On July 9, 1998 Melvin Mouron Belli, "The King of Torts," died in his San Francisco home of pancreatic cancer. He was 88 years old. He was survived by his fifth wife, three sons and three daughters. I happened across a reference about Belli that reminded me what an enormous figure he was in the plaintiff’s bar for so very many years. I decided to review some highlights in this admittedly over long post, but given the extraordinary figure he…
This is purely a political posting so if you are a Republican, you can skip this entire message. I get E-mails with some clever political things in them. Two are worth looking at. The first deals with the ridiculous attempt by John McCain to distance himself from George Bush now that Bush's policies have turned out to be as disaster. When he thought showing agreement with Bush policies would get him votes, he bragged about supporting Bush more than 90% …
On Thursday, October 16, 2008 Gonzaga University presented its 2008 Gonzaga University Distinguished Alumni Awards. My beautiful and talented wife, Lita Barnett Luvera, along with orthopedic physician John W. Staeheli, Boeing executive William Geary, and developer Michael A. Tucci received awards. My unbiased opinion is, of course, that Lita gave the best acceptance speech and was most deserving of her honor. Various photographs from the lives of the recipients were shown on a screen as the reasons for giving the…
I have been wrong about who "won" the presidential debate each time it has occurred. So, with that in mind, here’s my take on Thursday’s debate. First, moderator Bob Schieffer was so significantly better then any previous moderator of these debates that he should be given the job permanently. For the first time searching questions were asked and the candidates better required to answer them. He was the first moderator who seemed to me to be in full control. My…
The hieroglyphic words pictures painted on Egyptian ruins were a mystery for many centuries. No one could translate them. That was true until a lucky discovery in 1799 when French soldiers were digging the foundation for an addition to a fort in the Egyptian town of el-Rashid or Rosetta. The soldiers found a large stone weighing some 1,676 pounds. It had gray, blue and pink hues to it and was inscribed with writing along with hieroglyphics. Napoleon took possession of…
I have not been the Lone Ranger in making known the disdain for the self righteous who, all too often, turn out to be total hypocrites. The list of examples is a very long one and unfortunately touches both sides of the political fence as well as a variety of religions. On the religious side we have good old Jimmy Swaggart the anti Catholic, anti Jew televangelist who took in more then $150 million each year. He decided to attack…
No, I'm not talking about the French emperor and his mistress. I'm talking about our long time pal, our dog Napoleon and his "sister." We brought Josephine home when she was a pup and even though Napoleon was an Alpha male, she treated him as if he was her mother. They were totally attached to each other. She followed him everywhere and imitated him. After our pal Napoleon died last Sunday Josie has been lost. She searches for him and…
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE HAVING CHRISTMAS
