My maternal grandfather Peter (Petar) Babarovich was born April 12, 1861 in the village of Splitska on the island of Brac in the Adriatic Sea. He died in Anacortes, Washington March 5, 1935. I was born 12 days after he died. It must have have been a very difficult time for my mother, to lose her father and then give birth to me. He and my grandmother had seven children all of whom, except my mother, Mary, who was born in Anacortes,…
In a recent edition of a national Catholic publication, The National Catholic Register, a Catholic monsignor, Father Charles Pope, wrote a column he entitled “Abortion Supporters Must Face penalties.” In it, he insisted Catholic's and especially Catholic politicians, who support laws in conflict with Catholic catechism should be punished by the Church. Specifically, he advocated sanctions against Catholic politicians who fail to support the Catholic position on abortion including forbidding communion and even issuing formal ex-communication against them. From his…
In an article by Elizabeth Goitein in the January/February 2009 Atlantic Magazine a “national emergency" declaration was explained. The article pointed out the premise underlying emergency powers is simple: The government’s ordinary powers might be insufficient in a crisis, and amending the law to provide greater ones might be too slow and cumbersome. Emergency powers are meant to give the government a temporary boost until the emergency passes or there is time to change the law through normal legislative processes….
You know how it is. You meet an older person you know and you greet them with "Well, how are you anyway?" only to be subjected to a long description involving bowel movements, illness or a detailed description of a recent surgery when all you were doing was being polite. Well, I'm giving you fair warning, don't ask me that question either because this week I'm having a hip replacement surgery and at eight four years of age it's likely…
Prince Machiavelli once said: "politics has no relation to morals." Nor does it appear to have any relation to logical thinking and honest reasoning as far as president Trump, Mitch McConnell and the Republicans are concerned. Let's start with the facts and then examine the arguments they are making about the government shutdown. FACT: There is only one reason and one person who is responsible for the shutdown- Donald Trump. He famously took credit for it on public television: "I…
On January 24, 2002 William "Bill" Taylor died in Anacortes. He was one of Anacortes's most successful basketball coaches. He also was a positive influence in so many young men's lives, including mine. He was a great coach and mentor to me. I've published a full account of my high school relationship to this great coach and his profound influence in my life: https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2013/01/william-taylor.html . In addition, I published a background of this unique man who was so important in guiding…
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone can be blind to the truth because of their bias about their position on an issue. It’s a fact that almost all politicians are regarded as untrustworthy about the truth when political consequences are involved. But the majority of people generally are truthful and past presidents have been careful about their representations because of the media checking on them. None, in recent history, have made it a practice to make totally outrageous fabricated claims about important national…
Let's start the discussion of President Trump's demands of Billions of dollars for a wall with what is a billion? Well, a billion seconds ago it was 1959. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. A billion years ago our ancestors were living in the stone age. If we wanted to pay a debt of $1 billion dollars by paying one dollar every second, it would take 31 years and 259 days. President Trump demands $5.7 Billion dollars as a…
Lita and I wish everyone a peaceful and enjoyable holiday season. From November 1st each year, until January 15th there are about twenty nine holidays for seven of the world's largest religions, so we wish them happy holidays. For Christians, we wish them a very holy Christmas. Here's a family photo – amazing isn't it?
PHYLLIS FLIPPA LUVERA 1870 – 1946 My dad's mother died December 20, 1946 in Anacortes. She was an Italian grandmother who looked and sounded like what an Italian grandmother should. she spoke no English and was a wonderful cook who was always…
