Oh, btw

I got elected Vice President of Penn State Law.

End of the Beginning

In so many ways this week marks the end of the beginning for me. End of the first year of law school, end of the GOP Presidential Primary, end of ill advised feuds, end of doing things the old way. Detail eludes my fingers so I will not elaborate on a ton of things. I love to share details, but i've been more guarded as of late, it's just what has to happen. The past few months have been filled with a certain kind of turmoil for me. I have been struggling with sin in a very visible and frustrating way. Plus old sins have come back staring me in the face. It is difficult to walk the walk that Christ would have me to walk. I can't do it alone and in my own strength. There is no excuse for succumbing to the temptation at all, but I still do it. At my saturday morning bible study with some dear friends from church I heard a sermon by John Piper, probably the first one i've ever listened to by him. At the end of his message he said something that really struck a chord with me. For months i've been trying to battle my sins one by one, individually focusing on eradicating each one. I never ended up being successful because my desire to do those things was stifled, but never failed to resurface. Piper said that wasn't necessary. He said you the secret is not attacking your sins one by one. The secret was to let your desire for Christ be your all encompassing desire because that desire would supplant your desire for the particular sin. I think there is so much truth in that. I know I struggle with all manner of sinful desires. Those desires are very strong. Any desire not to commit those sins is overcome by the desire to do those sins. If I could only elevate my desire to serve Christ above my desire to serve my flesh and baser instincts. I would achieve a victory through Christ not possible by any other means. I know what it is to kick a dreadful sick obsession with Christ's help. I've done it before. The desire is not completely eradicated, but my desire to serve Christ in that manner overcomes the desire to dwell on that foolishness. I pray for God's help as I try to draw closer to His will for my life. This is the end of the beginning of my battle to punch sin in the mouth.

Running for Vice Prez

We're ready to rock here at Dickinson School of Law. The official campaigning starts Tuesday but i've already been out greasing the wheels of democracy. Don't know yet who my opponent is going to be but I have a strong feeling this race will be the only contested one. It gives you some pause because anything can happen, but it also gives you more clout if you win because you had to earn it. All in all, campaigning in a race is rather exhilarating.

I rather like it.

That didn't last.

Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

Here she is

My girl. :)

The past

Ever wonder that sometimes something is going to happen that is going to screw up the storybook ending? I get that feeling sometimes when reviewing precedent and analyzing the trends. It tends to make one cynical.


Here's to hope for a brighter future!

Hello 2012

Well I guess this is my first blog post of 2012. This blog post does not find me in a good spirits. First, my grades suck from last semester. My fault I know, but it doesn't make me like it at all. Second, Mitt Romney is in danger of losing this nomination to Newt Gingrich. I really dislike that. I could say awful things about Newt, but I won't and i'll just try to be positive. Thirdly, well there is something there, but I can't lay a finger on it.


There is some reason to be positive. I will have summer employment without applying for it. I will be able to make some money with the USMC this summer, even though I didn't get the internship with them I wanted.

I guess the biggest news is that i'm on the verge of dating the girl of my dreams: literally. In fact, if you read my blog over the past couple of years, you may have noticed a cleverly hidden message where I proclaimed my love for her. I won't give you any more clues than that, but suffice it to say, i'm on the verge. It's not a done deal and I could see this fizzling but there is a real chance.

One thing though is that this year I need to get back to my roots. I've left my faith. That saddens me. But over the past couple of years i've turned my faith into nothing but an empty, shallow, religion. I want to get back to the joy of experiencing Christ and putting him first in my life and relationships. God has humbled me thoroughly for the past 6 months or maybe even 6 years. But even in all of that He's never left me. I thank Him so much for His faithfulness.


I guess I should be reading Property instead of blogging but I figured I had to break the silence. To all 4 people who read this blog they got a juicy tidbit I reckon. To those who don't, well they'll find out on Facebook or twitter perhaps. Not sure which medium i'll use to toot my own horn.


God put me in State College, PA for a reason. I hope I learn all the lessons I need to learn here. With that said, I know learning sometimes involves growing pains. And pain sucks. But through all of the pain that i've been through over the past 22 years God has never put me through anything I couldn't handle, and that I didn't see the purpose of it down the road. Maybe this is the reason he had me play games unwittingly so that when the time came I would be ready. Get all of the play and wandering out so when it's time to do work, it's time to do work.


Rest in Peace Coach Paterno. We love you Joepa!

The Brilliant Answer I Wanted to Write

So, I got suckered in and started writing this great analysis. But that's not what he wanted out of me!! But since I like my answer so much i'll post as much as I drafted in unedited form. It's about the PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins case. SCOTUS case from 1980.

Illustrated by these two court’s opinions are the functionalist approach, and the formalist approach. Not once in the Pruneyard case does the court look to the text of the disputed constitutional provisions when reasoning their way to their holding. The court only looks at the functional nature of the amendments as they are presently understood and applies their function to the case facts at hand. It is a novel approach taken here by the court to reach what is likely the right conclusion, yet one unsupported by the text of the statutes. No one can deny that the private property rights of the owner are being infringed if he cannot have a say in what he wants, and what he does not want on his property. The court even gives that view a slight head nod as it acknowledges that even though the public is invited to use the property, that does not change the nature of private property to public. The court knows that this is a high hurdle to jump over to plausibly steer this case in the direction they want to go with it. So then they the court brings up their vehicle to that means: the cases concerning the state taking over private property. With this rationale the court narrows the window with which private property can be interfered with while cracking that window and destroying the absolute rights of private property owners. They start with their analysis of the government taking over private property (which is only acceptable in a limited amount of situations) although that discussion was completely unrelated to the case at hand. But in using those cases they were able to shift the discussion from an individual’s absolute right to do whatever they wish with private property, to saying that the individual has that right to fight the government off (with limited exceptions) when that constitutes a deprivation or taking of their private property. In doing so they created an acceptable foundation through which they know... [this is where I realized my error :( ]

Back to drafting the real answer now. (I'd post the question, but since the exam is still active that would violate some sort of ethical rule. Not too sure I want to get kicked out and sanctioned in my first semester of law school.)