It used to raise my blood pressure when I'd hear of groups trying to silence someone with whom they disagreed. That's become so commonplace I barely notice it anymore. But I should -- we all should. Setting aside the issue of our First Amendment (which too many people don't really understand), the freedom to express [...]
During her sermon this past Sunday, our pastor mentioned that, surprisingly, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church was not on the side of Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk of court who went to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses. (You can click here to see the sermon—it’s a meaningful message on religious favoritism.) Westboro’s reason [...]
From the time I was old enough, I've never missed an opportunity to vote. There was one time I forgot to turn the ballot over and missed voting for a candidate I was supporting, but I never made that mistake again and I've always made it to the polls. Voting is important—especially in our republican [...]
Children take the adults in their world for granted. Often, it’s not until we are well into our own adulthood that we recognize the impact that the grown-ups who seemed to be “just there” had on who we became. My Aunt Gene (yes, her name was spelled the “boy’s” way) was one of those people [...]
When I volunteered to be a victim at a mass casualty emergency exercise, I didn’t know I would end up with my neck cut and would “die” at the hospital. But I had a lot of fun, and maybe the emergency responders learned something that will help them save someone else’s life. Before things [...]
When I was in high school, we moved to Miami Beach. The first Christmas season we lived there, I went shopping on Lincoln Road Mall with one of my new friends, who happened to be Jewish. After we had been in and out of several stores and I had happily said “Merry Christmas” to almost [...]
Recently Facebook announced that it has removed the option to be unsearchable by name. While a lot of folks were gasping and chattering about this, others simply yawned. I’m guessing most were more bewildered than anything else. How important is this? TechCrunch writer Josh Constine says what it does is highlight the lack of universal [...]
Recently we had the pleasure of an off-season stay at the luxurious Casa Marina in Key West. Even though we knew the weather would be less than ideal (hot and thunderstorms), we wanted to celebrate our anniversary in a place that is special to us. And we’ve long wanted to stay at this historic hotel [...]
One of the dumbest features in the Orlando Sentinel is the Ticked Off! column – and I confess I read it every day. After I finish laughing at the absurd things that tick people off (and often also at the way those submissions are written), I read the “Flip Side,” which are usually reports of [...]
If you're thinking about adding a pet to your family, please give serious consideration to adopting an older dog from a rescue organization. Here's a video of Doodles, our quirky little senior poodle we adopted from Florida Poodle Rescue: Some benefits of adopting older dogs through a reputable rescue: They've spent some time with a [...]
