Alright 2L’s and 3L’s, bust out those Con Law books and flip to the First Amendment section. Twitter may need some help in the freedom of speech department soon. See, the site recently unveiled a new censorship policy that allows it to censor tweets in countries with more stringent speech laws. But there’s more. The censorship will make the content of tweets “selectively available” in certain countries, but not others. So an anti-government tweet might be removed from the site in Turkey, but viewable in the U.S. or Great Britain. The website issued a formal announcement last week saying, “Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country – while keeping it available in the rest of the world.” As one might imagine, this development sparked considerable outrage across the Internet world, resulting in the pledge of many Twitter users to end their patronage of the site. Seems to ring a bell. Netflix, anyone?

Speaking from a practical standpoint, who can possibly monitor all these offensive tweets? If a foreign government asks Twitter to censor one tweet, there will likely be 10 more just like it that slip through the cracks. The Internet functions like a black hole of information – even with the most vigilant of watchdogs policing, it’s nearly impossible to control the spread of information.

And Twitter, be honest. Would this have anything to do with wanting to expand into China where the website is currently banned? People have now begun referring to Twitter as “dictator friendly,” which stands in stark contrast to how it was originally used – as a tool to topple dictatorships. It helped spread the message of protestors in Moldova, Egypt and the Middle East while simultaneously functioning as a vehicle to promote aid and assistance to Haiti. Even the Occupy movement in the U.S. made use of Twitter to spread its message. This censorship business coming from such an original bastion of free speech, quite frankly, has folks’ heads spinning.

With SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), PIPA (Protect IP Act) and other Internet censorship debates flying around cyberspace lately, this comes at a very inopportune time, especially because Google just announced a change in its privacy polices as well. Internet users worry that a trend is developing where governments pay closer attention to the Internet with an intent to regulate its use. The changes on these major websites now have users asking “How far is too far?”

If citizens of other countries want to exercise their right to speak, Twitter should not try to silence them. Even if it succeeds in censoring tweets, countless other outlets exist to help spread their message. There will always be other mediums and alternatives to using Twitter to spark an uprising or to organize a protest. And with the way the Internet censorship debates are going lately, it looks like the elements for another protest are in the making.

“If at first you don’t succeed, lower your standards.” – Tommy Boy. If you are like me, you have already waived the white flag at your New Year’s resolution. Let’s focus on a more realistic goal for this semester: abolishing unnecessary sayings in the classroom.

Everyone knows that law school is not cheap.  The tuition for the 2011 – 2012 year is $38,086 or $19,043 a semester. This breaks down to $1,360 per week of instruction (14 weeks). The typical law student takes 15 hours a week so each hour one is in class equals about $91. Every minute in class comes out to be about $1.51 or $.03 a second. Yikes!

Now that I have monetized law school, here are some ways that we can save a little coin.  Let’s try to avoid these sayings.

5.) “To be honest with you” – Why wouldn’t you be honest?

4.) “Not gonna lie” – Were you going to lie if you didn’t state this?

3.) “You know what I am saying” – Most of us probably don’t know.

2.) “I don’t mean to throw a wrench” – Why bother, you’re going to do it anyway.

1.) “I have a question” – Oh! That is why your hand was up.

I am not saying that you shouldn’t talk in class. I am merely trying to highlight ways one can get to his or her point a little faster. Classes are meant to be interactive with the professor, but lets think a little before we talk. On a side note, why is it that when the parking lot is covered in snow, everyone forgets how to park?

Happy 2K12 everyone!

Twitter, the now infamous micro-blogging site that facilitated revolutions and is featured in our presidential debates, has come under heavy fire for a new policy change that would allow it to block tweets from being seen in countries where the content of the message might violate that country’s speech laws. Many are quick to denounce Twitter, but the move is the least restrictive option Twitter has if it wants to continue to expand its services around the world and protect itself from liability and legal conflict.

