“THE FRIDAY NIGHT RAMBLINGS”

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of July 4, 2008.  We have two members of the SFIG “Family”, (that I know of  –  if there are others, PLEASE let us know  …  so we can support you!!),  running for the Board of Governors.  Paul Henry and Philip Prewitt.  I personally vouch for and endorse both.  Neither are incumbents.  Remember:  the majority of incumbents voted for a Dues Increase, (because we had not had one for 14 years and we HAD TO have one to maintain current bar services  –  then allocated 1 million dollars of our dues to educate the public about the non-partisan plan, while having a Board meeting in the Bahamas  …  and the dues increase doubled the budget of the OCDC).  The majority voted for pro se “Dissolution Packets”, knowing some folks will use them to harm themselves.  (As an aside,  it also harms our profession by fostering a belief we are only overpaid scriveners.  We aren’t.) I know we have some “Solo and Small Firm” friendly board members  –  Alan Gallas, Dana Tippin Cutler, Doug Noland, Allan Seidel and Pat Starke come to mind. We need more. We need a majority.  May I ask a question?  Did you become a lawyer to make a living and pay off your student loan debt  … or  …  did you decide to become a lawyer to make a difference in peoples lives  … and by doing so  …  make a living and pay off your student loan debt?  Different focus  … isn’t it?  If the former  … don’t bother voting in the BOG election, (you wouldn’t anyway).  If the latter,  make the time to vote and make the time  …  to ask the candidates, (if incumbents),  in your district, these questions, (just call them up on the phone and ask!!):   “What is the status of our “Vacation/Personal Time” rule?  What is the status of the “Universal Picture ID” rule, (should a county issue a picture ID to bypass security, they must honor the picture ID of a sister county that has elected to do so — reciprocity?)  [Note:  in an article in this weeks Lawyer’s Weekly, Keith Birks, (whom I like and respect), is quoted, (paraphrased),  “to get it done, all we need is some initiative by the Board of Governors”  —  no doubt, he forgot Joe Whisler, 2004-2005 Bar President tried]  What is the status of a rule suggesting/mandating “telephone status conferences”, instead of in person “docket calls’?  Then vote accordingly.  PLEASE   …  exercise your most precious personal right,  make the time to vote!!

A lot of discussion on the SFIG about “Red Light Cameras” this week.  The latest research I could find:    ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2008) �  Red-light Cameras Increase Crashes, Florida Researchers Find.  “Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, researchers at the University of South Florida College of Public Health conclude  …   Some studies that conclude cameras reduced crashes or injuries contained major �research design flaws,� such as incomplete data or inadequate analyses, and were conducted by researchers with links to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The IIHS, funded by automobile insurance companies, is the leading advocate for red-light cameras. Insurers can profit from red-light cameras, since their revenues will increase when higher premiums are charged due to the crash and citation increase, the researchers say   … a 2001 paper by the Office of the Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, reporting that red-light cameras are �a hidden tax levied on motorists.� The report concluded cameras are associated with increased crashes, the timings at yellow lights are often set too short to increase tickets for red-light running, and most research concluding cameras are effective was conducted by one researcher from the IIHS.”  Interesting.  Every governing body wants/needs more money to serve, (what they perceive to be),  the needs of their constituents.  Red-light cameras are an easy source of income  …  touted as a “public safety” device, punishment for those scofflaws who run red lights.  Every one of them   … the “other guy”.  Not even the “other guy”  … but the “other guy’s” car  … the registered owner of the vehicle is cited, not the actual driver.  It is an “infraction”, like a “parking ticket”, really not a “criminal” offense  …  so “due process”, the right to confront your accuser isn’t required  …  is it?  From a public safety standpoint,  is a significant increase in relatively minor intersection “rear-ender” accidents worth avoiding one serious intersection “t-bone” accident?  I suppose there is an argument to be made  — there is.  Share with me  …  would the insurance industry really push/advocate devices that result in increased crashes  … so they can increase premiums?  They wouldn’t  … would they?

And, this is after all, America  …  the home of entrepreneurship:  there is aways a buck to be made.  PhotoBlocker:  “A majority of red light & speed cameras utilize strong flash to photograph the license plate on your car. Once sprayed on your license plate, PhotoBlocker�s special formula produces a high-powered gloss that reflects the flash back towards the camera. This overexposes the image of your license plate, rendering the picture unreadable. With PhotoBlocker, your license plate is invisible to traffic cameras yet completely legible to the naked eye.”  The company is thriving!  They increased their product line to include “PhotoShield” and “Reflector” license plate covers.  Anyone interested in a company I plan on forming:  phony magnetic license plate covers, you clip onto your license plate when you park your car   …  and a rotating license plate bracket, (when/if you get pulled over, the bracket rotates to show your real license plate  …  and shows a phony one the rest of the time.)  I think I may be on to something here!! 

And in the “prosecutorial discretion” news   —  MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) –   Student charged with trying to sell vote on eBay.  “A college student claimed it was all a joke when he put his vote in this fall’s presidential election up for sale on the Web auction site eBay. But prosecutors didn’t see the humor. University of Minnesota student Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder’s preferred candidate   …  “There are two things going on here in terms of why it’s a crime,” he said. “One is the notion that elections should be a contest of ideas and not of pocketbooks — at least not in the sense of straight-out ‘I can buy your vote.’ The second notion is that everybody gets one vote, and you don’t get to buy another one.”"  Gee, what a novel idea  — “elections should be a contest of ideas and not of pocketbooks”. Would someone please advise the political establishment of that?  I didn’t know it was against the law to sell a vote.  Is it also against the law to buy a vote?  So share with me   …  how much money/person hours will this prosecutor spend to prosecute this kid?

DALLAS, Texas (AP) –  19th Dallas County inmate freed by DNA.  “A Texas man who spent more than 15 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of kidnapping and robbery raised both arms skyward and collapsed in his mother’s embrace Thursday after being told he was a free man.  Patrick Waller’s sobs were the only sound at a crowded hearing attended by four other inmates also exonerated by DNA testing  …  Waller is the 19th man in Dallas County since 2001 shown by DNA evidence to be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. That’s more than any county in the nation, according to The Innocence Project in New York, a legal center specializing in wrongful-conviction cases.” Texas executed 26 people last year, (“In 2007, 42 persons in 10 States were executed — 26 in Texas; 3 each in Alabama and Oklahoma; 2 each in Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee; and 1 each in South Dakota, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arizona.”)   As of 2006,  there are 3,228 prisoners on death row.   Seems like every month, someone sitting in prison is exonerated by DNA evidence  …  after being found guilty:  not one of the members of the jury that found them guilty  –  having a “reasonable doubt”.  Doesn’t it make you wonder if one of the 3,228 persons waiting execution  …  is innocent?   

Sitting here editing these Ramblings and thinking about this 4th of July. As a naturalized citizen, (Mineola, New York, 1965)  …  I don’t take the ability to celebrate Independence Day lightly.   I remain an example of what is possible in our America.  After coming to this country with only our suitcases, my parents, my brother and sisters have built a good life.  My brother works for Homeland Security at KCI.  My sister Barbara is a Masters level medical anthropologist while my sister Kay is a Masters level nurse anesthesiologist, (her malpractice premium is more than I make in two years!!).  I have earned a Masters Degree in Psychology and a Juris Doctorate, recieved a MoBar Distinguished Service award, the Missouri Junior College Association “Alumni of the Year” award and was named Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly, “2007 Missouri Lawyer of the Year”  …   and I am running for office, to finish my career in public service, as a Circuit Judge.  Although running as a Republican, I have been endorsed by a Liberal Democrat Blog, “Gone Mild“, (the Blog, BTW, is always an interesting read).  What other nation on this earth, could afford a family of immigrants and their children, such opportunity?  As a nation, like you and I, we remain a work in progress.  We will make mistakes   …  and we will learn from them.  We remain a nation designed, (by our Founding Fathers), to be governed by committee/consensus:  no single person has the power to impose their will on us. Nor does either of the major political parties. Our “Bill of Rights” is alive and well  …  this past week, the 2nd Amendment, (the right to own and bear arms), being interpreted and affirmed as an individual fundamental right   …  proving, we remain a nation of laws, not men.  For the past 232 years, through times of war and peace, the pendulum of public opinion has swung to the left and to the right, while our laws evolved  …  yet, somehow  …  as a nation,  we have remained centered on the most fundamental founding premise:   “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”  …  our laws will, no doubt, evolve further as our society matures.  I am proud to be part of a profession, that enables such evolution.

