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Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012
Things you might want to know (02/17/12)
We talk a lot about common sense; as if that's a good thing. I remember my uncle describing a guy once by saying that he was smart as a whip but didn't have a lick of common sense. So it has always been something held up as a good thing. The problem is that common sense is sometimes wrong too. ...
Looking a gift horse in the mouth (02/10/12)
A year ago Barack Obama was prime for the picking. The economy was in the tank and as James Carville proposed when Bill Clinton ran for President in 1992, "it's the economy, stupid" because people always vote their pocketbook. Combine the economy with all the character assassination charges being leveled at Obama by every right-wing critic on television and radio and it looked like he was a loser for sure in 2012...
A lot, a little, or none (02/03/12)
We've been under a winter storm watch for two days and a blizzard warning for one. Rain was supposed to change over to snow at midnight last night and accumulate 3 to 7 inches by daybreak but, as I write this at 5 a.m. on Friday morning, it's 37 degrees with light rain falling...
Health, hope and healing (01/27/12)
Just about everyone is aware of the new construction going on at Community Hospital in McCook. When it's finished, the hospital will be like a brand new entity, providing new hope and care for residents of the area. At the same time, there's another project at the hospital that hasn't received the widespread attention that the new construction project has. ...
From stability to who knows what (01/20/12)
The fall semester at MCC ended peacefully and we all went home, blissfully ignorant of the sea change that would occur in the spring semester's first week. The first news we received during our all-campus meeting the week before classes started was that our president was leaving for a similar position at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, all the way across the state from us. ...
The week in review (01/06/12)
It's been quite a week around the country. It started off on Tuesday with the widely anticipated Iowa caucuses, the very first test of a candidate's appeal to the electorate and the results were somewhat surprising. The front-runner, Mitt Romney, won by only 8 votes over the late-charging Rick Santorum while the libertarian-minded Ron Paul was a distant third. ...
Three things that will change human relationships (12/30/11)
Three things have happened in recent months that promise to change the nature of human relationships forever. A recent report indicates that the marriage rate in the United States is lower than it's ever been and the birth rate continues to decline as well...
A strange but enjoyable trip (12/23/11)
I journeyed south to Arkansas last week to attend my oldest son Michael's college graduation and my youngest son Will's birthday and decided to fly the whole way. I flew Great Lakes airlines out of McCook at 7 a.m. last Friday to Denver, changed to American Airlines after a layover to Dallas, changed to another American Airlines plane in Dallas and arrived in Bentonville, Arkansas at 2:30. ...
Far too many addictions (12/09/11)
We misuse a lot of words. By "misuse" I mean using words in ways they weren't designed to be used. Addiction is one of those words. We say that people are addicted to food, to gambling, to exercise, and to work. This week's Newsweek magazine's cover story is about sex addiction. None of these things are addictions, they're psychological dependencies...
Stupid is as stupid does (12/02/11)
Tom Hanks uttered this famous saying in his role as Forrest Gump. It means that if a person, even a smart person, does stupid things, they're stupid. In other words, you are what you do. My ex-wife Linda fought this battle with her parents her whole life. I remember hearing her mom tell her on many different occasions that she was just stupid. So she spent her whole life while they were alive trying to prove them wrong...
A melancholy Thanksgiving (11/25/11)
Nine years ago at exactly 6 o'clock in the morning, I was awakened by a knock at my door. I was in that slightly foggy condition between being asleep and awake as I jumped out of bed and threw some clothes on to answer the knock. I thought maybe it was the girl I was seeing at the time but then I remembered that she had a key so I was at a loss as to who could be at my door so early in the morning...
Garbage in, garbage out (11/18/11)
This is a phrase used in computer science and technology to remind programmers that the information computers produce is only as good as the information programmed into the computers. If the information plugged into a computer is solid, it will produce solid results; if the information is bad, then the results will be bad...
Another 'good-guy' scandal (11/11/11)
We have several theories in Sociology about deviant behavior. Some of the theories ask why people break the rules. Others ask why people conform to the rules to begin with since there are attractive and exciting things to do that violate the rules. But there's one theory that doesn't ask either question. ...