Twitter, which currently has around 100 million users, has set an ambitious goal of 1 billion users in the not-so-distant future in an effort to become an online advertising behemoth on par with Google. Realistically, this means that Twitter has to keep expanding internationally, reaching new users in new countries that have so far avoided the Twitter bug. The San Francisco-based social networking site, formed in 2006, has over 700 employees in the United States, with only a handful abroad in England and Japan. In order to facilitate their international expansion, they will likely begin creating larger offices around the world, staffed with programmers, advertising executives, lawyers, and the like.

The problem lies in the speech laws of other countries that Twitter would like to expand into. Personal jurisdiction law varies from country to country, especially in terms of the Internet. But as Twitter begins actively targeting new users in countries around the world, let alone establishing new bases of operation, it will expose Twitter to potential liability when its users run afoul of their own country’s speech laws. For example, were Twitter to aggressively expand its operation in France and Germany, Nazi sympathizer tweets that denied the Holocaust would violate those countries’ law.

Up until now, Twitter had the choice between removing the tweet globally or putting itself in legal hot water. This new policy change allows Twitter to remove the Tweet only in countries where it clashes with the law, leaving it available for the rest of the world to see. Twitter has not yet used this capability and if it does, it has promised transparency by disclosing when it removes tweets and for what reason. While this might not be the best case scenario for Internet free speech activists, it is a measured response to a real problem faced by Twitter that still preserves much of the free speech Twitter is known for.

No one has a right to absolute free speech on Twitter. At the end of the day, Twitter is a company that exists to provide a service that people want, pay good salaries to its employees, and make a profit for its investors. Twitter has done its best to preserve the free speech rights of its users while at the same time expand its business and protect itself from legal trouble. Let’s not be so quick to condemn Twitter. And if you do, keep it to 140 characters or less.

First-year law student

(This is a work of parody, satire, and a dash of exaggeration).

Hello,  I want to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules for tuning in.  I have no doubt that by this time next year I will be standing here, before you again, and I will be outlining then what I was not able to do because of the Republicans.

Let me be clear, I am not a big fan of the terms “Red States” and “Blue States.”  If you remember, I spoke at the 2004 Democratic Convention, saying these very things.  In one of my autobiographies, I wrote about the same things.

But one thing I have learned since becoming President is that even though the Democrats and I are done with the Red State/Blue State dichotomy, the Republicans are not.  In 2008 I had a Democratic supermajority in Congress and I was more than happy to drop in from time to time to get the Republicans’ thoughts on what would become the very popular and successful stimulus and health care reform.

Unfortunately, the Republicans did not want to work with me, and because they do not like my great ideas and stood up for their beliefs, we have an unacceptably high unemployment rate.  The stimulus program that they opposed worked beautifully, and would have created twenty million green jobs if we would have been able to spend more money.

And that brings me to my biggest point of tonight.  There are some who say that we have too much debt.  That $15 trillion in federal debt is too much, and that we need to work on balancing the budget.  They forget that I had a plan that would have eliminated the debt.  Earlier I argued against the tax break given to corporate jets.  We could have raised trillions in revenue by eliminated that tax break.  Raising the taxes on the top 1 percent was another solution that would have raised trillions more.  Instead, they want to give more money to the rich by stealing from the poor.

I don’t want to dwell on that subject much longer, since I want to talk more about green jobs, but I found it ironic that they opposed my health care reform, which would have saved trillions of dollars.  They opposed it because they didn’t want uninsured people to get health insurance, even when it could have saved so much money.

The Republicans are much more interested in helping the Big Oil companies.  The most recent example of this was their insistence in fast-tracking the Keystone pipeline, which would start in Canada and end in Texas.  It would have given Big Oil hundreds of billions of dollars and only created a couple hundred jobs at most.  On top of that, it would have doubled our carbon emissions and certainly increase the Earth’s temperature and resume the rise of the oceans, which stopped rising after my inauguration speech when I was elected in 2008.

Let me be clear, right now, we need to focus on green energy.  There are those who say that we should ignore green energy and give more trillions of dollars to the oil industry.  That is a recipe for disaster.  We can kill two birds with one stone by creating ten million green jobs, which would reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and end global warming.