We celebrated the past 7 Independence Days, at war  …  a war we did not want, did not start and which will continue into the foreseeable future, (no matter who winds up being elected President).  Afghanistan and Iraq have turned out be places, (time will tell if they were poorly chosen), where we are engaging our enemy.  They are only battles in a war we can not negotiate our way out of  …  nor afford to lose. It is a war, not between nations, but between mutually exclusive ways of life and belief structures.  You and I will continue to have family, friends and neighbors serving our America  …  some in uniform, some not but serving none the less.  And therein lies the true meaning of “patriotism”.  Service and sacrifice. Honoring those that have served.  Honoring those, (and their families), that are serving   …  even while working, (should you believe so),  to change the policies or leadership,  that put them in harms way. Being able to so, is,  what makes our America the greatest nation on this earth.  I say a prayer of thanks for being able to curl myself around Susan each night,  the “Editorial Staff” and “Dachshunds for Timmerman“,  curled up on the bed with us.  Tonight I will say a special prayer of thanks, for the privilege of being an American citizen   …  and a prayer for the safe and soon return home, of those who are serving now  …  in uniform or on the fireline in California, patrolling our streets or waiting in a firehouse somewhere, (care to join me?).  Be safe   …  and sleep well, the best our America has to offer, is on watch so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize  –  that is not my intent.  As always …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri   …  and the “Editorial Staff”, Willy, Karly and ‘Lil Buddy)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of  June 27, 2008.  Some interesting discussions on the SFIG this week about Kennedy v. Louisiana,  , [ No. 07�343 ], in essence holding, (5-4),  that the death penalty is not a viable sanction for the rape of a child, (not resulting in death), under the 8th Amendment, (”Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”)  The majority opinion was written by Justice Kennedy, in which Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ joined.  The dissenting opinion was written by Justice Alito, with whom The Chief Justice, (Roberts),  Justice Scalia, and Justice Thomas joined. Interesting arguments for and against.  Interesting, in the sense that the majority opinion was written by a “swing” Justice and joined by the “liberal” members of the court  —  while the dissenting opinion was authored and joined by the “conservative” members of the court.  So  … the Old Testament of the “Good Book” teaches “an eye for an eye“  —  while the New Testament of the “Good Book” teaches, “turn the other cheek“.  Perhaps I am wrong.  But from what I see, the “Right” is “pro life”, while being pro “death penalty”  …  while the “Left” is pro “Freedom of Choice” and against the “Death Penalty”.  Put another way  —  the “Right” believes killing a fetus is wrong while killing an adult is Ok  …  while the “Left” believes it is OK to kill a fetus  … but killing an adult is not.  Share with me how that makes sense? Aren’t we all created in God’s image?  Isn’t the taking of human life immoral under ANY circumstance  …  but justifiable to preserve human life?  An afterthought  …  didn’t the “liberal” majority in Kennedy affirm “an eye for an eye” for a child rapist by NOT helping them leave this reality for a “better place”, (as opposed to life in prison?)  An “eye for an eye”?   …  last I checked  …  “soap on a rope” is not available in prison.

And also this week, your 2nd Amendment right to own a firearm was affirmed.  The good news?  You have a constitutionally protected right to own a handgun.  The bad news?  In some jurisdictions, you will not be able to leave your house with it.  Such is the difference between abrogation and regulation. 

NEW YORK (CNN) –  ‘Naked Cowboy’ can sue makers of M&Ms.  “An underpants-clad New York guitarist known as the “Naked Cowboy” can proceed with his trademark infringement lawsuit against the maker of M&Ms and its ad agency, a New York judge has ruled.  Robert Burck has become a fixture in Times Square for playing the guitar dressed in a white cowboy hat, white cowboy boots and white underpants while tourists pose with him for pictures and slip money into his boots.  In February, the street performer filed a lawsuit against Mars Inc. and Chute Gerdeman Inc., after they released a video billboard showing a guitar-playing blue M&M dressed in a white cowboy hat, cowboy boots and underpants.”  Great marketing idea   —  right up there with the “Village People” M&Ms!  (Makes me wonder though  …  in winter, does the “naked Cowboy” perform in a “union suit“?)

And your tax dollars at work  …  WASHINGTON (CNN) –  Scientist’s anthrax lawsuit settled for $2.8 million.  “A former Army scientist who was named a “person of interest” in the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Justice Department. Steven Hatfill sued former Attorney General John Ashcroft and the department in 2003, claiming that his privacy was violated when his name was leaked to the media in connection with an investigation into the biological attacks in the eastern United States.”  I would comment  …  but no doubt “Homeland Security” is listening  …  and I would to become a “person of interest”.  I have a desire to visit Guantanamo,  (although the Writ of Habeas Corpus now applies  —  assuming someone knows you are there.)  

And speaking of “Homeland Security”:  BBC NEWS — Biometrics picks up the penguins. “The problem of keeping track of thousands of near-identical African penguins may have been solved.  Researchers have developed surveillance technology that can identify individual birds and then monitor them over long periods of time. The team says the system will boost our understanding of the animals; it could even help ecologists solve the mystery of how long penguins live.”   It could also be used by the “Red Light” cameras being adopted to make intersections safer, (and generate additional income  –  never mind, they make intersections more dangerous),  to track individuals.  Course, that would never happen in our America   …  would it?

Short Ramblings tonight  –  we have to get up early for the Belton “Community Days” parade in the morning.  I have recieved the endorsement of my “Editorial Staff”  …  so they will also walk/ride with us in the parade.  They have their own “Dachshunds For Timmerman“  float.   We will have a “sign making, pin making and t-shirt making” party at Ft Timmerman on Sunday.  Some friends are coming over for ‘burgers and they will then man the Ft. Timmerman Sheltered Workshop.  We have about 6,000 pins to make.  200 yard signs to make.  And 50 T-shirts to make.  Care to come to Ft Timmerman on Sunday at 12:30?  Susan calls  …  reminding me, we have to get up at 5:00 am.  So, I will call it a night  …  curl myself around her and say a prayer of thanks for being able to so, (remembering all the blessings we enjoy:  and they are many!!)  As I am want to do every night before I go to sleep  …  I will say a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform, (care to join me?)  Be and sleep well  …  there are many on watch tonight, (some in uniform, some not)  …  so you can. If my post offends, I apologize.  I have no desire to do so.  As always  …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden Missouri  —  and the editorial staff, Willy, Karly and my ‘Lil Buddy.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of June 20, 2008.  I could not post a Ramblings last week, (the only time since February of 2002  —  but I did post the images I captured at the Solo and Small Firm Conference!  I could not do both.)  The price of gas is really hitting home for all of us. Course, some of us have been here before  — the oil embargo in 1967 and again in the fall of 1973.  Didn’t our elected representatives promise they would make our America “Foreign Oil Independent?  And we re-elected them    …  they delivered  …  didn’t they?

The fact remains, we need to reduce the amount of energy we consume.  So, let’s start with something simple.  How about instead of driving to the courthouse for “docket calls” or “case management” conferences, [for non-lawyers reading this — the way a judge manages his/her caseload by getting updates from the parties attorneys about the status of their case]  —  we start using a technology readily available:  a telephone conference?  Some judges will object.  Some judges will argue that doing so will hinder their ability to help settle cases and thereby, move cases from their dockets.  Some judges require the attorneys AND their clients to appear,  (so, there are 4 people driving to the courthouse).  Perhaps so.  No doubt, you and I have had judges try to “hammer” a settlement  …  but share with me  …  when did it become a judges job to do so? A settlement based on the unsworn, hearsay, representations of the parties attorney’s  …  en camera?  May satisfy our supreme court, (moving them cases), but share with me how that fosters a sense of impartiality, fairness and access to our court system:  a chance to be heard, in our citizens?  It doesn’t.  Using telephone conferences to manage cases, given the rising cost of fuel and the reduced time, travel and waiting in the courtroom   …  only makes sense.  I proposed this initiative to our Bar President, Charlie Harris, at the conference, (I have his permission to share that I did)   …  and his response? He is in favor of it  … and  …  there will be a Bar committee formed to investigate the suggestion. So  …  “The check is in the mail.”  Perhaps it is.

BBC NEWS — Plane abandoned at Hanoi airport. “Vietnamese authorities say they are mystified as to who owns a Boeing 727 which has been abandoned at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport. The plane was flown in from Siem Reap in neighboring Cambodia in late 2007 and has been unclaimed ever since.”  I guess   …  it was cheaper to abandon it   …  than “fill it up”! 

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) –  $500 a month, free gas to drive a billboard.  “Misha Di Bono zips around town in her Infiniti sport-utility vehicle, breezy and unconcerned about the price of gas.  Misha Di Bono says people used to make fun of her rolling billboard. She gets $500 a month and free gas.  That’s because she gets $500 a month — plus free gas — for turning her car into a rolling billboard for Jobing.com, the online recruiting company she works for.”  Do they need corporate counsel  …  I have an SRT 4 Dodge Caliber  ….  I could put $200.00/month in my pocket!!

WASHINGTON (CNN) –  Court limits defendant’s right to act as own lawyer.  “The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a state has the right to prevent a possibly schizophrenic defendant from serving as his own lawyer in a criminal court. The justices concluded, 7-2, that trial judges had discretion to take “realistic account” of an Indiana man’s mental capacities in the case of self-representation.  At issue is whether the fundamental right of an accused person to represent himself or herself applies to those whose are competent enough to stand trial, but perhaps not enough to plead their own defense.”  Really tough call.  “A defendant is presumed competent to stand trial unless his mental condition prevents him from understanding the nature and object of the proceedings against him, or the court determines that he is unable to assist in his defense, Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402 (1960) (test for competency to stand trial is whether the defendant “has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding–and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.”). [Note, click “HERE“, for a list of cases and  discussion of the issue  — an interesting read.]  Dusky presupposes the defendant has a lawyer.  So  …  to be deemed “competent” to stand trial, a person must have a rational, factual understanding of the proceedings, (including, no doubt, the consequences) and can lack the competence to decide to represent themselves? Interesting.  Share with me  … what is the “compelling state interest” in abrogating that person’s fundamental right to represent themselves?  Who or what is harmed?  Share with me   …  once having been found competent to stand trial, should a trial judge have the discretion to gauge a defendant’s mental capacity for determining that persons right to self-represent?  Somewhat inconsistent with handing out “Pro Se Dissolution Kits”   …  isn’t it?

