@@@@@Two feisty individuals and an
@@@@@Two feisty individuals and an overimaginative
disbarred judge are more than an Ontario ranch boy can handle
The Caribbean sun had disappeared; only faint sprays of orange barely illuminated the western
horizonThe flames of the glass-encased candles were steady, pointed, sending streams of gray
smoke through their funnels, their glow producing warm light and comfortable shadows around the
terraced balcony of Villa EighteenThe conversation, too, had been warm and comfortable—
survivors relishing their deliverance from a nightmare
“I emphatically explained to Handy Randy that the doctrine of stare decisis has to be challenged
if the times have altered the perceptions that existed when the original decisions were rendered,”
expounded Prefontaine“Change, change—the inevitable result of the calendar
“That’s so obvious, I can’t imagine anyone debating it,” said Alex
“Oh, Flood-the-Gates used it incessantly, confusing juries with his erudition and confounding
his peers with multiple decises
“Mirrors and smoke,” added Marie, laughing“We do the same in economicsRemember, Bro, I
told you that?”
“I didn’t understand a word
“No mirrors and no smoke where medicine’s involved,” said Panov“At least not where the labs
are monitored and the pharmaceutical money boys are prohibitedLegitimate advances are
validated every day
“In many ways it’s the purposely undefined core of our Constitution,” continued the former
judge“It’s as though the Founders had read Nostradamus but didn’t care to admit their frivolity, or
perhaps studied the drawings of Da Vinci, who foresaw aircraftThey understood that they could
not legislate the future, for they had no idea what it would hold, or what society would demand for
its future libertiesThey created brilliant omissions
“Unaccepted as such by the brilliant Randolph Gates, if memory serves,” said Conklin
“Oh, he’ll change quickly now,” interrupted Prefontaine, chuckling“He was always a sworn
companion of the wind, and he’s smart enough to adjust his sails when he has to buck it
“I keep wondering whatever happened to the truck driver’s wife, the one in the diner who was
married to the man they called ‘Bronk,’ ” said the psychiatrist
“Try to imagine a small house and a white picket fence, et cetera,” offered Alex“It’s easier that
way
“What truck driver’s wife?” aske