Sic Transit gloria mundi is a Latin phrase which more accurately is translated as “Thus passes the glory of the world” but is most often interpreted as “Fame is fleeting.” Until 1963 the phrase was part of the coronation of a new Pope. Three times during the ceromony a person carrying a brass staff mounted by a brazier would kneel before the new Pope and warn him “Sancte Pater, sic transit gloria mundi” or “Holy Father, thus passes the glory…
The State Children’s health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is under attack by George Bush. The program began in 1997 which provides federal funds on a matching state fund basis to give health care to children unable to afford it. It was directed at families whose income was too high for Medicaid, but too low to afford private insurance coverage. According to the New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 357:1036 September 6, 2007) it has been enormously successful. Some 6 million have…
While returning from a fly fishing trip in the Dillon, Montana area, my wife, Lita, pointed out an article in the Great Falls Tribune about Molly B. The article reported that on January 5, of last year, this 1200 pound bovine was about be slaughtered at a packing house. While waiting in a pen outside she suddenly jumped the gate just minutes from her scheduled slaughter. With police, plant workers and animal control officers in pursuit, she ran down the…
Nate (Nathaniel) Washington died recently (August 18th) at 93 years of age. (See obituary) Nate practiced law in Grant County with Jim Wickwire. He was a man of many accomplishments. He was born in Coulee City. His dad died in a drowning accident when he was young. While attending Ephrata high school he was captain of the football and basketball teams as well as student body president. He attended the University of Washington during the depression only with the help…
I have three artificial joints as a result of being a mediocre football player in high school and college. I carry around two total knee and one hip joint replacement. There are no airports in the world I can pass through security without setting off the alarm. That’s why I was impressed when I read in the Seattle PI that Dave Kopay, the former Husky football and pro football great, has had two hip joint replacements, and a knee and…
I hesitate to add to the Senator Larry Craig story any more attention then the media frenzy now occurring, but Nina Burleigh’s blog entry about Ohio and the last election caught my attention. In writing about Republican hypocrisy and gays she reported something I didn’t know: "The Republican Party got Bush re-elected in 2004 by playing the homophobe card. In Ohio, their minions went door-to-door in Amish country and warned the historically non-secular inhabitants that if they didn’t get out…
When 87 year old Leona Helmsley died in New York she was living alone in a lavish apartment with only her dog. She left an estate of some $4 Billion dollars.When the will was read it told the story of her relationships with people during her life. Before her only son died, she had a falling out with her daughter in law Mimi Panzirer and with two of her four grandchildren from that marriage. The feud with Panzirer was serious…
Nancy Bartley, Seattle Times staff reporter, has written an article about my niece Kathleen Decker: "Tracking a killer’s trail: thing ‘CSI,’‘ but low tech." Kathleen is the daughter of my sister, Anacortes resident, Anita Mayer. Kathleen is a King County Sheriff’s Deputy who at her own expense took classes in 1998 on finding the evidence at crime scenes. She became a journeyman tracker and now teaches it as a coordinator of the King County Search and Rescue unit. Her skills…
In 2006 the voters said they wanted politicians in Washington to clean up their act. They were tired of overpaid members of Congress not doing their job and their lousy ethics. They threw Republicans out not only because of Iraq, but because these were the people who assured the voters they represented basic family values and a return to a good moral code for America. The voters thought they represented integrity and their own values. But then, Mark Foley of…
Did you read about the woman and her children who burned to death in the wildfires at Artemida, Greece? It’s a story about fate and its mysterious role in our lives. According to the Associated Press and MSNBC, Athanasia Paraskevopoulou was a 37 year old teacher who was at the family vacation home with her husband and their three daughters ages 15, 12 and 10 along with a 5 year old son. Wildfires started breaking out in the area. While…
