Squash soup is a great way to begin any Thanksgiving feast. In addition to its wonderful taste, scooped-out acorn squashes bodies make great bowls for the soup, adding a nice color to the table.

To make: roast around three pounds of squash (I use some combination of acorn and butternut squash), cut in half lengthwise, butter, and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Scoop out the flesh and blend it with vegetable broth, sautéed onions, and roasted garlic. Then heat the mixture after it begins to bubble, turn down the heat, and slowly add some cream.  Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

If you are more of a salad person (or wish to indulge in both soup and salad, since it is Thanksgiving after all), bibb lettuce is a great fall salad green. Consider mixing it with apples or pears, dried cranberries, candied walnut, or your favorite semi-soft cheese (feta, blue cheese, or gorgonzola work great). To finish, either drizzle the salad with a sweet vinaigrette, i.e. raspberry vinaigrette, or a light creamy dressing, such as a creamy poppy seed dressing.

As for side dishes, a mixture of roasted carrots and string beans is a great alternative to the bland vegetable mixes found on your traditional Thanksgiving table. Rather than seasoning them with fresh garlic, butter, salt and pepper, as is traditional, consider lightly dousing them in olive oil, and replacing the garlic and pepper with some cardamom and cumin. In addition to the wonderful aroma that will surprise your guests, these string beans and carrots will be tastier and healthier.

Another side to consider is a cornbread stuffing. The nice thing about this side is that leftover cornbread (or corn muffins) not used in the stuffing can be eaten the next morning for breakfast. To make a cornbread stuffing: sauté some celery, carrots, and onions.

When translucent, mix with several crumbled-up corn muffins or pieces of cornbread. Add some vegetable stock and a couple of eggs to the mixture, and then lightly season with salt, pepper, and sage. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and enjoy!

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I would like to start with the so-called “noise cancelling” headphones that cost a pretty penny and don’t do exactly what they claim. I have owned both the Bose QuietComfort 3 and the QuietComfort 15. The main difference is that the “3” is a smaller headphone that rests on the ear while the 15 is larger and cups the ear. Otherwise, both feature a technology that cuts sustained noise dramatically (jet engines) and dims random noise somewhat (subway clickety-clack, buskers and panhandlers). The difference in ear cupping counts; the “15” prevents more random sounds from coming into the ear. The sound quality is fairly good, though Bose succeeds in making a realistic, not-very-bright sound. The enjoyable twang of a guitar is less evident in Bose products (I have owned many over the years), but the overall sound is full and rich. Therefore, I recommend the newer QuietComfort 15 over the 3 because it comes closer to cancelling the noise.

Also, Bose has excellent customer service; they will replace broken parts for reasonable amounts or replace the headphones for $100.  So, the relatively steep price tag—$300 and $350—may be justified over the long run.

I have also owned DJ headphones, and rely on these when my Bose’s are broken. The Sony MDR V700DJ were very à la mode ten years ago and still look cool, with their brushed silver plastic resembling aluminum. They have a huge, powerful driver that pumps the bass prevalent in most modern pop music. Fans of a more realistic sound may be dismayed by the emphasis on bass, but for most people, it will enhance the pop music experience. My biggest problem with the MDX-700 was the plastic swivel cover, which broke over time due to normal use. This prevented the headphones from sticking to the head, causing them to flop everywhere. But, a quick search online found local retailers selling them for $90, which is a great buy for these phones.

Finally, I own and use a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones when I DJ and as back-up headphones. They cup the ear well, blocking sound without noise-cancelling technology. They provide a more realistic, less bass-heavy sound than the Sony headphones. Acoustic instruments sound very bright, and hi-hat cymbals are not  distorted by louder, mid-level sounds. They are, in my opinion, the least attractive of the bunch, but, at $80, they are a steal.

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Men prefer pure textualism in interpreting text messages. Under this approach, the interpreter of text does not attempt to enter the mind of the drafter; rather, he finds meaning in the plain language of the text. If the text is ambiguous, he may consult a dictionary (Webster’s or Urban), but his meaning is limited by the words before him. Guys of the “textualism” mindset don’t attempt to enter the minds of the gals sending them text messages because, frankly, it doesn’t occur to them to do that. Also, it’s a waste of time. As the majority states in Connecticut Nat’l Bank v. Germain, “Courts must presume that a legislature says in a statute what it means and means in a statute what it says….” Likewise, men presume that women write what they mean, and mean what they write.

