“THE FRIDAY NIGHT RAMBLINGS”

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of July 3, 2009.  Interesting discussion this week on the SFIG about setting up a new disciplinary rule that would mandate/require a lawyer, before he/she should die or become disabled, to designated another lawyer, (who ostensibly would be agreeable), to step in and close out/ wind down the dead/disabled lawyers practice.  I volunteered early in my career to help close down the practice of a lawyer, Bob Kendrick, who developed a problem with the IRS, was disbarred, and was sentenced to Leavenworth, (where he suffered a fatal heart attack on Christmas Eve, 1985, and passed away,  owing the IRS in excess of $100,000.00 in taxes).  Looking back now,  if you have to check out, that’s not a bad way to go.  Having a lawyer plan for the dissolution or winding down of a practice due to death or disability, is no doubt, on it’s face, a good idea  …  and probably something already put in place by many, if not most, older Solo and Small Firm lawyers.  Should it be encouraged?  Without a doubt.  Should it be mandatory in order to protect the citizens of the State of Missouri? 

Suppose it were?  Who and how would it be enforced?  Last I checked, we have 28,000  +/-  licensed lawyers in Missouri.  Perhaps a “box” to check on your license renewal form?  So the OCDC finds out you didn’t follow through? How? When you croak?  So they revoke or suspend your license when they find out you didn’t?  Perhaps there are more lawyers in hell than heaven, (I hope not)  …  but in either case, I don’t think Satan nor God require a license to practice law.  Don’t think heaven nor hell have courts, (seems to me, all matters pertaining to you   …  are “Res Judicata” anyway!)   In order to enforce the rule, someone from the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, (OCDC), would have to call each and every licensed lawyer in Missouri, (or perhaps a random sample of lawyers),  to verify the election  … and chat with the person delegated.  How many person hours would that take?  How many more staff members would need to be hired?  And if the funds are not available, wouldn’t that require the use of funds, or person hours, that would be better spent investigating actual lawyer malfeasance?  In my opinion, we SHOULD set up guidelines,  a procedure and the requisite forms.  Make them available for every Bar member and encourage their use   …   but implement another section in Rule 4?  Assign another task to the OCDC?  Share with me  …  would you favor another dues increase to fund this mandate?

Course, that leads to the obvious solution:  mandated legal malpractice insurance, (after all, don’t we require liability insurance if you chose to operate a motor vehicle, in order to protect the public from your negligent operation of that vehicle?)  Gosh, if we mandate malpractice insurance, then the insurance company could set that as a precondition for purchasing such insurance. They have the staff to enforce it.  But then, what would be their incentive to do so if they could deny a claim because you lied on the application? And perhaps  …  if you are dead, you might not care.  Course, they could also set other preconditions as well:  but they would never do that   …  would they?

I am dumbfounded by the hypocrisy inherent in the argument that “all lawyers should be required to carry malpractice insurance to protect the public”.  The 16 legal malpractice carriers that operate in Missouri are required to file annual reports outlining claim information, (R.S.Mo 383.077).  The report for 2008 teaches:  “By area of law, the largest share of claims closed in 2008 (60 of 231) was initiated by plaintiffs in personal injury and property damage cases. The largest proportion of all claims closed in 2008 and in the past 10 years involved the alleged errors or omissions that occured during the commencement of the legal action or proceeding.  Of all claims paid during 2008, 38 percent were settled before filing suit or demanding a hearing on the alleged malpractice.”  [Note:  for the complete report, click HERE]  In Missouri, there were 231 claims closed in 2008.  231 claims out of how many legal transactions?  Where did we get the idea that legal malpractice was so rampant, legal malpractice insurance HAS to be mandatory to protect the public?  Compared to 231 claims in 2008 and a total of 2,460 since 1999, (of which 1,794 were closed with NO PAYMENT),  share with me   …  how many people  harmed themselves using the pro se forms available on the Court Administrators Website put up at the suggestion of our Supreme Court?  If, as a profession, we really cared about protecting the public, would we hand some pilgrim the legal scalpel to remove their own legal appendix?   As for the The Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Company?  (And please know, I mean them NO ill will nor disrespect!!)  The Bar Plan wrote 79.78% of the coverage in Missouri in 2008, generated $13,024,263 in premiums and paid out  $2,206,781 in claims.  That’s a 15.87% loss ratio.  It has, according to it’s Website,  56 million dollars in assets.  So, since you purchase your malpractice insurance from the Bar Plan, a “mutual” company owned by it’s policy holders   …  when was the last time you recieved a dividend?  There is no malpractice epidemic.   Shouldn’t you have the option of deciding for yourself, whether to purchase insurance or self insure, based upon the type of law you practice and the risk you are willing to assume? 

And that leaves the underlying two questions:  “Does our Supreme Court have the power to mandate that all lawyers practicing law in the State of Missouri carry malpractice insurance.”?  I have no doubt, they believe they do.  But where does that power come from?  “The supreme court may establish rules relating to practice, procedure and pleading for all courts and administrative tribunals, which shall have the force and effect of law.”  Missouri Constitution, Article V, Section 5.  Share with me how having or not having malpractice insurance relates to “practice, procedure and pleading for all courts and administrative tribunals” ?  And from where would they gain the power to grant immunity to any lawyer who volunteers to help close down/wind down the practice of a disabled or deceased lawyer.  Wouldn’t our legislature have to do that?  And assuming they did, how would that would work?  Suppose a Statute Of Limitations runs while the “successor” lawyer is going through the files?  Or a default judgment is taken?  Who would be liable?  The bottom line?   I am opposed to our Supreme Court micro-managing the practice of law.  I strongly support the ethical standards contained in Rule 4 and sincerely wish our Bar would push for stronger sanctions and enforcement of  R.S.Mo 484.020, (the unauthorized practice of law).

In other news   …   I am finally back up and running!!  Replaced the 150gig “standard” drive I replaced my 160gig WD Raptor with, with a 300gig Raptor Tuesday.  Used Drive Image 7 to clone it to the Raptor.  As an aside,  I discovered my old 160gig Western Digital Raptor was under warrantee, (and will be until 2012  –  got an RMA and they are replacing it).  Formatted the 300gig drive into 2, 150gig drives, (”C” and “D”), so I have the operating system on “C” and will use “D” as the scratch disk for Photoshop CS4.  I am absolutely AMAZED at the speed difference between the “standard” drive and the Raptor.  The 300gig Raptor, at two times the cost, (BestBuy, $229.99), is WELL worth the extra money!!

Sitting here finishing off these Ramblings.  My L’Buddy is in the other chair looking over my shoulder, (Karly and Dinker are playing).  We have a new rescue at Ft Timmerman:  “Floyd“.  He is a little 2.5 pound male Yorkie who has a mangled rear leg.  Fr. Pete said a prayer and blessed him this past Sunday.  The God I believe in takes care of the least of His creations as well.  We hope not, but the leg may have to be amputated.  Time will tell.  In the mean time, we will love him, make sure he is not in pain and enjoy watching him play with other members of Susan’s pack.  Bad leg or not, he can damn sure run as fast as they can!!  And as cute as he is, no doubt, we will find him a good home when he is fully healed, (although Susan is getting really, really, really attached:  he is her “Little Boy”).  The garden is blooming.  We will have a bunch of veggies before long!!  I can hardly wait to start canning pickles and tomato sauce.  For those of you that don’t know, there really is a big difference in taste between store bought tomatoes and fresh tomatoes from the garden!  Time to post these Ramblings, go out and snag some weeds and make sure the potted plants are watered and later drift off to sleep with Susan.  And when I do, I will say a prayer of thanks for the many blessing in my life, (the greatest being Susan),  remind God that little Floyd would appreciate His attention as well   …  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   …  there are men and women in uniform walking the walk this evening, on patrol, far from their loved ones, so you can celebrate the freedoms you have, tomorrow. If my post offends, I apologize.  That is not my intent.  As always   …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my L’il Buddy, Dinker  …  and Floyd, copy boy in training.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of June 26, 2009.  Very short Ramblings this evening.  Just got done re-installing the last piece of software on my hard drive.  The MBR, (Master Boot Record), on my “C” Drive went the way of the buffalo.  The MBR stores information about your computer, (devices and where the device drivers are stored), and keeps track of what you have on your hard drive and its location.  The primary drive on my workstation was a Western Digital 160gig ” Raptor”, (for those of you not “geeks”, it is the fastest SATA hard drive you can buy as a civilian).  Of course I had backups of my data, but not “Drive Images” or a “Clone”.  The difference being, with a drive image/clone,  you have a mirror image, an exact duplicate, of the drive.  With “backups”, you no doubt have a copy of the data on your drive, but you may not have a mirror image/clone. 

The MBR is set by the manufacturer, (at an industry standard specific location), on your hard drive.  Every time your computer accesses information, it first looks to the contents of the MBR.  As a result, short of other mechanical failures, this sector on your hard drive is most subject to “wear and tear” and most likely to fail.  That’s what happened to mine.  If the MBR sector of your hard drive becomes toast, (I found this out the hard way), you can re-install your operating system all you want  …  the system will not boot.  It will lock up. All you can do is replace the drive   …  and then reinstall your software so you can access your backups.  In the process, you will have the opportunity to talk so some really nice people in India, (I had to call back twice to activate software, (Photoshop) CS4), because I just could not understand the person I was taking to, to get a new activation code!)

I didn’t re-install the version of WIN XP PRO that came with my workstation, the one I purchased a license for because I would have had to spend a bunch of time downloading “fixes” and “upgrades”.  Instead, I downloaded a hacked version from Piratebay, put out by Demonoid, which is a very nice recompilation/merging of WIN XP PRO and WIN 7.  Bottom line?  The only data I lost was the extensive list of URL’s in the “favorites” folder in my old Internet Explorer, the access information to my Website, (which I KNOW Bob Helmer can supply  –  BTW:  if you need to have your Website hosted?  Bob is the man!!    As an after thought?  I seriously considered installing a hacked version of Photoshop CS4, while I was trying to get my purchased version “activated”.  Share with me  …  if “hacks” are so readily available, (and they are),  why would any business expend the resources they do, to avoid pirates? We have a generation coming on-line, computer savey, that have the knowledge to pirate?  Isn’t a change in business models, using the technologies available, the best way to survive?   What that model is?  I don’t have a clue.  But there has to be a solution. 