A revolution's going on (11/04/11)
Nobody should be surprised at what's happening in many of the major cities across the country. People who call themselves the 99 percent are protesting the financial greed displayed by the 1 percent of Americans who control 80 percent of the assets in this country. ...
Sissies and tomboys (10/28/11)
When I was in grade school, there was a boy in our class who played jacks and jumped rope with the girls instead of playing ball with the rest of the guys. At that age, we didn't think anything about his sexual orientation at all. We just thought he was a sissy...
Why we are the way we are (10/21/11)
When we hear about the horrible crimes that man commits against man, most people wonder why. What could possibly make people do the things they do? The answer is deceptively simple. We are what we learn. We don't all grow up on the same level playing field. ...
A birthday, TJ's Family Fun Center and a standoff (10/14/11)
I had one of the best birthdays I've had in awhile last Friday. Scott Kasch, Bill Stokely and Matt Stebbins met me at the Coppermill Restaurant and Lounge Friday afternoon for happy hour. Drinks were bought for me by Adam Siegfried, the guys I was with, and Rob and Gina Stamm. ...
Domestic Violence Awareness Month (10/07/11)
I write about domestic violence once a year, always during the month of October, since this is the month that has been designated domestic violence awareness month. The horror stories are real, vivid and disturbing and they continue to fill up journals, magazines and police blotters. And although some men are also domestic violence victims, about 90 percent of all victims are women and that percentage has stayed fairly stable over the past several years...
Summer's drawing to a close (09/30/11)
I've always loved the change of seasons because the change reminds us that we're still alive. Although there are a lot of things to do in the summer, there are other things I don't like to put up with and two of those are the sometimes oppressive heat and the bugs that seem to be everywhere. ...
Identity theft (09/23/11)
We've all heard of individual identity theft. This occurs when your credit card numbers or your checking account number is hijacked by a bad guy in a myriad of ways and then they proceed to drain your checking account and run your credit cards up to the max. This has all sorts of negative consequences for the victim and it's a tragedy whenever it happens...
The folly of moving violations (09/16/11)
I got my last traffic ticket forty years ago. I was driving through a small town in Oklahoma on the way to class at Northeastern State University when I got caught in a speed trap. At least it seemed like a speed trap because I didn't think I was going as fast as the officer said I was. But he won the argument...
One is the loneliest number (09/02/11)
Something most of us discover eventually is that it's hard to go through the world alone. There are all kinds of situations and circumstances where we need other people for love, support, compassion, understanding, sympathy and a shared walk through this unpredictable world we live in. We're happiest when we have someone to share the good times as well as the bad times with...
They're all the same (08/19/11)
The following three paragraphs are from an article written by Michael Scherer for Time.com: "In his campaign kickoff last Saturday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry burnished his conservative credentials by attacking the idea of deficit stimulus spending. 'Washington's insatiable desire to spend our children's inheritance on failed stimulus plans and other misguided economic theories have given us record debt and left us with far too many unemployed,' he said...
A bad week for many (08/12/11)
The hailstorm some parts of McCook received Tuesday afternoon was the worst storm I've been in since my car was totally destroyed, with me in it, in a hailstorm on I-40 in Oklahoma back in 1973. Every window was knocked out, every piece of chrome knocked off and there was no place you could put a finger without sticking it in a dent. ...
Synchronicity (08/05/11)
Many people believe it's a very random world we live in where good and bad things happen unaccountably every day. It's a world where some folks live into their 100s while others die as infants. We inhabit a planet ruled by Mother Nature where tornados, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and droughts strike indiscriminately, destroying the lives of many while having no effect on the lives of others. ...
We only come around once (07/29/11)
I've always thought how fortunate or lucky or blessed or whatever other word you want to use to describe my good fortune of being born in this country. None of us had anything to do with where we were born or the family we were born into because it's biologically determined rather than socially created. There's a lot of places in the world I would like to visit but only one place I want to live and that's right where I am...
