Schuett: Thoughts on war

By ELIZABETH SCHUETT

Gerald Staack, born in Chicago in 1931 and now living in Santa Clarita, Calif., is a retired electrical engineer who has worked on the Apollo Program at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala, and for Marquardt Corp. as Instrumentation Engineer for testing of thrust rocket reactor engines destined for NASA to steer the Lunar Landers as they touched down on the moon.

Helga, his wife of 50 years, is a survivor of Nazi Germany and Communist East Germany. Gerald and Helga have two children and three grandchildren.

On a recent trip to Berlin, Gerald picked up a pamphlet at Checkpoint Charlie sponsored by the (Swiss) Global Ethics Foundation's Literature for World Peace. The pamphlet recommended the book, "Tracing the Way" by Hans Kueng (to whom Gerald refers as one of the "most brilliant and accessible theologians of our time.")

Gerald read the book and put his thoughts on paper:

RELIGIOUS WARS

Written for My Children on Earth

Throughout history men have warred

Taken to the sword ... "for God"

"To kill is justified, they're not like us"

Your Wisemen ... seem to nod.

In war I hear those desperate prayers

From soldier's trembling breaths

Begging Me to save them from

Unfounded certain deaths

My children do not be so blind

Not just your own beliefs are right

My paths to Heaven ... they are many

Yet still I see you'd rather fight.

Christian, Jewish, Islam faiths

Hindu, Confucian, Buddha

ALL EXPRESS THEIR LOVE FOR ME

But nary for each other...

You humble, pious and devout

Do hardly know those "others"

Living three score years and ten

And barely know your brothers

I'll grant no peace among the nations

Without peace 'tween every faith

There'll be no peace among religions

Until you communicate

I see no dialogue between the faiths

For a STANDARD GLOBAL ETHIC

There's no survival for your globe

Without one ... it's pathetic

Search for truths THAT YOU AGREE ON

You'll find you're very much alike

Subdue the hatred from the pulpit

That does encourage men to fight.

Teach your young minds moral ethics

On which all religions do agree

And pray to Me how you've been taught

For ALL THE FAITHS ARE DEAR TO ME

An Ethics Class for world's children

Now that would start the way

For religious tolerance to be taught

And those fanatics kept at bay

Respect and Love for one another

Deal honestly and fairly

Respect the life I've given you

Treat everyone humanely

Teach the creed in all your Temples

In Churches, Mosques, and Schools

For sake of world harmony

You first must unify My rules

Do not pout and feel offended

How others love and pray to Me

You are all My children, and

I wait ... in love ... for all of thee

I need souls to match My mountains

I need souls to match My plains

Souls with Mankind in their purpose

And new eras in their brains ... yes

By now you know just who you are

You Leaders ... that will start anew!

To build a peace for multitudes

To serve Me now ... is up to you!

— God

p.s.: Don't make me come down there!

Composed by Gerald Staack, Dec 2006

Elizabeth Schuett writes for Cox News Service. Mail: 320 West Madison, Gibsonburg, OH 43431 or e-mail: eschuett(AT)woh.rr.com

A golf year to remember

By Larry Bohannan

The 2006 golf season was mostly about loss and gain.

Phil Mickelson gained one major and lost another. The PGA Tour lost ABC but gained Golf Channel. The LPGA lost some tournaments and gained a few others.

But mostly the season was about Tiger Woods' loss of his father, and his gains at the end of the year in his ongoing chase of history and Jack Nicklaus' records.

Here's a look at the top stories in golf from 2006:

1.

Tiger's emotional fall and rise: From the opening week of the 2006 season, when Tiger Woods skipped the Mercedes Championships amid rumors of his father's failing health, Woods and his father were the overriding story of the season. There was Woods grinding at the Masters trying and just missing to get one last major title for his father. There was Woods coming back after a 10-week layoff, including his father's death in April, missing the cut at the U.S. Open. Then there was a remarkable second half of the season that included victories at the British Open and the PGA Championship. Woods won his last six official PGA Tour starts and erased any doubts over how he would respond to his father's passing.

2.

Phil's major and major meltdown: Everything was wonderful in April for Phil Mickelson, when he won a back-nine showdown with Fred Couples to capture his second Masters green jacket in three years and his second consecutive major dating back to the 2005 PGA. Things were great for 71 holes in June, when he appeared to have won the U.S. Open. A bad drive and a double bogey later, Mickelson had blown the Open and gave us the quote of the year, "I'm such an idiot." He then all but disappeared the rest of the year, leaving fans and critics to ponder if the Masters victory was more important than the lost Open.

3.

Lorena up, Annika down: Death, taxes and dominance by Annika Sorenstam were the only sure things heading into the 2006 LPGA season. Sorenstam had a great year by almost anyone else's standards, with three victories, including the Women's U.S. Open. But Lorena Ochoa stole Sorenstam's thunder, winning six times and taking the money title and the player of the year award, each of which Sorenstam had won for five consecutive years. Sorenstam also slipped behind Karrie Webb in wins and earnings.

