HOPE CANNOT BE BOUGHT OR SOLD – YET EVERYONE MUST HAVE IT. Hope is the place where dreams are born, and no place on earth needs hope more than in areas ravaged by extreme poverty. To attempt to live without hope destroys a person physically, mentally and emotionally. It takes a toll so severe that… [Read more…]
February 15, 2012
If a man has an itch he scratches it – even in public. If a woman has an itch she goes to the mall and buys an expensive lotion to put on it until her dermatologist appointment 3 weeks later. That is the battle of the sexes in a nutshell. Men keep things simple –… [Read more…]
February 13, 2012
I never met the man I’ll refer to as Robert, but I feel like I know him. Tragically, his story is true. Robert was only 20 years old when he was killed in Vietnam. It can be persuasively argued that he died an unnecessary death. Today he is just another heartbreaking statistic like the tens of thousands… [Read more…]
February 5, 2012
I have changed my friend’s name but otherwise this story is based on fact. Please learn from my mistakes. I was about 2 years older than Stephen. We lived across the street from each other in a typical American suburb in the mid-1960’s. That was not a particularly good time in our history to have… [Read more…]
January 29, 2012
DOES IT MATTER HOW A CHILD DIES? You are driving alone down a city street. It is a nice day and you are in no particular hurry. You are observing the speed limit of 40 miles per hour and you are paying full attention to your driving. Your cell phone is turned off, and… [Read more…]
January 25, 2012
Age is a comprehensive attack on the human body. It never retreats and there is no defense. You are held hostage while it slowly changes you into that barely recognizable person you squint at in the mirror. It is slightly disconcerting to watch your body self-destruct with each passing year. If you are below the… [Read more…]
January 22, 2012
THE TAPESTRY OF THE HUMAN FAMILY IS MADE UP OF 7 BILLION INDIVIDUAL FACES, EACH ONE EQUAL TO THE OTHERS. Every armed conflict that has ever taken place, every war that has ever been fought and every genocide that has ever broken out has all occurred because of our absolute refusal to accept the fact… [Read more…]
January 14, 2012
People routinely dismissed Samuel as someone who was not worth listening to, and those thoughtless actions hurt. At the age of 39, Samuel had spent his entire life being ignored and pushed aside simply because of his lack of clear understandable speech. The fact that he was intellectually disabled had not affected his life nearly… [Read more…]
January 7, 2012
WATCHING HIS CHILD DIE WAS KILLING HIM. All through the night his daughter’s fever would rage and then suddenly she would shake violently with chills. Her small head throbbed with a stabbing pain that made her cry incessantly. At times she seemed to be slipping away, but then she would fight back and be with… [Read more…]
January 7, 2012
LEARNING TO KILL CHANGES A PERSON FOREVER. Although small for his age, Samir held the AK-47 steady. He had been given a direct order to shoot the old woman in front of him, and he didn’t dare make a mistake. He had no idea why she had to die, but that was not his… [Read more…]
January 2, 2012
Do you know what your IQ is? Do you feel it is the most important thing about you? Would you want your entire life to be judged by that one single number? Does it accurately describe your personality or your temperament? Should your opportunities or choices be limited by your test results? Would you want… [Read more…]
December 10, 2011
WHAT GOOD HAS EVER BEEN ACCOMPLISHED BY HATE? There is not a single positive thing that can be said about hatred. It is utterly useless, without any benefit to humanity what-so-ever. In fact, it does more harm than any other human emotion. It is the basis for racial prejudice; it causes conflict and wars and even… [Read more…]
December 8, 2011
How do you measure courage? That is a question which can be answered by the men and women who joyfully participate in Special Olympics. On the athletic field, as in life, individuals with intellectual challenges perform at the highest level they are capable of. That is the same measure of success we all aim for, and because they… [Read more…]
December 3, 2011
EXTREME POVERTY KILLS WITH ASTONISHING SPEED. 1,250 human beings will die from extreme poverty in the next hour. They die continuously at this rate, without let up, day after day. The dying does not slow down on weekends or on holidays. Death has no concern for age, race, religion or gender. No one is spared.… [Read more…]
November 29, 2011
I have had a driving license for more than 40 years now. During that time I’ve only been in a couple of fender benders – the most recent in a parking lot where both of us were going approximately 5 mph (it’s a long story) – but none of these accidents were my fault. In… [Read more…]
November 26, 2011
TIME IS THE ENEMY OF CHILDREN IN EXTREME POVERTY. Can you remember what you did 40 days ago? Most of us can’t. In just over a month we forget what we were so preoccupied with, what we were so worried about and what pressures we were under. Whatever seemed so important just 6 weeks ago… [Read more…]
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 | Agustin Rudick on WHAT’S FOR DINNER? |
| michael crawley on OLD AGE |
michael crawley
February 19, 2012
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