Sad and illustrative that the donut, perhaps the worst food product you could possibly put in your body, is the standard Sunday morning fellowship treat.
Cementina Rind, age 34, died in Williamsburg, Virginia. She was the first female printer in North America, having assumed the role of publisher of the Virginia Gazette upon the death of her husband the prior year. She left five children.
This is interesting for a variety of reasons, including the common early arrival of death in the 18th Century, and that women did occupy roles that would surprise us.
Last edition:
Ronald Reagan was the first President that I was able to vote for, or against (I voted for) in my lifetime.
The GOP of that era was far from perfect, but I knew what it stood for.
It was pro life, pro defense, tough on crime, pro fiscal responsibility, and overall conservative.
People have claimed that for the Trumpist GOP, but what of it?
1. Pro life?
The GOP went into this election cycle claiming responsibility, which it had every right to do, for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which returned the abortion issue to the states. Not surprisingly, however, a controversial issue remains controversial. Now the GOP is running from the issue as quickly as it can. It took its pro life plank out of its platform, where it's been for decades. And now we have Trump, who has flip flopped on the issue for decades, stating this, in regard to a proposed six week provision in Florida:
I think the six week is too short, there has to be more time
This is really a simple issue. Either you believe that life starts at conception, or aren't sure when a human is a human and therefore you err on the side of life, or you think killing only matters at some arbitrary point in time in which you can't stomach it.
At best, the Republicans here can claim to support State's Rights, but pro life? Donald isn't.
Added to that is this, which gets also into the next topic.
I am announcing today that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment.
We want more babies!
IVF means the creation of large numbers of embryos that are later killed, and in Catholic theology, IVF is regarded as a moral evil.
It's notable that Vance, who is a Catholic convert, has made some statements now generally supporting IVF as he runs towards Trump and away from his Faith.
2. Fiscal Responsibility?
Trump added 8T to the federal debt in his term in office.
And he proposed, prior to Harris, cutting income taxes on tips, which has no logical defense. Income is income.
Trump has stood for tax cuts, which have amounted to tax cuts for the wealthy. People, including the wealthy like Elon Musk, have noted the country is going bankrupt. Well, this is a big part of the reason why.
Back to the above, the GOP whined endlessly about Obamacare, and now proposes to expand government support for an insurance payment. What the crud?
3. Pro defense?
The Republican willingness in many quarters to abandon Ukraine says all you need to know about this. Added to it, Trump has a weird relationship with Russia that has never been explained.
Much of the current GOP wants to return to isolationism, which worked oh so well during the 1930s.
4. Tough on crime?
Running Trump says all you really need to know on that.
This party, in spite of what its supporters believe, stands only for reelecting Donald Trump, and nothing else.
Mind you, there were signs of this happening for some time. The entire spectacle of Evangelical Christians lashing themselves to the decks of the Trump serial polygamy ship was never easy to fathom. National Conservatives came on board in a calculated fashion, thinking that when Trump shuffled off his mortal coil they'd be in charge, only to see the less popular portions of their beliefs mocked and categorized as "weird". The Hawk Tuah girl was embraced by the Lynyrd Skynyrd branch of the populist whose Christianity is rather thin and not hardly of the Mike Johnson New Apostolic Reformation variety.
So what does that do to the populist movement in the GOP and the GOP in general? Well, quite a few real Republicans are abandoning ship, particularly those cultural conservatives who were never really Trumpites, but believed there was a moral obligation to support the GOP due to its cultural conservative positions. The American Solidarity Party is suddenly getting a lot of attention because its actually prolife. But a lot of the Trumpites now stand for nothing but Trump and will go down with him like stormtroopers in Berlin on May 2, 1945. Locally those politicians who have arisen in the Populist Freedom Caucus will keep on saying the same things they've been saying, even as their leader is saying the opposite.
Populism always gets co-opted in the end. Here, it already has been. Conservatism, for its part, was simply killed in the party.
A prediction, or rather an estimate based on odds.
I think there's a 55% chance that Donald Trump will not be the Republican candidate by November, or even by mid October.
No, I don't think that some random wacko is going to assassinate him.
Rather, I'm going back to what I always thought, that one of the two candidates would depart due to the impact of time and mortality, and add to it.