As you can see, my ideas are the best for moving America forward.  Yes, two years ago the Republicans did okay in the midterm elections, but that was because of the Koch Brothers and Fox News spreading misinformation.  By the way, my new plan for education would bring hundreds of New York Times editorials to the classrooms across America.  Unless someone is against students reading more, I can’t imagine why anyone would oppose that measure.  It would also create about five hundred newspaper jobs.  I’m just saying..

So, in conclusion, as President, I have helped move America forward.  Let me be clear.  The next election is the most important election we have had yet.  I have just gotten started implementing my great ideas to fundamentally transform America.  It would be a shame for that to be put in jeopardy.  Just let me be clear, America can’t afford that.  Republicans would say we can’t afford anything when we are $15 trillion in debt, that we should not support science, education, health care, green energy, and apple pie.  I will not accept that.

So in November, make sure you get out and vote.  If you do, I make the following promises: close Guantanamo Bay, create ten million green jobs, reduce unemployment to zero percent, end global warming, and everyone who votes a straight Democratic ticket in November will get a slice of my next stimulus bill.

Thank you, and good night.

Courtesy of NBC

Here are my ten favorite scripted shows of 2011 with a few thoughts on each. It was a great year filled with a lot of quality stuff. Some other shows that deserve mention for being good but didn’t make the cut are Modern Family, The Good Wife, New Girl, True Blood, Wilfred, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Treme, Falling Skies, Parenthood and Cougar Town.

10. SONS OF ANARCHY

Kurt Sutter crafted an emotionally-charged tension-filled season with inner-club turmoil threatening to break SAMCRO for good. Charlie Hunnam and Maggie Siff delivered awesome performances throughout and the stakes were never higher. A finale that undid a lot of what was set up is why this ends up lower on the list.

9. COMMUNITY

When this comedy is on its game, there is nothing more original on television. I loved the paintball sequel, the Glee spoof, Donald Glover screaming at Lavar Burton, and the seven timeline episodes especially. I hope NBC gets this show back on the air ASAP this Spring.

8. BOARDWALK EMPIRE

The Jimmy/Nucky season 2 conflict delivered in spades as all the maneuvering, scheming, and killings led to a fateful climax for one of the main characters of the first two seasons. With a distinct look, terrific acting, and ballsy writing from Terrence Winter, Boardwalk took a big-step forward creatively in year 2.

7. LOUIE

Season 2 of Louie was one deranged, dark, hilarious ride that could only come from the brilliant mind of the ultra-popular stand-up comic. From plots dealing with Louis bringing a duck to Iraq to a one of a kind confrontation with Dane Cook at MSG, you never knew what you would get each week, but knew that it would be some of the best written entertainment on television.

6. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.” Jason Katim’s five season masterpiece finally came to a close in brilliant fashion in a season that finally brought Kyle Chandler a richly-deserved Emmy for his work as Coach Taylor. With returns from the past and compelling plots with the current inhabitants of Dillon, FNL season 5 gave all fans the closure they were looking for with great moments at every turn.

5. GAME OF THRONES

HBO’s new fantasy epic burst onto the scene in grand form. Featuring a tremendous battle over power in the Kingdom of Westeros, the show delivered twists, deception, sex, snarky dialogue, and action in unique and incredible ways. No one was prepared for the shocking death the climax of the season would bring but with dragons now in the picture and no one appearing to be safe, season 2 should up the ante this coming Spring as the answer for who really is the king comes to fruition. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion was the standout earning an Emmy for his work as the imp, Tyrion Lannister.

4. JUSTIFIED

Season 2 was incredible featuring the three-way feud between Raylan Givens, Boyd Crowder, and the vicious Mags Bennett. Margo Martindale earned an Emmy for her portrayal of Mags while Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins got to continue showing off some of the greatest chemistry on the small screen as Raylan struggled to believe Boyd was a changed man of faith after all the damage he had caused.  With great banter due to the novel-like writing, tremendous action, and well-defined three-dimensional characters, Justified is one of the finest shows on television at the moment.

