Are you staying home as you read this because of the coronavirus? Well for folks married or otherwise this can be quite a challenge. It might be quite a strain. I’ve read that the sales of alcohol, illegal drugs and porno are soaring. Mental health problems, suicide and spouse abuse are skyrocketing. Oh where is the relief we seek?

A conservative group’s protest called …

When I was a student at the University of Detroit High School my English teacher in the eleventh grade was named Father Skiffington.

Reckless and irresponsible. [efn_note]CBS News, Jason …

Is there anybody out there still reading this?  I hope a few will respond. After watching the news one wonders. Leave your comments below near the bottom of the page. 

Trump “Fiddled” while People Died How can …

Several steps have been outlined by the experts. File …

Wash your hands. That is the mantra we are hearing …

In this time of turmoil let us pray.. I believe that right now this might be the greatest crisis that we have faced as a nation.  Fear appears to have overcome this whole world and it is a time for prayer. Early in my life I discovered this Prayer of St. Francis and only recently have I realized that the prayer itself  is a menu of ways that we might individually serve as an instrument of the Lord’s Peace. Examine the words of this prayer yourself and see if one particular mission might call out to you.

Instead of Orange-Faced, Trump Should Be Red-Faced A …

Who cares about ethics? Assets held by President …

My academic career left a lot to be desired.  Not only was I a poor student but I was a troublesome one too.  My graduation yearbook lists my achievement as spending the most time in the jug (after school detention) than anyone in the history of the University of Detroit High School; a dubious distinction indeed.

Follow The Money $5,600, the maximum allowed for the …

In 1975 then President of the United States, Gerald Ford had to cancel his speech for the Michigan Petroleum Association’s Annual meeting at the Grand Hotel,  Mackinac Island, Michigan. The Petroleum Association President  called me and hired me to speak as the replacement for President Ford.

God Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change those things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 

Do Your Research BallotPedia.org United States …

The impeached President’s supporters Senator …

The National Prayer Breakfast is a thing that is not …

End Citizens United There’s no way around it: The …

It looks Trump is starting a war with Iran. Hundreds …

It is just January 2nd as I write this but this is my third day of high productivity. I cheated and started early. First thing I did was weigh myself.

Do Be Fooled by Trump’s Lies Voo-doo Magic So …

The following article was received via email shortly …

Here I go again! I don’t know about you but it seems like every year, a few days after Christmas I get all antsy and I feel compelled to write down a whole bunch of impossible resolutions.

We came across an interesting article by Vince Wade …

Until a year ago, I rarely dealt with the bank branch that handled my business account. Those transactions were always handled by an associate.

Martin Scorsese’s new gangster film epic, “The Irishman” would seem to be a slam-dunk winner. It has an all-star cast, featuring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. It showcases state-of-the-art special effects which have “de-aged” De Niro and Pacino. And Scorsese is widely regarded as one of the best directors in Hollywood. But the film has one big problem. The film story line is not true.

Have you ever gone into an ethnic restaurant here in the U.S. and pretended to yourself that you were back in time visiting a foreign land? Jean wanted to find something different for me on Veteran’s Day and so after driving around for a bit we arrived at the Hong Kong restaurant in Durham, NC.

A perceptive, smart-ass newspaper columnist named H.L. Mencken made that prediction in 1920, nearly a century ago.

What a wonderful fall day here in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Just a bit of nip in the air and the leaves on the trees in our yard are like a rainbow. The air is so fresh and crisp and I slept like an angel last night. Certainly, all is well with the world.

One day a schoolteacher wrote on the board the following: 

Jean and I innocently walked into a local Target Store and at the front of the store they had a table with three young ladies recruiting new employees to work this Christmas season.

On the morning of February 14th, 1961 I became a writer. First thing, I answered a want ad offering a used Underwood typewriter for sale.

For the past few weeks, I have been endeavoring to sort out the books and booklets I’ve written by date. Then I want to make a second collection sorted by topic. I thought it would be a simple project but now I am suffering from the result of a lifetime practice of sloppy bookkeeping.

Have you ever been scolded and told “You just better straighten yourself out.”  Well I caught myself saying that to myself yesterday.

H. L. Hunt, who in his time was one of the richest men in the United States, once said that “You must decide what it is you want and decide what you will give up to get it.” Persistence falls into that category. The reason my poem titled “Pay Attention Brother” has been an inspiration to new writers is that many of them never had a hint of the price they must pay to succeed as a writer.

Twenty women who have faced extraordinary challenges and have overcome hardships are profiled in a new documentary-style exhibit at Flagstaff’s Pioneer Museum. It’s called “Resilience: Women in Flagstaff’s Past and Present.”

I was listening to the news this morning, really trying to keep up with the reporters but they were just a tiny bit too fast for my comprehension. It wasn’t that I couldn’t hear, keeping up was my problem. 

The Final Minutes of President Obama’s Farewell …

There’s one thing that unites everyone who works at PetSmart: we all love pets. Cats, dogs, goldfish, parakeets, hamsters – you name it, we love them. Every day, we bring our passion together to create something amazing: a place for our many best friends to be healthy, happy and to keep those tails wagging!

