J. Ojanpera

I learned about the "Well-Being Index"  while going through my normal news selection process a couple of days ago. It was a story that I might not have read on a different day, but I dug in this day. I wish I hadn't now. It was unsettling, and so dissapointing. This index, compiled by Gallup-Healthways , uses factors such as education levels, general attitude toward life, and obesity -among others. The data is interesting, if not fully scientific, but isn't that the nature of a poll? The article also has a list of the most content cities, but by the time I reached number three on the most miserable list, I quit reading. I was born in Palm Beach, FL, moved to Cortez, CO where I spent my formative years, then wound up in Mobile, Al. My family is made up of Finnish immigrants, "yankees" (as they say in the South), and my dad is French. These things add up to someone who will never fit in down here, no matter how much time passes. I have been told as much by a...

Karma, and the way it works can only be defined through speculation or in hind-sight. It goes by many different names and phrases, but it is best summed up with one word. Karma is an organism that pays us back for the way we played the hand we were dealt. Like God, karma is sovreign and indiscriminate. It's judgements can be instant, or they can take a lifetime. Like it or not; it always comes back around. Carnival Cruise Lines has had some issues of late. First it was the Triumph. It broke down somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, and had to be towed to Mobile port, in the humble city of Mobile, Al. The ship was able to be towed here because we have a $29 million cruise terminal. This cruise terminal was built around the promise of a cruise line taking up residence in our city. The problem with this situation began when the great leaders of our city decided to go the "Field of Dreams" route by building this terminal with nothing more than a hand shake with Carnival. They st...