King William of England adopted feudalism, a system of government which was already established in Western Europe. Rights, duties and obligations were set down. Predictably, the monarch was at the top of this system owning all the land. His lords and barons were assigned large sections or “manors” thereby buying their allegience and military service as his vassals providing administrative duties. The freemen and serfs worked the lord’s lands and their own. Shares of the produce was given to the lord and the church. This feudalism is the basis for all our modern property laws.
The lord of each manor was the sole judge in trials involving any of his vassals. Inequity resulted from this system of justice whereas one lord mercifully sentenced restitution for theft but a different lord sentenced death. The king saw that this inequity was rather problematic and responded by appointing a number of judges who travelled the country-side and held hearings or “assizes”. Regular meetings in London enabled these judges to share experiences. Bit by bit, common agreement slowly arose from these discussions. By the 12th and 13th Centuries there was more consistency of ruling –the roots of English common law, common to all people throughout England. Only when no custom existed did judges make their own decisions. We can see a sense of status quo here and the need for legislative powers to bring forward new law to better direct a changing society. [In other words, we need good and honourable politicians to be elected to facilitate this process or judges will run our countries. So get politically involved--it does matter.]
This common-law system of standing by earlier decisions (Latin: stare decisis) was introduced to North America by the colonists who first settled here. Judges from the highest courts in many Canadian provinces still travel to the provincial counties. There they hold regional assizes to deal with the most serioius criminal and civil offences.

Precedent was established as case after case ensued and was later referred to as a guide and reference point. Similar cases were treated alike, establishing a standard and common system of judging offences throughout the country. At first, these case decisions existed only in the judges memories and were known as “unwritten law”. The king as the fountainhead of justice whom people appealed to when they felt common law had failed them. As occasion demanded the king had the authority to overrule judge’s decisions when he felt it was necessary to do so.

Old precedents can be a problem when circumstances change. Common law managing horse-drawn carriages cannot adequately rule on automobiles. But precedent has its uses:

Get your customizable homepage here: http://ppl.blastoffnetwork.com/janetawiebe

Niagara Region – Pen Centre January 18, 2009.

I just want to put paddles to the health care system in Canada. We are in cardiac arrest! The Canadian Press (Ottawa) stated a new study predicts health-care spending will continue to outpace inflation this year, similar to growth rates acording to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The spectre looms in at a predictive 10.7 per cent of the gross domestic product.

Well, that just goes to show. I very much doubt that the gross domestic product will be as generous as they were calculating.

Now if we would look into the quality of our nutrition and lack thereof which causes much of the burden on the health care system, we can dig ourselves out of this hole and be healthier for it.

Agriculture, fitness, trade and health portfolios need to become an integrated whole in the area of enhanced wellness. Add to the uniqueness of our political territorial possessiveness provincially, and the autonomy of hospital governances from the government, we need to put out a 9-1-1 call for our Canadian Federalism. After all, my kidney (for example) doesn’t make the distinction between Regina, Hull, Halifax, Yellowknife, or Esquimault.

Janet A Wiebe

A recession is wonderous thing–everyone suffers! Such a grand leveler. You know the old saw, “Misery loves company”.  But beyond that warm fuzzy feeling the poor get that the richer, for now, understand how the poorer suffer on a regular basis, we also see fewer foods being sent to food banks.

Some, not many, governments are tightening their belts like R. B. Bennet and Herbert Hoover in the 1930s who contributed to the financial slump into the Great Depression. In just such a situation a “balanced budget”  concept of the Canadian Finace Minister Jim Flaherty leaves the house empty with the residents cast out onto the street.

A balanced budget is laudable as far as it goes. However, since the Great Depression, this concept hasn’t gone very far. In the modern world, how you handle credit is just as–nay–more important than being debt free every month. Higher financing and demonstrating the finesse and vision and leadership to make the hard decisions to get the job done are what speaks of value in the financial world today.

We need a governance that sees that “getting the job done” means guiding the path for all Canadians to find their vision, voice, hope and confidence that we are standing for one another to be the best that we can be. 

So be it.

Janet A. Wiebe

As countries go, Canada is pretty small, population speaking. Geographically it is rather large with many natural resources which we have used as a major economic base.

