Mosquitoes Force Sale of Louisiana Territory
Historically mosquitoes have impacted man and his decisions.
We who live in Key West are familiar with the mosquito problem. Were it not for local laws creating a Mosquito Control Board a number of years ago, Key West would not have developed as it did. Discomfort and disease would have run rampant.
The local Mosquito Control Board is funded with tax dollars. It sprays by air and land. Planes and trucks are utilized. Property inspections are also made of all properties on a periodic basis. The purpose is to determine whether pools of water exist where mosquito eggs might breed.
The local Mosquito Control Board runs from Key West to just short of Sugarloaf.
Several months ago a newspaper article appeared claiming there were 1,000 cases of dengue fever in the lower keys. A reporting error. The writer had not properly researched the article before writing it. There were only 5 cases.
Dengue fever and yellow fever are the worst of the illnesses that mosquitoes can spread.
This brings us back to the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was 1802. France had huge land holdings in North America.
He sent an army to New Orleans to open the port for additional shipping and French colonization. New Orleans and Louisiana were part of France’s holdings at the time. The army was under the command of Napoleon's brother in law, General Leclerc.
Napoleon told his brother in law to stop first in Haiti, which France also owned. A slave rebellion was proving bothersome to Napoleon. He instructed General Leclerc to put down the Haitian rebellion and then go onto New Orleans.
The French Army was powerful. Too powerful for the Haitians. The rebellion was put down in quick order.
However, the French lost 70,000 troops. They died. Including his brother in law, General Leclerc.
The cause was yellow fever. Brought on by the mosquitoes in Haiti.
Napoleon's orders were swift. Get out of Haiti! Forget about New Orleans! Return home immediately!
Napoleon decided he wanted nothing to do with the new world. He entered into negotiations with the United States to sell the new country the Louisiana Territory.
The price was a clear indication of how desperate Napoleon was to remove France from the new world. Three cents an acre! Eight hundred twenty eight thousand acres for $15 million!
A bargain!
All because of those pesky mosquitoes!
Historically mosquitoes have impacted man and his decisions.
We who live in Key West are familiar with the mosquito problem. Were it not for local laws creating a Mosquito Control Board a number of years ago, Key West would not have developed as it did. Discomfort and disease would have run rampant.
The local Mosquito Control Board is funded with tax dollars. It sprays by air and land. Planes and trucks are utilized. Property inspections are also made of all properties on a periodic basis. The purpose is to determine whether pools of water exist where mosquito eggs might breed.
The local Mosquito Control Board runs from Key West to just short of Sugarloaf.
Several months ago a newspaper article appeared claiming there were 1,000 cases of dengue fever in the lower keys. A reporting error. The writer had not properly researched the article before writing it. There were only 5 cases.
Dengue fever and yellow fever are the worst of the illnesses that mosquitoes can spread.
This brings us back to the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was 1802. France had huge land holdings in North America.
He sent an army to New Orleans to open the port for additional shipping and French colonization. New Orleans and Louisiana were part of France’s holdings at the time. The army was under the command of Napoleon's brother in law, General Leclerc.
Napoleon told his brother in law to stop first in Haiti, which France also owned. A slave rebellion was proving bothersome to Napoleon. He instructed General Leclerc to put down the Haitian rebellion and then go onto New Orleans.
The French Army was powerful. Too powerful for the Haitians. The rebellion was put down in quick order.
However, the French lost 70,000 troops. They died. Including his brother in law, General Leclerc.
The cause was yellow fever. Brought on by the mosquitoes in Haiti.
Napoleon's orders were swift. Get out of Haiti! Forget about New Orleans! Return home immediately!
Napoleon decided he wanted nothing to do with the new world. He entered into negotiations with the United States to sell the new country the Louisiana Territory.
The price was a clear indication of how desperate Napoleon was to remove France from the new world. Three cents an acre! Eight hundred twenty eight thousand acres for $15 million!
A bargain!
All because of those pesky mosquitoes!
George Washington.....Whiskey Baron
Few are aware that George Washington survived economically after his Presidency by becoming a whiskey manufacturer. Rye whiskey, to be exact.
Washington was compelled to do so because at that time there was no pension associated with serving as President. He had to work. He hit upon the idea of producing drinking alcohol. He became one of the most prolific whiskey manufacturers in the colonies.
Washington erected his distilleries at his home in Mount Vernon. It was one of the largest in the new nation. The operation consisted of 50 mash tubs and 5 stills.
He had no use for barley. He made his whiskey from rye and Indian corn.
Washington was a believer in his product. He considered whiskey "...essential to the health of men."
The reason for this walk back in history is to explore federal pensions for former Presidents as they existed then and now.
During Washington's time, no federal pension existed to support him after his two terms as President. In fact, there was no federal Presidential pension till 1958.
Surprising!
In 1958, Harry Truman was experiencing a bit of difficulty economically. Congress finally decided to look into the problem.
A law was passed. All former Presidents would receive a federal pension. The pension is equivalent to the salary of Cabinet members. Presently that salary level is $191,300 per year. Since a former President is considered a quasi federal official, he also is entitled to free medical from federal hospitals. In addition, former Presidents now receive reimbursement for staff, travel, mail and office expenses.
Lets skip back to George Washington for a moment.
He was successful in the whiskey business. He was turning out 11,000 gallons of rye whiskey a year. This resulted in a net profit to Washington of $7,500 per year. A lot of money back then!
Although a slave owner, Washington in his later years did not approve of slavery. He foresaw a war some day over the issue. It is claimed that he stated he would fight on the side of the North if the war should occur during his time.
Although Washington had no pension, he was cognizant that his slaves needed to survive economically. He provided in his Last Will and Testament that his elderly slaves were to receive a pension from his estate.
It is surprising that Washington left the Presidency needing to work. It is further surprising that the United States did not consider the economic condition of former Presidents till Truman’s financial problems came to light. However since 1958, the situation has been corrected and is under control.
One of the standards by which the greatness of a Nation is measured is the manner in which it cares for its elderly. It took a long time for the United States to care for its former Presidents. Almost as long for its elderly population. Roosevelt provided the elderly Social Security in the 1930s. Now there are those who wish to diminish or take it away.
Not nice.
Abortion Lunacy in South Dakota
Abortion was supposed to have been resolved by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade back in the late 1970s. With the exception of some minor gnawing, both sides to the issue settled in.
Till now.
The Republican dominated House of Representatives is toying with those rare instances where federal funding might be available. And.....South Dakota has also gotten into the act. Firmly with both feet!
A bill was introduced into South Dakota's House of Representatives. Stripping the legal jargon away, the bill made it legal to kill abortion doctors. You read me correctly!
The underlie interest was the defense of the fetus. If anyone were to harm a fetus, the killing of that person would be justifiable homicide.
A license to kill. Legalized murder.
You say, no way! Well, the House's committee passed the bill out by a 9-3 party line vote. The bill was HR 1171.
At that point the situation came to attention of the national media. Furious comment erupted.
It was anticipated the bill would have easy passage in both South Dakota legislative chambers. Both overwhelmingly Republican and conservative. It was also thought the bill once passed would be signed into law by the Governor.
The national discourse apparently persuaded otherwise.
All of a sudden, the Governor issued a statement that he would veto any such law.
Yesterday the bill came up for a vote in the South Dakota House of Representatives. It was defeated by a 61-4 vote.
Common sense prevailed. However, I believe if the rest of the nation had not expressed themselves in opposition to the bill, it would easily have become law.
Crazy seems to describe government at all levels these days. Elected officials listen to a small but loud handful of zealots. It truly is the squeaky wheel that garners attention!
What next?
Reactionary Hysteria in Italy
Let me preface my remarks with the following. My mother was born in Italy. My father's parents immigrated to the United States from Italy. I have visited Italy. I am Italo-American and proud of my heritage.
Having shared the preceding with you, I can now say that it is my considered opinion that the Italian people in Italy run a bit crazy on occasion. Their reaction to certain events is unreasonable. Off the wall.
Hysterical is the more apt description.
Remember Amanda Knox? She was the American girl going to college in Italy. Four years ago in Perugia, Italy, she was charged, along with her boy friend, of murdering another girl. She was tried and convicted.
The case is now on appeal. Four years later. It appears Knox has a shot at a new trial or acquittal. There appears to have been some questionable conduct on the part of the police and/or prosecutors that has resulted in investigation and suspension.
Soon after Knox's arrest four years ago, her parents in an interview with the Britain Sunday Times claimed their daughter had been subjected to mental and physical abuse by the Italian police.
This past week roughly four years after the statement was made; the parents have been indicted by an Italian Court for criminal libel. The charge: They libeled the police with the statement made four years earlier to the Britain Sunday Times reporter.
Libel has as a basis that the statement was not true at the time made and knowingly false by the person who made it.
Are the police covering their asses under the circumstances by the indictment? Is this an example of the Italian mind at work? Are the indictments a reflection of the possibility that Knox may now be found innocent? Are the indictments typical of Italian mentality? Are they a reflection of Italian hysteria? Reactionary hysteria?
Recently Italy's leader was indicted for child prostitution and related charges. Premier Silvio Berlusconi. It is alleged he had sex with a 17 year old prostitute and then tried to cover it up.
The women of Italy did not appreciate Berlusconi's conduct. On a specified day(s) in several different cities, Italian women protested against Berlusconi.. One million women went into the streets and threw their panties into the air to exhibit their feelings.
Hysterical conduct?
Thirty years ago, I spent a month in Italy with my family. A terrific trip. We enjoyed the country and its people. We were well treated.
The visit gave me the opportunity to see Italians up close.
We were at a roof top party in Rome. Overlooking the Vatican. Priests and nuns in attendance, as well as non religious persons. Most in attendance born and dyed in the wool Italians.
There had been a major soccer game the day before. Italy and Yugoslavia had played each other. In Yugoslavia.
The crowd for the game was overwhelming. Many could not get in. A large crowd of Yugoslavians pressed against the gate and stands in one location. It happened to be the Italian section. The gate and stands collapsed. Many were killed and more seriously injured. Mostly Italians.
It was the topic of conversation at the party. The Italians wanted blood! Many felt Italy should invade Yugoslavia immediately!
I thought at the time.....crazy people! Hysterical!
Based on the Knox and Berlusconi situations, I still do.
Harry S Truman.....A Walk Back In History
Harry S Truman was the thirty third President of the United States.
Unquestionably, one of our best Presidents.
Truman discovered Key West. It became his escape. His place to relax. He visited Key West 11 separate times for a total of 175 days while President.
While in Key West, Truman resided in a building at the U.S. Naval Base. That building has become known as The Little White House.
Subsequent Presidents visited The Little White House also for relaxation and governmental business.
This past weekend, a symposium was held at the Little White House. The subject matter involved the opportunities and obligations of growing up as a descendant of an American President. Joining in the discussion were Susan Ford Bales, daughter of Gerald Ford, Margaret Hoover, great granddaughter of Herbert Hoover, Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of Lyndon Johnson and Clifton Truman Daniels, grandson of Harry Truman.
The symposium brought to mind David McCullough's biography of Harry S Truman. The book was published in 1993 and McCullough won a Pulitzer Prize for it.
I read the book some time ago. As I did, I made some notes. What I would describe as quotable quotes from the book. All attributable to Truman himself.
Most are timely. Helpful today. All convey a sense of direction.
Permit me to share some of the quotes.
"Take a 2 mile walk every morning before breakfast."
"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell."
"Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive. And don't ever apologize for anything."
"If you cannot convince them, confuse them."
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."
"It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job. It's a depression when you lose yours."
"All the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway."
Sound familiar? Have a today ring to them?
Little Guy Wins
Occasionally, a David can still defeat a Goliath.
This is the tale of a Philadelphia home owner and his mortgage bank. With a rare feature: The homeowner is foreclosing on his bank.
The homeowner purchased his home for $180,000. With a mortgage, of course. The American way. The bank holding the mortgage was and is Wells Fargo.
At some point, Wells Fargo sent the homeowner a letter advising that he was required to purchase and pay for a $1 million policy on the house.
The homeowner did not understand why he was being required to over insure the house by 500 per cent and pay the substantially higher premium. The homeowner wrote three letters to Wells Fargo requesting an explanation. Wells Fargo failed to respond.
Somehow, somewhere the homeowner became aware of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The letters were sent pursuant to the Act. It requires a mortgage institution to respond in twenty days and correct any problem within sixty days.
The homeowner sued Wells Fargo based on its failure to comply with the law described.
Wells Fargo failed to appear in court. Nor did any attorney on behalf of Wells Fargo contact the homeowner.
The court awarded the homeowner a default judgment against Wells Fargo for $1,173.
The homeowner, armed with the court judgment, foreclosed on one of Wells Fargo's local Philadelphia offices. He had a sheriff's levy made against the furniture in the office. The sale was scheduled for March 4.
Wells Fargo paid the judgment in full in January. The payment did not satisfy the homeowner. He is still proceeding with the foreclosure sale because his letters have not yet been answered.
Banks bear significant responsibility for the economic crisis we are presently experiencing. It is good to see a little guy get back at one of them by proceeding in the same fashion as banks pursue people.
One closing thought. I do not believe the homeowner is correct in continuing with the sale. The bank paid the money judgment. The homeowner would be better advised to go back to court and obtain a judgment ordering Wells Fargo to respond to the letters. Otherwise, the homeowner may be opening himself to liability because he failed to follow the law to the letter.
What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Each side in a legal matter is required to adhere to the preciseness of the law.
Recall
Recall is in the air!
Most recently in Wisconsin and Miami. In Wisconsin with regard to a collective bargaining issue and Governor Walker. Plus, eight Republican state senators. In Miami with the recent recall vote for Miami Dade County where Mayor Carlos Alvarez was removed from office.
Recall is actually short for what is properly termed a recall election. A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote. The vote is preceded by a petition signed by voters calling for the recall election.
Recall has historical roots. The ancient Athenians had a recall system for its leaders. Colonial America also. During the American Revolution, the new nation was governed by Articles of Confederation. The Articles stipulated that Continental Congress delegates could be recalled by state legislatures.
Modern day recall is only available with state and local officials. There is no provision in the law permitting federally elected officials to be recalled.
Two governors have been successfully recalled. The first was North Dakota's Lynn Frazier in 1921. The populace was unhappy with his handling of some state owned industries. The most recent governor to be recalled was California's Gray Davis in 2003. State budget issues did him in.
Some states require grounds to be specified for the recall. Others do not.
Petitions come first. They are circulated. Signatures of voters obtained. The specific number varies by state. Once enough signatures have been obtained, the recall vote is scheduled.
The question that next arises is how the vacant seat is filled, assuming the recall election has been successful. There are basically three methods.
The first is the seat is filled after the election. By whatever process state law provides.
The second is that the recall ballots itself contain the names of persons to be elected in the event of recall. When Gray was recalled in 2003 in California, the recall ballot listed the names of over 100 candidates to replace him. The voters voted regarding Gray's recall and, if so, who would be elected to replace him as governor.
The third and final method is a provision in the law stating that the governor or some other person or body has the right of appointment.
Some recall elections are successful. Some fail.
Mayor Alvarez in the recent Miami Dade County recall had over 170,000 votes cast for the recall. Eighty eight per cent of those voted, voted for his recall.
It appears Wisconsin is in the recall mode. Many voters appear unhappy with recent actions by the Governor and eight state senators of his party. Petitions are being circulated for their recall. It will be interesting to see what happens. Especially since Wisconsin's Governor Walker was took office less than ninety days ago.
Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the voting public is in a recall mood. Short of all out revolution, recall is probably the last bastion from which a people may cry out against perceived injustice.
Menthol Cigarettes and African Americans
Statistics reveal that four out of every five smokers of menthol cigarettes are African Americans. Eighty per cent!
Sounds strange!
Not really when the true facts are known.
Tobacco companies flavored cigarettes initially to attract smokers among the young. The thought was that the first drag might be harsh and discourage additional smoking.
The United States has become an anti-smoking Nation. The Tobacco Control Act signed into law by President Obama in 2009 is one example. It bans flavored cigarettes, with one exception. Minty menthol.
The Tobacco Control Act was intended to discourage smoking. Yet, at the same time it was a boon to the cigarette industry as regards menthol cigarettes. From my perspective, the legislation fell short of achieving its purpose when it failed to prohibit misty menthol also.
My sense is the tobacco lobbyists won the day.
The most popular menthol cigarettes were and/or are Kools and Newports. Kools was the first.
Some fifty years ago, the tobacco industry made a concerted effort to encourage menthol cigarette smoking by blacks. Document discovery in a recent federal court case established the same. Internal tobacco company documents revealed a concerted effort/plan to market Kools to African Americans.
Kools came in a white and green package. Women were dressed in white and green outfits and sent into the black communities. Free Kools were distributed to the black population.
Another ploy used to encourage African American use of menthol cigarettes was planned specific dollar contributions to black organizations such as the NAACP, Southern Leadership Conference and Congressional Black Caucus. The makers of menthol cigarettes sought to establish that they were friends to the black community.
The marketing plan worked. African American smokers overwhelmingly select menthols. As per the statistic set forth at the beginning of this blog.
Now comes Marie Evans. A Floridian. A smoker of menthol cigarettes. She died of smoking related cancer.
A lawsuit was brought in her name in federal court in Florida. It was against R. J. Reynolds. The proof was as set forth herein. That many years ago a plan was devised to encourage African Americans to smoke menthols, deliberate steps taken such as free cigarettes and dollar contributions, and that the tobacco company succeeded in its plan. Marie Evans was living proof, no, dead proof, of the success of the marketing plan.
Last December a federal court jury returned a verdict in Marie Evans' case. $152 million!
I will concede that $152 million is a lot of money. I will further concede that I am aware of very few persons worth that kind of money in a lawsuit. However.....in certain cases a punitive damage award is permitted. In those situations where the conduct of the responsible party has been concerted and grievous, the jury is permitted to add a significant dollar amount onto its verdict. The purpose is to dissuade such conduct in the future. Such occurred here.
R. J. Reynolds is appealing. I would expect them to.
The appeal will be successful to some degree. The $152 million will be reduced. To what point, I do not know. It is difficult to ascertain. However, in most instances where the award is extremely high, the appellate court reduces the award.
There was a time in my professional experience when suing a tobacco company was an exercise in futility. The cancer smoker could not win. That has changed in recent years. The Evans' verdict is one example.
Statistics also reveal the change. For example, since 2004 tobacco companies sued in Florida have lost 24 cases. The awards in the 24 cases totaled $360 million.
Chechnya.....A Bad Place For Women!
Women are definitely second class citizens in Chechnya. They sit in the back of the bus, so to speak. Especially when it comes to dress. They are required to wear headscarves, face veils, long dresses, and cover their arms.
Chechnya, also known as the Chechen Republic, is part of former communist Russia. In recent years, Chechens have fought two wars with Russia seeking their independence. A loose framework and control still exists by Russia over Chechnya. However for all practical purposes, Chechnya does what it wants.
Russia is concerned with stability. Stability in those areas which were part of greater Russia in days gone by. Chechnya's present government provides political stability. As a result, Putin and his people close their eyes to certain transgressions.
Chechnya has a relatively new President. Ramzan Kadyrov. Thirty four years old. He is Islamic to the core. The Quran controls. Ergo, female attire must comply with the good book as Kadyrov interprets the good book.
Additionally, since becoming President, Kadyrov has increased public viewing by his people as to his devout attention and adherence to the Muslim religion. His frequent and well publicized pilgrimages to Mecca are an example. Kadyrov has become a religious zealot.
Kadyrov has organized a bunch of goons who dress in black as the local police do. They are all over the place making sure women adhere to the Islamic dress code. Should a woman fail to do so, she is refused admittance to the university and public places. She is called slut and whore on the streets. Paint balls are shot at her to label her as anti-religious.
The worst occurred this past week.
A video of President Kadyrov appeared on the internet. Kadyrov was casually sitting behind a desk. One of the issues he discussed was adultery. Adultery is a problem under the Quran. Men and women are stoned to death for such activity. Kadyrov's concern was with the male portion of the equation. Since the Quran permits a man to have multiple wives, he thought polygamy should be permitted. His concern was solely for Islamic males.
I frequently write and comment on Sharia law. Islamic law. The Quran. Muslims everywhere are increasingly seeking to be governed by Sharia law where ever they immigrate. Including the United States.
What is happening in Chechnya is a nation increasingly governed by Islamic law. Immigrants to the United States want to be governed by Islamic civil and religious law. Should the same be permitted? I say no.
Beware! Attempts have been made in Oklahoma and New Jersey. Now, Florida. A Florida judge intends to apply "Ecclesiastical Islamic Law" in evaluating an arbitration decision involving a mosque, former trustees, present trustees and $2.2 million.
Pay attention. Vigilance is required.
Everyone is welcome to the United States. Once here however, everyone must live by the same set of laws. The laws of the United States. One standard for all!
Randy Roosters and Conjugal Visits
Laws cannot control everything. However some legislative bodies think they can. Pass a law and solve a problem!
The place is Hopewell Township, New Jersey. Near Princeton. The time now.
Chickens are a problem. Too noisy.
Many residents of Hopewell maintain backyard chicken farms.
The biggest noise problem is the cockle doddle do from the roosters. I was always under the impression that such was a morning wake up call. It is not. It is the rooster announcement to the hens that he wants to mate.
We live and learn.
There are apparently a lot of horny roosters in Hopewell. Their cries have become a problem. The people of Hopewell want the noise limited.
An ordinance has been introduced in the Hopewell Township legislative body. To limit the chicken noise. The proposed legislation would limit mating between chickens. Roosters and hens would only be permitted to engage sexually for 10 days a year and never more than 5 consecutive nights.
The formal vote on the issue is soon.
I am merely sharing. I do not know what to say.
Japanese Orphans Not Adoptable
Japan is experiencing the wrath of nature and man with its recent disasters. First, the earthquake. Then the tsunami. Now the nuclear radiation.
The death toll has been significant. It already exceeds 10,000. It is anticipated it could reach as high as 25,000.
Many of the dead are parents. The young children of many of the deceased parents have survived.
As with Haiti, Americans have cried out to adopt these new orphans. Only to learn it is not possible.
Japanese culture, except in rare instances, does not know adoption. The reason is simple. They take care of their own.