4.

The Ryder Cup: Another blow-out victory for the Europeans produced more questions for the Americans. Do the Americans just not care enough about this event to put up a better fight, or was Europe's 18-9 a true reflection of the Europeans' dominance over American players right now? Either way, the inspirational play of Darren Clarke just weeks after the death of his wife, was the emotional high point of the event.

5.

Bivens' first year: Carolyn Bivens' first full year as commissioner of the LPGA was as rocky as the San Jacinto Mountains at times. She and the tour butted heads with media early in the year over who controls images and stories from LPGA events. She battled tournament directors over rights fees and tournament dates. Three tournaments announced they were leaving after 2006, and other big-name, big-purse events were added. Bad feelings and ruffled feathers seemed to come as much from Bivens' style as her goal, which is to change the basic business structure of the LPGA.

6. Changes to the PGA Tour: Much of 2006 on the PGA Tour was about getting ready for 2007. In January, the tour announced new television contracts, with ABC leaving starting in 2007 and the tour hooking up with Golf Channel for 15 years. The tour also slowly started educating fans and even its own players about the FedEx Cup, the new points-based playoff race designed to instill some life into the end of a shorter season for the tour's elite players. Both changes will finally come to the tour in January.

7.

Byron Nelson: When Lord Byron died in September, golf lost its last visible star from the 1930s and into the 1940s. Nelson, a winner of 11 consecutive tournaments and 18 overall in 1945 and a winner of all three American-based majors, retired early from the game while contemporaries like Ben Hogan and Sam Snead continued to be stars well into the 1950s and even the 1960s. But Nelson's game and his character as one of the game's true gentlemen should live on for years to come.

8.

Michelle's roller-coaster: The good news is Michelle Wie finished in the top five in three LPGA majors during the year as a 16-year-old, maybe should have won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and continues to tease fans with what she could do as a full-time LPGA member. The bad news is Wie seems to have regressed in her ventures in men's tournament, finishing last in a European PGA Tour event and then a PGA Tour event at the end of the summer, then beating only one amateur player in a Japanese men's event in November. The results against the men riled up critics, but Wie and her entourage continued to insist she'll play many more men's events in coming years.

9.

The Australian factor: Geoff Ogilvy won the Accenture Match Play Championship in February, then walked into the U.S. Open victory in June. Stuart Appleby won twice, while Rod Pampling, Adam Scott, John Senden and Aaron Baddeley also won on the PGA Tour. That's eight victories, and a big reason to see Australia, not Europe, as the other force on the PGA Tour.

10.

Patty Berg: Just as Byron Nelson's death was the end of a era on the PGA Tour, Patty Berg's death gave the LPGA one less link to its star-studded past. Berg and the other LPGA founders may never have received the same popularity as the men's players of their time, but Berg's personality, showmanship and talent made her a marketable product for the early LPGA. She remained a big part of the LPGA until just a few years ago, when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Old Firm plan 'not a good idea'

The leaders of Scotland's two main churches were advised not to attend an Old Firm match together by police and security chiefs, it has been revealed.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland had planned to go to a game at Ibrox in a show of unity.

But despite Rangers being "relaxed" about the plan, security staff said it would not be a good idea.

Cape Town's Big Six: Table Mountain

This mighty sentinel often instigates a phenomenon that has inspired myths passed through generations. When weather conditions are right, convection causes clouds to sweep over the top of the mountain, much like a cloth being pulled over a table.

The views from Hoerikwaggo – (San for ‘mountain of the sea’), at 3000ft above sea level, are as spectacular as those from its summit. Table Mountain is the sole terrestrial feature to have a constellation named after it by an awe-inspired French astronomer. Mense, meaning Table, can be seen near Orion, around 12am mid-July…(just in case you were making other plans.)

International Tourism Icon
The most scenic ten minutes of your lifetime are sure to be the ascent to the summit in the rotating cable car. At the top there are free guided tours, strategically placed telescopes, viewing sites and decks as well as a dining venue guaranteed to inspire stories of unique sundowners to share with you grandchildren.

Nature Reserve
Table Mountain National Park stretches from southern Cape point to Signal Hill in the north and there are only three entry points on the vast plateau where a conservation fee is required for entry: the Cape of Good Hope, Boulders (hosting the protected Jackass penguins) and Silvermine The animals aren’t quite as lucky as the abundant fynbos species. The last lion was shot in 1802, the leopards barely lasted until 1920’s and a few species of deer, snakes tortoises and nocturnal carnivores survive. A couple of Himalayan Tahrs escaped from a nearby zoo and set up camp on the harder-to reach crags of the mountain. They humanely were culled and replaced by an indigenous species of deer known as

Tips

Altitude does fascinating things to temperature – take something warm no matter how pleasant the day may appear at sea level.

For the best travel advice to Cape Town and other South African destinations, use CityGuideSA.com!