Ed Stoffel

Brooke makes the news as she battles an unfair law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Recently passed legislation hits drivers twice, piling on Virginia's new "abuser fees" on top of existing scheduled fines. The new law also only affects Virginia residents. The new law violates the 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, disregarding principles of equal protection and double jeopardy... equal protection because Virginia citizens are charged while non-Virginia residents are not, and double jeopardy because Virginia citizens are penalized twice for the same charge.

The case was complicated by the fact that her attorney wears multiple hats in Warren County, also serving on the town council. On Tuesday, the case was dismissed nol-pros but they may refile under Virginia code without citing the town code.

Ben Orcutt of the Northern Virginia Daily writes:

What was supposed to be a case testing the constitutionality of the controversial civil penalty fees for traffic violations was dropped Tuesday in Warren County General District Court. Brooke - was charged with reckless driving on July 24 by Front Royal police officer Donald Orye... [Brooke] retained the services of Front Royal attorney Thomas H. Sayre, - [who] filed a motion with the court asking that the civil penalties in state law, which had been adopted by the Town Council in April, be declared unconstitutional, and that they constitute double jeopardy and violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution because they apply to Virginia residents only...

Town Attorney Thomas R. Robinett, who usually prosecutes traffic violations written under town code, had filed a motion with the court asking that the case be amended to a state violation so it could be prosecuted by the commonwealth's attorney's office. "While continuing with this prosecution may not be technically forbidden by the Virginia State Bar, Counsel for the Town simply does not feel comfortable with opposing a sitting Town Council Member in open Court," Robinett says in his motion...

Update  Va. GOP Proposes Bad-Driver Law Overhaul, Washington Post

Dale Stoffel just wanted to be paid for work he had done in Iraq. He refused to pay kickbacks, and eventually began reporting to Washington on corruption of American officials in Iraq...

From the start, the Iraq reconstruction effort had been haunted by talk of corruption. It was a cash economy, and existed in a legal black hole with little accountability. Contracts were issued quickly, and written sketchily, by the CPA; frequently, businessmen dealing with the agency said, they'd be posted on a CPA Web site with bids due the very next day--an impossible deadline to meet for any contractor who didn't have advance warning. It was a climate ripe for corruption. Stoffel was naming names, his associates say, and telling startling stories--cash stuffed inside pizza boxes, kickbacks to purchasers inside the Green Zone. He told these stories to a new office set up specifically to ferret out financial wrongdoing in Iraq, the Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Iraq.

Then, believing he was about to be paid for the work he had done in Iraq, Stoffel and an associate were gunned down.

A mysterious insurgent group has claimed credit for Stoffel's killing; another terrorist group celebrated the murder and called him an American spy. His friends, though, aren't convinced that this was just another act of violence by militants in Iraq, and neither, apparently, is the FBI, which is now investigating his death.

  The Unquiet American, Washington Monthly

  FBI probes shooting of contractor in Iraq, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

  The Dale Stoffel mystery solved, Writing Company

Charlene's aunt from Kennebunk died today. We've enjoyed visiting with her on our trips up north, and have a number of Uncle Gordon's paintings in our home.

Anna Amildred Robinson, 77 years, of Fletcher Street, died Monday April 9 at Southern Maine Medical Center. Anna was born in Haverhill, Ma on September 5, 1929 a daughter of Robert and Lillienne Lucier Field. She graduated from Salem High School in 1947. On August 8, 1954 Anna married Gordon F. Robinson of Swampscott, MA. They celebrated 35 wonderful years until his death in 1989, raising a family and starting a new business together. In 1970, they moved to Kennebunk Lower Village and started the Gordon Robinson Art Gallery which Anna operated and Gordon painted for. --- Anna is survived by her sons Charles, Donald, Clinton, Norman; daughters Nancy, Barbara; her brother Raymond Field; sisters Pauline Armstrong and O'Dell Bertrand; 11 grandchildren; 3 great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Browsing the web for any of my namesake, I came across these Stoffel brothers running a Goodyear Service Station in Anaheim, California. The photo is owned by the Anaheim Public Library, with information about it displayed on their site. Bernard Stoffel appears to have owned the business. This photo shows him standing in front of it with brother Edward Stoffel back in 1917.

Charlene's mother makes the news for her involvement in Girl Scouting since 1939:

Polly Armstrong used to load her brother's red wagon with Girl Scout cookies and roam her Salem neighborhood selling them for 50 cents a box. That was the 1940s, when the girls wore dresses, caps, gloves and neckerchiefs, and everything had to be crisply ironed. Armstrong was the top seller in her Salem troop, an honor that - along with her perfect attendance record - earned her scholarships to attend Girl Scout camp in the summers. Ever since she joined the Girl Scouts in 1939, Armstrong has kept the organization in the forefront of her life, and she's hardly slowing down.