On mortality, Trump really doesn't look well, when you see him as he actually looks, which is rarely. Most of the time we see him in a baggy blue suit with his strange orange spray on tan and back comb over in evidence, a look we're so used to that we have come to regard it as normal, which it is not. But if you see him golfing, which we do occasionally, you see him as he really is. A fat old pasty man. He looks his age and doesn't look great. If a guy looking like that died tomorrow, you wouldn't be surprised.
Added to that, however, is the growing evidence of mental decline.
Trump is under an enormous amount of stress. If you've ever been familiar with somebody entering dementia, routine can keep them going for a long time. Trump has had a surprisingly consistent routine since 2020. The election was stolen has been his mantra. Joe Biden is a crook and the worst President of all time. He repeats it over and over, and he still is.
Now, however, Biden has mounted up and is fading into the sunset. Trump, in turn, has entered the part of the map labeled "here there be dragons" and doesn't know where he is. It's showing in his behavior, which has become increasingly odd.
Indeed, his behavior is now so odd we're completely acclimated to it and pay it little regard. In more or less controlled scripted moments, which seem to occur during the day time, he delivers a routine rambling speech, often with a flat affect. He tends to go badly off script into the bizarre. In interviews he can go way off script.
When he does, odd things show up again and again. He's really smart, he tells us. . . a lot. He draws big crowds, bigger than his opponents. . .
It's weird.
At night, now, he seems to have taken to Twitter and the tweets are often really weird.
I'm not a psychiatrist but it looks to me like the stress an anxiety of the race are getting to him, and organically.
Hence my added prediction. I don't think this nearly 80 year old who has avoided exercise his entire life can keep this up. It'll kill him, or it'll render his mid mush to the point it can't be ignored.
And it'll happen before the end of October.
I'm not saying any of this, I'd note, as some sort of wish. I've seen more than my share of death, and I've seen dementia. We all die, but dementia isn't something we all endure and I don't wish that on anyone.
John W. Davis, former Congressman of West Virginia and little known until that time, became the Democratic nominee for President. Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska was chosen as the VP candidate.
McAdoo withdrew reluctantly and bitterly, leaving the Democrats divided.
Calvin Coolidge Jr. was laid to rest.
Columbia recognized Panama.
Last edition:
Calvin Coolidge, Jr. died of blood poisoning from an infection on his foot, following having received a blister playing tennis a week earlier.
A really old friend of mine and I were talking about it just last week.
I had to catch up with him as he was working on something for me. It was Friday, but I was fairly formally dressed and he noted it. The reason was that I had just come from my uncle's funeral earlier that day. He extended his sympathies, but I noted that my uncle had lived a long and good life. Not a life free of troubles, as no such thing existed, but a long life, that was well lived, and he'd remained sharp right up until the end. His health had declined in recent years, but only in very recent ones. It was the last few months that were rough.
My friend and I, who first knew each other as National Guardsmen back in the 80s, are co-religious. Neither of us was married when we first met, but both of us have, and have seen our kids grow up since then. And of course, we've seen our parents pass away, his before mine. He has siblings, which I do not, and one of his brothers died, only in his 50s. I noted that in the Middle Ages, people often prayed for good deaths, and he noted that a prayer group that he's in now does that every week.
Prayer for a Happy Death
O God, great and omnipotent judge of the living and the dead, we are to appear before you after this short life to render an account of our works. Give us the grace to prepare for our last hour by a devout and holy life, and protect us against a sudden and unprovided death. Let us remember our frailty and mortality, that we may always live in the ways of your commandments. Teach us to "watch and pray" (Lk 21:36), that when your summons comes for our departure from this world, we may go forth to meet you, experience a merciful judgment, and rejoice in everlasting happiness. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
I'm constantly amazed by people who work into old age, as I'd judge it, and keeping working. A dear friend of mine, now in his 70s, noted that just the other day. He doesn't have to, he just is. Likewise, I know a collection of lawyers who fit that description. The law is a hard job, surrounded by hard facts, hard people, and difficult scenarios
I think they just know nothing else, their real personalities, perhaps, burnt to the core eons ago.
In contrast, I'm also constantly amazed by those who have extensive plans for their retirements well before they can retire. Another friend of mine fits this category, but when I look at him, I can tell his physical condition is so poor it'd be amazing if he lives long enough to retire. It's one of those things where you don't know what to say. If you were to be blunt, you'd say that the dreams of early retirement are probably forlorn, but that his dreams of retiring at all may be foreclosed by a bad early death, if some correction isn't made soon, and those corrections are harder to make once you are past your 30s.
