With the PM in his current frame of mind, I’m just imagining Oprah: “You get a handout, you get a handout, everybody gets a handout!” (Except of course single income earners. They’re perpetually screwed.)

Sunlight is streaming through the living room window and I want to be outside. 10 days to go.

A PAIR of accused drug traffickers could not have received a fair trial because a judge fell asleep for up to 20 minutes at a time during their trial, the High Court has ruled.
…
Evidence from a hearing of the NSW Criminal Appeal Court indicated Judge Dodd appeared to sleep for periods of up to 20 minutes at a time, sometimes accompanied by snoring.

His sleep periods became longer as the trial proceeded with members of the jury visibly distracted and, at times, amused. Court officials sometimes loudly dropped documents in a bid to wake the snoring judge.

Cesan, in his appeal evidence, said the judge’s snoring was disruptive when he was being cross-examined.

Crown prosecutor Geoffrey Bellew swore an affidavit referring to occasions on which the judge appeared to be asleep.

The High Court unanimously ruled Judge Dodd did not exercise supervision of the trial as required by law and, as a result, the jury was distracted.

Chief Justice Robert French said a judge must be seen to be upholding this duty.

“Where the judge is noticeably and repeatedly asleep or inattentive during the trial, there can be a miscarriage of justice,” he said.

“The trial in this case was so flawed. There was a miscarriage of justice. It could not be said that the miscarriage was not substantial.”

The court ruled the men should be retried.

Hilarious. It seems you can get a chance at a do over even if your lawyer is incompetent, as long as he’s boring.

So, Obama wins all the Kerry states, plus Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia for a total of 353 to 185 for McCain.

Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, and North Dakota will be tight, but I think they fall to the GOP side of the ledger.

“Nostalgia” is actually from the Greek meaning the pain from returning home, or the pain of memories.

This kind of scenario has happened to me dozens of times, and I am sure it’s a highly relatable tale. That “what if” feeling tugs at your heart’s core, something akin to but not quite regret. I would not ordinarily think about this too deeply, as I’m of the opinion that past is past, and dwelling on it is unhelpful, because it can’t be changed. Still, self-reflexion can be enlightening, revealing our thought processes, purpose, and nature.

I distinguish it from regret, because “what if” is forward-looking. It is about what might be, not what could have been. It is hopeful rather than wistful. Today, I caught my regular 8.10 express to the City; fell asleep in Competition Law; was gifted an ice cream; had a chat with Mr. Japanese McGrumpypants in L & E that gave me a giddy little thrill; and discussed the not so fine points of Farah v Say-Dee. I wouldn’t have changed it for all the trains in the world.