Wakefield

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  “In some old magazine or newspaper I recollect a story, told as truth, of a man—let us call him Wakefield—who absented himself for a long time from his wife. The fact, thus abstractedly stated, is not very uncommon, nor, without a proper distinction of circumstances, to be condemned either as naughty or nonsensical. Howbeit, this, though far from the most aggravated, is perhaps the strangest instance on record of marital delinquency, and, moreover, as remarkable a freak as may be found in the whole list of human oddities. The wedded couple lived in London. The man, under pretense of going a journey, took lodgings in the next street to his own house, and there, unheard of by his wife or friends and without the shadow of a reason for such self-banishment, dwelt upward of twenty years. During that period he beheld his home every day, and frequently the forlorn Mrs. Wakefield. And after so great a gap in his matrimonial felicity—when his death was reckoned certain, his estate settled...

Jury Duty in the Murder Capital of America

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Jury Duty seems to liven life up a bit for law-abiding citizens. This is a "must read" from Ray Comfort's blog:

"I was called to jury duty in Compton, California, the city that has been called "the murder capital of America." As I sat with 44 other people in the jury selection process, the judge asked the prospective jurors in the jury box if they would give as much credence to the testimony of a gang member as they would to the testimony of an officer of the law. I looked across at the two gang members who were on trial for the murder of an Hispanic “human being,” as the judge had put it. They looked nice enough, in their plush suits and ties. I imagined them in their baggies, with their long socks and hats to the side, holding their guns the way gangs do.

The judge also asked the prospective jurors if they would be prejudice against anyone who pleaded the Fifth Amendment, and didn’t testify on their own behalf.

The next day I was called to the jury box. When it came to my turn, I gave my name, and then my marital status. I said, “I am married to my wife.” That got a laugh all around, even from the judge. Then I gave my occupation and told him that I would like a “side bar.”

As we stood in the hallway outside his office, two lawyers and the court typist joined us. When the door was closed, he looked at me and said, “Okay . . .”

(read the rest here)

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