Denied Entry to Canada, Code Pink activists see red

And its not the red Maple Leaf on the Canadian Flag either.

In Activists Test Border Policy, from the Associated Press, It seems that a couple Code Pink protesters are upset that their "anti-war-related arrests" arising from their anti-war protests show upon on the NCIC and the convictions can deny them entry to Canada.

Of course, what both Code Pink and the AP fail to say is that it was not likely merely arrests but for convictions, which while "related" weren't for peaceful protest for which there is no charge but for some actual criminal offense such as harming property, trying to enter a restricted area, obstructing or other such charge which are, gasp, crimes. The AP fails to inform us the nature of the convictions so we can but speculate, but it sure wasn't just for holding a sign saying "This war sucks".

Canada, already having an over-saturation of leftists, wisely doesn't seem to want more and especially not these two.

More to the point, Canada being the peaceable kingdom, a place with more laws than population and all that, doesn't want those convicted of crimes to enter its country, which is a rather wise decision and will hopefully keep its crime rate low.

Egypt to hire Lawyers for one of the Explosive College Students

Remember the two Muslim students from Florida that were caught near a US Naval Facility in South Carolina with a trunk load of explosive components?

Egypt, recipient of $2 billion annually in US aid is going to spend some of it on hiring an attorney to represent one of the accused Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed.

From Fox News:

Attorney John Fitzgibbons told a judge he was in talks with the Egyptian embassy in Washington and likely will be hired to represent suspended University of South Florida student Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed.

Ahmed el-Qawassni, an official in Egypt's foreign ministry, said the government is closely monitoring the case and confirmed that an attorney is being hired for Mohamed, who was born in Kuwait to Egyptian parents.

"We are responsible for the sons of Egypt abroad with no exception," el-Qawassni said.

Mohamed, 24, and another USF student, Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, are charged with carrying explosive materials across state lines.

Mohamed also is charged with distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction. Authorities allege he made an Internet video showing how to use remote-controlled toys to detonate terrorist bombs.

Megahed, represented by a federal public defender, pleaded not guilty Wednesday. Fitzgibbons said during the brief hearing Wednesday that Mohamed will plead not guilty when he is arraigned Oct. 17.


Megahed, a permanent U.S. resident from Egypt, and Mohamed, who is in the U.S. on a student visa, were arrested during an Aug. 5 traffic stop in Goose Creek, S.C., about 15 miles northwest of Charleston. In the trunk of the car, according an FBI agent's statement, police found 20 feet of fuse, a box of .22-caliber bullets, a drill, several gallons of gasoline, PVC piping and gun powder.

The students told authorities they were carrying fireworks, and that they had been driving near a naval weapons station because they had been looking for cheap gas. Megahed's attorney now contends that he didn't know anything about the items in the trunk.

On Mohamed's laptop, according to the FBI agent's statement, was a video Mohamed made demonstrating how to convert a remote-control toy into a detonator for explosives.

Mohamed defense is apparently not off to an auspicious start given a statement he already made after he was arrested:

Mohamed told authorities he made the video "to assist those persons in Arabic countries to defend themselves against the infidels invading their countries," and that he considered American troops to invaders, according to the agent's statement.

His attorney is still rather optimistic:

After the hearing, Fitzgibbons said he had not seen all the evidence and declined to discuss the case.

"There's always two sides to every story, and I already see a different side to the story than what's been presented," he said.

Kind of hard to spin the story after Mohamed's statement, but hey he's doing a good job as a defense attorney should.

Shutdown ends in hours, Tax increase to Stay

Thanks to two Republicans and 55 Democrats the income tax increase was passed.

And as reported in the Detroit News So is the new extension of Michigan's 6% Sales tax to

tanning, carpet cleaning, ski lifts, landscaping and some 20 other services won narrow passage in the state House as Granholm and lawmakers made an 11th-hour push to avoid sending the state to the brink of a spending shutdown.

These tax increases will suck $1.35 Billion dollars out of Michigan resident's pockets and hit businesses that provide those "discretionary" services right when they don't need an additional expense.

Thanks so much.

Michigan budget deal hasn't happened yet.

But Right Michigan seems sadly pessimistic that a deal is going to be reached that will involve raising our taxes.

So far both the Detroit News and Free Press are stating that a deal is not yet been reached so there's still a possibility of a shutdown, and the Detroit News reports that the proposed 6% sales tax extensions to sales tax to services for the "rich" such as dry cleaning, lawn maintenance, ski lifts, tanning booths and dating, consulting, landscaping and janitorial and payroll services.

Of course a sales tax on these industries will likely hurt them right when keeping business going is vital for this economy. The addition of taxing of ski lifts is likewise ridiculous, especially when Michigan is trying to draw tourists here for recreation, hitting them with an additional 6% may drive them farther away to where there's even better skiing. Nice idea indeed.

Upping the income tax when in this economy people need every dollar they can will likewise hurt the state's economy and its people.

Increasing taxes in a recessionary economy is just plain economically wrong

Apparently, it will only take a couple Republicans to be swayed for this to take place. Hopefully they'll show some backbone and demand real structural changes to reduce spending and balance the budget that way rather than further taxing the people of Michigan.

The Republicans have a huge PR opportunity here to portray themselves as defenders of the people from the Democrats insatiable appetitefor tax increases and even more government spending.

Let's hope they don't squander this opportunity and cave-in to the Democrats tax hunger.

Will Michigan's Governor turn out the lights?

There's a good chance that Governor Granholm will shut down the government unless she gets a tax increase passed rather than merely pass a continuing budget resolution.

For some great coverage of the impending shutdown see the excellent commentary at Right Michigan.

The interesting thing is if the shut down will be a bug or a feature.

While the Democrats think this shut down will cause people to push for a quick tax increase as the government will not be providing services. Apparently the Governor is threatening that liquor stores and casinos will not be allowed to open due to a lack of state inspectors, indeed people are being warned to get their licenses renewed now in case the government is shut down when theirs expire, and who knows what other facilities she'll threaten to close?

In case of a shut down, the default should be open, not closed. That there are no inspectors to watch a casino or liquor store should not prevent it from being open as it is the government and not the facility that is choosing to withhold inspectors. Likewise DNR sites and state controlled recreation areas should be open without fees.

Indeed anyone who gets ticketed for an expired plate should have an excellent excuse- they can't get one from the very government thats ticketing them.

Default to open and we'll see how long people can go about their business without being hampered.

More Media Bias from the AP

Its to be expected from the Associated press, but one would think the Detroit News would at least add some context or a less misleading and biased headline.

Rice peace trip undermined by Israeli actions reads the headline with a helpful subline:

Decision undermines U.S. hopes of restarting Middle East peace talks.

And the story:

Associated Press JERUSALEM -- Israel declared the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip an "enemy entity" on Wednesday and said it would cut utilities to the territory.

The move complicates a U.S. plan to relaunch peace talks aimed at establishing
a separate Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel made the provocative decision hours before Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice arrived for talks setting up what President Bush hopes will be
a pivotal peace conference this fall. The decision is likely to reinforce
perceptions among Palestinians and their Arab backers that Israel will do as it
sees fit regardless of the cost to civilians and that the U.S. will not block
Israel.

Rice said the U.S. is trying to help both sides reach "common understanding."
But she did not say if the U.S.-sponsored meeting will address the hardest
issues in the six-decade conflict, including the borders of a Palestinian
state.

Amazing how the Israeli response to constant rocket attacks on civilians originating from Gaza is the "obstacle to peace" and "complicates a U.S. plan to relaunch peace talks". Maybe if the Palestinians stopped terrorist attacks and ceased the rocket attacks there wouldn't be a need to cut utilities to the territory.

The Associated press' biased article and the Detroit news' running of it without any context or real explanation or analysis is shameful and has the one-sided anti-Israel line we've come to expect.

Really, In any case what nation would not declare an area that is the source of attacks on its country an ""enemy entity" and what nation in the world would keep utilities and supplies going to such an entity while it was under attack from it? Can anybody name one?

The only obstacle to peace here are the terrorist attacks and rocket attacks on Israel, and whoever is exerting pressure on Israel not to respond and defend itself.

Sadly a failure to aggressively defend itself is seen by the Arabs as a weakness, emboldening them in their attacks. Indeed this same failure of the US to aggressively respond to Syrian and Iranian suppliers of insurgents in Iraq is similarly emboldening them.