The Ramblings are short this week:   it’s 8:30 and I just got home after campaigning at the Peculiar Summerfest 2008.  There will be a “Tractor Pull” tomorrow night,  two pancake breakfasts, a farm auction, (should be alot of people attending that), Mass at 5 and St Patricks new building dedication at 6.  It will be a full day of campaigning tomorrow.  There will be an opening on the Supreme Court and I will apply for that:  perhaps there is room on the court for a real working lawyer who understands what the practice of law is really about.  You and I represent real people with real problems.  I rewrote my “Judicial Philosophy” webpage to reflect what I believe the role of a judge should be.  But then, if you have read these Ramblings for any length of time, you already know.  I’m tired and I have to get up early to make the first Pancake Breakfast in Warrensburg at 7:00 am.  I ordered 50, 4′ x 8′, two color signs today  —  so my campaign chest is empty   … (whispering)  …  there is a PayPal button you can click to make a contribution!!!  I’m working hard and I’m willing to do the dance  …  just help me pay for the costumes!!  (For those of you who have  –  please accept my heartfelt thanks  –  being named Missouri Lawyer of the Year is an honor I feel I don’t deserve:  you do.  I made suggestion, but YOU made the changes that benefit Solo and Small Firm Lawyers  — finishing my career on the bench, public service, as a “Thank You” for the privilege of being an American Citizen, would be the real honor.)  Susan calls  —  and for me, there is nothing better than curling myself around her  — and drifting off to sleep.  As I’m want to do, I will say a prayer of thanks and a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform, (care to join me?)  Be and sleep well, take a moment as you drift off to sleep and count the many blessings you enjoy  … safe-guarded by those serving in uniform:  not the least of which being our firefighters, law enforcement  …  and our Military, National Guard and Reservists. The editorial staff left when Susan went to bed  —  so I guess I will have to fight for room!  If my posts offends, I apologize  — that is not my intent.  As always  …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  …  I would give credit to the Editorial Staff  …  but they bugged out on me!!)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of June 6, 2008.  We are a week away from our “Family Gathering”,  the Solo and Small Firm Conference.  The conference has come a long ways, no doubt, due to the efforts of Momma O, (Linda Oligschlaeger) and David Browning, (the founding father of the SFIG).  A few of us were fortunate enough to join in, when we realized we comprised 66% of our Bar  …  but have a disproportionate voice.  The fact remains, we are our Bar. WE pay the dues that fund our Bar,  even though, you, like me, live “hand to mouth”.  I have no doubt some of you found it offensive, that the leaders of our Bar raised our dues to fund a defense of the “Non-Partisan Plan”, (to the tune of 1 million dollars!!), within weeks   …  while we still don’t have a personal time/vacation rule   …  nor have a universal picture ID policy, (if a county issues a picture ID to by-pass security  — they must honor the picture ID of a sister county that has elected to do so.)  A question of priorities  … isn’t it?  I guess it shows what really matters to those who are covering our back.  Yet, I must say … there have been changes made that benefit Solo’s  …  we now have a statute of limitations for Bar Complaints, (5 years) and, we can destroy files after no contact with a client after 10 years.  But we still need a vacation/personal time rule and   … a universal picture ID rule.  Let’s get it done and this old “Gad Fly”   …  will fade into the woodwork.  Will spend my time  … helping Susan do rescues.  “Nuff said.

WASHINGTON (AP) –  Cell phone users secretly tracked in study.  “Researchers secretly tracked the locations of 100,000 people outside the United States through their cell phone use and concluded that most people rarely stray more than a few miles from home.  The first-of-its-kind study by Northeastern University raises privacy and ethical questions for its monitoring methods, which would be illegal in the United States. It also yielded somewhat surprising results that reveal how little people move around in their daily lives. Nearly three-quarters of those studied mainly stayed within a 20-mile-wide circle for half a year.”  Must be an old study.  With the price of gas being what it is   …  most folks stay within walking or biking distance of their homes. Wouldn’t this be a wonderful time for our courts to explore teleconferencing technologies, instead of making us drive to the courthouse for a docket call or case management?  Think about the number of lawyers you saw present, in and out of the courtroom during your last docket call/case management  …  and how much gas was burnt to bring them there and back?  Doesn’t it just make sense?

DETROIT, Michigan (AP) –  Thieves take Jesus statue from church cross. “Thieves who stole an 8-foot statue of Jesus Christ off a crucifix in Detroit may have been seeking copper to sell as scrap. Problem is, it’s made of plaster. The Rev. Barry Randolph said Wednesday that the statue at the Church of the Messiah is green and looks like copper, one of several metals coveted by thieves because of soaring scrap prices.”  The thieves were found two blocks from the church and the statue recovered.  They had been struck by lightening.  [FOOTNOTE:  DETROIT, Michigan (AP) — Woman finds missing Jesus statue in alley.  “A Detroit woman has found Jesus in an alley. The pastor of the Church of the Messiah says its stolen 8-foot Jesus statue was recovered from bushes in an alley about two blocks away from the church. Patricia Bowers says she notified the church late Wednesday that she had seen the statue the previous day after she had gotten off a bus. Bowers says she didn’t realize the green-hued, plaster statue had been stolen until seeing news reports Tuesday night.”  Give me a break!!  You would not report an 8′, green Jesus statute laying in the bushes?? Course, that also begs the question   …  why was Jesus painted green?]

BBC NEWS — Father denied vasectomy reversal. “A man who wants another baby after his son died of cancer has been told he cannot have a vasectomy reversal on the NHS because he still has a daughter. Andrew Preston, of Clayton, Staffs, said he wanted to “rebuild” his family after Ben, eight, died last year  …  But North Staffordshire Primary Care Trust said the family’s circumstances were not exceptional enough. The trust said the procedure would only be considered if all children in a family had died  …  “We got a letter from the trust which basically said our circumstances are not exceptional because we’ve not lost all of our children - just one - and apparently that’s not good enough.”   … and in related news  …  BBC NEWS — Baby hope for earthquake parents.  “China is sending medics to offer reverse sterilization operations to parents who lost their only children in last month’s quake, state media says.  The family planning authorities say the team will provide counselling, surgery and in-vitro fertilization treatment.”  So many children were killed in the earthquake because of the shoddy construction of the school houses they were in.

TORONTO (Canadian Press) � Study shows hybrids of bird flu and human flu viruses fit well, could occur.  “An experiment mating H5N1 avian flu viruses and a strain of human flu in a laboratory produced a surprising number of hybrid viruses that were biologically fit, a new study reveals.  And while none of the offspring viruses was as virulent as the original H5N1, about one in five were lethal to mice at low doses, showing they retained at least a portion of the power of their dangerous parent.  The work suggests that under the right circumstances - and no one is clear what all of those are - the two types of flu viruses could swap genes in a way that might allow the H5N1 virus to acquire the capacity to trigger a pandemic. That process is called reassortment.”  Actually, the process is called recombination.  Perhaps the outrageous price of gas is a God send.  Susan and I are working at home to avoid having to travel, (any trip outside Holden will burn 100 miles of gas)  …  we are using the Internet more to communicate with clients.  Something we will all need to do, when there is a quarantine. Case management by conference call saves time and money. Communicating with clients by Email just makes sense.  We have the technology, why not use it?  So share with me  …  do you have your 90 day quarantine stash set up? Please  …  if you haven’t, do so.  Worst case scenario?   …  you have 90 days of food and meds, the things you need  …  you bought using todays dollars.  Just do it.

BBC NEWS — NZ hedgehog assault man is fined.  “A man who attacked a teenage boy with a hedgehog has been fined by a New Zealand court. William Singalargh, 27, had asked his victim if he wanted to “wear a hedgehog helmet” before hurling the animal at the 15-year-old on 9 February  …  The court heard that when the boy’s mother had intervened to protect her son during the attack, Singalargh pulled down his trousers and exposed his buttocks …”  Nice to know there is also a moon in New Zealand.

 CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP)  –  Marine, back from Iraq, shot dead in his home town. “On leave from the violence he had survived in the war in Iraq, a young Marine was so wary of crime on the streets of his own home town that he carried only $8 to avoid becoming a robbery target.  Despite his caution, Lance Cpl. Robert Crutchfield, 21, was shot point-blank in the neck during a robbery at a bus stop … Crutchfield was attacked on January 5 while he and his girlfriend were waiting for a bus. He had heeded the warnings of commanders that a Marine on leave might be seen as a prime robbery target with a pocketful of money, so he only carried $8, his military ID card and a bank card.  They took it, turned his pockets inside out, took what he had and told him since he was a Marine and didn’t have any money he didn’t deserve to live. They put the gun to his neck and shot him,”  …   The two men charged in the attack were identified as Ean Farrow, 19, and Thomas Ray III, 20, both of Cleveland.” No doubt, not unique news to read, although, it didn’t make the evening news.  A young soldier killed in Iraq  …  did.  4 lives wasted.  Where is the outrage?  Where is our focus as a profession, society and species?  Share with me  …  given the challenges YOU face as a Solo or Small Firm guy, making a living, feeding your family, (Maslow’s Hierarchy)  …  why should you care?  Simple.  YOU didn’t choose to be a lawyer to pay off your student loans  … did you?  YOU chose to be a lawyer to make a difference. At least, I did, (after watching “To Kill a Mocking Bird”  —  I wanted to be Atticus Finch).  I would like to believe, YOU did as well. We comprise 66% of our Bar.  We PAY 66% of the dues.  Share with me  …  what kind of mindset within our Bar would endorse helping pro se litigants harm themselves?  And they force/push all these ethical considerations/rules for US to abide by?  Where is the line between an unethical/immoral lawyer harming a client  …  and the ethics/morality of our Bar helping a client harm themselves?  Is there even one?   

