In the 2007 movie The Bucket List Morgan Freeman’s character tells Jack Nicholson’s character that in ancient Egypt they believed when they died the gods would ask them two questions before allowing them to enter: (1) Have you found joy in your life? and (2) Has your life brought joy to others? I was impressed enough that I began a search of ancient Egyptian religions to verify this, but I didn’t find anything to support the movie. It seems that…
I've already commented on the attempts of some Catholic bishops to dictate their morality on American voters and elected Catholic officials. However, in doing some research I was reviewing Brian Meyer and Mary Murray compiled a book of quotations of Mario Cuomo entitled Quotable Cuomo which I read some years back. I was reminded of the attacks made on then New York governor Cuomo by New York City’s Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Austin Vaughn in 1990. Governor Cuomo refused to ask…
MSNBC reported on instruments and other devices left inside patients after surgery recently. The article discussed the number of cases where this has occurred and where the patient wasn't told. My law partner Ralph Brindley has handled a number of these cases, but one was particularly shocking. The doctors had left a long metal retractor inside the patient after a surgery in Seattle. The patient wasn't aware it had happened, but noted pain on bending and the fact he set off…
The Bucket List is a movie directed by Rob Reiner and staring Moran Freeman and Jack Nicholson. The plot involves two terminally ill men who fulfill a list of things they want to do before they die. ("Bucket list" things to do before kicking the bucket) I’m hardly objective about the great acting of Morgan Freeman and have seen few, if any, movies of Jack Nicholson that I haven’t enjoyed. Both are superb actors. While there are those who will…
I had hoped that since we did not have a Catholic running for president this year we would be spared the ugliness of political tyranny by the Bishops in dictating to American Catholics which candidates to vote for as they so blatantly did during the Kerry vs Bush campaign. Saber rattling threats about denial of communion and what constituted a "good Catholic" influenced the outcome of political races. However, it appears the “wafer war” has not disappeared. We have the example of registered Republican…
I've just finished John F. Stacks book on James Reston Scotty which has some notable passages. Reston is quoted as referring to an editor as "charming, but with sharp elbows" and about another "his skin was a lot thinner than his skull." At a press conference with President Dwight Eisenhower he asked Ike about starting a "preventative war" against Russia. Ike said: "A preventive war, to my mind, is an impossibility today..How could you have one if one of the features…
Steve Rudman has written an interesting collection of facts about the U.S. Open in the sports section of the Seattle P.I. One involved the famous 1913 Open in which Francis Quimet, a twenty year old amateur beat the professional Harry Vardon. I’ve reported on the extraordinary book about this Open The Greatest Game Ever Played written by Mark Frost which describes that year’s Open. The book was later made into a movie by the same title in 2005. Rudman notes the…
The media reports that Senate Republicans blocked a poposed windfall profit tax on the oil industry. The Bush administration and Republican Congress have had their way for eight years in protecting the oil industry while it continued to collect more and more profits. Sixty votes were needed to pass the bill and only fifty one voted for it. Senator Mary Landrieu, Louisiana was the only Democrat to oppose the bill and she has ties to the oil industry in her…
I came across a book George Plimpton wrote some time ago Mad Ducks and Bears which I read on our trip. It discusses football with a lot of time devoted to Alex Karras and John Gordy stories. I’d always admired Karras as a player. It turns out Karras had been selected in high school as All State four times during his playing in Indiana. What’s even more remarkable was he was selected each year in a different position in football:…