Recently we have cause to worry about the Prime Minister’s Office, actually about Prime Minister Harper himeself. He has a great financial backing from the “right”, those people we may consider to be of enlightened self-interest (what is good for me ought to be good enough for you).

It was bad enough the other week when the news informed the public that he had pulled Canada out of managing the software we had spent 30 years in developing to monitor and hopefully manage the current and growing water crisis throughout the world. Considering Canada has the largest amount of fresh water in the world, it was appropriate that we lead the way, cooperating globally as is our want. It was enough to want to, to feel the need to, run for office myself.

But now our very democratic process is under attack as Harper and his friends work, not to find economic solutions to the current crisis (anybody else out there not able to sell their home?), but to gut the opposition parties’ ability to effectively fund-raise. Admittedly, I do not know the details. However, let us look at what money actually does to keep democracy alive.

We initially think it is to “get out the vote” so one’s party can get as many seats as possible in parliament to speak out, pass bills and be on long detailed discussions in committees.  The core of all the busy-ness is to amass information, “intelligence” if you will, about the dynamics of a multiple score of issues. The lack of money limits your ability to effectively be the watch-dog on the ruling party. Lack of funds cripples efficiency and throws you out of the game…It ceases then to be a true democracy–you have a virtual one party system.

As I said, I haven’t read the details. It may even “sound” intelligent. But intent and effect of an action must needs be addressed in all situations or the whole process is tainted and we have an ungodly stench. Such an excellent example of the need for “sober second thought”!

Janet A. Wiebe

Many serious infections originate in the mouth. Oral infection is nasty business. Gum inflammation is bad news as well, eroding the gum line and exposing those precious roots that hold your teeth firmly in place. Persons on anti-neoplastic chemotherapy or immune-suppressant drugs are particularly vulnerable.

Mouth Care

Your first line of nutritional health is in the chewing and ingesting food. Dental caries (cavities), peridontal disease, and possible tooth loss are increasingly possible as we age. The older we get, the less we can take the maintenance of our body as an automatic venture. A good nutritional diet is primary to assuring a healthy mouth and digestive system in general.

Good bacteria gone amuck

Did you know that you have “resident bacteria” in your mouth? Well, you do. It is also called a microenvironment in which pathological bacteria, or even the normal flora (bacteria, etc.), can become pathological (go amuck and mess your body up real effectively). Kathleen MacMillan ( “New Goals for Oral Hygiene”, The Canadian Nurse, March 1981, 40-43) indicated that fungal infections, most likely Candida, can go out of control and even cause death. MacMillan continues with grueling detail about plaque:

Plaque is the aggregation of bacteria-containing debris on the surface of the teeth; the older and thicker the plaque is, the more likely it is to harbor anerobic organisms which are the majorcause of gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) and periodontal disease. also known as pyorrhea, peridontal infection is the infection of the supporting structures of the teeth: the gums, ligaments and alveolar bone.  Purulent material drains freely into the mouth thereby causing little discomfort, but is a locus of chronic active infection. Dental caries are caused by the action of bacteria from the surface of the tongue in plaque and on carbohydrates on the tooth surface. Scrupulous oral hygiene can prevent  these conditions from developing. p.41.

The result of this disgusting sounding condition is that other strains of bacteria begin to grow out of healthy proportions to spread systematically.

Take care of that smile!

Wash your hands before and after giving yourself oral care. Flossing, brushing and even irrigation are touted as the superior management program. If you can, do it after every meal and before bedtime. One trick I learned from the daughter of a dentist was to use a cotton swab dipped in hydrogen peroxide and scrub my gums and tongue with it whenever I had contracted a cold. The key is to rinse out the mouth since the peroxide is hard on the skin. The next remedy is to follow up with brushing your teeth, flossing and scrubbing the gums with a cotton swab with a daub of Ganoderma Lucidum toothpaste found at http://www.myganoexcel.ca/sanctuaryspa . The cotton swab with Gano toothpaste can reach and swab areas not cleaned easily with a brush or when brushing is impossible. The Gano toothpaste is so good for the body, I leave it in my mouth instead of spitting it out, to do its nourishing work. It is so effective for skin restoration, I have put some on a bandage before applying it over a wound and the injury response more efficiently than the usual antibiotic creams and ointments on the market.