All the ads on TV about quitting smoking.  YOU have a nicotine addiction.  YOU need help  … just call/see your doctor and get a pill.  Sends the message that a pill can fix anything  …  doesn’t it?  Make it easy. Solve YOUR nicotine addiction problem with a pill. Lose weight?  Take a pill.  Have an alcohol addiction?  Take a pill.  Reminds me of a phrase from the 60’s:  “Better living through chemistry“.  Pills can’t fix bad choices.  Pills will not get you redemption  …  and  …  on judgment day  …  you don’t get to call character witness. The latest news on the War on Drugs?  South American drug runners are using miniature submarines to haul dope into our America.  They are very difficult to catch since they have a very small radar signature.  No doubt, the idea comes from the children of Nazi Kriegsmarine Uboat commanders who moved to South America after WW II.  Interesting information on a “War on Drugs” Website:  the “War on Drugs” was launched by President Nixon in 1972.  In 2003, we spent over 19 billion dollars on it   …  in 2006, there were  1,889,810 arrests  …  “law enforcement made more arrests for drug law violations in 2006 (13.1 percent of the total number of arrests) than for any other offense   …  Since December 31, 1995, the U.S. prison population has grown an average of 43,266 inmates per year. About 25 per cent are sentenced for drug law violations.”  Perhaps, as a society, we need to take a long hard look at how we use and rely on drugs.  Drugs   …  legal and illegal, comprise a significant portion of our economy.

Sitting here editing these Ramblings  …  my editors on the chair with me.  Thinking about Corinne and I doing a presentation at our “Family Gathering”, (You never see eagles soaring with ducks.”).  I look forward to seeing you all there!!  On the evening news, a piece about the way China is recovering from the quake. The Chinese have managed to feed and house hundreds of thousands of folks who lost everything, within a month!  The folks at FEMA need to go to China and learn how to do it right. and I will be doing it right, tonight, when I curl myself around Susan and drift off to sleep after saying a prayer of thanks for being able to do so. And, of course, a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform, (care to join me?)  Be and sleep well  …  the best there is, is on watch to you can.  If my post offends, I apologize  …  that is not my intent. As always   … 
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  … and the Editorial Staff, Willy, Karly and ‘Lil Buddy)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 31, 2008.  There was an interesting discussion on the SFIG this week about confidentiality at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, after Mark W shared that he was lobbying to afford statements made at AA meetings the same status as statements made to a psychologist, professional counselors, social workers and marital and family therapists, (R.S.Mo 337.736). That members of an AA group can not be subpoenaed to testify about statements made during a session.  One of the fundamental premises of AA is a members anonymity and the confidentiality of statements made during meetings:  “Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.”  As a society, we no longer consider alcoholism a character flaw  …  but have recognized it as being a disease, perhaps no different than diabetes. There is no question AA has changed, even saved, countless lives. The program works.  Currently, (according to it’s website), it has more than 113,000 groups and over 2,000,000 members in 180 countries.  Therein lies a dilemma.  As is want to happen in real life, in a legal context, how do you balance the equities?  How do you preserve the core of a therapeutic system, (anonymity),  that has impacted and saved thousands of lives  …  yet protect a life, a child,  caught in a custody battle?  Depending on your focus, reasonable, honorable persons can differ.  At a base level, no doubt, being an alcoholic impacts your ability to parent.  But recognizing you have a problem, and actively seeking to solve that problem speaks for itself … doesn’t it? The crux of a cross-exam?  Perhaps the core of this issue is not statements made by a party involved in a custody battle, during meetings  …  but perhaps the focus should be on the reasonable expectation of privacy third parties have, seeking help for their disease?  They are not a party. They are seeking help. Will disclosure, that they are seeking help harm them?  It may. Will the possibility of disclosure discourage some from seeking help?  No doubt.  A two edged sword.  With every right, there comes an obligation.  Suppose, during a meeting, a member confesses to molesting his 8 year old daughter while drunk?  IF, AA meetings were afforded the same immunity as therapists  …  the members would become mandatory reporters, (R.S.Mo 210.115), wouldn’t they?  Obviously, a good result – 

BBC NEWS –  Anger at ’slutty’ Starbucks logo. “US coffee chain Starbucks has come under fire for a new logo that critics say is offensive and overly graphic.  The Resistance, a US-based Christian group, has called for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant.  It says the chain’s new logo has a naked woman on it with her legs “spread like a prostitute… The company might as well call themselves Slutbucks”.  Starbucks says the image - based on a 16th century Norse design of a mermaid with two-tails - is not inappropriate.” I suppose that would depend on whether you have a mermaid fetish or not. Course, makes you wonder  …  what does a 16th century Norwegian mermaid have to do with coffee?

 BBC NEWS — Cannabis blunder at Tokyo airport. “An unwitting passenger arriving at Japan’s Narita airport has received 142g of cannabis after a customs test went awry, officials say. A customs officer hid a package of the banned substance in a side pocket of a randomly chosen suitcase in order to test airport security. Sniffer dogs failed to detect the cannabis and the officer could not remember which bag he had put it in.”  So you have a handler with a bad memory  ..  and a dog with a bad nose. Does that sound like the plot of a “made for TV” movie  …  or what?

BBC NEWS — Couple celebrate 80th anniversary. “A couple thought to have been married longer than anyone in the country have celebrated their 80th anniversary.  Frank and Anita Milford, from Plymouth, exchanged vows on 26 May, 1928. Frank is 100 and when Anita also turns 100 in June it is thought they will be the only living couple in Britain to have both reached a century.”  The article fails to share   …  if they still like eachother!

BBC NEWS –  NZ apologises to Vietnam veterans.  “New Zealand has formally apologized to its Vietnam War veterans for the treatment that they received when they returned home. In a statement to parliament, Prime Minister Helen Clark thanked the soldiers for their “dedicated service” during the war. She said their efforts had not been adequately recognized, not had support been offered to them on their return.” Our America was not the only nation to dishonor the service and sacrifice of it’s Viet Vets.  Nice to see this injustice cured  …  even if it’s too little, too late.  The vast majority of America’s Viet Vets were drafted 18 - 21 year old kids.  They went, not because they believed in the then existing foreign policy  …  but because they were the children of America’s WW II veterans:  they were taught it was the honorable thing to do.  I remember the scene in “Same Time Next Year“, (1978), when Alan Alda’s character shares that his son has been killed in Vietnam, (great, great movie!!)   …  and one of the best grieving scenes I have ever seen.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) –  Discovery blasts off for space station. “Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven blasted off Saturday, carrying a giant Japanese lab addition to the international space station along with something more mundane: a toilet pump.”  There was talk of dumping the excrement out of the station into space  …  to join the other cr*p in orbit.  Odds are, it would burn up on re-entry  —  but can you picture the public relations disaster, if it didn’t?  Some little old lady in Omaha holding a charred turd   …  and pointing to the hole in the roof of her house?  Rumor has it  …  the crew on the station was Ordered to look for the missing Tokyo Airport marijuana in the Japanese “lab addition”.

It’s Saturday night  … and I feel bad about not posting the Friday Night Ramblings, on Friday night. Somehow, I have managed to do so for the past 6 years.  I drove back from Branson and made it home in time for Mass, (Susan and I were lectors  —  something I really enjoy doing, (although Susan complains, I get way too dramatic with my reading!!)).  All the press about Ron Paul, is just that:  Press.  I was there as a delegate and witnessed first hand, what actually happened.  The ONLY real contested issue was whether delegates to the national convention were obligated/bound to abide by the promise they made to vote for the winner of Missouri’s Presidential Primary, in their FIRST VOTE.  In other words,  cast their first vote to reflect the “will of the people”:  the winner in Missouri’s Presidential Primary, McCain.  Share with me, if you are representing the “will of the people” as a delegate  …  how could you vote any other way?  Should the vote go against McCain during the first vote  …  the delegates were/are free to vote their conscience.  Among the delegates I chatted with, “Right To Life” was a major issue  …  as was the economy, (the price of gasoline).  Drilling in protected areas and environmental concerns. Some interesting questions:  all three major candidates for President are Senators.  All three, in one form or another, are calling for and promising change.  So, how come, they have not made nor proposed any changes in their capacity as Senators?  [A simple Civics Class teaches that the President only has the power, (other than Executive Orders), to propose change.  Our Congress has the real power to make change  … allocate the money to fund programs!] Another?  Democrats have controlled our Congress for the past two years.  I remain an Independent, (for me, the Republican Party  — has, from a historical standpoint — philosophically no doubt, for me   —   stood for what I believe:  slavery is a bad thing.  Carpet Baggers ring a bell?).  I believe in limited government  …  but it should provide programs that provide a safety net for life’s infirmaries  — but NOT for an individual’s bad choices.  Democrats are in control of our Congress.  We are still at war, during their watch.  Feel comfortable?

I suppose the real issue remains, the role of government.  Balancing the rights and freedoms of an individual  …  with the need to regulate that right, in a public welfare context.  But, in Holden,  Susan is asleep  …  and I’m sitting here looking forward to curling myself around her … and drifting off to sleep.   Between you and  I, last night I could not do so  … I have no doubt, there is a special hell  …  our men and women in uniform must be living through  …  separated from their loved ones/partners.  If my post offends, I apologize, that is not my intent. As always  … 
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden Missouri.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 23, 2008.  We live in strange times. I remember a song by Buffalo Springfield:  “For What It’s Worth”.

“Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away.”

