The military's Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy is discrimination sanctioned by a law -- a law that doesn't make sense."Since don't ask, don't tell was introduced, the military has discharged more than 13,000 lesbians, gays and bisexuals, according to the Service members Legal Defense Network. A 2005 government report found that about 800 of them had skills deemed 'critical,' such as engineering and linguistics, and that it cost the military about $200 million to recruit and train their replacemen... Read Full Story

for my sonsIf I were given the chance to live againTo feel the pure love of a mother and fatherTo revel with the friends I never hadTo run where my heart wished toAnd meet a true loveIf I were given an elixirTo make the past disappearTo remove the pains of my youthTo erase the sorrows that destroyed my faithAnd look at life with a smooth browIf I were granted the powerTo change one moment of my storyTo alter the course of my existenceTo explore new universesAnd all that it would entail I woul... Read Full Story

Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.They come through you but not from you,and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.You may give them your love, but not your thoughts.For they have their own thoughts.You may house their bodies but not their souls,for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.For life go... Read Full Story

I was walking through the grocery store the other day, and I was struck by the red apples that were on display. They were larger than the apples I have seen earlier this season. I picked up one of those luscious looking red apples, and inhaled deeply. I was instantly transported to a different time. When I was four and five years old, I lived in a rural part of Washington State near the border of Canada on an apple orchard. While my parents were working in the orchard, us children stayed... Read Full Story

We are not rainmen in the persuit of hope. We cannot dance around and wait for some of it to fall on us -- however parched we are for it. We must ride up into the clouds and seize it, force it down our gullets, and let it infuse our hungry cells. Hope is not for the helpless. Hope is for those brave enough to fight for it. Read Full Story

Thrift storeDEFINITION: A non-profit or for-profit retail establishment selling previously owned, second-hand items ranging from clothes, housewares, appliances, books, electronics, and miscellanea. Donations to thrift stores are usually tax-deductible. Here Wikipedia's international description of a thrift store, also known as a charity shop.The thrift store was always an exciting place to go growing up. We didn’t have a lot of money, so every couple of months, we’d hit the local thrift... Read Full Story

Even though the Southern California sun is scorching the land and wildfires are raging throughout parts of Los Angeles and Riverside counties, the summer is officially ending for me and my sons. We have been lazing around, watching television, playing, spending time with each other, going to the beach, the park, and just enjoying ourselves. Sure, I have had to go to work almost every day, but having my sons at home (and not having to whisk them about for child care and other activities) has... Read Full Story

As children, most of us grew up with the belief that there are nine planets in our solar system. I was taught a very cute mnemonic device (My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles) to remember the names of the planets in the correct order (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) . Millions of solar system models have been made -- giving easy A's to kids around the world. Every primary science textbook and hard-bound encyclopedia shows these 9 pla... Read Full Story

While souls sing ofTheir dreams once forgottenEyes flash across the throngsAnd alight on desireMusic cascades downMounds of fleshAnd pools in the thighsParted in danceSmiles are illuminatedBy the red lights overheadFlaws erased by the darknessAnd the burning of spiritsThe echo of billiardsLanding in pocketsEmpty of tithing moneyReverberates in the lullsHymns to the gods of leisureWhile discordant voicesSing away the nightNot mother's lullabyBut comforting nonetheless Read Full Story

There was a character on the show, "That 70's Show," named Kitty Foreman [Debra Jo Rupp]. I will just assume you don't know who she is. She was the "matriarch" that watched over a group of teens that hung out with her son. Whenever she was happy, nervous, worried, extremely uncomfortable, or speechless, she would let out a high-pitched laugh. I can't help but relate her laughs to my bouts of laughter. I can't quite convey how it happens. I find the weirdest things funny. I find the pl... Read Full Story