If you want peace in the region let Israel defend itself fully, including making it clear that if the palestinians want to launch rockets against Israel and refuse to live as peacable neighbors, there will be a price to pay.

Of Trials, Tribulations and A Really, Really dumb Juror

Generally a Jury will do the right thing: Listen to the facts, decide a case and get on with life. Of all the jury trials I've had the Jury has come to the right decision and most have been quite sharp and perceptive.

How do I know this? After a trial judges often give the jurors the option of talking with the attorneys and the jurors often graciously give some time to talk with us, give us pointers on our performance as attorneys and ask questions, oftentimes very pointed questions, such as why didn't the police report come in as an exhibit? (You then get to explain that the rules of evidence preluded it from being admitted.), or why we said something or what we should have said to be even more convincing or what questions they still would want to have resolved.

The Juries I've been before also have consistently some of the best poker faces I've ever seen - we're talking tournament quality here, and you just couldn't read them.

As I said most juries do the right thing....but this one juror...

I was in District Court on a landlord-tenant eviction case and was doing the entire trial by myself with no partners present. It was a jury trial as it was to evict a harrasing and threatening tenant from a HUD subsidized apartment.

The trial went very well indeed, and we awaited the Jury's verdict.

After long deliberation and some interesting questions from the Jury (showing that they clearly were paying attention during the trial and were taking their deliberations seriously) the Defense Counsel and I were called by the Judge into her chambers.

The Judge (a very professional, courteous, smart and capable Judge indeed by the way, she ran a great trial) told us that the jury had reached a verdict but there was a problem. The jury had sent a note that one of the jurors had gone and visited the apartment complex twice.

Now this is a no-no. The instructions to the Jury are very clear, they are not to go visit the scene or do their own investigation.

The Defense attorney knowing a walk is as good as a run immediately requests a mistrial. (A mistrial results in the trial being held once again and the tenant gets to stay while that is happening).

I request that we at least interview the juror and jury and see what actually has happened and the judge agrees.

So we interview the Juror and he says he only drove by the building to see if there were air conditioners, which were a side issue in the case. He also says he thought it was a nice place.

The Defense immediately claims that the juror and jury was tainted by this excursion and again demands a mistrial.

I point out that this is the very definition of harmless error as both Plaintiff and Defendant admit its a nice place to live, otherwise why would Defendant want to keep living there? I also point out that the outside of the building has nothing to do with the Defendant's behaviors that are leading to his eviction nor to his retaliation claim against Plaintiff for trying to evict him.

The Judge sadly for me, grants a mistrial.

On speaking with the Jury after the trial, the verdict was for my client and for the eviction 5-1 (In Michigan a civil jury does not need to be unanimous, you only need 5 of 6 jurors).

So 4 court days, 3 of which were trial days before the jury are down the drain and the trial has been rescheduled and we get to do it all over.

Thanks a lot, Juror Clouseau, next time please wait for the trial to be over to satisfy your curiosity.

Almost Earning a Darwin Award

or how students just aren't prepared for the real world....

MIT student arrested with fake bomb

By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 9 minutes ago

BOSTON - An MIT student wearing what turned out to be a fake bomb was arrested at gunpoint Friday at Logan International Airport and later claimed it was artwork, officials said.

Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board and wiring in plain view over a black hooded sweatshirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport.

"She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said at a news conference. "She claims that it was just art, and that she was proud of the art and she wanted to display it."

Simpson was charged with disturbing the peace and possessing a hoax device. A not guilty plea was entered for her and she was released on $750 bail.

. . .

Prosecutor Wayne Margolis had requested $5,000 bail, saying Simpson showed a total disregard for the situation she was in — an airport after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

. . .

Simpson was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used," Pare said. "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."

Simpson is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology sophomore from Hawaii, officials said.

The battery-powered rectangular device had nine flashing lights, and Simpson had Play-Doh in her hands, Pare said.

You would think by now even the most isolated ivory tower student would have a passing awareness that walking into an airport with a circuit board that looked like a bomb combined with holding play doh that could look like plastic explosive is on the top ten list of really dumb ideas.

She certainly should get an C for her performance art and an F for common sense.

Luckily she didn't get killed and hopefully this will serve as a reality check and a welcome to the real world.

Arts, Beats, and Eats- Pontiac Gets it Right

Kudos to the City of Pontiac and Chrysler for putting on a great event.

On Labor Day we went to Pontiac to explore the Arts, Beats and Eats show, along with Providentia Blogger Scott and his family.

An excellent time was had by all - the show was well organized and well setup.

There were a variety of stages with a constantly changing variety of musical acts, including this great Reggae band:

And of course there were the eats -lots of food everywhere incluidng some impressive ethnic cuisine -
Not sure if the cooks at Indo-Pak attack each other over Kashmir in between making pakoras, but the food smelled real good.

Of course I went for the finest of Ethnic Cuisine:


Yep, a good plate of Fish and Chips is a thing of beauty, and Union Jack makes a great Fish 'n' Chips. I had to wait awhile as they had to fry some up fresh, but it was worth the wait. Simply excellent - now I have to go find out where they are located and patronize them when I get my next craving for great Fish and Chips.

One small note to my fellow Michiganians - in British English, Chips are not potato chips but French fries. Somehow, most Michigan restaurants have missed this cultural linguistic curiosity and when they have a burger and chips on the menu, they bring you a burger and potato chips (with an upgrade to fries being extra). Sorry but that is simply wrong. You have been notified.


It was a large well-behaved crowd at the event and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Chrysler had some prominent displays of their vehicles and even an opportunity to test drive them that I sadly did not have time to do.


It was a great way to spend Labor Day and after the festival we went to the beach for a quick swim. Pontiac did a great job on the Festival and along with the sponsors and organizers made a great event and one that I'd certainly consider visiting again next year.

Democrat Solution to Michigan's Economic Woes - Lets Raise the Income Tax.

Oh, that'll work.

Granholm and the Democrats are proposing that instead of the currently flat 3.9% state income tax that we currently have, a graduated tax will be put in its place.

The graduated tax will of course whack the middle class.

Nolan Finley gets it right when he writes Head off doubling of middle-class tax

Correspondence between the Granholm administration and legislative Democrats reveals at least one option raises the top rate to 9 percent, compared with the current 3.9 percent flat tax. Under one scenario, that highest bracket would kick in once household income hits $150,000.

That means a married couple, both top-scale school teachers or even Big Three auto workers working a little overtime, would be labeled "rich" by the Democrats and dinged for an extra $5,000 a year in taxes.

Certainly, $150,000 a year is a decent income. But it doesn't make a couple wealthy, particularly if they've got a big mortgage and a kid or two in college. Such families probably don't have a spare $100 a week lying around to give to the state.

These are the same families who will get hammered if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire. Ditto if the cap on Social Security taxes is lifted.

All told, state and federal tax hikes could add $10,000 or more to the taxes of solidly middle-class Michigan families.

The reason of course is the massive revenue take such a tax increase would provide

Changing Michigan from a flat-tax state to a graduated-income-tax state would raise nearly the additional $1.4 billion Granholm wants in new taxes.

Finley predcts the class warfare rehtoric that the Democrats will try to use to sell this massive increase -

Democrats will try to sell this to voters by convincing them it hurts the evil rich and not good, wholesome working families.

he then has a graphic accompanying the article showing it doesn't take much for you to be considered "wealthy" and get soaked by this tax increase.
Wealthy to the Democrats seems to be anyone not on Welfare or other forms of assistance.

Such a tax will have job-killing effects, dissuade the "wealthy" from considering Michigan as a place to live, increae the brain-drain of michigan graduates seeking to better themselves and keep more of what they earn, and make all of us in Michigan poorer, not richer.

Just say no to this massive tax increase.

Detroit News Columnist's Article Sidetracked By BDS

An article that starts out in a promising manner fallsas a victim to its author's suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS is not yet listed in the DSM yet but hopefuly it will make edition V).

Froma Harrop's articleFrustrating federal ID plan invites havoc starts out promisingly, detailing delays in achiueving a ssecure form of identification, presumably for visitors to our Country. it then notes that the CIA seems risk adverse to any form of faiure which might risk their careers, and that such risk aversion is harming its efforts in the war on terror.

