John Carabba died Monday July 14, 2009 at the Island Hospital in Anacortes. He had fallen on the Friday before and fractured his hip. He never woke up from the surgery. He was eight three years old. Last December John had been given the Spirit of Island Hospital award in recognition of his dedication in support of the hospital in which he died. Starting in 1979 John had been a founding member of the Island Hospital Foundation. His background was…
This morning I was reading the great apostle Paul's writings in Romans 13 where he says: "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments…are summed up in this one rule: love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." It occurred to me that even if you were not a believer or not a Christian the idea that a…
I don’t read as many hard back books as I used to since I bought an Amazon Kindle. I got tired of packing a bunch of heavy books when I travel and I ended up giving them away on the road after reading them anyway. I am still, however, plugging away on my remaining library of books and have just finished Looking for Alaska by Peter Jenkins. Jenkins spent eighteen months with his wife and eight year old daughter living…
Well, another one of those self righteous hypocrites got caught doing what they preached against. South Carolina Republican Governor Mark Sanford has admitted having an affair. This was the poster boy for the Christian right. As state senator John Land said about Sanford's disclosure that he had a mistress even though married with four sons: "The position (Sanford) has taken the whole time he's been in office is: 'I'm smarter than the rest. I'm more religious than the rest. I'm more godly than the…
I’ve been following the bizarre behavior of South Carolina’s governor Mark Sanford who disappeared for five days and then suddenly reappeared. Republican Sanford is chairman of the Republican Governors Association and considered a leading Republican presidential candidate, or at least he was until this fiasco. This is the man who rejected millions in federal stimulus money for education and has been outspoken in trying to demonstrate his conservative Republican values. First, his staff put out the story that he was…
I don't know about you, but I get a lot of e-mails from people sharing what they regard as funny. I get cartoons, stories and the like, most of them I delete as not my kind of humor. However, this one, someone sent me, did amuse me. I liked the humor in these newspaper ads. Here is what was mailed to me and I particularly liked the last one dealing with the sale of encyclopedias: These classified were really put in the…
We are in Scottsdale closing down our house for the summer. Just like a Prairie Home Companion’s news from Lake Woebegone, here are a few items hot off the Scottsdale press. About twenty two miles North of us is the town of Cave Creek, population about 5,000 people. A quaint town worth visiting for its many shops, places to eat and general charm. Shortly before we arrived the results of a contested election to the Town Council were announced. Thomas McGuire,…
When I was a freshman in college in 1954, Dusty Rhodes became the hero of the 1954 World Series playing for the New York Giants.. In the first game, batting left handed, he hit a pinch hit home run in the bottom of the tenth inning off of pitcher Bob Lemon to win the game. It was a tie breaking three-run homer for a 5-2 victory. As he watched the ball go into the stands 290 feet away, Lemon threw…
My childhood hero was Glenn Cunningham who died in 1988. When he was seven years old his legs were burned in a schoolhouse fire which killed his brother. His legs were burned so badly that the doctors recommended amputation but his parents wouldn't allow it. The doctors said he would never walk again because he had lost the flesh on his legs and the arch of his left foot was virtually gone. In spite of the doctor's prediction his parents massaged him, worked…
i've just read Andrew Jackson by H.W. Brands. Jackson was known for his military and Indian fighting as well as toughness. He was quick to use his cane on someone who defamed him and was in more then one duel. Nicknamed "Old Hickory" he was associated with the American frontier. The seventh president of the United States, Jackson's portrait appears on the twenty dollar bill. When he became a lawyer and entered practice of law wrote a statement of principles….
