COMMENTERRY—
The Grand Jury Process
The grand jury came to our legal process from old English law. It has withstood the tests of time.
In Ohio grand jurors are chosen much like the more common petit (local trial court) jurors and serve for fixed terms of multiple months. They hear evidence presented by the prosecuting attorney concerning alleged crimes and determine if it is sufficient to indict the defendant for trial.
They also are empowered to determine the evidence is insufficient and refuse to issue an indictment.
This is the good part of the process; protection from flawed prosecution.
However, when only the prosecution evidence is heard by the grand jury with no advocacy for the defendant, an overzealous prosecutor and a less-than-diligent grand jury can conspire to wrongly indict an innocent person.
While that defendant likely would be cleared in a trial with competent defense counsel, the damage of an innocent person suffering an indictment can be devastating.
The process must be monitored carefully and society must treasure the concept of innocence until convicted by trial; even then being mindful the system is not perfect.
--tw, former grand jury foreman.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Saturday, May 5, 2007
BREAKING NEWS--
Momma Hooded Merganser, a small fish-eating duck, appeared today swimming across the pond with her new brood of seven newly-hatched ducklings.
They swam in a defensive cluster so tight a count was difficult.
I first saw her swim from the nest box area to the island, then to the mouth of the North inlet stream. Later, she zoomed across the pond and disappeared across the driveway into the weeds on the face of the dam.
This is the first successful nesting experience of Mergansers I have observed on the pond.
____________________________________________________
Photo/3 day old merganser duckling from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park
A FLOURISHING SPRING—In the photo above the goose family with six day old chicks meanders by in one of their countless tours of the pond.
The chicks, as usual, are tightly clustered in defense against predation. If a big bass swims by the adults will join the cluster, sometimes attacking the water with their beaks to shoo away the always hungry fish.
Sometimes the fish wins.
It’s hard to visualize now, but, these chicks will be taking flying lessons by mid summer.
Meanwhile, their yellow-green fuzziness will slowly morph into a darker color as feathers begin to appear.
In a month or so they will be 1/2 the size of the adults taking on the appearance and mannerisms of gangly teenagers. About then their trademark black and white facial coloration will fade into view.
The bass, too, are in the family mood. Momma Largemouth Bass is swimming slow circles in the pond’s shallows; sweeping a dish shaped area with her fins which will serve as her “nest”. When she deposits her eggs her ever-present consort will fertilize them with his cloudy sperm, thus continuing their cycle of generations.
Last night the lady, Hooded Merganser flew back to the pond from her evening’s exercise and immediately returned to her nesting duties in the, yup, Wood Duck box.
And, the lady Woodies, four of them, likely are nesting on their own nearby places of high seclusion.
Soon there will be black clusters of wiggly tadpoles all around the edges of the pond.
There could be lots of youngsters in the neighborhood shortly.
Friday, May 4, 2007
A GLOBAL BLOG AUDIENCE?
In a recent phone conversation cousin Bob Wolf asked me, “Have you ever done a Google search for ‘Fogeyisms’?”
“Well, no I haven’t,” I replied.
He went on to explain he did that recently and there were two listings for this blog on the first page of items returned by his search.
“My oh my” I exclaimed, truly amazed as I pondered this news.
When I am working on production of blog items I tend to visualize this person or that of the several dozen or so I have invited as readers.
Not the whole world.
Even if you just count the folks who prefer the English language, that could be a fairly large, potential audience.
My oh my indeed!
In a recent phone conversation cousin Bob Wolf asked me, “Have you ever done a Google search for ‘Fogeyisms’?”
“Well, no I haven’t,” I replied.
He went on to explain he did that recently and there were two listings for this blog on the first page of items returned by his search.
“My oh my” I exclaimed, truly amazed as I pondered this news.
When I am working on production of blog items I tend to visualize this person or that of the several dozen or so I have invited as readers.
Not the whole world.
Even if you just count the folks who prefer the English language, that could be a fairly large, potential audience.
My oh my indeed!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
TAX FREEDOM DAY—
Monday, April 30th was Tax Freedom Day in the US of A.
The average taxpayer in this country works from January 1st to Tax Freedom Day just to pay his or her federal, state and local taxes.
According to the Tax Foundation (www.taxfoundation.org) “Tax Freedom Day is calculated by dividing the official government tally of all taxes collected in each year by the official government tally of all income earned in each year.”
This date was May 5th in 2000 then dropped to April 18th in 2003 due to reductions in our federal income tax. It has climbed steadily since then.
