msnbc.com Entertainment – Bob Dylan is honored by president with Medal of Freedom. I must admit that I was a big fan of Bob Dylan during my hearing years. I was a teenager when I “discovered” Bobby Dylan’s first album. He like me, at least in my mind, was somewhat of a rebel. His songs frequently railed against the establishments of the day. I learned to play the guitar because I wanted to play his songs. I, like Bobby, had a rather raspy voice so I thought I could pull it  off. Even now I can still recite many of … Continue reading Bob Dylan…

Source: Charles Taylor Sentenced to 50 Years for War Crimes – NYTimes.com. I just don’t understand why the continent of Africa is so prone to these types of things.  Taylor was found guilty of atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990s. I am ashamed to say that I only vaguely remember the Sierra Leone slaughter. I can make excuses like “I was just so busy in the 90s I didn’t have time” but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I along with millions of others stood by and just let it happen with hardly a peep from us. … Continue reading I Just Don’t Understand…

No one can drive you crazy unless you give them the keys  – Unknown I don’t know about you but I think “Unknown” is a pretty smart fella. He seems to come up with all kinds of memorable stuff and this is one of the best. We all love to jerk each other’s chains once in a while. I can usually turn my wife around on a dime because I know where her keys are :) She usually reacts first and then realizes that I am pulling one on her. There was a guy I worked with for almost a … Continue reading The Keys…

I know I am going to sound like an “old guy” here but I seem to remember the same thing happened as shown by Mr. Stahler’s cartoon above with math. I was in college when the first calculators were invented so I remember the hours and hours I spent in my grade school days learning multiplication and long division. Although I was somewhat proficient at it I was never that keen on math so memorizing the multiplication tables was not a favorite thing for me but I did learn them. My teacher drilled me back and forth on them. When I went … Continue reading Math… Now Spelling….

Here it is Sunday again. On this day I try to give you a post about something or someone who inspires me.  For today I have chosen a quote from Albert Einstein. I will not even bother to tell you who he is as I’m pretty sure you all know. Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.  – Albert Einstein Of course Einstein was a brilliant scientist but he was also a brilliant and inspiring thinker. His words above should be how all of us approach life. Learn from yesterday … Continue reading Inspiring Words…

I only fear that I may live too long. This would be a subject of dread to me –  Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson is not alone in this subject of dread.  I personally have already seen this too many times in my life and since I leave no heirs to care for me I dread that I too will live too long.  Those that I love sometimes have a very bitter end to their existence. They wither completely away before that last heart beat. They are a shell of what they once were before the Lord takes them. Then there … Continue reading Living Too Long….

Memorial Day is supposed to be about remembering those who have died in our wars. Since I believe that every person is equally valuable I will mourn the innocent civilians lost in our wars as much as the soldiers on both sides who fought in them. After all the vast majority, if not all our previous enemies in war are now our allies to one degree or another. The twentieth century is known as the bloodiest century of our existence. Let us all pray that somehow all of us in this world manage to put our belligerent ways behind us and … Continue reading Memorial Day…

If by some divine act of providence we could get rid of both these parties and hired some good men, like any other big business does, why that would be sitting pretty. – November 1, 1932  Will Rogers I am going to go off-topic here and talk about divine providence. Just what is it? Here is the general definition: Divine providence is the means through which God governs all things in the universe. The principle of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control And here is one from Wikipedia more aligned with religious theology: In theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God’s … Continue reading A Divine Act of Providence….

I just saw a segment on CNN about kids, high school age and younger, who are dropping out of school to take care of a home bound love one.  These kids are caring for a mother, father, grandparent, or sibling on a full-time basis because there is no one else available  to do it. The compassion they show is inspiring indeed. But at the same time it is totally shameful that they are even be put into a situation like this. It is estimated that there are about 1.3 million kids in this situation. They have dropped out of school to … Continue reading Dropping Out of School….

What is a culture, the non-medical kind that is? The best definition I could find in relation to this post is:  a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation or period I was recently introduced to the term “the culture of viciousness” and was immediately struck by its seemingly accurate description of our current times here in the U.S.  and perhaps the world as a whole. The most appropriate term to describe what is going on in congress and in much of the country is viciousness. The way we seem to treat each other lately is very saddening indeed!  Have we turned permanently to the dark side of … Continue reading The Culture of Viciousness….

