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Month: August 2009

IMAGES FROM THE ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYERS CONVENTION

IMAGES FROM THE ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYERS CONVENTION

Here are some shots from the annual Washington State Association for Justice (formerly Washington State Trial Lawyer's Association) annual convention. Wyoming trial attorney Gerry Spence and I conducted a seminar at the meeting. The photos were taken by one of the most talented photographers around, Carl Murray of Seattle Photography (www.seattlephotography.com)

FAREWELL & GODSPEED – a book

FAREWELL & GODSPEED – a book

No, not me. I'm not voluntarily going anywhere. Farewell is the title of a book edited by Cyrus M. Copeland. The full tile is Farewell, The Greatest Eulogies of Our times. Here are some random passages that I thought of interest. Adlai Stevenson on Eleanor Roosevelt We who are assembled here are of various religious and political faiths and perhaps different conceptions of man's destiny in the universe…And now one can almost hear Mrs. Roosevelt saying the speaker has already talked…

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SHORT SERMONS ARE BEST

SHORT SERMONS ARE BEST

We have had a visiting priest filling in for our pastor the last couple of Sundays I've been home to go to Mass here in Gig Harbor. Both Sunday's his homilies have been under four minutes. Now compared to the twenty to thirty minute homilies we usually get that is not much time. What's interesting is the quality of communication depends upon content and delivery more then then the volume of words used. There is nothing more boring then an…

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INFLATION AND HISTORY

INFLATION AND HISTORY

When you consider America’s economic troubles be happy it is not like the hyperinflation of Zimbabwae today. The so called "bearer cheque" was first introduced there worth 50,000 Zimbabwean dollars but actually worth about fify cents in U.S. money and, at the time, was only enough for a loaf of bread. A roll of toilet paper costs $145,759 Zambwean dollars but about 69 cents in U.S. dollars.  In 2008 the government was printing 100 billion dollar bills and in 2009 a 100 trillion dollar…

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“MR BASEBALL” LEO H. LASSEN

“MR BASEBALL” LEO H. LASSEN

When I think of local sportscaster's I think radio – not television, because I grew up with no television and an ear to the radio. Bill O'Mara and Leo Lassen were voices on the radio and Keith Jackson and Wayne Cody were faces on television, but the voices have a stronger mental image in my mind then the faces. From 1931 to 1958 Leo Lassen was the radio voice of the Seattle Indians and then the Seattle Rainier baseball clubs…

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TAKING TIME OFF

TAKING TIME OFF

  We are leaving Sunday on our Grand Banks Eastbay. It's a wonderful thirty nine foot boat that is not large and draws only four feet of water. With twin Diesels it can travel at 30 MPH but our cruising speed is much less. Our route is to Port Townsend for the night and then on to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island for a couple of days. On the way home we will stop at Port Ludlow for the…

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THE CHAUTAUQUA & WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN IN ANACORTES, WA

THE CHAUTAUQUA & WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN IN ANACORTES, WA

On August 7, 1919 the local Anacortes newspaper reported that William Jennings Bryan had stayed in Anacortes where he gave a lecture in a big tent. He was entertained by Will A. Lowman and his wife who drove him to Mount Vernon where he gave another lecturer. Lowman was a local well known Anacortes figure. He was an Anacortes pioneer. When the Bank of Anacortes failed his business, Lowman Manufacturing Company went into receivership and he turned to fishing for a…

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Marija Mattia Vulic’ BABAROVICH 9/21/1863 to 8/5/53

Marija Mattia Vulic’ BABAROVICH 9/21/1863 to 8/5/53

The year  I graduated from high school in Anacortes, Washington, my maternal grandmother Marija Babarovich died. Her story of immigration is one of great courage and sacrifice that I have described in writing about my mother. But, on the annversary of her death I want to reprint it again. I remember her vividly. A tall erect woman with hair piled high on her head, she looked regal. She spoke no English and we children spoke no Croation so communication was largely…

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