I last served on jury duty in 1982. You would think it would be time for me to do it again soon.

Some people don’t want to serve on jury duty.

An Arizona man who bluntly expressed his displeasure about being called to jury duty has landed himself in legal hot water. Timothy Michael Jones was ordered to appear Tuesday in court to explain why he sent back a jury questionnaire with obscenities written in black marker.

He failed to show and Yuma County Superior Court Judge Andrew Gould issued a bench warrant. Jones now faces a charge of indirect criminal contempt, which carries possible penalties of six months in jail and a fine of up to $300.

Court records show Jones was sent a jury summons last month telling him he had been randomly selected as a prospective juror along with the questionnaire.

I found jury duty a fascinating life experience.

I would welcome the opportunity to serve again.

How about you?

Why did the FBI pay Joran van der Sloot $15,000?

I’ve read and reread this article and others and I just don’t get it.

Can anyone help me understand this?

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target.

Ashley Brilliant

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
Alexander Graham Bell.

I have read opinion polls that find most people fear public
speaking more than they fear death. This fear obviously plays
into the fact that few people appear to speak before their local
government boards, commissions and committees.

So, what is a person to do when they believe they have something
important to say to their local government? You prepare, if you
wish to be successful. That can be done in one of two ways.

1) You can avoid public speaking all together by writing a
letter. Not an email. A letter.  A courteous letter. You remember those.
They can still be used to influence your local government officials.

Send the letter to each of the members of the board or committee
you wish to convey your message. Send this letter if possible,
at least a week before the meeting.

Include you name and contact information so they may be able to
get in touch with you for more information. Do not send an
anonymous letter. An anonymous letter will mean nothing and
probably be thrown away.

You want this letter to arrive early so that they have time to
think about what you have to say. You want your message to stand
the test of time. If the letter arrives the same day as the
meeting, the member does not have much time to digest your
opinion.

Letters sent in advance of a meeting give the members time to
think about your message. By doing this, your message can
sometimes be much more effective than waiting to speak until the
last minute at the meeting.

2) If you are going to speak, make sure you are prepared to
speak. Plan on a 3-5 minute speech at most. If you have more to
say than that, you should be writing a letter anyway.

Write your speech. The complete speech. Word for word, how you
want to say, whatever you want to say. Then practice reading the
speech. Word for word. You will only have a 3-5 minute speech so
you can read and practice your speech many times. As you read
and reread the speech you will automatically learn which words
and phrases are most important and where the emphasis goes in
the speech.

Don’t be bashful about reading your speech. Believe me, the
members of the governing body would much rather have you read
your speech than have you “wing it.”

Over the years I have seen many citizens appear without a
written speech or even notes. They ramble on from point to point
with no coherent message. They stumble and stammer not knowing
or remembering what exactly they thought they wanted to say.
Their message is ignored, because nobody could figure out what
their message was.

Don’t let that happen to you! Prepare for success!

Evidently New Jersey has done away with teaching civics classes in high school. In response to that action the following Letter to the Editor, written by 17 year old Joe Mayes, was published on ThisisJersey.Com.

RAMSAY Cudlipp predicted in his comment piece ‘Politics isn’t too complicated for the young. It’s too dull’ (JEP, 26 May) that he would be lambasted for having the temerity to assume that young people don’t care about politics.

I would not want to lambast his views but I certainly believe that he has missed the point concerning politics amongst teenagers and why better political education for young people in Jersey is a matter of importance.

While I would agree with Mr Cudlipp that politics can be boring, this isn’t the real issue. For young people, many things in life are boring. Writing essays, memorising formulae, conjugating French verbs all are things that hardly get the pulses racing but still have to be done in school. They are considered to be of importance and therefore they form part of our school curriculum.

But why is it then that politics should not form a part of a Jersey student’s education? Is it any less important than learning about subjects such as science or mathematics? Local politics ultimately affects all of our lives (particularly in a small Island of nine by five) and therefore I see it as a gross oversight that Jersey teenagers should learn nothing of it at school.

In the current situation most young people slip through the net unaware of the workings of the local political system and therefore taking their apathy and under-informed views into adulthood. If it’s not given to them directly of course teenagers won’t actively seek politics out. Mr Cudlipp is right: Facebook remains more appealing.

Yet this doesn’t have to be the case. I believe 16- and 17-year-olds in Jersey should spend one of their PSE lessons a week (all I ask for is one!) being taught about how local politics works. Encourage some class debate on key issues and debunk the mythical States Chamber with all its Senators, Deputies, scrutiny panels etc.

It may be boring but at the end of the day we are the voters of tomorrow and democracy does not stand a chance in this Island if we are given no grounding in what/who we are voting for. Putting politics back on the agenda should be a States priority and re-addressing this balance must start in the schools.

I predict big things for Joe in the future.

The kid has moxie.

I like moxie.

Guest Post by Joe Garecht  (http://www.localvictory.com)

Almost every great campaign has a great political campaign manager standing behind it.  Apart from the candidate, the campaign manager is the most important person on the team, responsible not only for the day to day operations of the campaign, but also for a significant portion of the big-picture planning and strategy.

Small local campaigns often have a hard time finding a qualified and available campaign manager.  Often, their solution is to have the candidate serve as his own campaign manager, guiding a team of volunteers, family, and friends.  This is a huge mistake.  Every campaign needs a campaign manager that is not the candidate, even if the manager is only a volunteer or part-time staff member.  Candidates need to shake hands, make speeches, and ask for donations… they can’t do those jobs if they are also trying to run the day to day operations of the campaign.