This whole experience has been an “eye-opener” for me.  MBR’s are prone to failure.  My “Raptor” works perfectly well as a secondary hard drive.  I tested it.  It will not work as a “Boot Drive”.  Over the past 3 years, that area/sector on it just succumbed to “wear and tear”.  Then again, what do I know?

These Ramblings have been posted EVERY Friday evening, since February of 2002.  They remain the Ramblings of a Solo Lawyer who has fulfilled the American dream, (and is BLESSED to have a partner to share that dream with).  An immigrant. A naturalized American Citizen. A veteran and a member of a “Family” of lawyers that stand ready, willing and able, to defend our system of justice, defend a pilgrim, (Yes, Andrew, I know the definition of “Pilgrim”), middle or lower class, stomped on by the powers that be: our Government.  Defend our “Bill of Rights”.  That’s what you and I do.

A VERY Dear Friend shared with me, in a private Email, that some of you find me “Self-Righteous”, judgmental and condescending.  I found that post painful because that came from a person I consider a “Dear Friend”, who knows me and agreed with the posts.  Am I? If I am, so be it.  I remain who I am.

I am way beyond tired.  The “editorial staff”, Willie, Karly and my Lil’Buddy have crashed. “Dinker” the copy boy   …  is, well, just is.  If my post offends, I apologize, that is not my intent.  Short form sign off.  Be and sleep well, the best there is, is walking the walk so you can, care to pray for there safe return?
Huggers
KarlT

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of June 19, 2009.  All week long, the world has been watching the protests in Iran.  40 million Iranians voted by paper ballot and the results of the election were available two hours after the polls closed.  How do you count 40 million paper ballots, 120 minutes after the polls closed?  How many people would it take to process and count 333,333 ballots a minute?   TEHERAN — Ayatollah demands end to protests. “Iran’s supreme leader has issued a stern warning that protests against the country’s disputed presidential election results must end.  In his first public remarks after days of protests, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the outcome had to be decided at the ballot box, not on the street  …  Responding to allegations of electoral fraud, the ayatollah insisted the Islamic Republic would not cheat. “There is 11 million votes difference,” the ayatollah said. “How can one rig 11 million votes?”   Simple.  You don’t bother to count any of them and just declare a winner.  Of greater interest is how news is getting out of Iran and the means people are using to get it out. With more than half of the population of Iran being under 30 years old, (a result of the horrendous loss of life during the 1980 - 1988, Iran - Iraq war),  most are very Internet connected.  The leaders of the protest are using TOR and Freenet bulletin boards to organize.  Individuals are posting videos to YouTube and torrents to ThePirateBay.   The videos share the level of violence escalating between last Friday and today.  It will be become really interesting the next couple of days, given the Ayatollah’s ban on public protests, and with large public protests scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.  A large number of Islamic Revolutionary Guard, were deployed in Tehran today.  Just a reminder, that freedom has never been free and that there are still people willing to make payments.

NEW YORK (CNN) –  Inmate’s behind-bars bar mitzvah rattles chain of N.Y. officials.  “New York officials want to know how a jail inmate threw a lavish bar mitzvah for his son inside a detention facility, complete with live music and catered kosher food. The gala, attended by about 60 people, took place in the visiting room of the Manhattan Detention Complex, a facility known locally as “The Tombs,” according to a spokeswoman for New York City’s Department of Investigation. Officials have launched a probe of how Tuvia Stern pulled off the event without raising any red flags, she said.”    …  and the update  …  NEW YORK (CNN) –  NYC rabbi resigns amid accusations about jail bar mitzvah.  “A New York City rabbi tendered his resignation Tuesday amid accusations that he helped organize a behind-bars bar mitzvah for an inmate’s son, according to the city’s Department of Corrections.  Rabbi Leib Glanz served as Jewish chaplain of the Manhattan Detention Complex, a facility known locally as “the tombs,” since 2000.  Peter Curcio, who held the post of bureau chief of facility operations for the city’s Department of Corrections, also resigned, according to Stephen Morello of the New York City Department of Corrections.”   I wonder what my Dear Friend Rabbi Cukierkorn would think about the lesson this young man was taught by his father?  

LOS ANGELES  — More porn HIV cases disclosed.  “L.A. County health officials say at least 16 performers have been infected in addition to one reported this week. That brings the number of HIV cases in porn performers to 22 in the last five years.  Despite porn industry assurances that an adult film actress’ recent positive HIV test is the first since a 2004 outbreak shut down production for a month, Los Angeles County health officials said Thursday that at least 16 additional unpublicized cases of HIV have been confirmed in adult film performers.”  I guess being a porn star is to die for.

And a warning from the folks who, last week, were given the job of regulating the tobacco industry. WASHINGTON (CNN) –  Toll House cookie dough recalled, linked to E. coli.  “Two federal agencies warned consumers Friday not to eat raw Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough.  The company said it is recalling an estimated 300,000 cases of the dough as a precaution after reports of food-borne illness in 28 states.  There are concerns that the premade dough may be contaminated with the bacterium E. coli 0157:H7, which causes abdominal cramping, vomiting and diarrhea, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Young children and the elderly can suffer more serious symptoms.”  Two weeks ago there was a recall on pistachio nuts Doing a great job regulating our food supply,  aren’t they?

And information shared by a Dear Friend:  (NaturalNews)  –  Indian Consumption Plant (Lomatium Dissectum) a powerful antiviral medicine synthesized by nature.  “A powerful antiviral plant used by Native Americans to survive the 1918 influenza epidemic may prove to be a strong modern-day cold and flu remedy, according to a report from the University of California.  The root — called Lomatium Dissectum, Biscuit Root or Indian Consumption Plant — was eaten by the Washoe Indians to battle viral illnesses such as influenza. During the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, not a single Washoe tribe member died from influenza or its complications.”  I have never heard of it  …  but a “google” search reveals a bunch of testimonials about it’s antiviral properties. It is available at health food stores and here is a LINK on dosage and use.  Makes you wonder how many other plants used for centuries by native cultures around the world have actual healing properties.  Didn’t the ancient Egyptians use bread mold as an antibiotic? Turned out to be penicillin, didn’t it?

(CNN) — Promise of holistic healing draws cancer patients to Mexico clinics.  “A cancerous tumor in 13-year-old Danny Hauser’s chest has shrunk significantly since he was ordered by a court last month to resume chemotherapy treatment, a family spokesman said. But the Hauser family attributes much of his progress to the complementary use of vitamins and minerals to boost his immune system, Dan Zwakman said.”    …  and in the Duh! statement of the week: “But no one recommends that alternative treatment be used to replace conventional care, such as chemotherapy or radiation, he said.  “The important thing to remember is there is no recommended alternative to conventional treatment, and the reason is because if it worked, it would become conventional,” he said.”  Really?  You think?

And in another example of how well our government regulates:   WASHINGTON (CNN) — Financier Stanford indicted on mail, wire and securities fraud.  “Billionaire financier Robert Allen Stanford has been indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud, actions that earned his company an estimated $7 billion, prosecutors said Friday.  Stanford, who ran Stanford Group Co., turned himself in to federal authorities in Virginia on Thursday night. He faces criminal charges for a long series of alleged frauds outlined in a 21-count indictment.”  On the evening news, the FBI is investigating well over 100 other Ponzi schemes. So share with me  …  are you really comfortable with our government “regulating” or providing health care?

 Sitting here editing these Ramblings, (they are shorter than normal).  The Editorial Staff is crashed, right underneath one of the air conditioning ducts.  In the garden,  the Asiatic Lilies and the Day Lilies are blooming.  The “Square Foot” garden is thriving:  the cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, radishes, yellow squash and yellow banana peppers will be ready to munch down on in another couple of weeks, (I ate one of the radishes this morning!!)  I was surprised to learn this week, that Susan and I have a really good credit score.  Fortunately, we have a really good relationship with our local bank, which just happens be owned and managed by the same family over the past 100 years.  It is not one of the corporate abominations whose mismanagement have resulted in the current credit crunch.   I have been friends with and have known the manager for almost 22 years  –  they loaned Susan and I the money to pay off all of our credit cards.  So  …  all is well at Ft Timmerman.  The many blessing we enjoy continue to flow.  As I am wont to do, I will say a prayer of thanks for them and my Susan  …  and a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform, this evening when I drift off to sleep.  It remains amazing to me, how much easier it is to drift off to sleep, when you focus on all the good things/blessings in your life, (and an ounce of Brandy!)  Be and sleep well, the best there is, is walking the walk so you can.  Look at what the common folks in Iran are going through.  If my post offends, I apologize  –  that is not my intent.  As always  …
A Warm Brotherly Hug.
KarlT  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  …  and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my ‘Lil Buddy  …  and Dinker, the copy boy.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of June 12, 2009.  And it has begun, a greater intrusion of governmental involvement in our private lives, some believe for the better and some believe for the worse.  WASHINGTON (CNN) –  Senate passes bill increasing FDA power over tobacco products.  ” A bill that increases the power of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products cleared the Senate on Thursday.  “Miracles still happen,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, in a statement posted on his Web site. “The United States Senate has finally said ‘no’ to Big Tobacco. Decades of irresponsible delay are finally over. Today’s landmark vote will save millions of children from a lifetime of addiction and premature death.”  Share with me the constitutional basis for our government stepping into the role of Parens Patriae for our children:  “… save millions of children from a lifetime of addiction and premature death.”  Assumed the role you used to have as parents.  Save them for and from what?  Bad choices?  Share with me  …  when did you decide/vote to relinquish that role to the government. Isn’t teaching the difference between good and bad choices a parents responsibility and isn’t the parent/child relationship a constitutionally protected “fundamental right“?  I have no problem with our government compelling the tobacco industry to accurately label tobacco products or how that product may be advertised  …  but to limit and/or ban all or portions of the products content? And the FDA is going to be in charge of regulating the tobacco industry? How many more people will have to be hired to do that?  Aren’t these the same folks who can’t seem to monitor/regulate and ensure the safety of our food supply?  I can already see the infighting between the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Isn’t it foreseeable that President Obama will create another cabinet post, have to appoint a “Tobacco Czar” to “coordinate” the different departments and administrations.  Yup, “Change you can believe in.”  Bottom line?  In 5 years you will be required to get an ID Card to buy tobacco products  …  and of course,  you will only be able to get one for an “administration” fee   …   and waiving any entitlement rights to Medicare and Medicaid.

