Staying Forever Young at Heart

Good Day World!

Let’s set the tune for today by listening to Forever Young by Joan Baez…

and by other artists such as

Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, or The Band.

The lyrics to this song speak to me. It’ my life’s anthem.

I may be 64 years-old, but I don’t feel like an old man. I may look like one, but the “real me” is much younger.

I laugh easily. I love passionately. My sense of humor remains unmarred over the decades. I can still remember being five years-old.

When I look in the mirror that young man in my mind stares out from behind my wrinkles and silver mane. Yet youth, unlike one philosopher's suggestion that it’s wasted on the young – can be eternal…

in your mind, heart and actions. 

I am as curious today as I was 64 years ago. At times, I feel old when by body fails me. Then I remember; I chose to be

forever young!

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

 

Who said, ‘Help me?’ When 1st Responders Arrived at Accident

Good Day World!

I’ve run across many mysteries in my life, both personal experiences, and in news stories. I find them fascinating, and whenever I run across one I enjoy sharing it with my readers.

The most recent example of a mysterious story is about a car accident that happened recently outside Salt lake City, Utah.

For reasons unknown, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, 25, went off the road and crashed in the Spanish Fork River. She was killed (massive trauma), but her 18-month-old daughter, Lily was still alive in the back seat.

The car was upside down and partly submerged in the icy river when first responders arrived. As three police officers and two firemen surveyed the situation they heard a mysterious voice say, “Help me.”

Officers Tyler Beddoes, Jared Warner and Bryan Dewitt told Lt. Matt Johnson they heard an adult voice before being aware of the infant trapped upside in a car seat. Johnson relayed their report to ABC News.

He said the two firefighters, Paul Tomadakis and Lee Mecham, also heard the voice before realizing there was a toddler in the submerged car.

"To me, it was plain as day," Warner told KSL.com. "I remember hearing a voice that didn't sound like a child, just saying, 'Help me.'

Of course, the voice couldn’t have been Groesbeck – she was dead. But whose voice did the five men hear?

Some might say it was Lynn Groesbeck’s voice – coming from the other side to save her child. I don’t know. It’s an interest theory.

Who do you think the first responders heard?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Racist remarks, treason, and lack of class – GOP on a roll

                                           Good Day World!

You’d think that after last week’s controversial House speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who denounced the president’s negotiations with Iran, that Republicans would show a little class and get off Obama’s back.

You’d be wrong.

Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky, tried to rush the bill to the floor but had to reverse course, after Democrats threatened to block the move.

This week, Republicans doubled down on their destructive rhetoric. 

Republican Sen. Michael Willette refused to resign over a series of offensive Facebook posts. In the posts he suggested President Barack Obama's family members are part of the Islamic State group.

When the Maine Democratic Party called on him to step down over what they described as a "prolific online history of racist and bigoted remarks," Willette backpedaled, said he was sorry, and that he won’t continue to post lies.

His history says otherwise.

Willette also posted a photo of Obama on Facebook pretending to use the president's words, saying of the Islamic State group, "I'll deal with them at the family reunion."

It’s more than not having any class that makes Willette a problem. He’s admitted having animosity toward Muslims and suggested that members of Obama's administration are part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

It’s apparent he hates the president, and that’s he’s graduated from hateful rhetoric to downright lies. Willette has gone too far this time.

Speaking of going too far..

More than 155,000 people have signed a petition to the White House (yesterday) urging charges be filed against 47 Republican senators who they say committed "treasonous" offenses by writing Iran's leaders about ongoing nuclear negotiations.”

When those 47 Republican senators sent  a letter to Iran’s leadership Monday warning them that an international nuclear deal with them could be scrapped if they didn’t like it, they went too far.

According to the petition, the 47 senators "committed a treasonous offense when they decided to violate the Logan Act, a 1799 law which forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments."

Those 47 senators – including three potential Republican presidential candidates - broke the law, or at least violated the traditions of Congress, by directly engaging a foreign power on US foreign policy.

