Paul Luvera Journal

For many years I've subscribed to a small motivational monthly booklet Bits and Pieces(111 E. Wacker Dr. Ste 500 Chicago, IL 60601). I've found inspiring and wise notes in it as well as amusing stories. Here are a few from the November issue. Francis Cardinal Spellman said that when you say "yes," say it quickly. But, always take half an hour to say "no," so you can understand the other person's side.  Joseph Telushkin tells a story in his Uncommon Sense  about a 19th century Jewish…

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Last Sunday Lita and I headed out of Gig Harbor on our boat Lita Theresa. She is a 2006 39' Grand Banks Eastbay style. A very nice size boat with a beam of 13.3 feet that draws only 3' of water. With twin Yanmar disel engines it has a top speed of 30 knots and cruises very comfortably. We were cruising along in warm weather and flat seas thinking what a pleasure it is to be on the salt water. But,…

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St. Mary’s Catholic church is celebrating its 100th year anniversary this year. I was baptized in the original church building located at the corner of 7th& N Avenue in Anacortes and served Mass as an altar boy when growing up. In fact, when the original church building was closed and the church moved to a new structure, I bought two stained glass windows from the closed church building. One is installed in our Gig Harbor home with a back light…

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I was reading that President Franklin D. Roosevelt used to tell this story often when disputes arose in his administration: Two Chinese coolies were arguing. The were loud and very angry in their dispute on a busy street. After watching them for awhile, a tourist said to the tour guide he was surprised no blows had been delivered given the intensity of their dispute. The guide replied: "That's because he who strikes the first blow is admitting that he has…

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If you review the history of any nation where the state controls the people you will always find secrecy. Evil deeds are done in the dark – in secret. In any dictatorship the press and media are controlled by the state in order to conceal the truth. Arrests by the SS in Nazi Germany were always made at night under the cover of darkness. In our own country trying to find out the truth about government is often clouded in secrecy….

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There is a website called inspire 21.com http://www.inspire21.com/stories/truestories/. It features true stories that are inspiring to read. One of the stories is a story I read somewhere else in the past and had forgotten about. The story is entitled "Who packs your parachute? It involves a true story about Charles Plumb and his parachute experience. Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot. He was a graduate of the Naval Academy. He flew in Vietnam. After flying 75 combat missions his luck ran out….

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A book I'm reading says that Poncho Villa’s last words before dying were: "Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something." I found that very amusing. He knew he was dying, but had nothing significant to say as his last words so he asked that they make up something instead. That made me curious about "last words" so I did some checking. Here’s some information I found interesting. There was Luther Burbank’s last words, that turned out to…

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Bill Gates Sr is advocating a state income tax and it will probably be on the ballot. What makes this attractive to most people is that it is being promoted on the basis that it is a tax only on the wealthy. Everyone else gets off scot free, they claim. This inome tax wouldn't impact the great majority of people the proponents say. However, we all know that there are only two things you can't avoid and taxes is one of them. Once…

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Frank Rich wrote a column in the New York Times a week ago entitled "No one is to Blame for Anything." Boy, is he right about that. When the Washington ferry system wasted millions of dollars a few years ago, no heads rolled. When the Port of Seattle was exposed by the Seattle Times for it's waste of money and incompetence, nothing really happened. When corporate heads are exposed for their stupid and expensive errors they are given a golden parachute with…

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