It’s time to vote for equal rights

On February 17, 1998 I was a guest speaker at the Florence Crane Women’s Facility, A Maximum Security Prison. This story that follows is about that day.

Although not currently available on the Arizona Department of Transportation’s website, there are nine cameras that now monitor traffic along the critical route into the City of Maricopa.

This program allows citizens and business owners to register the locations of their video surveillance systems with the Maricopa Police Department. When a crime occurs, we will be able to identify the locations of video surveillance systems and enlist the assistance of citizens to help us collect video evidence.

Anchor, reporter. References: Facebook…

Adam Polaski from Freedom for all Americans writes, “Carl Mangold is something of an expert in helping people better understand themselves, their feelings, and the world around them.

Alia Beard Rau writes for the Arizona Republic and AZCentral.com, “U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick has ordered Arizona to pay $200,000 in legal fees in one of the two cases that challenged the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying.

U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick has ordered Arizona to pay $200,000 in legal fees in one of the two cases that challenged the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying. And the costs for Arizona to defend its law defining marriage as between only a man and a woman could get much, much higher. The order came in the Connolly vs. Roche case, which attorney Shawn Aiken filed in January 2014 on behalf of several individuals and couples, including Joe Connolly and his husband Terry Pochert.

Bruce St. James and Pamela Hughes from KTAR …

One of the staples of Hollywood B-movies in years past was to take themes from horror or monster films with adult casts and apply them to movies with teenaged casts; I Was a Teenage Werewolf, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, I Was a Teenage Zombie, etc.

Richard J. Wershe, Jr., better known to some as White Boy Rick, is a sinner. There isn’t any argument about that. He is the first to admit it.

In January of 2014, Joseph Connolly (above right) and Terry Pochert (above left) were the first couple in Arizona to file a lawsuit to remove the state’s ban on same-gender marriage. In October of that same year, U.S. District Judge John W. Sedwick did just that, declaring Arizona’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, immediately ordering the state not to enforce it.

Our lawyer, Shawn Aiken, received the Human Rights Campaign Arizona’s Corporate Equality Award on behalf of his firm, Aiken Schenk Attorneys at Law. Shawn and his team fought tirelessly for Marriage Equality here in Arizona.

Fair warning: these blogs won’t be a “quick read.” In a world accustomed to 140-character tweets and 160-character text messages many, perhaps most, of these blogs will exceed a thousand words, sometimes a lot more. Thanks to the exponential growth of mass media, 24/7 news coverage and the endless short-burst chatter on the Internet we’ve become a society with the attention span of a gnat on amphetamines. If that describes you, this blog isn’t for you.

Moving Arizona Forward was the theme of the 2015 HRC Gala held in Phoenix, Arizona. Thousands attend to celebrate achievements of those of supported many of the LGBT issues through the past year including Shawn Aiken, the lawyer of filed the first lawsuit to bring marriage equality to Arizona.

Document 93 References: 2:14-cv-00024 #93 (PDF …

Joe Connolly and Terry Pochert are a Valley couple whose legal 2008 California marriage formed the cornerstone for one of the two cases that brought marriage equality to Arizona on Oct. 17. Their marriage is now considered valid in the eyes of Arizona’s laws, and the lawsuit for which they were the lead plaintiffs (Connolly vs. Jeanes) was based on secular arguments.

Defendants Michael K. Jeanes, Maricopa County Superior …

Notice of Withdrawal of Co-counsel

References: New Times, October 23, 2017, Ashley Cusick …

Terry Pochert and Joseph Connolly are Among Those Who Changed History – At 10:36 a.m. on Friday, October 17, Michael Jeanes tweeted his followers: “Welcome All to the Clerk’s Office. Your marriage license awaits, and we are ready to serve you!”

Lawyers who helped win marriage equality in the State of Arizona with Terry Pochert and Joseph Connolly.

Sara Ruf writing in the Casa Grande Dispatch on October 18, 2014, “…In the end, it all came down to Judge John Sedwick, a visiting judge from the U.S. District Court in Alaska. Sedwick ruled Friday morning that the recent Ninth Circuit Court decision to strike down gay marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho also applied to Arizona.

Couple robin (from left) and Renee Reece listen to Joe Connolly and Terry Pochert speak to a crowd of gay-marriage supporters in Phoenix on October 17, 2014, after gay marriage was legalized in Arizona.

A portion of the letter says, “Pursuant to an injunction issued by the United States District Court for the District of Arizona in Connolly v. Brewer, 2: l 4-cv-00024-JWS, I am writing to inform you that Arizona courts can no longer treat marriage exclusively as “a union of one man and one woman” under Article 30 of the Arizona Constitution .

A federal judge in Phoenix has struck down Arizona’s gay marriage ban, calling it unconstitutional, paving the way for same-sex marriages in the state.

In a brief order made available Friday, a federal judge considering challenges to the Arizona ban said he’s all but convinced that Arizona’s laws and constitutional provision against gays being able to marry are illegal.

