Our great country has celebrated yet another Independence Day. It was 232 years ago, the year 1776, when Minuteman fought the British and won. This is why we celebrate our freedom by parades, backyard cook-outs, community fire works displays and to pause for those who gave the supreme sacrifice for this day.

What is a true patriot? One who loves his country, pledges his allegiance to the flag, wears a flag lapel pin with the stars and stripes, simply any or all of the above when you do it with pride and honor.

“Hot, humid and a lot of rain” (and in some cases hail) pretty sums up the weather for the past couple of weeks. That is typical for summer-time fishing.

The dolphin bite continues to be satisfactory but they are not as plentiful as in the spring. Most action is in the 16-20 fathom range. The King Mackerel continue to be just inside -- mostly on wrecks and artificial reefs. The bottom bite for vermilion and Lane snapper, back sea bass, trigger fish, and genuine American red snapper continues to be good. A little deeper the gags and red grouper are being caught. Past the 28 fathom curve, big red porgies and snowy and scamp grouper have been boated.

Here is something to think about:Did you read about the United States Supreme Court ruling on no crosses? On any federal property. Can you imagine? The Supreme Court not wanting a Christian cross on any federal land.

Question? Where are all of our soldiers who gave the supreme sacrifice and are buried in not only Arlington National Cemetery but the cemeteries across the world on federal property?
Does this mean we will have to remove these thousands upon thousands of their crosses?

When are we going to learn?

Now that the Democratic primaries are over and Barack Obama has a substantial lead in delegates and superdelegates, what does it all mean?

Ninety-nine years ago this year, a woman heard a sermon on Mother’s Day that gave her an the idea that there should also be a Father’s Day.

Sonora Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

The many billions of dollars spent so far on the Iraq war is peanuts compared to the unplanned costs for veterans health care and benefits. The cost of the war in Iraq is only in the early stages. The Department of Defense has not even taken into consideration the damage done indirectly to the future life of the veteran and his or her family. The D.O.D. has disclosed that nearly 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although they admit many more are likely keeping it a secret.