The Japanese are fastidious record keepers. The records are searched and the natural extended family of a child is ascertained. Those persons take the orphan in and provide the loving home care each child is entitled to.
Simply stated, Japanese society views child raising in an orphan situation as the responsibility of family members. One kept in the blood line.
Women of Saudi Arabia Denied the Vote
Women still cannot vote in Saudi Arabia. They do not have the right. They have never had the right.
The issue arose again this week.
Saudia Arabia held its first municipal elections in 2005. First election ever for either gender. Note elections were only permitted at the municipal level. Higher up officials are royalty and consider themselves to hold office by divine right.
Leading up to the 2005 municipal elections, women were promised that they would be able to vote. At the last moment, the leaders of Saudi's absolute monarchy had a change of mind. They said no. But.....ladies, you can vote the next time Saudi Arabia holds a municipal election.
Saudi Arabia's next municipal election begins April 23 of this year. Saudi's King said no again. But promises women will have the vote the next time.
Saudi women are nothing short of pissed off!
The recent upheavals and demonstrations in Egypt and Yemen showed women standing with the men in the front ranks of the new burst of freedom. Throughout the Middle East, women want more by way of rights. Rights denied them for centuries.
A good place to start from the female perspective is the election soon to be held in Saudi Arabia. The women feel their time has arrived. Saudi Arabia is a nation where not only cannot women vote, they cannot drive, must have a male guardian, cannot be elected to a high position, cannot travel without a husband or male guardian accompanying them, must dress covered from head to toe, and more. Vocal Saudi women compare their existence to slavery.
A 2009 Global Gender Gap Report gave Saudi Arabia a "0" in the area of political empowerment of women.
There is change in the air. But it seems only in its initial stages.
A look at the time frame required for women to acquire the vote in the United States is helpful.
The United States was created 1776. The Nineteenth Amendment gave women to right to vote. Better stated, the amendment said the right to vote could not be denied because of sex. The amendment was passed in 1919. It was adopted by the States in 1920.
The math shows it took 143 years for women to win the right to vote in the land of freedom!
Saudi Arabia on the other hand is a mere child, comparatively speaking. Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932. Saudis have only been at this governing thing 79 years.
Some might say the Saudis need more time to develop their thinking. Maybe yes, maybe no.
My concern is the way/method of government. The United States is a republic/democracy. Saudi Arabia an absolute monarchy. The United States is not governed by religious law... Saudi Arabia is. Islamic law. Also known as Sharia law. Islamic law frowns on women having any rights. Women are second class citizens and treated accordingly.
Perhaps the women's vote may never become a reality.
Only time will tell.
Mmm Mmm Good!
I grew up with the jingle. We all grew up with it.
Mmm mmm good! That's what Campbell Soup is! Mmm mmm good!
This past week Campbell Soup was sued in federal court in New Jersey. The claim involves alleged mislabeling.
Tomato Soup is the product.
Campbell’s produces two types. The regular and a purported healthier one. The healthier one is labeled on the front to the effect that it is healthy. The inference is that its ingredients are less than what is in the original tomato soup.
Four women claim they were concerned about salt intake. They allege the label on the front suggested a healthier tomato soup. Whereas, they claim the itemized labeling on the back reflected otherwise as regards salt. These four ladies take the position the labeling on the front was misleading. They claim that the sodium as listed on the back reflected an amount significantly close in number to that contained in the regular tomato soup.
The four ladies also seek to have their lawsuit qualify as a class suit.
The lawsuit is brought under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
I am not impressed with the lawsuit. My gut feeling is Campbell will prevail.
Labeling is important in the law. Labels must be large enough and well presented to provide notice. And the notice cannot be misleading. Sodium was not the only ingredient in the healthier tomato soup. There were many others. All listed in the usual fashion on the rear side of the can.
The label indicated healthier. Overall, the soup probably was. To extricate one ingredient as the basis for a lawsuit is too much. If these ladies were that health conscious, they should have turned the can around and read the label of ingredients and the amounts thereof.
I generally do. I believe most Americans do. We are a health conscious nation.
Note also that the sodium content was less in the purported healthier can. Though not significantly.
I view this lawsuit as a frivolous one.
Time will tell.
It's All About Money!
Sometimes I want to stand on top of a mountain and shout: Stop all this craziness!
It's all about money. Our politicians are driven, motivated and directed by it.
Let me share some examples.
The AARP. The Republican House members do not like the AARP. They have called for an investigation of the AARP by the IRS.
The AARP sponsors many programs for its members. Programs that provide cheaper group rates. The AARP also lobbies in Washingtonn for senior citizen rights.
I am an AARP member. I purchase my supplemental health insurance, drug insurance and auto insurance from AARP sponsored programs. I am also happy they are fighting for me in Washington. They are the lobbyists for senior citizens. If not for them, who would fight for seniors in Washington? Seniors are not corporate America.
The House Republicans make the argument that the AARP will benefit from the Obama health care law. More people will be insured. AARP they project will earn upwards of $10,000 billion dollars more over 10 years.
Ergo, the House Republicans want AARP's tax exempt status removed.
I say what about the insurance companies who will be insuring most of the additional 30 million people. Big profits to be made there!
AARP stands for seniors. They fight for Medicare and Social Security. What do Republicans want to cut? Medicare and Social Security. AARP stands in their way. Eliminate them. This is the way the House Republicans would have it. Start with with an IRS investigation.
What about General Electric?
I have nothing against General Electric. But let’s call a spade a spade. GE earned a $14.2 billion dollar profit worldwide in 2010. Do you know how much GE paid in corporate taxes? Nothing. Zero dollars.
Same thing happened in 2009. GE paid zero taxes.
It does not make sense to me. It does not seem fair.
The tax code requires dramatic revision. The IRS should audit GE. It is inconceivable to me that a company can make that much money and not owe any taxes.
How are we ever going to reduce the national debt if the United States has to rely on the taxes of the little guy alone to run the government?
Then there is the Congressman who says he cannot live on his $174,000 salary. He is Sean Duffy of Wisconsin.
I do not understand. $174,000 a year is a lot of money. More than most Americans make. Something is wrong with the Congressman if he cannot make it on that kind of money.
There is the issue of Congressmen and parking tickets.
This week the parking ticket scandal was revealed. Not a big deal. Some Congressman do not believe they have to pay parking tickets. Only a total of $15,000 involved. One Congressman had in excess of $2,000 worth. Why do you and I have to pay our parking tickets and some members of Congress feel they do not?
Some sort of entitlement involved here.
Then there is the problem of budget cuts. Wasteful spending has resulted in government having to cut back on expenditures.
I have never understood why one of the first places government seeks to cut is education. Especially when we know we are doing a lousy job of educating our young. We are no longer a world leader in education. Other nations will bury us economically in 20 years if we do not correct the educational system.
Grammar school kids in Dallas are participating in a letter writing program. To elected leaders. Asking elected officials not to reduce spending for their education.
In New York City, 3,100 kindergarten age children have been wait listed. Yes, there is not sufficient room in the schools to accommodate all the kids ready to start school. The root of the problem is twofold. Lack of planning and insufficient money.
Which brings me to an example of what is happening already in the United States and could occur with
increased frequency.
The place is Vallejo, California. A town.
Vallejo declared bankruptcy in 2008. Services had to be cut. The police force was reduced 40 per cent. Prostitution developed. Ladies of the night moved in to work by day and night. Johns visited the community with increased frequency.
The police force was inadequate to control the problem.
Citizens joined together to form the Kentucky Street Watch Owls. They police the streets of Vallejo themselves. Self help.
Is this what you want? Do you want to have to share in policing your community? Perhaps assisting with other municipal services?
Government is failing us. Our political leaders don't understand. Governing has become a lost art. There are no more statesmen.
I hope you have found this dissertation enlightening.
I have no solutions. I am merely scrapping the scab off the wound.
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo. Governor of New York.
A man to be watched.
This is budget time. Budgets become law. In Washington and state capitols across the nation, legislatures have passed or are in the process of passing budgets. Once legislatively approved, the budgets go to the President and Governors to be signed into law.
Everyone is broke. The Nation, States, and most Americans.
Budgets must be cut is the cry! Services will be less! Entitlements less! Collective bargaining must go!
Such are the cries heard on a daily basis.
Two new Republican governors are in the forefront of the battle. Whether they are fighting the battle with honor remains to be seen. I speak of Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Governor John Kasich of Ohio. The main thrust of their purported budget balancing activities is the elimination or substantial minimization of collective bargaining rights.
New York is a big state with big problems, also. Democrat Andrew Cuomo is in his first term as are Walker and Kasich.
This past week Cuomo announced a balanced budget for New York. The plan is already approved by the Republican leader of the State Senate and the Democratic leader of the State Assembly.
Additionally, New York's budget has been approved early. The first time there has been early budget approval in New York since 1983.
Cuomo was faced with a $10 billion deficit. He eliminated the deficit without raising taxes, without increased spending and without increasing the size of government.
He also balanced the budget without talking about or in any fashion reducing collective bargaining rights.
Cuomo accomplished all this without the fanfare that has accompanied Walker and Kasich's activities.
After only three months in office, Cuomo has established himself as a true public servant. He is a comer in the vernacular of politicians.
Keep your eyes on him!
Can A Murderer Be Executed Like A Dog?
The title of this blog will be a question before the United States Supreme Court in due course.
Dogs are put to sleep with pentobarbital. A simple injection and man's best friend passes on.
States that execute by drug injection use a three drug cocktail. Until recently, the first drug injected was sodium thiopental.
The sole United States manufacturer decided to move its manufacturing facility to Italy. Italian law prohibits the exportation of any drug to be used in human executions. Italy does not have capital punishment.
The company decided since its only market was the United States for the drug, business was not sufficient to manufacture the sodium thiopental elsewhere.
An immediate scarcity developed.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Some States came up with a resolution. Use pentobarbital. The drug used to put animals to sleep.
Following is how the scarcity/pentobarbital problem is working out as reflected in the actions of three States.
Georgia found a plant in London that manufactured sodium thiopental. They purchased some. Even executed two inmates with the London purchase. One in September, one in January.
Now the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration enters the picture. The agency confiscated all the sodium thiopental Georgia had left. Georgia was also charged with violations. Apparently anyone importing a drug must notify the agency of the intent to do so and again notify the agency when the drug is received. Georgia did not do so.
The agency inspected the London manufacturer and discovered the plant was in a gritty rundown neighborhood and apparently not clean.
The agency concern was that the drug could be adulterated, counterfeit or otherwise ineffective. If any of the three, the drug when used in executions could subject prisoners to extreme pain. Such the agency said would be in violation of the Constitutional provision against cruel and unusual treatment.
Now comes Arizona.
Donald Beaty was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 13 year old girl. He appealed at the last minute that the sodium thiopental to be used on him came from the same London plant already described. He claimed it was a fly by night outfit and he would be subjected to excruciating pain.
The Arizona Supreme Court did not agree with him. It authorized the execution to proceed.
Beaty asked the United States Supreme Court to intervene. That Court refused to hear the case.
Beaty was executed last week.
Note that the reluctance of the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case does not mean the Court has ruled on the issue. It was merely reluctant to hear it now.
Finally, Texas became faced with the problem.
Texas normally does not fool around. They move swiftly. A Cleve Foster was scheduled to be executed this morning using pentobarbital. It was the first Texas execution where the drug was to be used. Previously, Texas had used sodium thiopental.
Within hours of the scheduled execution, Foster's attorneys filed papers with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to hear the drug issue and others. Foster received a last minute reprieve. His attorneys have 30 days to file detailed papers following which the Court will decide if it wants to hear the case.
That's the story.
Typical of most legal matters, everything remains screwed up. There will be no definitive answer till the U.S. Supreme Court rules. And that may take a while. Because of another typical condition. The law moves slowly.
Yale and Sexual Harassment
College is not what it used to be! At least not in my experience. Of course, college for me was in the mid 1950s. A long time ago.
Sexual harassment? It did not exist. Men were gentlemen and treated ladies as ladies. Respect was key.
Apparently things are different today.
Yale University has a problem. Some male students got out of hand and a sexual harassment complaint is being investigated by federal authorities.
The facts tend to speak for themselves. Some male fraternity persons prepared signs and carried them in front of the female dorms. The signs read: "We love Yale sluts." Other male students walked the campus and chanted "...no means yes" and "...yes means anal."
Sixteen female students not only took offense, but took action. They filed a civil rights sexual harassment claim against Yale University. Specifically, the complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. The filing initiated the investigation by federal authorities.
The sixteen ladies made the claim based on Yale's purported failure to eliminate a hostile sexual environment. An environment in which the ladies claim they felt devalued.
Obviously, the sixteen complained to the Yale administration prior to filing their formal complaint. They claim Yale did not properly respond to their complaints. They further allege Yale has an insufficient/inadequate grievance process for handling sexual harassment claims.
Apparently campus sexual harassment is not limited to Yale. It may be prevalent across the nation. A representative of the American Association of Women said the problem is common at colleges and that the Yale investigation is a wakeup call for all schools.
Tajikistan To Ban Divorce By Texting
Historically, divorce for a male has been relatively easy in the Islamic faith. The husband would look at the wife and say three times: I divorce you. It is called talaq.
Conversely, the wife did not have a similar right. Only the husband could divorce.
Time has altered the modus operandi a bit as regards Islamic divorce. Whatever changes have occurred are the result of legislation in a particular Muslim country.
The primary change is known as khula. The wife can apply to a court and ask for a divorce. In most of these countries, the husband still has the easy route to a divorce. He merely has to look the wife in the eye and say three times I divorce you.
Generally, a husband can obtain a divorce at will. He needs no grounds. The wife does. The grounds are few and difficult to prove.
The bottom line is that even with legislative assistance in certain countries, a woman's right to divorce is extremely limited.
Egypt, Syria, India, Sudan, Morocco, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon basically adhere to the old law. Certain however permit the woman the right to divorce also on the limited basis described.
The Muslim countries of North Africa generally limit the right to divorce to the husband alone. Interestingly, the North African nations have a high and repetitive rate of divorce.
A divorce is not final until three months after the husband says I divorce you three times to his wife. The three month delay is to provide time for reconciliation and to be sure the wife is not pregnant.
Where the wife has a court ordered right to divorce, the time lag till the divorce is final is one month. More aptly stated as one menstrual period. Again to be certain the wife is not pregnant.
The waiting period is known as iddah.
The above generally are the rules. There are numerous inconsistencies between Muslim countries and also within a particular nation. Shite and Sunni make up the greatest segments of Muslim peoples. The two religious sects disagree amongst themselves as to the rules for divorce.
It is obviously relatively easy in a Muslim country for the husband to divorce. Three little words!
Modern science has even accelerated the process in one Muslim nation. Tajikistan.
Tajikistan has been permitting divorce by text. It allowed the husband to text I divorce you three times to the wife. The face to face confrontation was not required.
The feeling amongst the religious leaders in Tajikistan was that texting is not consistent with Islamic law. At least not as Mohammed and the Koran intended it.
Ergo, texting I divorce you/talaq will soon be outlawed in Tajikistan.
Facebook.....The End of One Lawsuit and Beginning of Another
Facebook is one of the outstanding creations of all time! It allows social networking to the nth degree and beyond.
Mark Zuckerberg is the young genius responsible for Facebook. He purportedly is now the richest man in the world.
Deservedly so.
Back in Facebook's early success days, Zuckerberg was sued by the Winklevoss twins, Mark and Tyler.
They claimed they had invented/developed Facebook together with Zuckerberg while all three were at Harvard.
The litigation was acrimonious. It was finally settled in 2008 by a payment to the Winklevoss brothers of $65 million.
Those of you who may have seen the excellent movie Social Networking will recall the settlement conference between Zuckerberg and one of his lawyers. The lawyer encouraged him to pay the $65 million. It was a drop in the bucket compared to the multi millions Zuckerberg had already made.
During the litigation, both sides were represented by top shelf attorneys, accountants, financial advisers, etc. The stakes were high.
Recently, the Winklevoss brothers decided they had settled too cheaply at $65 million. Facebook's stock is worth exceedingly more today than in 2008 when the settlement was entered into. So the brothers brought another lawsuit. This one to set aside the 2008 settlement.
The Ninth Circuit appellate court yesterday said no way. Clearly and emphatically. The Court's reasoning was that the Winklevoss brothers were intelligent educated men, had six attorneys representing them and their father. The elder Winklevoss was a Wharton professor and was an integral part of the settlement process and decision. The Court also was of the opinion that every litigation must have an ending. And this one ended with the 2008 settlement. In effect, the settlement was a binding legal deal and the Winklevoss brothers were stuck with it.
The Winklevoss brothers can appeal to the full Ninth Circuit Court and to the Supreme Court. In my opinion, neither will do them any good. The three judge decision just rendered is sound. Further legal activity would be an exercise in futility from my perspective. But with big money involved, the Winklevoss brothers might be inclined to go further.
Now comes Paul Ceglia.
Ceglia claims that in 2003 and 2004 while Zuckerberg was a freshman at Harvard, Ceglia and Zuckerman communicated via emails. Ceglia claims to have the emails. He says he offered advice to Zuckerberg. More importantly, he claims to have assisted Zuckerberg financially.
Remember, this is early in Facebook's conception and Harvard freshman Zuckerberg was broke.
Ceglia claims he paid $1,000 to Zuckerberg. He further claims the $1,000 bought him 84 per cent of Facebook.
The Ceglia lawsuit is in the discovery stage.
The litigation cycle can be endless.
This is especially so where the target appears to have an endless supply of money!
First Successful Temporary Insanity Defense
The man is Daniel Edgar Sickles. The time 1859. The place, La Fayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, DC.
Sickles had become aware his wife Teresa was having an affair. The affair was with Philip Barton Key II. Key was the son of Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner. Key was also the District Attorney of the District of Columbia at the time of the affair and shooting.
I am surprised no one has ever made a movie out of this scenario.
In any event, Sickles turned himself in and stood trial. His defense attorney was Edwin Stanton, later to become Secretary of War under Lincoln.
Sickles pled innocent by reason of temporary insanity. Such a defense had never been used successfully prior to his trial. He claimed he was driven crazy by his wife's infidelity.
His wife Teresa was vilified during the trial. Referred to as a harlot and adulteress. The Washington papers thrived on the trial in their reportings. The trial proof showed Keys to be a ladies’ man, also. The tremor of the testimony and newspaper reports was that Sickles by killing Key had saved Washington wives from the likes of the rogue Key.
The temporary insanity plea worked. Sickles was acquitted.
After the trial, Sickles and his wife reconciled.
There is more to Sickles' story. The rest has nothing to do with his murder trial acquittal. Rather, it shows the tenor and character of the man.
Sickles' pluses and minuses reflected him to be colorful, controversial, a lawyer, a politician, a power broker, a war hero, a deceiver, a man with little respect for established propriety.
We begin.
Sickles became an attorney years before the Civil War. He practiced in New York and Washington. He served in the New York State Assembly. Then as a New York State Senator. He was also a member of the United States delegation at its London embassy.
When the Civil War began, Sickles joined the Northern effort. He was commissioned a general.
The Battle of Gettysburg was a significant event in his life. George C. Meade was general of all the Union forces. He ordered Sickles to take his troops and go to a particular spot and defend the area. When Sickles arrived at the designated location, he did not like it. There was hill to his front blocking his view. So he moved his force about a mile away.
The Confederate troops were shocked when Sickle's forces moved. They thought the attack had begun. So the South attacked Sickle and his men. Tragically. Sickles' forces were annihilated.
In the fracas, Sickles was shot in the leg with a cannon ball and lost his leg.
It is reported that had Sickles not been a big time politician and a hero, to boot, because of the loss of his leg, he would have been court-martialed.
The same day Sickles lost his men and his leg, he was back in Washington. Heralding of course the activities of the day. From his perspective, naturally. He claimed his moving of his troops had won the Battle of Gettysburg.
Meade was pissed. They had an ongoing battle over the years as to whom and what had won the Battle.
Thirty four years later, Sickles was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his activities that day at Gettysburg. The award said in part that it was for Sickles "...responsibly contesting the advance of the enemy and continuing to encourage his troops after being severely wounded."
Sickles was obviously a good politician and man of influence.
After the Civil War, Sickles again served in the United States Congress and also as the United States Minister to Spain. He is also credited with having spent much time assuring that the Gettysburg site become
the shrine it is today.
Sickles died in 1914. His services were held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Besides the murder of Key, Sickles is known for further acts which might be considered scandalous in nature.
While a member of the New York Assembly, he escorted a well known prostitute onto the Assembly Chamber floor. Her name was Fanny White. Sickles was censured by the Assembly for so doing.
Later when Sickles was a member of the United States delegation in London, he had Fanny White presented to Queen Victoria as a person of important American position.
Media commentators at the time were of the opinion it was fortunate Sickles' wife Teresa was not present. Otherwise, another shooting might have occurred.
Sickles influence and power were evident following his arrest for shooting Key. He was jailed in Washington. He received many guests of importance. Senators, Congressmen, Statesman. Only the President did not visit. Though it is reported that the President sent him a personal note.
Sickles received all guests in the head jailer's apartment.
Sickles was also permitted to pack a gun while in jail awaiting trial. No one seems to know why. However such fact is reported many times.
The purpose of this blog is to report the first successful use of temporary insanity as a defense. However, Sickles life, before, during and after the Key killing, was so interesting; I felt duty bound to share the details with you.
I hope you enjoyed.
Police Harassment In Reverse
An interesting California court verdict was rendered last week.
Two Los Angeles motorcycle police officers received an award of $2 million dollars against their employer, the City of Los Angeles, and certain of their police superiors. The subject matter of the lawsuit was harassment.
California has a state law that prohibits a police department from having traffic ticket quotas. Good for California!
The two police officers were told by their superiors to issue no less than 18 traffic citations a day. They refused. As a result, they received bad job assignments.
The motorcycle officers sued. Now the City of Los Angeles has a $2 million judgment to pay.
In this instance I say... Good for the cops!
Oil And The U.S. Department of Energy
The price of gasoline continues to go up! Higher and higher!
Where will it peak?
In Key West, the price of regular is $4.05 per gallon. The price of premium $4.25 per gallon.
It is the same in many parts of the United States.
Gasoline prices generally peak after Memorial Day. Are we heading for $5 plus a gallon?
