STEVE CHAYKIN

Today Steve Chaykin will be laid to rest. I didn't know him well as a person. However his reputation as an attorney was well known to all: a lawyer's lawyer; a man dedicated to his clients and to raising the standards of his profession. 

In reading the articles and tributes about Mr. Chaykin, I have learned that beyond his enormous talents as a lawyer, Mr. Chaykin was a dedicated and loving husband and a very proud Father.  Mr. Cahykin leaves behind a young daughter and Sam Rabin is accepting checks for  a college fund on her behalf. 

Here is what I have been thinking about, for what its worth:

Steve Chaykin died while saving his wife. Can anything more be said about what kind of man he surely was?

Steve Chaykin died while on vacation, hiking. Can anything more be said about the fragility of life?

Steve Chaykin died way too early and leaves behind a grieving wife and young daughter. Can anything more be said about the preciousness  of family?

Steve Chaykin will be laid to rest today. 

Kiss your husband or wife or significant other; hug your children; tell the people most important to you that you love them; take care of yourself and enjoy your life to the fullest. 

Rest in peace Steve Chaykin. 

IRANIAN EMP NUCLEAR THREAT?

UPDATED BELOW

I don't think I've ever read an article in the last decade that frightened me more.  The tile of the post links to the article. 

A nuclear attack does not have to involve dozens or hundreds of MIRV'd warheads striking US cities. That was the Soviet threat in the Cold War.

EMP- an electromagnetic pulse is achieved by detonating one warhead in the atmosphere. And as this article details, it would send us back to the horse and buggy age without the horse and buggys.  The result would quickly reduce the US population levels to those of the 1800's- about 30 million.   Apparently the Iranians are conducting tests designed to "put a scud in a bucket" and place one warhead on a ship that could fire the missile off the coast of the US. 

What do you think? 

As our late great friend Sy Gaer used to say, "and you wonder why I drink."

UPDATE:

If the iranian story has scared me, I don't think any story has bothered me lately as much as THIS STORY  on the front page of the NY Times today.  To summarize, an illegal migrant worker in Florida was hit and crippled by a drunk driver. A local hospital saved the young man's life. Then, unable to find a place to care for him, they had a local court sign what turned out to be an illegal order, and they forcibly flew him back to his country of origin. They spent millions saving his life, and then 30 thousand on a private air ambulance, and now he lays wasting away in a hut, with no medical care available. 

What were these people thinking? I mean if you have no humanity whatsoever, why save his life? But if you save his life, why not try to make it a life worth living? At the very least, why send him to a place where surely all the wonderful work will be for naught?

BLAKE TOSSES SAO OUT OF PD CASE

Judge Stan Blake tossed Rudy Sorondo* and his client- the SAO out of the State Public Defender case in which the PD seeks not to accept any more cases during the budget crisis. However, Judge Blake allowed ASA Don Horn to cross Bennett Brummer. The title to the post links to the DBR Article which has a audio clip from the cross:

"Q: You were late today?

A: Yes. I don't get to court often and forgot where the hearing was."

(* Rick Freedman points out in the comments section that Sorondo was conflicted out prior to the hearing because his firm did work for the Pds. But the sentiment remains the same- The SAO has no standing in this matter. "Just shut up and file your cases", as it were. Anyway, like a good robed reader, why should we let facts stand in the way of a good post? "Sometimes wrong but never in doubt." That's out motto)

David Markus's Federal Fight Blog is frozen!

Longtime and careful readers of this blog will remember when right after our blog was hacked that Google froze the blog as being a spam blog. It took about ten days of negotiating with Google to get it unfrozen. Mr. Markus has sent us an email indicating the same thing has happened to him. He will be back and please be patient.

Herald Joins the Fray 

In this story the Herald joins the fray over our constant complaints over the unreliability of eyewitness identification. Better late than never. Their solution: hire more PDs. 

You can read one of our previous posts on the issue HERE