A visit to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, was for me a moving experience.  The impact of the horrific attack catapulted the United States into World War II and directly affected the lives of millions of Americans, including my family.  You see, my father, caught up in the national indignation and patriotic fervor that swept the nation, enlisted in the U.S. Navy three days later.

On October 10, 2009, Guy Laliberté, the founder of "Le cirque du soleil," produced from space a show titled: "From the earth to space for water." The spectacle was to promote the awareness of water as a precious and disappearing commodity. More and more people are finding themselves in a desperate race to find water.

Many families have a "rich uncle," and I had mine. My father's brother had the knack.  Whatever he did seemed to prosper.  A product of hard times in the Great Depression, he had known poverty, scratching out a living on his father's truck farm raising vegetables for market. He was highly motivated to do well and he had the energy, drive and desire to pursue his dreams and ambitions.  As the years rolled by, his efforts paid off as he plowed the earnings from his automobile business into real estate.

"Unity" is a beautiful word.  For me, it has the connotation of strength, peace and tranquility.  It is great when a family, a business, a church or a nation is united, unified, hanging together, being of one mind. Imagine what can be accomplished when everyone is pulling in the same direction, pursuing compatible goals and pressing forward with a common purpose. There have only been rare glimpses of such a state of affairs in this country in my lifetime.

A few decades ago, a virtually unknown screenwriter created a nine-part, feature-length saga, telling of an intergalactic fight between good and evil. The screen writer, George Lucas, shot to stardom virtually overnight with the release of his blockbuster film Star Wars, over 30 years ago.