OK, so last month was too hectic for me to be hanging around too much, but here's to let you all know I'm still around!

Best news of the day: Angels 9 Dodger 2, and my wife and I saw the whole game from the GM Box Seats, courtesy of my really nice son-in-law!

Be around more this month 'cause my curriculum writing projects are over... and I'm a little richer for the work.

Hey, who all is gonna be in CA on August 5th?

New volume? That happened quick!

Okay, why ain't we "pinned" anymore, eh? Methinks we musta pissed somebody off again.We just thought maybe they'd made you a mod too! Seems once they go over to the dark side and get to wear the red we don't see much of 'em here no more.

Hey! You still sufferin' ?

Okay. Let's start the new edition right. It is pinned (thanks to The Snuff) and I think I closed the last volume out okay. In return all I ask is no more "dark side" and no more seeing red when referring to those of us who are volunteering to try to keep this a civil place, okay ? We are the same people we always were; we are just trying to help because we were asked to do so.

Seems you got it closed out just fine; it says LOCKED.

Doc, thanks for the advice on Trailerman's chem burns. I have put him to bed lathered in polysporin and told him was very bad for not having had his hands attended to on Friday or whenever it was he 'burned' them. (Coulda been Thursday)

Good to see you around WS ! Missed you at chat last night... but can't tell you how much fun you missed.
refrain: because what happens in chat stays in chat

Good to hear your work is done and you got to see the game !


on edit: thanks Joe- tried to lock & pin without losing the thread...
I'm trying to help.

Okay, I'm sorry!

Any of our left coast contingent seen this yet? Methinks it's new, eh?



Added on edit: This just in - Pawsox 10, Scranton-Wilkes Barre 2 at Lackawanna Stadium, eh?

That is too cool, Doc. Arnie Baby at his best. Got a few shipmates in San Diego that will love it...

joe e

this kid don't if he praying are scared

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/jmw...mgAnch=imgAnch1

Good picture, Vet ! Reminds me of the days when SonPie was in t-ball and I would say "Look at the ball !"

Guy pulls up to the docks at the end of each day with a limit of every single species of fish in the lake, this goes on for days.

Finally the game warden tells himself nobody can be that lucky. So he follows the guy out on the lake and watches him through binoculars and sure enough the fisherman reaches down into his boat picks up a stick of dynamite lights it drop it over the side and boom up comes all these fish, as he is picking them up with his net, up motors the game warden and mad as hell he tells the fisherman "You are going to get a ticket like no ticket that has ever been written before" Our fisherman calmly reaches down lights a stick of dynamite tosses it into the wardens boat and asks:

"You going to talk or fish?

He might be prayin' for the ball to hit his bat, ya think? Great Pic, vet...

joe e

few more of the 500 i shot today got sunburn also
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/jmw...mgAnch=imgAnch8
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/jmw...mgAnch=imgAnch8
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/jmw...mgAnch=imgAnch8

Dear Abby:

My husband is a liar and a cheat. He has cheated on me from the
beginning, and when I confront him, he denies everything. What's worse, everyone
knows he cheats on me. It is so humiliating. Also, since he lost his job four
years ago he hasn't even looked for a new one. All he does is buy cigars
and cruise around and ?????? with his pals, while I have to work to pay the
bills.

Since our daughter went away to college he doesn't even pretend to
like me and hints that I am a lesbian. What should I do?

Signed, Clueless

Dear Clueless:

Grow up and dump him. For Pete's sake, you don't need him anymore. You're a
United States Senator from New York, act like it!

A young woman had been taking golf lessons.

She had just started playing her first round of golf when she suffered
a bee sting.
Her pain was so intense that she decided to return to the clubhouse for
help and to complain.

Her golf pro saw her come into the clubhouse and asked, "Why are you
back in so early? What's wrong?"

"I was stung by a bee", she said.

"Where?", he asked.

"Between the first and second hole", she replied.

He nodded knowingly and said, "Then your stance is too wide."

