The Village Reporter 2024

For good reasons it is a rare textbook today that openly teaches racism, but it was very commonly taught in the past. The first major scientist to openly teach racism was Charles Darwin. His racist worldview is even evident in the title of his most famous book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life. Darwin’s 1871 book, The Descent of Man, Chapter Seven titled, “On the Races of Man” contains forty pages that covers in detail his racist conclusions about humans.

Of the over one billion pet dogs in the world, the United States owns 65.1 million. On my one-block-long street in Montpelier at last count there were 14 dogs. Dogs are the most popular pet in every nation of the world that have pets. China has 54.29 million dogs, Russia, 12 million, France, 8.8 million, Italy, 7.5 million, and Poland, 7.5 million.

To illustrate the diversity of life, Dr. Stephen Law, in his popular textbook Real Big Questions, states:

“In our forests, jungles, deserts, and oceans, there is an extraordinary range of living things—from enormous blue whales to tiny jewel like insects. But where did  all of these different species come from?”

Then Law lists one possibility that explains where all life came from:

What will your children be taught in public school this Fall? A popular textbook by Stephen Law, titled “Real Big Questions,” begins by asking the student, “Have you ever wondered:  Where did everything come from? Did someone design the universe?” Then Law answered:

I joined the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) in 1970 and for the next 40 years became very involved. The ASA is a Christian organization of scientists interested in associating with like-minded persons. As I became more involved I began attending their annual meetings held at various Christian colleges. I also published 27 articles in their peer-reviewed scientific journal Perspectives. On April 30, 1983, I was honored by being elected a fellow of ASA.

One story I came across when working for the Michigan circuit court was especially memorable. I will let the policeman involved tell the highlights of his story.

“Early on the early morning shift, I noticed a car parked on the side of the road, close to the road. I walked to the car to determine why it was there. I was surprised to see a young woman sitting in the driver's seat.

“Madam, why are you illegally parked here?” I asked.

“My car engine died and it finally stopped here. I was lost and did not want to start walking home alone in the dark.”

My first year teaching special education was a disaster. When shown a common tool, such as screwdriver, the students were to write down the name of the tool on their quiz paper. One student, proud of his knowledge, insisted on orally giving every answer to the entire class. I then had him (the class was almost all boys) step outside the classroom and close the door, where he showed off his knowledge by mouthing the answers by the glass in the classroom door. And so it went.

Among the more interesting cases for which I served as an expert witness were “Last Will & Testament” or Will cases. Most of the cases I was involved with involved a deceased that lacked a properly filed Will. This is a common situation. About half of all persons who die in America do not have a Will. Glancing at the obituary pages provides one reason why: no small number of persons unexpectedly die when they are below their average-life expectancy.

Donald Trump’s so-called falsifying-business-records trial brought my mind back to when I was actively testifying in court as an expert witness. In Trump's case, it was blatantly obvious that the judge did what he could, ethically or unethically, to find Trump guilty. With few exceptions, most of the prosecutor’s objections to the defense team’s testimony were overruled by the judge. In contrast, most of the objections to the prosecutor's witnesses testimony were sustained.

A jury on May 30^th, 2024, found former president Donald J. Trump guilty in a case in which he was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to conceal an alleged $130,000 non-disclosure payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged that the payment to Daniels was used to cover up, or commit another crime, namely a conspiracy to promote or prevent an election by “unlawful means.” I have attempted to understand the reasoning here, but am lost.