BBC NEWS –  Can dogs really look ‘guilty’? “That “guilty look” on a dog’s face is all in the imagination of the human owner, suggests research. Dog owners have often claimed they can read the expressions of their pets - particularly that tell-tale look when they have done something wrong. But researchers at a New York college tricked owners into thinking innocent pets had misbehaved - with the owners still claiming to see this guilty look.”  Two questions.  First,  who pays for this research?  And second,  I understand “Publish or Perish” is THE mantra to get tenured status at universities   …  but shouldn’t there be some kind of relevancy test?  As for the research?  Tricking pet owners into thinking innocent pets had misbehaved?  I can see these researches need to go to law school and become federal prosecutors!!

And how sad is this?   LOS ANGELES –  Wife Appointed Conservator of Ailing ‘Columbo’ Star.  “A judge in Los Angeles has ruled that “Columbo” star Peter Falk should be placed under his wife’s care.  Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Aviva K. Bobb established a conservatorship for the ailing actor Monday after a two-day court battle between Falk’s adopted daughter and wife of 32 years.  Falk, who is 81 years old, suffers from dementia.”  Falk’s adopted daughter and wife, eyeball to eyeball, over who controls his money? Gee, that never happens  …  does it? All other factors being equal and not having heard the testimony  …  given a choice between an adopted child and a wife of 32 years  …  shouldn’t it be the wife that gets to call the shots?  All the more reason for “estate planning” isn’t it?

Why am I not surprised?  JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. –  Admitted Cheater Sues To Attend Graduation.  “A Superior Court Judge has denied a Jeffersonville High School student’s petition for injunction. With graduation less than 24 hours away, Kristen Reno sued the Greater Clark County School Board, asking Judge Jerry Jacobi to grant an injunction that would have allowed her to walk in the school’s graduation ceremony Saturday morning. Reno, 18, was caught cheating. She admits the cheating was wrong but said denying her the right to walk with her class in the graduation ceremony is taking the discipline for her action too far.”  So   …  how many other things, other than the one where she got caught, did she cheat on in order to graduate?  Yup, I broke the law, knew I was breaking the law, didn’t think I would get caught  …  but did   …  and I believe I should be able to select the punishment for getting caught.  Interesting insight into this kids mindset, isn’t it.  Doesn’t it just scream,  “I’m special!  I’m entitled!”  She obviously has a great future as a CEO, movie star or star athlete.

And proof of the redemptive power of faith:   (CNN) –  Hookers for Jesus founder, Christian rocker wed in Vegas.  “She was a call girl working the streets of Sin City. He’s a guitarist in a heavy metal band. They found commonality in their Christian faith and Friday evening, the two were married in a Las Vegas, Nevada, ceremony broadcast live via the Web.  Annie Lob�rt, who founded Hookers for Jesus, and musician Oz Fox of the Christian band Stryper said their “I do’s” at the Church of South Las Vegas in front of an applauding crowd and an audience on the Internet. The wedding had been widely touted on several Christian Web sites.”  The “Church Lady” was not in attendence.

HARRISBURG, Pa. –  Puppies Found In Trash Die.  “The surviving puppies from a litter that was found in a trash can near Harrisburg on Tuesday have died. Kelly Hitz, with the Humane Society of Harrisburg, said Friday that the remaining Beagle puppies, died from pneumonia, most likely caused by exposure when they were abandoned and tossed in the trash. A garbage collector found the four, 10-day-old puppies in a trash can in Lykens, Dauphin County. They were then taken to the Humane Society in Harrisburg. One the puppies died shortly after being found. Volunteers tried to nurse the others back to health, but they succumbed to their illnesses.”  So this pilgrim doesn’t spay his/her bitch  …  like the reason is??  [Note:  ALL of the research available teaches that spaying/neutering is in your pets best interests!!]  This pilgrim’s bitch goes into heat and gets knocked up.  She has a litter and this humanitarian takes the puppies, stuffs them in a bag and throws them in the trash?  What a piece of sh*t!!  I suppose we can all agree on that.  But that doesn’t address the underlying problem.  Ignorance, apathy and irresponsibility about the obligation we have to be “Good Shepards”.  Dogs and cats are not free ranging animals, (although, there are feral dogs and cats).  WE have selectively caused them to evolve into becoming members of our respective families.  Irreparably tied to the human condition.  Don’t we have an obligation to care for them and control their populations? Spay and neuter!!

EUDORA, Kan. –  Exploded Drano Bomb Found In Eudora.  “First it was an unexploded Drano bomb in a mailbox, but now police in Eudora have learned there was another pop-bottle bomb, and this one did explode. The explosion was forceful enough to knock the mailbox off its base at a home at 13th and Acorn streets. No one was injured when the devices, which were made of liquid Drano and aluminum foil, went off.”  A Drano bomb?  What the h*ll is a Drano Bomb?  Why would there be a video on-line on how to make one?  If there are lawsuits against handgun manufacturers for producing products, illegally used by criminal cretins   …  how about lawsuits against those who post Websites or how-to videos for “Drano Bombs”?  Seems like a pretty good area of law for our “puppy sharks” to develop, (remember “junk” FAX litigation cases?)

BBC NEWS –  Experts warn of porn Mac attacks.  “Security experts have discovered two novel forms of Mac OS X malware.  OSX/Tored-A - an updated version of the Mac OS Tored worm - and a Trojan called OSX/Jahlav-C were both found on popular pornographic websites. Users logging on to these sites are asked to download a “missing Video ActiveX Object” but are sent a virus payload instead. While most viruses target PC users, there has been a rise in the number of attacks on Mac systems.”  How dumb is that?  Everyone knows Mac users don’t visit porn sites! Most are liberal democrats and use their Mac to download “Mother Earth News” and “Tree Huggers Weekly“. And of course, what are the top ten bongs.

Sitting here  with my Senior Editor, my ‘Lil Buddy, editing these Ramblings and thinking about the contents of a Website I was looking at earlier, (for a future Ramblings).  The Website is put out by the Missouri Department of Insurance  …  the content?  “This report summarizes the legal malpractice insurance experience in Missouri from 1999 to 2008.”  Since 1999, with over 25,000  attorneys licensed to practice in Missouri, there have been 2,460 claims.  Of those, 666 settled before trial, 210 settled during trial and 34 went to trial resulting in a judgment for the plaintiff.  1,794 claims went nowhere.  The largest number of claims, (well over half), involved a plaintiffs lawyer blowing a statute of limitations.  Less than 3% involved family law.  Of the 10 companies doing legal malpractice business in Missouri, The Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Company wrote 79.78% of the policies, collected $13,906,234 in premiums and incurred losses of $2,206,781.  Interesting statistics.  Also an interesting perspective on the move to make malpractice insurance mandatory.

Last night I was bummed out by my decision not to spend $500.00 to attend the Solo and Small Firm Conference at Tan Tara, since I already had the CLE credits, was not presenting and didn’t want to be away from Susan for 3 days   …   and today I was reminded that God works in strange ways.  Our vacuum cleaner unexpectedly gave up the ghost and I purchased a replacement today:  a Dyson DC14.  The cost $439.99.  Pricey, but it is the only sweeper I could find that had a 5 year warrantee, didn’t require a bag and a filter. Time to post these Ramblings, take some pictures of the flowers blooming in our garden  …  and then hit the sack.  And as I am wont to do,  say a prayer of thanks for the many blessings Susan and I enjoy, my greatest blessing?  The best partner, lover and best friend a man can have, my Susan  …  and 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 walking the walk so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize, that is not my intent.  As always  …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri   …  and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my ‘Lil Buddy   …  and Dinker, the copy boy.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of June 5, 2009.  David Carradine passed away this week.  The first reports were that he committed suicide.  However, today:  “As the mystery deepens around Carradine’s death, police have remained cautious about coming to conclusions. But they did confirm the shocking scene when a maid found the actor’s body. Carradine was nude in the closet of his luxury suite with one rope tied around his neck and another around his genitals   …    An autopsy has been ordered because of the “unusual circumstances” surrounding the death.”  Dying with a rope around your neck and genitals is not exactly passing peacefully away in your sleep!!  And suicide?  I can not picture any male committing suicide by tying a rope around his genitals and hopping off a chair in a closet, (especially in Bangkok!).  As for the competency of the Bangkok Police Department?  “Our preliminary assumption is that the cause of death was suffocation, because there was a rope tied to his neck,” said Bangkok police spokesman Somprasong Yenthuam.”  You think??

So, the statement, “An old, white, male judge would reach a better decision than an old, female, Hispanic judge“,  would be sexist and racist   … and …  “An old, Hispanic, female judge would reach a better decision than an old, male, white judge“,   would not?   Share with me   …   why?

As a Christian veteran, I continue to believe the taking of human life, under any circumstance, is immoral, but can be justifiable to preserve human life.   So, is killing an abortion doctor “justifiable”?  Some would argue that it is.  Most would not.  Would it be justifiable to kill the people who execute the criminals on “death row”? Perhaps there is a difference between killing to preserve your life and killing to preserve another’s life?  I don’t believe there is an “easy button” for this issue.   BBC NEWS –  US abortion doctor is shot dead.  “A prominent US abortion doctor has been shot dead at a church in the city of Wichita, Kansas.  Sixty-seven year-old George Tiller was killed just after 1000 (1500 GMT) at the Reformation Lutheran Church. The gunman, described as a white man, fled in a car, but officials say a suspect is now in custody  …  Dr Tiller’s lawyer, Dan Monnat, said he was killed while serving as an usher during a morning church service. His wife was in the choir at the time.” There have been abortion clinic bombings which have resulted in the loss of innocent life.  Other doctors have been killed.  So share with me  …   given the past bombings and killings, why is the “pro-life movement” not listed as a domestic terrorist threat by “Homeland Security”?
 
