 3)
Sweden 3 pts. (+2)
Greece 0 pts. (-2)
Russia 0 pts. (-3)

Spain advances with ease. They put on a masterful performance, sparked by the two best strikers in the tournament in Torres and David Villa. Their defense looked a little suspect at times today, but that won't trouble them until the knockout stages. Sweden will take second, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic providing all the goals they need to advance to the knockout stages. Defending Euro champions Greece looked overmatched today, and Russia is only in the tournament because England has psychological issues (and coaching issues which have since been resolved. Steve McClaren? Really?).

Quarterfinals:
Portugal over Poland
Germany over Czech Republic
Holland over Sweden
Spain over France

Semifinals:
Germany over Portugal
Holland over Spain

Finals:
Holland over Germany

Go Oranje! In closing, please enjoy a fine goal by Spain's David Villa against Italy from earlier this year.

Now in the morning I sleep alone...

So I have not met my goals for posting. I sincerely apologize. Tonight's post will be fairly simple. The topic: tort reform. I realize I just lost 50% of my readership (1 of 2), but I will persevere nonetheless. Today in class, we talked about the Texas Constitutional provision that limits non-economic damages (think primarily pain and suffering) to $250,000 per claimant. Under certain circumstances the total non-economic recovery can be increased to $750,000. $750,000 is the absolute cap. Some argue that this artificial cap is heartless. To a certain level I agree, but I'm ok with that. We Republicans aren't anything if not heartless. Certainly the law is not perfect in every situation, but anyone who tries to tell you something is perfect is either selling something, lying to you, or both.

But on the whole, the cap has worked fairly well. It has severely cut medical malpractice insurance premiums for doctors allowing better, more affordable healthcare for all. Also, it has reduced frivolous lawsuits. By taking the hostage element out of medical malpractice claims (Settle or I'll put my sadly damaged (but not negligently damaged) plaintiff on the stand and pop you for $10 million), the claims are actually adjudicated instead of just immediately settled. This weeds out the frivolous claims while still allowing legitimate claims to be proven. And justice being done is good for everyone.

In closing, this is no where near a complete discussion of all aspects of medical malpractice damage caps. I look forward to my uncle's postings about the problems with my approach. Maybe that will coax me into a follow up post. In a final aside, I want to thank the recruiting staff of my future employer who will be reading this in the fall. (In case you are unfamiliar with the modern hiring process, a quick google of the applicant is almost standard now.) And yes future law firm employer, I am in favor of tort reform. That's all for tonight...

And I'm already gone...

Ethanol is killing tiny children in Africa. Ok, that might not be true, but since when have blogs needed actual "facts" to post about. But seriously, energy hungry America has turned its eyes onto corn these days. That's all well and good. If it helps overfed people to sleep at night because they're helping curb "global warming," I'm all for it. It never occurs to most people that the skyrocketing price of corn could actually impact people half a world away who need that suddenly unaffordable food to survive. (Or even the people in John Edwards' "Second America" who are having a hard time affording food these days too. And yes, I know that that is caused by more than just high corn prices.)

Also, ethanol is not all that energy efficient. It requires almost as much energy to make as it produces when burned. That means we're still using oil. And ethanol would not be that economical if it were not subsidized out the wazoo by the federal government. The only reason ethanol has lasted this long is because one of the first stops on the road to the White House is corn crazed Iowa.

I'm not sure why I chose ethanol to rant about tonight. It must be the four classes I sat through today, or that the Rangers lost in heartbreaking fashion yesterday afternoon. I'm going to Abilene this weekend for Liz's final ballet recital, and I am looking forward to it. That's all for tonight...

Hold your mistakes up...

I am now three days deep into my second quarter, and all is well. After finishing finals on May 2, I had a week off, most of which I spent in Abilene. Nothing particularly exciting happened while I was in Abilene, but I did get to spend quality time with my family and eat at Harold's twice. I am not sure of how many of the three people that make up my readership are familiar with metropolitan Waco, but I am searching for a good BBQ place. So if anyone has any suggestions, I would be grateful.

