I just finished a couple of books. One, Pilot Error by Phaedra Hise is a book about a small plane crash in October of 1998 which killed the pilot. A lawyer, Ron Sinzheimer, was flying a Grumman Traveler from Albany, New York to Provincetown Cape Cod when it went down in the ocean as he approached the small airport in bad weather. The book describes the pilot and outlines the details of the flight in a way that keeps your…
The news reports that Pope Benedict has named Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis to the Vatican Supreme court. As a result he will be made a cardinal and move to Italy. I am not surprised that Pope Benedict picked the nation’s most conservative, right wing Catholic Bishop for the position and has decided to make him a cardinal. They think alike. I have expressed my opinions about Pope Benedict and Archbishop Raymond Burke both of whom have exhibited ultra conservative moral…
Here’s a selection of excerpts from a couple of poetry books I enjoy reading. These are from the very old The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918: Perfect woman She was a phantom of delight when first she gleam’d upon my sight; A lovely apparition , sent to be a moment’s ornament; Her eyes as starts of twilight fair; like twilight’s, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her drawn from May-time and the cheerful dawn’ A dancing…
Ann McFeatters a PI columnist has written about John McCain’s willingness to switch position for political motives. I’ve commented on what I see as his changed character, in his drive to be elected, from the maverick U.S. Senator to a desperate presidential candidate. It is also galling to me as a Northwest resident that he played a major role in the Boeing Company’s loss of the bid for the Air Force refueling tanker to a French company. But, this involves…
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…