Even some Republicans realize that the letter went too far.

Negotiations with the Islamic republic "are tough enough here and I didn't think it was appropriate to add another element that makes it more difficult," Senate Republican Jeff Flake told National Public Radio.

In both cases, there’s a total lack of respect for the president of the United States.

Meanwhile, the world looks at the political dysfunction festering in Congress and wonders how united we really are.

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

 

Senators Introduce Amazing Bipartisan Bill To Legalize Marijuana

Good Day World!

Congress introduced the most comprehensive legislation on medical marijuana ever Tuesday.

And surprise…surprise…it was a bipartisan effort.

Will wonders ever cease?

The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act would remove federal penalties and restrictions for producing, distributing and possessing marijuana for medical purposes, provided there is compliance with state law.

It would give military veterans access to medical marijuana in states where it is legal, and it would crucially allow financial institutions to provide banking services to marijuana businesses.

It would also reclassify marijuana from "Schedule I" to "Schedule II," eliminating current barriers to research and recognizing the acceptable medical use of the drug.

Let’s hope this groundbreaking legislation survives and becomes law. It would be the right thing to do.

Senate Bill Would Effectively End The Federal War On Medical Marijuana

Senate Bill Would Ease Federal Prohibition Of Medical Marijuana

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Republicans warn Iran not to make a deal with Obama

Good Day World!

Imagine if the Democrats would have tried to micro-manage the START talks in the 80s by sending an open letter to Gorbachev.

It just wouldn't have been viewed as an acceptable political move while the talks were still happening.

As the United States, western nations, China, and Russia are negotiating with Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, 47 Senate Republicans led by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) have made an extraordinary -- if not unprecedented -- countermove:

They've sent an open letter to Iran to suggest they can undo whatever President Obama's administration agrees to.

"First, under our Constitution, while the president negotiates international agreements, Congress plays he significant role of ratifying them.

Second … President Obama will leave office in January 2017, while most of us will remain in office well beyond then—perhaps decades."

This is extraordinary, because for a GOP Congress that objects to Obama overstepping his bounds, the president is commander-in-chief and conducts the nation's foreign policy.

Just asking, but what countermove is more over the top -- Netanyahu's speech from last week, or this letter trying to scuttle a deal before it even happens?

Imagine how the world views this political drama. We are not a united country – especially in our government - and it’s obvious.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Congressional members don’t have the power to rule a presidential act unconstitutional

Good Day World!

It’s apparent that some Republicans in Congress weren’t as aware of the Constitution as they claimed to be.

What other reason would there be for challenging the president’s acts as unconstitutional?

A quick look at Constitutional Law shows that issue was decided over 100 years ago by the Supreme Court in 1803.

They never had a chance of prevailing over Obama and the Democrats in their attempt to condition funding for the Department of Homeland Security on a repeal of the administration's immigration directives. 

The bottom line:

However heartfelt the rhetoric, members of Congress don't have the power to rule a presidential act unconstitutional.

Only the courts can do that.

As Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho pointed out in a recent AP article, "When there are differences of opinion as to what is constitutional and what is not constitutional, a court makes that determination.”

Simpson was giving a gentle refresher course on the Constitution to those on his own side of the aisle.

The tea party-aligned, bitter-end Republican losers had outrage, and in the House, an unbending unwillingness to compromise that some of their own rank and file judged counterproductive.

The result was a rout.

Republicans can expect the same result the next time around if they try to bend (or willingly ignore) Constitutional Law. The irony, of course, is that those ultra conservative House members are always talking about upholding the Constitution.

Yet, when you look at – or research – the so-called tea party crowd’s twists on the Constitution, it’s obvious their interpretation is flawed and not the original intent of the Founding Fathers. 

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A Killer Buzz: Lawsuit Filed Against Distribution of Pure Caffeine

Good Day World!

One of the simple joys in my life is drinking coffee when I wake up in the morning.

That caffeine “buzz” seems to clear my head and set me up for the day.

The scent of those coffee beans distilling makes getting out of my comfortable bed bearable.