Yeah, sorry I missed it too but, ya know, every once in a while my wife and I have a life beyond me spoutin' off my mouth (but I prefer the term 'using my quick wit'- of which too many think I only have half). Went out to dinner, did some furniture shopping, stopped at a bar and had a few pops, then came home. Quite a wild nite, wouldntya say? Out till after 10- then to bed...



...an' Pie, ya done good wif th' pinnin' n' closin' n' keepin' th' peace. :julyfourth:

I had "fun with baby" today so the reason for my late start here tonight. Speaking of which I guess it's already tomorrow and if I stay up a little long, the Skillet should be swinging by.

Love your pics Vet - I assume those were taken with the big lens - also like the yellow car in your album.

Doc, what's the scoop on young Gunny - last I heard he may or maynot have had a young lady in his life.

Sorry, I didn't even give a thought to starting a new thread when I was here last night. But then, I think that was probably the last thing on my mind, sleep was the first.

Okay, so here's a little pre-4th of July Holiday quiz that is only 10 questions. I scored 10 out of 10, not bad if I do say so myself. (it's easy anyhow). Amazing how much we forget about what we actually know.

http://www.morefocused.com/surveys/fourthofjuly/

I see Skillet is playing the wallflower tonight...

Here is the skillet swinging your way.

Yes Doc - I am dutifully (another spelling error, possibly) notified when I have a PM. What do we have to do to make sure you are notified of yours?Boise..snort..or should I say OINK? Sorry it is an inside, and terrible joke. I believe....that certain people who hail from Boise have lost their brain. Bermuda Triangle for the down and desperate maybe? Walking a very fine line here..whoops... Love living on the edge, and if you could see the gleam in my eye, whoa everyone.

Pie - Is all ok on your front? You sound frazzled. Hope hubby is ok. As far as the mod stuff - You are doing great. We are adjusting, it takes some time. For some silly reason a Huey Lewis song is playing in my brain.."The Heat is On". Will see if it makes sense by checking the lyrics later. In the meantime, glad TeenPie is doing well. Really enjoyed talking to you in chat. TeenMagic is literally shaking the house with anticipation about his trip to Europe. Five days...Oh my, the radio in my brain just switched to "Leavin' on a Jet Plane"

Frenchy - Thanks for the KOSOVO video. Watched it right before I went to work. Will watch it again before I bid you all good night.

ws - 'bout time you came around. Hmmph. Well you redeemed yourself, that is for sure. Helped get July started with a bang! :julyfourth: Still waiting to get approval from work to attend our reunion in August. Think you can write me a note, or something?

Betty - Hope you realize that you invited me to visit you in Canada in front of everybody. (Shhhhh...don't tell anybody, she is in big trouble. ) I am taking you up on your offer. Will start saving my . We will work out the details later.

That is two trips that I am planning for folks. Yippee, I love to travel!

Now while has some of your attention, I find myself watching the World Cup.

Speaking of or wonderful children doing this - Vet absolutely loved and was delighted by the picture you posted. The lens you want so badly, is justified. Buy it. Will bring you much happiness and..if you need the excuse, cash returns. Tell him Snuffy - would ya please.

Oh, I digress..amy...Italy is still in there in the World Cup. Whoopee. I remember a World Cup victory for Italy many years ago. I watched it in an Italian Cafe/Bar in San Francisco. North Beach to be exact. The kissin' and huggin' and arm waving that went on. Well, it was wonderful!

Brookie - Where the heck are you? BADDABING Bro and I are holding down the fort. Worried about the flooding your way. But what am I thinking?..Trout can't drown!

Betty -(back to you) I have to wish you a Happy Anniversary here. Your story has given me hope, encouragement and inspiration. And yes, since I know you will be asking, all is well and wonderful with Mr. Shopping Challenged and me in my world. Hasn't changed one bit for me. As I have said, I absolutely adore the man. Guess I might just be hooked folks!

Red Bird - Glad you are enjoying the baby. I am so envious of you. I am afraid I have a long while to wait before I have wee ones in my life again.