 Continue Reading: On her honor: After 68 years, still proud to be a Girl Scout, Salem Evening News

Congratulations to Brian and Rachel on their marriage Saturday. Rachel is my niece, the daughter of my sister Lisa.

We've searched the net for Stoffels of interest around the world...

For five generations, the Stoffel family has cultivated the vine on family land in Eguisheim, one of the oldest wine villages of the Alsace region of France. Today, Antoine Stoffel holds the reins of the family business, offering a line of wines which include Black Pinot, White Pinot, Tokay - Pinot Gray, Sylvaner, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Muscatel. Trés bien, Antoine!

ANTOINE STOFFEL, 21 rue de Colmar, 68420 Eguisheim, France

Since 1963, Daniel Stoffel has distinguished himself as a leading manufacturer of chocolates in France. Daniel Stoffel Maitre Chocolatier uses artisanal methods and recipes, and the highest control quality measures at each stage of the manufacturing process. His "ready-to-crunch" products are well-known by connaisseurs everywhere in Europe, in the USA, in Canada, in Australia and in Japan. He respects traditional recipes and uses natural ingredients selected for their freshness and "gustatory" quality.

  

DANIEL STOFFEL, 50 route de Bitche, B.P. 212, 67506 HAGUENAU, Cedex, France

I haven't had trouble with my knee popping out since last February. But now, it's back... and not just one knee but BOTH of them. My thumbs are starting to do it too... getting stuck, and then popping back with some discomfort as doctors are prone to say. So if both knees and thumbs are doing it, it's not an injury --- it's something else. I got to thinking about my medical history, and now recall that I've also had joint pain in my elbow and wrist. It was so bad in my elbow, I was getting cortizone injections. It was so bad in my wrist, I considered surgery for carpel tunnel syndrome. My knee hurt so bad, I considered surgery for a torn meniscus. Different diagnoses but similiar symptoms for each case. It's not arthritis because it feels like things get out of place, then restored. In the case of the knees and thumbs, it feels like tendons are too loose, and end up in the wrong place.

A friend asked me if I had Marfan's Syndrome, so I looked it up, and some of the symptoms are true including a few I hadn't considered (dental crowding, decreased muscle strength). I never could do chin-ups in school, and would get easily winded trying to run the track. (I recall the coach telling me to "Walk it off!") Come to think of it now, my daughter Darcy's elbow used to pop out of joint a lot while she was growing up... an indication of loose tendons. She's also tall and skinny.

If it is Marfan's, the diagnosis doesn't do much except to help understand the condition. There doesn't seem to be any effective treatment. But it does alert me to the possibility of heart problems... the worst aspect of Marfan's syndrome. If it's not Marfan's, then there's got to be another explanation for loose tendons. But is there a treatment -- perhaps in diet, nutrition and exercise?

Our family homeschooled our three children from 1992 to 2005. While we had our children take standardized tests as part of our ongoing evaluation of their strengths and abilities, we were not required to submit test results, curriculum information, class schedules or student performance to public school officials.

Homeschooling allowed us the freedom to tailor individualized teaching goals and styles to each child's skills and abilities. Each of our children learned in diverse ways and at different rates, responding best to different styles of instruction. In our family, there were times when we found it helpful for both parents to be involved in teaching our children. In part, this was due to differences between masculine and feminine styles of thinking and learning, but it was also helpful for maintaining discipline and motivation.

Over the years, we used curriculum from Abeka, Alpha Omega, BJU Press, Christian Liberty Press, Covenant Home Curriculum, Daily Grams (Wanda Phillips), English from the Roots Up (Lundquist), HomeSat, McGuffey Readers, Saxon, School of Tomorrow (Paces), Southeast Educational Associates (Virginia History Paces) and Weaver. Each text had it's strengths and weaknesses. For example, some of our children found Saxon a better mathematics text than Abeka because Saxon immediately schedules review of new concepts while Abeka reviews less, and waits to do so.

Our state homeschooling organization was very helpful for getting started in homeschooling. Holding annual conventions with seminars and curriculum sales, state organizations provide much of the support families need to homeschool. Local homeschooling groups provide regular support, allowing families to network with one another about day to day issues. Local groups often provide opportunities for homeschooling families to get their children involved in group learning activities, sports and social activities, while enjoying the benefits of teaming up with other homeschooling parents. Our area's homeschool sports network has achieved national status, and received national media attention.

