If Time magazine decides to name a photo of the year, this from Burundi will be my nominee. The photo was taken a few months ago by Dr. Rachel McLaughlin, an ob/gyn and one of the members of the remarkable Kibuye Hope team (take a look; it is well worth 94 seconds) LPC is so privileged to support  specifically through the work of John and Jessica Cropsey, and in other ways, as well. Continue reading →

Given two roads diverging in a yellow wood, I am almost certain to take the one more traveled by.  With apologies to Robert Frost, there are children and grandchildren waiting at the end of this road.  Pennsylvania Turnpike (ten minute stop at the Sideling Hill Service Plaza) to the Ohio Turnpike (lunch at the Great Lakes Service Plaza south of Cleveland – Panera Bakery, with an optional stop at the Blue Heron Plaza near Toledo) then to Exit 121 off the Indiana Toll Road and five miles north into Michigan.  Ten hours door to door if all goes well. We really don’t want to waste time on the road less traveled by. Continue reading →

I’ve spent a bit of the early part of the day reading some of the reactions to President Obama’s executive action on immigration. I have read opinion pieces by Paul Krugman, Peggy Noonan, and several others.  I, too, have opinions, for whatever they are worth – which is not much.  I am uneasy about what some call presidential overreach. I am saddened by the inability of our system of government as framed by the Constitution to respond to the need for a new immigration policy.  Our president and the congress have failed us. The president’s decision to act unilaterally does not bode well for the life of the body politic. Obstruction by the opposition only obstructs in a time that demands leadership. Continue reading →

Many of you know that Becky and I are on the road. Today we will be heading south through the Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains and then tomorrow west across Tennessee all the way to Memphis for our youngest daughter’s wedding on Saturday. Continue reading →

It’s not been a good week for the President.  Tuesday’s election results were not encouraging, and even some of his once most ardent supporters have turned on him. And now, to top it all off, the E-pistle takes issue with a comment from his post-election news conference.

One of the reporters at the news conference asked the President, “Is the clock ticking? Are you running out of time? How much time do you have left? And what do you make of the notion that you’re now a lame duck?” Continue reading →