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In Praise of the Cardinal State Bird

GuestPoster — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:16:12 +0000

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The cardinal state bird is one of the most recognizable state birds, and is one of th better loved of the state birds of the United States. It’s crimson color and presence in our back yards has made it the choice for state bird for seven states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. The bird is found in at least half of the United States, from southern California to the Atlantic, and from Texas to Nebraska. It is occasionally seen as far north as Canada. With its bright color and distinctive songs, it brightens the day of all who see or hear it. The fact that it is one of the three national colors is also in its favor.

There are two other state birds showing red, the lark bunting of Colorado and the robin, state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. There are two state birds that are in large part of a large blue coloration, the eastern bluebird, state bird of Missouri and New York, and the mountain bluebird, state bird of Idaho and Nevada. The white of our national colors is only represented by the winter plumage of the willow ptarmigan, state bird of Alaska.

The rest of the state birds are beautiful in their own ways, but their colors are earth tones: brown, yellow, black and gray. Some include some iridescent, like the ring-necked pheasant and the Rhode Island red fowl. Some of the other are great singers, like the western meadowlark and the mockingbird. Some of the state birds are majestic, like the brown pelican, or comic, like the brown pelican, depending on how you see it. The common loon has a call recognized everywhere, due to every outdoors movie set in a non-desert location, which uses its call to signify solitude. Each state bird has unique features that make it a representative for all the states where it lives, although only a few may have chosen it as a state representative.

Each state bird was chosen for many, various reasons, but the cardinal state bird, with both its good looks and presence in our towns and fields, is among the most visible of the state birds.

Female Fights

GuestPoster — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 06:36:55 +0000

When you see two females fighting, you know that something has gone very wrong. Physical fighting is usually the last resort for two people when they feel past the point of working out their differences and the instinct to destroy kicks in.

It’s primitive and senseless, but paradoxically it’s happening more and more these days. Instead of evolving away from fighting in general, men continue to fight men and continue to inflict violence on women. But the face that female fights are becoming more common is very perplexing, and more than a little worrying. Because I believe that like the proverbial canary in the mineshaft, the violence shown in female fighting is an indicator that something is wrong and that we are in danger.

Let me clarify a bit. If it’s true that females are supposed to be more intuitive than men, it stands to reason that a lot of females sense impending trouble and are acting out their intuitions, which may be largely unconscious.

Of course, jealousy and other base emotions also likely come into play in causing a female fight, but the fact remains that there are more such outbreaks of violence than in the past. At the same time, we seem to be reaching a sort of breaking point in terms of the destruction and poisoning of the environment, as evidenced by climate change and the many diseases modern man is afflicted with as a direct result of his actions.

It’s enough to make a woman fearful for the future of her young, or as yet unborn young, and we know that most mothers would fight to the death against her children. Perhaps the sorry state of the world is what is triggering the violent behavior in a lot of the world’s women, only their actions are directed against the wrong enemy. I believe we need to explore the root causes of this rise in females fighting; only then can we hope to put an end to female fights.

The Department of Licensing Hearing Demystified

GuestPoster — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:41:14 +0000

You’ve probably never been in trouble before, save a couple of speeding tickets here and there. And you have no idea how you got into the predicament you’re in now. All you know is you had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and headed home. One forgotten blinker later the cops were pulling you over and arresting you for DUI. And now the Department of Licensing wants to suspend your license for 90 days.

But, you’ve done the right thing. You’ve hired a DUI attorney to help you through the entire process, which includes fighting to keep your license. But the hearing is coming up and you aren’t sure what exactly is going to happen. Well, I’m glad you’re here, because I’m going to tell you a little bit about it.

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First, the standard of proof at the hearing is much lower than at a trial. Absent a genuine issue of fact that arises, the suspension is upheld. It’s a pretty tough burden to meet. You must basically raise an issue that makes the breath test inadmissible as evidence. And there are four primary ways to do that, which brings us to part two.

You can challenge the suspension on four grounds: no probable cause to stop; no probable cause to arrest for DUI; improper explanation of implied consent rights; and improper administration of the breath test. Often these issues are pretty solid, and your DUI lawyer will have to scramble to come up with something to argue. But, this provides a golden opportunity to get the cop talking about the case on the record.

Third, you will most likely not be at the hearing. If you are there, the hearing officer may decide they want to hear what you have to say. And, most of the time you have to talk. In these cases, if there is anything important for you to say we present it in writing in the form of a declaration.

At the end of the questioning of the officer we make our arguments and conclude the hearing. The hearing officer makes their decision, usually in a couple of weeks, and that’s that.

Why Does Money Laundering Threaten the Economy?

GuestPoster — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:16:32 +0000

One of the most worrying and serious threats to society is organized crime. The criminals behind this crime are usually very clever and their acts can be complex and difficult to follow. This goes for the money laundering relating to their crimes as well, which is why it is so hard to prove that somebody is laundering money.

Organized crime affects the banks and other financial institutions in any country. Most banks in well-developed countries like the USA and the UK have systems in place to try and catch out money launderers, but these criminals are always coming up with new ways to commit their financial crimes and get away with it and they can be extremely inventive.

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Many criminals turn to less developed countries as a way of laundering their money. Generally these countries do not have techniques for catching launderers that are sophisticated and so it is easier for them to get away with it. However, if a country is seen as attracting a lot of criminal masterminds and using dirty money in order to develop, big investors will stay away as they do not want their name associated with crime. This will adversely affect the economy of the developing country as they will forever be dependent on criminal money and it can take a long time to get free from this. That is why more developed countries are so desperate to keep money laundering away from them, particularly in the current economic climate. If one investor smells trouble and pulls out of the USA, more will follow and the USA will experience a serious downturn in its economy.

Without money laundering, crime would not pay. Burglary, drug trafficking, fraud and extortion would be pointless if the proceeds of crime could not be disguised and dispersed. Money laundering is an area of concern for many regulators around the world and keeps the police, fraud investigators and forensic accountants fully occupied.