I only drink two cups every morning. There was a time when I drank two pots of coffee daily. But that was decades ago.

I’ve learned some things about coffee – and caffeine – over the years. Moderation has it’s merits. Especially when it comes to consuming caffeine.

Because caffeine can kill.

The family of a Northeast Ohio high school senior who died of a caffeine overdose last year filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Friday against several companies including Amazon.com Inc, which shipped the supplement.

Logan Stiner, 18, died last May of a cardiac arrhythmia and seizure due to acute caffeine toxicity shortly before he was set to graduate from high school.

The lawsuit filed by Stiner's father says the companies promoted, advertised, offered for sale and sold Hard Rhino pure caffeine powder on Amazon.

The lawsuit said Hard Rhino should have labeled the caffeine powder as an over-the-counter stimulant and not as a "dietary supplement" and inadequately warned of the difficulty in differentiating a safe dose from a lethal one.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December warned of the dangers of consuming powdered pure caffeine, which can have the rough equivalent of 25 cups of coffee in a single teaspoon.

I don’t understand is why the FDA regulates all forms of caffeine - except pure powder form? It doesn’t make sense.

Someone at the FDA better get their head on right and address this lethal issue before more deaths are reported.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Man burned while praying over steak: sues restaurant

Good Day World!

I read this morning that a New Jersey appellate court said a man cannot seek damages for burns he suffered while bowing his head in prayer over a sizzling steak fajita skillet at a Burlington County Applebee's.

The story got me to thinking about other crazy lawsuits that have been in the news over the years. I cobbled together seven unusual lawsuit stories for your consideration.

Let’s start off with the most notorious lawsuit:

 

* In February 1992, Stella Liebeck ordered a cup of coffee to go from McDonalds. Liebeck was sitting in the passenger seat of her nephew's car, which was pulled over so she could add sugar to her coffee.

While removing the cup's lid, Liebeck spilled her hot coffee, burning her legs. It was determined that Liebeck suffered third degree burns on over six percent of her body. Originally, Liebeck sought $20,000 in damages. McDonalds refused to settle out of court.

However, they should have. Liebeck was ultimately awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages, which was reduced to $160,000 because she was found to be twenty percent at fault.

She was also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages.

* In September 1988, two Akron, Ohio-based carpet layers named Gordon Falker and Gregory Roach were severely burned when a three and a half gallon container of carpet adhesive ignited when the hot water heater it was sitting next to kicked on.

Both men felt the warning label on the back of the can was insufficient. Words like "flammable" and "keep away from heat" didn't prepare them for the explosion. They filed suit against the adhesive manufacturers, Para-Chem.

A jury obviously agreed since the men were awarded $8 million for their troubles.

* In 1992, 23-year old Karen Norman accidentally backed her car into GalvestonBay after a night of drinking. Norman couldn't operate her seat belt and drowned. Her passenger managed to disengage herself and make it to shore.

Norman's parents sued Honda for making a seat belt their drunken daughter (her blood alcohol level was .17 - nearly twice the legal limit) couldn't open underwater. A jury found Honda seventy-five percent responsible for Karen's death and awarded the Norman family $65 million.

An appeals court threw out the case.

* In 1997, Larry Harris of Illinois broke into a bar owned by Jessie Ingram. Ingram, the victim of several break-ins, had recently set a trap around his windows to deter potential burglars.

Harris, 37, who was under the influence of both alcohol and drugs, must have missed the warning sign prominently displayed in the window. He set off the trap as he entered the window, electrocuting himself.

The police refused to file murder charges. Harris's family saw it differently, however, and filed a civil suit against Ingram. A jury originally awarded the Harris family $150,000.

Later, the award was reduced to $75,000 when it was decided Harris should share at least half of the blame.

* In 1991, Richard Harris sued Anheiser-Busch for $10,000 for false advertising. Harris (no relation to the above-mentioned burglar) claimed to suffer from emotional distress in addition to mental and physical injury.

