I ordered a copy of my birth certificate from Pennsylvania yesterday because I'm expecting a huge upkick in fees for that sort of thing once people realize they can't find theirs and need replacements.

You know, for people who are pegged as end-times obsessed, they seem to be missing where their actions are likely to fall on a biblical, eschatological scale.

That stuff is scary.

FWIW, the Times editorial pages, and also my law-student flatmate, have weighed in recently on the case called Marbury v. Madison, from back in like 1801, which is when the Supreme Court stood up and said, "Hello, yes, this is mine." They wrote into that decision (which was about something totally irrelevant) that the judiciary branch was the one that would say what is and what is not constitutional, basically as a huge land-grab.

That's 200 years of precedent, and courts like precedents. The only way I can see the court being seriously overturned is if (a) court members themselves accept fraudulent arguments or (b) the court makes a decision and is ignored, sparking a consitutional crisis and a fair amount of rioting.

Um, what Nutty said. Judges don't like to be told they don't have authority to rule on something. And I don't see any sane judge chucking Marbury in view of a federal statute that says the court can't decide the constitutionality of that statute.

However, having said that, I won't argue that all judges are sane.

There was an article in Salon about the filibuster thing that said that the President of the Senate could declare that the filibuster was unconstitutional and there was nothing that could be done about it.

Or that was the gist. Let me go find the article.

It's here.

Headline from my company's news archives:

VIRTUAL REALITY; LACK OF FUNDING

Does anyone here watch Without a Trace? 'Cause I'm dying to discuss the stupidness of last night's episode.

OMGWTF. That was so very very bad.

Um, what Nutty said.

I agree with Nutty and Fred Pete. Not even Bush's toadies on the SCt. are going to like this one.

Survivor!!! Well, first, WHY did scary-eye Ian invite Tom along? He should have known it would piss Katie off. And why did whiny baby Katie feel as if she deserved to go along? She is a liar and has no real loyalty plus she is TERRIBLE in the challenges, doesn't even try. If Katie or Jen win, I will be very very pissed.

Cute: Blogopoly.

And a cautionary tale:

Don't put your iPod through the washing machine. And if for some reason you do, don't try to fix it with a screwdriver.

That's the advice of fire investigators probing a small explosion that burned a hole in the bed of a Melbourne teenager who tried to perform emergency surgery on his ailing mp3 player.

The boy was treated by paramedics at his Bayswater home for breathing difficulties after ingesting fumes emitted by the device as he pulled it apart in his suburban bedroom about 7.30pm on Wednesday.

Country Fire Authority spokesman Peter Philp said the leaky iPod had been taken away for testing by CFA investigators.

"His mother did the washing and the iPod was in the clothing so it went through the washing machine," Mr Philp said.

"It wasn't working, the young fella tried to undo it or fix it with a screwdriver and at that stage there was an explosion, or more of a pop.

"It was more smoke than fire but it did leave a burn mark on the cover."

Metropolitan Ambulance spokeswoman Lirije Memishi said it was unclear what the teenager had ingested.

"We treated him on the scene for minor breathing difficulties but he was fine and then we scooted out and helped save the rest of Melbourne," she said.