Boy, are they mistaken. Women almost never text what they mean, or mean what they text. Instead, they scheme and strategize different ways to hide their true meaning within their text. Here’s an example: I know a girl that begins all her text messages with lower case letters because she feels that capital letters are too intimidating. By making this purposeful grammatical blunder, she reasons, her texts appear more casual, thus concealing her magnified, capital enthusiasm within modest lower-case letters. This example is only the tip of the iceberg. Most women consult friends and colleagues in composing text messages, partaking in mini-constitutional conventions before any text is sent. Only once a text is ratified by a majority of girlfriends can it be sent through the stratosphere. And of course, women strategically count minutes between text messages, lest they appear needy or too available (“If he sent a text 11 minutes after I sent mine, I will wait 12 minutes to reply to his”).

Not surprisingly, women prefer an intentionalist approach to interpreting text messages. Under intentionalism, interpreters of text seek to enter the minds of text-framers, moving beyond pure language into surrounding indicia of significance. As Judge Learned Hand observed, “it is one of the surest indexes of a mature and developed jurisprudence not to make a fortress out of the dictionary; but to remember that statutes always have some purpose or object to accomplish, whose sympathetic and imaginative discovery is the surest guide to their meaning.” (Cabell v. Markham) Through a sympathetic and imaginative discovery – consulting friends, mothers, Facebook walls, gChat, song lyrics, sportscasters, “South Park” and “Entourage” – women presume to know men’s intent based on deep textual exegesis.

Given these gendered disparities, text messaging can be confusing. But between the two alternatives, the best approach is closer to men’s. It is profoundly inconvenient that men don’t take text messaging as seriously as do women; it is more upsetting yet that textual meaning is continuously deteriorating for this generation, largely because of overwrought cyber-text. But the remedy to bad texting does not lie in inserting meaning where meaning does not exist. Instead, it is wisest while writing a text to be textually honest without being overt; it is most efficient in reading a text to read carefully, without wasting an entire afternoon. For some things, Scalia’s got the right idea. In interpreting text messages, it’s best to stick to the text.

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The most important part of the evening was the food and it did not disappoint. Boqueria offers a standard menu that can be found on their website and fresh market menu that is based on what’s in season. Since we had a large group of eight, we each ordered a dish or two and shared in a tapas fashion. I would definitely suggest the Pintxos Morunos, seared lamb marinated in lemon – it was my favorite. The lamb was so tender, with so much flavor that everyone at the table loved it. If you’re looking for a larger dish for the group that everyone can enjoy, I would try the Patatats Bravas, a bowl of chopped roasted potatoes mixed in a spicy sauce. If you want to splurge on your adventurous taste buds, try the small dish of baby squid, Tixipirones. Other great items included the Carne a la Plancha (steak), the Albondigas (lamb meatballs) and Salteado de Setas (wild mushrooms with manchego cheese). And that’s not all! There is also a Meat and Cheese menu, sandwiches and an amazing Spanish style burger on the lunch menu if you’re looking for something more conventional. The low point of the dinner was the red wine sangria that offered little to be desired, but was good for sharing. Boqueria might yet be redeemed, however, as their Spanish wine list is extensive and categorized by tones—which is helpful if you are unfamiliar with Spanish wines, like myself.

Now, if you are sold that this place is the location for your next night out please be advised: like many pretentious New York restaurants, there is protocol that needs to be followed: (1) A reservation is, of course, key for a busy night; (2) the party cannot sit until the whole party has arrived; and (3) the host will think he is God. As evidence of these rules, you should note that when we were waiting for a person, the hostess sat a group of three at a table for eight and subsequently complained to us about finding space for our eight-person group. Despite the hostess’ visible annoyance, we made it work by squeezing into a booth. The seating for a group over 5 can be tight so bring people or someone you do not mind being close with. To keep the price down, I would suggest picking two or three things the table could agree on, ordering multiple plates and asking the waitress how many people can share a dish.

Whether you are in a group or on a date, I suggest stopping into Boqueria—the authentic Spanish flair is sure to impress and hopefully the staff will not dampen the mood.