Possibly, no, probably so.
The first significant gasoline crisis after World War II occurred in the 1970s during Carter's administration.
I can recall waiting three hours in line to fill my tank in Pompano. I can further recall returning from New York on the New York Thruway with my wife and parents in the car with me. We ran out of gas 14 miles from Utica. It was after midnight. The stations were closed due to fuel scarcity. We had to sleep in the car till morning.
Carter was intent on solving the fuel crisis for the American people. It was winter. He went on national television and told us to keep our thermostats down and wear sweaters. I thought he was nuts!
Carter had another idea. He obviously recognized our oil crisis and that something had to be done. He was responsible for establishing the U.S. Department of Energy. The purpose of the Department of Energy was expressly stated to be to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. The Department was created by law on August 4, 1977.
It is now 33 years later and the United States has yet to lessen its dependence on foreign oil.
Every President starting with Carter and his successors have failed to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
I hold them all to blame. Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II and Obama. And each Congress during that time. Thirty three years later, we are still dependent on foreign nations for our oil supply.
In the meantime, the Department of Energy has grown. Its most recent budget was $24.2 billion. The Department has 16,000 employees and an additional 100,000 contract employees.
What has it done, what has it accomplished, in lessening our dependence on foreign oil? Nothing.
If I am missing something, please share it with me. Other than we as a people have not prodded our elected officials properly to correct the situation over the years. We consume gasoline like pigs.
There is one other thorn in my side. The United States is in dire financial straits. We are broke!
Exxon paid no income tax last year to the United States. Exxon did pay a total of $15.8 billion in taxes to other countries.
When will we wake up?
Toddlers And Alcohol Consumption
It is a basic of life. Children should not consume alcohol.
Generally, young ones are prevented from indulging.
Like everything else however, mistakes occur. Mistakes that could have dangerous consequences.
In the past week, there have been three reported instances of young children being served alcoholic beverages in a restaurant. All by mistake.
The first was at an Applebee’s in Michigan. A 15 month old boy received a margarita instead of orange juice. The next was at an Olive Garden in Lakeland, Florida. A two year old was served sangria instead of orange juice. The third was at a Chili's in Chicago. A four year old got a mudslide instead of a chocolate shake.
Fortunately, no permanent disability attended their consuming these adult drinks. Though all three had some unusual side effects. One slept immediately. Head down on the table. Another was overly happy and friendly. Two were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
Applebee’s and Olive Garden stood up to the plate. They accepted responsibility. Their problem. Both have instituted new containers and training for serving infants.
Chili's was a bit hard assed. Chili's basically blamed the mother. She should have known the difference between a mudslide and chocolate shake. The mudslide was not served in a child's container.
Is there a problem? Three incidents in a week. Three different food chains. Could be.
Let's assume one or all of the children became seriously ill. A claim/lawsuit would inevitably follow.
I would like to briefly explore some of the basic laws that would apply. Children have special rules in the law.
There is a thing called contributory negligence.
In some states, any person doing something to them self, no matter how small contrasted with the negligence of another party, is barred from recovery. Other states have comparative negligence. Note the different words: contributory and comparative. Where comparative law applies, the award is diminished by the percentage the injured party contributed to his or her own injury.
Contributory/comparative negligence does not apply to children under a certain age in most states. The cut off is generally four. Legally stated, a person four years or younger cannot be guilty of contributory/comparative negligence as a matter of law.
There is always the issue of negligence of the parent. Something Chili's was perhaps suggesting.
A parent's negligence contributing or causing injury to the child is not a bar to the child's claim. The general rule is that the negligence of the parent cannot be imputed to the child. A fair concept.
Then there is the issue as to whether a child can sue the parent in tort.
In most states, a child cannot sue the parent where the parent is responsible for the child' injury. The rule is based on social theory. Plainly stated, we cannot have kids suing parents.
Some states get around the general rule by passage of special statutes for special situations. Automobile accident cases are an example. Many states have adopted legislation permitting a child to sue the parent in automobile accident cases.
So much for toddlers and drinking. Let us hope that the three different incidents involving three different restaurant chains make all restaurants take notice and review their serving procedures.
Where there is smoke, there is fire. Better safe than sorry.
CEO COMPENSATION ON THE RISE
Recent articles have indicated CEO compensation is on the rise. Skyrocketing might be a better description.
General Electric is a perfect example.
Last year GE made a profit world wide of $14.2 billion. GE paid no taxes.
GE's Board Chairman and CEO last year was Jeff Immelt. He was paid by GE in excess of $21 million.
Not bad for one year's work! A family can buy a lot of groceries and pay any price for gasoline with an income like that.
Immelt is no longer with GE. He is now President Obama's Job Czar. His charge was and is to create much needed employment for the American people.
He has succeeded and failed at the same time. The numbers indicate unemployment to be down overall by more than one percentage point.
A major accomplishment from my perspective.
One of the causes of our unemployment has been the removal of manufacturing jobs by American and foreign corporations from the United States to foreign countries. Under Immelt's Job Czar activities thus far, the movement overseas continues. More jobs left the United States than were started.
Not good!
GE is one example. A review of the major banks and oil companies indicate CEO compensation on the rise. My recollection is that there was a furor three years ago when our economic downfall commenced. The furor was to the effect that CEO compensation was off the wall, was going to be followed and controlled.
It is being followed. It is not being controlled.
I am merely sharing information. However, I continue to ask the same question: When are we going to learn?
McDonald's and Happy Meals
Children worldwide love McDonald's Happy Meals! One reason is the toy inside. The toy portion of the Happy Meal is considered its prime attraction.
Now comes a California mother who wants the toy removed.
At first glance.....a Scrooge, a meanie.
Perhaps not.
The mother is Monet Parham of San Francisco. A mother of two, she is concerned with good health. Especially for children.
Obesity rates for the young are on the rise. Restaurant operators' anti-obesity efforts are considered weak and ineffective. Chains especially serve foods rich in fat and sugar.
Public efforts to adjust the quality of fast food products have been ineffective. As long as the food does not kill, people are free to eat whatever they choose.
Freedom of choice is the issue.
Monet Parham apparently realized the futility of trying to get McDonald's to change fat and sugar content dramatically. Necessity being the mother of invention, she came up with another approach.
Monet Parham initiated a lawsuit against McDonald’s claiming the toy in Happy Meals violated California consumer protection laws. Her claim basically takes the position that the Happy Meal/toy advertising is directed at children. Children are not the purchasers. Parents are. Monet Parham considers this an effort to go around the parents directly to the children. Such she claims is an unfair trade practice.
A stretch, I concede.
McDonald's moved to dismiss this past Monday in federal court in the Northern District of California. McDonald's argued that the parents buy and not the children. Since parents are the actual purchasers, they have the option of not buying Happy Meals. Children are not technically involved in the purchase process.
A stretch, also.
I have no idea on which side this case will be decided. Both parties are stretching the law to fit their own needs.
I am all for healthy food. Especially for our young. At the same time, Happy Meals and the toy inside has been a lifelong friend to me, my children and grandchildren.
The case will be followed and its outcome reported.
FU - GO
Fu-go sounds like a dirty word.
It is not.
Japanese in origin, it means fire balloon or fire bomb.
Most people believe that in modern times, war has come to United States' shores only one time. On 9/11. Such is not correct. There was one other time. During World War II. However, the government and press opted to keep it secret.
The Japanese were upset that the United States had successfully bombed certain of their cities in 1942 via the Doolittle Raid. In 1944, the United States was bombing with increasing regularity and damaging the Japanese home islands with B29 raids.
Revenge pure and simple was the order of the day. The Japanese wanted Americans to suffer the effects of bombing as it was. The balloon bomb devised was similar to balloons used today in the sport of ballooning. With one exception. The passenger basket of today beneath the balloon was the Japanese bomb of yesterday.
There were three type bombs. A 26 pound incendiary, a 33 pound antipersonnel and an 11 pound incendiary device.
The Japanese plan was brilliant. The intent was to use the jet stream to carry the balloon bombs from Japan over the Pacific to North America. The aim was American and Canadian cities.
The balloon bomb program was in effect from November 1944 through April 1945. Nine thousand three hundred balloon bombs were launched. Approximately 300 reached the United States. The bombs proved generally ineffective. There was little property damage. Only six Americans were killed.
The six Americans were a pregnant woman and five Sunday school children. The incident occurred one month after the Japanese had stopped the balloon program. The six were in a forest in southern Oregon looking for a picnic spot. They came upon a strange balloon on the ground with something attached to it. An explosion occurred and they were killed.
The United States war time government thought it best to keep these balloon bombs secret. The Office of Censorship communicated with the newspapers and radio and obtained their cooperation. The necessity for secrecy was twofold. First, not to let the Japanese know the bombs were in fact reaching American shores. The second was so as not to panic American citizens.
The secrecy worked. Of the approximate 300 balloon bombs which reached American shores, the Japanese were only aware of one. One that landed in Wyoming.
The Japanese ran the balloon bomb program for six months. Since they had no knowledge of balloon bombs reaching American shores in any significant numbers, the program was terminated. It was considered a fiasco. The general who conceived the plan lost face.
The balloon bomb program was quite expensive. The Japanese felt they were not getting enough bang for their dollar. Three plants were required to produce the necessary hydrogen. B29 raids destroyed two of the plants. The Japanese were reluctant to rebuild them.
There remains a present danger.
Many of the balloon bombs that reached American shores have neither been found nor detonated. Unexploded ordinance remains, especially in the forests and mountains of the northwest.
The "S" in Harry S Truman
Former President Truman's name generally appears with no period/punctuation following the S.
Why?
It all has to do with naming him at birth.
Some family members wanted the newborn's middle name to be Shippe after his paternal grandfather. Others wanted his middle name to be Solomon after his maternal grandfather.
No agreement could be reached. So the baby Harry received the initial S without punctuation. The S stands for no name. Since not representative of a name, it was generally viewed that no punctuation was required.
However, Truman himself and propriety screwed things up.
As President, Truman often signed legal documents with a period following the S. The Chicago Manual of Style requires all initials in a name to be followed by a period for "convenience and consistency." The U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual prints Truman's name with a period following the S.
Regardless, the S stands for nothing. And as mandated by Truman's parents and Harry himself prior to and sometimes during his Presidency, the period is not required.
Possible Law Banning Male Circumcision Not Kosher
The seed for an unquestionable lawsuit involving basic Constitutional rights has been planted. Human rights and religious freedom will be pitted against each other.
The issue: Whether male circumcision should be banned until a person has reached the age of 18.
The place: San Francisco, California. Most things crazy have their origin in California.
A group opposed to male circumcision is reported to have obtained over 12,000 signatures to put the issue to a vote in San Franciciso's city elections in November. Only 7,200 signatures are required. The proposed law would apply regardless of religion.
The group opposing male circumcision is serious. San Francisco is their first attempt at such a ban. Their aim is a national ban on circumcision. They view circumcision as male mutilation. The group believes it is wrong to circumcise a child. They consider the issue as one involving human rights.
Freedom of religion is a basic right under the United States Constitution. The question naturally arises as to those of the Jewish and Muslim faiths. Both require circumcision on religious grounds.
The situation is a monumental Constitutional confrontation in the making.
Unless, of course, the people of San Francisco do not approve the ballot issue in November.
This group I have referred to, this group that reportedly has obtained over 12,000 signatures to place the issue on the ballot, numbers 10. Remarkable, isn't it. That a handful can initiate a matter of such importance.
That is democracy.
Whether you approve or not.
Soaring Gas Price Oddities
We Americans must enjoy getting ripped off.
The price of petroleum products has been an issue since the 1970s. Yet nothing significant has been accomplished to relieve the problem. We scream when the price of gas gets over $4. Our elected officials acknowledge the terribleness of the situation. Democrats and Republicans alike.
What happens? Nothing!
There are some oddities with the fuel problem I would like to share with you. Each is an eye opener.
The price of gasoline per gallon is significantly cheaper in Mexico than in the United States. For real. Such being the case, why is there a border problem? Why are Mexicans so desperate to come to the United States?
If certain necessities are cheaper, then there is no need to earn big dollars.
The average price of gasoline in Mexico presently runs between $2.80 and $2.94 per gallon. Some areas are even less. While we are paying over $4 per gallon. And fearfully perhaps moving to $5 per gallon.
In San Diego recently, the cost of a gallon of gasoline was $4.53. A comparable gallon across the border in Tijuana cost $2.76. $1.77 per gallon cheaper. A significant amount.
One of the reasons gasoline is cheaper in Mexico is that the government in effect subsidizes it. The Mexican government owns the gasoline production facilities. There is a theory in Mexico that cheap gasoline keeps its citizens happy and less dissatisfied with the government.
I want to be happy and less dissatisfied with my government. Perhaps we should own the production facilities rather than the oil companies. We subsidize many other things. We subsidize farmers, manufacturers, etc. Even the oil companies to the tune of $4 billion a year.
A socialist I am not. However, there is an appeal to taking over the oil production facilities. If that would help our gasoline/fuel oil cost problem.
It is called nationalization. A terrible word. A terrible thought. But hard times call for hard measures.
I cannot see it happening in the United States. The big oil company lobbyists are too powerful and influential in the halls of Congress. I even question the legality of such a move. But you must admit it would scare the hell out of big oil!
How about $9 a gallon for gas?
It is already happening. With certain car rental companies.
When you rent a car, you are asked if you wish to fill the tank prior to return or have the rental company do it. USA Today recently did a study. Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty are charging the consumer roughly $9 a gallon for the fill up. Specifically, between $8.99 and $9.29 per gallon.
We have become lazy. Most Americans do not fill the tank. They pay the car rental company to do it. Convenience here is too expensive! At these prices, we should fill our own tanks!
I hope you enjoyed these tidbits of information. Makes a person think.
Yes, there is more than one way to skin a cat!
Harry S Truman, May 14, 1948
The date was May 14, 1948.
The time eleven minutes past midnight.
The place was the White House, Washington, D.C.
Truman had spent the evening before with a visitor. His old friend Edward Jackson.
Jackson was a Missouri friend, as well as Truman's partner in the ill fated haberdashery business many years before. The two men were close. It was not uncommon for Jackson to show up at the White House to chat with his friend of many years.
Jackson was of the Jewish faith. The purpose of this particular visit was the recognition of the new State of Israel. Obviously, Jackson supported such a move. Prior to the meeting, Truman had been advised by his foremost diplomats not to recognize Israel. It is claimed Truman was so inclined prior to the Jackson meeting. Truman was not going to recognize the new Israel.
The influence of friendship! One based on many years of closeness and respect. Jackson convinced Truman to recognize the new State of Israel.
Truman did so by Presidential Proclamation. There is a long definition for the term. However stated simply, it is writing by a President that defines situations or conditions that become legal or economic truth. A Presidential Proclamation carries the weight of law. It is law.
That is how the United States came to recognize Israel. The United States was the first nation to do so. An important development for Israel at the time.
It is now some 63 years later following Truman's Presidential Proclamation. There still is not peace between Israel and many of its neighbors.
Will there ever be?
I don't know.
Economic Help For Autism Available
Autism is a childhood problem. It generally occurs in children up to the age of three years.
Autism is a developmental disorder. It affects social and communication skills.
There are three primary causes. Heavy metals, pesticides and childhood vaccines.
This blog concerns itself with autism caused by childhood vaccines. Yes, those same vaccines that are given to prevent damage and disease. No system/application is perfect. The deficiency with the childhood vaccine which causes a child to become autistic has been recognized by the United States government.
There is a federal vaccine court. It exists to compensate/economically help those who become autistic because of childhood vaccines. Note that recovery is dependent upon specific documentation that the vaccine in fact caused the autism. There must be clear supporting proof.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, of which the federal vaccine court is a part, has been in existence for approximately twenty years. In that time, over 1300 cases have been documented. As a result, the federal government provided financial assistance. This year alone already 83 cases have been documented.
The program provides much needed help. Parents who unfortunately have an autistic child should make application to the program. If the cause is in fact related to childhood vaccines, the parents will receive much needed assistance to help their child.
Suicide Update
Several months ago I wrote a detailed blog on suicide. The legalities of suicide.
It is time for an update. The issue: mail order suicides.
A bit of background.
Suicide is the sixth cause of death annually in the United States. Over one million persons commit suicide worldwide annually. There are in excess of ten million botched suicide attempts annually worldwide, also.
Ergo, suicide is an issue of some consequence.
For a person to commit suicide is not a crime. Nor is the attempt.
The crime is to assist in the commission of a suicide.
In short, it is legal to kill one's self or attempt to do so. It is illegal to help someone commit or attempt to commit suicide.
Simply recall the Jack Kevorkian situation.
Time moves on. Circumstances change. Beliefs adjust.
There is a growing movement in this country in support of suicide. Many people want to pack it in their way at their time of choosing.
Additionally, there are now Living Wills. That document that hospitals ask if you wish to sign which permits the plug to be pulled. Most persons subscribe to the Living Will doctrine. Under the guise of I don't want to suffer. Not realizing of course that a bit more suffering might pull them through. And further not realizing that the Living Will was fathered by the insurance industry that wants to limit the bills it must pay.
Two states have Death With Dignity laws. Oregon and Washington. Both recognize the legality of suicide. That already existed. However, the laws provide for varying degrees of assistance with the suicide. Recall that suicide assistance is the crime. Not the suicide itself.
Oregon went so far as to permit a doctor to actually assist in the suicide. Washington only permits the physician to advise.
Two weeks ago on my internet show The Key West Lou Legal Hour (http://www.konkbroadcasting.com/), I reported on a 91 year old California woman who had gone into a new business. Mail order suicide kits.
The kits cost $60. Included are a how to do book. Also a face mask and tube. The instructions say the tube is to be connected to a helium tank at one end and the face mask at the other. Inhalation of the helium would complete the suicide attempt. The helium was not contained in the suicide kit. The cost of the helium is approximately $175 and had to be purchased separately by the person intending suicide.
Oregon got upset. Although physician assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, they did not want their citizens subjected to a mail order suicide kit. Oregon's legislators considered mail order suicide to be sleazy.
Oregon's bill prohibiting mail order suicides has passed its Senate. It awaits action by the House. It is anticipated it will be passed and signed into law by Oregon's governor.
That completes this suicide update. It is not the end of the story, however. I have a feeling that over the next ten years, the legalities of suicide will burgeon and there will be more to report.
May 24th in History
A walk back in history. May 24th.
Though there have been many May 24ths going back through the centuries, five stand out. The events occurring on those five particular May 24ths were significant and in many instances continue to impact our present lives.
The year is 1844. Samuel Morris opened America's first telegraph line. His message: "What hath God wrought?"
The telegraph, in a more advanced stage, is still with us.
In 1983, the Brooklyn Bridge opened.
It still exists and is in daily use.
Ah, 1935! The first major league night baseball game. Cincinnati's Crosley Field. The Reds beat the Phillies 2-1.
What would we do without night baseball?
1941 was a time of war. World War II had begun. The United States had not yet entered the war. England stood alone against Germany's onslaught.
The Bismarck was a mighty German battle ship. On May 24, the Bismarck sunk the British HMS Hood in the North Atlantic. Off the 1,418 men on board the Hood, only three survived.
Churchill was raged. He commanded: "Sink the Bismarck!"
Three days later, the Bismarck was joined in battle by British planes and ships. In less than two hours, the Bismarck was sunk. Bismarck's crew numbered 2,200. 1,995 died.
Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord. Not necessarily.
Last year in 2010, the United States Supreme Court rejected the National Football League's request for broad antitrust law protection. The Court said the NFL must be considered 32 teams, not one big business.
The underlying NFL problems continue to be with us today.
Hope you enjoyed!
Proposed California Law Provides OSHA Protection To Porn Performers
OSHA are federal rules and regulations that apply to work place safety. In addition, most states have their personal set of OSHA rules and regs.
California's OSHA is known as the State Code on Occupational Health and Safety.
Recently, California work place safety officials submitted a 17 page proposal involving California's pornography industry. Porn films are a big time business and California one of the leading, if the leading, states where porn films are made. A multibillion dollar business.
The purpose of the proposal is to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases among porn film actors. The primary thrust of the proposal is to require the use of condoms during the making of such films.
A public hearing is scheduled for June 17.
A furor has erupted. Surprisingly by the porn industry itself. The claim is that the adoption of condom use will drive the huge porn film making business out of California. The producers claim people do not want to watch protected sex.
Louis says.....
The proposed rules and regulations are necessary and required.
Porn film making is a business like any other. Its dollar consequence is significant. Its workers should be protected. The same as any worker in any other industry.
Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases abound. Those who enjoy the films should not deny health protection to those who provide pleasure via film.
This is not a moral issue. It is a health one.
Egyptians, Virginity and Sharia Law
Egyptian males are defecating on their women.
In the recent Egyptian revolution which over threw Mubarak, Egyptian women demonstrated alongside the men in the streets. They were welcomed partners in the fight for a democratic Egypt.
Mubarak was overthrown.
The hope for a better day for Egyptian women died with his Presidency.
The baby was thrown out with the bath water.
I had a concern at the time of the revolution that the revolution might not be such a good idea. I spoke of it on my radio show. Egypt knew what it had in Mubarak. Good, bad or indifferent, he was at least minimally ok. Mubarak was of the military. The military have actually been the rulers of Egypt for forty years.
The revolting Egyptians were primarily young. Of both sexes. As earlier suggested, the women were welcomed as equal protestors on the streets.
The problem as I perceived it was that no one person seemed to rise to the top among the revolutionaries to lead Egypt. If the protestors were successful, who would run Egypt.
I suggested it would be the military. And probably nothing would change. I was correct.
I did believe however that women would somehow find a place in the new Egypt. I was wrong.
In the several months since the purported successful revolution, the plight of the female population appears to have worsened. They continue to be treated as second class citizens. They are not sent to the back of the bus, however. Figuratively, they are dragged behind.
Egyptian women recently began protesting again. They wanted their rights. The rights they protested for which brought about Mubarak’s overthrow. Unfortunately, they and the men are partners no more. Needed then, not now.
Because the women have taken to the streets once more, the Egyptian government/the military is heaping harsh treatment upon them. A woman's place is in the home and not outside vocalizing for rights. As a result, the female protestors are being arrested and tortured. Things like beatings, electrical shock, and strip searches.
