by Gary | Jul 25, 2013 |
As promised, I propose in this posting to bring light to one of the many mysteries of the Court. But first the preliminaries. I am sure that, you know the history and jurisdictional authority of the Supreme Court, so I will only add a thought or two to refresh your memory. Article III, Section 1 says in part, “the judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish….”. It goes on for the next couple of sections to talk about jurisdictional matters. You know the stuff, suits between the states, suits between the states and the...
by Gary | Jul 25, 2013 |
Of course you know that SCOTUS is the operative acronym for the Supreme Court of the United States as POTUS is…well you get the drift. In the last few days of the Court’s term the media and a small, elite group of supreme court watchers are ever on point on whether and how SCOTUS will rule on the cases of the day. Most of us have little idea of the actual substance of the cases and have even less understanding of the often arcane logic that is exercised in reaching their decisions. Count me as one of the non-elite, small group of Supreme Court watchers. I’ve long been fascinated by what they say and why they say it. I’m not without...
by Gary | Jun 14, 2013 |
I like Panama. I really do. Although I might not be willing to suffer Miami International Airport to get there again, I’m glad I went this one time. As you may know, this was one of our “Twelve Year Old Trips”. No, it’s not a trip we take every twelve years. It’s a trip we take when each of our grandchildren reach the age of twelve. It’s lost in history who came up with this idea, but it has been a really, really great one. Panama, at first glance, was not an ideal choice for such a trip, as it had little of the sizzle as some of it’s predecessor trips (Galapagos Islands, Paris, London). About all it had going...
by Gary | Jun 7, 2013 |
I told you in Panama: The Beginnings that I would come back to the subject of the Canal for the bottom line. Ok, here it is. The bottom line that is. Wow! I saw it by being on it in a passenger ship transiting the system of locks. I saw it from a small outboard as we looked for monkeys and birds, and I saw it from the air as we flew back and forth to the highlands. It defines Panama more than the pyramids defines Egypt. It defines Panama more than the Great Wall defines China, and the Leaning Tower in Pisa and the Colosseum are mere dots on the culture of Italy compared to what the Canal is to Panama. There is no other country that is defined so much...
by Gary | Jun 3, 2013 |
The word “Panama” is either a corruption of a Kuna (one of the indigenous peoples) word meaning “far away”, or a misnomer of the early Spanish explorers of a native village name meaning “many fish”. There you have it. That’s all you need to know that Panama has been and remains much of a mystery to most of us in the US of A. Of course, we know of the Panama Canal, and certainly we know Rod Carew. A few of us may even be able to call to mind the name Noriega without knowing exactly who he is or what he may have done to deserve our notice. When pressed, in Rorschach fashion, I would throw out Panama hat which, of...