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If you have the time, money, and a car, a Saturday in autumn spent visiting the vineyards on Long Island’s East End can be very rewarding. Sipping a glass of wine and enjoying the views on the rolling hills alongside the Finger Lakes in upstate New York can also be quite magical. The average law student doesn’t always have the luxury of time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the best wines this side of the Rockies.

Often lost among the wine giants of France, Italy and California, New York wines offer something for everyone. They’re fairly accessible and reasonably priced. New York wines are finally beginning to receive their due and thus are gaining distribution. You can find a decent selection close to Cardozo at Astor Wines & Spirits (Lafayette Street & E. 4th Street), Union Square Wines (4th Avenue and 13th Street), and McAdam’s Buy Rite Liquors (3rd Avenue & E. 28th Street).

New York’s two major wine-producing regions are Long Island and the Finger Lakes. A general rule for New York wine is upstate for whites and downstate for reds. In fact, some Long Island reds, especially Merlot, are beginning to compete with the best reds of France, and Finger Lakes Rieslings are world class.

I find whites with some body are an excellent choice for warmer fall evenings or even those spent by a space heater. Any standard Alsace varietal will work: Riesling (dry or sweet), Gewurztraminer or even Sauvignon Blanc, if you’re a fan of its unique qualities. Try an “ice wine” if you don’t mind shelling out more money for less liquid (like buying pre-ripped jeans). It’s hard to go wrong with an upstate Riesling. Herman J. Wiemer’s Dry Reserve Riesling is consistently ranked among the best wines in the world, yet is quite affordable. Other upstate wineries to look for include Dr. Konstantine Frank, Sheldrake Point, Damiani and Standing Stone. Standing Stone makes some of the best red wines of any upstate vineyard, while Sheldrake Point excels with sweet ice wines, perfect for dessert.

If you prefer reds, Long Island wines can be a treat. Although quality varies from vineyard to vineyard on the Island, there are plenty of pleasant Merlots and Cabernets. Lenz Old Vines Merlot and Roanoke Gabby’s Cabernet Franc are among the best reds available, but they’re pricey and hard to find. Still, both vineyards have inexpensive offerings that are also good. Lenz’s recently released 2005 Cuvee, a sparkling wine made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes, is fantastic! Bedell, Palmer, Paumanok, Wolffer and Channing Daughters are also worth considering for both reds and whites. Paumanok offers the only Chenin Blanc in New York, while Palmer’s Sauvignon Blanc lacks that usual off-putting aroma that turns many people off.

The French often cite “terroir” as the reason why their wines are so good, but there’s something to be said about New York “terroir.” It must be something in the water, or, perhaps, the soil.

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RALSA – Russian American Law Students Association – is a very young organization. The group of 1L students, united by their Russian heritage, got together at the end of September, and in less than two weeks the club received its approval from the SBA. Kate Ulitskaya, 1L, one of RALSA founders, says that the process of establishing a student-run organization at Cardozo was a piece of cake: the guidelines were clear and the support was great. Solomon Suleymanov, 1L and RALSA President, shares Kate’s excitement: “I would like to express my gratitude to the SBA, its senators, Dean Diller, Dean Mender and everyone else who supported us in our efforts to found RALSA.”

After all the administrative necessities have been taken care of, RALSA is determined to bring more exiting opportunities to Cardozo. RALSA’s goal is to stimulate discourse on current issues facing the Russian American community—a vast topic that has yet to receive its deserved coverage at Cardozo. By organizing various networking and cultural events with a Russian flare, RALSA is hoping to build strong relationships with other community organizations, student groups and law practitioners, as well as to provide deeper insight into the lives of young Russian-Americans.

To kick-start an ambitious agenda, RALSA hosted its first Welcome Social Event on October 31st. Julia Gracheva, 1L, and Mariya Gelfond, 1L, RALSA representatives, spoke at length about future events the club intends to host. The list is extensive: a round table discussion with a tax law practitioner, an immigration law panel discussion, Russian language 101 course, and banyas field trips are just some examples of what is to come. There is definitely a demand for such activities. “I think that RALSA is a great idea with tremendous potential. Having never really been exposed to Russian culture before, I really hope to attain a deeper understanding and appreciation for it” says Robert Salame, 1L, who learned about the club on Facebook and has already become a member. RALSA is determined not to lose momentum.

