STURBRIDGETIMES

THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING

THE

APRIL, 2014

MAGAZINE

MUSINGS FROM LONG HILL

AMERICAS NOT-SO-GRAND STRATEGY

BY RICHARD MORCHOE

LEGAL BRIEF
ROBERT A. GEORGE, ESQ.
M THE S
ON THLY FOR RE AD E RS
STURBRIDGE ATTORNEY

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ADVI
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TURBRI D GE

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M E S

AGAZ I N E

CONSIDERATION
As far as the law is concerned, promises are cheap, worthless actually. Say, for instance, grandpa promises to give you his bass boat once fishing season starts and then gives it to your brother instead. Tough luck for you. Youll have to ask your brother for a ride. What you need in order to force grandpa to give you a boat is something that makes the promise binding. That something is called consideration. Consideration comes in many forms. Money works. If your uncle promises to give you the bass boat in exchange for ten bucks, then its your brother who will be doing the asking. Ten bucks for grandpas bass boat! your brother might shout. Tough luck for him. The law generally avoids trying to figure out whether the consideration is fair. As long as theres no evidence that you deceived or coerced grandpa into the deal, ten bucks is good enough. People are free to make stupid deals. There are other ways to provide consideration. Say the summer before grandpa, whos getting a little loopy in his old age, took you out fishing and accidently hooked your eye with his Walleye jig. You tell grandpa you wont sue if he gives you the boat. Voila! Consideration equals your promise to forbear from enforcing your legal remedy against grandpa. You cant, however, get the boat for doing something that you already did. For instance, grandpa tells you hes going to give you his boat because two years ago you gave him a classic flat head tarpon fly that you made all by yourself. No consideration. It wasnt bargained for. You didnt know when you made it and gave it to him that you would later be compensated for it. So, once again, you better make sure you are on your brothers good side. Better yet, let grandpa keep the boat and duck the next time he casts his jig.

In the recent contretemps regarding The Ukraine* talk radio was abuzz with how Vladimir Putin is the devil incarnate. Noting that the head of the largest of the Former Soviet Republics is a martial artist of sorts, one of the callers to the Hank Stoltz show on WCRN opined at how well he might do against Chuck Norris. Occasionally, the level of calls rose even higher. Putin was the bogeyman du jour. The courageous listenership who will never meet him face to face called him out more than once as a coward. Moi, I am guessing Hanks audience hates that he played his hand well enough in spite of the opprobrium of being on the wrong side of history as noted by the Secretary of State. You remember him, our own John Kerry, fresh from his non-success in Syria. Near on cue, Hilary Clinton compared Putin to Hitler. This was an example of what is called Godwins Law applied to the greater world. Attorney and author Mike Godwin promulgated the rule that, "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches1." Granted, it was not online, but it is now almost axiomatic that if you are not with us, you are fuehrer du jour. And of course, John McCain also showed up on schedule to say we are all Ukrainians now. He says things like that. When the Georgians attacked South Ossetia and got their clock cleaned, he said we were all Georgians now. One should not be too hard on Senator McCain. Im sure his suffering as a prisoner in North Viet Nam was brutal. Other than that, there is nothing to suggest that he is qualified for much. To date, it is not clear if either the

Ukraine or Georgia have actually granted him citizenship. In the great tradition of the presidency, Obama is telling Putin where to get off. The proposed referendum on the future of Crimea would violate the Ukrainian constitution and violate international law Funny how in 2008 as Senator Obama, he was all for the independence of Kosovo from Serbia, when secession was viewed as a sacrament. His threat of sanctions has not excited the Kremlin. After all we dont have much trade with the Russkies. Its not that American hypocrisy is stupid, that has been the story of our foreign policy all through the BushObama Administration. The problem is that it is now more dangerous than before. The Russians have nuclear weapons on a par with ours. Keeping The Ukraine or at least keeping it out of the clutches of the West is important enough for them to go to the mat. Putin is running rings around our leadership. How can this be? Should not our vaunted democracy produce the best leaders? No, we get politicians a notch above mediocre on average. The greatest observer of our system, Alexis de Tocqueville, noted that there was greater opportunity for wealth and advancement outside of elective office in America. Does anyone remotely believe that any of the last several presidents was as smart as Warren Buffet? Putin arose in the old Soviet Union. There was no opportunity to become an entrepreneur. If you wanted Continued on page 21

