In the classic Christmas film “It’s a wonderful life” George Bailey is an honest man living in small town whose life seems so desperate that he contemplates suicide. George’s guardian angel intercedes as he prepares to jump from a bridge showing him how dark the world would have been if he had never lived. The […]
There is much debate since the presidential election about the status of sanctuary cities across our country. “Sanctuary city” is a name given to a city in the United States that follows certain procedures that shelter illegal immigrants. A sanctuary can be defined as “a place of refuge and protection,” and sanctuary cities claim to […]
As a very long election season comes to a close, there is a fury of endless media messages attempting to focus voters on issues. There are countless issues to sort through that are facing our nation as we head to cast our ballots on Election Day, and it often becomes difficult to prioritize what matters […]
The daily headlines are filled with stories about the refugee crisis spreading across the globe. Tensions are high as governments assess the security risk of admitting groups of these displaced citizens, and the vetting and screening processes for refugees is under intense scrutiny. A refugee is defined as “a person who flees for refuge or […]
One of the casualties during the recent Government shutdown was the Washington DC Zoo Panda Cam: “The National Zoo announced that all its live zoo cams, including the one trained on the zoo’s 5-week-old panda cub, will go dark.” The Panda Cam allows viewers to watch the activities of Giant Pandas Mei Xiang and Tian […]
In 2003 my beautiful daughter Chloe was born with a diagnosis of Down syndrome, and I must admit my family was filled with fear, anxiety and uncertainty about Chloe’s future. At the time I was in my 20th year as a Police Officer, and I had no knowledge of supports for children like Chloe. When […]
For the past several weeks the nation has been focused and absorbed with the George Zimmerman trial. This trial ended on 7/13/13 when a “Not Guilty” verdict was rendered by the jury after much evidence and testimony was presented in the courtroom. Another trial was also occurring this past week involving an unborn child who […]
In the Dr. Seuss classic “Horton Hears a Who,” Horton the elephant struggles and fights desperately to prove to his culture that there is a tiny hidden world (Whoville) filled with priceless individuals in an insignificant dust speck. The overwhelming majority believe Horton is crazy, and they try to destroy the dust speck with the […]
Genesis 3:22-23 “And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden.” In […]
During this season of Miracles we often hear and read about the “War on Christmas” and efforts to remove and erase all references of Jesus Christ from our culture. This determination seems to increase each year, and in the near future children may lose all knowledge of the True Meaning of Christmas. As a professional […]
This week I read a very disturbing article titled “New prenatal test is bringing eugenics back to Germany” , and I could not help but think of the famous quote from American philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” This month a new prenatal blood test for Down […]
A very controversial slogan during this heated election season is “We did build this.” This phrase centers around the debate of who is responsible for the building of small businesses — government or small business owners. Many are deeply divided on this issue, and it has become a core theme for choosing the direction of […]
Part of the recently upheld Affordable Care Act that many in the disability community applaud is the elimination of policy exclusions for pre-existing conditions. I agree that our culture should not discriminate against and withhold heath care from an individual based on a physical or mental disability. Early Intervention services, exceptional educators, and medical advances […]
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I often think of these words from The Declaration of Independence as I look into the eyes of my beautiful […]
As a young boy growing up a popular phrase taught was “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” This advice proved to be very useful in my childhood and very handy when as an adult I became a Police Officer and dealt with a barrage of inappropriate names from […]