Why? Because when he drank beer, he didn't have any luck with the ladies, as promised in the TV ads. Harris also didn't like that he got sick sometimes after he drank.

The case was thrown out of court.

* In 1995, Robert Lee Brock, a Virginia prison inmate, decided to take a new approach to the legal system. After filing a number of unsuccessful lawsuits against the prison system, Brock sued himself.

He claimed his civil rights and religious beliefs were violated when he allowed himself to get drunk. After all, it was inebriation that created his cycle of committing crimes and being incarcerated. He demanded $5 million from himself.

However, since he didn't earn an income behind bars, he felt the state should pay. Needless to say, the case was thrown out.

* In 1996, Florida physical therapist Paul Shimkonis sued his local nudie bar claiming whiplash from a lap dancer's large breasts. Shimkonis felt he suffered physical harm and mental anguish from the breasts, which he claimed felt like "cement blocks" hitting him.

Shimkonis sought justice in the amount of $15,000, which was denied.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Famous plane crash with rock n’ roll stars revisted to clear pilot’s name

(From left, American rock and roll legends Ritchie Valens, 17, Buddy Holly, 22, and J.P. 'Big Bopper' Richardson, 28, who died in a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, in 1959. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was reviewing a petition to reopen the investigation into the crash. Mercury Records)

                                   Good Day World!

Why have U.S. Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators re-opened the iconic 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper?

The short answer is because the NTSB received a request recently from pilot L.J. Coon to reconsider the decision, according to the Mason City Globe Gazette.

But why does Mr. Coon want the case re-opened?

The original investigation 56 years ago conducted by the Civil Aeronautics Board blamed the crash on the pilot's decision to embark on an instrument-guided flight he was not certified for and, secondarily, on poor weather briefing.

According to NTSB regulations, petitions must be based on the discovery of new evidence or on a showing that the findings are erroneous and not on previously advanced positions.

So why does Mr. Coon want to bring up this tragic event?

Back in 2007 there were rumors that a gun might have been fired on board the plane and the Big Bopper might have survived the crash and died trying to seek help. Those rumors were put to rest in this article.

It seems that Mr. LJ Coon, has made his own investigation into the crash since then.

He believes that the finding of the Civil Aeronautics Board in 1959 that the accident was primarily caused by pilot error amounts to an injustice for Roger Peterson, the 21-year-old pilot who was at the controls of the Beechcraft Bonanza and who died alongside the three musicians.

Coon told the Pilot Tribune this year that “Roger would have flown out and about this airport at night, under multiple different conditions. He had to be very familiar with all directions of this airport in and out.”

Whatever comes out of this renewed spotlight on the accident, the tragedy is certain to continue to obsess rock and roll fans for years to come.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

 

The Obamacare War: Supreme Court Has Chance to End Senseless Battles

                                       Good Day World!

It’s the never-ending story.

It’s groundhog day every day.

It’s political partisanship on steroids.

It’s all about the GOP bringing down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and damn the consequences! Since 2010, the GOP has tried – and failed – to reverse the law.

Now, it’s round two at the Supreme Court. The first time around the ACA was upheld.

This time around the Supreme Court is sharply divided. Tax subsidies that make insurance affordable for millions of Americans are at stake.

The justices are trying to determine whether the law makes people in all 50 states eligible for federal tax subsidies to cut the cost of insurance premiums.

Or, does it limit tax credits to people who live in states that created their own health insurance marketplaces?

A ruling that limits where subsidies are available would have dramatic consequences because roughly three dozen states opted against their own marketplace, or exchange, and instead rely on the U.S. Health and Human Services Department's healthcare.gov.

The new case focuses on just four words "established by the state" in a law that runs more than 900 pages. This is a classic case of nitpicking, hoping for a miracle reversal.

The Supreme Court is expected to vote on the case Friday, although the results of the ruling may not be made public until June, when the court wraps up the current session.

