John Hartman Patterson: The Dude Abides
January 19, 2025
Whatever you do, don’t work the middle school dance night. … More John Hartman Patterson: The Dude Abides
Tag: morality
Judgment at Kyiv
May 8, 2022
War crimes are back, this time in living color. I take the anniversary of Germany’s surrender in WWII to highlight how far we have come to a well developed international justice system to deal timely these crimes. … More Judgment at Kyiv
The Old Testament Was A Tough Neighborhood
March 16, 2019
Perhaps it was an ordinary Tuesday when David got up and walked around his roof and spied Bathsheba bathing. The worst of human nature takes over, according the the Second Book of Samuel, and as that nature took its course the sinfulness of man became manifest; he sent for her. Later Bathsheba announced she was … More The Old Testament Was A Tough Neighborhood
Swaddling Clothes
December 24, 2018
So what is this all about anyway? Is it that we are tasked with scurrying about on this planet to collect and amass the greatest collection of marvelous objects, or cash, or both? And then what? Is there some zenith of acquisition where one finds peace? Is it that the one who dies with the … More Swaddling Clothes
American Pie- Fair Comment
February 24, 2018
What a dork! Off to the Junior Prom in the mid-1970’s, he has his whole life ahead of him, believing everyone more or less lives by the same template; get an education, find a girl, marry, then settle down raise children. Repeat in the next generation. With this presumption on board I got to college, … More American Pie- Fair Comment
Hurricane Sandy and the Resilience of New Jersey
July 21, 2017
Five years ago while visiting family there, we happened to take exit 82 off the Garden State Parkway and find ourselves in Seaside Heights, a beach resort on New Jersey’s central coast. As it turned out, this was just weeks before Hurricane Sandy devastated the island. This summer I packed my digital recorder and we … More Hurricane Sandy and the Resilience of New Jersey
Why There Are Lawyers
May 15, 2016
A reading from the book of Genesis, 11:1-9 The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words. They said to one another, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered all over the … More Why There Are Lawyers
I’m Wonderin’ Where the Lincolns Are?
May 7, 2016
Sun’s up, delegate votes are in Wondering what kind of sin Has given us this candidate Man we are in bad shape Abraham can you see What has become of your party And what it means to the country Why are we so angry?…….. And I’m Wonderin’ where the Lincolns are.. Wonderin’ where … More I’m Wonderin’ Where the Lincolns Are?
Return of the Jedidiah Knights
June 7, 2015
All the heroes have fallen; Lance Armstrong, Bill Cosby, David Petraeus , and Atticus Finch all disappoint. Some even say that Walt Disney actually hated children. The parade of shame inspired me to look around for a legend of the heroes that may remain, better people that may have lived a long, long time ago, a time when people behaved better, and had … More Return of the Jedidiah Knights
The Street Language of the Courthouse
May 22, 2015
“We was in Agree-ence” the man standing pro se before the Court Commissioner says, as he tries to explain why he has not returned the child of which he seeks “custodie” to the child’s mother. That is how “custody” is spelled in his pleadings. Being a lawyer means one is a wordsmith, and at times the use … More The Street Language of the Courthouse
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