The call came to my wife on Saturday. I could tell from the tone what the topic was, without even being told. A relative of hers was on his way to the hospital by helicopter. Even though he was being sent in, in that fashion, I knew, but did not say it, that he'd not make it. I'm not even sure if he wanted to.
And so another death.
In this case, unlike my uncle, he was much younger. My age, in fact. I hadn't seen him for many years, and before his troubles really set in. He hadn't been able to adjust to them well. The most common comment from people, none of whom were surprised, was that his torment was over.
I don't have any big plans, like one of my friends, for retirement. I hope to be healthy, and just become more of an agrarian-killetarian than I presently am. Funny thing is that recently I've been running into people who claim "you're looking really good". Somebody asked me the other day, indeed at the funeral gathering, "you're working out", the question in the form of a statement. Not really.
Indeed, I've gained some weight I seemingly just can't lose, which I think is the byproduct of my thyroid medicine, which has made me hungry, and I know that I'm not in the physical condition I was before my recent health troubles commenced. People close to me just won't accept that, which brings me to the other side of the retirement coin noted above. Some lawyers I know are already planning for me to work into my 70s, as that's the thing to do, apparently. Long-suffering spouse, for her part, won't say something like that, but from an ag family, she doesn't really accept the concept of retirement anyhow. Having said that, I wouldn't plan on my retiring from the ag operation either.
It finally occured to me, however, what's different about agricultural jobs as opposed to others, at least if you are an owner of the enterprise or part of it. The occupation itself is existentially human. It is, if you will, an Existential Occupation, or at least it is right now. The mindless gerbil like advance of "progress" may ruin that and reduce it to just another occupation.
Existential Occupations are ones that run with our DNA as a species. Being a farmer/herdsman is almost as deep in us as being a hunter or fisherman, and it stems from the same root in our being. It's that reason, really, that people who no longer have to go to the field and stream for protein, still do, and it's the reason that people who can buy frozen Brussels sprouts at Riddleys' still grown them on their lots. And its the reason that people who have never been around livestock will feel, after they get a small lot, that they need a cow, a goat, or chickens. It's in us. That's why people don't retire from real agriculture.
It's not the only occupation of that type, we might note. Clerics are in that category. Storytellers and Historians are as well. We've worshiped the Devine since our onset as a species, and we've told stories and kept our history as story the entire time. They're all existential in nature. Those who build certain things probably fit into that category as well, as we've always done that. The fact that people tinker with machinery as a hobby would suggest that it's like that as well.
Indeed, if it's an occupation. . . and also a hobby, that's a good clue that its an Existential Occupation.
If I were to retire from my career, which I can't right now, I wouldn't be one of those people who spend their time traveling to Rome or Paris or wherever. I have very low interest in doing that. I'd spend my time writing, fishing, hunting, gardening (and livestock tending). That probably sounds pretty dull to most people. I could imagine myself checking our Iceland or Ireland, or fjords in Norway, but I likely never will.
What I can't imagine myself doing is imagining that age and decline don't occur, and that I should be in court in my 70s. I don't think that the lawyers who do that realize that younger lawyers don't admire that, and most of the lawyers I'm running into in court are younger than me now.
And indeed, frankly, it isn't admirable. People who work a hard non-existential job and keep at it into their advanced old age, or at least past their 7th decade, have just lost something they were when they were young, and much of that is themselves. They've lost who they were.
AN ACT OF FAITH IN ANTICIPATION OF THE HOUR OF DEATH
From the works of St. Pompilio M. Pirrotti
On my journey toward eternity, dear Lord,
I am surrounded by powerful enemies of my soul.
I live in fear and trembling,
especially at the thought of the hour of death,
on which my eternity will depend,
and of the fearful struggle that the devil will then have to wage against me,
knowing that little time is left for him to accomplish my eternal ruin.
I desire, therefore, O Lord,
to prepare myself for it from this hour,
by offering you now, in view of my last hour,
my profession of faith and love for you,
which is so effectual in repressing and rendering useless
all the crafty and wicked schemes of the enemy
and which I resolve to oppose to him at that moment of such grave consequence,
even though he should dare alone to attack with his deceits
the peace and tranquility of my spirit.
I N.N.,
in the presence of the Most Holy Trinity,
the blessed Virgin Mary,
my holy Guardian Angel
and the entire heavenly host,
affirm that I wish to live and die under the standard of the Holy Cross.
