What Do I Know
People who have no scientific knowledge get doctrinaire about, say, global warming on either side. Be sensible. Join The Flat Earth Society.
Content
MUSINGS FROM LONG HILL
WHAT DO I KNOW?
BY RICHARD MURPHY
LEGAL BRIEF
ROBERT A. GEORGE, ESQ.
STURBRIDGE ATTORNEY
M T
H E
O N T H LY F O R
L
E G A L
A
DV I C E
R E A D E R S
O F
S
T U R B R I D G E
T
I M E S
M
AG A Z I N E
AVOIDING PROBATE
T
here are plenty of ways to avoid probate, but it might only save a little bit of money and, if done improperly, put the very assets you are trying to save at risk. It’s important to understand that the only way to avoid probate is give away your property so that your heirs won’t have to go through probate court to get ownership of them after you die. You could simply put your stuff in joint names.This is how most married couples own their assets anyway. The tricky part is when you put the kids on the deed. Very bad idea. If your child gets sued, falls behind on his bills, or accumulates medical expenses he can’t pay, his creditors can now sell off his portion of your house. This happens more often than you might imagine. You might try putting your property in what is commonly known as a living trust.This protects the property from your children’s creditors during your life time, but probating a will costs little more than it costs to draft the trust and transfer the property into it. The real advantage to a living trust is that it takes far less time to transfer your property to your heirs after you die. Then again, you are, after all, dead.You won’t be the one doing the waiting.
tried to get my wife to take all the family’s money and put it into Mega-bucks tickets. My rationale was that I had always said it would be a cold day in July before I ever won any money. Well we had a lot of cold rainy July days this year. August, however turned out sultry hot. Still it is a summer like none that I remember. We have had rainy spells, but little as soggy as this year. The weather occasioned a debate on talk radio. The hosts generally take the position that the low temps prove global warming a hoax. Some callers will argue the other side, a few even positing the cold spell as evidence that warming is true. Which side is right? Beats me. My cousin in usually waterlogged Seattle tells me they are experiencing the warmest Spring and Summer ever. Well, that settles, exactly nothing. The only thing that is certain is that true believers on either side of the argument will not be swayed by anything said by the opposition. Why not? Well why should they? What can one know? Unfortunately, not much in the modern world. The problem was best expressed by George Orwell over 60 year ago, “Somewhere or other—I think it is in the preface to Saint Joan—Bernard Shaw remarks that we are more gullible and superstitious today than we were in the Middle Ages, and as an example of modern credulity he cites the widespread belief that the earth is round. The average man, says Shaw, can advance not a single reason for thinking that the earth is round. He merely swallows this theory because there is something
I
GEORGE AND DAVIS, PC 508-347-7114
509 Main Street, Sturbridge 15 Lincoln Street, Brookfield
Your local law firm since 1973.
• Real Estate • Bankruptcy • Estate Plans • Divorce • Corporate/Business • Criminal
And now a few words from our sponsors ...
“Out of all the print advertising we’ve done, we’ve definitely received the most hits off of our ad in The Sturbridge Times Magazine.” — Paul Dyer, Body Dezines
Robert A. George, Esq. Karen E. Davis, Esq.
Complicated Laws Common Language
www.regeorge.net
Call 508.347.7077 for more information
22 THE STURBRIDGE TIMES MAGAZINE
about it that appeals to the twentieth-century mentality.” Orwell then went on to prove the point that he himself had no reason to believe the world was round even though he accepted that it was. Of course we who are living now can point to pictures from space and all that, but we have to admit that few of us have made a study of it and are taking it more or less on faith. His closing paragraph sums it up: “It will be seen that my reasons for thinking that the earth is round are rather precarious ones. Yet this is an exceptionally elementary piece of information. On most other questions I should have to fall back on the expert much earlier, and would be less able to test his pronouncements. And much the greater part of our knowledge is at this level. It does not rest on reasoning or on experiment, but on authority.And how can it be otherwise, when the range of knowledge is so vast that the expert himself is an ignoramous as soon as he strays away from his own speciality? Most people, if asked to prove that the earth is round, would not even bother to produce the rather weak arguments I have outlined above. They would start off by saying that ’everyone knows’ the earth to be round, and if pressed further, would become angry. In a way Shaw is right. This is a credulous age, and the burden of knowledge which we now have to carry is partly responsible.” In truth, with my own unaided reason, I could not have figured out the Earth is round. As a child in elementary school, I did have my primitive sense of wonder piqued when Columbus was explained. Unfortunately, they explained it wrong. Columbus did not come up with something shocking in the world is round idea. Most scholars already believed it. Chris thought the circumference of the globe smaller than it was. He had made a mistake that gave us the New World. So how does this connect to Global Warming. At a family gathering the various members were talking about the question. I won’t say discussing. Neither side answered the others’ questions other than to state a fact. My techie son asked a relative how they would explain that Mars is heating up at the same rate as the Earth. A statement was made in reply, but no answer. How do people become so doctrinaire over something even experts disagree about? It is time to quote true experts on human nature. No, not Nietsche or Freud, but Gilbert and Sullivan: Continued on page 24
THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING
Murphy’s column ‘What Do I Know’
Continued from page 22 That every boy and every gal That's born into the world alive Is either a little Liberal Or else a little Conservative! Fal, lal, la! Yup, we’re born that way. I accept it and am waiting for my application to the Flat Earth Society to be approved. They have my solemn undertaking to agree with their official Global Warming Policy no matter what it is.
