Originally Posted - December 29, 2005

return home

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Those were the words of Charles Dickens in 1859 but in reflecting on those words a century and a half later, how accurately they portray the ambiguity of our world today and its social upheaval.

The social ideas of Charles Dickens in "A Tale of Two Cites" was that the French Revolution was inevitable because the aristocracy exploited and plundered the poor, driving them to revolt. It has been said that oppression on a large scale results in anarchy and anarchy produces a police state.

And so it is in 2005.

2005 was a tumultuous year, worldwide and nationwide, personally and professionally.

We watched in horror the news reports of the Asian tsunami, Katrina and Rita, the war casualties in Iraq, watched as the sex scandals multiplied in our schools and churches, watched the corruption in government was exposed and as our President admitted to spying on us.

We, like virtually everyone in the world watched in horror and helplessness as the most public execution ever was carried out in Florida and a probate court judge in Pinellas County created a horrendous precedent, firmly endorsing the throw-a-way society in the United States, the culture of death, sanctioning judicial homicide, glorifying and empowering the euthanasia movement.

We watched the same people who thought it was right to kill Terri Schiavo fight to save convicted murderer Tookie Williams.

The feelings of helplessness and horror grew day by day by day throughout the spring of 2005, into March and the world was transfixed on a hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, where 41-year-old Terri Schiavo had been virtually imprisoned for five years by her husband in name only, Michael Schiavo, his attorneys and a lowly county court judge who defied the Vatican, the White House, Congress and virtually the entire world to kill a brain injured woman. She wasn't terminal, she wasn't in a coma, she wasn't brain dead. She wanted to live and struggled to say so. How could this have happened in our America? How can it continue to be happening?

How can state attorney Bernie McCabe, Attorney General Charlie Crist and the rest cove rup? How can the government stand by and undertake no investigation of how Terri Schiavo sustained the incapacitating brain injury. How can they expect the public to have confidence in government when there's such a blatant cover up of wrongdoing?

It's a bizarre situation where a county probate court judge believes he can find the Governor in contempt of court for exercising his constitutional powers, can prohibit a state agency from performing its statutorily mandated duties and the Pinellas Park police and Pinellas County Sheriff's Department have more power than the Florida Department of Law Enforcement by order of probate court judge George Greer, then claim that he's upholding the Constitution, following the rule of law. This is our Republic, OUR United States of America but yet one lowly judge reigned terror on the Schindler family and all of us and forever changed America.

Pat Anderson, one of the attorneys who fought so valiantly to save Terri's life says that in ending Terri's life, "it seems to me we have abandoned that great precept of equality under the law and have crossed a line, sorting people into two categories; those who we consider too injured or damaged, or too lacking in quality to live, and those who are not".

How true. It truly is the survival of the fittest.

As the co-publisher of The Empire Journal, I became intimately familiar with the Schiavo case, the people, the issues, the law, the emotions and became totally immersed in the case, abhorrent at the actions of the court and the attorneys in the case, thumbing their noses at the law that prohibits the withholding of food and water, of the ghastly cruel death order imposed upon Terri Schiavo on hearsay testimony fueled by the greed of Michael Schiavo and his hate for the Schinders. Like millions of people, I watched in horror as George Greer literally took the last breath from Terri Schiavo as the world stop by helplessly. Like so many people worldwide, I had believed that the truth and morality would prevail but it didn't and Terri died.

But she didn't die in vain.

Her death literally changed the world. People tried to politicize the issue. It wasn't political. It was and is a moral, ethical and social issue. It raised public awareness about the judicial tyranny that exists in this country. The issue of judicial tyranny is alive on Capitol Hill and will become one of the most pressing issues of the nation's agenda in the days ahead. The runaway judiciary must be reigned in.

People's emotions went up and down like a roller coaster the last two weeks of March, from March 18 when Terri's feeding tube was removed at the order of Greer until she died March 31. And after her death, the whole nation---no, the world, mourned and many are still in mourning, in a state of disbelief that such a thing could have happened in our America. Michael Schiavo foolishly maintained that he was protecting her right to privacy. He unmercifully exploited her for his own personal gain and vendetta and is still doing so and George Felos and his culture of death capitalized on it.

The loss of the Schindler family became the loss of the world and dramatically and drastically affected families, friendships and professional relationships---people angry with ourselves and each other that we couldn't prevent Terri's death, that she wasn't allowed to go home with her family so they could take care of her, give her the love, care and attention that she deserved.

Soon after Terri died, undoubtedly impacted by the Schiavo case, the co-publishers of The Empire Journal agreed to disagree and went separate ways for a short time, each emotionally drained by the Schiavo saga and the affects it had had on our own lives and families.

And it had such a very personal effect on my own family as before the year was out, my father became a victim of the killing frenzy of the elderly and disabled in this country too. I was forced to stand by helplessly, my father's living will revoked and my guardianship removed by a conflicted court because I am "a controversial person in the geographical area" because I dare to challenge the system and fight the wrongs.

