Tom not on jury duty any more

Question: Where have I been these last couple days? [Well, in addition to being busy with the start of a new job and being very busy with planning for BiZone's Endless Possibilities Conference April 23-24]

Answer:Three days of federal jury duty. For the last 3 days I've been at the Federal Court in Newark going through a very long jury selection process. I was nearly on the jury until the last moment when I realized that this was a THREE TO FOUR MONTH COMMITMENT for a case that is going to be a huge, drawn out battle. I spoke with the judge and asked to be excused because I had just stared a new job, which would be ok with a 4 week committment but not a 16-week commitment. It ruffled some feathers, but he let me go and told me that I'd be added me to "a special list" that will be called against for jury duty 6 months from now. That's fine by me, as missing work after I've been at my new job for a while is a lot better than starting off a new job only being able to work Mondays and after 4pm on Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Friday.

The ironic part is that if I had been permitted to read the newspapers for the last few days, I would have asked to be excused earlier in the process when it was easier for the court to excuse me. Now that I'm excused and can read about it, I see that the case is on the front page of every paper and a really big deal. Political pundits are trying to link the case to the Governor to make him look bad right before the re-election. I'm too politically involved to be unbiased, especially when I think the timing of this case is suspicious.

(no subject)

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=44887

Claim vs. Fact: Condoleezza Rice's Opening Statement

April 8, 2004

CLAIM: "We decided immediately to continue pursuing the Clinton Administration's covert action authorities and other efforts to fight the network."

( Taken from Center for American Progress )