Homeland Security.  They will.  Guantanamo.  But at a local level, no doubt, our elected representatives have a sincere desire to “promote the public welfare”.  Where is the line between your individual, God given “Freedom of Choice” personal decisions/choices and the consequences that flow from them …  and the State preempting choices? You can buy insurance to indemnify your stupid choices  …  that is called “Health Insurance”.  And for those of us who believe, G_d also indemnified our stupid choices  … the name is “Jesus”.  But paranoia strikes deep. And, you have well meaning folks coming up with this, (share with me how this piece of proposed legislation in Ohio, can pass constitutional muster):

“Sec. 955.111.  (A) Beginning ninety days after the effective date of this section, no person shall own, keep, or harbor a dog that belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog.
(B) Not later than ninety days after the effective date of this section, a person who owns, keeps, or harbors a pit bull dog on the effective date of this section shall surrender the dog to the dog warden. Not later than ten days after receiving the dog, the dog warden shall euthanize the dog.
(C)(1) Beginning ninety days after the effective date of this section, if an officer has probable cause to believe that a dog is a pit bull dog, the officer may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for a search warrant. The court shall issue a search warrant for the purposes requested if there is probable cause to believe that a dog is a pit bull dog.
(2) After obtaining a search warrant, an officer shall seize the pit bull dog and surrender the dog to the dog warden. Not later than ten days after receiving the dog, the dog warden shall euthanize the dog.
(D) As used in this section, “officer” has the same meaning as in section 959.132 of the Revised Code.”

Pit Bull [here is a Wikipedia Link discussing the issue.] is not a breed. “It describes a class of breeds in the Molosser family that were historically used for dog fighting. The breeds most often placed in this category are the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terrier.  In the media the term is vague and may include other breeds with similar physical characteristics, such as the Perro de Presa Canario, Cane Corso, Dogo Argentino, Alano Espanol, Japanese Tosa, Dogue de Bordeaux, Cordoba Fighting Dog, Bull Terrier, Antebellum Bulldog, Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog, American Bulldog, Boxer, Valley Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge, Renascence Bulldogge, and Banter Bulldogge.”  So how does “a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog” fulfill due process notice requirements?  How is it not unconstitutionally vague?  Isn’t the identification really, really subjective?  And the State can take your property without compensation?  Course, that begs the underlying question:  “Is any breed inherently dangerous?”  The fact remains, that the only breed/animal inherently dangerous is Homo Sapien. Dogs are not:  they are only as dangerous as their owners.  Dumb legislation.

BBC NEWS — Maiden flight for Russian plane.  “Russia’s first entirely new commercial plane for some time, the Superjet 100, has completed its maiden flight.  The plane, which will be able to carry between 75 and 110 passengers, must make about 100 incident-free journeys before being deemed to be airworthy  …  The manufacturing market for so-called “regional jets” is dominated by Brazilian firm Embraer and Canada’s Bombardier.”  Share with me   …  where are the American manufacturers competing in this market? Are there any?
 
BBC NEWS –  Exam-boosting drug tests ‘loom’.  “Schools and universities may soon need to test students sitting exams for brain improving drugs, experts say. The Academy of Medical Sciences said drugs for diseases such as Alzheimer’s were being used by healthy people to boost alertness and memory. The experts said if it became more of an issue, urine drug tests may be needed just as they are for athletes.” I did a quick “google” to find companies/labs doing urine tests.  A good time to buy their stock.  I wonder  …  do these drugs really work?

Watched the “Alaska Experiment” on the Discovery Channel last Saturday evening.  “Yuppies” in survival mode. Interesting to watch: fake reality TV.  (Due to extreme danger, survival experts are on site.) .338 Winchester Magnum?  Weekly medical exams  …  documenting weight loss.  Interesting  …  but other than interesting to watch folks suffer in a controlled environment, what’s the point? The state of “Reality TV”, I guess. How about we have some real entertainment on TV  …  shows like “Have Gun Will Travel”, “Gunsmoke”, “Bat Masterson”, “Bonanza”  … or … “The Fugative”.  ‘Nuff said.

BBC NEWS –  MPs to vote on hybrid embryo laws.  “MPs are voting later on whether to allow scientists to continue to carry out controversial stem cell research using hybrid human-animal embryos. Gordon Brown has urged MPs to back the work, which mixes human and animal tissue, saying it is a moral endeavor that could save thousands of lives … MPs will also vote on creating “saviour siblings” to help cure a sick child.”  [Update]  The legislation passed. It would allow:  “… transferring DNA from human cells, such as skin cells, into animal eggs that have had virtually all their genetic information removed. The resulting embryos are more than 99% human, with a small animal component of around 0.1%. They are then grown in the lab for a few days before being harvested for stem cells, immature cells that can become many types of tissue.” It would also allow:  …  “the addition of one cell from an animal embryo to a human embryo. The subsequent embryo is made up of cells that are either wholly human or wholly animal. Transgenic human embryos: A human embryo which has been genetically modified to contain a small amount of animal DNA, for instance one or more animal genes. Each cell would have the usual complement of around 20 000 human genes, and a couple of animal ones.  True hybrid: Fertilization of a human egg by an animal sperm or vice versa. The resulting embryo would be approx 50% human and 50% animal. No hybrid embryo would be allowed to develop beyond 14 days. It is already illegal to implant human-animal embryos in the womb or bring them to term.” Perhaps doing something, because we can … is not the best reason for doing so.  I can not help but think,  this is an ethical minefield. Share with me  …  if the resulting embryos were allowed to go to term  …  would the resultant beings have a soul? Would they also be God’s children?  Wouldn’t the same arguments apply to machines when they reach the point of self awareness?

BBC NEWS — Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk? “The contentious issue of first-cousin marriage is set to hit the headlines with a heated debate over their impact on genetic disorders in Britain. Some have called for such “consanguineous” marriages to be banned but others argue better genetic screening is what’s needed  …  Over a billion people worldwide live in regions where 20%-50% of marriages are consanguineous - that is where the partners are descended from the same ancestor.” What’s the big deal?  I thought we are all related …  at least according to the news,  Obama and Cheney are, (8th cousins  –  I guess them slave owners were a randy lot!).  And in other political news,  BBC NEWS — McCain bid to reassure on health.  “US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has released his medical records for the years 2000-2008. The 1,173 pages of records reveal that the senator displays no recent signs of skin cancer and that his blood pressure and weight are healthy for his age.”   I wonder   …  is it normal for a 72 year old man to have 1,173 pages of medical records?  An actuarial table shows that McCain should live to be 87  –  assuming he gets elected and serves two terms –  he would be 80 when his term expires.  George H.W. Bush is 84 as is Jimmy Carter. Gerald Ford was 93 when he passed away in 2006 –   as was Ronald Reagan, (he passed away in 2004).  Bill Clinton is 62. Barack Obama is 47. Hillary Clinton is 61.  Franklin D. Roosevelt was 63 when he passed away in 1945. Richard Nixon was 81 when he passed away in 1994 and Dwight D. Eisenhower was 79 when he passed away in 1969. McCain has to be the best choice  –  if for no other reason than  — we will only have to put up with him as an ex-president for 7 years.  Think about how much money we, as tax payers, would save!  30 plus years of secret service protection and retirement pay for Bill, Hillary or Barack is just too expensive!

BBC NEWS — US sect raid officials to appeal. “US officials are to appeal against a court ruling which said they had no right to seize 463 children from a polygamist sect in Texas last month. The appeal will be brought before the state’s Supreme Court   …  the Texas Third Court of Appeals ruled that officials failed to demonstrate the children were in any immediate danger, which is the only legally allowable reason for taking children from their homes without court proceedings.”  The right to rear ones children, is a constitutionally protected “fundamental right”:  Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000).  Listen!!  Hear that sucking sound?  That is the sound of Texas governmental rear ends, sucking air thinking about the upcoming civil rights violation law suits.  Course, it could also be the sound of plaintiffs lawyers rushing to Texas.  [Postscript on the evening news  –  the State of Texas is returning 12 of the 463 children they illegally snatched.  Too little, too late.]

BBC NEWS –  Kerala temple underwear ruling.  “Nearly 200 staff at a Hindu temple in southern India have won the right to wear underwear to work.
The human rights commission in Kerala state has ordered Sabarimala temple to withdraw a dress code that barred staff from wearing underwear.  The dress code was imposed 10 years ago after several cases of theft. Sabarimala is the second busiest temple in southern India after Tirupati, visited by nearly 50 million people during the special pilgrimage season  …  Pilgrims have to trek for about three hours to reach the main temple from the base camp at Pampa near the river. There are few toilets, no waste management or treatment facilities.”  The place is visited by 50 million persons during the pilgrimage season  — and generates 18.7 million dollars  …  (shuddering)  …  can you picture the pollution created by 50 million people?  In in a Duh! observation:  “The state’s Water Resources minister NK Premachandran recently expressed concern over the level of pollution in the Pampa river saying it posed a great threat to public health.” I guess China isn’t the only place that has a “Yellow River”.  I removed the Kerala Temple from my must visit list.

Sitting here editing these Ramblings and thinking about the joys of having a 3 day weekend.  “Karly” is laying on the floor by my feet.  We are not going anywhere  …  it is just too expensive.  Living in Holden, a trip out of town in either direction is a 100 mile round trip.  It will be just Susan and I.  On the evening news  — apparently the junta in Myanmar will finally let in foreign aid workers.  I wonder how many people have died and will die because of their delay?  By any definition,  that is a crime against humanity.  How can any person live with themselves, knowing they have caused such suffering? And  …  there is a 55% increase in skin cancer, (melanoma), in young women  –  resulting, some believe, from tanning beds.  A million young women jump start their tan by using the beds.  The tanning industry denies any link  …  a link the “experts” argue is as strong as the link between cigarets and lung cancer.

Time to post these Ramblings and enjoy a quiet evening at home  –  at the end of which, I will curl myself around Susan and say a prayer of thanks for being able to do so.  And on the eve of this Memorial Day  …  I will say a special prayer of thanks for the sacrifices made and being made by our men and women in uniform, (Please God, let them come home safe and soon!!)  Be and sleep well, the best there is, is on watch so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize  — that is not my intent.  As always …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri   …  and the Editorial Staff, Karly, Willy and ‘Lil Buddy

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 16, 2008. [These Ramblings are posted in a larger typeface.]  I don’t read CNN’s Website any more. A personal protest. Some of the articles on CNN are now coded in such a way, that you can not cut and paste any more. Why have they decided to do that?  Are they are worried about copyright infringement? That some student, working on a term paper, may plagiarize parts of an article?  A violation of the author’s intellectual property rights? Really stupid marketing on their part. But then, that seems to be the current feeding frenzy.  Intellectual property law is in flux.  What constitutes “fair use”?  What may you and I do, with the CD or DVD we PURCHASED?  Have you read the “license agreement”? (Talk about an adhesion contract!!)  Share with me   …  have YOU violated former President Clinton’s DMCA by making a backup of a CD or DVD to play in your car, play on your iPod  …  or make one for your Lady to play in her car?  Or shared content with family and friends?  Have you pirated software by getting on thePirateBay, (using a TOR client like Azureus? ) and downloaded a copy and hack??   Don’t you realize doing so makes you a criminal?  So share with me   …  how many DCMA criminals do you think we have walking around our America today?  … (whispering)  …  perhaps your kid, may be one of them!

Sitting here editing these Ramblings and getting ready for tomorrow’s campaigning.  I am in the process of completely reworking my “Digital Artist” website to include images I have posted on the SFIG over the years.  On the evening news,  in China, 4.5 million people have lost their homes and close to 100,000 have lost their lives.  The saddest part being  …  most are children  ….  and this in a society that has a “one child per family” policy.  The generals running Myanmar admitted the death toll will be over 150,000 people  …  yet they are still refusing to allow aid workers in. And, LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) � Amputee runner wins right to try for Olympic spot.  “Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius has won the right to compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 21-year-old South African is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes. Friday’s verdict overturns a ban imposed by the IAAF, which said his carbon fiber prosthetic blades give him a mechanical advantage.” Share with me  …  when does a prosthesis level the playing field  …  and when does it become an advantage?  By the Grace of God, Susan’s insulin pump levels her playing field and allows her to be the best partner a person can have  …  such, that I say a prayer of thanks when I curl myself around her when we finally go to sleep   …  and, of course,  I also say a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform, (care to join me?).  Sleep and be well, the best there is, is on watch so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize  –  that is not my intend.  As always …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  …  and Willy, Karly and ‘Lil Buddy, the Editorial Staff)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 9, 2008.  Over 100,000 people lost their lives this week in Myanmar.  Perhaps a wake-up call for all of us.  Share with me  …  didn’t we have an earthquake on May 5th?  And  …  on December 16, 1811  …  “shortly after 2 AM, the first tremor of the most violent series of earthquakes in the United States history struck southeast Missouri. In the small town of New Madrid, about 290 kilometers south of St. Louis   …  On January 23, 1812, a second major shock, seemingly more violent than the first, occurred. A third great earthquake, perhaps the most severe of the series, struck on February 7, 1812.”  You and I are not immune from the whims of nature.  I have no guarantee that I will wake up in the morning.  Neither do you.  All the more reason to MAKE some time TODAY, to spend with the people that make your life worth living  …  isn’t it?  There is no need to wake up and wonder for whom the bells toll:  “Perchance, he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.”  John Donne, Meditation #17  Each moment we have in this life is precious because, as my Dear Friend Bob Sig. is want to say:  “We each have only so many sunrises  …”   Don’t waste one.  As for Myanmar?  The death toll will rise because the waste of skin folks in power will not let relief in. Are they perpetrating a crime against humanity?  And that begs the ultimate question:  “Can we or other countries go in and deliver aid without the consent of the government  –  when that government is allowing it’s people to die?”

And in other news  –  Tokyo, Japan  — Japan worker in 780,000 porn hits. “A local council employee in Japan has been punished after it was discovered he had accessed porn Websites at work more than 780,000 times in nine months. His superiors were alerted to the problem only when his computer became infected with a virus.”   No way!  Think about it.  Assuming there are 22 working days a month, (and that does not include holidays), nine months would have 208 working days  …  or 1,664 working hours.  That means, he would have had to hit 469 porn pages per hour or 7 Websites a minute, every minute, for 9 months   …   and no one noticed?  So much for the superiority of Japanese management.   Or  …  perhaps  …  government workers are government workers   …   the world over?

BBC NEWS  –  China virus toll continues rise.  “The toll from an intestinal virus that has affected thousands of children in central China is continuing to rise, as officials work to rein in the outbreak.  A child died in Zhejiang province, bringing the number of deaths from Enterovirus 71 to 26  … EV71 is highly contagious, causing fever, blisters in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet. In extreme cases, it can cause brain, heart and lung damage.”  The Chinese have a highly regulated society, with the State having absolute power.  How could this disease continue to spread?  Kill children?  They have not, yet, imposed a quarantine, (perhaps children dying do not pose a strategic threat to the State?   …  or the folks that run it? )   …  and in the “take a moment and think about it”  …   related news  …  News-Medical Net –  Bird flu pandemic risk just as real and probably growing.  “Experts are warning that the risk of a human bird flu pandemic remains just as real and is in fact probably growing.  They say as the bird flu virus becomes further entrenched in poultry in more countries, the risk of a pandemic remains and is probably expanding. At a meeting of 150 experts organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), in order to update its guidance to countries on how to boost their defences against a deadly global epidemic, it has been revealed that the H5N1 avian flu virus has now infected flocks in much of Asia, Africa and parts of Europe.” Got your 90 day quarantine stash set up?  Please.  If you haven’t   … do!!

BBC NEWS — Pope ‘will text young Catholics’.  “Pope Benedict XVI will send religious text messages to thousands of young Catholics when he attends World Youth Day in Australia, organizers say.  The move aims to help the Pope connect with his technology-loving audience.”  So share with me   …  do they make “Blackberry’s” with a Latin alphabet?  Probably not a high demand item  –  like the Spanish alphabet “Blackberry“.  I wonder how many character keys the Chinese “Blackberry’s” have, given there are  “…  6500 characters for the simplified form and 13500 for the traditional form.”   …  of the current Chinese alphabet? I wonder  …  what does a Chinese keyboard look like?  The same as yours.   I’m not a “touch typist”.  I use two typing fingers, (although Susan is a “touch typist”  —  and, she is fast!!)  An advantage for me  .. really.  Given keyboards keep getting smaller, (look at the keyboard on your cell-phone or “Blackberry”!!)  I suppose that only proves one of the fundamental premises of natural selection, (human evolution)  …  we have a thumb to type with   …  can text message  …  no doubt one of the reasons  …  God gave us dominion over all non-thumbed creatures!!  Heaven help us  … when we make “first contact”, with beings, (also created by God)  …  from another planet/reality  …  who have four thumbs!!

On the evening news,  SILVERTON, Ore. –  Restaurant Bans Children Younger Than 6, Owner Wants To Cater Restaurant To Adults.  “The management for a popular restaurant in Silverton, Ore., announced Thursday that young children would no longer be allowed into the establishment.  The manager at the Red Thai restaurant on Oak Street said children under the age of 6 aren’t welcome in the eatery. The Red Thai manager, Craig Gereau, said children disrupt people who are trying to enjoy a quiet dinner.”  So how long before it becomes a national movement  …  like banning smoking in public establishments?  From a purely legal standpoint  –  don’t the same arguments apply?

And for this weeks biology news  —  BBC NEWS  — Platypus genetic code unravelled.  “Scientists have deciphered the genetic blueprint of the duck-billed platypus, one of the oddest creatures on Earth. The animal comes from an early branch of the mammal family, and like mammals it is covered in fur and produces milk. However, it lays eggs like a reptile   …  The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is the latest in a string of mammals, including the mouse, rat, sheep, horse and dog, to have its genome decoded.”  Why?  Where do the funds for these type of studies come from?  Did you know the platypus has spurs with which it can inject a venom that causes excruciating pain for days or months?   Or that platypus and echidna are monotremes  –  “The echidna, along with the Platypus, are the only egg-laying mammals, known as monotremes. The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg twenty-two days after mating and deposits it directly into her pouch. Hatching takes ten days; the young echidna, called a puggle, then sucks milk from the pores of the two milk patches (monotremes have no nipples) and remains in the pouch for forty-five to fifty-five days, at which time it starts to develop spines. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the puggle, returning every five days to suckle it until it is weaned at seven months.  Male echidnas have a four-headed penis, but only two of the heads are used during mating. The other two heads “shut down” and do not grow in size. The heads used are swapped each time the mammal has sex.”  Doesn’t this beg the question:  who did they pay to watch and document this information?  (Talk about having an “icky” job!!)  “Monotremes are the only mammals known to have a sense of electroreception: they locate their prey in part by detecting electric fields generated by muscular contractions. The Platypus’ electroreception is the most ensitive of any monotreme.”  Personally,  I believe these studies are funded by Homeland Security  …  to develop new ways for providing security at airports.

BBC NEWS — Warning for Christian polygamists.  “Nigeria’s Anglican leader has told the country’s many Christian polygamists to give up their extra wives.  In a letter to the faithful, Archbishop Peter Akinola warned the issue could “make a mockery” of the church.  Until now, converts to Christianity have been allowed to keep their polygamous relationships  … Bishop Ali Buba Lamido told the BBC that it was difficult to convert polygamous Muslims to Christianity unless they could keep their wives  …  With 17.5 million members, the Nigerian Anglican Church is the second largest in the communion.” May be ripe convert territory for Fundamentalist Mormons. Interesting  …  the Nigerian Anglican Church is leading the charge against gay priests.  So fornication is ok   …  but homosexuality is not?

Sitting here editing these Ramblings.  Tomorrow, Susan and I will attend 3 pancake breakfasts, 2 fish fries and a street fair, (and then Mass).  If you are campaigning, there is no substitute for “pressing flesh”.  I can’t campaign during the week, (that pesky having to make a living issue keeps raising it’s ugly head)  –  hopefully, I can raise enough money for signs, radio and a few TV ads.  I could not do this, if Susan wasn’t there with me.  We are in this race together  …  all the more reason I say a prayer of thanks each night:  she remains God’s most “tender mercy”.  My editorial staff is asleep behind me on my chair  …  no doubt they too say a prayer of thanks  …  and a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform, (care to join us?)  Sleep and be well, the best there is, is on watch so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize …  that is not my intent.  As always …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  … and the Editorial Staff, Willy, Karly and ‘Lil Buddy).

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 2, 2008.  The ability to communicate and share information is a survival strategy shared by successful life forms. Obviously, the most important communications involve the ability to share information about distance and weight about food.  Somewhere, along the way,  someone decided to “standardize” the means they use to share measurement information.   Bees, for example, share information:  directions on where to find nectar.  Point being?  I read a piece on BBC News this week:  BBC NEWS — US prisoner sues over weight loss.  “An overweight prisoner in the United States is suing the authorities for not feeding him enough after he lost about seven stone (45kg)  [99.208018 pounds] in jail. Broderick Lloyd Laswell, who is awaiting trail for murder, dropped to 22 stone (140kg) [308.647167 pounds]  after eight months inside the Arkansas prison. He claims his vision has gone blurry while trying to exercise.”   He should sue because he can now get his fat *ss on the top bunk?  According BBC NEWS  —  the guy dropped 22 stones!  I assumed weight.  Wrong.  “Stone” is a measure of mass, (14 pounds of mass), not weight.  That started me wondering about “imperial” and “metric system” measurements.   The “metric” system was developed by the revolutionary government of France, (Louis XVI),  in the 18th century,  the idea was to “have a single unit for any physical quantity; another important one is not needing conversion factors when making calculations with physical quantities. All lengths and distances, for example, are measured in meters, or thousandths of a meter (millimeters), or thousands of meters (kilometers), and so on. There is no profusion of different units with different conversion factors, such as inches, feet, yards, fathoms, rods, chains, furlongs, miles, nautical miles, leagues, etc. Multiples and sub-multiples are related to the fundamental unit by factors of powers of ten, so that one can convert by simply moving the decimal place: 1.234 meters is 1234 millimeters, 0.001234 kilometers, etc.”  Seems like a good idea.  There are only three countries in the world that have not adopted the “metric” system:  Liberia, Myanmar and the United States.  Well  …  that’s not accurate.  In the US we use both,  SAE, (imperial) and Metric. Course  …  you need both if you want to work on your car, (produced in the US, (SAE). using foreign, (Metric), parts!)   That way Sears can provide both SAE and Metric wrenches in their Craftsman tool lines.  You now buy liter bottles, (which contain less), for the same price you used to buy pints, quarts and gallons.  Same with lumber.  Share with me  … when was the last time you could buy a 2 x 4 that was actually 2 x 4?  That is now called 5/4ths lumber, and costs extra!! When was the last time you could buy a 5th, that was actually a 5th?  I can hardly wait for our gas stations, (given the price of gas), to convert to liters   …  so when you buy  …  you will feel like you are getting more for your money!  $1.00 a liter,  doesn’t sound as bad   …  does it, (that’s over $4.00/gallon)?  The smart   …  continue   …  to live off of the dumb.

On the same note,  we have evolved as social creatures.  We have an inherent NEED to interact with others of our kind.  Our culture/societies are based on this interaction.  Partners, family, community, state, nation.   Through technological evolution, we have evolved into “digital” communication   …  we keep in touch, share lives, through our computers.  We interface and interact with our computers using “software”. The most prevalent software in the world is Microsoft’s Windows, (a graphical users interface, (GUI), operating system).  Microsoft has a version of windows not available to the general public:  WINFLP.  YOU can’t buy it.  It is only available to it’s “Software Assurance” customers, (a Microsoft maintenance program aimed at business users who use Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and other server and desktop applications. The core premise behind SA is to give users the ability to spread their payments for the software over multiple years, while offering “free” upgrades to newer versions in that time period.)  Put another way, WINFLP is basically a stripped down version of WIN XP Pro designed to run on old systems.  The same copy can be installed on as many computers as you wish.  It has all of the basic functionality of XP Pro, (WinFLP supports most Windows XP/2000 applications and drivers. It also features basic networking, extended peripheral support, DirectX, and the ability to launch the remote desktop clients from compact discs. In addition, WinFLP offers support for local applications …  [read that to mean, if it runs on XP, it will run on FLP]   …  It can be installed on a local hard drive, or configured to run on a diskless workstation”.)  It does NOT require “activation”,  will download “upgrades” and is FAST, (in it’s most stripped down version, requiring only 600 meg on your hard drive!).  Interesting.  Wonder, why I would post this information?  How many copies of Windows have you purchased, (and now have to purchase a license to use and “activate”), over the years?  How many of these copies/licenses, THAT YOU PAID for, do you still use?  My Asus eee comes with Linux installed, (they have since released a unit that comes with Windows XP installed).  I purchased a retail copy of “Vista”, (to run on my Asus)   …  but it requires 1 gig of system memory and 15 gig of hard drive space to run   …   and it does not have the device drivers for some of my older equipment. So I didn’t install it, (and couldn’t return it).  WIN FLP can run on as little as 64meg of system memory,  600 meg of hard drive space and will run everything that WIN XP does, (because it is WIN XP).  You can download a copy of FLP, (the ISO file), from the Internet and make an installation disk using this tutorial   …   but from an ethical standpoint, only if you own a copy of Windows XP or Vista you have not installed or uninstalled. I won’t comment on the legalities. It screams on my Asus eee!!  [Note: The Asus comes with built in WiFi and is on my wireless network, so I have access to all of my computers.  I currently use 2.4gig of it’s internal 4gig solid state drive and 2.77gig of it’s 16gig SDHC  —  and I have Acrobat 8, (to run Judge Smith’s Form 14 program), Irfanview, Microsoft GPS Streets & Trips, (very slick and comes with a GPS reciever for $79.99 at Microcenter), Firefox, TimeMatters and I will install OpenOffice, tomorrow!  Keep in mind  …  this is on a sub-notebook sized computer, a little bigger than a DVD case  …  that I paid a little over $300.00 for on Ebay!! Oh!  And it will also run Apple OS X!!]  [Note:  for an excellent hands-on review, click HERE.]

BBC NEWS — Playboy cushion robbery in France.  “A goods train in southern France has been attacked by robbers who made off with cushions bearing the Playboy logo. The attack happened in the northern suburbs of Marseille, the regional newspaper La Provence reports. It says the thieves blocked the track with sleepers, causing the 700m (760-yard) train to screech to a halt, and forced open a number of containers.”  Cushions with the “Playboy” logo are worth this much of an effort to steal?  Playboy cushions?  Must have been Islamic terrorists. Course that begs the question:  “Is there really a market in Mosques  …  for prayer cushions bearing the “Playboy” logo?”  Wouldn’t it have been less risky to buy Chinese knock-offs?   [Note:  educate yourself about the difference between “Sunni” and “Shia” Muslims.  Our men and women in uniform, in Iraq, are learning as we speak.]

And in the “Duh”! news   …   FORENCE, South Carolina (AP) –  Feds: School bomb plotter wanted to kill Jesus. “A teen accused of plotting to blow up his high school told police that he wanted to die, go to heaven and kill Jesus, federal authorities said Tuesday.  Prosecutors argued in a federal courtroom that the statements are an indication that 18-year-old Ryan Schallenberger needs a psychological evaluation  …  “His conduct is bizarre,” prosecutor Buddy Bethea told Judge Thomas Rogers III, who did not immediately issue a ruling. “I think it screams out in his conduct that he be evaluated.”  Defense attorney Bill Nettles said the request was premature, and that Schallenberger was competent to help in his defense.”  Premature? Help in his defense?  I think defense counsel may wish to have a garlic garland around his neck when he meets with his client.  Course Thorazine, (for DEFENSE counsel   …   and his client), are viable alternatives.

BBC NEWS  –  Dutch bill to ban magic mushrooms.  “The Dutch cabinet has proposed a bill to ban the sale of hallucinogenic or so-called “magic mushrooms”. A majority of MPs is expected to back the proposal, which comes after a number of accidents, mostly involving tourists …  the association of owners of so-called “Smart Shops” where the hallucinogenic fungi are sold say that magic mushrooms, which contain the hallucinogenic ingredient psilocybin, are only dangerous when they are taken together with alcohol or other drugs.”  The Dutch are pretty liberal folks.  They prefer to tax vices instead of criminalizing them. One would suppose they have a higher violent crime rate than the US.  Wrong.  Check the stats for yourself,  HERE.
 
