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Month: May 2007

Vietnam & Iraq – Wars of Ego

Vietnam & Iraq – Wars of Ego

I have a mixed attitude about the war in Iraq. On the one hand I have tremendous sympathy and compassion for both American young people who are sacrificing their normal life and actual life and limb as well as the civilians of Iraq. On the other, I don’t want to hear any more about deaths, injuries and the total catastrophe this war represents because it is too painful and seems to be a situation without a solution. I just want…

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Las Vegas & The Whales

Las Vegas & The Whales

John L. Smith has written a book, Running Scared, about Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino king which I read on our recent trip. It’s not particularly well written and paints Wynn in an unfavorable light. In fact, the whole Las Vegas scene comes across as unsavory with a dark side most people don’t see. I wouldn’t recommend the book, but I was interested in a few sections. One dealt with the impact of the high roller "whales" from Japan…

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Pay, Pray and Obey or Freedom of Conscience in the Catholic Church

Pay, Pray and Obey or Freedom of Conscience in the Catholic Church

A letter to the editor in the May 4th issue of the National Catholic Reporter captured my thinking about freedom of conscience and Catholic Bishops and the Vatican. I read the letter after having just read a position paper by Bishop Alex Brunett in the Catholic Northwest Progress about freedom of conscience. As I understood the bishop, freedom of conscience really means agreeing with the bishops and Vatican. The letter in the NCR quoted the Catholic bishops on birth control…

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A History of Southern Italy

A History of Southern Italy

One of the several books I read on our recent trip was Between Salt Water and Holy Water by Tommaso Astarita. It’s a history of southern Italy which unfortunately, was more informative then entertaining reading. It is a description of the many invasions and occupations of this part of Italy and the politics of the area. Both the Romans and the Greeks were interested in the beautiful coasts and fertile ground of the area, but many other cultures also occupied…

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The Turk – The Amazing Mechanical Chess Machine

The Turk – The Amazing Mechanical Chess Machine

Tom Standage has written a short book about an eighteenth century chess playing machine that was the hit of Europe. The Turk tells the story about a Hungarian nobleman Wolfgang von Kempelen who was an inventor during an age of great interest in clever mechanical devices. He created a machine which was named "The Turk" in 1769. It won almost all of the time in contests with human challengers. The machine was an instant success and it’s playing career extended…

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Two Additional Blogs I Have Created

Two Additional Blogs I Have Created

I’ve added two more weblogs. One is a site where I have posted a collection of photographs. Some are more for personal enjoyment and some are photos that I like. Some of the photos were taken by Lita and some by me. I intend to load photos from our most recent trip as soon as I have time. This site is Paul Luvera Photo Album: http://www.paulluveraphotoalbum.com/. With some reservation I’ve also created a weblog for plaintiff trial lawyer tips. I’m…

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Losing Your Marbles

Losing Your Marbles

A high school friend sent me an email with a story about marbles that I found useful to think about. In summary the story  dealt with a man who calculated that the average person lives 75 years. He multiplied 75 times 52 weeks in the year and came up with 3900 weekends a person has available during an average life. He was 55 years old so he decided if he lived to be 75 years he had about 1000 weekends…

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Final Travel Report

Final Travel Report

Final Report of our travels. We disembarked the ship at a port outside of Rome and were driven to the Galleria Borghese in Rome. If you have never visited this museum you should put it on your list of things to do before you die. It was a Borghese family villa, now a museum that requires a reservation well in advance to enter as they limited the number of people and limit how long one can stay inside to two…

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Travel Report from Sorrento, Italy

Travel Report from Sorrento, Italy

Friday May 18, 2007. We are on anchor off the town of Sorrento. We are close to the shore, but the wind has picked up and there are white caps that slightly roll the ship. Last night was the roughest of the trip. Not bad enough to make you sea sick, but enough to keep you from sleeping well. We had arranged a driver and car so when we got off the ship at 9:00 am. John Luca was waiting….

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Travel Report from Lipara Italy

Travel Report from Lipara Italy

May 17, 2007. We are anchored off of this small island located close to the island of Sicily. There is no other cruise ship here. This island is close enough that there is a regular hydrofoil passenger ferry connections  from Scicily to here. The weather has taken a turn for the worse. Overcast and some rain, but it looks more threatening this afternoon. We didn’t have to stay up late for a show since there was a 7:00 one last…

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