Desron - You are MIA! Ya know what this means don'tcha folks? He POPS back up and announces that he is hitched.

Joe - Thanks for the laughs and the jokes. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday. :julyfourth:

Tomhye - missed ya in chat. Was too late last night. Check in, how is it going?

bigtom - Again, was great to talk to you even for a little while last night.

Indianhead - We need some words of wisdom as we head into our Independence Day Holiday... :hbamerica:

Marine - Know you have been around. Need a farming report here, ok?

SemperFi - So glad to hear about your son! Grace these halls whenever you see fit. You are always missed and greatly appreciated when you stop by.

Pegatha - Loved what you said to Noonanda...Yes, he IS our soldier. Noonanda, glad you are ok. Time for a celebration! Please keep in touch.

Heart - Time to check in Sweetie! Let us know how you are faring! Is it still oh very hot your way?

KT - Always good to see you around the forum. Don't work too hard and enjoy the holiday.

Wmaus - Wonderful gesture in honor of Betty's anniversary. Loved the flowers that you posted.

Eugeenie - Thinking about you and your new independent business during this time that celebrates our nation and the freedom it brings. I'm gonna leave this on a happy note, not expressing my fears for the future here

TiSC - Hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend.

TRoU - Read about you and your friend. Will be interested to read how your visit went. Always enjoy what you write.


I am afraid that I have run out of thoughts here. Nope, I don't look back to try and jog the memory. So what will be here, will be. Good Night, sleep tight...Look forward to hearing from you all soon.

On Edit: Oh fine Winston...call me a wall flower! Here I am typing my fingers to the bone, while you are gadflying it all over the forum.

On Edit Duex: Oh Red Bird..got nine out of ten. Missed the King George question. Must be subliminal, don'tcha think?

Good morning everyone!
(or what ever 'tis where ever you is, eh?)

Humidity's risin', thunder storms comin' this afternoon. Methinks 'tis a good thing we got the grasses cut yesterday.Typical behaviour for the , eh?Methinks it could be somethin' serious, at least 'nuff so that he gets upset when his father drops little phrases like "It's better to have loved and lost, much better!" and the like. I expect that's why he'll be headin' out to see her this week, then comin' back to go lookin' for an apartment in Newport. We'll see, eh?

There was a man who had worked all of his life, had saved all his money, and was a real miser when it came to his money.

Just before he died, he said to his wife, "When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I want to take my money to the afterlife with me."

And so he got his wife to promise him with all of her heart that when he died, she would put all of the money in the casket with him. Well, he died. He was stretched out in the casket, his wife was sitting there in black, and her friend was sitting next to her. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said

"Wait just a minute!' She had a box with her, she came over with the box and put it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket down, and they rolled it away.

So her friend said,"Girl, I know you weren't fool enough to put all that money in there with your husband."

She said, "Listen, I'm a Christian, I can't go back on my word. I promised him that I was gonna put that money in that casket with him."

"You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with him!!!!?"

"I sure did," said the wife.

"I wrote him a check. If he can cash it, he can spend it."



Well, here's hopin' the weather's great where ever y'all are at! Enjoy the day, be safe, stay well and remember to play nice!

Good Morning everyone !

Running late this morning but wanted to drop by to wish you all a good day.

Fly .. that pond is lovely .. now more than double the size and you see what I spend hours maintaining these days. Right about now filling it with concrete doesn't seem like a bad idea!

Skillet.. the invitation is firm. ANYTIME.

TCIS and Snuff--- I just spotted you .. Good Morning !!

and now, seeing as my mind is blank, I'll leave you all with this to think about ...

It was Glen Frey.

Love you, Marie.

Goodmorning and thank you for starting this new RA Vol 20 winston and pie.
I'm in a rush to get to Costco to buy the products for the family 4th of July bbq so I can't stay and wax lyrically. I will leave that for winston who has a lot of time on his hands and pie to mod. lol
I will be in CA on August 5th winston but don't know what your plans are for the CA delegation. Where is it being held? Have a good one y'all!