Source: Naked face project: Women try no-makeup experiment – USATODAY.com. For nearly 60 days, two women from Charlotte, N.C., have been doing something that many women say they could never do: leave the house without makeup Given all the marketing that is targeted for women to paint their faces it is somewhat brave for these women to leave their homes without makeup on. Call me a yokel or whatever you want but I much prefer the natural beauty of women and believe that painting their faces is more distracting than anything else. I just can’t understand why women think they need … Continue reading Women try no-makeup experiment

Everybody in America has been good to me and I love you all, even critics and Congressmen. – November 23, 1926  Will Rogers I don’t believe that Will Rogers had any strong religious convictions. In that regard he is like most people today. But that does not mean he was without compassion. He was very much into it for the little guy especially during the depression years. Maybe Will wasn’t a Christian but he lived out the command of Jesus Christ to love one another. He even included his critics and Congressmen!  This group is among the most unlovable but he … Continue reading I Love You All……

The leaders in the Republican party are constantly complaining that the Democrats are trying to start a class war with all their comments about how the rich are getting a free ride in the U.S.  But what they don’t say is that they are doing what they accuse their opponents of but in a different area.  They are constantly trying to incite voters against the older generations saying that we have gobbled up all the resources and left the debt to others. I hear comments on this blog and in almost daily news articles that seniors are gobbling up the … Continue reading Class Warfare….

Source: Foodies enjoy different tastes than the rest of us – USATODAY.com. Foodie flavor preferences are in stark contrast to that of the general population, whose favorite flavor characteristics are far more familiar: sweet (81%) and salty (67%). I don’t think I am a food snob but I really do enjoy savory and sour food as opposed to salty and sweet. I have been on a low salt diet for about six years now and have come to totally detest very salty things. For instance, for the most part, canned soup is no longer on my list of things to eat. … Continue reading I Don’t Think I Am a Food Snob…….

Source:  Life Inc. – The upside to not saving for your child’s college education. You may want to help out somewhat, however. In her study, the kids that seemed the most focused on school and the future were actually the ones that were getting no help at all. I can tell you from personal experiences that the above quote is true. I paid for 100% of my college education and totally understood that I needed to stay totally focused on being a success in my studies. Otherwise all the hard work I put into just being able to be there … Continue reading Paying For College…..

The trick is to grow up without growing old. — Casey Stengel Growing old does not insure that we are grown up. I seem to still be looking for the day when I feel like a full-blown grown-up ;) But then again I think that is not entirely a bad thing. When we are young and not even beginning to grow up we are probably the most open to new and adventurous things. We actually seek them out and get bored if we can’t find them. I think we all have to maintain some of that no matter how old we are. … Continue reading Growing Up…

Youth would be an ideal state if it came later in life — Herbert Asquith I paraphrased the Asquith quote in the title of this post but the message is the same. I have always had the feeling that our given stages of life are somehow out of their most idealistic order.  When we are young we have a seemingly endless supply of energy and vigor but we also are plagued with a lack of experience and wisdom that come later that come much later in life. If only we could reserve some of that energy for when we can … Continue reading Youth Is Wasted on the Young…

You are over the hill when your back goes out more than you do — anonymous This one hits very close to home for me. About the only time we go out anymore is when my wife tires of my cooking and insists on eating out.  That is a weekly occurrence for us.  On the other side of this saying is my back and it seems to go out a lot lately. The reason for that is because of the season of the year. For those of us in the hinterland Spring entails a lot of preparation in the yard … Continue reading Over The Hill…

Source: Tom Krattenmaker: Millennials aren’t amoral and adrift – USATODAY.com. This article certainly went into much more depth on this topic than most do today. I want to bring up three quotes from it and add my input to the discussion. Yes, it’s true, as critics point out, that younger Americans tend to be less religiously affiliated than older generations. But data show they are nearly as likely as their elders to pray and believe in God. While their support for gay rights might suggest moral confusion to social conservatives, they are just as likely as older Americans to judge abortion … Continue reading Millennials aren’t amoral and adrift

  It must be almost heart breaking for those splendid writers, to see what some of us syndicate birds get away with. – October 29, 1933  Will Rogers Don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoy making my daily blog posts and having you guys interested enough to want to read them but Will’s message for today does bug me sometimes.  I am absolutely not the best writer/storyteller around but I think I do have somewhat of a gift in this area. The most “syndicated bird” around today is probably Rush Limbaugh. It is reported that he makes somewhere around $30 … Continue reading About Rush…..

The title of this post seems to be the attitude of many of our citizens lately. They want government to fix their roads, protect their food, catch the bad guys, put out their fires, and give them a myriad of different services.  But they want it all with nothing coming out of their wallet. This type of thing seems almost endemic in our society in the last decade or two. This seems especially true for the folks in California like the ones in Greece as reported in a book entitled Boomerang: Travels into the New Third World (thanks Bob for … Continue reading Something for Nothing…..

Source: A rich guy’s case for higher taxes. To give you a little background on the rich guy this article talks about here is a quote introducing piece. Like Warren Buffett, David Levine — retired executive, student of the federal tax code and very rich man — is begging the government to raise his taxes. Here, he explains why. David Levine spent his life in the corporate world studying the federal tax code. If anyone knows about its effect on the prosperity of the country it is probably him. He retired in his forties and flatly states he might have worked … Continue reading Another rich guy’s case for higher taxes