Poetry of October
Continued from previous page our own lives.We provide ourselves a place to ponder the human attitude of care and how we make that real in the kind of poetry we create through every moment of our living. The poem “Raking Leaves in Late October” is one way of participating in the poetry of the gift of October: We combed her hair gently Thoughtfully Wondering about the significance Of each broken twig Dreaming about the visions of each leaf Heaped into piles and carried off in a blanket To be dumped in the street Would she appreciate the grooming to dry her moist skin? Would it help to better breathe And feel the last warm promise of late October? She appeared pleased with our efforts And kissed the perspiration from our foreheads Her hair stiffened-those yellow-green bristles Transformed into stillnessInto a picture of yesterday That echoes youth and glimpses age Accepting without regret The subtle beauty that belongs to both Survives both Beheld in neither grasping the one Nor denying the other Only discovered in the keen awareness Of the metamorphosis of all that is becoming Into the folds of ancient hands and sacred places That by wisdom knows the time to birth And the time to gather in What is your October Poetry like? Send it in and possibly we might publish it. May the poetry of our being alive ever celebrate the trace of that passion that animates our living! (“Raking Leaves in Late October” is from Traces of Passionate Leaves by Jeff Cannon.)
Avoid the Malls!
One of the best ways to support your town is to support its local businesses. Shop, eat, drink at locally-owned businesses!
26 THE STURBRIDGE TIMES MAGAZINE
THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING
WHAT DO I KNOW?
BY RICHARD MURPHY
LEGAL BRIEF
ROBERT A. GEORGE, ESQ.
STURBRIDGE ATTORNEY
M T
H E
O N T H LY F O R
L
E G A L
A
DV I C E
R E A D E R S
O F
S
T U R B R I D G E
T
I M E S
M
AG A Z I N E
AVOIDING PROBATE
T
here are plenty of ways to avoid probate, but it might only save a little bit of money and, if done improperly, put the very assets you are trying to save at risk. It’s important to understand that the only way to avoid probate is give away your property so that your heirs won’t have to go through probate court to get ownership of them after you die. You could simply put your stuff in joint names.This is how most married couples own their assets anyway. The tricky part is when you put the kids on the deed. Very bad idea. If your child gets sued, falls behind on his bills, or accumulates medical expenses he can’t pay, his creditors can now sell off his portion of your house. This happens more often than you might imagine. You might try putting your property in what is commonly known as a living trust.This protects the property from your children’s creditors during your life time, but probating a will costs little more than it costs to draft the trust and transfer the property into it. The real advantage to a living trust is that it takes far less time to transfer your property to your heirs after you die. Then again, you are, after all, dead.You won’t be the one doing the waiting.
tried to get my wife to take all the family’s money and put it into Mega-bucks tickets. My rationale was that I had always said it would be a cold day in July before I ever won any money. Well we had a lot of cold rainy July days this year. August, however turned out sultry hot. Still it is a summer like none that I remember. We have had rainy spells, but little as soggy as this year. The weather occasioned a debate on talk radio. The hosts generally take the position that the low temps prove global warming a hoax. Some callers will argue the other side, a few even positing the cold spell as evidence that warming is true. Which side is right? Beats me. My cousin in usually waterlogged Seattle tells me they are experiencing the warmest Spring and Summer ever. Well, that settles, exactly nothing. The only thing that is certain is that true believers on either side of the argument will not be swayed by anything said by the opposition. Why not? Well why should they? What can one know? Unfortunately, not much in the modern world. The problem was best expressed by George Orwell over 60 year ago, “Somewhere or other—I think it is in the preface to Saint Joan—Bernard Shaw remarks that we are more gullible and superstitious today than we were in the Middle Ages, and as an example of modern credulity he cites the widespread belief that the earth is round. The average man, says Shaw, can advance not a single reason for thinking that the earth is round. He merely swallows this theory because there is something
I
GEORGE AND DAVIS, PC 508-347-7114
509 Main Street, Sturbridge 15 Lincoln Street, Brookfield
Your local law firm since 1973.