Amazing Part of Arizona History – Thank You Terry Pochert and Joe Connolly

Doc 85 – Submit Supplemental Briefs – JUDGE SEDWICK TEXT ORDER re: 47 MOTION for Summary Judgment AND 58 MOTION for Summary Judgment.

In October 2005, George Takei figured his long, successful Hollywood career would screech to a halt.  His reasoning? Then 68, the actor best known as Star Trek’s Hikaru Sulu came out as a homosexual.

“If I could marry you, I would ask you right now,” Joe Connolly said from across the table to Terry Pochert. The two men exchanged onion rings at that very moment, a silly gesture that meant much more. Despite how much they loved each other, it was 1995, and the thought of same-sex couples having the freedom to marry was a distant dream. Instead, Terry and Joe made a promise to one another that they would live their lives together in love.

Declaration of all the Plaintiffs in the Arizona Marriage Equality Law Suit

he first case filed with the State of Arizona, Connolly v. Roche, is now being requested by Lambda Legal to have their case transferred into the first case filed Connolly v. Roche

Now that the revised complaint has been filed with the …

I have walls of books in my office and upstairs in my music room and some days I just pull out a book at random and open it up and start reading.

Terry Pochert and Joseph Connolly – Across the country the legal landscape for same-sex marriage is changing, and fast.  In the Southwest in recent weeks, courts in New Mexico and Utah have delivered victories to gay marriage proponents.  Now in neighboring Arizona, some gay and lesbian couples are challenging their state’s definition of marriage.

This Order addresses challenges to state and federal laws relating to same-sex marriage. The Court holds that Oklahoma’s constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Court lacks jurisdiction over the other three challenges.

Luis Ortega plans to spend Father’s Day with his son, Robert, at their favorite park – where they will honor the memory of Luis’ late partner and Robert’s other dad, Christian Barco, who died suddenly last year.

The suit filed Monday claims a voter-approved ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. It seeks to allow same-sex couples to be married and recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states.

Suzanne Cummins was raised in Mesa, Arizona and Holly Mitchell was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas. Suzanne and Holly met on the job and began dating in 2007. They would like to marry but Arizona laws discriminate against same sex couples.

Photographs and Biographies of Plaintiffs and Attorneys

Clark Rowley was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. He left Iowa to attend Arizona State University. David Chaney was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and moved with his family first to Tucson, Arizona and later Sierra Vista. David also attended Arizona State University and the University of Arizona earning degrees from both institutions.

Joe Connolly was born and raised in Munhall Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb. Terry Pochert was born and raised in the “thumb” of Michigan on the family farm near Port Hope Michigan.

University Lutheran Church, Tempe Arizona – Delegates from the Church attended the Youth Gathering in San Antonio, Texas.

Art Fettig’s Monday Morning MemoMarch 12, 2012 …

When asked what surprised him most about humanity, the Dalai Lama answered, “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

This is the time of the year when retail clerks catch a lot of undeserved verbal abuse from the people they’re trying to serve.  Stores are crowded, people are in a hurry, check-out lines are long and tempers are short.  Under these circumstances, a kind word or gesture from you can brighten a retail clerk’s day.

What if you woke up tomorrow morning and discovered that you were running for the high office of President of the United States? Would you find yourself going “Daaa” or maybe you would discover a growing line up of unhappy women accusing you of improper behavior ten or twenty or maybe in my case sixty-five or more years ago.

If you asked me what the best investment I ever made, I would have to say it was the $12 I paid to take the Christopher Leadership Course back in 1957.

When I was a kid growing up in Michigan there was a radio show I sometimes listened to and it began with that above statement.

Last week, a fair number of you got a kick out of my …

Buy fake/novelty university diplomas and degrees online. We design our Degree or Diploma Certificates and Transcripts to look 99.99% identical to world famous originals including identical security grade transcript paper, identical water markings, raised-ink crests, embossed seals, correct card stock weight (60-100lb depending upon institution specifications). Most post-secondary institutions available.

This past Saturday, I was trimming shrubs around the pool. I was a little stressed because I wanted to finish the job that afternoon. As I walked around the corner of the pool to get a trimmer, I lost my balance.

Most of us are aware of campus ministry alum Ian Lee and his work reporting for  CNN and Fox on Tarhir Square, Egypt.  He has since gone on to Libya to work for Time magazine and CNN.

Evan Moilan was our Campus Minister for several years. Wife Heather was one of our students and a member of ULC.  Their current community of Bastrop, Texas was devestated by recent fires in Texas.

…unhappiness in our lives. Art Fettig’s …

Did you ever notice how some people seem to be involved in just about anything that needs doing? Whether it is at work or church or the schools their children attend, they just have a habit of saying “yes”.

Are you the kind of person who does only what is required or have you developed that remarkable success habit of always adding a little more to your efforts? It is like the frosting on the cake, the real cream in the coffee . 

In North Carolina this just might become known as The Great Storm Of The 21st Century.  

While many New Year’s resolutions such as losing weight, getting organized or expanding your horizons can be difficult to follow through on, here’s one that isn’t: be kind. All you need to do is smile and say something positive to the people you come into contact with.