I firmly believe all that our Holy Mother,
the holy, catholic and apostolic Church,
believes and teaches.
It is my steadfast intention to die in this holy faith,
in which all the holy martyrs, confessors and virgins of Christ have died,
as well as all those who have saved their souls.
If the devil should tempt me to despair
because of the multitude and grievousness of my sins,
I affirm that from this day forth
I firmly hope in the infinite mercy of God,
which will not let itself be overcome by my sins,
and in the Precious Blood of Jesus
which has washed all my sins away.
If the devil should assail me with temptations to presumption
by reason of the small amount of good
which by the help of God
I may have been able to accomplish,
I confess from this day forth
that I deserve eternal separation from God
a thousand times by my sins
and I entrust myself entirely
to the infinite goodness of God,
through whose grace alone I am what I am.
Finally, if the evil spirit should suggest to me
that the pains inflicted upon me by our Lord
in that last hour of my life
are too heavy to bear,
I affirm now that all will be as nothing
in comparison with the punishments I have deserved throughout life.
In the bitterness of my soul
I call to remembrance all my years;
I see my iniquities, I confess them and detest them.
Ashamed and sorrowful I turn to you,
my God, my Creator and my Redeemer.
Forgive me, O Lord, by the multitude of your mercies;
forgive your servant whom you have redeemed by your Precious Blood.
My God, I turn to you, I call upon you, I trust in you;
to your infinite goodness
I commit the entire reckoning of my life.
I have sinned greatly, O Lord:
enter not into judgment with your servant,
who surrenders to you
and confesses his guilt.
Of myself I cannot make satisfaction to you for my countless sins:
I do not have the means to pay you for my infinite debt.
But your Son has shed his Blood for me,
and greater than all mine sins is your mercy.
O Jesus, be my Saviour!
At the hour of my fearful crossing to eternity
put to flight the enemy of my soul;
grant me grace to overcome every difficulty,
for you alone do mighty wonders.
Lord,
according to the multitude of your tender mercies
I shall enter into your dwelling place.
Trusting in your pity,
I commend my spirit into your hands!
May the Blessed Virgin Mary
and my Guardian Angel
accompany my soul into the heavenly country. Amen.
We should all hope and indeed pray for a happy death. And perhaps we should pray for a happy life, which is one worthwhile. That doesn't, quite frankly, include the "I'm going to work here at my desk until I die". That's surrendering to fear or meaningless, in most cases.
Again, there are exceptions. People with Existential Occupations, people who own their own special business, and the like. The list can't really be set out in full.
That doesn't include pouring through the latest edition of the IRS code for deductions, or reading the Restatement (Second) of Torts, or engineering an oilfield implement.
The logic of it, even without reading the Alabama Supreme Court opinion, is clear.
Life begins at conception, and therefore embryos artificially conceived are alive, and entitled to teh same protection as other early infants.
It's not really that shocking, and frankly, I agree with that.
Hence the logcial question presented to the Alabama Supreme Court by
This Court has long held that unborn children are "children" for purposes of Alabama's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, 6-5-391, Ala. Code 1975, a statute that allows parents of a deceased child to recover punitive damages for their child's death. The central question presented in these consolidated appeals, which involve the death of embryos kept in a cryogenic nursery, is whether the Act contains an unwritten exception to that rule for extrauterine children -- that is,unborn children who are located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed. Under existing black-letter law, the answer to that question is no: the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to all unborn children,regardless of their location.
It's a logical question, and it was brought by the upset parents.
The decision is lengthy, and involves a host of issues, but the basic conclusion is this:
Here,the text ofthe Wrongful Death of a Minor Act is sweeping and unqualified. It applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation. Itis not the role of this Court to craft a new limitation based our own view of what is or is not wise public policy. That is especially true where, as here, the People of this State have adopted a Constitutional amendment directly aimed at stopping courts from excluding "unborn life"from legal protection. Art.I, 36.06 ,Ala. Const. 2022.1
The Court reached the right decision.
And now people are reacting in horror, including the putative nominee for the Oval Office on the GOP side, who has tweeted:
Let's start with some obvious things.
Firstly, I don't know what Donald Trump thinks the "ultimate joy in life" is. Given as he's a serial polygamist who cheated on two spouses, I'm skeptical that it's a happy family life.
