Dozens of books stuffed full of newspaper and magazine articles were stacked on the dresser and television set of Walter Schmitt's spartan room the day he died last year. As his last hours slipped away, the Gresham, Neb., native chatted about current events with a friend and prayed a little.

The 94-year-old was a retired blacksmith, a high school graduate and a lifelong learner. He also was a millionaire.

After a life of frugal living and wise investing, Schmitt gave to others in death what he didn't have in life: a college education.

Schmitt gave his entire $3.5 million estate to the University of Nebraska Foundation. The gift, known as the Schmitt Scholarship Fund, will provide scholarships annually to students at the four University of Nebraska campuses, said Dorothy Endacott, foundation spokeswoman.

 

(Read more about this man who is making an impact even after his life in this world is over. A life of frugality leaves millions for scholarships )

 President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers. It's unlikely the detention facility at the Navy base in Cuba will be closed anytime soon. In an interview last weekend, Obama said it would be "a challenge" to close it even within the first 100 days of his administration.

But the order, which one adviser said could be issued as early as Jan. 20, would start the process of deciding what to do with the estimated 250 al-Qaida and Taliban suspects and potential witnesses who are being held there. Most have not been charged with a crime.

 

(Can you image one of  Qaida and Taliban suspects being given a trial in an American court room.  It is too bad Obama and others on the left don't care as much about the lack of human rights given by the Cuba government We could have a repeat of the first trial of OJ with some ACLU soul  defending one of these killers. It would be crazy if Obama does close this prison. God help us if he does. Read more on this issue right here.) 

 

 The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon George Bush's ­doctrine of isolating Hamas by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say. ( PAPER: OBAMA CAMP READY TO OPEN UP DIALOGUE WITH HAMAS... DEVELOPING...)

The move to open contacts with Hamas, which could be initiated through the US intelligence services, would represent a definitive break with the Bush ­presidency's ostracising of the group. The state department has designated Hamas a terrorist organisation, and in 2006 ­Congress passed a law banning US financial aid to the group.

 

(This is something which should concern all of us. Why should we sit down with people who want to see our nation destroyed along with the Jewish state brought down. They want to kill every person who is not a radical follower of Islam. It is looking more and more like Obama doesn't care about keeping America safe and fighting evil. Shame on him if he does this.Also if he keeps doing things like this and  if we have another 911 attack Obama and those who work for him will be punished by the voters. )

 Sixteen years after Bill Clinton tried to end restrictions on gays in the military, the US armed forces under Barack Obama may be forced to give homosexuals the same welcome as non-gays.

Under president Clinton, the policy that once saw homosexuals discharged from US military service evolved to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," allowing gays to remain in the military so long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation.

Obama has pledged to overhaul current law.

"The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited," reads an entry on the president-elect's transition website.

Shortly after taking the oath of office in 1993, Clinton originally moved for an outright ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation in the military

 

(If Obama does this it will very much hurt him and  make it more  likely he will be a one term President. The purpose of the arm forces is to defend our great nation and  not encourage the ideas of the radical left. Why should a committed follower of Jesus who is in the arm forces  be forced to sleep next to  a man who might be gay. Read more on this story Obama era expected to end taboo on gays in military.)...

 The third-grade students at Manchester Elementary look forward to Margaret Andrews' visits.

Twice a week Andrews, an 83-year-old former teacher, helps students with their studies. She enjoys contact with the young minds. She likes to teach and share.

"It's a wonderful age," Andrews said about the third-graders. "I would be happy to do more."

For her efforts, the Elkhorn Public Schools Foundation recently named Andrews mentor of the year.

"She is exceptional," said Susan King, a third-grade teacher at Manchester, near 174th and Blondo Streets in the Elkhorn school district. "There are times I think she is mentoring me, too."

Andrews is like clockwork, King said, tutoring students twice a week, spending about an hour each visit. For two years, she has helped with everything from social studies to science. But her main focus is reading and math.

Whether it's her many life lessons, her approach to learning or her giving nature, Andrews' connection with children is evident. There is something special about her, King said.

"You can definitely see her bond with my kids because they are asking to go work with her," King said.

Andrews also spends two days a week with high school students at Boys Town. That work is more challenging, she said, but equally rewarding.

She's not interested in the circumstances that led the students to Boys Town - she just wants to help them better themselves.

 

(Read more about this Make A. Difference Lady Mentor finds joy in children.)