3.  PARKS AND RECREATION

Parks delivered the perfect season in season 3 as the colorful cast sought about creating a great Harvest Festival while the romance between Leslie and her boss Ben heated up. Combining the stupid innocence of Andy and April, the stand-up type A personalities in Leslie and Ben, the Hollywood Dreams of Tom Haverford, and the funniest character on television, Ron Swanson, Parks and Rec has something for everyone. The combination of sharp humor and characters with heart continues to impress in ways no other comedy comes that close to matching. Here’s to hoping there are many more episodes ahead.

2. HOMELAND

Bursting onto the scene this fall, Showtime’s epic new series showed that when you combine great actors with a great concept, a winning show emerges. Claire Danes played bipolar CIA agent Carrie Matheson, a woman convinced that recently returned marine Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) has been turned into a terrorist. Throughout the season, we are never quite sure what to make of Brody and the ways Carrie stays right on his tail are shocking and fun to watch. Both leads deserve Emmys as this series delivered week after week with stakes continually raising to a thrilling climax in the finale. Luckily for us, the show will be back for season 2 next year.

1. BREAKING BAD

“I am the one who knocks.” This Walter White quote sums up season 4 of one of the best dramas ever created. From the tremendous breakdown of the Jesse/Walt alliance to the riveting Walter/Gus conflict, season 4 of Breaking Bad delivered everything a fan could have hoped for. It answered once and for all whether Walt would be Scarface or a pawn in the drug game and showed the depths he’d stoop to in order to get there. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and Giancarlo Esposito all deserve acting awards. Vince Gilligan continues to craft briliant scripts while also putting to film what is the most beautiful-looking show on television. I can’t wait for the sixteen-episode final season.

1st year law student

As 2011 wraps to a close the stage is set for the Republican primary battle, which takes place in less than a month, and the general election, which will really gear up after the primary is complete.  Most people haven’t even started paying too much attention yet, as they have more pressing things on their mind than an election that is still a long ways off.

The Republican primary has had the amount of drama as a good episode of Jersey Shore.  We’ve had several different “flavor of the month” politicians who have had a brief groundswell of support only to rapidly decline, such as Rick Perry and Hermain Cain.  Cain, by the way, just had another woman come forward saying that she has had an affair with him for many years.  I try to give people accused of unsavory activities the benefit of the doubt until they have been proven guilty, but Cain said that he has helped her out financially for many years without his wife’s knowledge.  Coincidentally, Cain is making an important campaign announcement on Saturday, December 3rd, so by the time you read this article he may already be out of the race.

The latest Republican candidate to experience a wave of support is Newt Gringrich.  I don’t know whether he is going to flame out like Perry or Cain, but I hope he does.  As liberal and conservative pundits have written, “his baggage has baggage.”  Whatever the result is, it will be interesting.

There have been a few important developments that affect the President’s re-election.  One is the decline in unemployment from 9.0% to 8.6%.  Most people may see the changed number in a headline or as a brief story on the news, and will assume that it is good, so there is going to be some positive perception of the President.

However, if you dig deeper into the number, you will find what caused the drop.  Roughly 120,000 people were added to payrolls, which is great.  But about 315,000 people gave up looking for work.  That second number also lowers unemployment, with the caveat that if those people re-enter the job market and can’t find a job the unemployment rate will rise again.  It’s also important to remember that people who find part-time work are considered employed in the regular employment figure, even though they want to work more.

Another issue that may have gone under your radar was the President punting on the Keystone Pipeline until 2013, amid opposition from environmental groups and support from business groups.  The gist of the project is that the Canadians have discovered that they have a vast oil reserve in their “tar sands” in Alberta, and unlike the Obama administration, the Canadian government is giving the go-ahead to developing oil reserves.  The proposed pipeline would take the oil from Alberta to Texas oil refineries.