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THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING

the United States. The first official hurricane of the year, Hurricane Humberto, was just three hours shy of setting the record for the latest date at which the first hurricane of the year was recorded. In contrast, there were 19 named storms in 2012, of which 10 were upgraded to hurricane, including two major storms. Floods. Given the low number of named storms in the Atlantic, its not surprising that flooding was moderate in 2013. Still, residents of Boulder, Colo., would not consider 2013 a moderate year for flooding, as more than 19,000 homes across 17 counties were damaged or destroyed. CoreLogic estimated that 2013 flood losses totaled $2 billion. In comparison, Hurricane Katrina caused $100 billion in damages in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy damages in 2012 totaled $60 billion. Mid-Atlantic states reported 56 flooding events in 2013, which was up from 35 in 2012, but far below the 2011 total of 454. Wildfires. Both the number of wildfires and the total acreage burned were below the 10-year average in 2013, CoreLogic found. The number of fires was at the lowest level in 10 years, with about 40,000 fires reported, which is well below the 10-year average of 63,000. Still, wildfires reached average levels in California, Colorado, Washington and Idaho, and some of the fires that took place in 2013 caused widespread destruction. Californias Rim Fire, the third largest in the states history, destroyed more than 257,000 acres, including much of the Stanislaus National Forest and parts of Yosemite National Park. Colorados Black Forest fire burned through 14,000 acres, damaging or destroying more than 500 homes while causing more than $300 million in losses, while Arizonas Yarnell Hill fire burned through 8,400 acres and destroyed 129 homes, resulting in the death of 19 firefighters. With drought conditions persisting in the west and an increase in fuel load in wildfire areas, experts say there is increased wildfire risk in 2014. Fuel load
THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING

Richard Morchoe

is a buildup of easily combustible debris, such as leaves and branches, on the forest floor. CoreLogic identified 740,000 residences with a value exceeding $136 billion at high risk of wildfire damage. Sinkholes. Sinkholes are drawing increasing attention after three significant sinkholes caused damage in 2013 in Seffner, Clermont and Dunedin, Fla., resulting in one death and the destruction of two houses

and a tourist resort. CoreLogic has identified 23,000 sinkholes in Florida, and believes they have the potential to cause damage in other parts of the country as well. Its difficult to predict tomorrows weather accurately, so no one knows for certain what 2014 will bring, but its best to be prepared for the worst. Talk to your insurance representative to make certain you have the coverage you need to protect your family and

your home. You may not need the coverage, but what if you do and you dont have it? Richard A. McGrath, CIC, LIA is President and CEO of McGrath Insurance Group, Inc. of Sturbridge, Mass. He can be reached at rmcgrath@mcgrathinsurance.com. This article is written for informational purposes only and should not be construed as providing legal advice.

Continued from page 18 to rise in the USSR, it was only through working in the government. The intelligence agencies recruited the brightest youth. Whatever caused the systems demise it was not the fault of the KGB. A man who forced his way to the top would more likely be a strong leader than our last two incumbents. They both have their partisans, but what impresses? One had family connections that got him his job as a sports franchise front man. It was work not too different from his presidential role. The other had his way smoothed for him by a sycophantic press, not that he didnt earn that Nobel. Putin is an authoritarian and no Thomas Jefferson, but he isnt running our country. Since 2001, our foreign policy has only been a failure. We had to leave Iraq because they refused us a status of forces agreement. Libya is a mess. Egypt found democracy a bit of a trial. Mean old Vlad saved us from becoming Al Qaedas air force in Syria. We are in no sense winning in Afghanistan. What to do? We referred the question to our official think tank, the Long Hill Institute for the Study of a Busy Body Foreign Policy (LHIftSoaBBFP for short). Looking into the wisdom of the past, they suggest a paraphrase of the words of Oscar Wilde. If this is the way our country treats its foreign policy, it doesnt deserve to have one. Dear readers, let us face reality and stop the ongoing botch of international relations and close the State Department. We might miss out on a war or two, but thats a small price to pay. Granted an army of diplomats on food stamps will offset the savings in wasted foreign aid money, but we must be willing to face reality. We will have fewer problems with the world and vice versa.
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