You don't know your neighbor (07/22/11)
As a matter of fact, you don't really know your spouse or your kids either. We all hide things from others, no matter how intimate the relationship is. That's why so many husbands and wives are totally shocked and surprised when they're served with divorce papers. ...
What's it all about? (07/15/11)
A lot of people believe the world is getting progressively worse; that there is more lying, cheating, dishonesty, and aberrant behavior than ever before. I'm not sure that's true but one thing is true; thanks to 24 hour a day, 7 days a week news coverage, we sure hear about it more...
The Casey Anthony verdict (07/08/11)
This case has consumed the public interest for the past three years. Casey Anthony was charged with first degree murder in the death of her 2 ½ year old daughter whose skeletal fragments were eventually found in a field, six months after she was reported missing by her mother who waited a full month before reporting her daughter's disappearance to the police...
A couple of things (07/01/11)
A story that borders on being unbelievable occurred last week involving a plane crash that critically injured a University of Michigan basketball recruit. According to the Associated Press, Austin Hatch, a 16 year old junior at Canterbury High School in Fort Wane, Indiana, suffered his injuries in a plane flown by his father, Dr. ...
A very peculiar thing (06/24/11)
There is no other occupation, save the military and then only in times of war, that comes closer to being a true brotherhood than police work. It's a family that is often closer and more tight-knit than your own. I learned this early and often during my service with the Tulsa police department. ...
Signs of testosterone overload (06/17/11)
Another sex scandal has made the news involving a well-known politician and this is the most amazing one yet. Anthony Weiner, a Democratic congressman from New York and a leading voice of his party, has resigned after texting and emailing sexual messages and revealing photos of himself to several different women. ...
Farewell to a good friend (06/10/11)
Kurt Fritsch, our outgoing city manager, called me on Tuesday of this week to invite me to have a couple of "going-away" cocktails with him and Allen Gunther yesterday (Thursday) and I was happy to accept. I've known Kurt for as long as he's been in McCook, being introduced to him by Duane Tappe shortly after his arrival in town, and we've been friends ever since...
The best day of the year (06/03/11)
Today is the day I look forward to all year long as most golfers around here do. It's time for the annual "horse race" at Heritage Hills in McCook. Except instead of having horses in this horse race, there are professional golfers from six different states competing for a prize only one will win, with golfers being eliminated on each hole until there's only one man left standing and that's the exciting part. ...
A maligned profession (05/27/11)
In this bipolar world we live in today, teachers have become the new whipping boys for everything that's wrong with society. The critics say teachers make too much money and get too many benefits for only working nine months out of the year so they're attacking the professional organizations that represent teachers by alleging they're the source of our financial woes...
When addictions aren't addictions (05/20/11)
We hear about these things all the time anymore; food addictions, gambling addictions, marijuana addictions, sex addictions, relationship addictions, etc. etc. We have more addictions than Carter has pills and every week it seems like a new one is added to the list. The problem with that is that the above mentioned behaviors AREN"T addictions...
A life-changing weekend for many (05/13/11)
The annual "rite of passage" will happen for many young people this weekend as high schools and colleges hold their graduation ceremonies. High school students will be off to college in the fall, community college graduates will be on to four year colleges and universities and those graduates will be starting careers that, for many, will last a lifetime...
Seal Team Six (05/06/11)
They're called the best of the best and the baddest of the bad. Of all the Special Ops forces that currently operate in our Armed Forces, the SEALs (sea, air, and land) are the elite. And this special team, Team Six, which was formed in 1980 in the aftermath of the failed attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran, has been the go-to team for the toughest missions since...
Liar, liar, pants on fire (04/29/11)
Today's column title is what we used to yell at other kids in elementary school because lying wasn't a good thing. It was always better to tell the truth, accept the consequences for your actions and get on with you life. Not so today. We live in a country of liars. And it's not just a certain group of Americans, it's every group. It's not just in a particular place in our country, it's everyplace...
An amazing weather day (04/15/11)
The past 24 hours have been pretty remarkable weather-wise. In fact, yesterday I saw a first. During our severe thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, we had thunder, lightning, hail that covered the ground, sleet and snow, all at the same time. I'm not sure when the snow started falling in earnest because I went to bed but when I got up this morning, it sure looked a lot more like January than April...
