News

Some events are obvious turning points in the course of history. Other events may go unnoticed by many, but are, nonetheless, turning points in determining how things will turn out. As an example, the headlines shout, "Don't ask, don't tell repealed," which means that the hotly debated policy of allowing homosexual individuals to serve in the military – as long as their sexual preference was kept private and not openly practiced or publicized to others – has been changed.

Every news source has been covering the hot topic of the WikiLeaks exposure of government secrets. The leaks of diplomatic cables are of unflattering and insulting statements about leaders and politicians of other nations. The diplomatic face of the United States government is now blushing in embarrassment and fumbling for words to try to control the damage.

Why does our nation continue to trip and fall in front of the other nations of the world? Why did this happen?

Each day, our news sources bring us more sobering reports about the crushing level of unemployment in the United States of America.  It is much the same in the United Kingdom and in much of the European Union.  With each report, the stock markets in the various countries react negatively, as the confidence of investors is shaken once again.

Three weeks ago, on a Saturday night, I attended a "special" public forum on the campus of William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where the main speaker for the evening was the former Supreme Court Justice of Alabama, the honorable Roy Stewart Moore.

Justice Moore, as you might remember, was removed from his office as Supreme Court Chief Justice on November 13, 2003 because of his refusal to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state courthouse despite orders to do so from a federal judge. It became a national story in 2003.

Words can be powerful things. With so many similar words to choose from—especially in the English language—I am often amazed at how the use of a particular word or phrase in just the right situation can stop a reader right in his or her tracks. Perhaps this has happened to you. You read a certain line and are so struck by it that you have to pause and consider what it means for you.