Later this week will mark 17 years since that phone call woke me at 1am. It was my mother. She said, “I’m at the hospital. Your father died.” It was a shock. He was 74 years old. He had been retired for over 15 years. He rode an exercise bike every morning. Watched his weight and ate healthy. He was even under the care of a cardiologist for years. He had a minor event back in the early 1980s. He was checked out at the time, and started to see the doctor on a regular basis. All his tests and checkups were good. When I finally got to my mother’s house, two hours away, I asked the obvious question. What happened? She said they went to bed about 11pm after my father watched the Mets game. Everything was fine. About an hour later, he woke up with a pain in his back. She said he thought maybe he twisted it in his sleep. He went into the bathroom. He then said she should call an ambulance. She helped him get some pants on, and she led him downstairs to the kitchen to wait for the ambulance. He put his head down on the table, and passed out.

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Finally, someone is going to prison for one of the greatest crime sprees in history. Australian Cardinal George Pell was just sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing two 13 year old boys in a sacristy after Sunday mass in 1996. He was convicted of five counts in December. Under Australian law, the trial was conducted under what’s called a “super injunction” which essentially is a secret trial. This means there was a total news blackout on the trial. The first trial ended in a hung jury. Pell was tried again, and convicted. The conviction was only unsealed two weeks ago. Pell was one of the most powerful cardinals in the Catholic Church. In addition to being the archbishop of Melbourne, he was the pope’s chief financial officer. He is a big fish.

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Tonight we get an hour closer to spring with the arrival of Daylight Saving Time. Much has been written about the rites of spring. A season of renewal, new growth, and of course, warm weather. Nothing symbolizes the awakening of spring for those of us living  in the land of snow and ice, as spring training baseball. Yes, it’s mid 70s and sunny right now in Florida, and young men are dancing on diamonds. Last week, my wife and I had the chance to watch the ritual in one of the little gem ballparks. Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter is the spring home of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins. It’s one of only two stadiums in Florida that’s home to two major league teams. It’s also the home of four minor league teams. You can get your baseball up close and personal.

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You’re suppose to get an annual physical, especially as you get older. I hadn’t had one in two years. I had a family history question that I thought I could get answered on the phone. I called the doctor’s office, and asked if I could speak with him. The receptionist said sure. He’ll have to call you back at the end of the day. I thought it would take at least another call the next day to get him. I was a little surprised when he did call back at the end of the day. I asked him my question, assuming he would tell me to go to a specialist, but he sprung the trap. He said I hadn’t had a physical in two years, and I should come in for the physical and discuss the family history question. How could I say no?

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They call it “A Happy Place”. There are a lot of reasons. First, the weather is monotonously perfect. It’s like “Groundhog’s Day”. You wake up everyday and it’s sunny, with a bright blue sky, puffy clouds that look like big balls of cotton, temperature in the mid 80s, and a gentle breeze. The daily mean temperature is 82.6 degrees. The average low temperature is 78.6 degrees. Oh, and everyone is nice. The

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We just completed “The Year of the Woman” that ended with a record number of women being elected to the US House of Representatives. Women were energized by the #MeToo movement. Almost a hundred years ago, they were fighting for the right to vote, never mind actually holding office. The fight for the right to vote came down to one vote by one young man and his mother. Among the terrific displays of the history of our constitution at the National Constitution Center here in Philadelphia, is small plaque that tells the story of Harry Burn and his mother Febb. It tells you all you need to know about the power of one vote, and the determination to do the right thing under pressure.

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“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” Sound familiar? How about this, “I deplore with you the putrid state into which our newspapers have passed…the vulgarity…of those who write for them.” No, it’s not one of our worst presidents. It’s one of our best, Thomas Jefferson. All presidents have issues with the press. These statements came when Jefferson was president and years after he left office. He was attacked by supporters of John Adams during the 1800 election for president. He was criticized for favoring France, for being an atheist, for fathering children with one of his slaves, which turned out to be true. Jefferson supporters called Adams a fool, a hypocrite, and a criminal. All of this played out in newspapers which supported each candidate. Despite Jefferson’s critcizism of the press, historians believe he was a strong supporter of a free press.

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December marks the end of the year, until we get to the last day and we celebrate the start of a new year. Once Thanksgiving is over, everyone starts the big push toward Christmas which is one of the few bright spots in the month. The days get shorter. It’s dark at 4:30 leading to the shortest day of the year on the 21st. It gets colder. It doesn’t have a good image in music and literature. Simon and Garfunkel sing about, “A winter’s day, in deep and dark December, I am alone.” Mr. Sunshine himself, Edgar Allen Poe wrote, “Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.” It’s unfortunately a time to look back on the year.

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When you’re retired you have time to do things you would never think of doing while you were working. One of the guys in our weekly golfing group had the idea to take a tour of the Citizens Bank Park. We were set up for a 10:30am tour on Friday. Our natural instinct is to avoid weekends when the rest of the world does stuff. Five of us piled into one car and headed down to the ballpark. We parked right outside the entrance to the Majestic Store, where they sell all the Phillies gear. It was strange to be there in the middle of thousands of empty parking spots. We went in, and paid our seven dollars. We were joined by a couple from Los Angeles who were big Dodger fans. George our guide met us right on time, and we were off for a behind the scenes look at an American institution.

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Thomas Jefferson said, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” There has always been an adversarial relationship between the press and the government. The most recent example of this was the confrontation between CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta and President Trump at a bizarre and troubling news conference this past week. Acosta has been aggressive in questioning and challenging the president, and his Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the daily White House briefings. Trump has repeatedly criticized CNN for its reporting on his administration calling it “fake news” when it report things he doesn’t like, or it calls him out for making obvious false statements and telling lies. But, the dramatic exchange on live TV between Acosta and Trump was something we’ve never seen before.

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