This, of course, angered Obama’s environmentalist supporters.  So Obama’s decision tames that section of his constituency, at least until after the 2012 election.  However, there is no denying that the move is preventing jobs from being created.  The pipeline would be 1600 miles long, which would be a large undertaking.  I don’t put too much weight on people estimating how many jobs would be created through the pipeline, but there would be thousands of people employed and the United States would have a close source of oil that doesn’t come from third-world despots.  To be fair to the environmentalists, recovering the oil from Alberta’s tar sands is a dirtier process than normal oil extraction, but since the oil is going to be used eventually I think we should try to get a piece of the pie.

The final issue for the President that I want to hit on is the failure of the touted “Supercommittee.”  According to CNN.com, the bipartisan group of 12 Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on $1.2 trillion worth of savings over a ten-year period.  Typically, the Republicans blamed the Democrats and vice versa.  Democrats wanted to increase tax rates on the wealthy and limit the amount of reductions to entitlements, and Republicans were opposed to most tax increases and wanted to make more spending cuts.  U.S. debt recently surpassed 15 trillion dollars.  It is amazing to me that as our debt continues to skyrocket our representatives can’t even find ways to save $120 billion a year.

The failure cements the view of Washington D.C. as a dysfunctional and ineffective place, but even as the President tried to remain out of the battle by delegating the negotiations to Congress, it still reflects badly on him.  The President is still the figurehead of the United States government, no matter who controls Congress.

Looking ahead to 2012, President Obama faces significant headwinds to re-election.  Unemployment is high.  His signature domestic achievement, health care reform, still has more opposition than support.  Budding missteps such as Solyndra and Operation Fast and Furious could erupt into bigger scandals.  Finally, he has racked up a record-setting amount of debt in the past three years, despite calling George W. Bush “unpatriotic” for setting the previous record, which occurred over eight years.

Other than Pitbull’s great single “Give me everything” and season four of Jersey Shore, most developments in the country this year seem to be negative or neutral.  Here’s to hoping that 2012 is much better!

This place may not be Chicago, but Valparaiso is home to some great dining options. What follows is a look at the highlights from the perspective of someone who has 2.5 years worth of experience dining in and around the area. For fine dining, nothing beats Bistro 157. The Chef serves up a terrific menu specializing in seafood, sushi, stuffed chickens, pastas, and other assorted seasonal items complemented by a great wine selection in a chic, stylish dining room that would fit right in a big city. The sushi is second to none in this town while every other dish is sensationally crafted by their amazing chef.

Another excellent option is Pikk’s Tavern, with its tremendous array of draft beers, and pub-like atmosphere. Specialties are the cedar plank salmon, chopped salad, and their house burger. This place also runs a tasty brunch on Sundays featuring surf and turf benedict and stuffed French toast. If you want a fun meal in a lively, sophisticated environment, Pikks should be on your list to try. An honorable mention upscale spot is Dish on Calumet. They have a 9 dollar bento box lunch, great wine selection, and tasty chef cuisine. While pricy, the restaurant functions as a tasty treat every now and then when you are looking for something special.

As for Italian food, the best option is ZaZa Indiana up on Calumet next to El Salto. With a chef hailing from Rome, each dish is authentically and individually prepared. From delicious four cheese ravioli and portabella gnocchi to specials that include Pork tenderloin medallions and Fresh tilapia, you are guaranteed an amazing taste explosion in your mouth in a laid back atmosphere. They also package their takeout well, making that an interesting option if you want the authentic Italian meal without the hassle of cooking.

For barbecue, the king is Wagners. Its original location in Chesterton functions strictly as an adult-only bar. The one in Valparaiso seeks to provide food and drink for the entire family. Specialties are the fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs with regular or hot barbecue sauce and the pulled pork sandwich. Both go excellent with the house waffle fries. Other excellent choices include their buffalo chicken sandwich and wide array of half-pound burgers.

If you are looking for tasty pizza, the number one choice has to be Gelsosomos on LaPorte. This place always has a crowd and for good reason. Their sweet tomato sauce and expertly crafted pizzas (the sausage and cheese are tremendous) make this place quite the attraction. Also on the menu are wings, sandwiches, pastas, and specialty salads.