Back to the "same old, same old."

With those simple words, 15-year-old Thomas Auen summed up the beautiful normalcy that fills his home at Christmastime this year.
Small signs betray the ordeal Thomas and his family have endured over the past six months - a gift bag overflowing with cards from well-wishers, a handicap-accessible ramp at the front door, a slight limp when Thomas walks forward to greet a visitor.

But if a specter of the tornado that ravaged the Little Sioux Scout Ranch clouds Thomas' life, it isn't apparent in his wide smile or his sparkling blue eyes.
Six months ago, that storm changed some lives and ended others. Four boys died and 42 were injured when a tornado hit the Boy Scout camp in Monona County, Iowa.
Since then, Thomas has undergone 10 surgeries, months of physical therapy and months in a wheelchair, working toward a new version of normal.

For most kids, normal isn't being greeted by President Bush. It's not having a new trachea constructed out of cartilage from your rib. It's not having football players carry you up the stairs in your wheelchair on your first day of high school.

 

(Read the whole story from above Despite ordeal, Scout Ranch survivor says he 'got off easy'.)

So what were the top stories in 2008 and what will happen in 2009. To find out what I think check out this video right here.

 Ignoring threats from the U.S. Senate Democratic leadership to block his pick, Gov. Blagojevich this afternoon said he's appointing Roland Burris to President-elect Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat.

"The people of Illinois are entitled to have two U.S. Senators," said Blagojevich, whose arrest on corruption charges earlier this month places Burris' appointment under a cloud. "If I don't make this appointment then the people of Illinois will be deprived."

(Boy oh boy and you thought we couldn't get anymore exciting news at the end of this year. It looks like Gov. Blagojevich cares anything about the law and waiting for  the process of the courts to take place. This man needs to be removed from office ASAP. This kind of reminds me of the things which happen  when Clinton was our leader in regards to not following the courts. Read more on this issue Blago names Roland Burris to Obama's Senate seat..)

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A combative Gov. Rod Blagojevich served notice Friday that he has no intention of quitting over his corruption arrest, declaring: "I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong." The forceful three-minute speech marked the first time the former amateur boxer directly addressed the allegations since his arrest 10 days earlier. Full Story»

(Well it looks like there is going to be a fight in Ill. I hope the other powers and leaders in that state will do what is right and bring the full weight of the law down on Gov. Blagojevich.If this man truly cared about the people of his state and doing what is right he would step down at once.)

 A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay. (  Congress Gives Itself Raise...   )

Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries, and watchdog groups are not happy about it.

 

“As lawmakers make a big show of forcing auto executives to accept just $1 a year in salary, they are quietly raiding the vault for their own personal gain,” said Daniel O’Connell, chairman of The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a non-partisan group. “This money would be much better spent helping the millions of seniors who are living below the poverty line and struggling to keep their heat on this winter.”

However, at 2.8 percent, the automatic raise that lawmakers receive is only half as large as the 2009 cost of living adjustment of Social Security recipients.

Rep. Harry Mitchell, a first-term Democrat from Arizona, sponsored legislation earlier this year that would have prevented the automatic pay adjustments from kicking in for members next year. But the bill, which attracted 34 cosponsors, failed to make it out of committee.

 

(This is a political outrage. It is also very upsetting that a bill  which would have  stopped  things like this from happening doesn't even make it out of committee.)

  The abduction happened 27 years ago, at a time when parents routinely left their children playing in the toy store, unattended, and continued shopping.

But when Reve Walsh returned to pick up her 6-year-old son, he wasn't there. Over the mall loudspeaker, the plea came: "Adam Walsh, please come to customer service."

Two weeks later, fishermen discovered the boy's severed head in a canal 120 miles away from the Hollywood mall. His body was never found.

The case led to advances in police searches for missing youngsters and a notable shift in the view parents and children have of the world.

On Tuesday, police closed their investigation. They said a serial killer who died more than a decade ago in prison was responsible for Adam's death. They admitted making crucial errors in the case and apologized to the Walshes.

But Adam's death, and his father's transformation from a hotel developer to an activist, helped put missing children's faces on milk cartons and in mailboxes, started fingerprinting programs and increased security at schools and stores.

(What happened to little Adam was sick and evil. What his dad has done since to help others who have been hurt by crime  is a story of good winning over evil. Read more on this issue Adam Walsh case transformed missing kid searches.)