Membership in the Home School Legal Defense Association is an important aspect of home schooling. For a small annual retainer, HSLDA will defend your right to Home School your own children, no matter the cost, using their staff of excellent attorneys. Some families wait until it's too late to call HSLDA, placing the right to homeschool in grave danger, not only for themselves but for others. Joining HSLDA protects us all! Discounts are usually available through state and local homeschool organizations.

I've written a guide to homeschooling to answer many of the questions parents often ask me. Make yourself aware of your rights to homeschool your kids... learn about the one organization that is on your side and is your best homeschool resource... find the right style of learning for your kids... answer the most often asked question about homeschooling, the 'socialization' question... avoid the three biggest mistakes parents make when they homeschool... and get hooked up with other parents who want the best for their kids, too.

My book 10 Quick Steps to Homeschooling is available online for instant downloading, in PDF and MP3 formats.

I've also written a Homesat Installation Help website to help homeschooling families get setup and running to receive the HomeSat video curriculum from BJU.

Missy & Cleo are starting to get used to each other, but most of the time, they're fighting... or is it playing? It's hard to tell. I caught them in a moment, both sleeping next to each other. But when I took this picture, the flash woke them both, and they were at it again. Cleo (black Manx kitten on left) reminds me of those hooded Star Wars creatures with light-up eyes.

After spending a fair amount of money trying to save him, we had to have my favorite cat put to sleep this week. I knew something was wrong when he stayed by my side all day, every day for a week. He lost a lot of weight, didn't seem to be eating, and wouldn't keep anything down that I fed him. We tried a round of antibiotics, but whether liquid or pill, he wouldn't keep it down. X-rays showed his liver had shrunk to less than half its normal size, indicating end-stage liver disease. I didn't want to loose him, but was watching him die, so on Wednesday, we took him to the vet for the last time.

I keep looking for him at his favorite place on the steps, just out of habit. We have two cats left -- Missy, our 12 year old cat, and Cleo, the new Manx kitten.

We received a sympathy card "for the loss of your cat" today... they make cards for everything.

We gave away one of the kittens to a friend who plans to surprise her family. The girls got that kitten shampooed and ready to go Monday. Meanwhile, Scruffy (the sick kitten) seemed to be doing much better, becoming more active and eating on his own. He would play with Cleo (the remaining female). But Darcy woke up Thursday to find he had died overnight. I confirmed he was dead, and buried him in a special place in the yard.

Charlene and Darcy took Cleo to the veterinarian to get checked out. The vet believes that Scruffy probably died of distemper or a bowel obstruction, a common plight of Manx kitties. Meanwhile, Cleo was cleared of feline leukemia and FIV, but it will take a few more weeks to rule out feline distemper (panleukopenia). She seems to exhibit the symptoms of worms, and will be tested for that as soon as we bring in a sample to the office. If worm eggs are found, she'll start a treatment for that. As soon as she's old enough, she'll also receive her first series of inoculations. Otherwise, the doctor says Cleo seems to be in good shape. In this picture, she's found a friend... in the mirror.

Three of the four kitties are at our house this weekend. (The one with a tail runs away, so we haven't caught him yet.) The sick one (left) seems to be recovering. His left eye was completely crusted over, but after working on it for awhile, it was cleaned up, and he was able to open it. He seems to have responded well to the antibiotic, and is gaining strength. He was allergic to the kitten formula, so we've switched him to a soy-based, lactose-free product, and he's drinking that. This morning, he was even starting to eat dry food.

The other kittens are doing well, and we've found a home for one of them (middle), and now plan to keep one (right). I had one in my room for a few hours and lost it. I tore apart the room looking for it, and couldn't find it. In the middle of the night, Darcy heard meowing in the hall bathroom, and that gave me an idea where it might be. In the closet, I had done some electrical work, cutting a small access hatch to run the wires. It turns out I forgot to close up the hole in the wall, and the kitten climbed through it, and was under the hall bathroom's tub. When I shined my flashlight into the wall, the kitty meowed and jumped right out.

The girls are at home, tickled that one of the stray cats in the neighborhood has given birth to kittens. Among the four kittens, two have gunk in their eyes. I worked with them trying to clear their eyes with saline and Q-tips. One kitten's eyes are now clear, but the other is crusted over. A worker at our county's animal shelter says we should continue working on it, using cotton balls and saline or hydrogen peroxide. That kitten is also sick, sneezing, sleeping most of the time, and not eating. So the girls brought it home.

I'm concerned because the kitten probably has a virus which we don't want our two housecats to get. So that kitten is quarantined. I determined a course of antibiotic treatment, based on 50-100 mg/kg/qid, divided into 3 or 4 doses per day, which work out to 5-10 mg... awful small piles of crushed powder to put into formula and squirt down a kitten's throat.