The club is relying on social media tools to ensure maximum media coverage—a strategy many of Cardozo clubs are yet to employ. The club has a Facebook page that is open to everyone; a blog that covers topics relevant to Russian-American students; and a Twitter account that is a trending topic at Cardozo. The triangulation of social media allows maximum coverage of current and potential members, says one RALSA representative. It is also a great way to increase involvement of club members who are not on the committee, and to create a transparent and dynamic community.

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Conferences are still looking to expand and more moves are almost guaranteed to take place in the upcoming months. This is especially true for the Big East and Big 12 who lost schools in the shuffle and will be looking to rebuild. Rumors have been swirling around the Pac 12 and SEC for potential expansion as well. However, there is a high price to pay for schools leaving their respective conferences.

There have now been two legitimate threats of a disbanding of the Big 12 Conference, which is considered to be one of the “Big Five” conferences in the NCAA. The first threat appeared after Nebraska and Colorado announced their moves, and after schools like Texas and Oklahoma were seriously considering a move. Fortunately for the conference, only Nebraska and Colorado went through with their changes. The second threat was posed after Texas A&M left the conference for the SEC, when Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech threatened to leave as well. These schools forced major changes to the conference as a condition to staying put, including the firing of the conference’s commissioner, Dan Beebe. Whether or not the conference can survive a third major threat remains to be seen.

In reaction to all the movement, conferences have begun to make leaving much more difficult. The Big 12 now requires moves to be approved by other member institutions; the Big East doubled the cost to leave the conference. Additional sanctions and penalties are also being considered, as directors and commissioners attempt to keep their conferences intact.

These conference changes seem to be entirely surrounding college football, where teams from lower-level football conferences are moving up to higher-level football conferences. This is unprecedented. Historically, NCAA conferences were mostly determined by the quality of the school. For instance, the Ivy League is known as the strongest academic conference; the Pac 12 and Big Ten are strong academic conferences as well. By removing some of the academic aspects of these conference determinations, college athletic directors are acknowledging a change in the NCAA conference system from academics to big-ticket sports. This new development makes the fabric of the college landscape much more uncertain. One thing is certain, however: Next year’s college football will be very interesting to watch.

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Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a Marine who is rescued in Afghanistan after spending eight years in captivity, returns home as a hero whom Carrie sees as a threat. Carrie however, is not the most reliable judge. Early on in the series we learn that Carrie suffers from a psychiatric condition that she has kept hidden from her bosses. She is a loner who picks up strangers in bars and only sees her family for refills on her prescriptions. But maybe a semi-basket case is what the country needs.

Carrie is so sure she is right about Sgt. Brody, that she deceives her one remaining friend at Langley, Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), and puts together a rogue surveillance operation. Day after day, night after night, Carrie sits on her couch watching Sgt. Brody and his family, searching for that one, fifteen-second conversation that can prove she is right.

It’s nearly impossible to figure Sgt. Brody out. He comes home to a complicated family situation—when the Marines presumed he was dead, his wife Jessica (Morena Baccarin) began a relationship with his best friend and superior officer. Even worse, his children have nearly forgotten him. Does this account for his odd behavior? Is it the past eight years of torture or is it the struggle of learning how to deceive the ones who mourned him?

It’s difficult to either like or dislike Sgt. Brody. The audience sits beside Carrie, trying to learn, examine, analyze every movement this chilling character makes, but seeing Sgt. Brody through Carrie, the audience wonders, “can we trust her or is she going to break down at any second? “We don’t know much about either character, which can become incredibly frustrating in the best possible way, creating enormous suspense. Each episode reveals just a sliver of their characters, ending in a way that nicely leads to the following week’s episode, leaving us wanting more.

Moving away from the main plot of good versus evil, Homeland juggles a number of subplots, which never overshadow the central theme of the show. From Carrie’s relationship with the man who helps her spy on Sgt. Brody’s house and who first discovers Carrie’s illness, to Jessica’s strained relationship with her daughter, to Carrie’s intimate relationship with her boss at Langley. Each subplot creatively and smoothly adds to the value of the show and keeps the audience wanting more.

