About tekel: tekel is an aramaic word that means “weigh” or “weight.” It is best known from a biblical verse, from the book of Daniel 5:1-31. In this verse, the King of the Babylonians has caused offerings to be made to his pagan gods, using relics stolen by Nebuchadnezzar from the temple in Jerusalem. When these blasphemous offerings were made, a disembodied hand appeard and wrote upon the wall the words “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.” Daniel was called in to read these words, and he found that they fortold the fall of the Babylonian empire.
Two popular idioms have arisen from this particular story. One is the phrase “the writing on the wall” as in, “I saw the writing on the wall, so I started packing my things that day.” Generally this refers to predicting the imminent failure or downfall of something.
The second idiom is a more literal translation into english of the original phrase. It goes “You have been weighed, and measured, and found wanting.” The most prominent contemporary use of this phrase has been in a cheesy movie called “A Knight’s Tale.” It’s what the bad guy always said after he knocked his opponent off the horse… until the end, when the good guy knocked the bad guy down… and then he didn’t say it.
Since the most interesting part of law school (and maybe life in general) seems to be an exercise in weighing the importance of one thing against another, I thought it was an appropriate name.
About me: I’m a recent graduate from the University of Oregon School of Law in Eugene. This blog is to grab and provide a forum for comments on current events that I think are interesting.
I’ve inadvertently picked up a relatively high pagerank for a couple of posts I’ve done about the continued spread of Castle Doctrine laws around the US. So I tend to post a lot about that topic. Readers should not take the frequency of posts to imply that I’m especially for or against the concept, here in Oregon or anywhere else.
Hi there,
I’m the political editor at an experimental journalism project called “Assignment Zero.” I’m interested in your experience being part of Josh Marshall’s famous “document dump.” Would you please email me?
Thanks!
I had a short dialog with Amy. Still waiting for a response to my last question.
In Iraq, the US is an occupation army engaged in slaughter and abuse. We are there to gain control of oil supplies, yet energy production could become carbon-trade efficient and global warming-solving in relatively short order if the magnitude of weekly BILLION$ spent in Iraq were spent on R&D of alternative energies in the US.
In 2006, Iraq held the record for largest mass exodus; and at over 650,000 Iraqi deaths since Bush’s “mission accomplished”, the region holds records in experiencing mass eradication, and in failure to assimilate viewpoints alternative to sharia law, Islam, torture, daily violence, and intimidation.
Iraq tragically now also boasts all time highs for multiple forms of contamination in densely populated cities, due in large part to the hundreds of thousands of tons of depleted uranium dumped on and exploded in the region since the Gulf War to the present.
One of the most effective steps towards solving the worlds biggest political crises — the US occupation of Iraq — would be the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.
I liked your map of the Castle Law. Is there a map that shows recipricosity laws for state employee benefits?
I would like to change to a more gay friendly state, but I am stuck in the NC retirement system.
Also, I have been with the same partner for 23 years and I cannot inherit her retirement. An inheritance map would be nice—but I doubt there is a state that would do this.
If indeed you are a social worker—more power to you. I admire anyone who can do this.
Mary, disparate state treatment of same-sex partners is a huge looming problem. I don’t have any data on which states recognize what rights, but i have heard that it’s possible in many states for same-sex partners to enter into private contracts that confer many of the same rights hetero married couples enjoy by default.
You should talk to a lawyer who specializes in what some folks call “family law.” A competent attorney could probably help you figure out exactly what you need to make your partnership more like a legal marriage. Although there probably ain’t much you can do about state benefits in a state like NC that doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages.
That is, unless you want to file a 14th Amendment discrimination claim against the state benefits program in federal court. I don’t think it would get very far with the current makeup of the US supreme court… but things change.