What's at stake:

If the Supreme Court ultimately invalidates these subsidies, more than 9 million Americans would lose nearly $30 billion in tax credits and cost-sharing reductions by 2016, according to the Urban Institute; the uninsured ranks would increase by 8.2 million Americans; and the average Obamacare premium will increase by more than 200% (!!!).

If that happens, it's going to produce a mad political scramble (in Washington and state capitals) to pick up the pieces for Americans who will paying higher health care costs due to the court's ruling.

But if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the government -- that yes, the law was always intended to award subsidies to all Americans, no matter where they live -- it could bring an end to the great Obamacare War.

Let’s hope this madness ends once and for all so those insured Americans can get on with their lives and not have to worry about a partisan battle leaving them uninsured someday.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Will cops and prosecutors get prison time for trying to set up an innocent man?

Good Day World!

Two years ago, 47-year-old disabled veteran, Douglas Dendinger, was paid $50 to serve a court summons.

That simple act almost put him in prison.

As New Orleans’ WWL reports, Dendinger’s two-year nightmare began on Aug. 20, 2012. He was acting on behalf of his nephew when he served Bogalusa police officer Chad Cassard with a summons to appear in court. His nephew had filed a police brutality lawsuit against Cassard.

That’s when everything went wrong.

After serving Cassard a white envelope containing the documents, Dendinger went on his way. But 20 minutes later, police showed up at his house and arrested him. He was jailed on charges of simple battery, obstruction of justice and intimidating a witness.

Dendinger was surprised and alarmed, because he knew none of those things really happened. The charges being leveled against him were all lies. Luckily (and unknown to the people setting him up), he had the whole transaction recorded on a cell phone.

Two of those charges were felonies, and a prior cocaine conviction on Dendinger’s record threatened to land him in jail for a long time as a repeat offender.

But he was confident that he would be released without cause since two prosecutors and several police officers had seen him hand over the summons peacefully.

But that’s not what happened.

A year after the incident, then-District Attorney Walter Reed brought charges against Dendinger. His case was backed by two prosecutors who asserted that Dendinger had assaulted Cassard. Seven witness statements also supported the case.

Cassard made the same claim, writing in a voluntary statement that Dendinger “slapped him in the chest” when he served the summons.

Pamela Legendre, a staff attorney who witnessed the hand-off, said she thought Dendinger had punched Cassard.

Bogalusa police chief Joe Culpepper said that Dendinger had used “violence” and “force.”

And another witness said in a deposition that Dendinger used such force when he served the summons that Cassard flew back several feet.

All lies.

The whole affair was a coordinated effort by Washington Parish, La. cops and prosecutors who falsely accused Dendinger of battery and witness intimidation.

“It wasn’t fun and games, they had a plan, the plan was really to go after him and put him away. That is scary,” Philip Kaplan, the attorney representing Dendinger in his civil rights case, told WWL.

If Dendinger’s wife and nephew had not filmed him that day in order to prove that the court papers had been served, he would have gone to prison for a long time.

Grainy video of the exchange shows Dendinger handing Cassard the summons and the former police officer walking away in the opposite direction.

Though the video aired by WWL does not show the entire encounter, what it does not show is Dendinger slapping anyone or acting aggressively during the crucial moment when he served the summons.

The video also shows that the witness who claimed that Denginger’s force pushed Cassard back several feet had his back turned as the scene unfolded.

After Reed was forced to recuse his office from the case, it was referred to the Louisiana attorney general who quickly dropped the charges against Dendinger.

Rafael Goyeneche, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission, told WWL that after viewing the video he did not see Dendinger commit battery on Cassard and that the officers and prosecutors involved could be looking at serious ethics charges.

“I didn’t see a battery, certainly a battery committed that would warrant criminal charges being preferred,” Goyeneche said.

“It’s a felony to falsify a police report,” Goyeneche continued. “So this is a police report, and this police report was the basis for charging this individual.”

I’ll be interested to see what happens to those officers and prosecutors. Will justice prevail in the end with all of them serving jail time?

Somehow, I doubt it.

Time for me to walk on down the road…