I'm frankly quite skeptical that Trump really is that against abortion in the first place, although that's just skepticism on my part. I can't see where Trump really holds that many values on anything in particular, really.
He does value getting reelected however and now he, like a lot of Republicans, are scrambling to figure out how to react to this, in no small part because a large number of Americans are probably now looking at the actual meaning of what social conservatism, and I am a social conservatism, is, and they're now really uncomfortable with it.
Americans overall, or at least a lot of Americans, claim that they are all for traditional values and are conservatives, but what they mean is that they are in favor of marriage, sort of, and family life, sort of, as long as that means you can easily dump your spouse and get remarred as much as you want to, and kill your offspring in utero up to sixteen weeks. This applies as much to Republicans as it does to Democrats. If you are looking at a GOP candidate, and they've been married more than once, it's frankly a perfectly fair question to ask them if they really believe in what they claim they do.
Indeed, the whole close embrace to religion the press claims is going on is really a close embrace to the American Civil Religion. It's certainly not a close embrace of Apostolic Christianity. At least Catholicism holds that artificial insemination of human's is morally wrong in the first instance, and this provides just one of the reasons why. It's completely contra natural.
But here's the added deal. When people claim they're advancing values, how deep have they looked at their arguments and how far are they prepared to go, and are they willing to apply them, to themselves?
Are those on the right in favor of traditional values, really in favor of them. Are those on the left who claim to be in favor of nature, willing to really live with it?
Related Thread:
There were protests outside the German Embassy due to the legation refusing to offer condolences for the death of the late President. It also refused, at first, to fly its flag at half staff.
Later that day it relented and the flag was at half staff.
I posted this the other day:
And depicted with a horse too. . .
Kroger retires after 35 years of service
CODY - Worland Wildlife Biologist Bart Kroger retired last month, bringing his 35-year career with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to a close.
“Bart has been referred to as the ‘core of the agency’, meaning through his dedication and continuous hard work, he has significantly and meaningfully impacted wildlife management within his district and throughout the state,” said Corey Class, Cody region wildlife management coordinator. “Throughout his career, he has been a solid, steady and dependable wildlife biologist, providing a foundation for wildlife conservation and management in the Bighorn Basin.”
Through his quiet and thoughtful approach, Bart has gained the respect of both his peers and the public. Bart is best known for his commitment to spending time in the field gaining first-hand knowledge of the wildlife and the habitat that supports them, as well as the people he serves in his district.
Found this old draft the other day
RETIREMENT ELIGIBILITY
Vesting Requirements
After obtaining 72 months of service, you are eligible to elect a monthly benefit at
retirement age. The 72 months of service do not have to be consecutive months.
Retirement Eligibility
You are eligible for retirement when you reach age 50 and are vested. There is no
early retirement under this plan. You must begin drawing your benefit no later than
age 65.
Which means, as a practical matter, if you are to draw retirement as a Wyoming Game Warden, you need to take the job no later than the beginning of your 59th year.
Of course, if you started at age 59, you wouldn't be drawing much, if anything.
That doesn't mean, of course, that you couldn't be hired after age 59. You'd just draw no retirement.
The actual statute on this matter states the following, as we noted in a prior thread, from 2023, quoted below:
Statutorily, the current law provides:
This differs, I'd note, significantly from the Federal Government. The cutoff there is age 37. That's it.
Have a wildlife management degree? Spend the last few years in some other state agency? Win the Congressional Medal of Honor for single handled defeating the Boko Haram? 38 years old now? Well, too bloody bad for you.
Anyhow, I guess this says something about the American concept that age is just a number and the hands of the clock don't really move.
They do.
He's never been employed in that capacity, but he's had the license for 50 years. It wouldn't be carrying people for United or something, but in some other commercial capacity.
He's always wanted to do it, and has an offer.
Well, more power to him.
I spoke to a lawyer I've known the entire time I've been practicing law, almost. He's four years younger than me, which would make him 56 or so. He's worked his entire career in general civil, in a small and often distressed town, in a firm founded by his parents. When I was first practicing, it was pretty vibrant.
Now he's the only one left.
He's retiring this spring. This was motivated by his single employee's decision to retire.
I was really surprised, in part due to his age. I'm glad that he can retire, but it was a bit depressing. We're witnessing, in Wyoming, the death of the small town civil firm. Everything is gravitating to the larger cities, and frankly in the larger cities, they're in competition with the big cities in Colorado and Utah. That's insured a bill in the legislature to try to recruit lawyers to rural areas.*
It's not going to work.
