you can't get there from here

     When we translate something, we have to translate it into what it means, and not just into the nearest appropriate, or appropriate-seeming word or phrase. Here's an example that could be put into pictures, as well as words. In America, when we say "football", we mean football--the guys with helmets and the football- shaped ball. When we read about a "football" game in many other countries, we need to know that "football" doesn't mean the game we think of as "football". "Football" means what we call "soccer", and has to be translated as "soccer". Then we understand the game being played as the readers in the original language--French, Italian, Spanish--understand it--a game with a round ball you're not allowed to carry, a goalkeeper or goalie, and shorts for uniforms.
    

base 10

     Base ten or base 10 is the system we use for counting--when we get to ten, or a multiple of ten, the numbers "roll over" and we begin a new set of ten. Not to be confused with the metric system--easier to use because it works with multiples of ten, instead of three, twelve, or thirty-six. Base ten means when we get to nine, we add a digit and the next number is twenty, or two tens. We add a digit at one hundred to make ten tens--100.
      There are other "bases", such as base two, used in computing and electronics. Base two "rolls over" at two, which matches an electronic "on" or "off", or the "stripe" or no stripe" of a bar code. In base two, 1=1, 10=2, 11=3, 100=4, 101=5, 110=6, 111=7, 1000=8, 1001=9, 1011=10. An electronic device can read this as "on"--an electrical impulse--or "off"--no electrical impulse. Base two  may seem something like Morse code, except that Morse code had two signals and a "space" or no signal. Base two only has one signal and a "space", or zero.

everything

     Does a large group of people, such as might congregate on the internet, have the capacity for omniscience?  No. The large group of people that claims to have the potential for omniscience--that is, to know everything--sounds like a fairly ignorant group of people. Anyone who imagines that a person, or a group of people, no matter how large, can know or apprehend "everything" is thinking of a very small everything. A very small "everything", even if it only includes what is reducible to "facts", without explanation or understanding. An "everything" limited to what humans know, not what we still wonder about.
      The grasp of reality of those who believe they can know "everything" is limited by their own ignorance. Everything is a lot larger than it looks--they must have looked at the tip of the iceberg, like the famous captain of the Titanic.
    
    

blue, white and pink

     Blue, white and pink are the colors of collars worn by workers in the United States. People who work with their hands, or with things, are called blue-collar workers, from the traditional blue shirt worn by workmen.
      People who work with pencils, pens, paper, typewriters, computers, calculators and adding machines are called white collar workers, because of the white shirt traditionally worn with a man's dress or business suit. The people who build or repair the machines used by white-collar workers may be blue-collar workers.
     Women who work in jobs that are usually done by women--nurses, day care workers-- are often called "pink collar" workers, although this term is not "official".

the U.N.

     The U.N. means the United Nations. The United Nations is a sort of  "congress of the nations" that meets in New York, in the United Nations building.  The members of the United Nations are countries.  Each member country sends a representative or ambassador to the General Assembly, where countries can meet and talk about their shared goals and their differences.  You may be most familiar with news reports of the United Nations  peacekeeping forces--something like the army of the U.N. Each member state ( country or nation ) is supposed to contribute troops and supplies when needed, according to the size or population of the state.
    The United Nations also had a court, called the World Court, that meets in the Netherlands, often called Holland. You may have seen the news reports of the trials of some of the military leaders of Eastern Europe, after the war in what was then called Yugoslavia. Most of the disputes heard in the court have to do with borders or property, but some criminal cases are also brought to the World Court.
     The United Nations is headed by a Secretary general, elected by the members of the General Assembly. To describe what it does on a daily basis would be difficult. Dozens of international organizations are actually part of the United Nations--UNICEF ( for children ), WHO ( the World Health Organization ), UNESCO (  a cultural organization which may protect historic sites ), and many others. Each member state pays "dues" to the United Nations, part of which are used to sponsor relief , health, and educational organizations.
 

change of venue

     A "change of venue" means the relocation of a trial to another district, usually because of a lot of negative publicity. Some judges have agreed that too much publicity might prejudice any local jury. Based on this, the judges have permitted a trial to be "moved"--to some other court, usually in the same state.
     This is blatantly unconstitutional--that is to say, illegal. Amendment VI of the United States guarantees the accused "the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district shall have been previously ascertained by law..."
   The judges who have decided on a "change of venue" may have reasoned that they needed the new venue in order to assure the "impartial jury" provision. They will have to do better, or risk having all of these cases thrown out of court. The "venue" provision is not as cinematic or dramatic as some of the other rights guaranteed by our Constitution, but real abuses of  "venue" were ( and are )  nightmarish. Imagine waking up in a strange place where no one knows your name, or has heard of your case, to be tried by a judge and jury who have no fear that a spectator or citizen will notice any legal irregularities.

