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Michael T. Barrett
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Dec
9
Nine months ago we said goodbye to our devoted friend and family member, Flash.
We vowed that it would be a very long time before we even thought of bringing another puppy into this house, because the pain of losing Flash was just too strong. The last thing we wanted to do was bring another dog into the house to “replace” Flash. He, like all beloved family members, was irreplaceable.
We decided to wait as long as it took. Flash was close to all three of our kids, and they still get sappy thinking about him, so we figured it would be best to wait until they were ready, in their hearts, to welcome another family member into our home.
From the moment we brought Flash home from the breeder, we knew he was hardheaded, but he also had a lot of personality quirks that made us laugh all the time.
He loved to suck thumbs. Not suckle, but actually suck thumbs. He loved to play with feet, all the time. He wouldn’t chew or gnaw at them, but he would prance up to your feet and start pawing at them.
When he would lay down he would stretch one leg out straight behind him, all the time, and when you took him for a walk, he would get part of the leash in his mouth and walk himself. He was quirky, to say the least.
When we lost Flash to bone cancer, we knew we would never have another dog like him. If and when we brought a new dog home he would have some big paws to fill so we just didn’t look. We weren’t ready. The kids weren’t ready.
Then came Chuck.
Dec
7
At dawn on December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor In Hawaii.
Anxious to maintain their military and economic power in the region the Japanese planned to cripple the U.S. fleet which would then allow them to attack the Philippines and Indo-China without opposition and acquire the raw materials they needed to maintain their position.
Several ships were sunk or damaged, the U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized, and the U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed. More than 2,300 Americans died in the attack.
The next day President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress, which declared war against Japan, and the United States officially entered World War II. The Japanese had no idea they were awakening a sleeping giant. December 7th, 1941 truly was a date which would live in infamy.
Take a moment today to remember all of those who died on that December morning in 1941.
Dec
4
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Jimmy Carter is nuts. As you know, since completing his one and only term as president, Mr. Carter has traveled the world advocating peace, or at least pretending to. Yet, in his last book he equated Israel and Israeli policies with the South African system of dividing races, apartheid. He raised quite a stink, especially among the Jewish community, and still has not apologized to the state of Israel or the Jewish people for his distasteful choice of titles.
The title of that book, “Palestine: Peace not Apartheid”, said it all. Upon writing that book, Mr. Carter confused his personal opinions with facts and he lost all objectivity in Mid-East relations. At the time, I questioned whether the book revealed a sudden shift in his views toward Israel, or if he had always felt that Israel was an apartheid state. He answered that question himself just months later when he agreed to meet with the leader of Hamas, and then revealed that he had been meeting with the leaders of Hamas for years.
The revelations about his secret meetings with Hamas completely shatter any credibility he still had as a “peacemaker”, yet he still took the time to write another book. Why? Why would anyone take the time to read it? That’s like reading a book on how to play a game that was written by an athlete who did nothing but cheat while playing. Mr. Carter has no more credibility when it comes to acting like a broker of peace. Peacemakers do not hold secret meetings with terrorists.
This week, Mr. Carter said the “persecution of Palestinians” and the “lack of U.S. commitment” to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict makes peace in the Mid-East a volatile issue. Let’s set the record straight, okay?
Dec
3
We’re Nothing Without Truth
Category: Our Nation | Comments Off | 638 words | Print
Is Barack Obama eligible to be President of the United States? We still don’t know. If you depend on the mainstream media for your news you probably have no idea what I am talking about.
Numerous requests have been made for Barack Obama to produce a legal, certified copy of his birth certificate to prove he meets the constitutional requirement to serve as President of the United States. He hasn’t responded to any of those requests.
There are rumors, and statements from his own family members, that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya, not the United States. If he was born in Kenya, the citizenship requirements at the time could preclude him from serving as President.
When the questions surrounding his birth first began to circulate, his campaign released a “certificate of live birth”, but that so-called official document has been proven to be false. Why on Earth would his campaign release an altered copy of a certificate of live birth, rather than just reveal an official copy of it, or his birth certificate?
It doesn’t make sense.
Dec
1
Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day.
World AIDS Day is a day to increase awareness about AIDS and HIV, fight prejudice, improve education, and reflect on how AIDS and HIV have changed our world, and more importantly, our lives.
At the end of 2007, 33 million people were living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. 2.7 million people become infected with HIV, and 2 million die from AIDS, each year.
There is still no cure for AIDS but treatment for people living with HIV has improved dramatically since the discovery of the disease. While antiretroviral drugs are keeping people alive longer, only 31% of people worldwide, who need them, are receiving them,
More than 25 million people worldwide have died from AIDS since 1981. Young people account for half of all HIV infections worldwide, and over 1 million people have been diagnosed with HIV in the United States. In 2006 alone, 4.3 million people were infected, 40,000 of them right here at home.