PAUL HARVEY....NOW PAGE 2

"We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better.

"I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

"I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated.

"I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car.
And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.

"It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

"I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

"I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.

"When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her.

"I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.

"On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

"If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one.

"I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

"When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

"I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.

"I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend

"I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with them.

"May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

"I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

"These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

"Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you.

"We secure our friends, not by accepting favors, but by doing them."

"I HAVE A DREAM" - "LET FREEDOM RING!"

Today marks the 47th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" that he delivered on the Mall of Washington, D.C.

His powerful words began a movement which has lead to opening the doors for blacks, Hispanics, women and others who were discriminated due to color, religion, etc.

"I have dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

Martin Luther Luther King concluded his famous "I have a dream" speech with the following words:

"Let freedom ring from every hill and molehil of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty we are free at last."

With government taking control business, our health, the future of our children and their children, I would ask today, "How free are we today?" What will be next...religion, speech, personal liberty, the right to bear arms?"

My friends, we are living in a very trying period of American history and we need more men and women to speak out against governmental intrusion. We need to take back the citadels of power from the local and state levels to Washington, D.C. We must continue to the battle cry, "Let freedom ring" from the North, South, East and West, "Let freedom ring" from "shore to shining shore."

May the song we sing "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside,let freedom ring."

SEN. EDWARD M. KENNEDY DIES AT AGE 77

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the "liberal lion" of the United States Senate and haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to assassins' bullets, has died at his home last night in Hyannis Port at the famous Kennedy Compound, after battling a brain tumor. He was 77.

For nearly a half-century in the Senate, Kennedy was a steadfast champion of the working class and the poor, a powerful voice on health care, civil rights, and war and peace. To the American public, though, he was best known as the last surviving son of America's most glamorous political family, the eulogist of a clan shattered again and again by tragedy.

Sen. Kennedy was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1965 where he assumed the same seat as his brother, President John F. Kennedy.

His family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," the statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all."

No matter what one's political view, the country has lossed a "political giant" who took upon himself to speak for those who had no voice and lead the charge on domestic social issues such as education, health care, welfare, etc. He was the third longest serving Senator in the history of Congress.

The real question will be who will be selected to replace him?

SUPPORT COUNTY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS

Early voting begins today, August 25th in Doña Ana County for a special election to be held on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd to decide on whether to continue a 1/4%sales tax that supports the county’s volunteer fire department.

Early voting begins today and will continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through Sept. 18, and there will be voting available on on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to a news release from the county. All early voting will be done at the Doña Ana County Government Center.

The deadline to register to vote is 5 p.m. today. The deadline to request an absentee ballot has already passed.

If you are a resident of the City of Las Cruces, the Village of Hatch, the Town of Mesilla and the City of Sunland Park you are not eligible to vote in this election. Only voters whose registered addresses are in unincorporated areas of the county will be allowed to votes.

On Election Day, polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. For a list of consolidated polling places contact the Bureau of Elections at (575) 647-7428.

TRUE TODAY AS IT WAS YESTERDAY

"Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ablility to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.

"More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

"Primarily, this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed through their own stubborness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

"True, they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit,they have proposed only the lending of more money.

"They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish."

"The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

"Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort."

This is part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address delivered on March 4, 1933 in Washington, D.C.