habeus corpus

     If a person is arrested in the United States, the Constitution guarantees that the right of habeus corpus will be preserved. Amendment V guarantees that no one will be deprived of  "life, liberty or property, without due process of law". That means that the law enforcement officials have 48 hours--2 days exactly--to charge the person with a crime, or release him or her. No one can be held more than 48 hours on suspicion alone. No one can sue for false arrest unless he or she has been detained more than 48 hours without charge, or without being formally accused of a crime.
     If a person is detained for 48 hours--or if it looks as if he will be--his lawyer can ask that he be brought before a judge, or the lawyer may ask the judge to issue a writ of habeus corpus, meaning bring us the person in the flesh, or let's have the body ( brought before a judge ).

different votes

     When we vote in political elections in the United States, we vote by secret ballot. No on knows which candidate we voted for, only that we voted. There are other ways to vote.
     You may have seen news articles or items about votes in Congress. When our senators or congressional representatives vote, they vote in public.  Each is asked in turn for his or her vote on the bill before the House or Senate. Their votes are published in the Congressional Record and in daily newspapers. Everyone knows, or can find out, whether their representative voted for or against a bill or measure.
     When someone ran for office in ancient Rome, they appealed to a crowd, whose votes were counted by the amount of noise they made--like a modern-day game show.
    

search and seizure

     The United States Constitution guarantees that we will be secure in our "persons, papers, houses and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures". That is why the police need a search warrant to enter your home and look for something ( unless they have your permission ). The search warrant comes from a judge who has heard the testimony of the police as to what they want to search for, and why they think you have it. The search warrant states what the police are looking for, and where they may look for it ( usually an address ). They may only look in places where the thing ( or things ) might be. For example, if they are looking for a stolen bicycle, there is no point in opening cabinets or dresser drawers to look for it--that would be "unreasonable".

bail

     The purpose of bail is to assure that a defendant will appear at his or her trial. An accused person  may be released upon posting bail--depositing a sum of money with the court, which will be returned when the defendant appears in court for trial. The Constitution of the United States  ( Amendment VIII ) guarantees that there will be no "excessive bail" required.  Excessive bail would be bail that the defendant couldn't pay, not even with a bail bond. The purpose of bail is to assure appearance at trial, not to keep the accused in jail. When bail is used in this way, it may be considered "excessive".  
     There are legal means to refuse bail to an accused, who would then have to await trial in jail. This isn't done very often, but if a case can't be made for it, excessive bail may not be used as a substitute for denying bail.
    

dollar votes

   We all have "dollar votes", although some of us have more "dollar votes" than others. A "dollar vote" isn't the same as a political vote. Each person gets only one political vote. Dollar votes are the choices we make with the money we spend. If we like something, or need it, and we buy it, then we have cast "dollar votes". If we don't like something, and we don't buy it, we are casting dollar votes, too. Providers of goods and services try to make things that we will want to buy. If we don't buy them, they stop making them, and make something else instead--because of our "dollar votes".

subpoena

     Subpoena is Latin for "under penalty", meaning a legal penalty. Someone who has been sent a subpoena has been ordered to appear in court to testify--to be a witness in a court case. The Constitution of the United States, Amendment VI, guarantees the right of the accused to have "compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor", so the subpoena is not merely an instrument for the government. If the accused claims that he or she has an alibi, and that someone can bear witness to that alibi, the court will send a subpoena to force the person to appear in court--the same subpoena that would be sent to a witness for the prosecution.

judges

     There are different "kinds" of judges, who sit in different kinds of courts, and we get them in different ways. Some judges are appointed, some are elected. Judges are often lawyers with at least several years of experience, but being a law school graduate isn't usually a requirement for the job.
    You may be more familiar with the appointment of judges, as it is often covered on television. The president appoints a judge, or a justice ( a judge who sits on the Supreme Court ), and the Senate confirms the appointment. If the senate refuses to confirm the appointment, the president has to choose someone else. Appointed judges usually serve "during good behavior". They can be removed from the bench for corruption or criminal activity.  Judges are appointed to some courts because many people believe that since they will not be under the political pressure of running for office, it is unlikely that anyone could corrupt or bribe them.
     Other judges may be elected, as the judges in state courts often are. You can look for them on your ballot when you go to the polls to vote. Elected judges usually serve a term of years, and then they must run for office again.