• Real Estate • Bankruptcy • Estate Plans • Divorce • Corporate/Business • Criminal
And now a few words from our sponsors ...
“Out of all the print advertising we’ve done, we’ve definitely received the most hits off of our ad in The Sturbridge Times Magazine.” — Paul Dyer, Body Dezines
Robert A. George, Esq. Karen E. Davis, Esq.
Complicated Laws Common Language
www.regeorge.net
Call 508.347.7077 for more information
22 THE STURBRIDGE TIMES MAGAZINE
about it that appeals to the twentieth-century mentality.” Orwell then went on to prove the point that he himself had no reason to believe the world was round even though he accepted that it was. Of course we who are living now can point to pictures from space and all that, but we have to admit that few of us have made a study of it and are taking it more or less on faith. His closing paragraph sums it up: “It will be seen that my reasons for thinking that the earth is round are rather precarious ones. Yet this is an exceptionally elementary piece of information. On most other questions I should have to fall back on the expert much earlier, and would be less able to test his pronouncements. And much the greater part of our knowledge is at this level. It does not rest on reasoning or on experiment, but on authority.And how can it be otherwise, when the range of knowledge is so vast that the expert himself is an ignoramous as soon as he strays away from his own speciality? Most people, if asked to prove that the earth is round, would not even bother to produce the rather weak arguments I have outlined above. They would start off by saying that ’everyone knows’ the earth to be round, and if pressed further, would become angry. In a way Shaw is right. This is a credulous age, and the burden of knowledge which we now have to carry is partly responsible.” In truth, with my own unaided reason, I could not have figured out the Earth is round. As a child in elementary school, I did have my primitive sense of wonder piqued when Columbus was explained. Unfortunately, they explained it wrong. Columbus did not come up with something shocking in the world is round idea. Most scholars already believed it. Chris thought the circumference of the globe smaller than it was. He had made a mistake that gave us the New World. So how does this connect to Global Warming. At a family gathering the various members were talking about the question. I won’t say discussing. Neither side answered the others’ questions other than to state a fact. My techie son asked a relative how they would explain that Mars is heating up at the same rate as the Earth. A statement was made in reply, but no answer. How do people become so doctrinaire over something even experts disagree about? It is time to quote true experts on human nature. No, not Nietsche or Freud, but Gilbert and Sullivan: Continued on page 24
THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING
Murphy’s column ‘What Do I Know’
Continued from page 22 That every boy and every gal That's born into the world alive Is either a little Liberal Or else a little Conservative! Fal, lal, la! Yup, we’re born that way. I accept it and am waiting for my application to the Flat Earth Society to be approved. They have my solemn undertaking to agree with their official Global Warming Policy no matter what it is.
Poetry of October
Continued from previous page our own lives.We provide ourselves a place to ponder the human attitude of care and how we make that real in the kind of poetry we create through every moment of our living. The poem “Raking Leaves in Late October” is one way of participating in the poetry of the gift of October: We combed her hair gently Thoughtfully Wondering about the significance Of each broken twig Dreaming about the visions of each leaf Heaped into piles and carried off in a blanket To be dumped in the street Would she appreciate the grooming to dry her moist skin? Would it help to better breathe And feel the last warm promise of late October? She appeared pleased with our efforts And kissed the perspiration from our foreheads Her hair stiffened-those yellow-green bristles Transformed into stillnessInto a picture of yesterday That echoes youth and glimpses age Accepting without regret The subtle beauty that belongs to both Survives both Beheld in neither grasping the one Nor denying the other Only discovered in the keen awareness Of the metamorphosis of all that is becoming Into the folds of ancient hands and sacred places That by wisdom knows the time to birth And the time to gather in What is your October Poetry like? Send it in and possibly we might publish it. May the poetry of our being alive ever celebrate the trace of that passion that animates our living! (“Raking Leaves in Late October” is from Traces of Passionate Leaves by Jeff Cannon.)
Avoid the Malls!
One of the best ways to support your town is to support its local businesses. Shop, eat, drink at locally-owned businesses!
26 THE STURBRIDGE TIMES MAGAZINE
THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING
