Aretha Franklin

This month is completely difficult for me losing important people who've contributed to my personal and professional career as public government leadership.

Meeting..

I sit here remembering the very beginning of first being introduced to Aretha Franklin by Nancy Reagan the wife of President Ronald Reagan with a warm hello from a gentle lady named Aretha. It was years after meeting Greta Scott King the wife of Dr Martin Luther King that I was given the great fortune of meeting Aretha Franklin who marched to the Washington National Monument and gave his very famous I Have a Dream speech to millions of people who clapped,cheering his leadership on civil and human rights. Ronald and Nancy Reagan were at a charity function which I attended for the National Rifle Association when Nancy tap me gently on the shoulder saying come over here with me I've got someone important I want you to meet her.. I'd been involved in the NRA and other charity & political organizations with my first wife Princess of Wales Diana Spencer for a long time so I turned to Nancy saying yes and we met Ronald at the other side of the room where Aretha Franklin said Hello to me Hi I'm Aretha Franklin how are you with a warm smile. Wayne Lapierre the Director of NRA noticed that we were talking together and briefly walking up said Nice group of people here it certainly looks like we're going make this a bigger bash than what we planned for original. He shook our hands,tap his glass filled with wine to all our glasses going around with Ronald,Nancy,Aretha and me then he walked away. Ronald turned the conversation towards me with this is Aretha Franklin America Civil Rights leader who's marched with Greta Scott King King,Dr Martin Luther King,Reverend Jesse Jackson,Reverend Al Sharpton,Senator John Cole all of whom were involved with Dr King on the Civil Rights march in Washington D.C.. I extended my hand shaking Aretha Franklin hands saying very honored to meet you Ronald and Nancy have told me a lot about you. This was my first time of what would become a lifetime friendship with all the Civil Rights movement leaders in the same room. My wife Princess Diana telephone me after the charity function from London to tell me she was going to hop a flight to Boston and I'll see you soon honey,I love you and I talked briefly about meeting all the Civil Rights movement leadership in the same room including Aretha Franklin. Diana said to me that your dear friend Pope John Paul is asking about you again wants to meet with you in his next visit to America or United Kingdom which ever is easier for you to do. Okay I'll let him know through Queen Elizabeth that you will meet with him. Love you bye.. Today I'm filled with memories of a lifetime friendship with both Greta Scott King and Aretha Franklin who died this week. I reflect on the public march down Pennsylvania Avenue with Bill and Hillary Clinton arm and arm together with the last surviving members of the Civil Rights movement to what would be the inaugural of President Clinton. It's the day that Greta Scott King stood up on a cold morning in front of millions in the capital of Washington,DC to read her riveting God Bless America speech and her poetry. I've at this point already served in the @WhiteHouse with former President Ronald Reagan so I'm familiar with inauguration proceedings and feasible activities. I remember looking out at the millions of people while I sat with Ronald and Nancy Reagan listening to Greta Scott King thinking this is a great day in my life to be here. One by one the Civil Rights leadership stood up at the podium Reverend Jesse Jackson,Reverend Al Sharpton,Greta Scott King,Aretha Franklin,Senator John Cole and the millions of people in the crowd as far as my eyes could see whistling,clapping and cheering for each speaking about the Civil Rights movement and the enormous amount of value America has to being leader of the democracy and freedom. Then Ronald Reagan stood up handing to the newly elected President William Jefferson Clinton a Holy Bible and a handwritten letter before waving to the crowd saying a final goodbye. This day the Liberty Bell was special brightly lighted for the Inauguration of my close friend William Jefferson Clinton with the Chief Justice of Supreme Court administering the oath of office with Greta Scott King,Reverend Jesse Jackson,Reverend Al Sharpton,Senator John Cole each taking turns reading a Holy Bible scriptures on the podium as part of Bill Clinton being installed President of America. It's a great day to directly involved with a inaugural address to a nation and the planet which I'm fortunate to be one of few men given the privilege,honor to have a long career in the @WhiteHouse .. While I remember this important friend who's died Aretha Franklin I'm deep in thought over the good effects that a mutual lifetime friend has on my life with her knowledge,candor,wisdom she has given me.

Thank you,God Bless you Aretha Franklin and Rest in Peace.
Your words and you will not be forgotten by me the 9th Elected United Nations Planet Leader of Earth.

H.E. John F Norton Jr.