They are also being subjected to virginity testing. Appreciate that if an Egyptian woman has had sex and is unmarried, she is an adultress. An adulteress under Islamic law can and is in many instances subjected to death by stoning. Another approach is if the virginity test is failed and the woman unmarried, she is labeled a prostitute. Islamic law condemns and punishes prostitutes as it does adulteresses.
Female protest leaders are complaining that the female torture is comparable to that which women were subjected to in the fifteenth century. They also compare it to Nazi Dr. Mengle's testing of women in concentration camps.
Post Mubarak has not been a good time for the ladies of Egypt.
I have written in the past and spoken on my radio show of Sharia law. Also known as Islamic law. The Muslim religion.
Egyptians are basically of the Islamic/Muslim faith.
Muslims have been immigrating in larger numbers to non Islamic nations worldwide. Including the United States. Once here, they wish to practice their own faith. No problem. But the Muslim immigrants have taken the issue a step further. They wish to be governed in the United States not under our laws, but rather under the laws of their religion. Sharia law.
Civilly and criminally.
Do not say it could not happen. Already there have been two successful lower court decisions supporting the Muslim position. Under the guise of freedom of religion. Fortunately, higher courts in each instance overruled the lower court.
Beware, however. The legal onslaught continues.
It cannot be. It should not be.
Can you imagine stoning an adulteress? Or how about a husband can have four wives and a woman only one? Even better, a man can divorce his wife by saying I divorce you to her? Whereas her divorce rights are strictly limited and not so simple.
I continue to maintain that if a people want to come to the United States and live, than they must abide by our laws. Not the laws of the place they left. If things were so good in the old country, I wonder why they left in the first instance.
Americans are one. We are all governed by the same laws. Muslims must be also. One for all and all for one. Otherwise, they should not have come here in the first instance. I say to them who like not our laws: Go home!
Now as to Egypt itself. The army ruled. The army still rules. Can the army ever be trusted? I doubt it. If it is an evolving process and the army is able to correct itself on its own, I suspect it will take another forty years. The length of time Mubarak was in power.
What of civilian control? Another question mark. No civilian leader emerged from the revolution debacle. The women who supported the revolution are being grossly mistreated.
I hope you have enjoyed this little treatise. My purpose in writing it is to show how that which is happening in Egypt can and could have an impact on.....We the people of the United States.
The Finger
Ah, the law. There is a case for everything.
Even the finger. The middle finger. Standing upright and alone.
The finger is also known as the bird, the gesture, the highway salute, and the Bronx salute. Its wordless meaning is "f--k you" and "up yours."
In April of this year, thirty five year old Shane Boor was driving to work somewhere in Colorado. Boor observed a State Trooper pull over another car. As Boor drove by, he gave the Trooper the finger.
The Trooper was not thrilled with the gesture. Boor was later stopped and charged with criminal harassment. Colorado's criminal sentence for the charge involves a jail sentence of up to six months.
The American Civil Liberties Union got involved on Boor's behalf. The ACLU conceded that the finger was rude. However, not illegal. The ACLU claimed giving a person the finger was protected free speech under the United States Constitution.
Last week, the Colorado State Police asked the Court to drop the charge. A back door way of saying the Trooper was wrong.
I assume the court will. If someone can burn the American flag with impunity as a free speech act, most certainly giving a police officer the finger should be awarded the same protection.
Let’s get practical for a moment. The Boor matter is not the first time a police officer in this country has been given the finger. It happens frequently.
Normally, the slighted police officer will proceed to pull the guilty party over and give the offender a ticket for some minor traffic charge like speeding, rolling through a stop sign or what have you. And in most instances, the traffic ticket is unwarranted. But the police officer requires retribution. That's life.
The Colorado State Trooper in the Boor matter was sufficiently insulted that apparently he did not care. And nailed Boor with a criminal charge.
Let’s explore for a moment the origins of the finger.
The extended middle finger is first recorded around 400 B.C. A comedian named Aristophanes entertained with crude jokes. More than 2,000 years has changed nothing! He started using the middle finger as a phallic symbol in his shows.
The first century A.D. found the finger in common use in the Mediterranean area. Its purpose was to divert the ever present evil eye which persons believed were always about them.
We are considered to be presently living in the golden age of the finger. The golden age having commenced around 1950. Though still considered one of the basest violations in modern culture, it has increased usage.
Nelson Rockefeller was Vice President under Gerald Ford. Rockefeller was campaigning for Robert Dole who was running for re-election to the United States Senate. It was 1976 and people were still upset about the Vietnam War. People in the crowd started giving Rockefeller the finger for his stand on the war. Rockefeller gave them the finger back.
If a Vice President can give someone the finger with impunity, most certainly Boor in Colorado could also.
The other interesting thing is that Rockefeller was an extremely wealthy man. He could give any one the finger! One of the advantages of wealth.
I do not recommend giving any one the finger. It is insulting and tasteless. But if you do, worry not.
Your Constitution protects you.
A Dog Named Trouble Died
This is the story of a dog's life. Trouble was his name.
Trouble was owned and loved by Leona Helmsley.
You will recall the name. Leona was married to Harry Helmsley, the hotel tycoon. Harry died and Leona inherited most of his fortune.
Leona screwed up with the IRS. She did time for income tax evasion.
Leona was not a very popular employer with the Helmsley hotel staffs. It is alleged she treated her employees poorly and with disdain. As a result of which, she became known as the Queen of Mean. The New York papers referred to her as such.
Leona's best friend was Trouble. A dog. She worshiped Trouble.
When Leona died in 2007, she left Trouble $12 million in her will. For his care the rest of the dog's life.
Twelve million dollars to a pet is a sizeable bequest. Leona's heirs contested the amount in Surrogates Court. The Judge agreed with the heirs that the amount was a bit too much to leave to a pet. The Judge reduced the bequest to $2 million. Still a significant amount.
Trouble did not appeal.
Trouble died last December. The dog's death did not become news till this past week. Why, I could not ascertain.
Trouble had lived his last years regally at one of the Helmsley hotels in south Florida.
The dog was cremated.
There still remained money from the $2 million. How much does it cost to take care of a dog for three years? Even with the best of care, which I am sure Trouble received, the $2 million could not be exhausted. The balance of Trouble's bequest reverted under Leona's Will to the Helmsley Charitable Trusts.
Trouble did not live a dog's life.
Trouble lived like a King!
Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson's Senior Years
I periodically enjoy taking a walk back in history.
Today, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. Two lawmen of old west fame. One ended up in Hollywood as a friend to movie stars. The other as a sports editor in New York City and personal friend to a President.
Earp was a gunfighter/lawman. Famous in his day. Still famous as such today.
Before becoming a lawman, he had a checkered career. Was arrested. Escaped jail. Three of his arrests were for running whore houses.
Everyone starts somewhere!
Gunfight at OK Corral was the high point of his law enforcement career. The battle took all of thirty seconds. Its legend ongoing.
Earp has been portrayed in many films depicting the Old West. Most involving the gunfight at OK Corral. The epic battle is part of American folk lore.
Big stars have played Earp in these movies. The likes of Henry Fonda, Joel McCrea, Burt Lancaster, James Garner, Kevin Kostner, Cameron Mitchell and Kurt Russell. A long running TV series starred Hugh Grant.
Many people seem to have another life in their old age. Totally different from their earlier one. Earp was one. Earp settled down near Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert. There is now a community located there known as Earp, California.
Earp became a Hollywood celebrity. Not as an actor. But friend to the stars. He lived the Hollywood life style in his later years.
There was an old time western movie star named William Hart. He and Earp were buddies. Earp taught him how to fast draw.
Then there was John Wayne. When Earp and Wayne became friends in the 1920s, Wayne was not the John Wayne we know. Wayne's real name was Marion Morrison. He was not an actor. He was a prop man. However, Wayne wanted to be an actor.
Earp assisted Morrison/Wayne.
Wayne claimed in later years that he based his portrayal of western heroes on conversations he had had with Earp.
Wyatt Earp died in 1929 in bed in Hollywood.
Bat Masterson was a for real gun slinging lawman, also. He rid many old west towns of bad men.
Movies were made of Masterson's exploits. Movie stars such as Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea starred. Note that McCrea got to play both Earp and Masterson.
There was a long running TV series portraying Masterson's life in the old west. It starred Gene Barry.
Whereas Earp went west after his sheriffing days were over, Masterson headed east. To New York City.
Masterson became a sports writer and then sports editor for the New York Morning Telegraph newspaper. Somewhere along the way, he also became the very best of friends with President Teddy Roosevelt. The White House was always open to Masterson, day or night.
Masterson died in 1921 at his desk at the New York Morning Telegraph. With his boots on.
Interesting tales!
Life moves on. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
Obviously for the better for these two men.
Earp in Hollywood and friend to the stars. Masterson in New York and friend to a President.
Pets and Their Masters Cannot Share The Same Grave
An example of government intrusion.
There is a growing trend by owners to be buried with their pets. In the pet cemetery.
There are two reasons.
One has to do with love and affection. Some humans become very attached to their pets. Pets here being described as dogs, cats, and parakeets. They want to be with their beloved pets throughout eternity.
The other is an economic reason. It is cheaper to be buried in a pet cemetery than a human one. The cost of burial has become extremely expensive. Most pet cemeteries will bury the owner for $250. The cost of reopening the grave.
Note that for a human to be buried in a pet cemetery, the owner's remains must be cremated. No full body burial allowed.
There are approximately 75,000 pet cemeteries in the United States. It is estimated that 700 owners/humans' ashes are interred with their pets.
New York State recently got into the act from a legal perspective.
The Division of Cemeteries dictates the rules as to how pet cemeteries are to be operated.
The Division, as with any Division, enacts rules to be followed which have the power of law. New York's Division of Cemeteries recently ruled that humans could no longer be buried in a pet cemetery with such person's earlier demised pet.
Why has the issue become so earth shaking that the State has become involved? I am not sure. It is confusing.
It has to do with the distinction between profit and not for profit operators of pet cemeteries. In New York, the Division of Cemeteries only has jurisdiction over for profit cemeteries. It has no jurisdiction over not for profit ones.
I am unaware of any not for profit pet cemeteries. Pet cemeteries are generally a small business operation. For a small fee, the pet is given a plot, buried in a wooden casket and a small headstone placed over the remains. I know. Many years ago, our pet dog Snookums, was hit by a car and died. My children were distraught. A neighbor suggested I get the pet funeral director in our area.
I telephoned him. He came to the house. We all sat around the dining room table. He showed us caskets and burial shrouds. We selected a stone. We were told to select an inscription. We came up with "We Love You Snookums."
As I sat there, I thought this has to be the height of stupidity!
Everything cost me $250. It was worth it. Everyone felt better. The only problem was we only visited Snookum's grave once. He was soon forgotten.
One other State tried to become involved in the issue. Washington. In 2009. My recollection is that the situation was a bit different. The Senate bill was to permit pets to be buried with the owner in the owner's grave. It failed to even pass the Senate.
With all the pressing economic and social matters before us, I am surprised that New York has even dealt with this issue. Governor Cuomo and his team have been doing an outstanding job in trying to right matters in New York. I suspect that this decision barring an owner's ashes from being buried with his or her's pet in a pet cemetery was a bureaucratic misstep and no more.
Economy And The Law
The ravishes of the economy are reaching into the judicial system, also. The courts are feeling the burden of fewer dollars.
A perfect example is San Francisco.
San Francisco's courts are known as Superior Courts. They are courts of limited jurisdiction and primarily handle civil cases. Most cities have a similar court system.
Things are economically tough in California. Money problems tend to run down stream. Municipalities are thusly affected.
San Francisco recently announced that as of September 1, it would be laying off forty per cent of the Superior Court's work force. In simple terms, it means 25 court rooms closing and 200 court staff off the pay roll.
The reason simply stated is the need for budget cuts. San Francisco is facing a $13.5 million deficit.
What are the practical consequences of such action?
People will stand in line for hours to pay a traffic ticket fine. It will take longer to finalize a divorce. Up to 18 months. It is anticipated it will take 5 years for a lawsuit to reach trial.
There is an axiom in the law: Justice delayed is justice denied. I know from almost fifty years experience how true it is.
Florida had a similar problem earlier this year. I forget exactly how many millions of dollars were involved. The Florida Court System had run out of money.
The Governor announced court closings and staff layoffs by a certain date. Within hours, the Governor and Chief Judge of the Florida Court System announced the problem solved. At least temporarily.
The Court system was going to borrow the millions needed from some reserve fund. Sort of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. A band aid solution to the problem. The money borrowed would have to be paid back in the next fiscal year. In order to avoid justice delayed, the Florida Court System was deferring to another day in the not so distant future the payment of its usual annual expenses PLUS the millions of dollars borrowed from the reserve fund.
My concern is if Florida could not pay its normal assessment to operate the courts this year, how will it be able to do so next year with the additional millions added on?
I share this blog with you today to add to your perspective of how our economic problems are reaching further and affecting our everyday lives.
A society cannot survive without courts. Otherwise, we will be fighting in the streets to resolve our differences.
China's Credit Rating
This so called debt ceiling crisis the United States has been facing the past several weeks has been an education.
It was claimed that a failure to deal with the problem effectively would affect our credit world wide, drop the United States' credit rating, increase interest rates, and all other manner of dire consequences would befall us. Being bombarded with possible impending doom, I opted to read a bit about credit ratings from a nation perspective.
Note I am not an economist. Merely a retired environmental attorney. However, what I dredged up is easy to understand. And surprising.
Standard and Poor primarily determines a nation's credit rating. What goes into the decision process is convoluted. What it boils down to however is the size of a nation's debt, the capacity of a nation to pay that debt, and whether the nation's bills have and are being paid in a timely fashion.
That simply stated is how I see it. No different than you or I going to a bank to borrow money.
Lets explore China first and then the United States.
China for years was rated merely A. Recently China was upgraded to A1. The United States has had a triple A rating for years. It is in danger of being downgraded to A2.
The United States has huge debt. One of its biggest creditors is China. China is the Unites States' primary bank/lender. The United States borrows significant dollars from banks as well world wide. Evidence of the extreme nature of the United States' borrowing is that the United States' interest payments on its debt are more than $.40 on the dollar.
China has no debt. It is a lender, not a borrower.
China has vast reserves of cash. The United States does not.
Why then is the United States' credit rating higher than that of China? Because the United States pays its bills. China cannot be depended upon to do so.
Interesting.
One of the reason's China's credit rating recently went up is that banks within China are suddenly lending increasing amounts of money to the Chinese people and businesses. Borrowing has increased big time internally. Some view this increased lending as a developing bubble. We understand bubbles. The real estate bubble screwed everything up a few years ago here in the United States. Some economists believe the Chinese bubble will bust in 1-3 years, as the real estate bubble burst in the United States.
Once again, the bottom line as to why the United States' credit rating is superior to China's is that the United States pays its bills. China cannot be depended upon to do so. In the world economy, there is a perception that China will screw a creditor if it can. Whereas, the United States will not. The United States has a history of paying its bills and paying them on time.
From a money perspective, I would rather be in China's position. They have all the money. From a moral perspective however, it is still the United States for me. Good, bad or indifferent. Our task/responsibility is to straighten out some things to get our country back on the correct course.
Hopefully, we can.
Babysitting Law A Step Too Far
California is broke. Broke broke! One of the worst state economies, if not the worst, in the Nation.
Jobs should be the issue for Californians. Getting new ones and keeping the ones they have.
Such is not the case.
One of the major political issues of the day in California is the prohibition of circumsicion till a male is 18 years of age. An example of where their heads are at.
Another is a battle involving babysitter pay.
The bill is known as Assembly Bill 889. It has already passed the Assembly. One hundred per cent of the Democrats voted for it. One hundred per cent of the Republicans voted against it.
The bill is presently pending in the Senate awaiting action.
The bill affects household employers. A legal description for parent(s) who hire a babysitter. The bill only applies to babysitters over 18.
The bill provides that the babysitter be paid at least the minimum wage. Not a big deal in and of itself. Most babysitters across the country are paid more than that. My understanding is that babysitters presently charge between $10 and $20 per hour.
The bill further provides that a substitute babysitter must be provided every two hours so the primary babysitter may take a rest or meal break. Breaks have never been a problem with babysitters to date. Why attempt to correct a non-existent problem?
Even stranger! The household employer/parent must provide workers compensation.
If the previous portion of the bill was not enough to make you question it, the babysitters are to receive overtime pay.
Additionally, monies paid the babysitter must be meticulously calculated by time card or paycheck.
This babysitting bill is an example of a proposed law going too far.
I thought it to be a perfect topic for this Labor Day 2011.
There was a time when unions were needed in this country to protect employees from tyrannical type employer barons. The unions succeeded. Then the unions became too powerful. Too much was asked/demanded. They choked on their own requests and fell out of favor.
Today, corporate America is too powerful. The pendulum has swung too far to the right. It must move back again. Hopefully, only to a middle point.
Bills like this babysitting one do nothing to help the situation. Such bills are old hat. Yesterday legislation. They only serve to aggravate and do harm to an already hurting American society.
With all due respect, the babysitting bill is ridiculous on its face.
Mile High Club
The Mile High Club is a slang expression. It refers to persons who have engaged in sexual intercourse while (1) in an airplane (2) at least one mile above the earth.
The activity generally takes place in a lavatory. However, adjoining seats or the cockpit are acceptable venues also.
The first persons to qualify for membership were the Club's founder and pilot Lawrence Sperry. His partner in the event was the socialite Mrs. Waldo Polk. The event occurred in November 1916 on a Curtiss Flying Boat somewhere over New York City.
Subsequent years have produced a number of additional members.
There is no formal club or organization. It is just out there. Two people do it, pride themselves that they have done it, and announce it to a select few or the world.
One would assume that any day is a good day to join this illustrious Club. Generally, yes. This past 9/11, no.
You will recall that in the week prior to 9/11 this year, the possibility of a terrorist attack was announced. Reliable information had been received, etc. The general feeling was the tenth anniversary of 9/11 might be a good day from the terrorists' point of view to attempt another strike on United States soil.
It would have appeared therefore that 9/11 might not be the best day to join the Mile High Club. In fact, it might be the worst day to join. Any unusual activity might be misinterpreted.
It happened.
On two separate flights. One to New York City and the other to Detroit. In both instances, three persons were involved. The bathrooms had to be awful crowded!
Passenger(s) on each flight observed unusual lengthy lavatory activity with the same persons in and out. The crew was apprised, authorities notified, two F-16 fighter jets sent to accompany each plane, and the planes were met by police officials when they landed. The authorities handcuffed the persons involved and removed them from the airplanes. One plane was boarded by a swat team.
After interrogation, all six persons were released without charges being levied. Rather than terrorists, the persons involved were engaged in Mile High Club activity.
Comments since the two events have included that a misuse of tax dollars was involved and that Osama bin Laden probably turned over in his watery grave laughing. Authorities agreed that a "...abundance of caution" was utilized. The official conclusion was that there was "...no nexus to terrorism."
I say Hooray! For everyone's conduct. The authorities did the right thing. Especially on 9/11 and with the warnings involved. Better safe than sorry.
I give an equal Hooray! Shout for the Mile High Club players involved. They did not let 9/11 deter them!
I am probably a bit jealous. I am in the twilight of my life. Never had the opportunity to join the Club and probably never will. On the other hand, hope does spring eternal!
Regarding the legality of the activity involved, it is not against the law to attempt to join or actually join the Mile High Club anywhere in this world. With one exception. Great Britain.
Mile High Club play in a plane flying over British soil would constitute "...sex in a lavatory to which the public has access." Conviction carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.
I would not worry about the British law. No one has ever been charged or convicted under the statute for sex in an airplane.
So participate anywhere you like without concern. However, be careful when a there is a terrorist alert. Otherwise you will be confronted with F-16 fighter jets, swat teams, and the like.
Death Penalty
The Taiwanese government recently posthumously exonerated a soldier it had executed 14 years earlier.
Yes, I did write that. The man executed later was found to be innocent! The man was tried and convicted 14 years earlier for murder. Subsequently, the government discovered it had made a mistake.
The facts.
Chiang Kuo-ching was in the army. A 5 year old girl was brutally raped and murdered. Her internal female organs ripped apart. Kuo-ching was found guilty, sentenced to death and subsequently executed. He protested his innocence to the end. He had given a confession the military officers who questioned him. He said it was coerced (beaten) from him.
This past May (14 years later) comes Hsu Rong-chou. He was arrested for other crimes. While being interrogated, he confesses to the murder for which Kuo-ching had been executed 14 years earlier.
The case is reopened. Rong-chou's admission to having committed the murder is presented to the court. Additional evidence is presented to the court for the first time which further exonerates Kuo-ching. This evidence was not made available to the court 14 years earlier by the authorities.
The government has apologized to Kuo-ching's family and a compensation package is being prepared for the family. The government has also exonerated Kuo-ching from guilt/responsibility for the murder.
Has justice triumphed?
Absolutely not!
Kuo-ching is dead! Apologies to the family and money to the family in no way compensates Kuo-ching. I would like to know how Kuo-ching is going to spend any of the money!
Which brings me to the purpose of this blog.
I oppose the death penalty. It should be abolished in every state in our country and every where else in the world. The reason simple. The judicial system is imperfect. Mistakes do occur. In a death penalty case, we cannot bring the executed party back to life. There is no adequate remedy. Dead is dead!
When I first graduated from Law School, I found the death penalty to be proper. I believed in the Bible.....an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Additionally as a young still wet behind the ears attorney, I believed the judicial system to be perfect.
The years have obviously changed my thinking on the subject. Our system though good, is not perfect. This means innocent people may; no are being executed on occasion. I have come around to the school of thought that it is better to have 100 guilty go free rather than incarcerate or execute an innocent person.
There is an exception to my position that the death penalty be abolished. Terrorist/military convictions. War crimes are birds of another feather.
Life is precious.
Few are aware that George Washington survived economically after his Presidency by becoming a whiskey manufacturer. Rye whiskey, to be exact.
Washington was compelled to do so because at that time there was no pension associated with serving as President. He had to work. He hit upon the idea of producing drinking alcohol. He became one of the most prolific whiskey manufacturers in the colonies.
Washington erected his distilleries at his home in Mount Vernon. It was one of the largest in the new nation. The operation consisted of 50 mash tubs and 5 stills.