The average American worked 79 days in 2007 just to pay his or her federal taxes. State and local taxes combined are about one half that burden; forcing us to work 41 days to pay them.
Connecticut is the worst state in the union. There you have to work until May 20th just to pay your taxes. The least burdensome is Oklahoma on April 12th. Ohio ranks smack in the middle.
Isn’t that comforting!
Monday, April 30th was Tax Freedom Day in the US of A.
The average taxpayer in this country works from January 1st to Tax Freedom Day just to pay his or her federal, state and local taxes.
According to the Tax Foundation (www.taxfoundation.org) “Tax Freedom Day is calculated by dividing the official government tally of all taxes collected in each year by the official government tally of all income earned in each year.”
This date was May 5th in 2000 then dropped to April 18th in 2003 due to reductions in our federal income tax. It has climbed steadily since then.
The average American worked 79 days in 2007 just to pay his or her federal taxes. State and local taxes combined are about one half that burden; forcing us to work 41 days to pay them.
Connecticut is the worst state in the union. There you have to work until May 20th just to pay your taxes. The least burdensome is Oklahoma on April 12th. Ohio ranks smack in the middle.
Isn’t that comforting!
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS—
Darfur
Darfur is an area of Western Sudan, the country directly South of Egypt on the African continent.
It has been in the news off and on recently because of an ongoing conflict that has left an estimated 450,000 people dead from violence and disease. As many as 2.5 million people are thought to have been displaced by hostilities.
The conflict has many causes including inequality between the area of the country along the Nile River and outlying areas. Over the last 25 years problems have been exacerbated by famine and fighting between militia groups of Bedouin Arabs and native tribes. Political opportunism and skirmishes involving oil rights are also viewed as factors by world authorities.
While pondering the death of nearly ½ million people you might consult this web site for additional information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict
Darfur
Darfur is an area of Western Sudan, the country directly South of Egypt on the African continent.
It has been in the news off and on recently because of an ongoing conflict that has left an estimated 450,000 people dead from violence and disease. As many as 2.5 million people are thought to have been displaced by hostilities.
The conflict has many causes including inequality between the area of the country along the Nile River and outlying areas. Over the last 25 years problems have been exacerbated by famine and fighting between militia groups of Bedouin Arabs and native tribes. Political opportunism and skirmishes involving oil rights are also viewed as factors by world authorities.
While pondering the death of nearly ½ million people you might consult this web site for additional information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
BOOK REPORT—
Too Far From Home by Chris Jones
The author “...writes beautifully of the majesty and mystique of space travel, while reminding us all how perilous it is to soar beyond the sky.”
This is the finest narrative I’ve ever read on what it is like to achieve orbit with a giant rocket strapped to your back; to live in the space station, to endure the effects of prolonged weightlessness, and, to survive a perilous hitchhike home in an antique Russian, Soyuz space capsule--this crew’s only choice after our space shuttle Columbia disaster.
BOOK REPORT—
A Long Way Gone (Memoirs of a boy soldier) by Ishmael Beah
A haunting true story of a child in Sierra Leone whose family is killed in a brutal civil war there; he is forced to fight with the rebels, committing atrocious acts for his very own survival.
It is estimated there are 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, said, “...Beah has not only emerged intact from this chaos, he has become one of its most eloquent chroniclers....”
FOR THE RECORD: The post “Camping Along the River” was done Monday, April 30th and the post “Bond’s Home Run Performance” was done April 29th. The record of continuous daily postings since January 15, 2006 is intact. --tw
Too Far From Home by Chris Jones
The author “...writes beautifully of the majesty and mystique of space travel, while reminding us all how perilous it is to soar beyond the sky.”
This is the finest narrative I’ve ever read on what it is like to achieve orbit with a giant rocket strapped to your back; to live in the space station, to endure the effects of prolonged weightlessness, and, to survive a perilous hitchhike home in an antique Russian, Soyuz space capsule--this crew’s only choice after our space shuttle Columbia disaster.
BOOK REPORT—
A Long Way Gone (Memoirs of a boy soldier) by Ishmael Beah
A haunting true story of a child in Sierra Leone whose family is killed in a brutal civil war there; he is forced to fight with the rebels, committing atrocious acts for his very own survival.
It is estimated there are 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, said, “...Beah has not only emerged intact from this chaos, he has become one of its most eloquent chroniclers....”
FOR THE RECORD: The post “Camping Along the River” was done Monday, April 30th and the post “Bond’s Home Run Performance” was done April 29th. The record of continuous daily postings since January 15, 2006 is intact. --tw
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