Nov

04

Posted by : Michael V. Hannigan | On : November 4, 2011

In 1969 I was in the pits of a motorcycle ½ mile flat track race in San Jose, California. The track was dirt and the motorcycles ran without brakes.

There were three classes: novice, who rode 250cc. motorcycles; amateur, who rode 750 cc motorcycles; expert, who rode 750 cc motorcycles.

The novices qualified by finishing high enough in qualifying heats. The amateurs and experts ran time trials with the top 20 in each class making the program. Then there were two ten-man heats, a trophy dash and a 12 man main.

But this particular afternoon the timing device was broken and a decision had

Continue Reading

Oct

28

Posted by : Staff Reports | On : October 28, 2011

By Jeff Davis

A situation in an immigration case caught my eye. A couple from Albania along with their young son were in the country on a visitor’s visa, well, some kind of temporary visa and while here their young son had two heart surgeries. One thing led to another and five or six years later they were still in the country and had made a home here. But now they

Continue Reading

Oct

21

Posted by : Staff Reports | On : October 21, 2011

By Jeff Davis

When I was in a speech class in Junior High School, 1948, I participated in a debate. The question was: Should Hawaii be made a state?

I had the “pro” side.

My opponent was a girl who based her argument on the claim that that the islands were too far away from the mainland. She said that it took a month to get there.

I immediately saw that she had equated “far away” with “a month away” and probably thought that any place

Continue Reading

Oct

13

Posted by : Michael V. Hannigan | On : October 13, 2011

The Senior Life Insurance Co. has an ad on TV for their Senior Care Plan that begins, “If you are between the ages of 0 and 85 call 555-5555.” The phone number has been changed to protect the innocent.
What a strange age range. Do they anticipate babies emerging from the womb and reaching for a cell phone to call 555-5555?
News update: The Senior Life Insurance Co. has changed their ad to “anyone whose age is less than 85.”
It is an exercise in remedial algebra to show that the age range hasn’t been changed, only the wording. I am assuming that people whose ages are negative, that is, people still in the womb, are not being asked to call about life insurance; surely not.

Continue Reading