They feared the bad things that might have happened had they gotten tough: CIA personnel could have become prisoners of al-Qaida. Congress could have hauled them before committees for helping Northern Alliance leaders involved with the heroin trade in Afghanistan or for abusing al-Qaida prisoners.

But those are risks our protectors are supposed to take. Hurting one's career should be a small price to pay for defending national security. By holding top CIA officials accountable, we add risk to not taking risks, and that's how it should be.

So far so good. But immediately after that she heads off into Cloud Cuckoo land-

Of course, anyone who was gung-ho for destroying al-Qaida had to deal with the crushing laziness of the Bush administration in its first eight months. By the time Bush had arrived in the White House, al-Qaida had already supported the first World Trade Center bombing (1993), a plan to blow up airliners over the Pacific (1995), the bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa (1998), the suicide attack on the USS Cole (2000) and the Millennium Plot to blow up the Los Angeles airport (2000). Yet during that time, the administration did next to nothing about al-Qaida.

Is Harrop blaming the Bush administration for doing nothing in the years 1993-2000- you know the years preceedingt he Bush administration taking office in January 2001?

Charitably one can argue that she means that in the 8 months once he took office but to list the terorirst attacks immediately before saying "Yet during that time" certainly paints a false picture and will have all the readers who can't remember the year Bush took office nodding sagely that he didn't try to stop any of those attacks because he was lazy.

Blaming and criticising Bush for a variety of failings since he's taken office, on many issues is fair game. To confabulate and make a false suggestion that he is responsible for events before he even took office or was crushingly lazy in the first eight months of his term is riddiculous. What exactly did harrop want him to do? Start bombing stuff, try to pass the patroit act before the attacks took place. Good luck with that -- the nation was not ready for any of those actions and you can guess the level of criticism Bush would have faced if he tried.

Yet another potentially good article derailled by the BDS train,

At the Renaissance Fair

On Saturday, the family and my wife's friend and her kids and I piled into the van and we all went to the 2007 Michigan Renaissance Festival in Holly, Michigan.

We were there for the Scottish Fling weekend. Yes, men in kilts (They get annoyed if you call them dresses).

Indeed as part of the festivities some of the Scottsmen pickup a 120 pound telephone pole called in Scottish a caber and throw it - they do this for fun. Anyone who can carry a telephone pole and hurl it end over end should not be greeted with the words "nice dress" -- bad idea.


Doesn't it look like fun?

There are always a variety of acts including these comedic Jugglers:



And of course, full contact jousting between armored knights:


And, not to be left out, an incredible moving statue that absolutely enthralls the kids (don't tell the kids there's a person in there, it'll spoil the magic).


If you are close to Holly, Michigan or want to take a very worthwhile trip for some serious fun, the Renaissance Fair is still going for quite a few more weeks and its great fun. Tons of fun to watch both the performers and the crowd all dressed up in "period" costume and acting all medievelish.

I highly recommend that you have one of the famous roasted turkey legs and a glass of mead for a snack. Simply excellent.

Chicago Trip - Getting there's half the fun, getting back is worse

I went to Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday on business and expected to get a flight out Thursday afternoon so I took the el train from the hotel, got to the airport, threw out my shaving cream, got thorugh security and went to my gate in plenty of time to get going.

It was not to be.

The weather closed in and we were stuck with the flight canceled and a three hour line-up at United Airway's Customer service counter.

Why they didn't open up more counters or let people rebook flights at the gates is unfathomable as there were plenty of United poeple standing at idle at the now closed gates.

So after 3 hours I headed back to my hotel on Chicago's el train - the Blue line. Of course as this is an elevated train there were substantial delays due to a tree falling on the track during the storm so a 45 minute trip took over one and a half hours.

I was glad to get back to the hotel, got a room and was so wired I couldn't sleep, after a while I finally dropped off.

In the morning on Friday it was a great repeat - the el train to the airport, through security (sans shaving cream and sans a shave as I had already thrown out the little thing of shaving cream I had picked up in Chicago- damn stupid regulations).

Then with some delay we finally got off, all the while worrying about another storm coming in. The flight took 45 minutes - less than the train trip. In fact I spent more time in those three days in the airport or on the train than I did anywhere else in Chicago.

On the upside I did get to order real Chicago deep dish Pizza at the Giordano's restaurant in downtown Chicago - we're talking seriously good pizza. The Pizza, a large was too much for three people to split and it was possibly the best pizza I'd ever had, so if you end up in downtown Chicago get to Giordano's for a real treat.

So I finally get back to Detroit, get to my car and play in traffic until i get home. 30 minutes after I arrive the skies darken and the Tornado warning sirens go off and the heavens open. Yep the storm followed me home. Massive rain and wind and loss of power for a few hours ensued.

Quite weather-full few days.

Birthday Scuba Trip - back to the Wexford

For my 35th Birthday, yesterday, August 9th, my lovely, thoughtful, and wonderful wife put me on a dive boat run by Rec & Tec Dive Charters and sent me off to dive the Wexford.

The jury is still out on whether she was deciding if the life insurance payout exceeded my expected future income, but nonetheless both Lagniappe's Keeper, up here visiting from his home in Harper's Ferry and I hit the road at 6 am headed for Port Sanilac.

We traveled through scattered rain showers and arrived at 8:30 am with plenty of time to load our dive gear on the boat before it left at 9. There were only six divers on this trip, plus the good captain and crewlady / divemaster, and off we went on a three hour tour.

Luckily for us, the weather did not start getting rough and the tiny ship made its way to the dive site off of Goderich, Ontario without incident.

After the dive briefing we geared up and got ready to dive.

The weather was perfect with a calm Lake Huron with excellent visibility of about 20 feet, and off we went down the down line to the bow of the wreck. Out of the gloom, the bow of the Wexford was suddenly visible.

Impressively, the plate I described on my blog Wexford dive report back last year was still on the wreck, a tribute to the good ethical practices of those who've dived the wreck all this time.

This year I could tell my diving skills had much improved. Between taking the GUE Fundamentals class and practicing weekly at Union Lake I was in much better form this dive. I was much more able to relax and enjoy exploring the wreck and I saw much more than I had last year as I wasn't so tunnel visioned, was more comfortable in my drysuit rather than last years wetsuit and had much better buoyancy control so I could keep out of the silt to preserve the visibility.

I saw a lot more artifacts, including a meat grinder, plates and plate fragments and the huge boilers of the ship, in addition to dropping below the bow to get an idea of the scale of the ship with its anchors and hitting about 80 feet maximum depth. After about 22 minutes it was time to ascend and up we went with proper safety stops at 40 feet and 20 feet.

After a surface interval, we dove the stern and I again saw much more than before and had much better situational awareness. Lagniappe's Keeper and I explored the stern thoroughly and saw a neat side area with 4 portholes with the glass intact to look outside the ship from within, as well as some valves and other interesting parts. We briefly explored every level of the ship before ascending.

The Wexford is simply one of the nicest wrecks out there in Lake Huron and in fantastic condition. Lagniappe's Keeper, in his first week of diving after his accident did wonderfully on the Wexford after our practice runs at Portage Quarry and Spring Mill Pond -- the man has guts enough for two men and as my wife says, he's got 9 lives but he's already used up 8.

A Great and successful pair of dives, and after our return we headed home at that evening my dive club came to an excellent birthday party at my house and much fun, as well as many a Myers Rum and Coke was had.

A most wonderful and memorable way to commemorate hitting 35.

Nellie Lyon Dive Pictures

So John, after some prodding, has just sent me the pictures he took from the Nellie Lyon dive trip. The pictures were taken with a Canon A540 in a canon waterproof case.

As you can see, the viz was rough. John has the camera at most 3 feet away from the subject that he's taking the picture of at the time, so you can see how the underwater visibility was quite poor that day.

Here I am on the surface:


Jerry taking it easy on the Surface:


The anchor from the boat holding fast to the wreck:


A portion of the ship near the anchor point. The lightbeam is from my 10 watt HID Cannister light. After this dive I'm starting to lust after the 21 watt lights the more advanced divers in our group use, or even better, the Salvo 35 watt light.