As MacMillan stated, “It is always cheaper to prevent a complication than it is to treat one.” (Canadian Nurse, March 1981, 42)

To your health,

Janet A Wiebe

*Train Your Team *

*Promote Your Opportunity*

* Paper Making Workshops*

Leadership development is essential for growth and development, as is exposure to your group, business, interest to new prospects. Sanctuary Retreat is a great location to strengthen connections with your team, to establish a common vision, and share the injection of energy gathering at Sanctuary Retreat affords.

When people come together, it creates new relationships, strengthens bonds, and propels greater unity.

Every team needs to reconnect and refocus from time to time. Sanctuary Retreat provides you with the tools you need to build your business to the next level. Brainstorm in an environment of possibilities.

• 

• Three-way calling with speaker phone and long distance connects your team and clients to top company performers.
• A conference space over 26 feet deep enables you to accommodate up to 20 people comfortably.
• Large wall-mounted TV with DVD and wireless laptop connections enables your company to utilise specialized CDs, DVDs, web sites, webinars and your personal seminar presentations.
• Review key web sites with your team.
• Train with the most up-dated equipment.
• With four bedrooms and beds with a total 10 person capacity, your local and distance team and clients can gather together finding an ideal location to rejuvenate, refresh, reflect and renew.
• Team members can sign up for antioxidant programmes which will start them on a detoxifying journey to increase energy and enhance mental alertness.

What would you give for a beverage for your participants that would make them feel rejuvenated and feel more alert and attentive? Health promoting Ganoderma tea, coffees, hot chocolate, and hot cereal (an extra $2 per guest or $20/day) at events. Gifts for your guests of Gano bar soap and toothpaste must be ordered and purchased well before the event to allow for shipping.

Hourly meeting rate: $15.00 (long-distance speaker phone with three-way calling inclusive)

TV/DVD rate: $10.00 per day.

TV/Internet rate: $10.00 per day.

Laptop rental: $10:00 per day.

Need a spiritual retreat?

Graduating from the Mack School of Nursing, with a BA in psychology, three years of Master of Divinity training, your host-facilitator Janet Wiebe is ready to discuss your unique retreat requirements. Pricing to be determined.

Janet A. Wiebe

St. Catharines

holistic health spa

The beauty of Sanctuary Retreat Bed & Breakfast SPA is its relaxed central location in downtown St. Catharines for you to enjoy.

St. Catharines World Class Health Spas 

Crystal Clear Water 

Unwind and get reaquainted while using the spa esthetic services.

Sauna Cleanse

Defeat Free Radicals

Cleanse Through Your Pores

Cellulite Talk 

Rejuvenate with our spa features. A treadmill, step machine, light weights are all available. A sauna built for two is waiting for you. Consider booking with our four-fold package to detoxify your body as you refresh your mind.

Are you longing to try out the Ganoderma Lucidum skin creams? This is the place to come to experience a facial massage fit for royalty with the “miraculous king of herbs”.

 Wellness Retreat

Graduating from the Mack School of Nursing, with a BA in psychology, three years of Master of Divinity training, your host-facilitator Janet Wiebe is ready to discuss your unique retreat requirements. Pricing to be determined.

Lomi-Lomi Massage, Relaxation Massage, Aromatherapy Massage, Body Mud Wrap, Reiki, Shamballa, Crystal Healing, Directed Energy, Axiatonal Alignment therapy are the smorgasbord of therapies to sooth the furrowed brow and balance your body energies.

Aromatherapy uses plant extracts to promote and restore overall wellness for your mind and body. The various chemical makeups provide different results. Sanctuary’s knowledgeable practitioner combines special unique blends of oils with your specific health needs in mind. Inhaled as it is massaged into your skin, the beneficial effects will usher you into an enhanced level of wellness, promoting a wholistic mind-body-spirit connection.

From rose geranium oil and bergamot to balance emotions via the nervous system to patchouli and lemongrass to balance emotions your needs wiil be professionally tended to. Various oils are used to sooth tension and stress, such as jasmine, sandalwood, lavender, eucalyptus, pettigrain.

 Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Massage

Smooth Your Energy Fields

Weight Loss

Janet’s page for Sanctuary Retreat Bed and Breakfast SPA–temporarily closed to scale the heights of adventure….