He had no use for barley. He made his whiskey from rye and Indian corn.
Washington was a believer in his product. He considered whiskey "...essential to the health of men."
The reason for this walk back in history is to explore federal pensions for former Presidents as they existed then and now.
During Washington's time, no federal pension existed to support him after his two terms as President. In fact, there was no federal Presidential pension till 1958.
Surprising!
In 1958, Harry Truman was experiencing a bit of difficulty economically. Congress finally decided to look into the problem.
A law was passed. All former Presidents would receive a federal pension. The pension is equivalent to the salary of Cabinet members. Presently that salary level is $191,300 per year. Since a former President is considered a quasi federal official, he also is entitled to free medical from federal hospitals. In addition, former Presidents now receive reimbursement for staff, travel, mail and office expenses.
Lets skip back to George Washington for a moment.
He was successful in the whiskey business. He was turning out 11,000 gallons of rye whiskey a year. This resulted in a net profit to Washington of $7,500 per year. A lot of money back then!
Although a slave owner, Washington in his later years did not approve of slavery. He foresaw a war some day over the issue. It is claimed that he stated he would fight on the side of the North if the war should occur during his time.
Although Washington had no pension, he was cognizant that his slaves needed to survive economically. He provided in his Last Will and Testament that his elderly slaves were to receive a pension from his estate.
It is surprising that Washington left the Presidency needing to work. It is further surprising that the United States did not consider the economic condition of former Presidents till Truman’s financial problems came to light. However since 1958, the situation has been corrected and is under control.
One of the standards by which the greatness of a Nation is measured is the manner in which it cares for its elderly. It took a long time for the United States to care for its former Presidents. Almost as long for its elderly population. Roosevelt provided the elderly Social Security in the 1930s. Now there are those who wish to diminish or take it away.
Not nice.
Abortion Lunacy in South Dakota
Abortion was supposed to have been resolved by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade back in the late 1970s. With the exception of some minor gnawing, both sides to the issue settled in.
Till now.
The Republican dominated House of Representatives is toying with those rare instances where federal funding might be available. And.....South Dakota has also gotten into the act. Firmly with both feet!
A bill was introduced into South Dakota's House of Representatives. Stripping the legal jargon away, the bill made it legal to kill abortion doctors. You read me correctly!
The underlie interest was the defense of the fetus. If anyone were to harm a fetus, the killing of that person would be justifiable homicide.
A license to kill. Legalized murder.
You say, no way! Well, the House's committee passed the bill out by a 9-3 party line vote. The bill was HR 1171.
At that point the situation came to attention of the national media. Furious comment erupted.
It was anticipated the bill would have easy passage in both South Dakota legislative chambers. Both overwhelmingly Republican and conservative. It was also thought the bill once passed would be signed into law by the Governor.
The national discourse apparently persuaded otherwise.
All of a sudden, the Governor issued a statement that he would veto any such law.
Yesterday the bill came up for a vote in the South Dakota House of Representatives. It was defeated by a 61-4 vote.
Common sense prevailed. However, I believe if the rest of the nation had not expressed themselves in opposition to the bill, it would easily have become law.
Crazy seems to describe government at all levels these days. Elected officials listen to a small but loud handful of zealots. It truly is the squeaky wheel that garners attention!
What next?
Reactionary Hysteria in Italy
Let me preface my remarks with the following. My mother was born in Italy. My father's parents immigrated to the United States from Italy. I have visited Italy. I am Italo-American and proud of my heritage.
Having shared the preceding with you, I can now say that it is my considered opinion that the Italian people in Italy run a bit crazy on occasion. Their reaction to certain events is unreasonable. Off the wall.
Hysterical is the more apt description.
Remember Amanda Knox? She was the American girl going to college in Italy. Four years ago in Perugia, Italy, she was charged, along with her boy friend, of murdering another girl. She was tried and convicted.
The case is now on appeal. Four years later. It appears Knox has a shot at a new trial or acquittal. There appears to have been some questionable conduct on the part of the police and/or prosecutors that has resulted in investigation and suspension.
Soon after Knox's arrest four years ago, her parents in an interview with the Britain Sunday Times claimed their daughter had been subjected to mental and physical abuse by the Italian police.
This past week roughly four years after the statement was made; the parents have been indicted by an Italian Court for criminal libel. The charge: They libeled the police with the statement made four years earlier to the Britain Sunday Times reporter.
Libel has as a basis that the statement was not true at the time made and knowingly false by the person who made it.
Are the police covering their asses under the circumstances by the indictment? Is this an example of the Italian mind at work? Are the indictments a reflection of the possibility that Knox may now be found innocent? Are the indictments typical of Italian mentality? Are they a reflection of Italian hysteria? Reactionary hysteria?
Recently Italy's leader was indicted for child prostitution and related charges. Premier Silvio Berlusconi. It is alleged he had sex with a 17 year old prostitute and then tried to cover it up.
The women of Italy did not appreciate Berlusconi's conduct. On a specified day(s) in several different cities, Italian women protested against Berlusconi.. One million women went into the streets and threw their panties into the air to exhibit their feelings.
Hysterical conduct?
Thirty years ago, I spent a month in Italy with my family. A terrific trip. We enjoyed the country and its people. We were well treated.
The visit gave me the opportunity to see Italians up close.
We were at a roof top party in Rome. Overlooking the Vatican. Priests and nuns in attendance, as well as non religious persons. Most in attendance born and dyed in the wool Italians.
There had been a major soccer game the day before. Italy and Yugoslavia had played each other. In Yugoslavia.
The crowd for the game was overwhelming. Many could not get in. A large crowd of Yugoslavians pressed against the gate and stands in one location. It happened to be the Italian section. The gate and stands collapsed. Many were killed and more seriously injured. Mostly Italians.
It was the topic of conversation at the party. The Italians wanted blood! Many felt Italy should invade Yugoslavia immediately!
I thought at the time.....crazy people! Hysterical!
Based on the Knox and Berlusconi situations, I still do.
Harry S Truman.....A Walk Back In History
Harry S Truman was the thirty third President of the United States.
Unquestionably, one of our best Presidents.
Truman discovered Key West. It became his escape. His place to relax. He visited Key West 11 separate times for a total of 175 days while President.
While in Key West, Truman resided in a building at the U.S. Naval Base. That building has become known as The Little White House.
Subsequent Presidents visited The Little White House also for relaxation and governmental business.
This past weekend, a symposium was held at the Little White House. The subject matter involved the opportunities and obligations of growing up as a descendant of an American President. Joining in the discussion were Susan Ford Bales, daughter of Gerald Ford, Margaret Hoover, great granddaughter of Herbert Hoover, Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of Lyndon Johnson and Clifton Truman Daniels, grandson of Harry Truman.
The symposium brought to mind David McCullough's biography of Harry S Truman. The book was published in 1993 and McCullough won a Pulitzer Prize for it.
I read the book some time ago. As I did, I made some notes. What I would describe as quotable quotes from the book. All attributable to Truman himself.
Most are timely. Helpful today. All convey a sense of direction.
Permit me to share some of the quotes.
"Take a 2 mile walk every morning before breakfast."
"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell."
"Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive. And don't ever apologize for anything."
"If you cannot convince them, confuse them."
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."
"It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job. It's a depression when you lose yours."
"All the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway."
Sound familiar? Have a today ring to them?
Little Guy Wins
Occasionally, a David can still defeat a Goliath.
This is the tale of a Philadelphia home owner and his mortgage bank. With a rare feature: The homeowner is foreclosing on his bank.
The homeowner purchased his home for $180,000. With a mortgage, of course. The American way. The bank holding the mortgage was and is Wells Fargo.
At some point, Wells Fargo sent the homeowner a letter advising that he was required to purchase and pay for a $1 million policy on the house.
The homeowner did not understand why he was being required to over insure the house by 500 per cent and pay the substantially higher premium. The homeowner wrote three letters to Wells Fargo requesting an explanation. Wells Fargo failed to respond.
Somehow, somewhere the homeowner became aware of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The letters were sent pursuant to the Act. It requires a mortgage institution to respond in twenty days and correct any problem within sixty days.
The homeowner sued Wells Fargo based on its failure to comply with the law described.
Wells Fargo failed to appear in court. Nor did any attorney on behalf of Wells Fargo contact the homeowner.
The court awarded the homeowner a default judgment against Wells Fargo for $1,173.
The homeowner, armed with the court judgment, foreclosed on one of Wells Fargo's local Philadelphia offices. He had a sheriff's levy made against the furniture in the office. The sale was scheduled for March 4.
Wells Fargo paid the judgment in full in January. The payment did not satisfy the homeowner. He is still proceeding with the foreclosure sale because his letters have not yet been answered.
Banks bear significant responsibility for the economic crisis we are presently experiencing. It is good to see a little guy get back at one of them by proceeding in the same fashion as banks pursue people.
One closing thought. I do not believe the homeowner is correct in continuing with the sale. The bank paid the money judgment. The homeowner would be better advised to go back to court and obtain a judgment ordering Wells Fargo to respond to the letters. Otherwise, the homeowner may be opening himself to liability because he failed to follow the law to the letter.
What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Each side in a legal matter is required to adhere to the preciseness of the law.
Recall
Recall is in the air!
Most recently in Wisconsin and Miami. In Wisconsin with regard to a collective bargaining issue and Governor Walker. Plus, eight Republican state senators. In Miami with the recent recall vote for Miami Dade County where Mayor Carlos Alvarez was removed from office.
Recall is actually short for what is properly termed a recall election. A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote. The vote is preceded by a petition signed by voters calling for the recall election.
Recall has historical roots. The ancient Athenians had a recall system for its leaders. Colonial America also. During the American Revolution, the new nation was governed by Articles of Confederation. The Articles stipulated that Continental Congress delegates could be recalled by state legislatures.
Modern day recall is only available with state and local officials. There is no provision in the law permitting federally elected officials to be recalled.
Two governors have been successfully recalled. The first was North Dakota's Lynn Frazier in 1921. The populace was unhappy with his handling of some state owned industries. The most recent governor to be recalled was California's Gray Davis in 2003. State budget issues did him in.
Some states require grounds to be specified for the recall. Others do not.
Petitions come first. They are circulated. Signatures of voters obtained. The specific number varies by state. Once enough signatures have been obtained, the recall vote is scheduled.
The question that next arises is how the vacant seat is filled, assuming the recall election has been successful. There are basically three methods.
The first is the seat is filled after the election. By whatever process state law provides.
The second is that the recall ballots itself contain the names of persons to be elected in the event of recall. When Gray was recalled in 2003 in California, the recall ballot listed the names of over 100 candidates to replace him. The voters voted regarding Gray's recall and, if so, who would be elected to replace him as governor.
The third and final method is a provision in the law stating that the governor or some other person or body has the right of appointment.
Some recall elections are successful. Some fail.
Mayor Alvarez in the recent Miami Dade County recall had over 170,000 votes cast for the recall. Eighty eight per cent of those voted, voted for his recall.
It appears Wisconsin is in the recall mode. Many voters appear unhappy with recent actions by the Governor and eight state senators of his party. Petitions are being circulated for their recall. It will be interesting to see what happens. Especially since Wisconsin's Governor Walker was took office less than ninety days ago.
Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the voting public is in a recall mood. Short of all out revolution, recall is probably the last bastion from which a people may cry out against perceived injustice.
Menthol Cigarettes and African Americans
Statistics reveal that four out of every five smokers of menthol cigarettes are African Americans. Eighty per cent!
Sounds strange!
Not really when the true facts are known.
Tobacco companies flavored cigarettes initially to attract smokers among the young. The thought was that the first drag might be harsh and discourage additional smoking.
The United States has become an anti-smoking Nation. The Tobacco Control Act signed into law by President Obama in 2009 is one example. It bans flavored cigarettes, with one exception. Minty menthol.
The Tobacco Control Act was intended to discourage smoking. Yet, at the same time it was a boon to the cigarette industry as regards menthol cigarettes. From my perspective, the legislation fell short of achieving its purpose when it failed to prohibit misty menthol also.
My sense is the tobacco lobbyists won the day.
The most popular menthol cigarettes were and/or are Kools and Newports. Kools was the first.
Some fifty years ago, the tobacco industry made a concerted effort to encourage menthol cigarette smoking by blacks. Document discovery in a recent federal court case established the same. Internal tobacco company documents revealed a concerted effort/plan to market Kools to African Americans.
Kools came in a white and green package. Women were dressed in white and green outfits and sent into the black communities. Free Kools were distributed to the black population.
Another ploy used to encourage African American use of menthol cigarettes was planned specific dollar contributions to black organizations such as the NAACP, Southern Leadership Conference and Congressional Black Caucus. The makers of menthol cigarettes sought to establish that they were friends to the black community.
The marketing plan worked. African American smokers overwhelmingly select menthols. As per the statistic set forth at the beginning of this blog.
Now comes Marie Evans. A Floridian. A smoker of menthol cigarettes. She died of smoking related cancer.
A lawsuit was brought in her name in federal court in Florida. It was against R. J. Reynolds. The proof was as set forth herein. That many years ago a plan was devised to encourage African Americans to smoke menthols, deliberate steps taken such as free cigarettes and dollar contributions, and that the tobacco company succeeded in its plan. Marie Evans was living proof, no, dead proof, of the success of the marketing plan.
Last December a federal court jury returned a verdict in Marie Evans' case. $152 million!
I will concede that $152 million is a lot of money. I will further concede that I am aware of very few persons worth that kind of money in a lawsuit. However.....in certain cases a punitive damage award is permitted. In those situations where the conduct of the responsible party has been concerted and grievous, the jury is permitted to add a significant dollar amount onto its verdict. The purpose is to dissuade such conduct in the future. Such occurred here.
R. J. Reynolds is appealing. I would expect them to.
The appeal will be successful to some degree. The $152 million will be reduced. To what point, I do not know. It is difficult to ascertain. However, in most instances where the award is extremely high, the appellate court reduces the award.
There was a time in my professional experience when suing a tobacco company was an exercise in futility. The cancer smoker could not win. That has changed in recent years. The Evans' verdict is one example.
Statistics also reveal the change. For example, since 2004 tobacco companies sued in Florida have lost 24 cases. The awards in the 24 cases totaled $360 million.
Chechnya.....A Bad Place For Women!
Women are definitely second class citizens in Chechnya. They sit in the back of the bus, so to speak. Especially when it comes to dress. They are required to wear headscarves, face veils, long dresses, and cover their arms.
Chechnya, also known as the Chechen Republic, is part of former communist Russia. In recent years, Chechens have fought two wars with Russia seeking their independence. A loose framework and control still exists by Russia over Chechnya. However for all practical purposes, Chechnya does what it wants.
Russia is concerned with stability. Stability in those areas which were part of greater Russia in days gone by. Chechnya's present government provides political stability. As a result, Putin and his people close their eyes to certain transgressions.
Chechnya has a relatively new President. Ramzan Kadyrov. Thirty four years old. He is Islamic to the core. The Quran controls. Ergo, female attire must comply with the good book as Kadyrov interprets the good book.
Additionally, since becoming President, Kadyrov has increased public viewing by his people as to his devout attention and adherence to the Muslim religion. His frequent and well publicized pilgrimages to Mecca are an example. Kadyrov has become a religious zealot.
Kadyrov has organized a bunch of goons who dress in black as the local police do. They are all over the place making sure women adhere to the Islamic dress code. Should a woman fail to do so, she is refused admittance to the university and public places. She is called slut and whore on the streets. Paint balls are shot at her to label her as anti-religious.
The worst occurred this past week.
A video of President Kadyrov appeared on the internet. Kadyrov was casually sitting behind a desk. One of the issues he discussed was adultery. Adultery is a problem under the Quran. Men and women are stoned to death for such activity. Kadyrov's concern was with the male portion of the equation. Since the Quran permits a man to have multiple wives, he thought polygamy should be permitted. His concern was solely for Islamic males.
I frequently write and comment on Sharia law. Islamic law. The Quran. Muslims everywhere are increasingly seeking to be governed by Sharia law where ever they immigrate. Including the United States.
What is happening in Chechnya is a nation increasingly governed by Islamic law. Immigrants to the United States want to be governed by Islamic civil and religious law. Should the same be permitted? I say no.
Beware! Attempts have been made in Oklahoma and New Jersey. Now, Florida. A Florida judge intends to apply "Ecclesiastical Islamic Law" in evaluating an arbitration decision involving a mosque, former trustees, present trustees and $2.2 million.
Pay attention. Vigilance is required.
Everyone is welcome to the United States. Once here however, everyone must live by the same set of laws. The laws of the United States. One standard for all!
Randy Roosters and Conjugal Visits
Laws cannot control everything. However some legislative bodies think they can. Pass a law and solve a problem!
The place is Hopewell Township, New Jersey. Near Princeton. The time now.
Chickens are a problem. Too noisy.
Many residents of Hopewell maintain backyard chicken farms.
The biggest noise problem is the cockle doddle do from the roosters. I was always under the impression that such was a morning wake up call. It is not. It is the rooster announcement to the hens that he wants to mate.
We live and learn.
There are apparently a lot of horny roosters in Hopewell. Their cries have become a problem. The people of Hopewell want the noise limited.
An ordinance has been introduced in the Hopewell Township legislative body. To limit the chicken noise. The proposed legislation would limit mating between chickens. Roosters and hens would only be permitted to engage sexually for 10 days a year and never more than 5 consecutive nights.
The formal vote on the issue is soon.
I am merely sharing. I do not know what to say.
Japanese Orphans Not Adoptable
Japan is experiencing the wrath of nature and man with its recent disasters. First, the earthquake. Then the tsunami. Now the nuclear radiation.
The death toll has been significant. It already exceeds 10,000. It is anticipated it could reach as high as 25,000.
Many of the dead are parents. The young children of many of the deceased parents have survived.
As with Haiti, Americans have cried out to adopt these new orphans. Only to learn it is not possible.
Japanese culture, except in rare instances, does not know adoption. The reason is simple. They take care of their own.
The Japanese are fastidious record keepers. The records are searched and the natural extended family of a child is ascertained. Those persons take the orphan in and provide the loving home care each child is entitled to.
Simply stated, Japanese society views child raising in an orphan situation as the responsibility of family members. One kept in the blood line.
Women of Saudi Arabia Denied the Vote
Women still cannot vote in Saudi Arabia. They do not have the right. They have never had the right.
The issue arose again this week.
Saudia Arabia held its first municipal elections in 2005. First election ever for either gender. Note elections were only permitted at the municipal level. Higher up officials are royalty and consider themselves to hold office by divine right.
Leading up to the 2005 municipal elections, women were promised that they would be able to vote. At the last moment, the leaders of Saudi's absolute monarchy had a change of mind. They said no. But.....ladies, you can vote the next time Saudi Arabia holds a municipal election.
Saudi Arabia's next municipal election begins April 23 of this year. Saudi's King said no again. But promises women will have the vote the next time.
Saudi women are nothing short of pissed off!
The recent upheavals and demonstrations in Egypt and Yemen showed women standing with the men in the front ranks of the new burst of freedom. Throughout the Middle East, women want more by way of rights. Rights denied them for centuries.
A good place to start from the female perspective is the election soon to be held in Saudi Arabia. The women feel their time has arrived. Saudi Arabia is a nation where not only cannot women vote, they cannot drive, must have a male guardian, cannot be elected to a high position, cannot travel without a husband or male guardian accompanying them, must dress covered from head to toe, and more. Vocal Saudi women compare their existence to slavery.
A 2009 Global Gender Gap Report gave Saudi Arabia a "0" in the area of political empowerment of women.
There is change in the air. But it seems only in its initial stages.
A look at the time frame required for women to acquire the vote in the United States is helpful.
The United States was created 1776. The Nineteenth Amendment gave women to right to vote. Better stated, the amendment said the right to vote could not be denied because of sex. The amendment was passed in 1919. It was adopted by the States in 1920.
The math shows it took 143 years for women to win the right to vote in the land of freedom!
Saudi Arabia on the other hand is a mere child, comparatively speaking. Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932. Saudis have only been at this governing thing 79 years.
Some might say the Saudis need more time to develop their thinking. Maybe yes, maybe no.
My concern is the way/method of government. The United States is a republic/democracy. Saudi Arabia an absolute monarchy. The United States is not governed by religious law... Saudi Arabia is. Islamic law. Also known as Sharia law. Islamic law frowns on women having any rights. Women are second class citizens and treated accordingly.
Perhaps the women's vote may never become a reality.
Only time will tell.
Mmm Mmm Good!
I grew up with the jingle. We all grew up with it.
Mmm mmm good! That's what Campbell Soup is! Mmm mmm good!
This past week Campbell Soup was sued in federal court in New Jersey. The claim involves alleged mislabeling.
Tomato Soup is the product.
Campbell’s produces two types. The regular and a purported healthier one. The healthier one is labeled on the front to the effect that it is healthy. The inference is that its ingredients are less than what is in the original tomato soup.
Four women claim they were concerned about salt intake. They allege the label on the front suggested a healthier tomato soup. Whereas, they claim the itemized labeling on the back reflected otherwise as regards salt. These four ladies take the position the labeling on the front was misleading. They claim that the sodium as listed on the back reflected an amount significantly close in number to that contained in the regular tomato soup.
The four ladies also seek to have their lawsuit qualify as a class suit.
The lawsuit is brought under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
I am not impressed with the lawsuit. My gut feeling is Campbell will prevail.
Labeling is important in the law. Labels must be large enough and well presented to provide notice. And the notice cannot be misleading. Sodium was not the only ingredient in the healthier tomato soup. There were many others. All listed in the usual fashion on the rear side of the can.
The label indicated healthier. Overall, the soup probably was. To extricate one ingredient as the basis for a lawsuit is too much. If these ladies were that health conscious, they should have turned the can around and read the label of ingredients and the amounts thereof.
I generally do. I believe most Americans do. We are a health conscious nation.
Note also that the sodium content was less in the purported healthier can. Though not significantly.
I view this lawsuit as a frivolous one.
Time will tell.
It's All About Money!
Sometimes I want to stand on top of a mountain and shout: Stop all this craziness!
It's all about money. Our politicians are driven, motivated and directed by it.
Let me share some examples.
The AARP. The Republican House members do not like the AARP. They have called for an investigation of the AARP by the IRS.