KT

Well Doc, maybe you get the thunderstorms, but we got the heat. Hittin' 100 degrees here almost every day- but with the east-coast type of humidity. Over the deserts you can see the thunderheads build up- some must stretch out for 40 or 50 miles. Glad you got the grass cut- is it dried enuf to smoke yet?

C'mon Des! you got us strung along so tight that our poor brains is workin' overtime tryin' t' figure if... well, jes IF!

Pie- glad to hear that Trailerman is listenin' t' the Doc! 'bout time he listened t' someone 'cause he ain't listenin' t' Someone!

Skillet- so you need a letter: here it is-

[list] Dear cruel mean bosses where Skillet works-

Her doctor- me, Dr. WS (well, I guess maybe a bit of a stretch on the Dr. part) sez she needs to come down to SoCal to get her head straight, meet with some liberal fringe element friends, and find a way to put criminals out of office and in jail! Much more important business than the capitalist pig stuff you do by ripping off all the workers of the world from their hard-earned money. World Peace, the cure for AIDS, the fate of Western Civilization, in fact, ALL CIVILIZATION, depends upon her being at this important left-wing convention, to help us plan our conspiracies. Maybe you might not want to use that one, huh?

Heart- Ho ho, where are you? (Like I should talk- 3 weeks AWOL as I was)

Too hot to work outside, so time for a little siesta...

Seeya' all 'round the forum...

gadfly WS

Anaheim Hills Golf Course, KT, then down to my place for concocting conspiracies for the rest of the day. Go to the CA subforum for more info... directions, addresses, times, etc. Look forward to seeing you there- it's about 2 hours south of you. Wundermaus is gonna be there, Skillet is trying to get here, and Beamer sounds like she's on her way, too.

Thanks Winston!!!

Well it's off to work I go. IMO - the note is just perfect. Am takin' it with me!

See you all later!

Subject: Stella Awards!
Hot damn, it's time again for the annual "Stella Awards"! For those
unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella
Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the
McDonald's in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee. That's right,
these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and
verdicts that happened in the U.S. during 2005. You know, the kinds of
cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratchers
handy, and here are the Stellas for the past year:

To kick things off the right way, there was a three-way tie for 5th
place.
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000 by a jury of
her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was
running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably
surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was Ms.
Robertson's son.

Also in 5th place is Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California - you
knew California had to be in the list somewhere, right? - who won
$74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a
Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the
wheel of the care when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.
Scratching your head yet?

The last of the 5th Place winners went to Terrence Dickson, of Bristol,
Pennsylvania, who was leaving a house he has just robbed by way of the
garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener
malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he
couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to
the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut.
Forced to subsist for eight - count 'em, 8! - days on a case of Pepsi
and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance
company claiming undue mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the
insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish.
We should all have this kind of anguish. Keep scratching, there
are more.

Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the
Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being
bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the
beagle was on a chain in it's owner's fenced yard.
Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed
the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because
Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and was repeatedly
shooting the dog with a pellet gun. Grrrrr ... scratch, scratch.

Third Place went to Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because a
jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she
slipped on soft drink and broke her tailbone (coccyx). The reason the
soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend
30 seconds earlier during an argument. What ever happened to people
being responsible for their own actions?

Hang in, there are only two more Stella's to go.

Second Place: Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware, sued the owner of a
night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to
the floor, knocking out her two front teeth.
Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room
window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night
club had to pay her $12,000 ... oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go
figure.


Finally, (may I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos please) this year's
runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor
home. On her first trip home - from an OU football game, no less -
having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph
and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to
make herself a sandwich.

Don't look so incredulous, remember, we're talking about Oklahomahere.

Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and
overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not
putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the
driver's seat while the cruise control was set.
The Oklahoma jury awarded her - $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home.
Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just
in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might buy a motor home.