spectators

     You may be surprised, the first time you go to court, to see an audience. These are just members of the public, and are usually called "spectators". Some of them may have an interest in a case being tried--perhaps they are family members or friends of a defendant, a witness, or a victim. Some may just be interested in what is going on because they saw it on TV, or read about it in the newspaper. And some people just think that what goes on in a court is interesting. They are there because the United States Constitution guarantees the accused "the right to a speedy and public trial". This is part of the VI ( 6th ) Amendment. Anyone can usually sit and watch any trial, as long as he or she doesn't make noise or interrupt. You can try it for yourself. If you need to leave before it is over, leave quietly--or ask about that when you go in.
    The "public trial" provision in our Constitution is to make sure that a trial is conducted fairly for everyone. Since there are witnesses, everyone has to behave and follow proper court procedure. I don't know if a trial has to be postponed if there are no spectators, but it probably should be--after all, it wouldn't be a public trial. An accused who was convicted in a trial with no spectators might later claim that his or her trial was unfair or unconstitutional. He or she would probably be granted a new trial--so the spectators aren't merely allowed to watch the court--they are necessary.

double jeopardy

    If you look for the phrase "double jeopardy", you may find the popular game show, instead of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution guarantees us that we will not be "twice put in jeopardy of life or limb"  for the same offense. This is often called "double jeopardy". The quote is from Amendment V ( the 5th Amendment ) to the U.S. Constitution, one of the "top ten" that make the "Bill of Rights".
     The guarantee against double jeopardy means that once a person is tried and acquitted, he or she cannot be tried again on the same charge ( offense ). If the prosecutor finds new evidence, and the person has already been tried and acquitted, there will not be a new trial--it's just over.
      A person who has been tried and convicted retains the right to appeal his or her conviction, which will mean a new hearing, if the appeal is granted. A person who believes that his or her trial was unfair may ask for a new trial. Appeals and new trials are only granted to those convicted of crimes, and never to the government.
   

rank has its privileges

     I read a history article recently that mentioned a man in England centuries ago who was  forbidden to own a gun, because only gentlemen were permitted to carry firearms. Here in America, we are all political equals, and some notions of rank are difficult to understand. In an old-fashioned monarchy, everyone had a rank. Weapons were a part of what defined that rank. People who wielded no weapons were of the lowest rank. They got to hide in the castle when the enemy approached. Pikemen ( you may have seen these in Robin Hood ) were a part of the lower ranks. Archers had some rank, too. Men with battle axes were above archers. Men who could fight with a sword, on horseback, were of the highest rank. Above them all was the man who could command and make good use of the men on horseback--the king.
     It took a lot of practice to learn to use an old-fashioned weapon effectively. Chances are slight that anyone would know what to do with a weapon, unless he had been trained to use it. When guns were invented, they were equated with swords--something you could really use best to fight face-to-face, or from horseback.  The man who wanted a gun, even thought hat wasn't his "rank" , was assuming a position in the army, not just in society--a  position he hadn't been trained for.
    

the shot heard round the world

     The "shot heard round the world" was the first shot fired by an American in 1775, in the war that became known as the American Revolution.  The Americans had a store of arms and ammunition at Lexington ( Massachusetts )  and another at Concord. They had been training as a militia, and were supposed to be able to turn out in one minute--hence the name "minute men". The British found out about the American store of weapons, and their army marched out to seize the American's guns and ammunition. The "minute men" were informed of the movements of the British, by the famous "midnight ride of Paul Revere" . When the British army got to Lexington and Concord, the Americans were waiting for them. The British retreated to Boston, and the Americans kept their arms.
     Two poems tell this story--"Concord Hymn", by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

the suffragettes

     A "suffragette" was a woman who agitated for the right to vote for women, in the days before the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution made voting legal for females. That was in 1920, the first time that women across the nation had the right to vote in a presidential election.
     Women had been told that their husbands and fathers voted, anyway. People were worried that women would vote irresponsibly--for the better-looking candidate, instead of  for the best leader.  Many people insisted that a woman's place was in the home, and that if women went out to vote, their duties as wives and mothers would be neglected.
     By the time of World War I  there were women in prison for causing disturbances while demonstrating for the right to vote. They went on a hunger strike, and were force-fed by prison authorities. This caused such an uproar that President Wilson promised to try to help them get the vote if they would refrain from public disturbances until the war was over. The war ended in 1919, and women in the United States were given the vote, as promised.

where do juries come from?

