PAUL LUVERA SR – 1898 – 1990 A truly unique man of his times
November 4this the anniversary of the death of my father, Paul Luvera, Sr. Dad died in Anacortes, Washington on that date in 1990 at age 92. He was born March 25, 1898 in Reggio Calabria, Italy, the son of Niccola and Fillippa Luvera. Reggio is located right at the toe of Italy across from Sicily. His Italian name was Paolo Nicola Luvera, but in America he was Paul Nicholas Luvera.. In 1902 my grandfather Nicola was working in a slaughter…
THE AMAZING CHINESE & THEIR VOYAGE OF 1434 TO EUROPE
Gavin Menzies has written a book, 1434 The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet sailed to Italy and ignited by Renaissance (Harper Collins 2008) The premise of the book is that in 1434 the Chinese sailed to Europe bringing with them knowledge of navigation, astronomy, maps of the world and knowledge unknown to Europe. The Chinese were master boat builders. In 1434 the fleet sailed from China to Cairo and Florence and then back across the world using devices they had…
WHY CATHOLICS ARE ABANDONING SHIP
Stafford Betty has written an article "Why U.S. Catholics are Heading for the Exits" in the October 17, 2008 edition of the National Catholic Reporter. It’s well written and insightful. He begins by saying that some 20 million American adults describe themselves as "ex Catholics" and says that anywhere from one third to one half of fundamentalist church members once belonged to the Catholic Church. Betty maintains there are three primary reasons for the exodus. One, he says, is: "Fundamentalist…
BETTER A HOLE IN A SHOE THAN IN THE HEAD
As soon as I saw the photo of my candidate, Obama, with his shoes up showing the holes in the bottom of both shoes I was, well, suspicious. I immediately thought of Adali Stevenson, the Illinois governor (Obama's home state) who was the Democratic candidate for president in 1952 and 1956. Anyone old enough to remember the 1952 campaign would remember the photograph taken of Stevenson with the sole of one shoe showing a hole in it. The hole in the sole became a campaign issue…
MELVIN M. BELLI – THE KING OF TORTS
On July 9, 1998 Melvin Mouron Belli, "The King of Torts," died in his San Francisco home of pancreatic cancer. He was 88 years old. He was survived by his fifth wife, three sons and three daughters. I happened across a reference about Belli that reminded me what an enormous figure he was in the plaintiff’s bar for so very many years. I decided to review some highlights in this admittedly over long post, but given the extraordinary figure he…
JUDY HOPKIN’S POEM ABOUT NAPOLEON
POLITICAL VIDEO CLIPS
This is purely a political posting so if you are a Republican, you can skip this entire message. I get E-mails with some clever political things in them. Two are worth looking at. The first deals with the ridiculous attempt by John McCain to distance himself from George Bush now that Bush's policies have turned out to be as disaster. When he thought showing agreement with Bush policies would get him votes, he bragged about supporting Bush more than 90% …
LITA BARNETT LUVERA RECEIVES THE 2008 GONZAGA UNIVERSITY DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD
On Thursday, October 16, 2008 Gonzaga University presented its 2008 Gonzaga University Distinguished Alumni Awards. My beautiful and talented wife, Lita Barnett Luvera, along with orthopedic physician John W. Staeheli, Boeing executive William Geary, and developer Michael A. Tucci received awards. My unbiased opinion is, of course, that Lita gave the best acceptance speech and was most deserving of her honor. Various photographs from the lives of the recipients were shown on a screen as the reasons for giving the…
THURSDAY’S PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
I have been wrong about who "won" the presidential debate each time it has occurred. So, with that in mind, here’s my take on Thursday’s debate. First, moderator Bob Schieffer was so significantly better then any previous moderator of these debates that he should be given the job permanently. For the first time searching questions were asked and the candidates better required to answer them. He was the first moderator who seemed to me to be in full control. My…