There is no way to predict what will happen but something will happen, something big. The fantastic writing and the small yet spot-on cast creates a series that resembles 24 and The Manchurian Candidate, but is even better, more gripping, and downright thrilling.

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The film is set in a re-envisioned 2008 democratic primary with Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) as the unflinching champion of the true left. Shepard Fairey inspired posters exhorts the audience to “BELIEVE,” and it appears that Stephen Meyer, campaign wunderkind, has taken the message to heart. As an actor, Gosling is eminently watchable, his face a contradiction of sharp, unforgiving angles and soft limpid-eyed vulnerability. When he tells a New York Times reporter (Marisa Tomei) that he has drunk the “Kool Aid,” we only half believe him—he is a man of politics after all.

If you have seen the trailer or read a review, you know what’s coming: our uncompromising, unabashedly liberal candidate will let Stephen down. The honeymoon of high expectations is briefer than Obama’s first 100 days, skipping the romance, and diving straight into divorce. The inevitable transgression, once revealed, is a little trite and uninspired.  Stephen’s boss, played by a chain-smoking Philip Seymour Hoffman (who has the remarkable talent of making even the most expensive tailored suits look shlumpy) reminds us with hard-nosed invective that you can lie, cheat and start wars. The public will forgive you, but whatever you do, don’t @#$% the intern! Yet that is, in effect, the position the film takes: conflating a single (and consensual) moral lapse with a failure of political conviction.

There are many reasons to see this film but don’t go expecting a political thriller; the plot is far too anemic to satisfy on that score. That doesn’t mean there isn’t much to admire: the performances feel authentic, and the political theater is taut and tense as a lion’s den. The character-actor duel of Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti is worth the ticket price alone. Clooney’s direction is confident and pleasantly old fashioned: the camera lingers indulgently, and the characters speak with intelligence and in full sentences. There are moments of pathos and tragedy too, but we suspect that real human emotion is unlikely to survive long in the rarified air of Beltway politics.

In the end, the film is thoughtful, but not quite thought provoking, and can be boiled down to the simple adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely – a message that might have more resonance with a less cynical audience. Clooney, though, doesn’t give us the benefit of the doubt. There is no attempt to inspire belief and, unfortunately, you can’t lose something you never had.

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Recently, Christian Louboutin asserted multiple claims against Yves Saint Laurent (“YSL”) relating to YSL’s Cruise 2011 collection, which featured shoes that were entirely red, including the outsoles, that similarly modeled Louboutin’s red outsoles. Judge Victor Marrero, a federal disrtrict court judge sitting in the Southern District of New York, who decided Christian Louboutin vs. Yves Saint Laurent, agreed that Louboutin gained “public recognition in the market to have acquired secondary meaning,” but he ultimately held that, “[b]ecause in the fashion industry color serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition, the Court finds that Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove that its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection…” The crux of the case rested on whether the color of the outsoles serves as a non-trademark function other than as a source identifier.

The court recognized that once the source identifier becomes “decorative” and “an object of beauty,” then the color serves as an aesthetic function, which is not granted trademark protection.  Here, the court denied Louboutin’s preliminary injunction because the red soles are “sexy” and “attracts men to the women who wear [the] shoes,” which serves a non-trademark, aesthetic function.  The court was additionally concerned about “significantly hindering competition” if it were to grant Louboutin exclusive use of the color red.  It worried that the protection of even this well-known color of red would encourage designers to claim protection for any color, depleting the permissible usage of colors.

Louboutin filed an appeal on October 19, 2011, and, thereafter, Tiffany & Co. filed amicus curiae to support Louboutin.  Tiffany & Co. has the same interest as Louboutin in protecting a single color—its signature blue-colored boxes. Although there is danger in giving a company protection to monopolize one single color, the court should have considered the applicability of trade dress, or the visual characteristics of a product that signify the source of the product to consumers.  Particularly because the YSL shoes were entirely red and not necessarily the “Chinese red” that made Louboutin’s outsoles famous, the court might have considered limiting protection for Louboutin to the specific hue of red and its association with the overall design.  However, there are good legal and policy arguments on both sides of the lawsuit, and the decision is sure to affect a large portion of the fashion industry, only heightening the anticipation of the Second Circuit’s decision.

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