Spring is upon us once again (although I wonder after the snow of a few days ago). Here is a chance for “renewing” and being thankful for the many blessings that we have in this great country. Granted, there are problems and difficulties that confront many Americans each day, but we are much better off then the great majority in this world.
One of our blessings is the freedom that we can express in our daily lives. These blessing and freedoms should not be taken for granted. It is through the dedication and sacrifice of many Americans that we continue to be free, especially those that serve us in the military.
Our military personnel are the backbone in preserving the ideals that formed this country. My son recently returned safely from a year’s deployment in Iraq. Many sons, daughters, husbands and wives did not return safely. Many gave the ultimate sacrifice and many will be maimed for life. This sacrifice affects not only the individual, but also the spouses, children, parents and friends of each of them.
Being raised in a military family, with a father who served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and in my service in the Vietnam War, I am especially proud of what our military does for each one of us.
But we as the general public need to not only wholeheartedly support our troops, but also do what we can to support our governmental officials.
Granted, sometimes our government may not do what we feel is the right thing or we may blame them for circumstances that we may not understand, but they deserve our support and respect just the same.
We can do our part by voting responsibly, obeying our laws that are enacted for our safety and protection, being considerate of our neighbors and communities and helping those who may be unable to help themselves.
We are one big community and need to support each other in our daily struggles and adversities and share in the joys and abundance of our lives.
We all need to give that extra amount of concern and love that is so dearly needed by each one of us. God bless America and the world.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Soapbox Racing to the top
Boy wonder Daniel Hefford has some pretty big boots to fill.
The 11-year-old is a student at Bruce McLaren Intermediate, the school named after one of the world's most famous racing car drivers.
Daniel has just won the national soapbox derby and will now represent New Zealand at the All American version in the United States in July.
Plenty of people at the school have drawn parallels between Daniel and McLaren - the youngest man to win a world championship Formula One Grand Prix event.
Teachers are quick to point out that Bruce McLaren pupils also came second and fourth at the national soapbox derby finals.
"They are all following in the traditions of a great racing driver," principal David Crickmer says.
The school holds a special assembly once a year to honour McLaren, who was killed, aged 32, on June 2, 1970, while testing a Can Am car at Goodwood motor circuit in Britain.
It is closely affiliated with a trust set up in his memory and receives regular visits from one of his sisters.
Its orchestra entertained family matriarch Ruth McLaren each year in the resthome where she lived until her death several years ago.
"We're all very proud of our links with Bruce McLaren," Mr Crickmer says.
Daniel looks forward to learning more about the great driver as his year progresses.
But first he's got a race to win.
He'll be heading to the big event in Akron, Ohio, with his father and avid supporter John.
"I'm really excited and I'll be on TV and radio," Daniel says.
The Rotary club of Waitakere City, organiser of the west Auckland soapbox heats, will mint a special metal badge for Daniel to swap with other racers.
It will also be selling the badges to help raise funds to cover travel expenses.
About 350 competitors are expected to take part in the race.
Other members of the Bruce McLaren team were Chayse James (second), Sahrenah Mullin (fourth), Lily Fityus, Stephanie Reynolds, Kyle Crummer, Maiwand Saeedi and Nathan Tauelima.
The 11-year-old is a student at Bruce McLaren Intermediate, the school named after one of the world's most famous racing car drivers.
Daniel has just won the national soapbox derby and will now represent New Zealand at the All American version in the United States in July.
Plenty of people at the school have drawn parallels between Daniel and McLaren - the youngest man to win a world championship Formula One Grand Prix event.
Teachers are quick to point out that Bruce McLaren pupils also came second and fourth at the national soapbox derby finals.
"They are all following in the traditions of a great racing driver," principal David Crickmer says.
The school holds a special assembly once a year to honour McLaren, who was killed, aged 32, on June 2, 1970, while testing a Can Am car at Goodwood motor circuit in Britain.
It is closely affiliated with a trust set up in his memory and receives regular visits from one of his sisters.
Its orchestra entertained family matriarch Ruth McLaren each year in the resthome where she lived until her death several years ago.
"We're all very proud of our links with Bruce McLaren," Mr Crickmer says.
Daniel looks forward to learning more about the great driver as his year progresses.
But first he's got a race to win.
He'll be heading to the big event in Akron, Ohio, with his father and avid supporter John.
"I'm really excited and I'll be on TV and radio," Daniel says.
The Rotary club of Waitakere City, organiser of the west Auckland soapbox heats, will mint a special metal badge for Daniel to swap with other racers.
It will also be selling the badges to help raise funds to cover travel expenses.
About 350 competitors are expected to take part in the race.
Other members of the Bruce McLaren team were Chayse James (second), Sahrenah Mullin (fourth), Lily Fityus, Stephanie Reynolds, Kyle Crummer, Maiwand Saeedi and Nathan Tauelima.
Microsoft suspends Soapbox beta
Microsoft has temporarily closed the door to new users of its Soapbox video sharing site, which was opened up to public beta just last month.
The software giant claimed that putting a hold on new accounts for the next two months will help it limit the amount of copyright-protected content being uploaded to the site.
The move will also give the firm an opportunity to tweak the filtering software used to automatically find and remove illegal uploads.
Soapbox now requires users to login using their Windows Live ID before they can watch or upload videos.
Microsoft said that it will be "opening the doors again very soon with some cool new stuff to try".
Alongside Soapbox's temporary restrictions came an announcement from Microsoft that it has reached an agreement to act as a distribution channel for NBC/Universal and News Corp.
"We were thrilled to be a part of these discussions from the start, and to share our vision for delivering easy access to great content for consumers while accommodating critical copyright and intellectual property protections," said Microsoft Platform and Services president Kevin Johnson.
"This partnership proves that we can do both and serves as a great foundation for future collaboration."
As well as manually removing copyrighted clips if notified by copyright holders, Microsoft will use Audible Magic's CopySense Network Appliance digital-fingerprinting technology to automatically find and block protected content.
The software giant claimed that putting a hold on new accounts for the next two months will help it limit the amount of copyright-protected content being uploaded to the site.
The move will also give the firm an opportunity to tweak the filtering software used to automatically find and remove illegal uploads.
Soapbox now requires users to login using their Windows Live ID before they can watch or upload videos.
Microsoft said that it will be "opening the doors again very soon with some cool new stuff to try".
Alongside Soapbox's temporary restrictions came an announcement from Microsoft that it has reached an agreement to act as a distribution channel for NBC/Universal and News Corp.
"We were thrilled to be a part of these discussions from the start, and to share our vision for delivering easy access to great content for consumers while accommodating critical copyright and intellectual property protections," said Microsoft Platform and Services president Kevin Johnson.
"This partnership proves that we can do both and serves as a great foundation for future collaboration."
As well as manually removing copyrighted clips if notified by copyright holders, Microsoft will use Audible Magic's CopySense Network Appliance digital-fingerprinting technology to automatically find and block protected content.
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