And in the turns my stomach news  –  (CNN) — 4 teens charged as adults in locker room sexual assault case. “Four teenage boys in Tampa, Florida, were charged as adults Wednesday on allegations of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy.  Charged with four counts each of sexual battery were Randall John Moye, 14; Raymond A. Price-Murray, 14; Lee Louis Myers, 14; and Diamante J. Roberts, 15. CNN is naming the defendants because they were charged as adults. Hillsborough County prosecutors allege the four boys raped the 13-year-old victim multiple times over two months with a broomstick and hockey stick  …  The prosecutor said the victim’s screams could be heard outside the boys’ locker room at Walker Middle School, in southern Tampa, where the allegedly assaults took place. Multiple people witnessed the attacks, but no one reported the incidents, including the victim, Hindman said.”  I don’t do criminal defence.  Just how would you defend someone charged with this level of depravity?  They are not bad kids, they just made some “bad choices”?  Perhaps a “psych eval” showing they had a deprived childhood?  These “children” knowingly inflicted horrendous pain and suffering on a younger and weaker child.  Tried as adults, they will be incarcerated with adults.  Perhaps fitting.  The real question in my mind are the folks who heard the screaming and did nothing.  How could any person hear the screaming and just ignore it? Perhaps the need for a “psych eval” is greatest for these folks.

(CNN) –  N.C. man accused of arranging wife’s rape on Craigslist.  “A North Carolina man is accused of arranging to have his wife raped through personal ads on the Web site Craigslist, police said Wednesday.  The 25-year-old man, of Kannapolis, North Carolina, was arrested in connection with the incident that occurred at his home early Sunday, police said in a statement  …   The man was present at the time of the assault, and two young children were in the home, but were unharmed and unaware of the incident, the police statement said  …  But on Tuesday, police found that the man “had responded to at least two personal ads on Craigslist.com in an effort to arrange for someone to come to his home and have sex with his wife using some type of scare tactic.” “Investigators believe [he] arranged this incident without the knowledge or consent of the victim,” the police statement said.”   You can advertise for stuff like this on Craigslist?  I wonder what they list it under?  Of course!  The “Rape my Wife” section.  No wonder the AG’s from several states, including our own Koster, are looking at suing Craigslist.  This pilgrim should have stuck with “Netflix”.

LONDON, England (CNN) –  Scientists track penguin poop from space. “Call it a case of high tech meeting low tech, really the lowest of tech. British scientists are using pictures from high-powered satellites to pinpoint emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica. The penguins are difficult to pick up on sea ice, because of their natural camouflage that helps them blend into the shadows — so the British Antarctic Survey had to come up with another method  …  “We can’t see actual penguins on the satellite maps because the resolution isn’t good enough,” said mapping expert Peter Fretwell. “But during the breeding season the birds stay at a colony for eight months. The ice gets pretty dirty and it’s the guano stains that we can see.”  Penguins are birds, right?  And bird poop is white, right?  So how do they see the white poop on ice and snow?  Wouldn’t a more effective method be thermal imaging? Ingenious people, the British.  And probably the best example of why socialized health care does not work, (at least the dental health portion!)
 
In the good news/bad news department:  the good news  —  NEW YORK  –  Wal-Mart: We’re hiring 22,000.  “World’s biggest retailer expects to add more than 1,000 jobs at new stores in several states - including California, Florida and Michigan - this year.  Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday that it expects to hire more than 22,000 people to staff its new or expanded domestic stores this year. “During this difficult economic time, we’re proud to be able to create quality jobs for thousands of Americans this year,” Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart U.S., said in a statement.” The bad news?  It will take awhile to train 22,000 retirees in the art of being a Walmart greeter.

BBC NEWS – ‘Lost’ music instrument recreated. “New software has enabled researchers to recreate a long forgotten musical instrument called the Lituus.  The 2.4m (8ft) -long trumpet-like instrument was played in Ancient Rome but fell out of use some 300 years ago. Bach’s motet (a choral musical composition) “O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht”  [Jesus Christ, the light of my life] was one of the last pieces of music written for the Lituus.”  It fell out of favor because of the difficulty of marching in a marching band playing an 8′ long instrument, when the average person was less than 5′5″ tall.

BBC NEWS  –  Seven million ‘use illegal files’.  “Around seven million people in the UK are involved in illegal downloads, costing the economy tens of billions of pounds, government advisers say. Researchers found 1.3m people using one file-sharing network on one weekday and estimated that over a year they had free access to material worth �12bn. The Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP) warned it may be hard to change attitudes  …  An alliance of nine UK bodies representing the creative industries recently joined trades unions in calling on the government to force Internet service providers to cut off persistent illegal file-sharers. They said more than half of net traffic in the UK was illegal content.”  They don’t have a clue.  Peer to peer networks use a file format called a “torrent“.  Picture it this way.  You have a book you want to share with 50 people. The book has 10,000 pages and would take days to upload.  Instead of uploading it 50 times, you upload the torrent to, for example, Piratebay.    To download a file, you install a “BitTorrent Client”, like the one I prefer,  mTorrent, or Vuse, or Bitcomet etc.  Once installed you visit a torrent index site, like Piratebay, isoHunt or Torrent Portal, click on the file you want and it will download the file.

Sitting here editing these Ramblings, (the Chief Editor, my ‘Lil Buddy on the chair behind me).  The garden at Ft. Timmerman is coming together nicely.  I planted yellow peppers, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers in the “Square Foot Garden“, [link to “Square Foot Gardening”].  We will have fresh, garden grown groceries by the end of next month.  I also installed a solar powered cloths dryer in the central garden area.  Sunday I will be doing a portrait shoot at Powell Gardens at 3:30 pm, (feel free to come on out and compare technique). Time to post these Ramblings and spend a quiet evening processing more pictures I took earlier today. Tonight, as I am want to do, I will say a prayer of thanks for the many blessings in my life, my Susan and of course, a prayer for the safe and soon return of our men and women in uniform.  Be and sleep well, the best there is, is walking the walk, so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize, that is not my intent.  As always,
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  …  and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, Dinker and  …  the copy boy, Dinker)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of  May 29, 2009.  In the early 60’s, my “Opa”, (my grandfather on my dads side),  visited us.  I remember him being tall, VERY formal and reserved:  Prussian. A very definite sense of values.  Jumped on my father because the tools my father had in the garage were not well taken care of nor properly stored.  Got up at 6 each morning, dressed “formally” and went into the garden and hoed the garden my father had. I never had a chance to really get to know him personally, (learned alot about him after he passed).  My loss!!  We don’t have this type of generational overlap any more.  As a society, our loss.  Wasn’t there a time, where children took care of their parents and grandparents?  Learned from them the things that really matter in life? In our new improved modern society, most of us send our mothers/grandmothers and fathers/grandfathers to “assisted living centers”, instead of bring them into our homes.  All part of the decline of what many of us considered “family”.  A decline in the obligations we used to feel.  Perhaps the result of single parent families or mixed families.  As we redefine “marriage”,  I have no doubt we will also redefine “family”.  Perhaps, not for the better.

Much discussion this week about the nominated Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor.  A Dear Friend put into perspective why this discussion is important and should be ongoing, by sharing the following with me today:  “Let us think of this for moment. � You call yourselves freemen. You boast of your liberty and independence. You suppose yourselves to be protected in your person and property by safeguards and guarantees which nothing can take away. What are these safeguards and guarantees? You answer, �In the law of the land and the constitution which is over me�; you say, �My property cannot be taken from me, nor my person or my good name injured, because the law protects me, and that even the Legislature is powerless to injure me by bad laws, because the Constitution of the State stretches its aegis over me.� But do you reflect that the laws and the Constitution are only and mean only what the Judge says they are and mean, and that if he chooses to pervert them and misinterpret them your boasted security is gone in an instant? This cannot be otherwise: the law must have an interpreter, and that interpreter is the Judge. The law can speak only by the lips of the Judge. Otherwise it is silent and non-existent; and therefore your final and ultimate safeguard and security is the Judge. If he is fearless true, upright, and independent you are free and safe. If he is false subservient or partial you have no more freedom or security than the subjects of the Sultan on the Bosporus. -  JAMES C. CARTER, Carnegie Hall, October 1898, , Carnegie Hall, October 1898, (a Mugwump).

After traffic was stopped for over 5 hours  –  (CNN) –  Report: Would-be suicide jumper pushed off bridge.  “A passerby pushed a would-be suicide jumper off a bridge in southern China because he was angry at the jumper’s “selfish activity,” Chinese media reported Saturday  …  Chen wanted to kill himself because he had 2 million yuan ($294,000) in debt after a failed construction project, Xinhua reported. Lian Jiansheng, 66, who was passing by the bridge, offered to talk Chen down, Xinhua said. Police refused, but Lian broke through the police cordon and climbed to where Chen was sitting.  Lian greeted Chen with a handshake, then pushed him off the bridge, Xinhua said   …   A photographer documented the sequence of events. The photographs show Lian, dressed in a T-shirt, shorts and socks, saluting to the crowd after pushing Chen off.”  After sitting in his car for 5 hours while the police tried to talk this pilgrim down   …  can you really blame Mr.Lian for resorting to “self help”?

BBC NEWS — US ‘Viagra scientist’ dies at 92.  “A leading US scientist whose work helped lead to the development of the anti-impotency drug Viagra has died. Robert Furchgott shared a Nobel prize in 1988 for work showing that the gas nitric oxide played an important role in the cardiovascular system.  The discovery that the gas could help enlarge blood vessels was a factor in the development of Viagra by the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer.”  Furchgott was a brilliant scientist who lead a long productive life and helped enrich the lives of many men.  Now, he’s just another stiff.