Here's Jerry on the Wreck:


Here I am at about 40 feet on the wreck:


All in all it was a fun and challenging dive. Hopefully we'll get the chance to go back on a day with better visibility, a little less current and a bit better luck. Thanks to John for taking the pictures, now its time I got a waterproof case for my new Canon SD1000 Elph.

Sympathy for the Sheehan?

Apparently Rochelle Riley is, not for Casey Sheehan mind you, but for Cindy "15+ minutes of fame" Sheehan.

In Empathy for Sheehan in her quests, in the Detroit Free Press, Riley says

I can imagine what I would do if someone happened to her. I would hunt that
person down and stalk them until they were brought to justice, unless justice
got there first.

That's all Cindy Sheehan is doing. And guess what? I understand her pain and
her mission. But I'm at a loss to understand how any other parent couldn't
understand.

So who's Sheehan hunting down? The terrorists that killed her son? Nope she's lashing out at anyone insufficiently "anti-war" Bush or even now Pelosi.

Riley then says

Sheehan's son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Austin Sheehan, signed up in August 2003 for a tour of duty in Iraq. He was 24 years old. Five days later, he was killed in Sadr City during a rescue mission for which he volunteered. He will never know the glory of being awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. I cannot imagine those medals mean much to a grieving mother.

Such medals would mean a lot to someone realizing that Casey Sheehan died not for himself or self-aggrandizement but in trying to save others, as a hero. Indeed, isn't until 6 paragraphs later that Riley notes that Casey had volunteered and signed up for a second tour in Iraq and he wasn't there involuntarily- he's the hero in this not Cindy. Rochelle doesn't bring up that Cindy had disowned her son when he joined the military.

The story mentions that Sheehan saw Bush once but doesn't seem to mention her demanding to see him yet again, but does note she called Bush a terrorist and speaks with approval about Sheehan's plans to try and impeach Bush and run against Pelosi.

Nice to see that Rochelle Riley has gone from being a Democrat talking points talking head to full on moonbat supporter. Sheehan had her more than fifteen minutes of fame - even the Democrats are done with her, and its time that Riley realized that.

Lightning, Scuba Diving, and a media mistake

Sad story of a diver killed off of Florida on Tuesday from the Associated Press via the Detroit Free Press:

July 23, 2007

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — Lightning struck a diver’s oxygen tank as he surfaced off Florida’s Atlantic coast, killing him, authorities said.

The 36-year-old man was diving with three others Sunday off a boat near Deerfield Beach, about 40 miles north of Miami. He had surfaced about 30 feet from the boat when lightning struck his tank, said Deerfield Beach Fire Chief Gary Fernaays.

The other divers struggled to get the man back into the boat and radioed for help, Fernaays said. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was rushed to the beach, where a rescue crew gave him CPR. He was pronounced dead at North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach.

A severe thunderstorm warning had been in effect Sunday for Broward County.
The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office planned an autopsy to determine if the man died by electrocution or drowned.

Ths is a sad situation, given that the metal of the tank is very attractive to lightning, its not good to be getting in or out of the water during a storm. If you under and deep enough you should be ok.

The mistake the AP makes is calling the gas tank an oxygen tank which doesn't make sense. Divers typically don't use pure oxygen as 100% oxygen at depths below 20 feet is toxic and can lead to convulsions and seizures underwater resulting in death.

The tank on a diver's back normally has either compressed air or a blend of air and more oxygen (called Nitrox) or helium (called Triox, Trimix or heliox depending on the helium and O2 and nitrogen percentages). Its unlikely that the diver was struck on a decompression bottle which would typically be oxygen.

While it seems like a small matter it is a very annoying misnomer and a grating inaccuracy to declare the gas tank on the diver's back as an oxygen tank.

Michigan Supreme Court Upholds Photo ID Law for Voters

Interestingly the law requiring photo ID for voters in Michigan dates back to 1996 and it has never been enforced as a prior (Democrat) Attorney General held it was unconstitutional (and very disadvantageous to democrat vote fraud efforts.

The Michigan Supreme Court in a 5 (Republican appointees) - 2 (Democrat appointees) decision has now ruled that the law is constitutional and valid, as reported in the Detroit Free Press.

A good ruling and a good start against voter fraud and for cleaner elections in Michigan.

Michigan gas prices highest in nation thanks to our sales tax

Michigan currently has the highest gas prices in the nation according to the Detroit News.

One reason is that we're at the end of the gas pipeline and its more expensive to ship it here from the refineries.

The other reason is that Michigan levies a 6% sales tax on top of the price of gas amnd all other federal and state taxes levied upon it. Yes, we're paying a tax on a tax. Further addding insult to injury, the only tax the sales tax is levied upon is the 19 cents road tax that is a fixed amount that doesn't change with the price of gas.

So gas can go up, we pay more taxes, the state gets more money and our roads worsen all at the same time.

Some of this windfall the state is experiencing from the increased take in sales taxes should be directed back towards fixing the roads and building new ones to enhance our infrastructure, which badly needs it. -- good luck on that happening.

Instead the state wants to raise the Road Tax on top of the already exorbitant take it is getting from the sales tax, thereby ensuring that Michigan is #1 in something - namely the price of gasoline.

Nunc Est Bibendum - Beer Blogging

As noted in yesterdays post, the weeather for the past few days has been rather cool for July. Courtesy of accuweather.com we can check the temps. Yesterday it did finally get up to 80 degrees, while the normal temp was 83, and the low, oh my the low was 48 degrees with the normal temp being 62 degrees. Must be all that Global Warming going around.

Regardless, after a day of meeting with students from an intro to law class and then a vigorous 30 minute walk around the neighborhood while pushing the baby in a rather heavy stroller at a brisk pace a fine drink was in order.

Nunc Est Bibendum - latin for "its time to drink", and since I had built up a bit of a sweat and by late afternoon it actuall hit 80 a summer beer was in order.

Sam Adams Cherry Wheat fit the bill nicely for an adult beverage on a fine day when all is right in this small corner of the world.

A Wheat Ale brewed with real Michigan Cherries, when served chilled is simply the perfect beer for a Michigan Summer's day. Lip-smackingly good, Sam Adams certainly ranks up there with the finest of beers, in fact I've tried quite a few of their varieties over time and none have dissappointed.

Be sure of course to drink responsibly.

Warm Weather is Not a Sign of Global Warming

Talk about confusing weather with climate. Marney Rich Keenan at the Detroit news certainly does when she writes

It seemed only fitting that days after the Live Earth concerts aimed to raise awareness of global warming, the nation was hit by a blistering heat wave. Detroit's high was 96; Washington, D.C., topped 100 degrees. t was Live Earth's figurative exclamation point, as if to say, "Now do you get it?".........

She ends the article that if you don't drink the Global Warming kool-aid that

Because the next time we get hit with a suffocating heat wave, (August is expected to be brutal) if you disregard all things green, you have no right to complain.

Wow the summer is hot, that's why its called....summer.

Are we to take her to task in the winter and following her logic declare that cold weather is proof that there is no such thing as global warming?

As usual its emotions not facts driving the GW hysteria. One has to admit that Al Gore is a genius - the surest way to sucess is to find a crowd and get in front of it, and by playing up to these ex-hippies fears why playing down the scientific lack of data on global warming, he's doing it admirably.

Speaking of emotions they certainly seem to be what's driving Keenan

Actually, I felt hopeful. Because, for a long time, I've been concerned about the new generation's lack of passion, wondering whatever happened to my youth's hallmark peace demonstrations, antiwar activists, sit-ins for social justice, urban renewal movements, not to mention the guilt of handing to my children the disgrace of our benign neglect for our planet.

Sorry but we're not going back to the flower-power age. You folks tried it and messed this place up quite nicely with your abandonment of the Vietnamese, your affirmative action gone overboard, your urban renewal that turned our urban centers into war zones and your constant nay saying and leftist down-on-America spirit that continues even today.

No thanks, there's a new generation coming along, one not indoctrinated by the left or at least one that questions the leftist dogma that you accepted as fact, one that thinks as well as emotes, and one that can recognize that while there are problems with this country, all-in-all it is a place to be proud of and a great place to call home.

And we like our summers hot here in Michigan, it makes up for the miserably cold winters, thank you very much.

