J. Davy Crockett III

"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.

Have you noticed that some words fairly drip with meaning? Even the sounds of these words help convey their meaning. You know the kind I mean. Words like: snap, boom, sizzle, (or fizzle) – words like expunge, lunge, whack and whirl. Interesting, you might say, but not very significant. Yet words do have an impact.

Recently, I realized a dream, a long-held goal to visit Ireland, England and Scotland. My timing wasn't very good because the "Yankee Dollar" doesn't buy much anymore, especially in the United Kingdom or the European Union. But it was a great opportunity and my wife and I enjoyed it immensely.

What's your pleasure? A question that is often asked in this hedonistic society, especially in the Western world, seemingly insulated from the incredible devastation that has struck the Asian countries in recent times.

Once, as I drove through a part of our city, I was taken aback by the number of tattoo parlors that had sprung up to meet the obvious demand for what some call "body art." Some were upscale storefronts with catchy names; others were seedy looking establishments.