Sunday, June 10, 2007

COMMENCEMENT SPEECH

Radio and Television talk show host Tavis Smiley said this during his speech at Rutgers University Commencement activities:

The tragedy of your life does not lie, young folk, in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It is not a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to not be able to capture your ideals, but it is a disaster to have no ideals to capture. It is not a disgrace to not be able to reach all the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.


Wise words. See you in court tomorrow.

14 comments:

  1. Hey Rump...........did you ever confirm the Larry Sparks rumor? What, if anything, happened with him?

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  2. Nice quote. In the movie Papillion with Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman there is a brief sequence where Papillion-in a dream- is brought before a tribunal which accuses him of the highest crime( he is in prison for a murder he did not commit) and he is told that A WASTED LIFE is the highest crime and he pleads GUILTY. At least all of us lawyers- many disgruntled by not making as much money as we would have liked or the stress of the profession- at least we had the discipline and desire to get our phds and work. so many in this world , like the quote said, don't even try to do something with their life- at least half the world's population.

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  3. I cannot post a comment about a Judge taking bribes from a bondsman without proof.

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  4. I'm at a loss to why the person who keeps questioning the "larry sparks rumor" keeps getting through, and why you keep posting things like "I cannot confirm that a judge......."

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  5. Larry Sparks has apparently passed away. As to how is the rumor we cannot confirm.

    Under stand the difference? It is subtle. Requires an IQ of above 100. I can understand your confusion

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  6. I guess I was not clear, or maybe I am just really really really stupid. Why would you post a comment that says you cannot post a comment about a rumor you cannot confirm?

    Why not just not post the comment that you received a comment that is a rumor.

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  7. 7:57......it's not complicated. I didn't repeat the rumor. I asked what happened to Sparks. I didn't spread anything. Really, it's not that hard to understand.

    Anyway, I couldn't stand Larry, but it's always sad when someone suffers the way he did. Maybe now he's finally found the peace that alluded him in life. God bless.

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  8. FYI......Death Penalty Deters Crime....Excerpt (only) below, per Rump's rules.

    http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/studies-say-death-penalty-deters-crime/n20070610140309990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

    Updated:2007-06-10 21:58:49
    Studies Say Death Penalty Deters Crime
    By ROBERT TANNER
    AP
    (June 10) - Anti-death penalty forces have gained momentum in the past few years, with a moratorium in Illinois, court disputes over lethal injection in more than a half-dozen states and progress toward outright abolishment in New Jersey.

    The steady drumbeat of DNA exonerations - pointing out flaws in the justice system - has weighed against capital punishment. The moral opposition is loud, too, echoed in Europe and the rest of the industrialized world, where all but a few countries banned executions years ago.

    What gets little notice, however, is a series of academic studies over the last half-dozen years that claim to settle a once hotly debated argument - whether the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. The analyses say yes. They count between three and 18 lives that would be saved by the execution of each convicted killer.

    The reports have horrified death penalty opponents and several scientists, who vigorously question the data and its implications.

    So far, the studies have had little impact on public policy. New Jersey's commission on the death penalty this year dismissed the body of knowledge on deterrence as "inconclusive."

    But the ferocious argument in academic circles could eventually spread to a wider audience, as it has in the past.

    "Science does really draw a conclusion. It did. There is no question about it," said Naci Mocan, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. "The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect."

    Per Rump's rules, if you want to see the rest of the article, go to the above link. Thanks.

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  9. Rumpole said...
    I cannot post a comment about a Judge taking bribes from a bondsman without proof.

    Monday, June 11, 2007 7:47:00 AM
    ___________________________

    i am not the poster of 7:57:00. however, i am pretty sure that i have a i.q. over 100 and i think that your comment, while craftily worded, and not specifically accusatory, should be better left to a personal e-mail to the poster.

    "In British English however the term is applied to sensationalist scandal-mongering journalist, not driven by any social principles."

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  10. I HATE MODERATION!!!

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  11. I guess I was not clear, or maybe I am just really really really stupid. Why would you post a comment that says you cannot post a comment about a rumor you cannot confirm?

    Why not just not post the comment that you received a comment that is a rumor

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  12. Roman philosopher and politician Cicero:“Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.”

    Wisdom hath her excesses, and no less need of moderation than folly." Michel Eyquem De Montaigne

    Everything in Moderation was the only album by British-based rock trio Winterville, which was released on November 14, 2005

    but i do think this is the best of all: "Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess." Oscar Wilde

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  13. Rump, That post may as well have read as follows:

    Cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche cliche

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