Update (7/15/07): In the days since Ms.Keenan's polemic appeared, the Detroit area has been having unseasonably cool weather in the 60s and 70s. Obviously this means absolutely nothing as weather does not equal climate, but it is nice to see that the Gore effect still exists and even extends to his acolytes). (The Gore effect - wherever Al Gore appears to talk about global warming, unseasonably cool or cold weather including snow storms will appear).

Ford Going back to Soybeans

An interesting article in the Detroit Free Press today, that Ford will be using a new foam made from 40-50% soybeans in its Mustang Seat Cushions.

The benefits seem clear - reduced use of petroleum and it apparently uses less energy to produce, making it an economically viable choice.

As a historical aside, this is not the first time Ford has used soybeans in its vehicles. Around the time of the Great Depression, Ford began using soy as a way to get money to farmers so they could afford his vehcles. Some of the products Ford made from soy at the time were:

SOY BEAN OIL

o Enamels used on Ford Bodies
o House Paints
o Varnishes
o Linoleum and Oil Cloth
o Printers Ink
o Glycerin
o Fatty Acids
o Soap
o Foundry Sand Cores
o Vegetable Shortening
o Oleomargarine
o Diesel Fuel

OIL–FREE SOY MEAL

o Molded Parts
o Horn Buttons
o Gear Shift Knobs
o Distributor Parts
o Light Switch Assembly
o Timing Gears
o Glues and Adhesives
o Water Paints
o Core Bonds
o Plywood Glues

SOY BEAN STALKS

o Mbers–Pressed Boards
o Furfural

Source Copy of a publication of The Edison Institute of Technology Dearborn, Michigan at www.hbci.com/~wenonah/new/soybean.htm

Nice to see Ford going back to its roots.

Detroit News Gets it Wrong on Prison "Reform"

The Detroit News Editorial Follow Texas' lead in reforming state prisons has a fatal flaw: it doesn't seem to graps the correlation between higher incarceration rates and lower crime rates.

Like Texas, Michigan's exploding prison population and costs are not being driven by rising crime rates. In fact, the state's crime rate has been declining since 1981, according to a soon-to-be-released analysis conducted by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.(emphasis added)

Yet Michigan's incarceration rate is now 45 percent higher than the average of the other seven Great Lake states, the CRC reports.

Like Texas, Michigan prison costs continue to skyrocket due to a back-up in granting parole, as well as rising health care costs and growth in the number of people imprisoned since the 1980s.

it seems the Detroit news can't understand that when criminals are incarcerated they are not capable of going out and committing more crimes, hence the existence of a high incarceration rate coupled with a lower crime rate.

While the article does point out some useful alternatives to incarceration, such as increased drug treatment programs, which probably should be adopted by the State, the cost of incarcerating criminals while expensive and easily measurable as a budget line-item, is still cheaper than the cost that the criminals can inflict on innocents outside the prison walls - costs measured in lives, injuries and stolen or destroyed property. Such costs are not as easily measured as the State budget for prisons, but they are real and far more painful then dedicating a portion of the budget to public safety and if necessary cutting other, unnecessary State programs.

It's a Boat, It's a Car, It's Aquada!

It's a very cool Car / Boat amphibious vehicle that truly works.

Certainly the Aquada is the ultimate convertible.

Drive on in, the water is fine.
Push the blue land/water button as you drive down the boat ramp and as soon as the car reaches two feet of water, the wheels fold up under the wheel wells, the red and green navigation lights switch on and more than 2,000 pounds of thrust rumble in waiting.

Now if it came with a dive platform.....

Dive Report: The Nellie Lyon

Last Sunday, courtesy of Jerry's friends we were given a deluxe boat ride on Lake St. Clair to the mouth of the St. Clair River where the wreck of the Nellie Lyon lies.

The Nellie Lyon, a sandsucker barge, sank in 1911 and was discovered in 2005 by the US Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service during a survey. It is certainly off the beaten path for divers, and we soon found out why.

Problem one was locating the wreck, and after a few dives searching we found it. Why was it hard to find?

Problem two was the absolutely lousy visibility, of approximately 1-3 feet. There was a lot of particulate running through the water that day and it was hard to keep the others in the dive team in sight.

Problem three was the current of at least 6 knots. You can swim all you like against it, but you don't get anywhere.

Once we found the wreck, we could only see little pieces of it with our lights - deck planking, steam pipes and other features a foot at a time. Finally we were separated and two of us were pushed off the wreck by the current and were picked up by the boat. One of the divers was able to take a few pictures with his Canon camera in an underwater case, and he'll hopefully send them to me soon and I'll post them up here so you can get an idea of what the experience was like.

The Nellie Lyon is a very cool wreck, but hopefully the next time we dive it the visibility will be better. It is certainly not a beginner's wreck dive.

For a really good write up of the wreck including some pictures see Ray's Scuba Page, which is an excellent Great Lakes Diving resource.

Cool Electronic Discovery Wizard Website

Findlaw has a great Electronic
Discovery Wizard Website for lawyers to ensure compliance with the new Federal Electronic Discovery rules - complete with relevant checklists for each of the new rules.

Very nicely done and certain to come in handy.

New Cameras

So to replace the cameras that were stolen we went shopping.

We ended up after much consideration and comparison with a Canon SD1000 Digital ELPH camera:


The SD1000, for just about the same price we paid for the A540 a few short months ago back at the end of 2006, is smaller, with better resolution and picture quality.

And a Sony HC48 Digital Camcorder:


The HC48, replacing the Canon ZR60 that was stolen is leaps and bounds ahead of the 5 year old Canon ZR60 - better picture quality, no sound interfere from the tape reels and it even has a cool infrared capability so you can take movies in complete darkness.

If you're looking for nice quality digital camera that is ultra portable and easy to use I'd recommend the SD1000, and the movie quality of the HC48 is unbeatable for the price.

The theft hurts the most due to the pictures and movies of the kids we lost. The fact that we had to shell out a decent amount of money to unexpectedly replace the cameras likewise was an unplanned for expense that messed up the budget nicely.

The sole upside to all this was the replacements are much better than what was taken so the pictures will be better and hence the memories will last longer, and because both cameras are smaller, we'll be more likely to have them with us when a picturable moment presents itself. There's noway we would have gone out and replaced them unless the cameras broke or were as in this case, stolen so the forced upgrade is a small consolation.

Of course the unseen effect is what we could have done with the $500 had we not needed to spend it to replace the cameras. Ah well, no use worrying about that now.

Cool - the wreck of the ship General Anthony Wayne found in Lake Erie

After sinking 157 years ago in Lake Erie, the sidewheel steamer General Anthony Wayne has been discovered by Thomas Kowalczk 8 miles northeast of Vermillion, Ohio.

Located in 50 feet of water, the wreck is eminently divable, and apparently is in (at least) two pieces - given the boiler on the ship exploded, I'd bet there's a pretty nice sized debris field.

From the Detroit News:

The side-wheel steamship, named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne, sank in April 1850 while en route from the Toledo area to Buffalo, N.Y. Thirty-eight of the 93 passengers and crew on board died.

"I researched everything I could about it and knew the general area where the ship went down," Kowalczk said. "I laid out a grid search pattern and starting hunting."

Kowalczk saw an image of the wreckage on his sonar screen in September. He dived down in May and photographed the wreckage, which is in two sections.

Kowalczk and other members of the Cleveland Underwater Explorers plan to survey the wreck later this summer when underwater visibility improves.

The wreck belongs to the state and salvaging it is illegal, but divers can visit what is left of the ship after it is surveyed and the coordinates are disclosed, said Christopher Gillcrist, executive director of the historical society.

Congrats to Kowalczk on a great discovery, finding a lost ship is many a diver's and explorer's dream.

Father's Day 2007

For all you Fathers out there, this day is for you, reminding you that the toughest and most worthwhile job you'll ever have is being a father to your kids.

Since you have a vital role in how your kids will turn out, it is nice to get a day of recognition for the good you've done, and a day for reflection on how to do it even better.

For example, My Dad I'm sure is still reflecting how a fine, gun-disliking, liberal and proud Canadian ended up raising a conservative, gun-owning and patriotic American.

Other than that (and I don't consider the result to be a fault, indeed its a feature) he should be happy to know he did a bang-up job, and I owe him a lot. The greatest praise I have for him as I'm raising my own kids is my constant thoughts regarding how he raised me of "Oh Sh*t, he was right"...about just about everything.