Be careful who you trust (04/08/11)
Who can you trust? This is one of the great dilemmas everyone faces because everyone has deep, dark secrets. And yet, no matter how deep and dark they are, most of us have a need to find that true friend we can tell anything to without fearing what they might do with the information. Unfortunately, sometimes we make bad judgments...
Dumb, stupid or both? (04/01/11)
I wrote a column back in January that discussed what's wrong with our schools and this week's edition of Newsweek magazine brought that point home once again in their cover story, "How Dumb Are We?" It was a sobering report to say the least. Newsweek gave 1,000 Americans the U.S. ...
The good guys and the bad guys (03/25/11)
There is a myriad of biological, psychological and sociological theories that attempt to explain deviant behavior and many of them get it at least partly right. I think Freud's concept of the Pleasure Principle comes closest. Some of Freud's more esoteric psychoanalytical theories bend the mind of the common man but his theory of the Pleasure Principle is pretty straightforward...
Earthquakes and tsunamis (03/18/11)
The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan a week ago today was horrendous and life-changing. The final death toll is still unknown but certainly tens of thousands and perhaps even hundreds of thousands of people succumbed to the twists and fates that Mother Nature unleashed on them. In this modern age of technology, I'm certain that all of you saw the videos of what happened there and that it could happen anywhere at anytime when tectonic plates shift...
Is cryonics for you? (03/11/11)
There's a company in Scottsdale, Arizona, that, for a small fee, will preserve your body after clinical death for decades or even centuries, they say, until a cure is found for whatever killed you. Once that happens, they will "wake" you up, apply the cure and then you can go to a ballgame or to the beach or whatever you want to do with your second life...
Remembering my heritage (03/04/11)
I grew up in an extended family, as did many children from my generation. I lived almost all of the first 17 years of my life with my mom, dad, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and uncle in a big, two-story, six-bedroom house in a small town in Arkansas...
When it's man vs. the computer, the computer usually wins (02/25/11)
The computer first beat man back in 1997 when an IBM computer beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov and it has been defeating various chess champions ever since. Last week, it stepped up its game. A new cutting edge IBM computer took on two Jeopardy champions and beat them soundly, after having been programmed with many libraries of books and Internet posts...
Does tiger parenting work? (02/18/11)
There's been a lot of discussion over the past few weeks about tiger parenting. To be more specific, tiger mothers who, for the most part, are Chinese mothers. The main reason comes from a book about child raising written by Amy Chau, a Yale law professor, and self- described "tiger mother." She wrote about such politically incorrect tactics as forcing her 7-year-old daughter to practice a certain song on the piano for hours on end, right through dinner into the night, with no breaks for water or even the bathroom until she had learned how to play the piece.. ...
Jack Nicholson and me (02/11/11)
Jack Nicholson, the actor, in expressing sadness about his age, was quoted this week in Time magazine as saying "There were points in my life where I felt oddly irresistible to women. I'm not in that state now." Although Jack's a decade older than me, I know exactly what he means. ...
A Rotarian again (02/04/11)
This past week I was inducted into the McCook Rotary Club after a 16 year absence. I was a Rotarian while I worked in Arkansas before my move to McCook. The International Rotary Club was begun by Paul Harris in Chicago with three of his close friends in 1905. ...
A rush to judgment (01/28/11)
Evil came to McCook a week ago today with the brutal murder of Kailee Clapp, a 14-year-old 9th grade girl at McCook High School. Arrested the same day and arraigned yesterday on four different felony charges relating to Clapp's death was 18-year-old Stathis Kirkpatrick, originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico, who was unemployed and living in Bartley, Nebraska at the time the crimes were committed...
What's wrong with our schools? (01/21/11)
Our math and science scores continue to slip when compared to many other countries in the world. A generation ago we were at the top, now we find ourselves mired in the middle and it seems like there's almost as many reasons why that are offered by educational experts as there are experts...
