My husband just liked having his girls here (if he had his way, they would live here forever) - we just sat around the table - it was nice enough to sit on the deck - picked crabs, talked and laughed and ate and just had a good time.  My older daughter has a 3-month old beagle puppy, who is the cutest thing alive.  His romping with our yellow and black labs - dogs that look like giants next to him - was a hoot-and-a-half.

Hundreds and thousands of injury and death lawsuits against GM and Chrysler will (possibly) be wiped out because of bankruptcy.

The new Chrysler can't be held liable for incidents involving the estimated 10 million cars and trucks sold by the automaker before June 10, when the company emerged from bankruptcy. Victims and their survivors with pending and future lawsuits against the old Chrysler are in the least protected class of creditors, and are likely to get nothing.

The same rules could apply to General Motors' estimated 30 million vehicles already on the road when it emerges from bankruptcy, perhaps in July.

On Friday, attorneys general from eight states opposed the provision in GM's bankruptcy plan. They filed an objection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.

The attorneys general of Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and Vermont argued that the rules would bar accident victims from key legal rights.

Critics say this blocks a bedrock American right to legal recourse and creates second-class status for unwitting drivers, who will remain behind the wheels of liability-free old GM and Chrysler vehicles for years to come.

It also is likely to derail numerous state "lemon laws" and consumer protection mechanisms that rely on lawsuits to track defects and force manufacturers to recall and correct unsafe vehicles, according to consumer advocates.

The interesting part is that it isn't necessarily the car companies that are playing hardball - it's the government.

John Pottow, a University of Michigan law professor and bankruptcy expert, was returning Thursday from a conference in New York, where he said General Motors lawyers gave him the impression they are still considering how to proceed.

"They still are saying they need to close their liability on vehicles produced by the old GM, but this is a very serious issue, and there is some consideration of at least including vehicles sold during the pendency of GM's bankruptcy," Pottow said.

"What's fascinating about this is that it is the government taking the hard line here, insisting that the new company should emerge free of those liabilities. It's the government actually thinking like hardheaded investors instead of taking the more predictable, more socialist line," Pottow said.

"It's actually the government saying to the owners of these old Chrysler and GM cars, 'Too bad to be you.'