Dad, you did, and still do, damn good.

Today for Father's day I was awakened with Abby my 3 1/2 year old giving me a kiss and a Father's day card, with an "A" on it that she drew herself. And the day just got better from there.

My fine wife took me out to breakfast, after which we looked at some cameras to see about replacing the ones that were stolen.

We returned home and then took the kids to Crossroads Village and the Huckleberry Railroad in Flint, Michigan. Think Greenfield Village, in terms of a historic array of 1800 vintage buildings and staff in period costume, but smaller, more quaint and a staff that is incredibly friendly and enthusiastic about their jobs.

Abby's highlights were a chance to get in a Fire Truck that was there from the Genesee Township Fire Department including getting a demonstration of what a firefighter in a mask coming to save her in a fire would look like, so she'd know to go toward them and tell them where she was -- important stuff and the firefighters were real nice to her and I think some of it sunk in. She then had a ride on a 1912 carousel that was fast - I was holding on to her worrying she was going to be spun off.

The Carousel was followed by a train ride on a vintage 2-8-2 Steam locomotive train along with vintage passenger cars from the 1800s for a 40 minute ride through the Genessee County countryside - with the train run exactly as it was in the 1800s when the track was part of the Flint Pere Marquette Railroad Line. Interestingly, some of the passenger cars came from a train that ran in California at the time when Wyatt and Virgil Earp left Arizona and took up in California, and there's a pretty strong belief that one or both of them had been in that passenger car at that time. Very cool. Leah, at 10 months, loved the train ride and was smiling and waving to people on the train - her first waves ever.

The Crossroads Village closed at 5 and we hadn't seen or done nearly enough -- we missed the paddle steamer boat ride and most of the building exhibits so we'll simple have to go back.

We then had a picnic at steppingstone falls and saw a man-made waterfall that was quite nice.

Then we piled back in the van and went to the beach for a swim.

The day ended with the tucking of the kids into bed - For me, Father's Day could not have been more perfect.

Palestinians may be in Civil War. But it's not a Civil War yet!

Finally the MSM and others are kinda-sort-maybe calling the fighting between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza a civil war. mainly saying that "Gaza is sliding into Civil war", or "Sky News - Gaza Descending Into Civil War" or "Palestinians in Gaza nearing civil war"

Never mind that the shooting, bombing and internecine squabbling has been going on for months between the two parties, interrupted only by the occasional rocket launching or terrorist attack on Israel.

Seems a bit out of a Monty Python skit -

Israeli - Here's a Civil War between Fatah and Hamas

Hamas/Fatah > I'm not a civil war yet"

Reporter = What?

Israeli - Nothing, here's your story.

Hamas/Fatah > I'm not a civil war.

Reporter = 'Ere! 'E says 'e's not a civil war!

Israeli - Yes he is.

Hamas/Fatah > I'm not!

Reporter = 'E isn't?

Israeli - Well... he will be soon-- he's been shooting and bombing at 'imself for weeks already

Hamas/Fatah > I'm getting better!

Israeli - No you're not, you'll be a civil war in a moment.

Reporter = I can't call 'im a Civil War like that! It's against regulations!

Hamas/Fatah > I don't want to be reported in the papers as a civil war....

Israeli - Oh, don't be such a baby, when you're not trying to kill us, you're killin' each other at a record pace.

Reporter = I can't report 'im as a civil war, they're Palestinians ya know

Hamas/Fatah > I feel fine!

Israeli - Well do us a favor and accurately report it as a civil war.

Reporter = I can't, there's only Arabs involved, journalistic standards!

Israeli - Can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won't be long to be a full blown civil war.

Reporter = No gotta get to Iraq, there's a civil war there and Americans are involved ya know.

Israeli - Well, when's your next round?

Reporter = Thursday.

Hamas/Fatah > I think I'll go for a walk....

Israeli - You're not fooling anyone, you know-- (shooting in the distance)(to Reporter) Look, isn't there something you can do...?

(more shooting in the distance)

Hamas/Fatah > I feel happy! I feel happy!

(lots more shooting in the distance)

Reporter: Gaza descends into civil warA supremacy struggle in the Gaza Strip is steadily escalating into civil war, Palestinian leaders have admitted.

Israeli - Ah. Close enough, thanks very much.

Reporter= Not at all. See you on Thursday!

The Center holds, but not the Center that Sen. Kennedy is talking about.

Thankfully the Immigration / Amnesty bill has been stopped for now. But its supporters on both sides of the aisle are trying their best to come back. Kennedy among others is pushing for the bill to be brought again and passed.

Kennedy: 'The center is holding'

Before the luncheon, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who worked with the White House and Republicans on writing the bill, issued a statement saying, "Like the president, many of us are very determined to get the job done and get it done now.

"The center is holding together: Last night we met to discuss the options for moving it forward, and today we'll continue that work. We share the sense of urgency that this important issue deserves."

The Center did hold Senator, the Center in this case were Americans that were not about to see another amnesty coupled with empty promises of tightening the border, with 12 million illegals swamping this country and overwhelming our social services.

The Center held and stopped the bill for now. Hopefully it will stay firm against both the left-wing love of illegals for their democratic voting tendencies and lack of American values, and the right-wing love of extra cheap labor and a flagging attempt by the President to build a domestic policy legacy.

This Immigration bill is so badly flawed the Center has told both sides pushing for this incredibly flawed bill to stop.

May the Center hold and stop this bill.

Mr. President, if you want a legacy that you will be remembered fondly for, pass a good bill to secure the border first, then pass a bill to encourage legal immigration and clamp down on illegal immigration. it's not to late to fix this latest tone-deaf mistake.

Ripped Off in Windsor

My wife was in Windsor today with the kids to pickup one of her friends who had taken the train there and was coming to visit us from Toronto.

So she and the kids picked her up and on the way in Windsor stopped by the Detroit River at a park for a picnic. I sadly was stuck up in Flint for a deposition.

Unfortunately, while they were having a pleasant lunch on the waterfront in peaceful Windsor, some scumbag yet unknown smashed the passenger window of the van and grabbed both our video camera and digital camera, which were in the car as we had just taken pictures of our 3.5 year olds first ever pre-school year graduation.

The Windsor Police took a report and were very kind, courteous, helpful and professional, especially to a bewildered 3.5 year old that didn't understand why the window was broken with glass everywhere and the cameras gone. I'm grateful for their assistance.

Needless to say, the loss of the cameras hurt, but the loss of the tapes in the camera and the bag and SD Card holding those pictures hurts much more.

As such, if you're in the Windsor area, and someone offers you the following for sale:

Canon ZR60 Digital Video Camera Serial # 172646350215 (with a extra-large battery mounted, plus spare battery, charger and remote and black letherette case)

Canon Powershot A540 Serial # 3222219295 (Also in the same black case along with 6 Radio Shack nimh recheargeable batteries)

Please do the following:

1. Buy them from the seller.
2. Take the cameras.
2. Kick the seller's ass, hard and repeatedly.
3. Take your money back,
4. Turn the seller or what is left of him over to the Windsor Police.
5. Let me know and I'd be grateful for the memory cards and tapes.

Update: Of course the insurance deductible is above the current value of comparable replacements so it makes no sense to do an insurance claim on the cameras. The window got fixed and we found the bugger had also damaged the window frame itself.

The cameras are replaceable, the images on the memory card and MiniDV tapes are not.

Another Trial victory and a great example of what not to do at trial

I just received a jury verdict on behalf of my client, after a two day trial, for the entire amount demanded, $160,000.

This was for a breech of contract case where defendants were seriously hosing my client, not only buying his business for very favorable terms but doing the deal in such a convoluted way that he stood to risk not getting anything at but the initial payment for the business.

The lesson my client has learned from this is that its better to have a lawyer review the deal up front rather than have to go to court later - no ehtical lawyer in the world would have let him go forward with this deal. The defendants drafted the contract (and had assistance from a lawyer or at least a legal secretary who um, was somewhat shady to say the least), which specified the sale was to be for $210,00 with 100k up front and 110 to be paid under a promissory note (without interest!) to be paid monthly as the revenue from the business permitted. My client was only paid 50k at the closing and told he'd get the other 50 in a week.

