Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

I received a summons for jury duty the other day. Monday, 18 October. Unlike most people, I don’t complain about it. I like jury duty.

I’ve only been selected once in civilian life. I’ve served on courts martial, which is a little different. Usually I didn’t get selected for those, either. Defense attorneys in the Air Force don’t like to see prior-enlisted or maintenance officers on the panel, and I fit both categories. Similarly, civilian attorneys exclude engineers and doctors when possible.

The wait during the selection process gives me some free time to simply read, and the voir dire is always interesting. I think I bring something to a jury, and I like being of value. I pay attention, and enjoy watching each lawyer do his job. I simply try to do mine, and follow the law as directed by the judge. To me, it isn’t boring.

And I am certainly the kind of person I would want to have on a jury if I were involved in a case.

James is back, and getting settled in up the road from me at Killeen.

There are some people in this country who take their political cues from people like Elton John and Billy Bob Thornton. Elton takes a cheap shot at Madonna, and Thornton thinks Shakespeare is stupid.

“It’s not that I don’t understand it. But people think if you speak with an English accent it somehow makes you smarter.”

Okay. I’m sure both are far more intelligent than I, and I should be hanging on their every word.

Why am I even doing this? Well, Rammer asked me to. He already did.

I’m sure I’ll probably regret it.

Tom has posted this week’s Best Of Homespun Bloggers.

Just a little taste of the writing and ideas that await you over there at The Commons

As a lifelong Boston “city” guy, hunting dove by sail is not something I had even known about, much less participated in. I even scoffed at the idea, to be honest, when my Editor first gave me the assignment. I was to learn soon enough of the long tradition of the sport on Nantucket, in the Hamptons, and elsewhere where better jockstraps are sold.

and Little Red Blog

The debate showed us that Kerry is capable of an articulate performance on a grand stage. More importantly it showed his lack of appropriate respect for American sovereignty, a reliance on discourse and mutual agreements with men who should in no way be trusted and a view of American might as a threat rather than the single force available to defeat threats.

A really exciting thing happened today. And it will be celebrated as a leap forward for space travel. It is really something else. It is a reminder that in this country, someone with an idea and the right combination of skill, talent, and knowledge, along with financing necessary for production, can do anything. And they can do it better than the Government.

I won’t dwell on the specifics of the flight, but rather the memory of two brothers who changed the world 100 years ago in the same way. No government funding. No prize money to be awarded. Just the desire to do something that hadn’t been done before, and the dream of possible financial success realized from that accomplishment drove them to perform. This flight shares that vision.

This country’s economy was built on just such vision. No other country has been able to compete. None. Yet we have many people who feel the Government has all the answers. University researchers have lived for decades on the largesse of our politicians. You remember the grants given to study how a frisbee flies, or how much flatulence is produced by cows? Federal money donated to professors for research.

This comes up as the stem cell research issue comes to the front of the Presidential debate. Just whose ox is getting gored? Listen to who is doing all the screaming. And they’ve managed to get average citizens outraged as well with rhetoric. Federal research money has never done much except generate promises of breakthroughs if only more money is made available for research. Private research has always outdone federal research. It does it because a private entity wants to see results as quickly as possible. Research money is an investment, not an expenditure. Payoff is the expectation. The prize won by SpaceShipOne isn’t the payoff, but simply the demonstration of a capability which will bring payoff.

The less government is involved in your life, the better your life will be.

***UPDATE***
John has another data point in this series regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

…before you go read this posting of a letter at Pat’s place.

We have two men running for President. One is real.