BASKET BALL COACH WILLIAM H. TAYLOR 3/11/1922 – 1/24/2002

BASKET BALL COACH WILLIAM H. TAYLOR 3/11/1922 – 1/24/2002

Many of us can point to someone or perhaps several people who played significant roles in our life. People who made the difference or who were a tipping point at a critical time. Perhaps it was someone whose words or actions changed  the direction of our life for the better. For me, after my parents, it is a short list of individuals who had a very significant influence on my life. It includes a third grade teacher, Mrs Marshall, always saw the good in me even in…

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MELTING ICE REVEALS A MYSTERY MORE THEN SIXTY YEARS LATER

MELTING ICE REVEALS A MYSTERY MORE THEN SIXTY YEARS LATER

The New York Times has an article http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/national/24frozen.html about what melting glaciers are revealing around the world. One of these involves a World War II previously unsolved mystery. One Wednesday morning on November 18, 1942 a trained military pilot and three aviation cadets took off from Mather Field, near Sacramento in an AT-7 Navigator on a four hour training flight. 2nd Lt. William Gamber (Ohio) was flying the plane with passengers John M. Mortenson (Moscow, Idaho) Ernest Munn (Ohio) and Leo M. Mustonen (Minnesota) The…

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SOME OLD POETRY FRIENDS

SOME OLD POETRY FRIENDS

This week I've been on a poetry search for some reason. Reading books of poetry. Some are new, but most are old. I admit that the ones I enjoy the most are not profound and are old friends from many readings ago. My friend from New Jersey, Dennis Donnelly sent me a poetry book with electic poems and I'm trying hard to learn to appreciate them as much as the old standby ones I know so well, but for now,…

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1/11/11

1/11/11

Today is January 11, 2011 or, more significantly, 1/11/11 and we will have the time as 1/11/11 at 11:11:11. That’s produced a lot of strange interpretations including the prediction it is a sign for the return of aliens in UFO’s or the end of the world. On a more realistic level I see that Papa John’s is offering a second large pizza for 11 cents when you buy one for $11 and a New York hotel is offering a day…

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BOOKS: The Elephant to Hollywood & The Drunkard’s Walk

BOOKS: The Elephant to Hollywood & The Drunkard’s Walk

I just finished Michael Caine’s latest book The Elephant to Hollywood recently and thought I'd share a couple of passages. The first deals with acting. The advice is directly applicable to trial lawyers like me. Too many lawyers "act like" someone instead of being totally authentic and genuine, but then, so do a lot of other people. Here's what he wrote. As a young actor in rehearsal he was playing the role of a drunk. He says he came "rolling onto…

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THE FAMOUS PHOTO OF THE FLAG RAISING ON IOWA JIMA 1945

THE FAMOUS PHOTO OF THE FLAG RAISING ON IOWA JIMA 1945

Everyone of my generation recognizes the famous photo of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iowa Jima taken in World War II. The photograph was taken by Joe Rosenthal which shows five U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag during the battle of Iowa Jima. The photo was instantly famous and was reprinted thousands of times. It is probably the most reproduced photograph of all times. It was the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize…

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SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA & JUDICIAL ETHICS – DISTANT COUSINS WHO RARELY SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA & JUDICIAL ETHICS – DISTANT COUSINS WHO RARELY SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER

Justice Antonin Scalia recent agreement to speak at the Tea Party Convention puts this controversial member of the U.S. Supreme court in the ethical spot light one more time. While there are ethics rules in place for lower federal court judges, there is no explicit code of ethics for the nine Supreme Court justices.He was appointed to the court in 1986. Since his appointment he has engaged in a continuous series of activities which call into question his awareness of…

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REFLECTIONS ABOUT A PHOTO TAKEN OVER HALF A CENTURY AGO

REFLECTIONS ABOUT A PHOTO TAKEN OVER HALF A CENTURY AGO

I just came across this photograph taken in 1959. It makes me both smile and be proud. That's my dad, Paul Luvera, Sr. and my mother, Mary Luvera. We are standing on the steps of the Skagit County Superior Court house. I've just been sworn in by Judges Charles Stafford and Art Ward as a member of the Washington State Bar Association. I was presented to the court by Robin Welts and his son, David Welts, was presented by Alfred…

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“THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN” & OTHER OLD TIME RADIO PROGRAMS

“THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN” & OTHER OLD TIME RADIO PROGRAMS

When I was a boy growing up there was no television. There was radio and the movies period. It was a time when you could find prizes in the breakfast food box or a coupon on the box to mail in for a special prize. Radio was the source of home entertainment. But, the radio was very special and a wonderful opening to a world of excitment and drama unlike anything television could provide because it involved the listener on a very personal level. You…

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