AKRON, Ohio  –  Dog Beating and Burglary Suspect Arrested.  “Akron Police arrested a man in connection with a February burglary and beating of a 12-pound dog  …  Police issued a warrant for the arrest of 22-year-old Lewis Napoleon Jr. of Akron. Napoleon is wanted on burglary, theft and cruelty to animals for his alleged role in the crime. Akron Police say Napoleon is also wanted for federal weapons charges and is considered armed and dangerous  …  Police say the men were involved in a burglary at a home on Morse Street in February. The burglars stole several items and severely beat the family’s 12 pound Shih Tzu named Suzie. The dog had to be put to sleep.  Paulette Hixenbaugh, Suzie’s owner, said when she found the dog she was bleeding and motionless.”  I hope Mr. Napoleon resists arrest and the police are forced to “restrain” him.  What kind of person beats a 12 pound dog so severely, it needs to be put down?

(CNN) –  New services promise online life after death.  “Your husband, an avid gamer and techie, dies of a heart attack, leaving his vast online life �– one you don’t know much about �– in limbo.  His accounts, to which you don’t know the passwords, go idle. His e-mails go unanswered, his online multiplayer games go on without him and bidders on his eBay items don’t know why they can’t get an answer from the seller. Web site domains that he has purchased, some of which are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,� will expire, and you may never know.  But now, as online usage increases and social-media sites soar in popularity, more companies are popping up to try and fill that void created in your digital life after death  …  Legacy Locker allows users to set up a kind of online will, with beneficiaries that would receive the customer’s account information and passwords after they die   …   A Legacy Locker account costs $29.99 a year. Users can set up their accounts at www.legacylocker.com to specify who gets access to their posthumous online information, along with “legacy letters,” or messages, that can be sent to loved ones.”  Gosh  …  and for a one time fee of $5.99, you can buy a 1gig USB memory stick, load all that information on it and put it in your safety deposit box.  The real value is not in the service   …  but in the fact that most people would never have considered the need.  I didn’t.  Susan now has a memory stick with all the pass phrases for all my encrypted data disks.  You might consider doing the same.

(Tribune Media Services) –  3 travel policies that should be revived.  “Fumiko Seguchi did everything by the book on her recent flight to Tokyo. She confirmed her departure 24 hours in advance. She secured a seat assignment. And she arrived more than two hours before departure. But Seguchi, who was visiting a friend in Orlando, Florida, couldn’t have anticipated the long check-in lines at the airport. “There were only a few ticket agents at the counter, so the line went on forever,” says Fran Mingle, Seguchi’s friend  …  Seguchi missed her flight and was asked to pay an extra $2,600 for a ticket the next day.” The 3 rules?  The ‘flat tire’ rule:  Getting rid of the “flat tire” rule was an incredibly profitable mistake. Not only because it’s unfair, but also because it formalizes a double standard. Passengers like Seguchi are expected to give airlines a break when there’s bad weather, an air traffic control problem or a mechanical delay.   Grace period for car rentals:  A few years ago, in an effort to make more money, car rental companies tightened their grace periods for late-arriving customers. A reasonable one-hour window was abbreviated to half an hour and in some cases, closed entirely. That meant many customers would have to pay late penalties ranging from an extra hour billed at the company’s highest rate, to an extra day.  The real Rule 240:  The original Rule 240, which outlined what carriers would do for passengers whose flights were delayed or canceled, was part of the airlines’ tariff rule — its legal contract — before the airline industry was thoughtlessly deregulated during the Carter administration. “Such services often included things like meals, phone calls, or endorsing the ticket over to another carrier at no additional charge to the passenger,” says Bill Mosley, a spokesman for the Transportation Department.” I remember a time when companies actually tried to foster good will as a means of staying in business.  Now, they rape their customers and expect the government to bail them out when, because of their bad decisions, poor products and lousy outsourced customer service, they face bankruptcy.  Sorry, let them go under.

Sitting here editing these Ramblings, the Editorial Staff is outside enjoying the weather.  I’m enjoying not following them around with a mop.  Susan is at a “Stamping Up” meeting:  she is now a dealer.  Her office is starting to look like an isle at “Hobby Lobby”, (no doubt a fact my Dear Lady Friend Ellen M. would attest to!!)  The garden at Ft Timmerman is taking shape:  the Bleeding Hearts and Irises have bloomed.  The Day Lilies are close to opening. Water Lilies are blooming in the concrete pond.  Planted cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes and carrots today, after re-seating, (replacing the wax ring), in the toilet in the main bathroom.  It is really quiet here. Ft Timmerman seems strangely empty without Susan’s heart beating in it.  Absent court appearances, we are together 24/7.  I feel like a part of me is missing.  Strange really  –  we can be together all day long,  and have no need to say more than a dozen words to each other  –  yet miss each other horribly when we are apart.  Time to post these Ramblings and wait for Susan to come home. Later when we finally hit the sack, I will say a prayer of thanks for Susan being such an intragale part of my life  –  thankful for our ability to save so many little 4 legged lives  …  and 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 walking the walk so you safely and securely can.  If my post offends, I apologize  …  that is not my intent. As always  …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  …  and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my ‘Lil Buddy and Dinker the copy boy).

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 22, 2009.  I imagine, most of us would find this barbaric:  BBC NEWS  –  Somali justice - Islamist-style.  “The dusty streets of Kismayo in Somalia echoed to the sound of a vehicle with loudspeakers summoning residents to a new form of public “entertainment” earlier this month. People were being invited to see a man have his hand chopped off in a public park in the city. The young man, Mohamed Omar Ismail, had been found guilty of stealing goods from another man’s house. That afternoon, hundreds of local people flocked to Freedom Park in order to see the amputation   …  The official quoted a chapter from the Koran known as Surah Maida, verse 38, which is about stealing and relevant punishment. He said that the verse decreed that punishment for stealing was that the right hand of the thief should be cut off.”  So share with me  …  why isn’t this barbaric?  BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) �-  Convicted killers executed in Mo., Texas.  “Two death row inmates [Note:  in Missouri, Dennis Skillicorn] spent some of their last moments apologizing for their crimes before they were put to death six hours apart in Texas and Missouri, which executed its first convict in four years   …   Supporters wanted Skillicorn’s sentence commuted to life in prison, calling him a role model for other inmates. Skillicorn chaired a prison hospice program, co-founded a program that teaches inmates to be better parents, and compiled a book aimed at persuading juvenile offenders to turn their lives around.  But in deciding against clemency, Gov. Jay Nixon noted Skillicorn was on parole for another murder at the time Drummond was kidnapped, robbed and killed. Nixon also noted that Skillicorn, 49, was convicted of two subsequent murders in Arizona.”  I have no doubt Mr. Skillicorn was guilty.  He admitted as much. There is a strong argument to be made that he deserves/deserved to be put to death.  Punishment. An eye for an eye.  But share with me   …  how can Christians fit “redemption” into that picture?  From all reports, Mr. Skillicorn had turned his life around and no longer posed a threat to fellow inmates or society, (at least while incarcerated).  I remain opposed to the “Death Penalty” for several reasons, both financial and moral, (except in those instances where a person kills another while imprisoned).  The greatest of which being,  if a person is exonerated, based on new evidence   …   life in prison with no possibility of parole can be fixed.  Death can’t.

I would oppose the death penalty, even for this pilgrim, as depraved as this crime is:   (CNN) — Police: Mom killed boy, buried him in playground sand.  “A 23-year-old woman suffocated her son and then buried his body beneath the sand of a playground, police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said Thursday  …  “She placed her hand over her son’s mouth and nose and suffocated him. She had second thoughts about what she did. She performed CPR on her son, brought him back to life and then decided to go forward with that original act she had started to commit,” Schultz said  …  An emotional Schultz added that Toribio has tried to kill herself since her arrest. She was being held in isolation at a detention facility and kept under observation, he said.” Having said that, I would add, however, if she was successful in snuffing herself   …  I probably would not shed any tears.

BBC NEWS  –  US ‘banana gun robber’ slips up.  “A US teenager who was thwarted in an attempt to rob an Internet cafe armed with a hidden banana ate the “weapon” before he was arrested, police say.  John Szwalla entered the shop with a banana concealed under his T-shirt and demanded money, saying he had a gun. The shop’s owner and customers overcame the hapless thief and called for help, but they said the teenager ate his “weapon” before the police arrived.” …  (scratching my head)  … I have no doubt this kid is not a brain surgeon candidate   …   just what would he be trying to rob from an Internet cafe?  The server’s tips?  Risk life and limb for a cappuccino? Perhaps this was a mistake?  Perhaps he was just trying to impress his girlfriend by stuffing the banana in his shorts  …  and forgot which direction to go?

BBC NEWS  –  Women’s menstruation genes found.  “Scientists say they have begun to crack the genetic code that helps determine when a girl becomes a woman. A UK-led team located two genes on chromosomes six and nine that appear to strongly influence the age at which menstruation starts.  The Nature Genetics study also provides a clue for why girls who are shorter and fatter tend to get their periods months earlier than classmates. The genes sit right next to DNA controlling height and weight”.   Well  …  kind of makes you wonder what the PMS gene sits next to   …  doesn’t it?

And you wonder why the general public believes trial lawyers rank somewhere between whale poop and pond scum?  Miami  — Swine flu related lawsuit and updates.  “The first lawsuit related to a swine flu death may be filed soon. The husband of Judy Trunell, the first U.S. citizen to die of swine flu in this country filed a petition seeking information from Smithfield Foods Inc. (doing business as Granjas Carroll de Mexico), the part-owner of a commercial pig farm in La Gloria, Mexico where the swine flu is thought to have originated. Mr. Trunell is asking a court in Cameron County,Texas to authorize depositions of company officials, employees and agents to investigate wrongful death claims against Smithfield Foods Inc.”  So the nexus between H1N1 and pigs is??  Last I checked,  negligent “natural selection” isn’t a recognized cause of action.

BBC NEWS  —  Wiping data ‘hits flu prediction’.  “Forcing Google to delete user data after six months could dent its ability to predict pandemics such as swine flu, said the search giant’s co-founder. Larry Page said he thought more debate was needed around the issue of storing user data.”  Maintaining user data for more than 6 months allows “Google” to predict pandemics?  How?  Perhaps 60 million people suddenly searching for Tamiflu or an undertaker would be a valid current indicator of a pandemic, but certainly not a predictor.