The problem has been, for some time, that it's impossible to recruit young lawyers to small rural areas. The economics don't allow for it. The economics don't allow for it, in part, as the Wyoming Supreme Court forced the Uniform Bar Exam down on the Board of Law Examiners, and that resulted in opening the doors to Denver and Salt Lake lawyers. It's been something the small firms have been competing against ever since.
And not only that, but some sort of demographic change has operated to just keep younger lawyers out of smaller places, and frankly to cause them to opt for easier paths than civil law in general. I know older lawyers that came from the larger cities in the state, and set up small town practices when they were young, as that's where the jobs were and having a job was what they needed to have. I've even known lawyers who went to UW who moved here from somewhere else who took that path, relocating from big Eastern or Midwestern cities to do so.
No longer. Younger lawyers don't do that.
Quite a few don't stick with civil practice at all. They leave for government work, where the work hours are regular, and the paycheck isn't dependent on billable hours. And recently, though we are not supposed to note it, young women attorneys reflect a new outlook in which a lot of them bail out of practice or greatly reduce their work hours after just a few years in, a desire to have a more regular domestic life being part of that.
I guess people can't be blamed for that, but we can, as a state, be blamed for being shortsighted. Adopting the UBE was shortsighted. Sticking with it has been inexcusable. I'm not the only one who has said so, and frankly not the only one who probably paid a price for doing so. The reaction to voices crying in the wilderness is often to close the windows so you don't have to hear them. Rumor had it, which I've never seen verified and have heard expressly denied by a person within the law school administration, that it was done in order to aid the law school, under the theory that it would make UW law degrees transportable, which had pretty much the practical effect on the local law as Commodore Matthew Perry opening up trade with Japan.
The lawyer in this case is worried, as he has no hobbies and doesn't know what he'll do with himself. I'm surprised how often this concern is expressed. To only have the law, or any work, is sad. But a court reporter, about my age, expressed the same concern to me the other day.
Court reporting has really taken a beating in this state, more so than lawyers. When I was first practicing, every community had court reporters. Now there are hardly any left at all. Huge firms are down to just a handful of people, and people just aren't coming into the occupation. It's a real concern to lawyers.
It's always looked like an interesting job to me, having all the diversity of being a lawyer, with seemingly a lot less stress. But having never done it, perhaps I'm wildly in error. We really don't know what other people's jobs are like unless we've done them.
A lawyer I know just died by his own hand.
I met him when he took over for a very long time Wyoming trial attorney upon that attorney's death.
The attorney he took over for had died when he went in his backyard and put a rifle bullet through his brain. He was a well known attorney, and we could tell something wasn't quite right with him. Just the day prior, he called me and asked for an extension on something. I'd already given two. I paused, and then, against my better judgment, said, "well. . . okay".
I'd known him too long to say no.
He was clearing his schedule. If I had said no, I feel, he wouldn't have done it, and he'd be alive today.
The new attorney came in and was sort of like a goofy force of nature. Hard to describe. A huge man, probably in his 40s at the time, but very childlike. He talked and talked. Depositions would be extended due to long meandering conversational interjections, as I learned in that case and then a very serious subsequent one.
He was hugely proud of having been a member of a legendary local plaintiff's firm. That didn't really matter much to me then, and it still doesn't. My family has always had an odd reaction to the supposedly honorific. My father never bothered to collect his National Defense Service Medal for serving during the Korean War, I didn't bother to get my Reserve Overseas Training Ribbon, or my South Korean award for Operation Team Spirit, I don't have my law school diploma's anymore. . . It's not that they aren't honors, it's just, well, oh well. We tend to value other things, which in some ways sets standards that are highers than others, and very difficult to personally meet.
Anyhow, the guy was very friendly and told me details of his life, not all of which were true. He was raised by his grandmother, his grandmother had somehow encouraged him to go to law school, Both true.
He was from Utah and grown up there, but consistently denied being a Mormon. His wife was Mormon, he said. He was an Episcopalian. As I'm very reserved, I'm not really going to talk religion with somebody I only casually and professionally know, as opposed to one of my very extroverted and devout partners who will bring it up at the drop of a hat, and his religious confession didn't particularly matter to me, given the light nature of our relationship. As it turns out, and as I suspected, that wasn't even remotely true. He was and always had been a Mormon. Why did he lie about that? No idea.