     The people who make up a jury ( or an inquest ) are selected at random from the population. The sheriff's office does this, using the phone book, driver's license information, and voter registrations. Some counties use only one of these methods to "find" potential jurors, some use two or all of them. If you drive a car, have a phone, and are registered to vote, you will be called for jury duty some day.
     If you are called for jury duty, you will get a notice in the mail to appear in court at a specified time, on a particular day. After you get there, and if the court case you were summoned for is proceeding as scheduled, you will experience the part you might have seen on TV in a courtroom drama, where the lawyers may "challenge" a juror and ask that he or she be removed from the case.
     If you would like to see a jury in action, you might watch Twelve Angry Men--either the classic black and white version, or the newer remake.
    

our national anthem

     Our national anthem, the "Star Spangled Banner", is nearly 200 years old. To many people, the words of our anthem make a stirring and wonderful picture. Unfortunately, the meaning of the words is also lost on many people. So here is an attempt to tell them what the rest of us hear--

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

The sun is coming up, and it is getting light out. Can you see if the American flag is still flying over Fort McHenry? We were so pleased, while a prisoner on this enemy ship, to see that it was still waving when the sun went down last night. If we don't see the flag, we'll know that we have lost the battle, and perhaps the war, and will no longer be an independent nation. Personally, if we lose, I will remain a prisoner, perhaps accused of treason, and even executed.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there

Over the walls of Fort Mc Henry ( in Maryland ), we could see the red and white stripes, and the blue field with white stars, that make up our flag.  Even though it was dark, every time a bomb went off, we could see the American flag waving by the red light of the explosion.

Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

Is the flag we fought for years ago still there? Or did we fight a war to make our own country, a country where we vote for our leaders, just to lose it now?

Francis Scott Key wrote those words while a prisoner on a British ship. He was actually able to watch the battle from the ship. This was during the War of 1812, less than thirty years after the end of the American Revolution.. America  fought the British from 1775 to 1783, and won. That was the beginning of the United States. By 1812, the British had been refusing to acknowledge that America was a separate country. Ships of the British navy stopped at American ports and "impressed" Americans into the service of the British crown. They woke up out at sea on a ship, and were told that they were in the navy.  Much of the war was fought with ships, including the bombardment ( bombing ) of Fort McHenry, in Maryland. The British burned down the White House in Washington, D.C. The war ended in 1814, and the Americans won and remained a nation--but it was more than a hundred years before America ever allied itself with England.

remember the ERA?

    































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































      "ERA" stands for "Equal Rights Amendment", meaning equal rights for women. The ERA was proposed and rejected in the 1970's, and generated a lot of controversy. The amendment simply stated that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex". It doesn't sound controversial. Women already had the vote, and could own property, although a woman rarely had credit in her own name ( only in her husband's name ).
    Some people ( male and female ) were afraid the ERA would mean that women would be drafted to serve in the army, although there were no such plans. Others went so far as to claim that if women had equal educational and career opportunities, they wouldn't need to marry, wouldn't have any children, and the human race would die out ( I didn't make that up ).
     On the other side of the controversy, some people ( male and female ) were afraid that without a specific guarantee of their rights in the U.S. Constitution, any rights that women had ( except for the right to vote ) could be legislated away by a conservative majority in congress.
     Would the ERA pass today? It would need to be passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and by 3/4 of the states ( 38 states ) to become a part of the Constitution.

some of us still get worked up thinking about it

     You may have read about the Watergate scandal of the 1970's, or perhaps you have seen All the President's Men. Some people who worked for the committee to re-elect the president--C.R.E.E.P ( really, I'm not making this up ) broke into a psychiatrist's office, and were caught. They were trying to get some dirt on the man who had "leaked" classified government documents to the press.
    Some people wanted to prove that the president, Richard Nixon, had known about the break-in, or that it had been done at his direction. The Watergate hearings were on TV for an entire summer. Some of the president's  aides went to prison. The president resigned his office on national TV.
     When something happens to the president, the vice-president becomes the new president. Everyone knew that--that's what happens when a president dies while in office. But a president had never resigned before .The odd thing was that the vice-president, Spiro Agnew, had already resigned, because of a different scandal. President Nixon had appointed a new vice-president, Gerald Ford, who was confirmed by the senate. So Gerald Ford became the president, even though he had not received a single vote.