Elizabeth Pennsylvania … 178 Years of Freedom and Liberty

The boroughs and townships of Western Pennsylvania are a patchwork of communities that have evolved over the past several hundred years. Elizabeth Borough is one such community and has a story typical of many of the river communities of old. In 1934, The Great Depression was working its way around the country and the globe. […]

Royal Order of the Duck Rules for Effective Communication

The world we live in today presents us with more challenges to effective communication than at any time in history. Modern electronic devices, the speed at which most people live their lives, and cultural challenges in a shrinking global economy provide daily examples of the problems we increasingly face in effectively communicating with each other. […]

Uncharted waters

Its hard for me to imagine a submarine setting out on a journey without a chart. The modern Trident boats today cost between 2-4 billion dollars depending on which group is trying to defend or decry their existence. That’s a lot of money to risk on an adventure where charts are not accurate or available. […]

Lean on me – Boot Camp Memories from 1972

It is with a very heavy heart that I join so many others in saying farewell to Bill Withers today. His song “Lean on me” was the theme song for my company in boot camp and every time I hear that song, I am reminded how much we need each other in troubled times. Rest […]

It can happen in just a minute, but the effects can last for a lifetime

If you look back on your life, could you pick one single year that has been more eventful than others? I suppose it depends on what you use for a measuring stick. The loss of a loved one, a critical illness, catastrophes all have their own impacts. Every once in a while, the impact of […]

Love, your Son Butch ~ Father’s Day Memories

Today’s blog is from a book I wrote based on my Dad’s letters to his family during the second world war and the following year while he tried to make it back home. I found the letters a few days after he passed away, and learned a lot about a man who I thought […]

The Magna Carta, The Constitution, and the Kenyan

Today’s blog is not for the faint of heart. If you read it and agree with it, you should be prepared to stand up to a King. The “Great Charter of the Liberties” of England was a revolutionary document that set in motion a long period of enlightenment and freedom for common people in England […]

“its not my fault … ask anyone who loves me”

The new 2012 Campaign Song Sung to the theme from “A few of My Favorite Things” Earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados and Europe People in congress who just won’t roll over Long gone Republicans from the West Wing These are a few of my best excuse things… When the debt climbs, when the banks fail Unemployment’s up […]

Built Like a Mack Truck

How many times have you ever heard the expression Built Like a Mack Truck? For most people in the US, that is one of those old expressions that symbolizes strength and endurance. The trucks that were designed and built by Americans were once the pride of many trucking fleets and rightly so. The story of […]

The Summer of ‘42

Many of the World War 2 stories being profiled right now are being followed because of the 70th anniversary of those events. The realization that the loss of so many of the participants due to age has finally settled in for many of us. My Dad has been gone for nearly twenty years but since […]