Wow! I went looking for details about the real Stella case, because I remember that it was much more involved than most people realize, and came across this Snopes reference:

Origins: This "and you wonder what's wrong with the world today?" whinge appeared on the Internet in May 2001. All of the entries in the list are fabrications: a search for news stories about each of these cases failed to turn up anything, as did a search for each law case.

The earliest version concluded with a seventh item that has since been snipped away, likely after someone noticed it was the venerable microwaved poodle legend. Its inclusion would have immediately called into question the truthfulness of the other six cases for any number of folks familiar with urban legends. The remaining six were still false, but they weren't as obviously false as the following poodle tale and thus wouldn't have set the alarm bells ringing:
7. And just so you know that cooler heads do occasionally prevail: Kenmore Inc., the makers of Dorothy Johnson's microwave, were found not liable for the death of Mrs. Johnson's poodle after she gave it a bath and attempted to dry it by putting the poor creature in her microwave for, "just a few minutes, on low," The case was quickly dismissed.
A version of the list that began circulating in the spring of 2002 has yet another urban legend included as its final item, the venerable cruise control legend:
In November 2000, Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32 foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having joined the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the Winnie left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the handbook that he could not actually do this. He was awarded $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago.
Some versions bear the following footer, although many omit it:
PLEASE ASSIST OUR LAW OFFICES IN A TORT REFORM PROGRAM. WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO PUT A STOP TO THESE INSANE JURY AWARDS BY SENDING THIS E-MAIL OUT TO THE PUBLIC IN THE HOPES OF SWAYING PUBLIC OPINION. PLEASE FORWARD IT TO EVERY EMAIL ADDRESS YOU KNOW.

Mary R. Hogelmen, Esq.
Law Offices of Hogelmen, Hogelmen, and Thomas
Dayton Ohio
There is no law firm of Hogelmen, Hogelmen, and Thomas in Dayton, Ohio, as a call to directory assistance quickly confirmed. This detail was included to give the mailing credibility in the eyes of those who received it: if a law firm had pulled this list together to build grassroots support for its tort reform program, then it went without saying a pack of lawyers had properly researched each item and were guaranteeing the information provided. But of course this detail was as false as everything else in the e-mail.

Speaking about implied credibility, we note that the "outrageous lawsuits" list has made it into the newspapers at times, which only works to add to the perception that the information given in it is reliable. In June 2002, the New York Daily News presented it solely as an e-mail it had received, making no statements as to its likeliness to be real or detailing any attempts that publication might have made to verify any of the entries. (Had such attempts been made, the Daily News would have quickly found the article you're now reading, which originally appeared on this site a full ten months prior to the Daily News piece.)

Fake or not, a list of outrageous awards bestowed upon those whose actions — nay, misbehaviors — had brought them to grief would fall upon very receptive ears because current feeling is very much against large jury awards for frivolous claims. This e-mail preaches to the choir in that it "confirms" what is already deeply believed.

Numerous states have enacted measures to reform their civil law systems in response to the problem of frivolous lawsuits and runaway jury awards. Tort reform usually amounts to placing a cap on punitive damage awards, making the state's joint-and-several liability law more equitable, and limiting judge and court shopping (which means cases are tried in front of whomever they've been assigned to rather than the judge the plaintiff figures will be most sympathetic).

Our current overly-litigious society is not merely an offense to common sense — it costs everyone money, though most are not aware they pay to support this madness through a trickle down to consumers in the form of markedly higher prices. This trickle down accounts, for example, for $8 of an $11.50 diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine, $191 of a $578 tonsillectomy, $170 of a $1,000 motorized wheelchair, and $3,000 of an $18,000 heart pacemaker.

Though the cases described in the e-mail are fake, real lawsuits of equal silliness can be found in abundance. An equally impressive list could easily have been compiled by anyone with access to a news database and a few moments to spare. For instance:

* In March 1995, a San Diego man unsuccessfully attempted to sue the city and Jack Murphy Stadium for $5.4 million over something than can only be described as a wee problem: Robert Glaser claimed the stadium's unisex bathroom policy at a Billy Joel and Elton John concert caused him embarrassment and emotional distress thanks to the sight of a woman using a urinal in front of him. He subsequently tried "six or seven" other bathrooms in the stadium only to find women in all of them. He asserted he "had to hold it in for four hours" because he was too embarrassed to share the public bathrooms with women.