It has been storming furiously for the past two evenings. When I woke up this morning, I gazed out over the pool (my apartment sits above the pool) and noticed that a substantial amount of deck furniture was at the bottom of the pool. I also noticed that a large planter complete with plant was also now residing at the bottom. I was shocked that the storm was powerful enough to push what must be a 100-pound planter several feet into the pool. When I headed downstairs to go to class, I found the true cause of the planter's relocation. Someone had been playing some late night beer pong poolside. I can only imagine that the plunging of the planter into the pool was caused by raging undergrads rather than raging clouds.

Immediately before posting, I read an article saying that Cindy McCain had just sold $2 million dollars worth of investments in American companies with ties to Sudan. Oops! Her husband has been fairly outspoken about the abuse of the Khartoum regime (by outspoken I mean just that; lots of talk, very little action). You would think Cindy was smart enough (or John's people) to dump her stocks that help fund genocide. You can all sleep better tonight knowing that none of the profits of this blog go towards ethnically cleansing Darfurians (or anyone else for that matter).

In a final aside, Caroline, I was wondering in the wilderness. I did much more wondering than wandering. I am a bad spell, but I did choose my word with care that time. Thanks for the proofread though. That's all for tonight...

Children, wake up...

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, this blog is back by popular demand (or at least demand from my grandmother). I have decided to come out of blogging exile after a year of wondering in the wilderness.

It has been a year of change. Perhaps the biggest change in my life is that I know have text messaging. You might be thinking to yourself, "Hey Andrew, haven't you been to DC and back, moved out of your childhood home, and started law school in the past year? Aren't those big changes?" Those all seem pretty big, but with my new found texting ability, I have joined the 21st Century. I have long been a cell phone user, but that technology has been around since the 80s. I am now caught up with modern mobile technology, and it feels good.

This post will be short because I'm out of practice. I will close with a few house keeping items. First, this blog has a new title. I couldn't legitimately call this blog "andrew in dc" because I'm not there anymore. I tried to choose something legal-esque, and "no genuine issue of material fact" was the best that I could come up with. (And yes, I just ended a sentence with a preposition) For a party to win summary judgment on a claim, there must be "no genuine issue of material fact." Also, I think the title accurately represents the triviality of my writings. Second, I will be attempting to post three times a week, probably on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday schedule. I may post more than that, but I don't expect to hear any complaints if I succeed in three posts a week. Third, the song of the day contest is still going on. Finally, my goal for this blog is too be listed in the links of Professor Mark Osler's fine blog "Osler's Razor." If there is a blog hall of fame for Baylor Law students, it is the Razor. Be sure to check it out here. Be sure to tune in Wednesday for an exciting post probably having to do with law school, English soccer, television, or how ethanol is destroying the world. That's all for tonight...

I'm so tired of being there for everyone but me...

I am back from my longest blog break to date. I have been in Abilene since Saturday seeing friends and spending time with my family. It is certainly different being in Texas than the Washington bubble. I am still working on my plans for this summer and next fall and after that. Any input/suggestions would be appreciated.

When I was at Caroline's last night, we were flipping channels and came across a House Ag Committee hearing on C-SPAN2. This was the same hearing that I went to a briefing on on Friday. Suprisingly, no one else in the room was interested in sticking around and watching witnesses from USDA and the FDA testify about food safety. Also, as I was reading the news yesterday, I happened upon the following picture. The gentleman in the foreground is Texas A&M president turned Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. If you look towards the background, you will notice a CodePink protester holding up a sign. This is the very same protester that I literally ran into in the vaunted Halls of Congress a mere few weeks ago. It is nice to know that even if I am not there, it is business as usual at the Capitol. Finally, congratulations to Caroline Green for naming last Friday's song of the day.

Man dreams one day to fly...

Tonight is my last night in DC. I went and hung out at the Tech house for a while and then headed back to the apartment to finish my packing. While I was at work today, WISH moved in a couch and a chair in my abode. I guess it is better late than never. The day at work was pretty slow. I gave a couple of tours, and that was about it.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about my time in DC. I have enjoyed my experience up here, but I do not plan on moving back until I am a member of Congress. I feel like I have learned a lot and certainly grown a lot. It is time to go home though. It is time to move on and do other things. I am not sure what those other things are, but they are coming. That's all for tonight...