My father was a good man. He was a hard worker, a good provider, his family came first. He fought adversity all his life with a speech disability. My father was my best friend, my greatest supporter, my biggest fan. He saved every newspaper, every magazine article, every published word that I ever wrote. He stood by me in everything, shared my victories as well as my defeats. I was my father's little girl, I shared a very special relationship with him. He fought my battles, I fought his and it was his choice that when he could no longer make his own decisions, that I would make them for him because he knew I would do what he wanted done. But that was taken from me….and him by that horrendous culture of rampant judicial tyranny, because I opposed what Glens Falls Hospital and Warren County did to him, the rape of the Medicaid and Medicare system and even Blue Cross, his own health care provider. Every attorney, every agency that I have spoken with says Glens Falls Hospital and Eden Park Nursing Home violated my rights and those of my father's by removing me from decision making without cause, because I fought for him and my mother. They said they were going to put him in a hospice, stop all nutrition and hydration…. let him die with dignity and that there was nothing I could do about it because I wasn't the legal guardian any more. Well, Dad, I did do something about it and I'm not through yet. There's no dignity in death by dehydration. They didn't succeed in removing him to a hospice, in starving and dehydrating him like they did Terri. You did die with dignity, Dad. You are with me every day. I will always love you. They revoked his wishes but they couldn't remove me as his daughter.

The ugly head of judicial tyranny arose with my mother too. I nearly lost her twice in 2005 and each time, Eden Park Nursing Home refused to call me, refused to apprise me of my mother's said to be imminent death. In October, 2004, the state ordered that she be returned to her home, Warren County refused to comply for over a year, violated Administrative Law even when the state told them they were required to provide answers to me. Instead, the county and Eden Park teamed up to forcibly remove me as my mother's health care proxy so I couldn't fight for her any more. Such retaliation is illegal.

In July, my beloved dog, Pupper became ill and the vet couldn't diagnose the problem. She struggled throughout the summer and was improving until mid September when she began having convulsions the same night I was called to the hospital to say good-bye to my mother. That same night Ginger Berlin, my business associate at The Empire Journal, shut me out of the business.

My mother survived. She fooled them. She told them she wasn't ready to go.

Within the week, I had to make the difficult decision of putting my Pupper to sleep, apparently the victim of a brain tumor. That dog was the world to me. She had been by my side since 1997. It was an extremely difficult time for me.

Since that time, Ginger has refused to communicate with me and has rebuffed all efforts to try and resolve the business relationship and friendship.

I've known Ginger about 2 ½ years. It was in August, 2003 when my telephone jangled in mid-afternoon and a soft spoken maternal voice introduced herself as Ginger Berlin, a social and political columnist interested in the NYS Oaths Project of which I was and am the coordinator. She wanted to interview me for a column she was writing. I agreed.

I was immediately impressed by her manner, her knowledge, her invigorating spirit and drive, her wit, and the devotion, the love and values she displayed when talking about her family.

Ginger and I became fast friends and within a few months, The Empire Journal evolved, at first a print edition. The Empire Journal was dedicated to educate the public about our government, our courts, our political leaders. TEJ evolved from our common interests, common politics, common goals and a common love and respect for liberty and the Constitution.

Ginger has a deep commitment to our Constitution and her dedication to restoring legitimacy, integrity and accountability to our legal and justice system--- her political idealism, impeccable integrity, her values, unwavering principles and faith in God. She is intent on leaving a legacy for her children, committed to try to effect the needed changes in our Republic in the spirit of liberty and the legacy of our forefathers.

We combined our talents to create TEJ and when it went online in 2004, it quickly became a prominent voice in the judicial and legal reform effort. By the fall of 2004, The Empire Journal had become a nationally recognized voice in the Terri Schiavo case, reporting the issues and facts that the mainstream media was ignoring. TEJ became one of the most dominant voices on the Internet, reporting the news of government and courts and apparently became such a threat to the powers that be, that it was hacked and shut down at the height of its reporting the Schiavo case in March. But we persevered and came back stronger than ever.

Ginger juggled many tasks while maintaining her role with TEJ---her family and God came first, her friends close behind and her everlasting devotion to our Republic. Ginger personifies an American patriot. She becomes indignant over injustices witnessed, determined to make a difference and has made a difference, to bring important issues to the forefront and attention of the American public, issues that the mainstream media ignores or falsely reports such as the Schiavo case. She is a dedicated individual who utilized her talents to educate others to expose the truth about government, crime and corruption, often times toiling long hours and making sacrifices to do so as I did. She stood toe to toe with me to tackle head-on the unethical, corrupt judicial system, the black wall of shame and black code of protection.

The Empire Journal accomplished a great deal in its quest to educate, achievements and accomplishments which could not have been realized without the commitment, sacrifice and dedication of Ginger Berlin.

It saddens me that Ginger and I have not been able to resolve our differences and that The Empire Journal has become stagnant. Over the last several months, forced by Ginger to publish my work elsewhere, I have done so at The North Country Gazette which has risen quickly and firmly established its voice in the judicial and legal reform movement. However, as many friends know, my heart is with The Empire Journal which I did not leave voluntarily and I continue to try to reestablish a working relationship with Ginger.

I have looked backwards here and not with all good memories. Now it's time to move forward, to try to put my life back together about fighting 7 ½ years of judicial tyranny---police, judicial and prosecutorial misconduct, finally achieving reversal of convictions and complete dismissal of the charges. I know how very fortunate I am to have achieved this victory as it truly was against all odds but thankfully there are still honorable and dedicated people in the legal profession who believe in the Constitution and the laws.

2005 was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

We move forward into 2006 with hope and determination. 12-29-05

© 2005 North Country Gazette