So share with me   …  if your bank deposited $6 million in your account by mistake   …  what would you do?    BBC NEWS — NZ hunts accidental millionaires.  “Police in New Zealand are searching for a couple who disappeared after a banking blunder deposited US$6m in their account. The couple had applied for a NZ$10,000 overdraft but received NZ$10m in their business account instead, part of which they withdrew, local media report. They are said to have run a service station in Rotorua, North Island. Police believe the couple have left the country and Interpol has been alerted for assistance.”   … (CNN)  –  Hunt for accidental millionaires focuses on Hong Kong. ” …  TVNZ, a CNN television affiliate, named the couple as Leo Gao and his girlfriend Cara Young. Gao owned a gas station in Rotorua, a lakeside tourist town famous for its hot water springs and bubbling mud pools. Police said Friday that the couple were believed to have traveled to Hong Kong.”   I wonder why they only withdrew some of the money?  I suppose there is a limit on how much cash you can physically carry!!  Hong Kong is 6 times the size of Washington D.C, (which has a population 550,000), while Hong Kong has a population of over 7 million people, 95% of which are Chinese.  Mr. Gao is Chinese.  I suspect, to a Westerner, it will be somewhat difficult to pick Mr. Gao out of a 7 million member crowd!  It will be awhile before he is found.

(CNN) — A black woman’s journey to the rabbinate in North Carolina. “When Alysa Stanton officially becomes a rabbi next month, she’ll be walking into history. She’ll become the first African-American woman ever to be ordained as a rabbi and the first African-American rabbi to lead a majority white congregation, according to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.  Stanton, 45, will be ordained June 6 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she received her master’s degree from the HUC-JIR, which is the rabbinical school of the Reform movement. Then in August, she will begin her new job at Congregation Bayt Shalom in Greenville, North Carolina — long a Conservative synagogue and now affiliated with both the Reform and Conservative movements.” Yes, there are Black Jews:  Falasha Jews in Ethiopia and the Lemba Jews of South Africa, (take a look at the Websites,  both are a fascinating read!) and there are African American Jews, (other than Sammy Davis Jr.), as well, although a significant minority within a minority.  As my dear friend and one of my spiritual advisors Rabbi Cukierkorn shared with me a few years ago: “Jews are a people just like any other, who may or may not practice the Jewish faith  …  and to make me happy, my daughters should marry a Jew!” And in related news?  The first African American woman, Ursula Burns, takes over as the CEO of Xerox. As a nation, we are not yet “color blind”  …  but we are sure working on it.

Sitting here editing these Ramblings with the Editorial Staff playing on the floor.  On the evening news, an interview with the last surviving WW I veteran, Frank Buckles.  He is 108 years old.  It is fitting that he be named the “Person of the Week”,  a representative of all who served our America,  as we remember on Monday, those who “gave their all”.  Growing up in the 60’s, I love Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, (CSN&Y)   …  and around Memorial Day,  think about and listen to “Find The Cost Of Freedom“ from the “Daylight Again” album, (the song written by Steven Stills):  “Do we find the cost of freedom/ Buried in the ground/ Mother Earth will swallow you/Lay your body down.”  Sitting here listening to it now.  Time to post these Ramblings and think about our Sunday “Lunch and a Movie”, (we have friends over on Sundays for lunch and a movie).  This week?  BBQ Chicken Breasts, potato salad   …  and for dessert,  Bavarian Tort.  Tonight, when I finally go to bed, I will say a prayer of thanks for our men and women in uniform.  The many who have sacrificed   …  and for their safe and soon return of those serving now, (care to join me)?  And of course, a prayer of thanks for the many blessings in my life, especially the greatest friend, partner and lover any man can have:  my Susan.  Be and sleep well, the best there is, is in harms way so you can!  If my post offends, I apologize, that is not my intent.  As always  …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri   …  and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my ‘Lil Buddy   …  and Dinker the copy boy.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 15, 2009.  I remain adamantly opposed to the “death penalty”,  EXCEPT in those cases where a prisoner kills another person, while incarcerated.  Why?  WASHINGTON (CNN) –  Man who spent 22 years on death row is cleared.  “A former death row inmate in Tennessee has been cleared of murder, three years after the Supreme Court raised repeated questions about his conviction. State prosecutors on Tuesday asked a judge to drop all charges against Paul House, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to die in 1986. Special Judge Jon Blackwood accepted the request.  House had been scheduled to be executed next month for the 1985 murder of Carolyn Muncey. He had been on death row for 22 years but was released on bail last year. He has multiple sclerosis and must use a wheelchair. The high court ruled in June 2006 that House was entitled to a new hearing.  “Although the issue is closed, we conclude that this is the rare case where — had the jury heard all the conflicting testimony — it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror viewing the record as a whole would lack reasonable doubt,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy  for the 5-3 majority.”  From a practical standpoint, opposing the “Death Penalty” in our America, given our 14th Amendment “Due Process” values, is a “no brainer”.  Look  …  all of the industrialized world has abolished the “death penalty”. There is a reason.  They/we value life. A “guilty person” might go free, but isn’t that a price we are willing to pay to ensure  an innocent one is not unjustly imprisoned or put to death?  Perhaps a value system that separates us from the rest of the world, and no doubt, the 3rd world.  Doesn’t that beg the ultimate question?  Given human limitations, human error, given an imperfect system subject to human frailty  … why would any person be willing to put another to death, given, life in prison with no possibility of parole at 1/2 the cost, is reversible?  Last I checked  …  death isn’t.

NEW YORK (CNN) –  New York lawyer pleads guilty in $700 million fraud.  “New York attorney Marc Dreier on Monday pleaded guilty Monday to charges of defrauding hedge funds of about $700 million, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  Dreier, 58, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.  He faces maximum prison time of 145 years, and must forfeit “…proceeds of the fraud offenses and property derived there from, including real estate, a yacht, and a number of works of art” according to an indictment filed against him in March  …  Dreier is the founder and managing partner of Dreier LLP, a law firm of more than 250 attorneys with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in the country, federal officials said.“  Don’t you wonder if any of the partners and/or other 250 lawyers in the firm were in on it  …  or knew about it?  Must be a New York thing.  A $700 million dollar life style would stick out like a sore thumb in Holden!!

And in raising the Bar, (no pun intended), for scavengers:  LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) –  Legal fight brews over ‘Farrah’s Story’.  “As Ryan O’Neal walked the red carpet at the premiere of “Farrah’s Story,” he stopped every few feet to answer reporters’ questions about Farrah Fawcett’s battle with cancer.  CNN’s Douglas Hyde was at the end of the line and the last to interview the actor, who was almost in tears after a string of intense explanations about his longtime companion’s condition. “She was OK in the first interview, but now I’m worried,” O’Neal said, visibly drained after focusing on Fawcett’s battle. The documentary, which airs Friday night on NBC, is not a celebration of Fawcett’s career, but an intimate look at her life since being diagnosed with anal cancer three years ago  …  While cancer keeps Farrah in her bed, a legal fight has begun over the documentary. Producer Craig Nevius filed a lawsuit this week against O’Neal and Stewart, claiming they stole creative control of the film  from him  …  Nevius said his goal was to do the film “based on Farrah’s artistic visions that are a reflection of her and while at the same time maintaining and protecting her privacy to the extent that she wants it maintained and protected.”  My heart goes out to Farrah Facett and her family. I can not imagine the pain Ryan O’Neal is feeling:  Farrah is the mother of his child  …  and he has been there with her, every step of the way!  As for Mr. Nevius, share with me   …  what exactly does “creative control of the film“  mean,  when the film is about a person dying from colon cancer?  What’s next?  “Lung Cancer“, the musical?  How about “Diabetic Retinopathy“,  the opera you don’t need to see to enjoy!

BBC NEWS –  Obama ‘to revive military trials’.  “US President Barack Obama is expected to announce on Friday that he is reviving military trials for some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. But legal rights for defendants facing the military commissions will be significantly improved, officials said.  President Obama halted the trials as one of his first acts on taking office in January, saying the US was entering a new era of respecting human rights  …  They are reported to include restrictions on hearsay evidence; a ban on evidence obtained by cruel treatment; giving detainees more leeway to choose their own lawyers; and protecting detainees who refuse to testify.”  So “hearsay evidence” and “evidence obtained by cruel treatment” is normally admissible before military commissions?  And just whom would we be “protecting detainees who refuse to testify” from?  I like and respect President Obama  –  but there’s a difference between talking the talk, (like when you are running for office), and walking the walk  …  isn’t there? I suppose the good news about the Obama election remains   …  a lot of folks are suddenly paying past due taxes.
 
And in other good news?  BBC NEWS –  Human noses too cold for bird flu.  “Bird flu may not have become the threat to humans that some predicted because our noses are too cold for the virus to thrive, UK researchers say. An Imperial College London recreation of the nose’s environment found that at 32 degrees Celsius, avian flu viruses lose function and cannot spread.”  And the not so good news? In our America, 4714 total cases of H1N1 flu, 4 deaths with 47 states affected.   As a dear Friend shared with me today, “On 5/3 -12 days ago, we had 226 confirmed cases in the US. Today we are at 4714. Instead of an increase of 10 to 20 per day, we are now at an increase of about 500 per day. Within a week, I expect that to become 1000-2000 per day.  Wisconsin had over 100 more confirmed cased over night. I wish they would disclose by city. I have a feeling that most of the Illinois and Wisconsin cases are from the Chicago area. � If this does eventually mutate and become a deadly pandemic  �  the Chicago area will likely be the predominant source in the US.”  Neither you nor I have any control over whether there will be a pandemic.  Keep in mind, in each of the four major pandemics since 1889, a spring wave of relatively mild illness was followed by a second wave, a few months later, of a much more virulent disease. This was true in 1889, 1957, 1968 and in the catastrophic flu outbreak of 1918, which sickened an estimated third of the world�s population and killed, conservatively, 50 million people.�  About the only thing we can do, is set up a pantry containing the food and meds we need for 90 days.  If you stock up on the stuff you normally use   …   it’s a good hedge against inflation   …  isn’t it?