WESTON, Wisconsin (AP) –  Parents charged in death of diabetic daughter.  “Two parents who prayed as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes were charged Monday with second-degree reckless homicide.  Family and friends had urged Dale and Leilani Neumann to get help for their daughter, but the father considered the illness “a test of faith” and the mother never considered taking the girl to the doctor because she thought her daughter was under a “spiritual attack,” the criminal complaint said  …  One relative told police that the girl’s mother believed she “died because the devil is trying to stop Leilani from starting her own ministry,” the complaint said  …  The family does not belong to an organized religion or faith, Leilani Neumann has said.” Well  … obviously  …  God has a prison ministry in mind for her.  I truly believe in the power of prayer because I have seen it work  —  however,  it works even better when coupled with competent medical care   …  (whispering)  …  praying that your doctor won’t kill you is especially effective.

GARDINER, Montana (CNN) –  Where the buffalo roam — and die.  “More than half of Yellowstone National Park’s bison herd has died since last fall, forcing the government to suspend its annual slaughter program.  More than 700 of the iconic animals starved or otherwise died on the mountainsides during an unusually harsh winter, and more than 1,600 were shot by hunters or sent to slaughterhouses in a disease-control effort   …   Government officials say the slaughter prevents the spread of the disease brucellosis from the Yellowstone bison to cattle on land near the park. Brucellosis can cause miscarriages, infertility and reduced milk production in domestic cattle  …  wandering bison were sent to slaughter without being tested for brucellosis. (The meat — which experts say is safe to eat if cooked — and hides were distributed to Native American groups.)  I thought bison were an endangered species?  “The only continuously wild bison herd in the United States resides within Yellowstone National Park. Numbering between 3000 and 3500, this herd is descended from a remnant population of 23 individual mountain bison that survived the mass slaughter of the 1800s by hiding out in the Pelican Valley of Yellowstone Park. In 1902, a captive herd of 21 Plains bison were introduced to the Lamar Valley and managed as livestock until the 1960s, when a policy of natural regulation was adopted by the park.  The end of the ranching era and the onset of the natural regulation era set into motion a chain of events that have led to the bison of Yellowstone Park migrating to lower elevations outside the park in search of winter forage. The presence of wild bison in Montana is perceived as a threat to many cattle ranchers, who fear that the small percentage of bison that carry brucellosis will infect livestock and cause cows to abort their first calves. However, there has never been a documented case of brucellosis being transmitted to cattle from wild bison. The management controversy that began in the early 1980s continues to this day, with advocacy groups arguing that the Yellowstone herd should be protected as a distinct population segment under the Endangered Species Act.”  Bison, like Yellow Stone National Park, are a national treasure  …  but the ranchers next to Yellow Stone have a national treasure as well:  Benjamin Franklin.  His image, when properly printed on special cotton content paper, using proprietary inks and passed around in Washington  …  the wellbeing of ranchers becomes a national security interest   …  the only national treasure that matters.

Sitting here editing these Ramblings.  We have a new miracle “baby” here at Ft Timmerman:  “Dinker“.  He is a 3 month old miniature Daschund who, through Susan’s, (and Judy at 7 Bells Sanctuary),  prayers and love,  survived parvo.  On Monday, “Hoppy” will leave Ft Timmerman for his “furever” home:  he is being adopted by an older, (late 70’s), retired lady from Kentucky, who recently lost one of her companions, (a wire haired Daschund), after a long illness.  Her daughter is driving her from Kentucky to pick “Hoppy” up.  My passion is digital photography.  Susan’s passion is saving little 4 legged lives, (she is affiliated with 7 Bells Sanctuary, which specializes in finding homes for special needs and senior dogs).  [Note:  Susan has her Website dedicated to her “fur babies”:  it makes an interesting read to share with your children  –  especially the “Diaries” each of Susan’s babies have!]  Her compassion for these little critters is the least of the many reasons I worship the ground she walks on!!  And as I’m want to do, tonight I will say a prayer of thanks that she is part of my life  –  the best part.  And a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform, (care to join me?  And please check this out:  Click Here.  Perhaps, if enough of us become aware of it  —  we can make a difference in a life put on hold, while it is serving our America.  Be and sleep well, the best there is, is on watch so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize  — that is not my intent.  As always …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
Karl  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  –  and the editorial staff, Willy, Karly and ‘Lil Buddy.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of April 25, 2008. So corporate America has bought into the “green“  [interesting link to read]  bandwagon as a marketing tool.  Strange.  I saw an ad this week advertising “green” hard drives from Western Digital.  Better for our environment because they use less power.  So,  if every hard drive on this Earth used “35% less energy” to power it  …  it would stop global warming?  Doubt it.  Sounds pretty cynical on my part, no doubt  —  but just another marketing ploy, (which, BTW, the Chinese are not buying into!  They keep producing cr*p because it’s cheap and sells  —  they don’t give a damn about the environmental impact!)  It remains a cost shifting issue. Remember the “renewable energy” initiative?  Bio- Fuels?  Convert corn into fuel for our SUV’s?  All those tax incentives to get it done?  Let me put it in perspective.  There is only so much corn. It is a finite resource. You can use it to feed folks, cattle or convert it into an SUV mover.  We would like to use it to feed cattle, (love them marbled steaks), and use our 13mpg SUV to run to the grocery store to buy them   …  while folks in 3rd world countries starve.  Years ago, my father and I argued about saving the starving children of Bangladesh.  There was a famine which was killing children.  He argued, let nature take it’s course   …   I argued, we needed to save them.  He argued why?  To produce more children which we will need to feed and save so they can produce more children?  I could not respond then   …  and all these years later,  I still have no answer.  Hard to look into the eyes of a starving child  …  and turn your back.  As a species, we have come a long ways:   WASHINGTON (AP) –  Humans nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago, study says.  “Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests.  The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday.  The report notes that a separate study by researchers at Stanford University estimated that the number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 before numbers began to expand again in the early Stone Age.”  Or have we?  Look around.  Going back far enough  … aren’t we all related?    ….  (chuckling)   …  what does that say about the anti-nepotism laws?

BBC NEWS  –  Microsoft unveils its web vision.  “Microsoft has lifted the lid on a new web service called Live Mesh, designed to connect a multiplicity of devices and applications online. The service is seen by many as a key plank in the company’s vision for the future of the web.”  Over the past 20 years, I have watched as computer software was purchased, to be used on any machine you wanted to run it on.  Then the business model shifted to where you purchased a license to use the software, (on any machine you wanted to run it on)  —  to, you now license the software for use on one specific machine  —  to the vision Microsoft has for the future:   the only software on your machine, is software that allows you to access the software on their servers, no doubt for a per use charge.  Microsoft would, in essence, control the exchange of information.  Apple is no better, (on a smaller scale  …  since it has a smaller market share).  Neither are accountable to you and I.   I believe in free enterprise, a free market, competition  …  and a government that fosters it.  I also believe, when market forces have created a limited playing field, a monopoly  …  government needs to step in and adjust the playing field.  On this issue, it is time to do so.  Anti-Trust law ring a bell?
 
OMAHA, Neb. –  Fire Chief: Bug Bombs Fueled House Explosion.  “A home explosion in Red Oak last week was caused by bug defoggers, investigators said on Tuesday.  On April 11, Jill Kaczor, 23, and Melissa Golden, 25, were hurt in the explosion.  According to the Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Office, the blast was the result of excessive bug fogger devices. The propellant used in the fogger device is flammable and ultimately caused the explosion, the investigator said   …  A few days after the Red Oak explosion, there was a similar explosion in Mason City, Iowa, also from a bug bomb  … ” I suppose there is a reason they call it a bug BOMB!!!
 
BBC NEWS  –  US Jewish lobby gains new voice.  “Are liberal Jewish voices in America being drowned out by powerful conservative lobbyists? A group of prominent left-leaning Jewish-Americans thinks so. They have launched a new lobbying organization, called J Street, which they hope will redress this perceived imbalance. “The term ‘pro-Israel’ has been hijacked by those who hold views that a majority of Americans, Jews and non-Jews alike, oppose,” Interesting. Perhaps Hillary will now consider converting?

(CNN) –  Snipes gets the max — 3 years — in tax case.  “Actor Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison and fined up to $5 million Thursday for evading federal income taxes, CNN affiliate WESH is reporting. It was the maximum sentence possible under federal sentencing guidelines.”  Not a bad return on his investment considering he avoided paying 43 million dollars in taxes.  Isn’t that 14.3 million dollars a year? 

Short, abbreviated Ramblings this week.  I had a brief to write for a pro bono case I’m working on.  It is late.  Susan and the Editorial Staff are asleep.  I bought an Asus EEE this week on Ebay, ($300.00), and spent this evening trying to figure out how to convert it from Linux to WIN XP.  The unit is SMALL: about the size of a VHS tape and half as thick, yet, it is powerful enough to run a GPS, Time Matters, Firefox, MS Office and Judge Smith’s Form 14 program.  It has built in WiFi and 20gig of room to play with:  all for $300.00!!  Sitting here now editing these Ramblings and thinking about how difficult it is to focus on bettering the human condition,  while worrying about how to fill the gas tank in my car  … to make a case management docket call in Independence.  I wonder how hard it would be to set up case management docket calls, over the phone?  How many cases actually settle as a result of a case management conference?  It is late and I’m tired  —  curling up next to Susan sure seems like the way to end this day.  Be and sleep well  …  I know I will.  Another nice thing about taking the moral high ground?  Once it dawns on you, that you don’t get to call character witnesses on judgement day  …  things fall into place. 
Huggers
Karl