The AARP sponsors many programs for its members. Programs that provide cheaper group rates. The AARP also lobbies in Washingtonn for senior citizen rights.
I am an AARP member. I purchase my supplemental health insurance, drug insurance and auto insurance from AARP sponsored programs. I am also happy they are fighting for me in Washington. They are the lobbyists for senior citizens. If not for them, who would fight for seniors in Washington? Seniors are not corporate America.
The House Republicans make the argument that the AARP will benefit from the Obama health care law. More people will be insured. AARP they project will earn upwards of $10,000 billion dollars more over 10 years.
Ergo, the House Republicans want AARP's tax exempt status removed.
I say what about the insurance companies who will be insuring most of the additional 30 million people. Big profits to be made there!
AARP stands for seniors. They fight for Medicare and Social Security. What do Republicans want to cut? Medicare and Social Security. AARP stands in their way. Eliminate them. This is the way the House Republicans would have it. Start with with an IRS investigation.
What about General Electric?
I have nothing against General Electric. But let’s call a spade a spade. GE earned a $14.2 billion dollar profit worldwide in 2010. Do you know how much GE paid in corporate taxes? Nothing. Zero dollars.
Same thing happened in 2009. GE paid zero taxes.
It does not make sense to me. It does not seem fair.
The tax code requires dramatic revision. The IRS should audit GE. It is inconceivable to me that a company can make that much money and not owe any taxes.
How are we ever going to reduce the national debt if the United States has to rely on the taxes of the little guy alone to run the government?
Then there is the Congressman who says he cannot live on his $174,000 salary. He is Sean Duffy of Wisconsin.
I do not understand. $174,000 a year is a lot of money. More than most Americans make. Something is wrong with the Congressman if he cannot make it on that kind of money.
There is the issue of Congressmen and parking tickets.
This week the parking ticket scandal was revealed. Not a big deal. Some Congressman do not believe they have to pay parking tickets. Only a total of $15,000 involved. One Congressman had in excess of $2,000 worth. Why do you and I have to pay our parking tickets and some members of Congress feel they do not?
Some sort of entitlement involved here.
Then there is the problem of budget cuts. Wasteful spending has resulted in government having to cut back on expenditures.
I have never understood why one of the first places government seeks to cut is education. Especially when we know we are doing a lousy job of educating our young. We are no longer a world leader in education. Other nations will bury us economically in 20 years if we do not correct the educational system.
Grammar school kids in Dallas are participating in a letter writing program. To elected leaders. Asking elected officials not to reduce spending for their education.
In New York City, 3,100 kindergarten age children have been wait listed. Yes, there is not sufficient room in the schools to accommodate all the kids ready to start school. The root of the problem is twofold. Lack of planning and insufficient money.
Which brings me to an example of what is happening already in the United States and could occur with
increased frequency.
The place is Vallejo, California. A town.
Vallejo declared bankruptcy in 2008. Services had to be cut. The police force was reduced 40 per cent. Prostitution developed. Ladies of the night moved in to work by day and night. Johns visited the community with increased frequency.
The police force was inadequate to control the problem.
Citizens joined together to form the Kentucky Street Watch Owls. They police the streets of Vallejo themselves. Self help.
Is this what you want? Do you want to have to share in policing your community? Perhaps assisting with other municipal services?
Government is failing us. Our political leaders don't understand. Governing has become a lost art. There are no more statesmen.
I hope you have found this dissertation enlightening.
I have no solutions. I am merely scrapping the scab off the wound.
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo. Governor of New York.
A man to be watched.
This is budget time. Budgets become law. In Washington and state capitols across the nation, legislatures have passed or are in the process of passing budgets. Once legislatively approved, the budgets go to the President and Governors to be signed into law.
Everyone is broke. The Nation, States, and most Americans.
Budgets must be cut is the cry! Services will be less! Entitlements less! Collective bargaining must go!
Such are the cries heard on a daily basis.
Two new Republican governors are in the forefront of the battle. Whether they are fighting the battle with honor remains to be seen. I speak of Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Governor John Kasich of Ohio. The main thrust of their purported budget balancing activities is the elimination or substantial minimization of collective bargaining rights.
New York is a big state with big problems, also. Democrat Andrew Cuomo is in his first term as are Walker and Kasich.
This past week Cuomo announced a balanced budget for New York. The plan is already approved by the Republican leader of the State Senate and the Democratic leader of the State Assembly.
Additionally, New York's budget has been approved early. The first time there has been early budget approval in New York since 1983.
Cuomo was faced with a $10 billion deficit. He eliminated the deficit without raising taxes, without increased spending and without increasing the size of government.
He also balanced the budget without talking about or in any fashion reducing collective bargaining rights.
Cuomo accomplished all this without the fanfare that has accompanied Walker and Kasich's activities.
After only three months in office, Cuomo has established himself as a true public servant. He is a comer in the vernacular of politicians.
Keep your eyes on him!
Can A Murderer Be Executed Like A Dog?
The title of this blog will be a question before the United States Supreme Court in due course.
Dogs are put to sleep with pentobarbital. A simple injection and man's best friend passes on.
States that execute by drug injection use a three drug cocktail. Until recently, the first drug injected was sodium thiopental.
The sole United States manufacturer decided to move its manufacturing facility to Italy. Italian law prohibits the exportation of any drug to be used in human executions. Italy does not have capital punishment.
The company decided since its only market was the United States for the drug, business was not sufficient to manufacture the sodium thiopental elsewhere.
An immediate scarcity developed.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Some States came up with a resolution. Use pentobarbital. The drug used to put animals to sleep.
Following is how the scarcity/pentobarbital problem is working out as reflected in the actions of three States.
Georgia found a plant in London that manufactured sodium thiopental. They purchased some. Even executed two inmates with the London purchase. One in September, one in January.
Now the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration enters the picture. The agency confiscated all the sodium thiopental Georgia had left. Georgia was also charged with violations. Apparently anyone importing a drug must notify the agency of the intent to do so and again notify the agency when the drug is received. Georgia did not do so.
The agency inspected the London manufacturer and discovered the plant was in a gritty rundown neighborhood and apparently not clean.
The agency concern was that the drug could be adulterated, counterfeit or otherwise ineffective. If any of the three, the drug when used in executions could subject prisoners to extreme pain. Such the agency said would be in violation of the Constitutional provision against cruel and unusual treatment.
Now comes Arizona.
Donald Beaty was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 13 year old girl. He appealed at the last minute that the sodium thiopental to be used on him came from the same London plant already described. He claimed it was a fly by night outfit and he would be subjected to excruciating pain.
The Arizona Supreme Court did not agree with him. It authorized the execution to proceed.
Beaty asked the United States Supreme Court to intervene. That Court refused to hear the case.
Beaty was executed last week.
Note that the reluctance of the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case does not mean the Court has ruled on the issue. It was merely reluctant to hear it now.
Finally, Texas became faced with the problem.
Texas normally does not fool around. They move swiftly. A Cleve Foster was scheduled to be executed this morning using pentobarbital. It was the first Texas execution where the drug was to be used. Previously, Texas had used sodium thiopental.
Within hours of the scheduled execution, Foster's attorneys filed papers with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to hear the drug issue and others. Foster received a last minute reprieve. His attorneys have 30 days to file detailed papers following which the Court will decide if it wants to hear the case.
That's the story.
Typical of most legal matters, everything remains screwed up. There will be no definitive answer till the U.S. Supreme Court rules. And that may take a while. Because of another typical condition. The law moves slowly.
Yale and Sexual Harassment
College is not what it used to be! At least not in my experience. Of course, college for me was in the mid 1950s. A long time ago.
Sexual harassment? It did not exist. Men were gentlemen and treated ladies as ladies. Respect was key.
Apparently things are different today.
Yale University has a problem. Some male students got out of hand and a sexual harassment complaint is being investigated by federal authorities.
The facts tend to speak for themselves. Some male fraternity persons prepared signs and carried them in front of the female dorms. The signs read: "We love Yale sluts." Other male students walked the campus and chanted "...no means yes" and "...yes means anal."
Sixteen female students not only took offense, but took action. They filed a civil rights sexual harassment claim against Yale University. Specifically, the complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. The filing initiated the investigation by federal authorities.
The sixteen ladies made the claim based on Yale's purported failure to eliminate a hostile sexual environment. An environment in which the ladies claim they felt devalued.
Obviously, the sixteen complained to the Yale administration prior to filing their formal complaint. They claim Yale did not properly respond to their complaints. They further allege Yale has an insufficient/inadequate grievance process for handling sexual harassment claims.
Apparently campus sexual harassment is not limited to Yale. It may be prevalent across the nation. A representative of the American Association of Women said the problem is common at colleges and that the Yale investigation is a wakeup call for all schools.
Tajikistan To Ban Divorce By Texting
Historically, divorce for a male has been relatively easy in the Islamic faith. The husband would look at the wife and say three times: I divorce you. It is called talaq.
Conversely, the wife did not have a similar right. Only the husband could divorce.
Time has altered the modus operandi a bit as regards Islamic divorce. Whatever changes have occurred are the result of legislation in a particular Muslim country.
The primary change is known as khula. The wife can apply to a court and ask for a divorce. In most of these countries, the husband still has the easy route to a divorce. He merely has to look the wife in the eye and say three times I divorce you.
Generally, a husband can obtain a divorce at will. He needs no grounds. The wife does. The grounds are few and difficult to prove.
The bottom line is that even with legislative assistance in certain countries, a woman's right to divorce is extremely limited.
Egypt, Syria, India, Sudan, Morocco, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon basically adhere to the old law. Certain however permit the woman the right to divorce also on the limited basis described.
The Muslim countries of North Africa generally limit the right to divorce to the husband alone. Interestingly, the North African nations have a high and repetitive rate of divorce.
A divorce is not final until three months after the husband says I divorce you three times to his wife. The three month delay is to provide time for reconciliation and to be sure the wife is not pregnant.
Where the wife has a court ordered right to divorce, the time lag till the divorce is final is one month. More aptly stated as one menstrual period. Again to be certain the wife is not pregnant.
The waiting period is known as iddah.
The above generally are the rules. There are numerous inconsistencies between Muslim countries and also within a particular nation. Shite and Sunni make up the greatest segments of Muslim peoples. The two religious sects disagree amongst themselves as to the rules for divorce.
It is obviously relatively easy in a Muslim country for the husband to divorce. Three little words!
Modern science has even accelerated the process in one Muslim nation. Tajikistan.
Tajikistan has been permitting divorce by text. It allowed the husband to text I divorce you three times to the wife. The face to face confrontation was not required.
The feeling amongst the religious leaders in Tajikistan was that texting is not consistent with Islamic law. At least not as Mohammed and the Koran intended it.
Ergo, texting I divorce you/talaq will soon be outlawed in Tajikistan.
Facebook.....The End of One Lawsuit and Beginning of Another
Facebook is one of the outstanding creations of all time! It allows social networking to the nth degree and beyond.
Mark Zuckerberg is the young genius responsible for Facebook. He purportedly is now the richest man in the world.
Deservedly so.
Back in Facebook's early success days, Zuckerberg was sued by the Winklevoss twins, Mark and Tyler.
They claimed they had invented/developed Facebook together with Zuckerberg while all three were at Harvard.
The litigation was acrimonious. It was finally settled in 2008 by a payment to the Winklevoss brothers of $65 million.
Those of you who may have seen the excellent movie Social Networking will recall the settlement conference between Zuckerberg and one of his lawyers. The lawyer encouraged him to pay the $65 million. It was a drop in the bucket compared to the multi millions Zuckerberg had already made.
During the litigation, both sides were represented by top shelf attorneys, accountants, financial advisers, etc. The stakes were high.
Recently, the Winklevoss brothers decided they had settled too cheaply at $65 million. Facebook's stock is worth exceedingly more today than in 2008 when the settlement was entered into. So the brothers brought another lawsuit. This one to set aside the 2008 settlement.
The Ninth Circuit appellate court yesterday said no way. Clearly and emphatically. The Court's reasoning was that the Winklevoss brothers were intelligent educated men, had six attorneys representing them and their father. The elder Winklevoss was a Wharton professor and was an integral part of the settlement process and decision. The Court also was of the opinion that every litigation must have an ending. And this one ended with the 2008 settlement. In effect, the settlement was a binding legal deal and the Winklevoss brothers were stuck with it.
The Winklevoss brothers can appeal to the full Ninth Circuit Court and to the Supreme Court. In my opinion, neither will do them any good. The three judge decision just rendered is sound. Further legal activity would be an exercise in futility from my perspective. But with big money involved, the Winklevoss brothers might be inclined to go further.
Now comes Paul Ceglia.
Ceglia claims that in 2003 and 2004 while Zuckerberg was a freshman at Harvard, Ceglia and Zuckerman communicated via emails. Ceglia claims to have the emails. He says he offered advice to Zuckerberg. More importantly, he claims to have assisted Zuckerberg financially.
Remember, this is early in Facebook's conception and Harvard freshman Zuckerberg was broke.
Ceglia claims he paid $1,000 to Zuckerberg. He further claims the $1,000 bought him 84 per cent of Facebook.
The Ceglia lawsuit is in the discovery stage.
The litigation cycle can be endless.
This is especially so where the target appears to have an endless supply of money!
First Successful Temporary Insanity Defense
The man is Daniel Edgar Sickles. The time 1859. The place, La Fayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, DC.
Sickles had become aware his wife Teresa was having an affair. The affair was with Philip Barton Key II. Key was the son of Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner. Key was also the District Attorney of the District of Columbia at the time of the affair and shooting.
I am surprised no one has ever made a movie out of this scenario.
In any event, Sickles turned himself in and stood trial. His defense attorney was Edwin Stanton, later to become Secretary of War under Lincoln.
Sickles pled innocent by reason of temporary insanity. Such a defense had never been used successfully prior to his trial. He claimed he was driven crazy by his wife's infidelity.
His wife Teresa was vilified during the trial. Referred to as a harlot and adulteress. The Washington papers thrived on the trial in their reportings. The trial proof showed Keys to be a ladies’ man, also. The tremor of the testimony and newspaper reports was that Sickles by killing Key had saved Washington wives from the likes of the rogue Key.
The temporary insanity plea worked. Sickles was acquitted.
After the trial, Sickles and his wife reconciled.
There is more to Sickles' story. The rest has nothing to do with his murder trial acquittal. Rather, it shows the tenor and character of the man.
Sickles' pluses and minuses reflected him to be colorful, controversial, a lawyer, a politician, a power broker, a war hero, a deceiver, a man with little respect for established propriety.
We begin.
Sickles became an attorney years before the Civil War. He practiced in New York and Washington. He served in the New York State Assembly. Then as a New York State Senator. He was also a member of the United States delegation at its London embassy.
When the Civil War began, Sickles joined the Northern effort. He was commissioned a general.
The Battle of Gettysburg was a significant event in his life. George C. Meade was general of all the Union forces. He ordered Sickles to take his troops and go to a particular spot and defend the area. When Sickles arrived at the designated location, he did not like it. There was hill to his front blocking his view. So he moved his force about a mile away.
The Confederate troops were shocked when Sickle's forces moved. They thought the attack had begun. So the South attacked Sickle and his men. Tragically. Sickles' forces were annihilated.
In the fracas, Sickles was shot in the leg with a cannon ball and lost his leg.
It is reported that had Sickles not been a big time politician and a hero, to boot, because of the loss of his leg, he would have been court-martialed.
The same day Sickles lost his men and his leg, he was back in Washington. Heralding of course the activities of the day. From his perspective, naturally. He claimed his moving of his troops had won the Battle of Gettysburg.
Meade was pissed. They had an ongoing battle over the years as to whom and what had won the Battle.
Thirty four years later, Sickles was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his activities that day at Gettysburg. The award said in part that it was for Sickles "...responsibly contesting the advance of the enemy and continuing to encourage his troops after being severely wounded."
Sickles was obviously a good politician and man of influence.
After the Civil War, Sickles again served in the United States Congress and also as the United States Minister to Spain. He is also credited with having spent much time assuring that the Gettysburg site become
the shrine it is today.
Sickles died in 1914. His services were held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Besides the murder of Key, Sickles is known for further acts which might be considered scandalous in nature.
While a member of the New York Assembly, he escorted a well known prostitute onto the Assembly Chamber floor. Her name was Fanny White. Sickles was censured by the Assembly for so doing.
Later when Sickles was a member of the United States delegation in London, he had Fanny White presented to Queen Victoria as a person of important American position.
Media commentators at the time were of the opinion it was fortunate Sickles' wife Teresa was not present. Otherwise, another shooting might have occurred.
Sickles influence and power were evident following his arrest for shooting Key. He was jailed in Washington. He received many guests of importance. Senators, Congressmen, Statesman. Only the President did not visit. Though it is reported that the President sent him a personal note.
Sickles received all guests in the head jailer's apartment.
Sickles was also permitted to pack a gun while in jail awaiting trial. No one seems to know why. However such fact is reported many times.
The purpose of this blog is to report the first successful use of temporary insanity as a defense. However, Sickles life, before, during and after the Key killing, was so interesting; I felt duty bound to share the details with you.
I hope you enjoyed.
Police Harassment In Reverse
An interesting California court verdict was rendered last week.
Two Los Angeles motorcycle police officers received an award of $2 million dollars against their employer, the City of Los Angeles, and certain of their police superiors. The subject matter of the lawsuit was harassment.
California has a state law that prohibits a police department from having traffic ticket quotas. Good for California!
The two police officers were told by their superiors to issue no less than 18 traffic citations a day. They refused. As a result, they received bad job assignments.
The motorcycle officers sued. Now the City of Los Angeles has a $2 million judgment to pay.
In this instance I say... Good for the cops!
Oil And The U.S. Department of Energy
The price of gasoline continues to go up! Higher and higher!
Where will it peak?
In Key West, the price of regular is $4.05 per gallon. The price of premium $4.25 per gallon.
It is the same in many parts of the United States.
Gasoline prices generally peak after Memorial Day. Are we heading for $5 plus a gallon?
Possibly, no, probably so.
The first significant gasoline crisis after World War II occurred in the 1970s during Carter's administration.
I can recall waiting three hours in line to fill my tank in Pompano. I can further recall returning from New York on the New York Thruway with my wife and parents in the car with me. We ran out of gas 14 miles from Utica. It was after midnight. The stations were closed due to fuel scarcity. We had to sleep in the car till morning.
Carter was intent on solving the fuel crisis for the American people. It was winter. He went on national television and told us to keep our thermostats down and wear sweaters. I thought he was nuts!
Carter had another idea. He obviously recognized our oil crisis and that something had to be done. He was responsible for establishing the U.S. Department of Energy. The purpose of the Department of Energy was expressly stated to be to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. The Department was created by law on August 4, 1977.
It is now 33 years later and the United States has yet to lessen its dependence on foreign oil.
Every President starting with Carter and his successors have failed to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
I hold them all to blame. Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II and Obama. And each Congress during that time. Thirty three years later, we are still dependent on foreign nations for our oil supply.
In the meantime, the Department of Energy has grown. Its most recent budget was $24.2 billion. The Department has 16,000 employees and an additional 100,000 contract employees.
What has it done, what has it accomplished, in lessening our dependence on foreign oil? Nothing.
If I am missing something, please share it with me. Other than we as a people have not prodded our elected officials properly to correct the situation over the years. We consume gasoline like pigs.
There is one other thorn in my side. The United States is in dire financial straits. We are broke!
Exxon paid no income tax last year to the United States. Exxon did pay a total of $15.8 billion in taxes to other countries.
When will we wake up?
Toddlers And Alcohol Consumption
It is a basic of life. Children should not consume alcohol.
Generally, young ones are prevented from indulging.
Like everything else however, mistakes occur. Mistakes that could have dangerous consequences.
In the past week, there have been three reported instances of young children being served alcoholic beverages in a restaurant. All by mistake.
The first was at an Applebee’s in Michigan. A 15 month old boy received a margarita instead of orange juice. The next was at an Olive Garden in Lakeland, Florida. A two year old was served sangria instead of orange juice. The third was at a Chili's in Chicago. A four year old got a mudslide instead of a chocolate shake.
Fortunately, no permanent disability attended their consuming these adult drinks. Though all three had some unusual side effects. One slept immediately. Head down on the table. Another was overly happy and friendly. Two were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
Applebee’s and Olive Garden stood up to the plate. They accepted responsibility. Their problem. Both have instituted new containers and training for serving infants.
Chili's was a bit hard assed. Chili's basically blamed the mother. She should have known the difference between a mudslide and chocolate shake. The mudslide was not served in a child's container.
Is there a problem? Three incidents in a week. Three different food chains. Could be.
Let's assume one or all of the children became seriously ill. A claim/lawsuit would inevitably follow.
I would like to briefly explore some of the basic laws that would apply. Children have special rules in the law.
There is a thing called contributory negligence.
In some states, any person doing something to them self, no matter how small contrasted with the negligence of another party, is barred from recovery. Other states have comparative negligence. Note the different words: contributory and comparative. Where comparative law applies, the award is diminished by the percentage the injured party contributed to his or her own injury.
Contributory/comparative negligence does not apply to children under a certain age in most states. The cut off is generally four. Legally stated, a person four years or younger cannot be guilty of contributory/comparative negligence as a matter of law.
There is always the issue of negligence of the parent. Something Chili's was perhaps suggesting.
A parent's negligence contributing or causing injury to the child is not a bar to the child's claim. The general rule is that the negligence of the parent cannot be imputed to the child. A fair concept.
Then there is the issue as to whether a child can sue the parent in tort.
In most states, a child cannot sue the parent where the parent is responsible for the child' injury. The rule is based on social theory. Plainly stated, we cannot have kids suing parents.
Some states get around the general rule by passage of special statutes for special situations. Automobile accident cases are an example. Many states have adopted legislation permitting a child to sue the parent in automobile accident cases.
So much for toddlers and drinking. Let us hope that the three different incidents involving three different restaurant chains make all restaurants take notice and review their serving procedures.
Where there is smoke, there is fire. Better safe than sorry.
CEO COMPENSATION ON THE RISE
Recent articles have indicated CEO compensation is on the rise. Skyrocketing might be a better description.
General Electric is a perfect example.
Last year GE made a profit world wide of $14.2 billion. GE paid no taxes.
