HAS THIS NATION FINALLY LOST IT’S MORAL & CONSTITUTIONAL SENSE OF DECENCY?

HAS THIS NATION FINALLY LOST IT’S MORAL & CONSTITUTIONAL SENSE OF DECENCY?

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“The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.” That’s what Fredrick Douglass said in 1885 and is true today. In 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy was conducting an investigation claiming that the United States Army had Communist sympathizers in leadership. The army was defended by Joseph N Welch as chief counsel. At one point in the hearing, Senator McCarthy attacked a young lawyer in Welch’s firm as a communist sympathizer. Welch was outraged…

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INFLICTING CIVILIAN STARVATION & BOMBING CIVILIAN FACILITIES TO RUBBLE ARE BOTH INHUMANE

INFLICTING CIVILIAN STARVATION & BOMBING CIVILIAN FACILITIES TO RUBBLE ARE BOTH INHUMANE

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.There are too many people who are quick to claim that any criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza is antisemitism. However, the clear evidence shows Israel’s continued blocking of food and aid to the people of Palestine by the prime minister has inflicted starvation on men, women & children. The undeniable fact is that since the war began on October 7, 2023, following Hamas’s attack on Israel, Israel imposed a full siege on Gaza,…

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EXTRAORDINARY PERSON AND TRIAL LAWYER: GERRY SPENCE

EXTRAORDINARY PERSON AND TRIAL LAWYER: GERRY SPENCE

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Gerry Spence died yesterday, August 13th, at 96 years of age. I have known him for over thirty years, been a speaker at his trial college for over twenty years, and the two of us have spent two week-long photography trips together, plus lecturing for legal seminars together. After I retired from practicing, we did not spend time together as before. He had a profound influence on my professional life through his skills as a trial lawyer and our friendship….

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MY MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER MARIJA BABAROVICH 1863 – 1953

MY MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER MARIJA BABAROVICH 1863 – 1953

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On August 8, 1953, my maternal grandmother, Marija Babarovich, died in Anacortes, Washington, at age 90. That was the year I graduated from high school in Anacortes.  She was born September 21, 1863, in Splitska, Brac, Croatia. She died on August 8, 1953. She was a woman of great courage, faith, and personal sacrifice.  Her husband, my grandfather,  Peter, had died the year I was born in Anacortes, and I never knew him. She never remarried. I remember her vividly….

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LIKE ALICE, OUR RULE OF LAW HAS NOW GONE DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

LIKE ALICE, OUR RULE OF LAW HAS NOW GONE DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

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Lewis Carroll’s famous Alice in Wonderland says it best about the status of our nation’s constitutional rule of law. Alice observes things have become “curiouser and curiouser,” and so has the political situation in this country. The president of the United States has been allowed to assume the power of an unrestrained authoritarian who governs by issuing numerous decrees labeled “Executive Orders” and which ignore existing laws, constitutional requirements or needed prior legal approval. These executive orders go unchallenged by…

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MARY THELMA BABAROVICH LUVERA 1905 – 2000 & NICOLA LUVERA 1860 – 1956

MARY THELMA BABAROVICH LUVERA 1905 – 2000 & NICOLA LUVERA 1860 – 1956

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Two people I loved died in the past years during the month of July. My mother, Mary Babarovich Luvera, and my father’s father, Nicola Luvera. One on the 4th of July and the other on the 7th. Here is a brief summary of both unique people  MARY THELMA BABAROVICH LUVERA  On an early Friday morning, July 7th, 2000, my mother, Mary Thelma Babarovich, died in her sleep at the San Juan Care Center. Her death was not unexpected. After all,…

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THOUGHTS ABOUT TAKING PRIDE IN OUR DIFFERENCES

THOUGHTS ABOUT TAKING PRIDE IN OUR DIFFERENCES

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My wife Lita and I have a close friend Anna Lynn, who is an ordained Deacon in the Episcopal Church presently with a Federal Way, Washington parish, Church of the Good Shepherd. On the 7th Sunday of Easter this year, she gave the Sunday sermon, which she titled “Take Pride in Our Differences.” See YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/0df3p0RiYqg?si=PUZl-x_brMB-wteR What she shared is significant and important. I’ve copied her sermon, with her permission, and share it with you now.  It’s an accounting with…

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A BRIEF FISHING HISTORY OF GIG HARBOR

A BRIEF FISHING HISTORY OF GIG HARBOR

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I’ve written about Gig Harbor and salmon purse seining several times while describing my experiences when  in high school and college working on purse seine boats in Alaska and here in the San Juan islands. See  https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2023/06/purse-seine-fishing-in-the-northwest. also: https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2021/10/the-gift-of-working-on-salmon-purse-seine-boats. It’s unique that I ended up living in Gig Harbor, where Lita and I have made our home for the last twenty-five years. That’s because I was born and raised in a very similar fishing & lumbering town of  Anacortes and fished…

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THE HIDDEN THIRD POLITICAL PARTY, THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY

THE HIDDEN THIRD POLITICAL PARTY, THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY

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The Federalist Society, officially known as the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, was founded in 1982. Since its founding, it has championed “judicial restraint,” the notion that judges should limit their roles to interpreting the law as written, leaving the actual business of lawmaking to democratically elected legislatures. It has grown into one of the most politically influential organizations in the United States while maintaining a low public profile. They are like the “Great and Powerful OZ”…

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE U.S. PRESIDENT THUMBS HIS NOSE AT COURT RULINGS?

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE U.S. PRESIDENT THUMBS HIS NOSE AT COURT RULINGS?

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It seems clear the Trump administration is fully prepared to defy judicial rulings of the federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, by simply ignoring or refusing to comply with them. A strong belief in the rule of law and respect for the courts as fair and impartial has historically explained compliance with court orders. However, this is not the first time we have faced a constitutional crisis because of an executive refusing to accept judicial decisions. In 1832 in the…

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