Oh, did I mention my client does not read english and only speaks it somewhat, and that he was relying on the other side to be truthful? Thankfully defendants messed up and had an integration clause to the contract, which precluded them from claiming all sorts of riddiculous allegations and side agremeents that they claimed occured but did not make any sense.

At the trial Defendants made two mutually exclusive arguments - The first was that they had paid my client 50k in cash at the closing in addition to the 50k they paid by check, and that they had paid the remaining 110k already. The second argument was that they claimed the revenue of the business did not permit the payments so they didn't have to pay under the promissory note and therfore did not owe him the 110K.

Anyone see the obvious contradiction between those arguments?

After I took the direct exam of their accountant and explained to the jury that the business in the two relevant years had the following amounts in cash: In 2003 it had 68,000 in cash at the end of the year and the business had bought a $80,000 Dodge Viper. Interestingly the business claimed on the tax forms that the Viper was solely and 100% for business use - but on the stand Defendant 1 first said it was just for the business but then admitted that he had exported it to Lebanon for a personal trip and had reimported it back. Hopefully the IRS will catch on to this guy's shennanigans (He's already in serious criminal trouble with some other federal agencies so the IRS may as well join in).

In 2004, the business ended the year with a cash entry of over $244,000 - certainly enough to at least make monthly payments under the proimissory note and even to pay it off fully.

Then the icing on the cake. Defendant 1's attorney for his closing argument says (slightly paraphrased):

'This is a case about credibility and figuring out what makes sense and who is telling the truth. Now I can't tell if my client is telling the truth or if plaintiff is telling the truth but you need to decide on what makes sense.'

Note to the aspiring lawyer out there - never tell a jury you can't tell if your client is being truthful, even if, as I suspect the defendant's lawyer knew in this case, that you know your client is lying. This other lawyer by the way was much more experienced than I was and really should have known better than to make this kind of a closing argument.

All in all, an excellent victory. It was again nice to be working on behalf of a client that I knew was the one being victimized and taken advantage of, and yes, my client was telling the truth and the jury clearly saw that.

Exercise update

Ah the joys of Exercise

As I mentioned back in November, I've gotten back into exercising. Not as often as I'd like, with two kids and a busy work schedule its hard to fit the gym sessions in, but I try to fit them in when I can.

Progress has been made.

Since November, in these last 6 months I've:
- lost 10 pounds and kept it off;
- dropped over 3 minutes from my 1.5 mile run time; and
- the sit ups and push ups are also getting better, with a small sidetrack on the push ups due to a shoulder injury that has since been fixed and I'm slowly restrengthening my upper body now that I'm allowed to do the exercises again.

I'm still not at my goals listed in November, but I will continue on my way to meet and beat them.

Dive Report for Tuesday

On Tuesday, right after work I headed off to Union Lake to dive with my two teammates. We were planning on getting two dives in, but it was not to be.

Right after we suited up, dark clouds rolled in. We had just enough time to get the gear stowed and then jump into the car as a massive rainstorm, complete with thunder and lots of lightning struck, and lasted for over an hour, with tantalizing pauses.

Finally it eased up enough so we could proceed with a dive.

The dive went reasonably well and reminded me that much practice is still needed on my buoyancy, frog and back kicks, ok, lots of practice. Did i mention lots, 'cause I surely need it.

Sunday's open water drysuit dives went close to perfect, with reasonably well controlled ascents (not perfect but 1000% better than anything that came before) which of course guaranteed I'd look like a total cluster on Tuesday. So here's hoping that Saturday will be more like Sunday than yesterday.

Detroit City Council to Police: Ignore Illegal Immigrants

Detroit has now joined the list of cities that have instructed their police forces to not do anything about illegal immigrants they may apprehend or come across.

From the Free Press:

City Council approves ordinance to prohibit the profiling of immigrants

An ordinance that bans profiling was approved Wednesday by the Detroit City Council. It prohibits police and city employees from asking about the immigration status of residents.

The council voted unanimously for the law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, dress, physical appearance and immigration status. Under the new law, police cannot ask people for their immigration papers unless it was related to a crime.

Newsflash: Being in the United States after entering illegally or overstaying a visa is a -- wait for it -- crime. Apparently immigration violations no longer exist in Detroit.

In Detroit, some immigrants complain that, after being pulled over by police, they have been asked for residency papers. Others say they are afraid to apply for city help or programs such as home-repair assistance because of their immigration status.

"It's not something a city employee should be asking," said City Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr., who introduced the bill. "It's not within their purview."

No kidding illegals should not be receiving city help or home repair assistance if they're illegal - why are law-abiding city taxpayers to pay for criminals while they are committing a crime? If they need home-repair asistance perhaps they should go home and apply from there.

The ordinance was introduced after talks with Latino, Arab and Muslim groups. The Detroit-based group Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength played a lead role in pushing for the law.

Nice to know the interested parties. 3 of the 19 9/11 Hijackers were on expired visas, 6 others had violated immigration laws but remained in the country - all of them would have had these infractions ignored in Detroit under this policy and thus preventing a means to prevent future incidents.

On Tuesday, Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said she wants to make sure everyone feels comfortable contacting police when crimes are committed. In some cases, immigrants say they are reluctant to call police because they fear the police will turn them over to federal agents who could deport them.

Because that would be enforcing the law, and apparently that might make people uncomfortable.

Bully-Cummings also said the department is against profiling and that police should not generally enforce federal immigration laws.

Anyone ever hear of the Supremacy clause? Does this new approach now guarrantee Detorit police will not enforce any Federal law such as environmental, Firearms, Alcohol etc?

Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, said he is pleased with the council's vote. "The city of Detroit should be seen as a place that is not hostile to immigrants."

Enforcement of immigration laws agaisnt illegals should not cause an issue, nor any hostility for legal immigrants, so who is Walid backing here, and why?

Samsung DVD Burner no longer pining for the fjords

Its dead. Its gone to meet its maker, literally as it is being returned and will likely end up back with Samsung. It will burneth no more, except perhaps if they melt it down to recycle it.

I purchased the drive, a Samsung SH-S182M from Newegg.com in October 2006. It worked well for awhile, burning efficiently at 16x, reading discs with aplomb and otherwise acting as a good DVD should. Unfortunately it recently seemed to have decided to have an early midlife crisis, and it began burning at only .7x-1x, a far slower speed than it is rated. Burning a CD of baby photos should not take almost an hour.

The drive also began to have trouble reading my cds and dvds, giving I/O errors and making playing games from the CD or DVD Rom impossible (thus confirming my dislike of games that require the original cd or DVD to be in the drive in order to play them, but that's another story).

Luckily for me, NewEgg.com has a 1 year return policy for defective hardware and they have courteously and promptly issued me an RMA. The Drive is on its way back to them, and I hope their exchange process goes smoothly and I have better luck with the replacement drive.

Update: Newegg replaced the dead drive with a comparable Lite-On Drive quickly and efficiently and in a very customer-service focussed and friendly way. No fuss, no muss and great customer service. If you're looking for a great online computer hardware vendor that sells great stuff and backs what they sell check them out.

Dive Report - Drysuit Training Class

Well it is finally starting to come together. Yesterday I had a drysuit trainign class in the pool. Drysuits are darn nice. Wish I had one when the water was 41 degrees in those previous dives i blogged about.

Thanks to a great instructor, who in addition to excellent teaching skills clearly has massive reserves of patience, a lot of my trim, body mechanics and breathing issues that make me look like a floppy fish rather than a Scuba Diver are being resolved and I now know what I'm doing wrong and can practice to cure the problems.

If you want to learn how to dive, and dive well, and you're in the Detroit, Michigan area, go to Sea The World Scuba Center and ask for James. You will not be sorry.

King Herod's Tomb Discovered

The Tomb of King Herod has been discovered in Herodium, Israel.

From the Detroit Free Press:

An Israeli archaeologist on Tuesday said he has found the tomb of King Herod, the legendary builder of ancient Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer said the tomb was found at Herodium, a flattened hilltop in the Judean Desert where Herod built a palace compound. Netzer has been working at the site since the 1970s.

Netzer said the tomb was discovered when a team of researchers found pieces of a limestone sarcophagus believed to belong to the ancient king. Although there were no bones in the container, he said the sarcophagus’ location and ornate appearance indicated it is Herod’s.

“It’s a sarcophagus we don’t just see anywhere,” Netzer said at a news conference. “It is something very special.”

