New Virus

My husband received a virus warning from one of his employer, IBM. The heading on the virus is from the US Department of Justice and states a complaint number, a date of the complaint, and "contact information" for the recipient.

This virus appears to be a .doc. My husband's connection at IBM said he opened it up on his Blackberry, and discovered that it was not a .doc, but a virus, thus saved (potentially) his IBM issued laptop from viral infection.

Funny thing, the message starts with "Dear citizen, A complaint has been filled (sic) against your company in regards to the business services it provides. The complaint was filled (sic) by Mr. Henry Stewart on 6/19/2007/ and his been forwarded to us and the IRS."

I hate to admit it, but it I were in business (other than as a law firm), I would probably open the email and click on the attachment. Shame on me!

Prosecutors Develop List of Problem Police Officers

This, out of Seattle, Washington, earlier today: the prosecutors are developing a list of police officers who have caused problems for the prosecution through their incompetence or lack of credibility.

I think this is very good. It is truly a problem when the defense attorney is the one that successfully impeaches a police officer's credibility. The prosecution is left with a real difficult problem, one that they did not anticipate.

I am all for a real battle at trial between worthy adversaries who are trying an issue that reasonable minds can have conflict about. But, I hate it when either or both sides are tripped by outside nonsense.

Police officers are fond of saying that all criminals lie. Maybe so. But do all police officers always tell the entire truth? Virtually no human being does that, I think. Most police officers are honest and try to do the right thing. That, I firmly believe.

But, I also know that personal bias, history, and just simple anger, can creep into an individual officer's mind and practice, just as they do in regular people's daily activities. Only, we hold police officers to a higher standard. Just so.

Mennonite Farmer Wins

While everyone else is properly concerned about the two U.S. Supreme Court case decisions of yesterday, I thought I would discuss a Mennonite Farmer who stood up for his religious freedom and won.

You see, this particular farmer had been providing ducks to New York for several decades without incident. He participated in all the federal avian health screening requirements for the same period of time.

Then, in an attempt to regulate and keep track of individuals and farmers who are in business, the state decided to require a federal identification number (just like I have) in order to continue legally selling ducks to New York. The problem? This kind of identification goes against the religious teachings of his church.

Fortunately, a settlement was reached after a long struggle for this farmer. Perhaps there is a bit of religious freedom left in the country. Not just private worship and prayer, but religious choice within the context of a business arrangement.

Oh, if only this would lead to faithful people being able to legally choose other faithful people to be their employees, tenants, and such. Discrimination. That is the problem.

I am glad for the various farmers and others who will benefit from the arrangement between the
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and this
Mennonite farmer.

And, I am glad for the intervention of the
Alliance Defense Fund, once again.

Scotland on the Mind

The reason for the slow posting in the last week is that I had Scotland on my mind. I could not, for some reason, find my Clan Mackay cotton fabric. I put it somewhere safe. Always a mistake.

Then, I packed the car for our trip up to the Ohio Scottish Games and drove there with my husband. He slept part of the way. No wonder - he had flown in on the midnight flight from California to Ohio.

We spent a lovely day at the games, notwithstanding the fact that I had not found the lovely Clan Mackay fabric. The tent was decorated rather plainly as a result.

However, we had the good fortune to re-establish an acquaintance with Jordan, a very nice clan member who attends Bowling Green State University. Majors in Physics and plans to be a school teacher.

Also, we had a number of visitors to the clan tent, and some of them were interested in genealogy. Cool.

The next Scottish event is the Dayton Celtic Festival. We will be sitting at the Clan tent again. Now, where is the Clan Mackay fabric? Hmmmmm.

Lawyers Are Supposed to be Poor

The leader of
Legal Services Corporation, Helaine Barnett, was caught flying first class to Ireland and enjoying "Death by Chocolate" deserts. All on taxpayer money. Oh, and she took some cab rides while in Ireland. Should she have rented a car?

The logic of the complaint is that, because Ms. Barnett supposedly spent a wee bit more money than you or I would, the people who qualify for free legal aid services are denied their just deserts. Or, so it goes. That is because this trip was paid for out of Legal Aid monies. Of course, most of us never get to fly to Ireland, either.

There may be an investigation in this matter, especially given Helaine Barnett's apparently misleading statements to Congress. Yes, the same people who "give" us Social Security, welfare benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, etc, may be more upset about Ms. Barnett's statements to Congress than her possible overspending.

In this article about this matter, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is quoted as saying, "It's hard to see how it serves those who are down on their luck, and in need of legal aid, for the president of the Legal Services Corp. to take a charmed trip to Ireland, traveling first-class at taxpayer expense."

How many heads of agencies for the poor (noted above) and committee members for the various federal social services programs fly about in business class or first class, dine out at restaurants that have pricey desserts, and entertain board members or committee members somewhere else than in their offices and conference rooms? How many of those people have coffee, tea, and bagels with cream cheese on their office sideboard every morning? Who pays for that? Taxpayers! Do they not know that poor people (public defenders, social security recipients, welfare recipients, etc - and the enlisted military) can not afford those luxuries?

Isn't dining at ANY "inside the loop" Washington D.C. restaurant pretty much "first class"?

Oh, that's right. I forgot. Attorneys who serve the poor through legal aid are supposed to be as poor as their clients.

And what about Governor's mansions? They seem pretty high-class, too. Perhaps Governor's should live in houses that are worth the median price of a home in the state. No first-class trips for them, either.

Perhaps the term "public servant" would regain some meaning if all this rich life-style stuff was given up by our elected and appointed (unless paid for out of their own trust funds).

Maybe we should allow taxpayer standing to sue the government for public servants "rich" or "luxurious" lifestyles that come at taxpayer expense. But, who would define "rich" or "luxurious"?