A Growing Destination Spot… 

What does Sanctuary Retreat Bed & Breakfast Health SPA in St. Catharines and the Prince of Wales in Niagara-on-the-Lake have in common?

The tradesmen who put in the Prince of Wales bar also installed the new kitchen and shared bathroom at Sanctuary Retreat.

Sanctuary Testimonials

Built during the year the Ship Titanic of the White Star Line was claimed by the sea, 100 years after the War of 1812, 62 years after the 1850 fugitive slave law, this grand 1912 Edwardian home in central St. Catharines is waiting for you! Experience the ambiance that only a home from out of the Industrial Revolution past can give. Exercise equipment available. Local Hiking spots.

Click for St. Catharines Activities

http://www.niagarawinefestival.com/

26 years younger than the Keefer Mansion, you will find the three “C”s:

With clean, comfortable and competative pricing, a home such as this in Toronto is valued over 1 Million Dollars!

Click for Breakfast

Water for Spine Health

St. Catharines Ammenities

 The beauty of Sanctuary Retreat Bed & Breakfast SPA is its relaxed central location in downtown St. Catharines for you to enjoy.

Enjoy visiting and reading in this livingroom just for you. The St. Catharines Public Library sports two video taped series that take in the era of this grand old home: Flambards and The Grand.

 Find yourself truly renewed and refreshed.

Exercise equipment!

 Tolkein’s Middle Earth

• Health and Spirituality Library on site
• Walking distance to walking trails, General Hospital, public transportation, weight gym, yoga instruction.
  
• Five minute drive to Queen Elizabeth Way, Highway 406, Welland Canal bicycle paths.
• Ten minute drive to Brock University, Niagara College (Glendale Campus).
  
• Fifteen minute drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls, Niagara Herb Farm, Port Dalhousie.

 Airports: St. Catharines, Buffalo, Hamilton, Toronto, London.

 Map, Registration, Gift Certificates

We look forward to meeting you and making your stay in Niagara the best of your life.

An ideal locale for bridal parties, anniversaries, conferencing.

Unwind and get reaquainted while using the spa esthetic services.

Reflect among the houseplants and visit the Aviary with the society finch.

http://freedomlineenterprises.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/health-spa-in-retirement/

http://freedomlineenterprises.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/team-conferencingsales-presentations/

“In the Beginning…”

Have you ever wondered

• why we have the laws we have?
• where we came up with the idea of “Common Law”?

Believe it or not, it began before the time of the Mosaic Law!

According to Peak’s Commentary, the pentateuch case law was based on Canaanite legal forms, from which they in turn received their common law from the previously ruling power of the Babylonians: the bulk of Sumerian city territory was possessed by the temple. Although there were temporal rulers as governors, the kings were seen to operate as the city-god’s agent. Hammurabi not only checked for administrative abuses (administrative law), he had written laws set up in the markets and temples to be consulted by traders and by those suffering wrongs.

Although Hammurabi was the official representative of the local god and temple interests, he, like Queen Elizabeth as head of the Church of England, concerned himself with secular affairs of state. He detailed information concerning social structure with its three classes, gentry, commons and slaves. Although slaves were bought and sold (employees today are enslaved to the paycheck), each had protection under the law with a right to a spouse, property and the benefit from the liberality of masters (bonuses and incentives by our standards). An eye for an eye was deemed a humane ruling which limited the punishment to justice and not give reign to vengence.   

Check out a sample of the case law of the Code of Hammurabi presented by Arnold and Beyer:

When a free man married a priestess and that priestess gave a female slave to her husband and she has then produced children, if that free man has made up his mind to marry a lay priestess, they may not marry the lay priestess.

When a free man married a priestess and she gave a female slave to her husband and she has then born children, if later that female slave has claimed equality with her mistress because she bore children, her mistress may not sell her; she may mark her with the slave-mark and count her among the slaves.