* A San Carlos, California, man sued the Escondido Public Library for $1.5 million. His dog, a 50-pound Labrador mix, was attacked November 2000 by the library's 12-pound feline mascot, L.C., (also known as Library Cat). The case was heard in January 2004, with the jury finding for the defendant. In a further case which was resolved in July 2004, the plaintiff in the previous suit was ordered to pay the city $29,362.50, which amounted to 75% of its legal fees associated with that case.

* In 1994, a student at the University of Idaho unsuccessfully sued that institution over his fall from a third-floor dorm window. He'd been mooning other students when the window gave way. It was contended the University failed to provide a safe environment for students or to properly warn them of the dangers inherent to upper-story windows.

* In 1993, McDonald's was unsuccessfully sued over a car accident in New Jersey. While driving, a man who had placed a milkshake between his legs, leaned over to reach into his bag of food and squeezed the milkshake container in the process. When the lid popped off and spilled half the drink in his lap, this driver became distracted and ran into another man's car. That man in turn tried to sue McDonald's for causing the accident, saying the restaurant should have cautioned the man who had hit him against eating while driving.

Although the cases cited above were all eventually dismissed, they still managed to work their way at least partway through our court system. When we hear such stories, it's hard not to be rabidly in favor of tort reform — these kinds of cases make it appear that the idiots have taken over the asylum and only the rapid institution of some rules is going to bring things back into a semblance of sanity. Yet this solution is not all skittles and beer; many see such changes as potentially denying those in need of legal remedy their day in court and refusing them their right to be heard. The cap on jury awards is also viewed by some as unfair to the seriously injured, who may well require a large sum to afford the cost of living with whatever disability someone else's negligence or recklessness left them with. Capped awards are also scant deterrent to large corporations who could easily afford the judgements against them and therefore have little reason to mend their ways. Big Business is poised to benefit under tort reform in that it will no longer need to fear the courts. It can also be argued that the need for tort reform is overblown. Only rarely do ridiculous lawsuits result in windfalls for the plaintiff; these cases are almost always either thrown out or the judgement goes for the defendant. Some celebrated "outrageous" suits wherein judgement went for the plaintiff prove upon closer examination to be far less "outrageous" than originally presented in the media. (For example, the "woman scalded by hot coffee" suit, which at first blush looked like the height of frivolity proved to be a perfectly legitimate action taken against a corporation that knew, thanks to a string of similar scaldings it had quietly been paying off, that its coffee was not just hot, but dangerously hot. The Consumer Attorneys of California provides a good description of this case).

Tort reform thus has both its advocates and its adversaries. On the one hand, we bridle at the thought of the terminally clueless being rewarded for their folly — that strikes us as just plain wrong. We also fear for the continued wellbeing of the small- to mid-sized business which can ill afford to fend off one frivolous lawsuit after another and thus stands in danger of being litigated to death. Also, even when litigants do not prevail, costs associated with their suits rain down onto the average citizen through his taxes (some of which underwrite the judicial system) and through increased prices for goods produced by firms who had to mount legal defences. Yet on the other hand, we don't want to see those who have legitimate cause denied their right to sue (or in the case of the seriously injured, their right to sue for an appropriate amount). We also don't want to see corporations run unchecked, free to turn out whatever dangerous product they like because the combination of capped awards and their deep pockets render them bulletproof.

It's a complicated issue, one not made any easier to make sense of by lists of fake cases of horrendous miscarriages of justice. One has to wonder why someone is so busy trying to stir up outrage and who or what that outrage would ultimately benefit.

Barbara "herded through the grapevine" Mikkelson

Additional information: George W. Bush's first act upon becoming the Governor of Texas was to reform that state's civil justice system. In January 1995, just after being sworn in, he convened a session of the Legislature to tackle tort reform. Within weeks he signed bills to limit punitive damages to $750,000, cut down on "venue shopping" for favorable judges and juries, and made it easier for judges to impose sanctions on plaintiffs who file frivolous suits.

Last updated: 28 January 2005

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp

From me to YOU ALL... joe e

So, you want to come over?

i would say this is major can of whoop ass

and your a bow hunter also! boy do i miss the hunt had a disk to blow out in 93
have tried to lower the lbs on the bow but that and the cold weather just about unbareable. my first deer taken with a bow was in 1970 hooked from then on oh it was my 2nd day of bow hunting with a long bow first hunt what luck!!!

I used a Bear Recurve (75#) on that last hunt.

Fishing is my thingy now because of fudged up cervical spine. Had a bilateral rhizotomy on the facet-joints of C-1 through C7. That made the pain go away, but the problem is still there.

In addition to disk and bone problems, I have some hunkin' big osteophyte buildups in the neural-canal that are a frog-hair away from touchin' my spinal cord. My doctor (without any bedside manor) said I could roll-a-seven with a heavy duty whiplash.

Life's a bitch, and then ya die, eh?

joe e

Later floks... joe e

Had to come back for a minute 'cause I wanted to show you all how my smile restoration turned out. joe e

can you get your money back

Thanks, Joe. Trailerman is doing better but is sure tired of me telling him to rinse his hands and pat them dry - (guess men are not into patting their hands dry)


Now, I am wondering if Skillet took that wonderful piece of prose WS wrote into work with her.
Not sure I will be able to stay up late enough to "hear" but look forward to finding out in the morning.

Good show on PBS now with Meryl Streep and Garrison Keillor.

Only one more shopping day left 'til Independence Day, eh?

We spent the bulk of the day on the farm visitin' with the newly returned. Hearin' that my wife wanted to go fluke fishin' tomorrow we decided to make it a two family thing, and since my van's loaded with enough of the right gear for all of us and will seat the three of them and four of us (my two daughters decided they wanted to go too) looks like we'll be pickin' them up at the crack of dawn and headin' to the Port of Galilee at Point Judith.

We'll be on the road by 0500, eh? Doubt I'll be login' on before we go, so can someone else let the dogs out tomorrow? Ever consider addin' a couple big air driven pond size sponge filters to the equation? Methinks you'll find they'll make an immediate difference in mechanical filtration and once the get established (takes 'bout three weeks) biological filtration improves dramatically too, eh? Even better if you put a 100gph power head on 'em, eh?



They're easy to maintain, just take 'em out and squeeze 'em in a bucket of pond water once a week, then toss 'em back in and put the pond water on your favorite plants. Your plants will benefit too!

Methinks Tetra and Hagen both sell big ones, or make 'em yourself like I use to do. Get large block open cell foam you can cut into 12" by 12" cubes that you slice a 1" channel down the center, cut and drill 1" PVC pipe so's the outflow'll be 4" below the surface and close off the bottom of the pipe, then weight at the bottom with a 16oz fishing weight.Methinks I miss them days too, 'cept maybe the times when the burdened vessel kept you guessin', maintained a collision course and/or wouldn't even come up on the radio. Seems the ocean got a whole lot smaller when that happened, eh?

Straits of Malacca were my least favorite passage with Japanese tankers in ballast the worst IMHO to deal with there. Dhows in the Straits of Hormuz that had little interest in your need need to stay in the deep channel methinks come in a close second.

I do believe that a bit of the ol' "Constant Bearing, Decreasing Range" is better than any cardio-exercise I know of. Works pretty good for fashionin' button holes in your skivvies too... joe e

Testing something new - sometimes you just have to find something constructive to do.




Looks like I still have to work on the sizing.

Good morning everyone!
(or what ever 'tis where ever you is, eh?)

Though I'd try to get this in before we head out the door. Hi ho, hi ho, 'tis off to Narragansett Bay we go, eh?