GE's Board Chairman and CEO last year was Jeff Immelt. He was paid by GE in excess of $21 million.
Not bad for one year's work! A family can buy a lot of groceries and pay any price for gasoline with an income like that.
Immelt is no longer with GE. He is now President Obama's Job Czar. His charge was and is to create much needed employment for the American people.
He has succeeded and failed at the same time. The numbers indicate unemployment to be down overall by more than one percentage point.
A major accomplishment from my perspective.
One of the causes of our unemployment has been the removal of manufacturing jobs by American and foreign corporations from the United States to foreign countries. Under Immelt's Job Czar activities thus far, the movement overseas continues. More jobs left the United States than were started.
Not good!
GE is one example. A review of the major banks and oil companies indicate CEO compensation on the rise. My recollection is that there was a furor three years ago when our economic downfall commenced. The furor was to the effect that CEO compensation was off the wall, was going to be followed and controlled.
It is being followed. It is not being controlled.
I am merely sharing information. However, I continue to ask the same question: When are we going to learn?
McDonald's and Happy Meals
Children worldwide love McDonald's Happy Meals! One reason is the toy inside. The toy portion of the Happy Meal is considered its prime attraction.
Now comes a California mother who wants the toy removed.
At first glance.....a Scrooge, a meanie.
Perhaps not.
The mother is Monet Parham of San Francisco. A mother of two, she is concerned with good health. Especially for children.
Obesity rates for the young are on the rise. Restaurant operators' anti-obesity efforts are considered weak and ineffective. Chains especially serve foods rich in fat and sugar.
Public efforts to adjust the quality of fast food products have been ineffective. As long as the food does not kill, people are free to eat whatever they choose.
Freedom of choice is the issue.
Monet Parham apparently realized the futility of trying to get McDonald's to change fat and sugar content dramatically. Necessity being the mother of invention, she came up with another approach.
Monet Parham initiated a lawsuit against McDonald’s claiming the toy in Happy Meals violated California consumer protection laws. Her claim basically takes the position that the Happy Meal/toy advertising is directed at children. Children are not the purchasers. Parents are. Monet Parham considers this an effort to go around the parents directly to the children. Such she claims is an unfair trade practice.
A stretch, I concede.
McDonald's moved to dismiss this past Monday in federal court in the Northern District of California. McDonald's argued that the parents buy and not the children. Since parents are the actual purchasers, they have the option of not buying Happy Meals. Children are not technically involved in the purchase process.
A stretch, also.
I have no idea on which side this case will be decided. Both parties are stretching the law to fit their own needs.
I am all for healthy food. Especially for our young. At the same time, Happy Meals and the toy inside has been a lifelong friend to me, my children and grandchildren.
The case will be followed and its outcome reported.
FU - GO
Fu-go sounds like a dirty word.
It is not.
Japanese in origin, it means fire balloon or fire bomb.
Most people believe that in modern times, war has come to United States' shores only one time. On 9/11. Such is not correct. There was one other time. During World War II. However, the government and press opted to keep it secret.
The Japanese were upset that the United States had successfully bombed certain of their cities in 1942 via the Doolittle Raid. In 1944, the United States was bombing with increasing regularity and damaging the Japanese home islands with B29 raids.
Revenge pure and simple was the order of the day. The Japanese wanted Americans to suffer the effects of bombing as it was. The balloon bomb devised was similar to balloons used today in the sport of ballooning. With one exception. The passenger basket of today beneath the balloon was the Japanese bomb of yesterday.
There were three type bombs. A 26 pound incendiary, a 33 pound antipersonnel and an 11 pound incendiary device.
The Japanese plan was brilliant. The intent was to use the jet stream to carry the balloon bombs from Japan over the Pacific to North America. The aim was American and Canadian cities.
The balloon bomb program was in effect from November 1944 through April 1945. Nine thousand three hundred balloon bombs were launched. Approximately 300 reached the United States. The bombs proved generally ineffective. There was little property damage. Only six Americans were killed.
The six Americans were a pregnant woman and five Sunday school children. The incident occurred one month after the Japanese had stopped the balloon program. The six were in a forest in southern Oregon looking for a picnic spot. They came upon a strange balloon on the ground with something attached to it. An explosion occurred and they were killed.
The United States war time government thought it best to keep these balloon bombs secret. The Office of Censorship communicated with the newspapers and radio and obtained their cooperation. The necessity for secrecy was twofold. First, not to let the Japanese know the bombs were in fact reaching American shores. The second was so as not to panic American citizens.
The secrecy worked. Of the approximate 300 balloon bombs which reached American shores, the Japanese were only aware of one. One that landed in Wyoming.
The Japanese ran the balloon bomb program for six months. Since they had no knowledge of balloon bombs reaching American shores in any significant numbers, the program was terminated. It was considered a fiasco. The general who conceived the plan lost face.
The balloon bomb program was quite expensive. The Japanese felt they were not getting enough bang for their dollar. Three plants were required to produce the necessary hydrogen. B29 raids destroyed two of the plants. The Japanese were reluctant to rebuild them.
There remains a present danger.
Many of the balloon bombs that reached American shores have neither been found nor detonated. Unexploded ordinance remains, especially in the forests and mountains of the northwest.
The "S" in Harry S Truman
Former President Truman's name generally appears with no period/punctuation following the S.
Why?
It all has to do with naming him at birth.
Some family members wanted the newborn's middle name to be Shippe after his paternal grandfather. Others wanted his middle name to be Solomon after his maternal grandfather.
No agreement could be reached. So the baby Harry received the initial S without punctuation. The S stands for no name. Since not representative of a name, it was generally viewed that no punctuation was required.
However, Truman himself and propriety screwed things up.
As President, Truman often signed legal documents with a period following the S. The Chicago Manual of Style requires all initials in a name to be followed by a period for "convenience and consistency." The U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual prints Truman's name with a period following the S.
Regardless, the S stands for nothing. And as mandated by Truman's parents and Harry himself prior to and sometimes during his Presidency, the period is not required.
Possible Law Banning Male Circumcision Not Kosher
The seed for an unquestionable lawsuit involving basic Constitutional rights has been planted. Human rights and religious freedom will be pitted against each other.
The issue: Whether male circumcision should be banned until a person has reached the age of 18.
The place: San Francisco, California. Most things crazy have their origin in California.
A group opposed to male circumcision is reported to have obtained over 12,000 signatures to put the issue to a vote in San Franciciso's city elections in November. Only 7,200 signatures are required. The proposed law would apply regardless of religion.
The group opposing male circumcision is serious. San Francisco is their first attempt at such a ban. Their aim is a national ban on circumcision. They view circumcision as male mutilation. The group believes it is wrong to circumcise a child. They consider the issue as one involving human rights.
Freedom of religion is a basic right under the United States Constitution. The question naturally arises as to those of the Jewish and Muslim faiths. Both require circumcision on religious grounds.
The situation is a monumental Constitutional confrontation in the making.
Unless, of course, the people of San Francisco do not approve the ballot issue in November.
This group I have referred to, this group that reportedly has obtained over 12,000 signatures to place the issue on the ballot, numbers 10. Remarkable, isn't it. That a handful can initiate a matter of such importance.
That is democracy.
Whether you approve or not.
Soaring Gas Price Oddities
We Americans must enjoy getting ripped off.
The price of petroleum products has been an issue since the 1970s. Yet nothing significant has been accomplished to relieve the problem. We scream when the price of gas gets over $4. Our elected officials acknowledge the terribleness of the situation. Democrats and Republicans alike.
What happens? Nothing!
There are some oddities with the fuel problem I would like to share with you. Each is an eye opener.
The price of gasoline per gallon is significantly cheaper in Mexico than in the United States. For real. Such being the case, why is there a border problem? Why are Mexicans so desperate to come to the United States?
If certain necessities are cheaper, then there is no need to earn big dollars.
The average price of gasoline in Mexico presently runs between $2.80 and $2.94 per gallon. Some areas are even less. While we are paying over $4 per gallon. And fearfully perhaps moving to $5 per gallon.
In San Diego recently, the cost of a gallon of gasoline was $4.53. A comparable gallon across the border in Tijuana cost $2.76. $1.77 per gallon cheaper. A significant amount.
One of the reasons gasoline is cheaper in Mexico is that the government in effect subsidizes it. The Mexican government owns the gasoline production facilities. There is a theory in Mexico that cheap gasoline keeps its citizens happy and less dissatisfied with the government.
I want to be happy and less dissatisfied with my government. Perhaps we should own the production facilities rather than the oil companies. We subsidize many other things. We subsidize farmers, manufacturers, etc. Even the oil companies to the tune of $4 billion a year.
A socialist I am not. However, there is an appeal to taking over the oil production facilities. If that would help our gasoline/fuel oil cost problem.
It is called nationalization. A terrible word. A terrible thought. But hard times call for hard measures.
I cannot see it happening in the United States. The big oil company lobbyists are too powerful and influential in the halls of Congress. I even question the legality of such a move. But you must admit it would scare the hell out of big oil!
How about $9 a gallon for gas?
It is already happening. With certain car rental companies.
When you rent a car, you are asked if you wish to fill the tank prior to return or have the rental company do it. USA Today recently did a study. Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty are charging the consumer roughly $9 a gallon for the fill up. Specifically, between $8.99 and $9.29 per gallon.
We have become lazy. Most Americans do not fill the tank. They pay the car rental company to do it. Convenience here is too expensive! At these prices, we should fill our own tanks!
I hope you enjoyed these tidbits of information. Makes a person think.
Yes, there is more than one way to skin a cat!
Harry S Truman, May 14, 1948
The date was May 14, 1948.
The time eleven minutes past midnight.
The place was the White House, Washington, D.C.
Truman had spent the evening before with a visitor. His old friend Edward Jackson.
Jackson was a Missouri friend, as well as Truman's partner in the ill fated haberdashery business many years before. The two men were close. It was not uncommon for Jackson to show up at the White House to chat with his friend of many years.
Jackson was of the Jewish faith. The purpose of this particular visit was the recognition of the new State of Israel. Obviously, Jackson supported such a move. Prior to the meeting, Truman had been advised by his foremost diplomats not to recognize Israel. It is claimed Truman was so inclined prior to the Jackson meeting. Truman was not going to recognize the new Israel.
The influence of friendship! One based on many years of closeness and respect. Jackson convinced Truman to recognize the new State of Israel.
Truman did so by Presidential Proclamation. There is a long definition for the term. However stated simply, it is writing by a President that defines situations or conditions that become legal or economic truth. A Presidential Proclamation carries the weight of law. It is law.
That is how the United States came to recognize Israel. The United States was the first nation to do so. An important development for Israel at the time.
It is now some 63 years later following Truman's Presidential Proclamation. There still is not peace between Israel and many of its neighbors.
Will there ever be?
I don't know.
Economic Help For Autism Available
Autism is a childhood problem. It generally occurs in children up to the age of three years.
Autism is a developmental disorder. It affects social and communication skills.
There are three primary causes. Heavy metals, pesticides and childhood vaccines.
This blog concerns itself with autism caused by childhood vaccines. Yes, those same vaccines that are given to prevent damage and disease. No system/application is perfect. The deficiency with the childhood vaccine which causes a child to become autistic has been recognized by the United States government.
There is a federal vaccine court. It exists to compensate/economically help those who become autistic because of childhood vaccines. Note that recovery is dependent upon specific documentation that the vaccine in fact caused the autism. There must be clear supporting proof.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, of which the federal vaccine court is a part, has been in existence for approximately twenty years. In that time, over 1300 cases have been documented. As a result, the federal government provided financial assistance. This year alone already 83 cases have been documented.
The program provides much needed help. Parents who unfortunately have an autistic child should make application to the program. If the cause is in fact related to childhood vaccines, the parents will receive much needed assistance to help their child.
Suicide Update
Several months ago I wrote a detailed blog on suicide. The legalities of suicide.
It is time for an update. The issue: mail order suicides.
A bit of background.
Suicide is the sixth cause of death annually in the United States. Over one million persons commit suicide worldwide annually. There are in excess of ten million botched suicide attempts annually worldwide, also.
Ergo, suicide is an issue of some consequence.
For a person to commit suicide is not a crime. Nor is the attempt.
The crime is to assist in the commission of a suicide.
In short, it is legal to kill one's self or attempt to do so. It is illegal to help someone commit or attempt to commit suicide.
Simply recall the Jack Kevorkian situation.
Time moves on. Circumstances change. Beliefs adjust.
There is a growing movement in this country in support of suicide. Many people want to pack it in their way at their time of choosing.
Additionally, there are now Living Wills. That document that hospitals ask if you wish to sign which permits the plug to be pulled. Most persons subscribe to the Living Will doctrine. Under the guise of I don't want to suffer. Not realizing of course that a bit more suffering might pull them through. And further not realizing that the Living Will was fathered by the insurance industry that wants to limit the bills it must pay.
Two states have Death With Dignity laws. Oregon and Washington. Both recognize the legality of suicide. That already existed. However, the laws provide for varying degrees of assistance with the suicide. Recall that suicide assistance is the crime. Not the suicide itself.
Oregon went so far as to permit a doctor to actually assist in the suicide. Washington only permits the physician to advise.
Two weeks ago on my internet show The Key West Lou Legal Hour (http://www.konkbroadcasting.com/), I reported on a 91 year old California woman who had gone into a new business. Mail order suicide kits.
The kits cost $60. Included are a how to do book. Also a face mask and tube. The instructions say the tube is to be connected to a helium tank at one end and the face mask at the other. Inhalation of the helium would complete the suicide attempt. The helium was not contained in the suicide kit. The cost of the helium is approximately $175 and had to be purchased separately by the person intending suicide.
Oregon got upset. Although physician assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, they did not want their citizens subjected to a mail order suicide kit. Oregon's legislators considered mail order suicide to be sleazy.
Oregon's bill prohibiting mail order suicides has passed its Senate. It awaits action by the House. It is anticipated it will be passed and signed into law by Oregon's governor.
That completes this suicide update. It is not the end of the story, however. I have a feeling that over the next ten years, the legalities of suicide will burgeon and there will be more to report.
May 24th in History
A walk back in history. May 24th.
Though there have been many May 24ths going back through the centuries, five stand out. The events occurring on those five particular May 24ths were significant and in many instances continue to impact our present lives.
The year is 1844. Samuel Morris opened America's first telegraph line. His message: "What hath God wrought?"
The telegraph, in a more advanced stage, is still with us.
In 1983, the Brooklyn Bridge opened.
It still exists and is in daily use.
Ah, 1935! The first major league night baseball game. Cincinnati's Crosley Field. The Reds beat the Phillies 2-1.
What would we do without night baseball?
1941 was a time of war. World War II had begun. The United States had not yet entered the war. England stood alone against Germany's onslaught.
The Bismarck was a mighty German battle ship. On May 24, the Bismarck sunk the British HMS Hood in the North Atlantic. Off the 1,418 men on board the Hood, only three survived.
Churchill was raged. He commanded: "Sink the Bismarck!"
Three days later, the Bismarck was joined in battle by British planes and ships. In less than two hours, the Bismarck was sunk. Bismarck's crew numbered 2,200. 1,995 died.
Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord. Not necessarily.
Last year in 2010, the United States Supreme Court rejected the National Football League's request for broad antitrust law protection. The Court said the NFL must be considered 32 teams, not one big business.
The underlying NFL problems continue to be with us today.
Hope you enjoyed!
Proposed California Law Provides OSHA Protection To Porn Performers
OSHA are federal rules and regulations that apply to work place safety. In addition, most states have their personal set of OSHA rules and regs.
California's OSHA is known as the State Code on Occupational Health and Safety.
Recently, California work place safety officials submitted a 17 page proposal involving California's pornography industry. Porn films are a big time business and California one of the leading, if the leading, states where porn films are made. A multibillion dollar business.
The purpose of the proposal is to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases among porn film actors. The primary thrust of the proposal is to require the use of condoms during the making of such films.
A public hearing is scheduled for June 17.
A furor has erupted. Surprisingly by the porn industry itself. The claim is that the adoption of condom use will drive the huge porn film making business out of California. The producers claim people do not want to watch protected sex.
Louis says.....
The proposed rules and regulations are necessary and required.
Porn film making is a business like any other. Its dollar consequence is significant. Its workers should be protected. The same as any worker in any other industry.
Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases abound. Those who enjoy the films should not deny health protection to those who provide pleasure via film.
This is not a moral issue. It is a health one.
Egyptians, Virginity and Sharia Law
Egyptian males are defecating on their women.
In the recent Egyptian revolution which over threw Mubarak, Egyptian women demonstrated alongside the men in the streets. They were welcomed partners in the fight for a democratic Egypt.
Mubarak was overthrown.
The hope for a better day for Egyptian women died with his Presidency.
The baby was thrown out with the bath water.
I had a concern at the time of the revolution that the revolution might not be such a good idea. I spoke of it on my radio show. Egypt knew what it had in Mubarak. Good, bad or indifferent, he was at least minimally ok. Mubarak was of the military. The military have actually been the rulers of Egypt for forty years.
The revolting Egyptians were primarily young. Of both sexes. As earlier suggested, the women were welcomed as equal protestors on the streets.
The problem as I perceived it was that no one person seemed to rise to the top among the revolutionaries to lead Egypt. If the protestors were successful, who would run Egypt.
I suggested it would be the military. And probably nothing would change. I was correct.
I did believe however that women would somehow find a place in the new Egypt. I was wrong.
In the several months since the purported successful revolution, the plight of the female population appears to have worsened. They continue to be treated as second class citizens. They are not sent to the back of the bus, however. Figuratively, they are dragged behind.
Egyptian women recently began protesting again. They wanted their rights. The rights they protested for which brought about Mubarak’s overthrow. Unfortunately, they and the men are partners no more. Needed then, not now.
Because the women have taken to the streets once more, the Egyptian government/the military is heaping harsh treatment upon them. A woman's place is in the home and not outside vocalizing for rights. As a result, the female protestors are being arrested and tortured. Things like beatings, electrical shock, and strip searches.
They are also being subjected to virginity testing. Appreciate that if an Egyptian woman has had sex and is unmarried, she is an adultress. An adulteress under Islamic law can and is in many instances subjected to death by stoning. Another approach is if the virginity test is failed and the woman unmarried, she is labeled a prostitute. Islamic law condemns and punishes prostitutes as it does adulteresses.
Female protest leaders are complaining that the female torture is comparable to that which women were subjected to in the fifteenth century. They also compare it to Nazi Dr. Mengle's testing of women in concentration camps.
Post Mubarak has not been a good time for the ladies of Egypt.
I have written in the past and spoken on my radio show of Sharia law. Also known as Islamic law. The Muslim religion.
Egyptians are basically of the Islamic/Muslim faith.
Muslims have been immigrating in larger numbers to non Islamic nations worldwide. Including the United States. Once here, they wish to practice their own faith. No problem. But the Muslim immigrants have taken the issue a step further. They wish to be governed in the United States not under our laws, but rather under the laws of their religion. Sharia law.
Civilly and criminally.
Do not say it could not happen. Already there have been two successful lower court decisions supporting the Muslim position. Under the guise of freedom of religion. Fortunately, higher courts in each instance overruled the lower court.
Beware, however. The legal onslaught continues.
It cannot be. It should not be.
Can you imagine stoning an adulteress? Or how about a husband can have four wives and a woman only one? Even better, a man can divorce his wife by saying I divorce you to her? Whereas her divorce rights are strictly limited and not so simple.
I continue to maintain that if a people want to come to the United States and live, than they must abide by our laws. Not the laws of the place they left. If things were so good in the old country, I wonder why they left in the first instance.
Americans are one. We are all governed by the same laws. Muslims must be also. One for all and all for one. Otherwise, they should not have come here in the first instance. I say to them who like not our laws: Go home!
Now as to Egypt itself. The army ruled. The army still rules. Can the army ever be trusted? I doubt it. If it is an evolving process and the army is able to correct itself on its own, I suspect it will take another forty years. The length of time Mubarak was in power.
What of civilian control? Another question mark. No civilian leader emerged from the revolution debacle. The women who supported the revolution are being grossly mistreated.
I hope you have enjoyed this little treatise. My purpose in writing it is to show how that which is happening in Egypt can and could have an impact on.....We the people of the United States.
The Finger
Ah, the law. There is a case for everything.
Even the finger. The middle finger. Standing upright and alone.
The finger is also known as the bird, the gesture, the highway salute, and the Bronx salute. Its wordless meaning is "f--k you" and "up yours."
In April of this year, thirty five year old Shane Boor was driving to work somewhere in Colorado. Boor observed a State Trooper pull over another car. As Boor drove by, he gave the Trooper the finger.
The Trooper was not thrilled with the gesture. Boor was later stopped and charged with criminal harassment. Colorado's criminal sentence for the charge involves a jail sentence of up to six months.
The American Civil Liberties Union got involved on Boor's behalf. The ACLU conceded that the finger was rude. However, not illegal. The ACLU claimed giving a person the finger was protected free speech under the United States Constitution.
Last week, the Colorado State Police asked the Court to drop the charge. A back door way of saying the Trooper was wrong.
I assume the court will. If someone can burn the American flag with impunity as a free speech act, most certainly giving a police officer the finger should be awarded the same protection.
Let’s get practical for a moment. The Boor matter is not the first time a police officer in this country has been given the finger. It happens frequently.
Normally, the slighted police officer will proceed to pull the guilty party over and give the offender a ticket for some minor traffic charge like speeding, rolling through a stop sign or what have you. And in most instances, the traffic ticket is unwarranted. But the police officer requires retribution. That's life.
The Colorado State Trooper in the Boor matter was sufficiently insulted that apparently he did not care. And nailed Boor with a criminal charge.
Let’s explore for a moment the origins of the finger.
The extended middle finger is first recorded around 400 B.C. A comedian named Aristophanes entertained with crude jokes. More than 2,000 years has changed nothing! He started using the middle finger as a phallic symbol in his shows.
The first century A.D. found the finger in common use in the Mediterranean area. Its purpose was to divert the ever present evil eye which persons believed were always about them.
We are considered to be presently living in the golden age of the finger. The golden age having commenced around 1950. Though still considered one of the basest violations in modern culture, it has increased usage.
