J. Davy Crockett III

My family walked in the shadow of death this last year.  Not a pleasant subject, to be sure, but one that was thrust upon us nonetheless.  I lost my mother in April, 2008. She was elderly and infirm, and for the last two years of her life suffered from the scourge of Alzheimer's disease.  So, while it was sad to close that chapter, it was not unexpected, nor was it tragic. It was quite naturally her time to die, as it states in book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3.

Tired of politics? Sick of the political commercials attacking the other candidate or party? Had enough of the sarcasm, innuendo, half truths and spin?  Fed up with the endless analysis by the talking heads on the networks and cable channels?  You are not alone!  Most Americans have endured enough of this seemingly endless campaign for the nation's highest office and the myriad of other national, state and local races.

The campaign rhetoric in the United States had much to say about the "poor." This word is rather vague and has various definitions, depending upon the perspective of the person using the term. Like the word "rich" it means different things to different people or groups. Poverty, like beauty, tends to be in the eye of the beholder.

As one who has walked through the aftermath of many disasters – having represented insurance companies for decades as a claims adjuster – my attention was really grabbed by the pictures of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike, and other recent storms.

"Buy Gold!" scream dozens of headlines in various financial newsletters, internet websites and television commercials. It seems that the economic uncertainty of the times has motivated people with assets to seek a safe haven, and what could be more attractive than gold, the standard of monetary value for millennia.