. . .

Herod became the ruler of the Holy Land under the Romans around 40 B.C. The wall he built around the Old City of Jerusalem during the time of the Jewish Second Temple is the one that can be seen today. He also undertook massive construction projects in Caesaria, Jericho, the hilltop fortress of Massada and other locations.

It has long been assumed that Herod was buried at Herodium, but decades of excavations failed to turn up the site until now. The First-Century historian Josephus Flavius described the tomb and Herod’s funeral procession.

A very impressive example of persistence, given that Netzer has been working on the site since the 1970s. Persistence and determination can ceetainly pay off in the long run.

This is a very important and exciting historical find indeed. Hopefully, more detailed reports of the find and related excavations will be published and made available. It will be interesting to learn what coins were found in situ with the tomb.

On Electoral Culture and Violence

An interesting comparison.

In enlightened, cosmopolitan, European and so multilateral France, after an election of a right-leaning (for the French anyway) President, we get
days of Rioting including burning cars, assaults on police etc.
Hundreds of cars have been torched in the riots.

Meanwhile in uncultured, cowboy, unenlightened, unilateral America, we've had a 2006
election of a right-leaning (for France, for American conservatives not so much)President without rioting or torching of cars, and only a few unfulfilled threats to move to France. In 2008, we had a congressional election that installed a Democrat, left-leaning (possibly centrist for France) Congress and Senate and there was no riots, no burning of cars and no assaults on police.

For some reason the unenlightened American culture seems to handle changes in government with far more aplomb than the chic and oh so culturally sophisticated French.

Cell Phones and Drivers

Traffic all messed up due to a massive bloom of
Michigan' s State Flower along the roads on the Lodge Freeway and Woodward, bringing traffic to an impressive halt.

Now to add to the fun, today I'm driving to work in all this mess and every driver -
to my front, rear, and both sides had cell phones growing out of their ears, and driving like their head is up their @**.

When you're in slow traffic I can understand - you're not going anywhere and you're presumably paying some attention to the car in front of you. However, during that brief shining moment in the commute where the road is clear and marked 45 mph and you're in front of me yaking on a cell phone and doing 35 on a one-lane road with no passing allowed, with occasional hitting of the brakes for no discernable reason, is an annoyance, and potentially dangerous.

I'm not against cell phone use in cars, provided the user pays attention and can handle the extra task loading without messing up for other drivers. I use a cell phone while driving, but with a hands-free device as I noticed there is a clear difference in situational awareness when you're holding the phone to your ear as compared to using theearbud. Too bad these other drivers seem so oblivious to their cluelessness while driving with a cell phone.

The Curse of The Fox - Drive to be Cancelled

Checking Fox's Drive website you see the following message: Final 2 Episodes to Air This Summer Stay Tuned.

Fox strikes yet again killing another great show before it gains its footing.

Let's see - Drive, Firefly, and so many more.

Sigh, bother and damn.

The curse of the Fox strikes again. Hopefully there is a clause somwhere in the show's contract that lets a more appreciative channel take it over.

Its pretty much confirmed that it is cancelled- see this wonderfully scathing reporting on Fox's latest folly - an article with which I agree 100%.

Excellent new fraud prevention service by Oakland County Register of Deeds

With Mortgage Fraud now on the rise as the housing spree cools down, and with Michigan as one of the top ten leading states for fraud (another fact this State can be "proud" of), Oakland County has taken a welcome and proactive step to help fight this kind of fraud.

As reported in the Oakland Press, The County Clerk's office is offering a free online service where residents of the county can check if there has been any filings made on their property.

Residents can go to Fraudcheck, enter their information and get a listing of documents filed on their property.

Excellent work on the part of Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson. Hopefully other counties will follow her lead in helping to prevent this insidious type of fraud.

Michigan's State Flower in Full Bloom

And a flower of terrible beauty it is.

It is a perennial flower, impervious to rain, snow, harsh weather conditions and rough soils. Practically unkillable with no known natural predators, where one is somehow destroyed, dozens more spring up in its place.

Popping up everywhere in Michigan with a vicious fecundity, this flower brings with it encumberances as everywhere traffic snarls while people ponder its terrible beauty and portent-laden meaning.


The Michigan state flower of course looks like this:

Detroit's Jewish Presence and History Memorialized

The City of Detroit has a Jewish presence dating back to 1762.

As reported in the Detroit Free Press, this presence has now been memorialized with a historical marker on the shoreline near the Renaissance Center.

After more than 200 years, Chapman Abraham touched ground along the Detroit River once again on Monday.

This time, the fur trader who was Detroit's first Jewish settler arrived at Tri-Centennial State Park just east of the Renaissance Center in the form of a gold-and-green Michigan Historic Site marker that workers installed on the shoreline.

Come Sunday afternoon, a couple of costumed voyageurs will cruise up to the site in a canoe to illustrate what it might have looked like when Abraham landed in 1762.

"On Sunday, we're celebrating ways that the Jewish community has been active in Detroit," Ellen Cole, president of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan, said as she prepared for the events that are expected to draw hundreds of people to the riverfront.

On the other side of the marker that honors Chapman Abraham there's a description of the Jewish families who sent men to serve in the Civil War, Cole said.

Impressively, as reported in the article, Jews from Detroit disproportionately contributed soldiers to the Union cause in the civil war, with 150 families sending 188 men.

An interesting story of historical interest well reported by the Detroit Free Press.

Beating a Train is a Fool's Game

Trying to save a few minutes by ignoring the gates and trying to beat a train thorugh a rail crossing is simply not smart. For a few minutes saved you're risking being struck by a multi-ton speeding train that cannot stop on a time as a matter of simple physics.

Sadly, as Reported in the Detroit Free Press this driver found out this wasn't smart the hard way:

Pontiac police said a 56-year-old Pontiac woman died Tuesday evening when she tried to beat a passing train with her vehicle on the city’s east side.

Etoi Houston was killed after her Dodge Dakota stalled on railroad tracks at the intersection of Sanford Street and South Boulevard and an Amtrak train struck her car, said Pontiac Police Chief Val Gross.
. . .
Gross said witnesses told police the car went around the crossing gates and tried to beat the train before it crossed. He said the train dragged the car for about a quarter mile before a conductor was able to stop at Paddock and Woodward.

Be smart and don't try to outrun a multi-ton behemoth just so you can get to where you want to go a few minutes faster. The time saved by such foolishness just isn't worth your life.

Excellent Analysis of Armed Citizen Defense to Mass Shootings and Media Undercoverage

At the Classically Liberal Blog there is an excellent analysis of media coverage (in this case the lack therof) of how armed civillians helped stop ongoing mass shootings.

To have it most simply put, the killers do not stop killing until someone with a gun arrives to stop them. Having someone with a gun at the location, able to respond dramatically cuts down on the killers ability to assault more potential victims as the killer has much less time than would be otherwise available to him - i.e. while the police are informed, respond and finally react to the situation.

Read the descriptions of the incidents on Classically Liberal, then question why there is a clear lack of coverage of these heroes who helped stop the mass-kilers from continuing their attack.

Granholm's China Hypocrisy

Or simply Politics as usual

After lambasting Dick DeVos when he was running against her for the governorship of Michigan for daring to have opened a factory in China (a condition of doing business there) as the head of Amway-Alticore, and raising accusations that DeVos was up to outsourcing jobs from Michigan and being cozy with China, Granholm goes forth to do the same thing.

As reported in the Detroit news article Meet China's new friend: Granholm

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced this week that it plans an investment mission to China later this month. It has the full support of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who was last seen running re-election ads complaining that her opponent's former company sold teddy bears made in China. And she criticized Michigan-based Alticor for locating a factory in China, which is a legal requirement for any American company that wants to sell in the country with the world's largest population. That was then; this is now: "We are working aggressively in China to sell Michigan as the best place in North America to do business and attract new jobs to the state," Granholm said in a statement. If only she had been so forthright during the campaign.

Indeed, but after all that's politics as usual, smear your opponent for something you are about to do yourself. granholm will of course argue she's pushing to have China invest here rather than Amway opening up the Chinese market to a Michigan corporation's products, but that rings hollow as both would lead to a better economic situation for Michigan, a state that both needs investment here, and a place for its corporations to do business elsewhere.