Mexican food options in Valparaiso include Margaritas, El Salto, and El Charro. All these places provide solid food with good beer specials and margaritas. Chipotle has recently opened for quality fast Mexican food. For steak, the best place in town is Kelsey’s Steakhouse by the Wal-Mart. They have early-bird specials from 4-6 daily that include 6 ounce filet medallions or their ribeye sandwich with potato and soup or salad. The shrimp cocktail is fantastic there.

Breakfast choices run the gamut in Valparaiso. If you want no frills quality food in a hospitable environment, Suzie’s Café on Route 30 delivers great bang for your buck. My favorite thing to get on the weekends at Suzie’s is their omelets with fresh fruit and homemade raisin toast. They also have specialty pancakes and French toast if sweet is what you are looking for. The newest breakfast option in town is the gorgeous Silver Spoon. It features a full-bar and upscale breakfast and lunch options such as a breakfast burrito, cobb salad wrap, and yogurt stuffed French toast. Everything feels fresh in there and there are no bad options on the menu.

If Valparaiso lacks any type of food, it would be Chinese. The China House in Downtown Valparaiso features flavorless entrees that lack meat and load on the vegetables. Jade Garden will deliver Chinese to you, but put it in a gigantic tube that looks disgusting. The only reliable Chinese option my friends and I have found is New Dragon by the Town and Country Grocery Store. Their specialties are the dinner combos which provide any Chinese dish you could imagine with pork fried rice and an egg roll. For seven bucks, you will be stuffed to a sufficient level.

Overall Valparaiso has several interesting dining options. One of the best places I forgot to mention is one you all must know, Maria Elenas right next to the law school. That place features Italian, Mexican, and American cuisine and also has a gorgeous patio for the spring and summer. Recently, that place has undergone a name change to Gabrielas. I’m optimistic that not much has changed and recommend trying it if you have not. While Valparaiso has all the chains we know and love like Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera Bread, etc., if you venture out, there are great dining options around every corner while you spend your three years here.

“All games have been cancelled through November 30th.” So echoes the official NBA statement made by Commissioner David Stern just days ago, quashing whatever lingering hope fans and players had to see a full 82-game schedule this season. While lockouts are certainly not new to the world of professional sports, this one seems particularly ominous given the fact that the NBA already struggles to maintain a consistent fan base. With failing negotiation talks and now all 30 games in November cancelled, what will become of the NBA? Things look grim for an organization that brought us stars like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Jerry West, and Michael Jordan. Those players brought the NBA to the height of popularity and now, a lockout threatens to shake the confidence of national sponsors, television programmers, and most importantly, the fans.

All this turmoil has affected the morale of the players, with many resorting to social media networks to air their frustration. After another round of failed negotiation talks, San Antonio’s Manu Ginobli tweeted, “No deal. I miss the game.” Still others have started looking across the pond at European options to play ball while waiting for a resolution. It may be too early to tell, but an extended off-season could harm the players’ overall fitness, conditioning, and practice routines. These guys run like finely tuned machines during the season and it takes a lot of preparation and training to reach that point. With things at a stalemate, players stop working on the most valuable aspect of this whole dispute: their game.

With no NBA season, marketing agencies and national sponsors like Nike, Coca-Cola, and Adidas stand to lose over $500 million in ad campaigns and endorsements focused entirely on NBA athletes and teams. With a lockout, the effect of seeing LeBron sporting the newest Nikes or watching Blake Griffin slam dunk over a Kia becomes largely diminished. No one wants to see ads reminding them of the game they can’t watch with players who aren’t, well, playing. Even the television giant TNT has a rocky path ahead. TNT had 52 regular season games scheduled to air, plus the All-Star game and the Western Conference finals. Without these games it now has to scramble to fill the massive airtime void.

The effects of the lockout extend far beyond just the players, owners, and national sponsors. What about the thousands of people hired each season to work the concessions and ticket booths, or the custodians who stay late to clean up for the next game? Even the restaurants and bars situated near NBA arenas have diminishing revenues based on the lack of business and traffic flow associated with regular season games. These people, unaffiliated with the NBA, depend on the game for a paycheck that is, quite frankly, infinitesimal compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars in dispute at the moment.