I suppose this is some sort of warning here, maybe.
The first lawyer noted in this part of this entry had suffered something hugely traumatic early in his life and never really got over it. Some people roll with the punches on traumas and some do not. We hear about combat veterans all the time who live with the horrors they experienced, and which break them down, all the time, but I've known a couple who didn't have that sort of reaction at all, and who could coolly relate their combat experiences. Others can't get over something that happened to them, ever.
With the second lawyers, there were some oddities, one being that he jumped from firm to firm, and to solo, and back and forth, all the time. That's unusual. Another was that he seemed to have pinned his whole identify on being a lawyer. It's one thing, like the retiring fellow above, to have worked it your whole life and have nothing else to do, it's quite another to have that make up everything you are. He'd drunk deeply of the plaintiff's lawyer propaganda about helping the little guy and all that crap, and didn't really realize that litigators often hurt people as often as they help them, or do both at the same time. Maybe the veil had come off. Maybe he should never have been a lawyer in the first place. Maybe it was organic and had nothing to do with any of this.
Well, the moral of this story, or morals, if there are any, would be this. You don't have endless time to do anything, 70-year-old commercial airline pilots aside. You probably don't know what it's like to do something unless you've actually done it, but you can investigate it and learn as much as possible. The UBE, which the Wyoming Supreme Court was complicit in adopting, is killing the small town civil lawyer and only abrogating it, or its successor, and restoring the prior system can address that. The entire whaling for justice plaintiff's lawyer ethos is pretty much crap. And, finally, you had some sort of identify before you took up your occupation. Unless that identity was what you became, before you became it, don't let the occupation become it. It may be shallower than you think.
Footnotes:
The bill:
SENATE FILE NO. SF0033
Wyoming rural attorney recruitment program.
Sponsored by: Joint Judiciary Interim Committee
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to attorneys-at-law; establishing the rural attorney recruitment pilot program; specifying eligibility requirements for counties and attorneys to participate in the program; specifying administration, oversight and payment obligations for the program; requiring reports; providing a sunset date for the program; authorizing the adoption of rules, policies and procedures; providing an appropriation; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1. W.S. 33‑5‑201 through 33‑5‑203 are created to read:
ARTICLE 2
RURAL ATTORNEY RECRUITMENT PROGRAM
33‑5‑201. Rural attorney recruitment program established; findings; program requirements; county qualifications; annual reports.
(a) In light of the shortage of attorneys practicing law in rural Wyoming counties, the legislature finds that the establishment of a rural attorney recruitment program constitutes a valid public purpose, of primary benefit to the citizens of the state of Wyoming.
(b) The Wyoming state bar may establish a rural attorney recruitment program to assist rural Wyoming counties in recruiting attorneys to practice law in those counties.
(c) Each county eligible under this subsection may apply to the Wyoming state bar to participate in the program. A county is eligible to participate in the program if the county:
(i) Has a population of not greater than twenty‑five thousand (25,000);
(ii) Has an average of not greater than one and one‑half (1.5) qualified attorneys in the county for every one thousand (1,000) residents. As used in this paragraph, "qualified attorney" means an attorney who provides legal services to private citizens on a fee basis for an average of not less than twenty (20) hours per week. "Qualified attorney" shall not include an attorney who is a full‑time judge, prosecutor, public defender, judicial clerk, in‑house counsel, trust officer and any licensed attorney who is in retired status or who is not engaged in the practice of law;
(iii) Agrees to provide the county share of the incentive payment required under this article;
(iv) Is determined to be eligible to participate in the program by the Wyoming state bar.
(d) Before determining a county's eligibility, the Wyoming state bar shall conduct an assessment to evaluate the county's need for an attorney and the county's ability to sustain and support an attorney. The Wyoming state bar shall maintain a list of counties that have been assessed and are eligible to participate in the program under this article. The Wyoming state bar may revise any county assessment or conduct a new assessment as the Wyoming State bar deems necessary to reflect any change in a county's eligibility.
(e) In selecting eligible counties to participate in the program, the Wyoming state bar shall consider:
(i) The county's demographics;
(ii) The number of attorneys in the county and the number of attorneys projected to be practicing in the county over the next five (5) years;
(iii) Any recommendations from the district judges and circuit judges of the county;
(iv) The county's economic development programs;
(v) The county's geographical location relative to other counties participating in the program;
(vi) An evaluation of any attorney or applicant for admission to the state bar seeking to practice in the county as a program participant, including the attorney's or applicant's previous or existing ties to the county;
(vii) Any prior participation of the county in the program;
(viii) Any other factor that the Wyoming state bar deems necessary.