PARIS, France (CNN) –  French face tough new Internet downloading law.  “French Internet users who download files illegally could have their service cut off under a new law enacted by the French government  …  The law sets up a special government anti-piracy agency to monitor “internauts,” as French Internet users are called. It will ensure users are paying for movies and music that they download.  While there are countries with stricter penalties such as jail time, in France opponents of the law are angry that the new government agency will be outside the judicial process. That means it can disconnect Internet service without oversight.”  And how would they enforce this law, absent invading the privacy of citizens?  What would be the “probable cause” for monitoring an individuals Internet traffic?  But then, the French don’t have to deal with pesky stuff like “Due Process”.  Course, neither does “Homeland Security”, here.  Kind of funny really, if you think about it.  How many french recording artists are there?  How many movies are produced in France, or in french?  Isn’t the intellectual property they seek to protect really produced here, in the United States? 

Sitting here editing these Ramblings, the Editors cowering under the table because we are, for the second time this week, under a severe thunderstorm warning. “Gertie” one of our big basset girls was given her doggie Zanax, (actually ACE), to help her relax.  She goes absolutely nuts during thunderstorms.    On the evening news?  Kansas City now has 13 “Red Light” cameras.  Perhaps, before long, they will mandate putting in “Smoke Detection” cameras in all public venues.  Doesn’t second hand smoke kill more people than T-Bone accidents in intersections?  Think of the lives that would be saved, (and think about the income it could generate!!)  We don’t have any traffic lights in Holden  …  perhaps we could put in a “stop sign” camera at the 4 way stop at 131 Highway and Highway 58?  Holden has come a long way since I moved here in 1987:  we now have a “Sonic”, a “Subway”, a “Godfathers Pizza”   …   and a “Chinese Restaurant”. I fully expect we will have a “Mexican Restaurant”  moving in soon.  Time to post these Ramblings and settle in for a quiet evening at home, surrounded by our furry babies and each other.  Susan doing her “stamping up” stuff and me?  Processing some pictures I shot of the Iris’s in our garden while doing a Photoshop CS4 Tutorial.  And when it’s time to hit the sack  …  say a prayer of thanks for the blessings in my life, my Susan and 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 guard, walking the walk  …  so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize  –  that is not my intent. As always   …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri  …  and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my ‘Lil Buddy   …  and Dinker, the copy boy.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 8, 2009.  Like you, Susan and I watched this “financial emergency” play out.  Like you, wondering what the hell is going on!  Watched, (like the rest of you), our retirement, our savings, diminish in value.  And wonder why?  Bank of America is Susan and I’s credit card company   …  and I’m pissed.  They just unilaterally increased our credit card interest rate from 9.9% to 27.99%.  Bank of America, from Wikipedia:  “Bank of America Corporation, based in Charlotte, North Carolina is the largest financial services company in the world, largest bank by assets, second largest commercial bank by deposits, and (previously) third largest by market capitalization in the United States. Also, Bank of America is the number one underwriter of global high yield debt, (read that to mean the riskiest investments), the third largest underwriter of global equity and the ninth largest adviser on global mergers and acquisitions.”   BBC NEWS — Ten US banks fail ’stress tests’.  “Ten of America’s largest 19 banks need a combined $74.6bn of extra funds to boost their cash reserves. That is the main finding of the so-called “stress tests” to see if the banks have sufficient capital to cope should the recession worsen. Bank of America is the most at risk, needing an additional $33.9bn.”  This is after you and I gave it $25 billion in the Fall of 2008, another $20 billion on January 16, 2009 and a guarantee of $118 billion to protect them from potential losses?  And the CEO calling the shots at BofA since 2001?  Ken Lewis.  His reward for bringing BofA to the edge of bankruptcy?  20 million dollars in 2007 and a massive pay cut in 2008   …   only 9 million dollars.  So BofA engaged in the riskiest loans, (in order to maximize the return to it’s shareholders), has unilaterally rewritten their credit card contracts knowing their card holders have no choice but to pay, (since credit is so tight they can not get a loan to pay off the balance and they sure can’t take a bankruptcy)   …   and BofA may need to beg for an additional $33.9 billion?  Well   …   you know what?  Enough is enough.  Screw them and the horse they rode in on!!! Let BofA, like Chrysler, seek bankruptcy protection.  BofA shareholders reaped the benefits when times were good, now they can tighten their belts and suffer with the rest of us.

In the same vein,  if the function of government is to protect citizens from predators, physical and economic  …  why/how can credit card companies unilaterally increase late fees and percentage rates?  Isn’t it akin to making a mortgage payment late and your mortgage company raising your interest rate from 7% to 33% and changing the contract from a 30 year note to a 10 year note?  I can understand raising the interest rate on future credit card use  …  but on past use?  Shouldn’t the rate you contracted for remain the same on the amounts already borrowed   …   and amounts you want to borrow in the future be subject to rate increases?  And of course, there is the 2005, (make), bankruptcy, (impossible to take), reform act.  Pushed through by Joe Biden and John McCain, (and their credit card company constituents)   …  necessary because of the number of folks blowing off their credit card debt.  Never mind they should never have been issued a credit card to start off with!  This isn’t a democrat or republican issue, this is a “how about our elected representatives get off their partisan butts and start protecting American consumers from predatory credit card company practices” issue!!!

And don’t tell me “we don’t need more regulations, more government interference in a “free market”. It was deregulation under Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and G.W. Bush that got us in this position to start off with!! A “free market” presupposes competition.  The purpose of regulation, (like the anti-trust laws), is to ensure competition by blocking acquisitions and mergers which would reduce the number of competitors.  Share with me  …  do you really believe we would be in this position if we still had hundreds of regional banks  …  instead of 20 or so mega-banks?  If we had 10 or 20 credit card companies instead of 4 or 5?  Look   …  I am adamantly against “big government” and governmental involvement in our lives  …  but there are some functions only government can fulfill. This is one of them.

On a different note, I enjoy the hell out of reading the Pravda Website. Pravda was an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991.  “After the paper was closed down in 1991 by decree of President Yeltsin, many of the staff founded a new paper with the same name, which is now a tabloid-style Russian news source. There is an unrelated Internet-based newspaper, Pravda Online (www.Pravda.ru) run by former Pravda newspaper employees. A number of other newspapers have also been called Pravda, most notably Komsomolskaya Pravda, formerly the official newspaper of the now defunct Komsomol and currently the best-selling tabloid in Russia.”  Pravda is an interesting read because it provides, for the most part, a completely different take on current events   …   not to mention public interest stories like:  “Insanity of vegetarianism has no limits.”  …   “USSR�s first limousines were designed to copy American Buicks.”   …  or perhaps, “NATO needs another war to justify its useless existence.”

LOS ANGELES, California –  Topless photo could cost Prejean pageant crown. “Miss California USA Carrie Prejean “breached her contract” by keeping semi-nude photos a secret and could be stripped of her beauty queen title, according to a state pageant spokesman.  Prejean said the photos — taken when she was 17 and aspiring to be a Victoria’s Secret model — were being used in a “vicious and mean-spirited” effort to silence her for “defending traditional marriage.”  The 21-year-old Miss USA contestant has been the center of controversy since she declared her opposition to same-sex marriage in a response to a question on the pageant stage last month.”  In related news,  another state pageant spokesman announced that the first runner up, Ms. Zelda Rippenthorp, (who also believes marriage should be between a man and a woman),  will be disqualified as well.  Apparently lewd and suggestive nude baby pictures of Ms. Rippenthorp, (at the time 3 months old),  were posted on her mothers cousins Facebook page.

BBC NEWS  –  Kenyan sues over sex ban ’stress’ “A Kenyan man has sued activists who urged women to deny their partners sex for a week as a protest against the country’s political impasse.  James Kimondo told reporters outside the Nairobi High Court his wife had observed the boycott and caused him “anxiety and sleepless nights”.  “I have been suffering mental anguish, stress, backaches, lack of concentration,” he said.” I can understand the “mental anguish, stress and lack of concentration”   …   but what’s with the backaches?  Not reported?  He now also squints and has developed carpal tunnel syndrome. 

WILMINGTON, NC — 96-year-old victim takes the stand in a rape trial.  “An elderly woman testified in court Tuesday against her accused rapist.  A jury of 9 women and 3 men heard the 911 call the victim made after she recalled the events of April 12, 2008.  The 96-year-old victim explained to the jury what 42-year-old Brian Anthony Reavis did to her that morning. The victim said she was heading back inside her home after getting the morning paper when a man helped her get in her house and then asked for her money. She handed over $20, but the man wanted more.  She said Reavis stole more cash and then forced her into her bedroom where he sexually and physically assaulted her.”  Rape is a horrible crime, sickening   …  even more so when the victim is a child or a particularly vulnerable person   …  like a 96 year old woman.  The only good news?  Folks who wind up going to prison for this type of crime, have their soap on a rope stolen and discover that Freud’s definition of “anal retentive” can have a very different meaning in the “big house”.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) –  Sheriff: Law protects SUV owner who shot, killed woman. “Authorities do not plan to file charges against a Florida orange grove owner who fatally shot a 21-year-old woman, saying he is protected under the state’s controversial “no retreat” law  …  But the woman’s boyfriend faces second-degree murder charges in her death, because the woman was shot to death during an alleged felony — the theft of an SUV  …  Grove owner Ladon “Jamie” Jones opened fire as the SUV approached him, according to an affidavit released by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Phillips fled; McCormick was shot in the head and later died.  Authorities said Jones is protected by Florida’s “no retreat” law, which gives him the right to use lethal force if he reasonably believes his life is in danger. Phillips, however, faces charges because police allege he was committing felony grand theft auto at the time of McCormick’s death.”  Felony murder.  Under Missouri’s “Castle Doctrine“, a person does not have to retreat AND can use deadly force to protect his property. 

