Bulletin Boards and Jury Duty
This is a picture of the bulletin board above my desk. I was noticing how many pictures of handsome young men in and out of uniform I have on there (smirk). Also nieces, nephews, sons, friends' sons, friends of sons, daughter, sisters, brother, friends... And it's just about time to take down the map of all the original FOBs (Forward Operating Bases). DH and I were originally horrified that such a detailed map of the US positions was available on the internet -- but it was published in Stars & Stripes believe it or not. That's the Prayer to St. Michael (Patron Saint of Soldiers and Sailors) tacked just above Baqubah -- Noah's first location... and that's the St. Crispin's speech from Shakespeare's Henry V in the lower right corner... and the Prayer Chain for Our Military in the upper left... and the "I am a small and precious child" poem just to its right... I'll move lots of these things to the set of things I have accumulated for Noah over the course of the deployment. Earlier today I came across a summer newsletter that mentions five soldiers being promoted... one of those soldiers was Noah. Of the other four, one is still deployed, two (including Noah) were wounded in the same attack and both are home, and the two others were killed in action. Also in the newsletter were pictures of Sgt. B and Sgt. S, both of whom were also killed during this deployment. A new set of shivers.
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So I have jury duty starting at 8:00AM tomorrow (I usually roll out of bed about 9:30! (hey, I'm retired!) so this calls for a stop at Starbucks on the way.) Most folks resist jury duty but I see it as one price of citizenship. If you want a judiciary that works, then you gotta do your part.
Hope at least it's an interesting case -- might be fodder for some blog posts. All I can say is it better be a short trial and that I better not be on jury duty when my Guys call to tell me they're home (grrr). So if posting is light the next few days, chalk it up to civic duty
Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.
posted by Some Soldier's Mom @ 11:15 PM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
Hey girlfriend, congrats on the milblog award. I am so out of the loop I didn't even realize this contest was going on.
Have fun on your duty.
I see my handsome son on that board. Glad it's you and not me doing jury duty. Hopefully it will be a quick one for you.
I loved being on jury duty, which is not what I had expected. I was annoyed that I was chosen. Federal court in Newark, NJ on a trial that lasted 4 weeks. I left being very, very impressed with the judicial system, at least on that Federal level. Was called a few times when I lived up in Phoenix, had to go to Mesa of all places, lol, but was never chosen for a case. Been down here in Cochise County for 5 years now and haven't been called. From reading your blog, I think that you'll really enjoy it if you get picked.
Tragic has been tapped for Feb jury duty too!
Wow.
Of the 5 that got promoted, 2 are dead, and 2 were seriously injured. Wow. Let's hope the one still deployed comes home safe.
...and congrats on your award!
Congrats on the award! You deserve it!
As for jury duty, I have no problem with it. I was surprised the one time they put me on, because of my views towards insurance companies. (It was a suit against one for an accident).
You are correct, though, it is a price of citizenship.
Hope you didn't run into idots like this on your jury duty
It's time once again to review the winners of the
Annual "Stella Awards. " The Stella Awards are named
after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot
coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in
NM). That case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States.
Here are this year's winners:
5th Place (tie): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas,
was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after
breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was
running inside a furniture store. The owners of the
store were understandably surprised at the verdict,
cons idering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms.
Robertson's son.
5th Place (tie): 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los
Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his
neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr.
Truman apparently didn't notice there was s omeone at
the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his
neighbor's hubcaps.
5th Place (tie):
Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving
a house he had just finished robbing by way of the
garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go
up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning.
He couldn't re-enter the house because the door
connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled
it shut. The family was on vacation, and Mr. Dickson
found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He
subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag
of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance
claiming the situation caused him undue mental
anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.
4th Place:
Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded
$14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the
buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The
beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The
award was less than sought because the jury felt the
dog might have been just a little provoked at the time
by Mr. Williams who had climbed over the fence into
the yard and was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet
gun.
3rd Place:
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber
Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she
slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx
(tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms.
Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds
earlier during an argument.
2nd Place:
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued
the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when
she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and
< SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: green; FONT-FAMILY: 'High Tower Text'">knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while
Ms.Walton was trying to sneak through the window in
the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover
charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
1st Place:
This year's run away winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a
brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first
trip home, (from an OU football game), having driven
onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph
and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back &
make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left
the freeway, crashed and overturned.
Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in
the owner's manual that she couldn't actually do this.
The jury awarded her $1,750,000 plus a new motor home.
The company actually changed their manuals on the
basis of this suit, just in case there were any other
complete morons around.
Tom, the Stella Award is an Urban Legend. See Snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp
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