Nelson Rockefeller was Vice President under Gerald Ford. Rockefeller was campaigning for Robert Dole who was running for re-election to the United States Senate. It was 1976 and people were still upset about the Vietnam War. People in the crowd started giving Rockefeller the finger for his stand on the war. Rockefeller gave them the finger back.
If a Vice President can give someone the finger with impunity, most certainly Boor in Colorado could also.
The other interesting thing is that Rockefeller was an extremely wealthy man. He could give any one the finger! One of the advantages of wealth.
I do not recommend giving any one the finger. It is insulting and tasteless. But if you do, worry not.
Your Constitution protects you.
A Dog Named Trouble Died
This is the story of a dog's life. Trouble was his name.
Trouble was owned and loved by Leona Helmsley.
You will recall the name. Leona was married to Harry Helmsley, the hotel tycoon. Harry died and Leona inherited most of his fortune.
Leona screwed up with the IRS. She did time for income tax evasion.
Leona was not a very popular employer with the Helmsley hotel staffs. It is alleged she treated her employees poorly and with disdain. As a result of which, she became known as the Queen of Mean. The New York papers referred to her as such.
Leona's best friend was Trouble. A dog. She worshiped Trouble.
When Leona died in 2007, she left Trouble $12 million in her will. For his care the rest of the dog's life.
Twelve million dollars to a pet is a sizeable bequest. Leona's heirs contested the amount in Surrogates Court. The Judge agreed with the heirs that the amount was a bit too much to leave to a pet. The Judge reduced the bequest to $2 million. Still a significant amount.
Trouble did not appeal.
Trouble died last December. The dog's death did not become news till this past week. Why, I could not ascertain.
Trouble had lived his last years regally at one of the Helmsley hotels in south Florida.
The dog was cremated.
There still remained money from the $2 million. How much does it cost to take care of a dog for three years? Even with the best of care, which I am sure Trouble received, the $2 million could not be exhausted. The balance of Trouble's bequest reverted under Leona's Will to the Helmsley Charitable Trusts.
Trouble did not live a dog's life.
Trouble lived like a King!
Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson's Senior Years
I periodically enjoy taking a walk back in history.
Today, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. Two lawmen of old west fame. One ended up in Hollywood as a friend to movie stars. The other as a sports editor in New York City and personal friend to a President.
Earp was a gunfighter/lawman. Famous in his day. Still famous as such today.
Before becoming a lawman, he had a checkered career. Was arrested. Escaped jail. Three of his arrests were for running whore houses.
Everyone starts somewhere!
Gunfight at OK Corral was the high point of his law enforcement career. The battle took all of thirty seconds. Its legend ongoing.
Earp has been portrayed in many films depicting the Old West. Most involving the gunfight at OK Corral. The epic battle is part of American folk lore.
Big stars have played Earp in these movies. The likes of Henry Fonda, Joel McCrea, Burt Lancaster, James Garner, Kevin Kostner, Cameron Mitchell and Kurt Russell. A long running TV series starred Hugh Grant.
Many people seem to have another life in their old age. Totally different from their earlier one. Earp was one. Earp settled down near Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert. There is now a community located there known as Earp, California.
Earp became a Hollywood celebrity. Not as an actor. But friend to the stars. He lived the Hollywood life style in his later years.
There was an old time western movie star named William Hart. He and Earp were buddies. Earp taught him how to fast draw.
Then there was John Wayne. When Earp and Wayne became friends in the 1920s, Wayne was not the John Wayne we know. Wayne's real name was Marion Morrison. He was not an actor. He was a prop man. However, Wayne wanted to be an actor.
Earp assisted Morrison/Wayne.
Wayne claimed in later years that he based his portrayal of western heroes on conversations he had had with Earp.
Wyatt Earp died in 1929 in bed in Hollywood.
Bat Masterson was a for real gun slinging lawman, also. He rid many old west towns of bad men.
Movies were made of Masterson's exploits. Movie stars such as Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea starred. Note that McCrea got to play both Earp and Masterson.
There was a long running TV series portraying Masterson's life in the old west. It starred Gene Barry.
Whereas Earp went west after his sheriffing days were over, Masterson headed east. To New York City.
Masterson became a sports writer and then sports editor for the New York Morning Telegraph newspaper. Somewhere along the way, he also became the very best of friends with President Teddy Roosevelt. The White House was always open to Masterson, day or night.
Masterson died in 1921 at his desk at the New York Morning Telegraph. With his boots on.
Interesting tales!
Life moves on. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
Obviously for the better for these two men.
Earp in Hollywood and friend to the stars. Masterson in New York and friend to a President.
Pets and Their Masters Cannot Share The Same Grave
An example of government intrusion.
There is a growing trend by owners to be buried with their pets. In the pet cemetery.
There are two reasons.
One has to do with love and affection. Some humans become very attached to their pets. Pets here being described as dogs, cats, and parakeets. They want to be with their beloved pets throughout eternity.
The other is an economic reason. It is cheaper to be buried in a pet cemetery than a human one. The cost of burial has become extremely expensive. Most pet cemeteries will bury the owner for $250. The cost of reopening the grave.
Note that for a human to be buried in a pet cemetery, the owner's remains must be cremated. No full body burial allowed.
There are approximately 75,000 pet cemeteries in the United States. It is estimated that 700 owners/humans' ashes are interred with their pets.
New York State recently got into the act from a legal perspective.
The Division of Cemeteries dictates the rules as to how pet cemeteries are to be operated.
The Division, as with any Division, enacts rules to be followed which have the power of law. New York's Division of Cemeteries recently ruled that humans could no longer be buried in a pet cemetery with such person's earlier demised pet.
Why has the issue become so earth shaking that the State has become involved? I am not sure. It is confusing.
It has to do with the distinction between profit and not for profit operators of pet cemeteries. In New York, the Division of Cemeteries only has jurisdiction over for profit cemeteries. It has no jurisdiction over not for profit ones.
I am unaware of any not for profit pet cemeteries. Pet cemeteries are generally a small business operation. For a small fee, the pet is given a plot, buried in a wooden casket and a small headstone placed over the remains. I know. Many years ago, our pet dog Snookums, was hit by a car and died. My children were distraught. A neighbor suggested I get the pet funeral director in our area.
I telephoned him. He came to the house. We all sat around the dining room table. He showed us caskets and burial shrouds. We selected a stone. We were told to select an inscription. We came up with "We Love You Snookums."
As I sat there, I thought this has to be the height of stupidity!
Everything cost me $250. It was worth it. Everyone felt better. The only problem was we only visited Snookum's grave once. He was soon forgotten.
One other State tried to become involved in the issue. Washington. In 2009. My recollection is that the situation was a bit different. The Senate bill was to permit pets to be buried with the owner in the owner's grave. It failed to even pass the Senate.
With all the pressing economic and social matters before us, I am surprised that New York has even dealt with this issue. Governor Cuomo and his team have been doing an outstanding job in trying to right matters in New York. I suspect that this decision barring an owner's ashes from being buried with his or her's pet in a pet cemetery was a bureaucratic misstep and no more.
Economy And The Law
The ravishes of the economy are reaching into the judicial system, also. The courts are feeling the burden of fewer dollars.
A perfect example is San Francisco.
San Francisco's courts are known as Superior Courts. They are courts of limited jurisdiction and primarily handle civil cases. Most cities have a similar court system.
Things are economically tough in California. Money problems tend to run down stream. Municipalities are thusly affected.
San Francisco recently announced that as of September 1, it would be laying off forty per cent of the Superior Court's work force. In simple terms, it means 25 court rooms closing and 200 court staff off the pay roll.
The reason simply stated is the need for budget cuts. San Francisco is facing a $13.5 million deficit.
What are the practical consequences of such action?
People will stand in line for hours to pay a traffic ticket fine. It will take longer to finalize a divorce. Up to 18 months. It is anticipated it will take 5 years for a lawsuit to reach trial.
There is an axiom in the law: Justice delayed is justice denied. I know from almost fifty years experience how true it is.
Florida had a similar problem earlier this year. I forget exactly how many millions of dollars were involved. The Florida Court System had run out of money.
The Governor announced court closings and staff layoffs by a certain date. Within hours, the Governor and Chief Judge of the Florida Court System announced the problem solved. At least temporarily.
The Court system was going to borrow the millions needed from some reserve fund. Sort of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. A band aid solution to the problem. The money borrowed would have to be paid back in the next fiscal year. In order to avoid justice delayed, the Florida Court System was deferring to another day in the not so distant future the payment of its usual annual expenses PLUS the millions of dollars borrowed from the reserve fund.
My concern is if Florida could not pay its normal assessment to operate the courts this year, how will it be able to do so next year with the additional millions added on?
I share this blog with you today to add to your perspective of how our economic problems are reaching further and affecting our everyday lives.
A society cannot survive without courts. Otherwise, we will be fighting in the streets to resolve our differences.
China's Credit Rating
This so called debt ceiling crisis the United States has been facing the past several weeks has been an education.
It was claimed that a failure to deal with the problem effectively would affect our credit world wide, drop the United States' credit rating, increase interest rates, and all other manner of dire consequences would befall us. Being bombarded with possible impending doom, I opted to read a bit about credit ratings from a nation perspective.
Note I am not an economist. Merely a retired environmental attorney. However, what I dredged up is easy to understand. And surprising.
Standard and Poor primarily determines a nation's credit rating. What goes into the decision process is convoluted. What it boils down to however is the size of a nation's debt, the capacity of a nation to pay that debt, and whether the nation's bills have and are being paid in a timely fashion.
That simply stated is how I see it. No different than you or I going to a bank to borrow money.
Lets explore China first and then the United States.
China for years was rated merely A. Recently China was upgraded to A1. The United States has had a triple A rating for years. It is in danger of being downgraded to A2.
The United States has huge debt. One of its biggest creditors is China. China is the Unites States' primary bank/lender. The United States borrows significant dollars from banks as well world wide. Evidence of the extreme nature of the United States' borrowing is that the United States' interest payments on its debt are more than $.40 on the dollar.
China has no debt. It is a lender, not a borrower.
China has vast reserves of cash. The United States does not.
Why then is the United States' credit rating higher than that of China? Because the United States pays its bills. China cannot be depended upon to do so.
Interesting.
One of the reason's China's credit rating recently went up is that banks within China are suddenly lending increasing amounts of money to the Chinese people and businesses. Borrowing has increased big time internally. Some view this increased lending as a developing bubble. We understand bubbles. The real estate bubble screwed everything up a few years ago here in the United States. Some economists believe the Chinese bubble will bust in 1-3 years, as the real estate bubble burst in the United States.
Once again, the bottom line as to why the United States' credit rating is superior to China's is that the United States pays its bills. China cannot be depended upon to do so. In the world economy, there is a perception that China will screw a creditor if it can. Whereas, the United States will not. The United States has a history of paying its bills and paying them on time.
From a money perspective, I would rather be in China's position. They have all the money. From a moral perspective however, it is still the United States for me. Good, bad or indifferent. Our task/responsibility is to straighten out some things to get our country back on the correct course.
Hopefully, we can.
Babysitting Law A Step Too Far
California is broke. Broke broke! One of the worst state economies, if not the worst, in the Nation.
Jobs should be the issue for Californians. Getting new ones and keeping the ones they have.
Such is not the case.
One of the major political issues of the day in California is the prohibition of circumsicion till a male is 18 years of age. An example of where their heads are at.
Another is a battle involving babysitter pay.
The bill is known as Assembly Bill 889. It has already passed the Assembly. One hundred per cent of the Democrats voted for it. One hundred per cent of the Republicans voted against it.
The bill is presently pending in the Senate awaiting action.
The bill affects household employers. A legal description for parent(s) who hire a babysitter. The bill only applies to babysitters over 18.
The bill provides that the babysitter be paid at least the minimum wage. Not a big deal in and of itself. Most babysitters across the country are paid more than that. My understanding is that babysitters presently charge between $10 and $20 per hour.
The bill further provides that a substitute babysitter must be provided every two hours so the primary babysitter may take a rest or meal break. Breaks have never been a problem with babysitters to date. Why attempt to correct a non-existent problem?
Even stranger! The household employer/parent must provide workers compensation.
If the previous portion of the bill was not enough to make you question it, the babysitters are to receive overtime pay.
Additionally, monies paid the babysitter must be meticulously calculated by time card or paycheck.
This babysitting bill is an example of a proposed law going too far.
I thought it to be a perfect topic for this Labor Day 2011.
There was a time when unions were needed in this country to protect employees from tyrannical type employer barons. The unions succeeded. Then the unions became too powerful. Too much was asked/demanded. They choked on their own requests and fell out of favor.
Today, corporate America is too powerful. The pendulum has swung too far to the right. It must move back again. Hopefully, only to a middle point.
Bills like this babysitting one do nothing to help the situation. Such bills are old hat. Yesterday legislation. They only serve to aggravate and do harm to an already hurting American society.
With all due respect, the babysitting bill is ridiculous on its face.
Mile High Club
The Mile High Club is a slang expression. It refers to persons who have engaged in sexual intercourse while (1) in an airplane (2) at least one mile above the earth.
The activity generally takes place in a lavatory. However, adjoining seats or the cockpit are acceptable venues also.
The first persons to qualify for membership were the Club's founder and pilot Lawrence Sperry. His partner in the event was the socialite Mrs. Waldo Polk. The event occurred in November 1916 on a Curtiss Flying Boat somewhere over New York City.
Subsequent years have produced a number of additional members.
There is no formal club or organization. It is just out there. Two people do it, pride themselves that they have done it, and announce it to a select few or the world.
One would assume that any day is a good day to join this illustrious Club. Generally, yes. This past 9/11, no.
You will recall that in the week prior to 9/11 this year, the possibility of a terrorist attack was announced. Reliable information had been received, etc. The general feeling was the tenth anniversary of 9/11 might be a good day from the terrorists' point of view to attempt another strike on United States soil.
It would have appeared therefore that 9/11 might not be the best day to join the Mile High Club. In fact, it might be the worst day to join. Any unusual activity might be misinterpreted.
It happened.
On two separate flights. One to New York City and the other to Detroit. In both instances, three persons were involved. The bathrooms had to be awful crowded!
Passenger(s) on each flight observed unusual lengthy lavatory activity with the same persons in and out. The crew was apprised, authorities notified, two F-16 fighter jets sent to accompany each plane, and the planes were met by police officials when they landed. The authorities handcuffed the persons involved and removed them from the airplanes. One plane was boarded by a swat team.
After interrogation, all six persons were released without charges being levied. Rather than terrorists, the persons involved were engaged in Mile High Club activity.
Comments since the two events have included that a misuse of tax dollars was involved and that Osama bin Laden probably turned over in his watery grave laughing. Authorities agreed that a "...abundance of caution" was utilized. The official conclusion was that there was "...no nexus to terrorism."
I say Hooray! For everyone's conduct. The authorities did the right thing. Especially on 9/11 and with the warnings involved. Better safe than sorry.
I give an equal Hooray! Shout for the Mile High Club players involved. They did not let 9/11 deter them!
I am probably a bit jealous. I am in the twilight of my life. Never had the opportunity to join the Club and probably never will. On the other hand, hope does spring eternal!
Regarding the legality of the activity involved, it is not against the law to attempt to join or actually join the Mile High Club anywhere in this world. With one exception. Great Britain.
Mile High Club play in a plane flying over British soil would constitute "...sex in a lavatory to which the public has access." Conviction carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.
I would not worry about the British law. No one has ever been charged or convicted under the statute for sex in an airplane.
So participate anywhere you like without concern. However, be careful when a there is a terrorist alert. Otherwise you will be confronted with F-16 fighter jets, swat teams, and the like.
Death Penalty
The Taiwanese government recently posthumously exonerated a soldier it had executed 14 years earlier.
Yes, I did write that. The man executed later was found to be innocent! The man was tried and convicted 14 years earlier for murder. Subsequently, the government discovered it had made a mistake.
The facts.
Chiang Kuo-ching was in the army. A 5 year old girl was brutally raped and murdered. Her internal female organs ripped apart. Kuo-ching was found guilty, sentenced to death and subsequently executed. He protested his innocence to the end. He had given a confession the military officers who questioned him. He said it was coerced (beaten) from him.
This past May (14 years later) comes Hsu Rong-chou. He was arrested for other crimes. While being interrogated, he confesses to the murder for which Kuo-ching had been executed 14 years earlier.
The case is reopened. Rong-chou's admission to having committed the murder is presented to the court. Additional evidence is presented to the court for the first time which further exonerates Kuo-ching. This evidence was not made available to the court 14 years earlier by the authorities.
The government has apologized to Kuo-ching's family and a compensation package is being prepared for the family. The government has also exonerated Kuo-ching from guilt/responsibility for the murder.
Has justice triumphed?
Absolutely not!
Kuo-ching is dead! Apologies to the family and money to the family in no way compensates Kuo-ching. I would like to know how Kuo-ching is going to spend any of the money!
Which brings me to the purpose of this blog.
I oppose the death penalty. It should be abolished in every state in our country and every where else in the world. The reason simple. The judicial system is imperfect. Mistakes do occur. In a death penalty case, we cannot bring the executed party back to life. There is no adequate remedy. Dead is dead!
When I first graduated from Law School, I found the death penalty to be proper. I believed in the Bible.....an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Additionally as a young still wet behind the ears attorney, I believed the judicial system to be perfect.
The years have obviously changed my thinking on the subject. Our system though good, is not perfect. This means innocent people may; no are being executed on occasion. I have come around to the school of thought that it is better to have 100 guilty go free rather than incarcerate or execute an innocent person.
There is an exception to my position that the death penalty be abolished. Terrorist/military convictions. War crimes are birds of another feather.
Life is precious.
Amish Case Headed To U.S. Supreme Court
A law professor used to tell us periodically that "...big trees from little acorns grow."
He simply meant that some apparent non consequential matter could take on the stature of importance as regards the Constitution. The issue might then be on its way to the United States Supreme Court for decision.
Such a case has developed in Kentucky.
The case involves eight Amish men. That religious sect that dresses entirely in black and avoids color in everything. The Amish religion specifically provides that "loud colors" are to be avoided.
The Amish do not drive motorized vehicles. The horse and buggy is the vehicle of choice for transportation.
Kentucky has a law that requires "orange safety triangles" to be placed on the rear of horse drawn buggies. Kentucky believes such prevents accidents and saves lives.
Thus far there have been 44 arrests of Amish men for alleged violation of the statute. Eight appeared in court recently. They were offered the option of using the orange triangles in the future and the charges would be dropped. The Amish felt in good religious conscience they could not do so. They were found guilty of misdemeanors. They were all sentenced to jail. The sentences ran from 3 to 10 days.
Their case squarely pits religious belief against civil mandate.
Legal scholars believe this case will eventually find its way to the United States Supreme Court. They also believe that the Amish men will prevail. Apparently there have been similar but not precisely the same type cases in the past.
As a practical matter, how did this situation develop? How did this constitutional issue arise? How did this little acorn, a simple traffic case, turn into the big religious battle it has become?
I can tell you. My response is not based on specific knowledge. But it is the way judges and courtrooms operate. All the time, without fail.
The court where the Amish were tried could not be a large one jurisdictionally. These were mere traffic charges. Traffic cases normally go to the lowest court in the system for adjudication. The bottom ring on the ladder.
These judges are busy with all kinds of minor matters. All of a sudden these Amish orange triangle cases are before the judge. What started as one has accumulated. Now there are 44.
The Judge in this case was the Honorable Deborah Hawkins.
Judge Hawkins is aware of these 44 cases on her calendar. The calendar is being clogged. The cases must move, be disposed of. Judge Hawkins one morning probably threw her hands up in frustration and said lets go to trial! The Amish men were obviously guilty based on the printed word of the statute. She found them guilty and sentenced them to jail. A warning in effect also to the remaining 36 Amish men awaiting trial.
That is how it works as a practical matter. No one really did anything wrong. The Amish men stood on their religious beliefs. The Judge on her legal obligation to enforce the law.
Thus from a little acorn, a big tree is growing.
A law professor used to tell us periodically that "...big trees from little acorns grow."
He simply meant that some apparent non consequential matter could take on the stature of importance as regards the Constitution. The issue might then be on its way to the United States Supreme Court for decision.
Such a case has developed in Kentucky.
The case involves eight Amish men. That religious sect that dresses entirely in black and avoids color in everything. The Amish religion specifically provides that "loud colors" are to be avoided.
The Amish do not drive motorized vehicles. The horse and buggy is the vehicle of choice for transportation.
Kentucky has a law that requires "orange safety triangles" to be placed on the rear of horse drawn buggies. Kentucky believes such prevents accidents and saves lives.
Thus far there have been 44 arrests of Amish men for alleged violation of the statute. Eight appeared in court recently. They were offered the option of using the orange triangles in the future and the charges would be dropped. The Amish felt in good religious conscience they could not do so. They were found guilty of misdemeanors. They were all sentenced to jail. The sentences ran from 3 to 10 days.
Their case squarely pits religious belief against civil mandate.
Legal scholars believe this case will eventually find its way to the United States Supreme Court. They also believe that the Amish men will prevail. Apparently there have been similar but not precisely the same type cases in the past.
As a practical matter, how did this situation develop? How did this constitutional issue arise? How did this little acorn, a simple traffic case, turn into the big religious battle it has become?
I can tell you. My response is not based on specific knowledge. But it is the way judges and courtrooms operate. All the time, without fail.
The court where the Amish were tried could not be a large one jurisdictionally. These were mere traffic charges. Traffic cases normally go to the lowest court in the system for adjudication. The bottom ring on the ladder.
These judges are busy with all kinds of minor matters. All of a sudden these Amish orange triangle cases are before the judge. What started as one has accumulated. Now there are 44.
The Judge in this case was the Honorable Deborah Hawkins.
Judge Hawkins is aware of these 44 cases on her calendar. The calendar is being clogged. The cases must move, be disposed of. Judge Hawkins one morning probably threw her hands up in frustration and said lets go to trial! The Amish men were obviously guilty based on the printed word of the statute. She found them guilty and sentenced them to jail. A warning in effect also to the remaining 36 Amish men awaiting trial.
That is how it works as a practical matter. No one really did anything wrong. The Amish men stood on their religious beliefs. The Judge on her legal obligation to enforce the law.
Thus from a little acorn, a big tree is growing.
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