ARVADA, Colo. –  Arvada Cowboy Cited With ‘Riding Under Influence’. “Arvada police wrote a $25 ticket to a cowboy accused of riding his horse while intoxicated, police said Friday.  Officers cited Brian Drone with “riding under the influence” after he was seen in a strip mall parking lot riding his horse Cricket.  Witnesses said the man could barely stay on the saddle.” The drunk cowboy noted that “My Cricket sure gets beautiful around closing time   …   and she sure knows her way home  …  unlike my ex-wife.” Mickey Gilley is rumored to have purchased the country western song rights. [Note:  you can rip, (download and convert to MP3), any song from YouTube using http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm  …  it is a FREE download.]

Sitting here editing these Ramblings and watching the evening news.  The Editorial Staff is outside by the concrete pond.  The Santa Barbara brush fires have ravaged over 75,  million dollar homes.   Over 30,000 people have been forced to evacuate.  Confirmed H1N1 infections doubled overnight. That means sustained human to human transmission.  Like the first wave in the 1918 Spanish Flu , the 1957 Asian Flu and the 1968 Hong Kong Flu Pandemics,  it is mild.  I hope I am wrong, but the real threat will come in about 3 - 6 months.  There is still time to prepare:  set up a pantry with a 90 day supply of food and the meds you need.  What have you got to lose?  Either way, you will eat the food and it is a good hedge against inflation. I posted some pics of “Dinker“, (the copy boy), on my Facebook page.  You might wish to consider joining:  a very good social networking mechanism and an easy way to share pictures.  Time to post these Ramblings, go back to working on some “Suggestions in Support Of Compelling DFS to Pay For Expert Testimony”   …   and later, as I drift off to sleep, say a prayer of thanks for the many blessings in my life, the greatest of which being, Susan.  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, while our politicians are talking the talk, our men and women in uniform are walking the walk, so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize.  That is not my intent  …  and to the 20 -30 folks who take the time to read these Ramblings  …  thank you for taking the time to do so.  As always  …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri   …  and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my ‘Lil Buddy   …  and Dinker, the copy boy.)

Greets and Huggers.  Posted the evening of May 1, 2009.  I guess today is “May Day“, a celebration of spring and in the rest of the world, “International Workers’ Day.”   Never a popular “holiday” in our America.  “For the Druids of the British Isles, May 1 was the second most important holiday of the year. Because, it was when the festival of Beltane was held. It was thought that the day divides the year into half. The other half was to be ended with the Samhain on November 1. Those days the May Day custom was the setting of new fire. It was one of those ancient New Year rites performed throughout the world. And the fire itself was thought to lend life to the burgeoning springtime sun. Cattle were driven through the fire to purify them. Men, with their sweethearts, passed through the smoke for seeing good luck.”  Growing up, I remember “May Day” being a big deal in the former Soviet Union:  a big military parade, with “The Leaders” perched on Lenin’s Tomb, reviewing the troops  …  and the West, watching to see what new weapons system the Soviet Union was introducing.  They always managed to come up with a “surprise” threat, that we “feared”, needed to respond to, to protect ourselves.   Wasn’t it fear that funded our military expenditures then   …   and  …  isn’t it fear, that does so now?  Share with me  …  what is it we fear? Loss of our “freedom”?   

What does “freedom” really mean to us?  It has an “objective”, (meaning honorable, reasonable people can agree a given behavior is an exercise of “freedom” or “free expression”) and subjective components, (that a given behavior is an expression of “freedom” to one and “tyranny” to another)  …  doesn’t it?  Do you really believe we are as “free” now, as we were 30 years ago?  I don’t think so.  30 years ago, didn’t the owner of a business have the “freedom” to decide if he/she would allow smoking on the premises he/she owns?  Couldn’t you drive with an open container of beer in your car?  Wasn’t local government precluding from condemning your property and turning it over to a private developer?  Could your private electronic conversations be tapped by executive order instead of requiring a warrant issued by a judge?  Were you subject to a strip search on demand if you decided to fly?  Didn’t you shoot off bottle rockets on the 4th of July or ride your bicycle without a helmut?  Our definition of “freedom” seems to have changed,  since we consider ourselves as still being “free”.  Each year and with each administration, hasn’t our government  …  local, state and federal,  encroached further and further into those areas of our lives that we once considered private?  Over the years, how many bad habits, vices, have we criminalized in the name of “the public welfare? Vices are things we do which are harmful  …  to us.  A crime is something we do, which another can not avoid and is harmful  … to them. 

The big news this week is the World Health Organization, (WHO),  declaring a flu pandemic eminent. Last Friday, there were 7 reported cases of H1N1 flu in our America  –  today there are over 141.  (CNN) –  Scientists dig for lessons from past pandemics.  “If there’s a blessing in the current swine flu epidemic, it’s how benign the illness seems to be outside the central disease cluster in Mexico. But history offers a dark warning to anyone ready to write off the 2009 H1N1 virus.  In each of the four major pandemics since 1889, a spring wave of relatively mild illness was followed by a second wave, a few months later, of a much more virulent disease. This was true in 1889, 1957, 1968 and in the catastrophic flu outbreak of 1918, which sickened an estimated third of the world’s population and killed, conservatively, 50 million people.”  And in a view of what is to come:   BBC NEWS  –  Mexico prepares for flu shutdown.  “Mexico is preparing for a five-day shutdown of parts of its economy in a bid to slow the spread of swine flu. Non-essential government services will be suspended, while businesses such as cinemas and restaurants will be closed. Mexican officials say the spread of the virus - suspected in more than 160 deaths - is slowing, but international experts are more cautious.”  Let me share the bottom line.  No one knows if this will become another 1918 Pandemic and the resultant death of millions.  At this point, the virus appears to be relatively mild   …  but then, so was the first wave in the 1918 Pandemic. One thing is certain.  It is spreading rapidly and will continue to do so.  The more infections, the greater the probability of mutations.  Preparing as though this is/will become virulent is a win/win. All you CAN do is to prepare for a 90 day quarantine.  So you stock up on food and meds.  Should no threat develop,  you eat the food and use the meds you have stockpiled, (probably not a bad hedge against inflation).  If it does hit, you have done everything you could do to protect yourselves and your family.

And other news this week?  BBC NEWS –  Experts unveil African gene study.  “A group of scientists have unveiled what they say is the most comprehensive study ever of African genes  …  The first humans probably evolved near the South Africa-Namibia border before migrating north, the study says  …  The scientists examined genetic material from 121 African populations, as well as four African-American populations and 60 non-African populations.” So  …  share with me  …  if we are indeed all related  …  in antiquity, brothers and sisters springing from the same womb  …  how come white people have no rhythm and can’t dance?

Los Angeles  –  Rodent of the Week: Smelling signs of illness.  “You’ve probably heard of dogs that seem to smell a disease, such as a cancerous tumor, in their owners. Scientists say they may have figured out why some animals have disease-sniffing abilities. Research published online this week in the journal Nature identified some new receptors on olfactory cells in mice that appear to establish this unique talent. Previous studies have shown that mice have smell receptors in their noses that pick up the scents of a mate, food or even emotions like fear. Mice are also known to avoid their sick friends.  You’ve probably heard of dogs that seem to smell a disease, such as a cancerous tumor, in their owners. Scientists say they may have figured out why some animals have disease-sniffing abilities.”  Rumor has it that given the pending flu pandemic,  the Department of Homeland Security has contracted with several bio-defense contractors for 49 thousand flu sniffing gerbils to be issued to airport security forces and boarder crossing guards, (at a cost of $500,000.00 per gerbil).   A spokesman for Homeland Security denied reports that feasibility studies conducted last Saturday were unsuccessful.  He did admit however, that drug sniffing dogs can not be paired with flu sniffing gerbils:  apparently the drug sniffing dogs consider them quite taste.

BBC NEWS — Plan to monitor all Internet use. “Communications firms are being asked to record all Internet contacts between people as part of a modernization in UK police surveillance tactics  …  The new system would track all e-mails, phone calls and Internet use, including visits to social network sites  …  The Home Office will instead ask communications companies - from Internet service providers to mobile phone networks - to extend the range of information they currently hold on their subscribers and organize it so that it can be better used by the police, MI5 and other public bodies investigating crime and terrorism.”  I suppose we should all be thankful that our Founding Fathers gave us a Constitution, (with it’s Bill of Rights),  to fall back on when our elected representatives succumb to public hysteria.  Keep in mind the ultimate truth on this issue:  when the civil liberties of the least of us are violated and we fail to speak out as citizens and/or Solo and Small Firm lawyers, (our obligation to speak out is far greater than lay citizens:  we are the guardians of our system of justice and our civil liberties.  Remember the oath you took?)    …  the civil liberties of all of us are at risk.

Sitting here editing these Ramblings, the Editorial Staff curled up together, (as they are want to do when it is chilly and raining).  I find it morbidly fascinating to see the things I have warned about starting to play out.  In one weeks time, this virus has spread to 13 countries.  The U.S. Education Department reported today that this outbreak has closed 433 schools in 17 states.   “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hopes to have a vaccine to manufacturers within a month, said Michael Shaw, lab team leader for the H1N1 response at the CDC.”   The end of week one and we are taking this threat seriously, (Tamiflu doses have been issued to the States and national guard troops are guarding them  —  I wonder why some governors have seen a need to do so?)   In 2004, when the Avian Flu first emerged,  there was only one vaccine manufacturer in our America.  As part of the pandemic fear generated then, we now have six and the ability to ramp up vaccine production, to where doses can start coming off the  production line in 60 - 90 days.  Samples of this virus have already been forwarded to them:  it has not taken a month to do so.   And for that I will say a prayer of thanks, a prayer for all our wellbeing  …  and especially for Susan and our little fur babies.  If I have to stay in Ft Timmerman  for 90 days,  I can not think of better company!  I am also thankful that enough Tamiflu and Relenza is available for our first providers and our men and women in uniform.  We will survive this  …  and for that, I will also say a prayer of thanks.  Be and sleep well, the best there is, is walking the walk so you can.  If my post offends, I apologize –  that is not my intent.  As always  …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT  (the dumb old country lawyer from Holden, Missouri   …  and the Editorial Staff, Willie, Karly, my ‘Lil Buddy   …  and Dinker the copy boy.)