And the most perplexing part? Players and owners refuse to budge over a two percent difference in profit sharing. With the recent rise of “the 99%” at Occupy protests, a number as small as two percent makes the NBA look exactly like the groups these protestors (and potential fans) abhor. That type of negative publicity makes a strong NBA comeback less likely for every day the fans don’t see some basketball.

Commissioner David Stern of the National Basketball Association likes to claim that a new collective bargaining agreement featuring a 50-50 split of revenues between the owners and the players is essential for the long-term viability of the league. According to Stern, player salaries are ballooning and threaten to bring down the league. By reducing player salaries from 57% of Basketball-Related Income (BRI) to 50%, the players’ salaries will come more in line with where they need to be. And to most people observing the recent lockout, 50-50 just sounds like a pretty fair deal. What can be more fair than an even split?

But it isn’t fair. The players are justified in pursuing a lockout because they aren’t the problem, the owners are. Over the past 10 years, player salaries have gown at a near identical rate to overall league revenue, at approximately 24%. On the other hand, the average NBA team has become 79% more valuable to the owners over the same time period. So while the owner’s assets have been growing at a much faster rate than the overall league revenue, the players’ salaries have remained the same. If players’ salaries haven’t become a bigger slice of the overall pie, then is this players’ fault again?

Commissioner Stern is covering for owners who have simply can’t manage their own businesses. The worst part is that he is now demanding that the players, who have kept their end of the bargain, now bail out the owners who mismanaged the teams in the first place. The players have already agreed to reduce their share of revenue by 4.5%, which amounts to $2.2 billion over the 10-year life of the proposed collective bargaining agreement. But that isn’t enough for the owners. The owners won’t budge until the players reduce their own salaries by at least another 1.5%, or $702 million over 10 years. What have the owners offered? Nothing.

It is certainly understandable to criticize the NBA lockout and just ask for everybody to get along. The NBA lockout does hurt thousands of merchants and businesses. It also harms the fans. But it is simply unreasonable to expect the players to back down and hand over nearly $3 billion out of their pockets to a bunch of owners who couldn’t even manage their own teams when their value was rising. And all without a single concession by the owners. That’s not negotiation. That’s a shakedown.

I can’t say that I have any greater experience with the ocean compared to some people, but after mucking about surfing and having spent some time on the high seas staring out the bridge of a few warships, I’m not completely inexperienced with the tempest of the ocean.  From the vantage point I had clinging to the pelorus, large seas are seldom fun the first time around.  Especially on a frigate that tends to move in the x, y, and z axis in rough seas.  There is a slight unnerving twitch the first time in big seas when the ship gets caught in the trough; the ship seems to plummet down into a dark blue valley, and shudders violently hitting the bottom of the crest.  Rough seas at night are less fun; you point the bow into the winds and hope that some rouge wave doesn’t clobber you out of the darkness.

All of those Dramamine, sea-sickness, walking on the bulkheads memories rose up while reading “The Wave.”  Apart from the stories of the big wave surfers dropping in on massive sixty foot waves the big take away was the concerns that the oceans in the future will become much more violent in the coming years.  The most striking fear is that the melting glaciers, which dilute the salinity of the ocean and change its temperature, may also have adverse seismic implications for humans.  While most persons think a rise of a few inches of the ocean is just another meaningless statistic, it is that increase of a couple of inches of water over thousands of square miles of ocean resting on the plates of drifting on the planet’s mantle that is important.  With a greater mass resting on these plates, it may lead to greater and unanticipated movement; movement of these plates generally means seismic activity.  Seismic activity generally entails earthquakes, tsunamis, and increased volcanism.

Those are just a sampling of the concerns involving the changing nature of the planets oceans.  Coastline cities, oil rigs, low lying islands, the vast amount of commerce traveling on the sea lanes of the world (90% of all non-bulk cargo; e.g. iPhones and Toyotas) are at risk with oceans that could be roiling violently at a greater rate.  The connection between global warming and the increasing tempest of the oceans is a relevant issue that needs greater consideration.