The mother is all black without a tail; three of the four kittens have no tail, and one has a tail. So now we know mama didn't loose her tail in a cat fight.

You can tell who are the parents of teenagers... they have yards that look like car lots. Between all our own cars and our kids' friends cars, it gets full fast. I'm thinking I should get a backhoe to carve away more of the hill to make room for more cars. Our neighbor has a HUGE garage that could hold four or five cars.

We got Darcy's Camry back from the shop; it still needs one headlight's glass replaced, and a better battery (the one Grant put it is only good for about 3 starts in a row). We'll pick up Grant's car tomorrow afternoon. He's going with me to a gunsmithing class in the morning, and we'll pick up his Integra in the afternoon. I also need him around the house tomorrow, to help complete a plumbing project... there's a place that's difficult to reach without kneeling, and I'd rather not put my knee out of joint again.

Brooke is driving now too, and we'll have to deal with getting her a car eventually. Charlene's car needs repairs soon, and eventually, I'll have to replace mine. I'm thinking the Honda hybrid car might be good.

Grant sold his first car, a 1988 Toyota Camry, to his sister Darcy... but it has problems. So far, it's needed a new starter, a new alternator, a new windshield, and two new headlights. The front brakes need a lot of work, pads, rotors, a caliper, and a repaired brake line. When I asked Grant why he let it get so bad, he said he wanted to get a new car. The Toyota did only cost him $700.

Grant's new car is an 1993 Acura Integra, and its transmission failed after just a week... diagnosed to have a cracked driveshaft. We're replacing that transmission with one from a low-mileage car in a junk yard.

And now, Charlene's 1995 Mercury Villager is making strange noises; we suspect transmission problems. We've also had a problem with fumes during cold weather, which our primary mechanic has been unable to solve. Yes, we have multiple mechanics... more like a mechanic team for our fleet of cars.

How did all our cars know I have tax refunds coming?

Not a torn meniscus

I got the results of my MRI today, and it didn't show significant damage to the meniscus. But it did show progressive osteoarthritis, and thinning of the femoral cartilage at the patellofemoral joint consistent with osteoarthritis. That's in the front, and what keeps the top leg bone from grinding against the bottom leg bone.

Surgery won't help this... but taking glucosamine/chondroitin will help to thicken the remaining cartilage... as long as there is cartilage present to thicken. Once worn through, it wouldn't respond to glucosamine/chondroitin. The doctor also prescribed an NSAID for the pain. I asked him what causes osteoarthritis. He said if I can figure that one out, I'll become a rich man. Apparently, theories abound.

While we were there, I mentioned to him that the website he has in his brochure was down, and that his domain name wasn't even registered. I was thinking he got suckered by someone who took his money without putting up a site. He said that it was actually an old site, and the company that did it for him wanted $1300 to update it. I told him about GoDaddy.com that would reregister his domain for only $7.95, and offered design and hosting on the cheap. I probably should have offered to do it for him for a good price.

Yes, the doctor says it sounds like a torn meniscus, but he's ordered an MRI to be sure (and to satisfy CIGNA). He says it doesn't involve the ACL or MCL ligaments, which would be indicated if I had a lot of swelling and bruising.

The good news is that the surgery is arthroscopic, so he says I'll be able to walk out of the hospital, and enjoy a short recovery period. We'll see about the 'enjoying' part.

Got home after work last night and tried to climb into bed without waking Charlene. As I was bending my left knee, it locked up again. This has happened about six times now, each time worse. When it first happened, I could fix it by standing on the leg, and it would pop back. But the last two times, it was too painful to stand on. Last time - at work, I had Dave Ruggiero hold my ankle while I pulled on it and it popped back in place. This time, I tried having Charlene do the same, but it was too excruciating to carry out.

So off to the emergency room last night, where I had it examined and X-rayed. The doctor determined it to be a torn meniscus... damaged cartilage that gets caught when the knee is twisted. After two hours of working with it, the knee popped back in place. While it is most likely the meniscus, it could also involve the ACL or MCL ligaments. The X-ray ruled out other causes, while an MRI would show the actual meniscus tear, as would arthroscopy.

I have an consult appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon tomorrow. They want me to wear something to immobilize my knee in the meantime, but it's quite uncomfortable... and I've been living with the injury for at least six months.

Living most of his life in the Baltimore-Washington area, David Mumford Stoffel earned the reputation of an excellent computer programmer, described by co-workers as "a genius" and "on par with the best". In college, he pursued a double-major in Psychology and Computer Science. And while doing all of this, he was totally blind. David Stoffel lived from 1953 to 1997.

 Read About: David M. Stoffel