(f) A participating eligible county may enter into agreements to assist the county in meeting the county's obligations for participating in the program.
(g) Not later than October 1, 2024 and each October 1 thereafter that the program is in effect, the Wyoming state bar shall submit an annual report to the joint judiciary interim committee on the activities of the program. Each report shall include information on the number of attorneys and counties participating in the program, the amount of incentive payments made to attorneys under the program, the general status of the program and any recommendations for continuing, modifying or ending the program.
33‑5‑202. Rural attorney recruitment program; attorney requirements; incentive payments; termination of program.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any attorney licensed to practice law in Wyoming or an applicant for admission to the Wyoming state bar may apply to the Wyoming state bar to participate in the rural attorney recruitment program established under this article. No attorney or applicant shall participate in the program if the attorney or applicant has previously participated in the program or has previously participated in any other state or federal scholarship, loan repayment or tuition reimbursement program that obligated the attorney to provide legal services in an underserved area.
(b) Not more than five (5) attorneys shall participate in the program established under this article at any one (1) time.
(c) Subject to available funding and as consideration for providing legal services in an eligible county, each attorney approved by the Wyoming state bar to participate in the program shall be entitled to receive an incentive payment in five (5) equal annual installments. Each annual incentive payment shall be paid on or after July 1 of each year. Each annual incentive payment shall be in an amount equal to ninety percent (90%) of the University of Wyoming college of law resident tuition for thirty (30) credit hours and annual fees as of July 1, 2024.
(d) Subject to available funding, the supreme court shall make each incentive payment to the participating attorney. The Wyoming state bar and each participating county shall remit its share of the incentive payment to the supreme court in a manner and by a date specified by the supreme court. The Wyoming state bar shall certify to the supreme court that a participating attorney has completed all annual program requirements and that the participating attorney is entitled to the incentive payment for the applicable year. The responsibility for incentive payments under this section shall be as follows:
(i) Fifty percent (50%) of the incentive payments shall be from funds appropriated to the supreme court;
(ii) Thirty‑five percent (35%) of the incentive payments shall be provided by each county paying for attorneys participating in the program in the county;
(iii) Fifteen percent (15%) of the incentive payments shall be provided by the Wyoming state bar from nonstate funds.
(e) Subject to available funding for the program, each attorney participating in the program shall enter into an agreement with the supreme court, the participating county and the Wyoming state bar that obligates the attorney to practice law full‑time in the participating county for not less than five (5) years. As part of the agreement required under this subsection, each participating attorney shall agree to reside in the participating county for the period in which the attorney practices law in the participating county under the program. No agreement shall be effective until it is filed with and approved by the Wyoming state bar.
(f) Any attorney who receives an incentive payment under this article and subsequently breaches the agreement entered into under subsection (e) of this section shall repay all funds received under this article pursuant to terms and conditions established by the supreme court. Failure to repay funds as required by this subsection shall subject the attorney to license suspension.
(g) The Wyoming state bar may promulgate any policies or procedures necessary to implement this article. The supreme court may promulgate any rules necessary to implement this article.
(h) The program established under this article shall cease on June 30, 2029, provided that attorneys participating in the program as of June 30, 2029 shall complete their obligation and receive payments as authorized by this article.
33‑5‑203. Sunset.
(a) W.S. 33‑5‑201 and 33‑5‑202 are repealed effective July 1, 2029.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, attorneys participating in the rural attorney pilot program authorized in W.S. 33‑5‑201 and 33‑5‑202 shall complete the requirements of the program and shall be entitled to the authorized payments in accordance with W.S. 33‑5‑201 and 33‑5‑202 as provided on June 30, 2029.
Section 2. There is appropriated one hundred ninety‑seven thousand three hundred seventy‑five dollars ($197,375.00) from the general fund to the supreme court for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending June 30, 2029 to be expended only for purposes of providing incentive payments for the rural attorney recruitment program established under this act. This appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for any other purpose. Notwithstanding W.S. 9‑2‑1008, 9‑2‑1012(e) and 9‑4‑207, this appropriation shall not revert until June 30, 2029.
Section 3. This act is effective July 1, 2024.