Where, then, can a small, local campaign find a talented campaign manager?  Here are some places to start the search:

- Managers of Past Elections – talk to former candidates for the office you are seeking, as well as candidates and politicians in your area to find out who is running the smaller campaigns in your community and whether or not they are available.

- Your Local Political Party – call your local party headquarters and ask who they would recommend.  Often, political operatives with only a few campaigns under their belt maintain a relationship with local party offices seeking new opportunities.

- Recent College Graduates – check with your local college’s political science department (both undergrad and graduate programs) to see if they know anyone who might be interested in getting their feet wet in a campaign management position.  You’d be surprised how many poli sci majors in college also have significant volunteer campaign experience by the time they graduate.

- Friends of the Candidate – while it is often more desirable to have a political campaign manager who has campaign experience, it is not always possible to find someone who has experience and is available.  Under these circumstances, the campaign should seek out a friend of the candidate who is organized, confident, and willing to learn to serve as campaign manager, possibly with ongoing counsel from paid consultants.

Finding a great political campaign manager is a tough task for campaigns without great exposure or lots of cash, but it can be done.  Ask around, talk to previous candidates and current politicians, and don’t forget your local college campus. Above all, remember that letting the candidate serve as his or her own campaign manager is often a recipe for trouble.

—-Joe Garecht is a nationally known political consultant, author, and the founder of Local Victory (http://www.localvictory.com).  For more great information on how to win local elections, visit Local Victory!

Even though I am a technology boob, I continue to be fascinated it.

A few months ago I wrote about how Cincinnati tried and ditched the idea of using Kindle’s for City Council materials.

Now it is St. Petersburg’s Clearwater high school that is pushing the technology envelope.

Here’s one way to lighten a student’s backpack: say goodbye to textbooks.

Clearwater High School next year will replace traditional textbooks with e-readers. The gadgets will be fully loaded with all the textbooks students need, minus paper.

Besides offering an electronic format to read books, newspapers and magazines, the Kindle allows users to get word definitions, bookmark pages, highlight text and type notes they might otherwise scribble in the margins of a hard-bound book.

It also offers limited Internet access via a free 3G network. Students will be required to sign an agreement stating they will not use it to access inappropriate websites. The Kindle boasts a rechargeable battery life of one week when the wireless is turned on, two weeks when it isn’t. Additionally, it has the capability to convert text to voice so that users can listen to the books.

Clearwater is prepared to spend about $600,000, Just said. That’s money allocated to the school for technology and classroom materials over six years. But the district has agreed to juggle grants to help the school borrow the money from the district in advance.

What about those people not ready to go high-tech? Every class will have hard copy textbooks on hand.

But even a self-described “dinosaur” such as Kathy Biddle, who has been teaching more than 31 years, said she’s excited about how it might enhance her world history and sociology classes.

“I think it’s the way kids are thinking today,” Biddle said.

I hope this works out for them.

This past Sunday was a very special day in Kirkwood, MO.

KIRKWOOD — Visitors to the Kirkwood City Hall will now walk along a path dedicated to the six public servants who died when a resident went on a shooting rampage at a city council meeting.

The city on Sunday dedicated the Memorial Walkway, which includes plaques honoring former Mayor Mike Swoboda, city council members Connie Karr and Mike Lynch, Public Works Director Ken Yost, police Sgt. Bill Biggs and police officer Tom Ballman.

The memorial includes benches, a garden and a fountain. An inscription reads: “The citizens of Kirkwood dedicate this path in honor of the fine public servants who lost their lives in service to the community, on Feb. 7, 2008.”

“It’s nice to see there is some respect for public servants,” Ballman’s widow, Cindy, said Sunday. “I’m honored the city would do this. I think we’re really going to enjoy coming here.”

And if I ever find myself anywhere near Kirkwood I will be sure to stop and enjoy the memorial.

Good job Kirkwood!

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

Muhammed Ali

We have our fair share of clunker politicians.

The liars, cheaters and worse.

Both parties.

Equal opportunity scum.

Then there is Taiwan.

The construction boss known as Mr. Pumpkinman has a lengthy criminal record _ and a prominent place in Taiwan’s legislature.

Yen Ching-piao, 49, who has served time for weapons and racketeering convictions, is part of a little-discussed phenomenon in Taiwanese politics: the prevalence of criminals in elected posts.

By one estimate, 15 to 30 percent of the lawmakers in Taiwan’s 15 counties _ roughly equivalent to U.S. states _ have criminal backgrounds. Some run illegal gambling dens or massage parlors. No matter. They endear themselves to voters as any other good politician would: by using their money and influence, ill-gotten or not, to deliver services to constituents.

It has proven a particularly successful strategy in Taiwan because of the island’s notoriously unresponsive bureaucracy.

Elementary school principal Li Shuen-liang, who lost to Yen in the 2008 legislative elections, said one of his opponent’s major advantages was his ability to deliver tangible benefits to voters, rather than just airy ideological declarations that few care about.

A turning point came in the campaign when Yen provided dozens of computers to area schools, seemingly with no strings attached.

“Gangsters want grass roots supporters’ votes and not their money so they take good care of them,” Li said.

His view was echoed by janitor Chi Tsueng-ing, who lavished praise on Yen for helping her daughter’s boyfriend visit a friend in jail, without asking for a customary gift in return.

“We all admire him and vote for him,” Chi said, “He’s just like a god because he answers our wishes.”