Red Alert List

FIRE has begun its
Red Alert List with two notably difficult adversaries: Tufts University and Johns Hopkins University. Those who know about FIRE understand that its mission is to respond to student complaints about the abrogation of their free speech rights by colleges and universities.

The two universities noted above earned their place on the Red Alert List because of their repeated, notable, and arguably unconstitutional restrictions on free speech. They do this primarily through vague terminology and unusually stern consequence.

For instance, Johns Hopkins University now bans speech that is “tasteless” or that breaches standards of “civility” according to the
December 11, 2006 issue of The JHU Gazette. Who is the arbiter of "tasteless" or "standards of civility"? The reasonable person? The highly sensitive person? The person with an opposing viewpoint? The person with "pull" at the university? Who?

Also, Tufts University has repeatedly stated that it honors free speech and protects it, but, according to Greg Lukianoff, "redefined harassment to include even factually accurate statements if some students find them unflattering." The example in this case is one presented in the
April 11, 2007 issue of "The Primary Source."

I understand being upset that other people have a right to say and print what they want (with the exception of liable and slander). That freedom does NOT only extend to those with whom we agree. If we cannot protect the right of others to say/write what they want, then we cannot defend our own right to say/write what we want. Even if it is rude or uncivil (again, who defines those terms?).

Thank goodness for FIRE.

Happy Father's Day

Thanks, dad. I always knew you loved me and my sister. I always knew you loved mom. And, I knew that I could count on you to be sincere, funny, kind, generous, and intelligent. You helped me develop the idea of a good husband.

Thanks, love. For being who you are and for being a terrific dad to our kids. Maybe even better than my own dad. And that is saying a lot!

Only One Principal Use

Here's a novel idea. Run organizations (i.e. churches) out of town via another method: zoning ordinances. I remember that porn parlors were handled this way. But churches? Oh, because the church use of the school on Sundays was defined as a "principle use." Thus, was in violation of the ordinance.

Anyway, in Richland Township of Quakertown, Pennsylvania, the township has an ordinance that forbids multiple use of a building (school and church) without a variance even when the property is zoned for both purposes! Since when do the zoning people and the ordinance people not communicate?

I can give the city council the benefit of the doubt and go find the original reason why a variance is needed for multiple uses of a school property. Surely community groups need not apply for a variance when they use the school grounds for a community fund-raising fair or a softball or soccer game.

For now, the township has agreed to change its ordinance so that the church can rent the school property on Sundays without a variance.

I was unable to find the offending ordinance on this
website. I'll go back and check it later.

Hooray for Batteries and Aladdin Lamps

No rain. Well, there was some rain in sight. And, we had a warning from our friendly waiter at TGIF. His girlfriend had called (at work!) and said that a heavy storm would hit within about 10 minutes.

True, the sky was very dark, especially to the northeast of us.

We headed home down route 256 and discovered several (most) of the light signals were out. The lights were out at Kroger's but not at Giant Eagle. The lights were out in our subdivision.

The problem?

NO RAIN! 88 degrees outside, no electricity until about 11 pm. NO RAIN! Oh, sure, we received some scanty lightning.

Since we arrived home about 7:30 pm, we still had not finished the day, so to speak. I had a motion to research and write, and number of emails to write, and my family wanted to read. I also wanted to add to this blog.

That is where batteries and the Aladdin Lamps come in. I was able to use my laptop to generate the first portion of the motion (not the memo in support) and to compose various emails. The Aladdin lamp was useful for two readers.

However, we grew tired of this and all went to bed earlier than usual. I got up when the electricity came back on to check the CGI outlet in the garage. It that outlet had tripped, then our freezer would not come back on. Bad news. However, in the outage, the CGI had not tripped. Food saved!

Free Legal Advice

OK, I have officially had it. Potential clients calling up with a "quick question." Then, there is some information, hardly a breath taken while giving the highly detailed question (2-4 minutes long), and then . . . the question: "What should I do?"

I need to come up with some good answer. AH! I forgot. The good people at solosez discussed this last week, I think.

I will have to go back to the solosez blog to see what other solo attorneys recommended.

I am as anxious to help my fellow citizens out as any other attorney is. However, does anyone ask a plumber or electrician for a free consult over the phone? How about a doctor? Do people ask for free advice over the phone because lawyers deal with words?

Employed US Citizens to File with Homeland Security

I certainly hope this is not true!

As reported here, employed United States citizens will have to register with Homeland security within 60 days of the Immigration Reform Act of 2006 becoming law.

So, again, the law abiding citizens will comply, as will the law abiding corporations and other employers.

I cannot imagine, however, how anyone thinks that the budgeted $400 million dollars for this gargantuan project will be sufficient, even for the Homeland Security end of the costs of compliance.

So, I wonder what the per employee cost will be for employers.

Now, I need to find the exact quote in the actual bill.

American Legion Comes to the Rescue

As previously noted, the ACLU has been successfully fighting the very existence of crosses on public property for quite some while. It is expected that this fight will likely include military crosses in public cemeteries at grave sites. The ACLU denies this. Perhaps they will stop before getting there. Maybe not.

Anyway, there is a recent report on this at
The American Legion Vision.

I hope that some others care as much!

Some Peace and Quiet in Ohio

One of our favorite places to go to for our anniversary is
Glenlaurel Inn, nearby in the Hocking Hills.

We heartily recommend it to everyone. No kids are allowed. The breakfast is outstanding. The ambiance is quiet, comfortable, and water. That is, each room has its own spa on a deck that is open to the sky and trees and closed to all neighbors.

Ah, now if only we could go once a month!