This precursor common law before the Mosaic Law reveals the society of the age and exposes the cruelty and the context of Sarah and Abraham casting out Ishmael and his mother into the desert (the hand-maid of Sarah whom Sarah sent to sleep with her husband Abraham for the express purpose of bearing a son). Common law of the era and reagion dictated  a kinder gentler approach of putting the woman in her place by branding her body to delineate her slave status lest she forget her place in society and others allow her to do so. There is a deviation in this analogy due to a different cultural grouping (earlier Babylonian versus Israelite) and the fact that Sarah is not a “priestess”. We see that the Biblical text is intended to shock, even in the contemporary context.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Milkau_Oberer_Teil_der_Stele_mit_dem_Text_von_Hammurapis_Gesetzescode_369-2.jpg#file”>An erected diorite stele of common law.
These case law/common law compilations were set on an approximately eight foot high black diorite stele of 282 sections for all to study and consider their own behaviour by order of Hammurabi, the sixth king of the first dynasty of Babylon. He likely ruled from 1792 to 1750 or 1749 B.C. according to The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible. It was the most influential legal code of the near east.

Compared to Exodus 20:23; 23:33; 24:7; Deuteronomy 19:21, we see some instances where both the Babylonian and Israelite bodies of legislation treat the same injury to person and property. They both regarded the vulnerable of society as possessing:

• rights that could be recognized
• liabilities for breaking the law varied according to their social standing

The Babylonian law code continued to influence the Fertile Crescent after their decline. With the Code of Hammurabi, the punishment for false charges was given to the one who made the charge.  As Interpreter’s indicates, the Hammurabi Code predominates under the principle of poetic justice wherein a perjurer receives the punishment which this accuser tried to bring on his victim. This case law is demonstrated in the Biblical book of Esther, when Haman was caught in a deceit to hang Esther’s uncle Mordichi, Haman received the punishment of hanging and the praise he sought went to the uncle. The follow-through on Hammurabi’s case law is far reaching. The righteousness and justice of God is in the forefront. Mercy is expressed in justice being served for the victim and punishment does not exceed the actions or imaginations of the accused.

How did Hammurabi and the first Babylonian dynasty get so clever? They had other case law to draw on. Reform and codification of law existed among Sumerian kings as Westminster records:

1. Urukagina of Lagash (c. 2450 B.C.)
2. 2040-2027, Ur-Nammu Code (Ur-Engur) and Shulgi (Dungi) of Dynasty III of Ur (where Abraham came from). It contains a prologue and 22 laws.
3. 1930, Bilalama Code from Akkadian Eshnunna: a preamble identifying the law-giver, city, date and 59 laws
4. 1864-1854, Lipit-Ishtar Code from Sumerian Isin containing a prologue with the lawgiver’s credentials, approximately 38 laws partially preserved. They had erected a diorite stele.
5. Amorite Babylon had an adulatory prologue and 282 laws governing a wide range of economic and social relationships and transactions, concluding with an admonitory epilogue. It apparently had been built upon the Lipit-Ishtar Code while making it more inclusive and more complex.

Works Cited

Arnold, Bill T., Beyer, Bryan E.; Encountering the Old Testament, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 1999, p. 95; Laws #144 and 146, ANET (adapted), 172.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Milkau_Oberer_Teil_der_Stele_mit_dem_Text_von_Hammurapis_Gesetzescode_369-2.jpg#file

Black, Matthew and Rowley, H. H., Peake’s Commentary on the Bible,  Thomas Nelson Ltd., London, England, 1962, 68f, 79b, 394e.

Layman, Charles M., Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary, Abingdon Press, NY, New York, 1971, 263b, 1090a, 1081b. See also Exodus 21:1-22:17; Psalm 7: 12-16. The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1944, p. 224.

Multiple Choice Questions

1.

Case law started to become a guiding principle when:

1. Queen Elizabeth II took over the governance of both religious and secular governance of the United Kingdom.
2. Mordichi escaped hanging.
3. when the eye for an eye law was first recorded.
4. when Urukagina of Lagash (c. 2450 B.C.) got his administration organized and precidents set down for posterity and reference.

2.

The Code of Hammurabi was set to:

1. ensure equal justice and welfare of his subjects
2. enable Hammurabi to superintend the administration of justice
3. codify the laws of the land
4. All of the above.

3.

The Code of Hammurabi was

1. brutal and revengeful
2. only for the rich
3. both righteous and just with mercy towards the victim in metting out punishment to fit the crime, and not exceeding the actions and intent of the perpetrator.
4. 1 & 2.