There was a man who had worked all of his life, had saved all his money, and was a real miser when it came to his money.

Just before he died, he said to his wife, "When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I want to take my money to the afterlife with me."

And so he got his wife to promise him with all of her heart that when he died, she would put all of the money in the casket with him. Well, he died. He was stretched out in the casket, his wife was sitting there in black, and her friend was sitting next to her. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said

"Wait just a minute!' She had a box with her, she came over with the box and put it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket down, and they rolled it away.

So her friend said,"Girl, I know you weren't fool enough to put all that money in there with your husband."

She said, "Listen, I'm a Christian, I can't go back on my word. I promised him that I was gonna put that money in that casket with him."

"You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with him!!!!?"

"I sure did," said the wife.

"I wrote him a check. If he can cash it, he can spend it."



Well, here's hopin' the weather's great where ever y'all are at! Enjoy the day, be safe, stay well and remember to play nice!

Good Morning !

Hope the fishing trip is as pleasant as it sounds it will be Fly.

And thanks for the ideas for the pond.. Les is going to send you a PM , probably this evening to discuss it with you as I am not too bright when it comes to that sorta stuff. He's the whiz around here when it comes to things like that. I'm just the day labourer. Sooo, seeing as you are not one of those who gets notifications of PM's keep an eye out when you are here, ok ?

I am able to keep the water clear for the most part with a lot of work but its the darn stuff which grows on the sides of the liner which gives me so much problem.

And that's despite having a waterfall with full filtration and a Fountain which has the filtration as well. I also use a chemical which is supposed to keep the algae in check by controlling the phosphates. The fish are thriving but its impossible this year to get rid of that stuff.

We have 11 fish in the pond, 4 huge Koi(we had no idea they grew so large .. and so quickly as we hadn't had Koi before, the one guy looks like he's bucking to be a fully grown carp in record time) and 7 colourful smaller pond fish. We lost our entire fish population 2 years ago to a visiting Heron who feasted on the poor things one early morning and which I only chased away after the feast was over. It was after that Les made the cover for the pond which I put on every night and remove in the morning. Its heavy meshing on a wooden frame and does the trick and is in two pieces to make it easier to cart around. It has kept the Heron and any visiting raccoons at bay.

They used to have multiple babies twice a year so the population had grown in numbers quite a lot .. there were about thirty of them, and they were quite tame. This bunch are either gay or all the same sex I guess because no babies have appeared at all.

Quiet weekend around here ! Guess a lot are away for the holiday weekend. Hope everyone is enjoying their break and enjoying good weather !

Guess I better get to work.. but I'll leave a little something for all of you as I go

Couldn't sleep too well last night so did some playing with my graphics programs about 3 this morning.

Anyone hungry?



GOOD MORNING!

Happiness is sleeping late and not working today...

CO what Graphics program?

We use Corel and Photoshop

Good morning ! Hope many have the day off today and get a chance to relax
and enjoy.

No Midnight Musings, so guess Skillet is caught up in the holiday madness (just hope
the visitors rain generous tips upon her). Hope Doc enjoys his fishing with MrsDoc and BT enjoys his day off. Good luck with pond, Betty- (I haven't a clue). Love Cardinal's test of a name plate - sparkles and all. Checked the radar- is there rain headed Marine's way ? Sure hope so !

Busy day here. Lots of paperwork to catch up on, etc.

You are much more advanced than I am Tom.. I use Paint Shop, and Zara Webstyle for text mostly. I have far too many font files but like messing with different ones in Webstyle and Paint Shop.

I have PhotoShop but rarely use it mostly because I find PSP easier and more user friendly for a novice like me. Les uses Photo Shop.. but he's more computer savvy than I am. My web site is more a personal thing and those programs are fine for my use.

I wondered the same thing Pie .. I am not positive where Marine is but thought it looked that way too.

I sure do hope so !!!! I would do my rain dance for him but doubt it would work that far away

Don't work too hard Pie .. leave some for the others...it'll keep them outta trouble...