Wild Animals

I'm sitting here writing this article on wild animals because it's impact on my lifetime involvement in being a outdoor sportsman. I've grown up with a Royal Family that is very active in sport hunting animals,fishing,trapping,camping and outdoor activities. I've myself hunted animals,fish,seafood for sport and for food because of liking the taste of it. I'm familiar with being a outdoor enthusiast who has on my free time hunting,camping,fishing,trapping,geocaching exploration,snorkeling,wreck diving on sunken ships,cave exploration,rock climbing,exploring woods,mountains and trails,snowshoeing,snowmobile,dog sledding,lumber jacking,cross country skiing,etc  I've ridden horses long distance into the backwoods of New England states from Virginia to the Maine border of Canada which is Jackman,Millonocket,Calais area so I'm pretty knowledgeable about what to expect being far away from civilization. It's always
different being out in the woods when you're riding horses because you're aware that if your horse gets spooked by something in the area you could find yourself being left behind to walk back to civilization. One of several important rules that everyone must follow in going deep backwoods is carrying two fully loaded rifles one in the scabbered case on your horse and the other in your hands so that if some animal or snake tries to ambush & kill you you have a means of surviving it. I always carried a short barrel 30 caliber carbine usually Winchester 30/30 as a backup gun to my main gun which is a Weatherbee or Remington rifle 458 caliber or the Weatherbee 460 caliber express combined with dried food,water,survival gear,Colt Government 45 ACP caliber pistol strapped to my hip with plenty of ammunion for all my guns. I'd carry a leatherman survival tool,climbing rope,pocket knife and a large buck knife strapped to my lower leg to ensure that if I had no access to my guns I'd still fight with my Buck Knife a animal or snake attacking me or my horse. I've several times in my lifetime had the misfortune of being attacked and nearly killed by three giant snakes two in Florida and one in New York State as well as timber wolves,mountain lion,black bears,Grizzly Brown Bear,etc. so each time it's made me look carefully at my surrounding area. I'm trained in extreme survival situation being formerly military special operations and formerly a FBI Supervisior Special Agent so in both you're required to have survival knowledge. Having said all this it's very different when you're walking a city street with just a pocket knife and bright flashlight not carrying anything else going to the local store and being shocked by coming face to face about 50 feet with a giant Grizzly Brown Bear at 7 pm in Warwick,Rhode Island. Ordinarily it's not a big surprise to see from a long distance away in states that border of Canada  Grizzly Brown Bears but it's totally different when you unhappy meeting it in Rhode Island with just a pocket knife to defend yourself. I've been attacked before by black bears several times in a car I've been driving in New York State,South Carolina,Georgia,Florida,Mississippi,Kentucky mostly my fault for parking in a rural area truck stops. This past two weeks is a very different type of horror to have no metal car or truck,horse,guns or anything to provide cover and protection to me with first meeting a Wood Bison which I walked close to it while it was standing in the woods next to a heavily traveled road Reservoir Ave in Cranston,Rhode Island. I didn't realize the threat,danger its to me because I've never encountered a Bison in all lifetime in decades of being a outdoor woodsman. I finally looking it up online really realized that being about 150 yards distance from me walking past it on the road it could have charged me and killed me. I've subsequent found a enormous Wood Bison dung pile close to the same location I walked past on a side road finding it was a shock. The two incidents with a Grizzly Brown Bear in Warwick,Rhode Island left me with being very wary,careful in where I walk in Warwick,Cranston,West Warwick and Providence all in Rhode Island. You see my first misfortune contact at 7pm early evening with a Grizzly Brown Bear being so close it could have charged a short distance and immediately killed me is still shocking to think of it. The second incident is later evening when it caught me totally by surprise walking to where I'm residing currently. It caught me in a dark area that had moon light that night,it charged at me full throttle,stopped and stood straight up roaring at me taking swipes at me. I ran a swift zigzag pattern backwards and turn full tilt running as fast as I could away from it.  I'm lucky it didn't hurt or kill me with its determination to make certain it made me human dinner which is unfortunately usually what happens with Grizzly Bear. I've certainly would have shot automatic weapons fire at it or used my Winchester 458 caliber rifle to blow holes in it's body but this time I had no room to run and no weapons to use leaving me with only one option run away quickly. I've had one other Grizzly Brown Bear incident in my lifetime until last week which was when I was a 17 years old hunting deer in Belgrade,Maine with my father John Sr and his SAM Sportsman Alliance of Maine friends. My father told me to go up the logging trail alone to the top of the mountain while my father and his buddies went down the ravine across the narrow pavement road. I got stalked by a Grizzly Brown Bear about a quarter of the way up the mountain logging trail while I was walking it. It finally came out of the woods charging at me and nearly swiped my Remington hunting rifle out of my hands as it raged at me trying to hit me with its claws and bite me. I managed to run backwards firing my Winchester 30/06 caliber rifle hitting the besr four times before it decided to abandon trying to kill me and roaring went slowly back into the woods. I never forget what was to be physically assaulted by a 20 ft tall killing machine with huge teeth and claws in Maine as a teenager.. I just didn't know that it would happen again in another state of America later in my lifetime with no weapons and no escape route. I'm lucky to be living today to sit here writing this article because of only God the Creator involvement and my lifetime interaction with animals,being outdoors woodsman,military training and having police officer training is the only reasons I've survived what happened to me.

All I can say is Thank you God the Creator and thanks to my former Tier 1 SFOG Special Operations team military training,FBI Law Enforcement Training,UNODC planet law enforcement training given to me I'm very grateful to all of them for the enormous value it's in saving my life. The reality is without being given this training in my lifetime I'd be Grizzly Brown Bear human dead dinner plate as a main course meal being unhappy & misfortune would be me.


Planet Leader Norton