The tragedy in Arizona could happen anywhere (01/14/11)
Most of us now know the facts about the mass shooting that occurred this past week at a Safeway store in Tucson, Arizona. A young man named Jared Loughner went to a constituency rally being held by Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords and opened fire with his Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol, shooting 31 times and killing six people, including a 9 year old girl, and wounding fourteen others, including Representative Giffords, who was shot in the head...
Bo Pelini and the end of the world (01/07/11)
Two news stories hit the wires this week and although not related, (at least I don't think they are) are pretty interesting. The first involves Nebraska head football coach Bo Pelini (yea again) and his conduct at a luncheon held on the USS Ronald Reagan on Dec. ...
A different kind of Christmas (01/03/11)
It was a different kind of Christmas this year. I made the long drive to Arkansas but this time, instead of going to Russellville, I drove to Bentonville and spent a day and a half with my youngest son Will and my daughter-in-law Erica. We had a great time together before I left Christmas Eve afternoon for the drive down to Russellville...
What would the world be like without Santa Claus (12/17/10)
When we were children, we all grew up with the same myths and then we perpetuate those same myths when we become parents and grandparents. We were raised to believe that there's a fat, jolly little man who lives at the North Pole with his wife and their elves and once a year, he hooks up his flying reindeer and jets around the world in one night, delivering presents to all the boys and girls...
A conversation with my ex (12/10/10)
My ex-wife called me the other night to tell me that she's getting married. This took me by surprise because I didn't even know she was pregnant. Just kidding. She's only been dating the guy since July but she says she loves him and that's all that matters. ...
New street signs and more (12/03/10)
Don't know if you've heard about this or not but ABC News reported on Dec. 1 that the Federal Highway Administration is ordering all local governments, from the smallest towns to the largest, to purchase new street signs the bureaucrats say are easier to read...
Melancholy holidays for many (11/26/10)
I remember the holidays from my childhood fondly. They were exciting, magical times when my whole family would gather together to celebrate the day and enjoy each other's company. On Thanksgiving, we would all sit at the big table in the dining room and eat for what seemed like hours while we talked about everything imaginable. ...
The police and the public (11/19/10)
The police culture is sometimes a strange and seductive thing. Men and women who join law enforcement typically come from middle and lower middle class backgrounds and, consequently, they've never had much power or influence over other people. Then they put on the uniform, strap on the gun and pin the badge on their chest and, in a heartbeat, they have ultimate control over practically everyone. This is a heady experience. Some handle it okay, some don't...
And then there was you (11/12/10)
A constantly recurring them on Internet social networking sites is romantic love. Young people especially write every day about love found, love lost and love betrayed. It's one subject that people of all ages can converse about on equal footing because an older person with a PhD doesn't know anything more about it than a 16 year old. It is, without question, the world's greatest dilemma...
The mid-term elections (11/05/10)
What happened this past Election Day was predictable. We threw a lot of the Democratic bums out after we threw the Republican bums out just two years ago. The 2008 campaign and election was anchored by the Obama phrase, "Change you can believe in" and the people responded to that in a significant way, electing a Democrat as president as well as electing a Democratic controlled House and Senate too...
Vote intelligently (10/29/10)
The Internet and our personal and business computers will play a larger role in the upcoming election than ever before and that most likely is a bad thing because we tend not to be a fact-checking society. If it's written down it must be true so we forward the political emails we receive to everyone in our address book and they in turn do the same thing...
Power, influence, control and ego (10/22/10)
When I left the University of Arkansas a long time ago without a degree, I moved in with my parents in Tulsa, Oklahoma until I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. After working in the construction trades for a few months, my mom had a friend who was good friends with the Tulsa police chief and she suggested to me that might be something I would want to consider. ...
Domestic violence awareness month (10/15/10)
There are literally thousands of stories like this occurring daily across the country and many, like the ones noted above, are enough to make your blood run cold. No area, no state, no race, and no economic class are spared these horrific occurrences. In a region as wholesome as the area we live in, no less than 1,500 calls a year are made to the domestic abuse hotline in McCook and the experts there say this is only the tip of the iceberg because most victims don't tell anyone...
A Facebook birthday (10/08/10)
Yesterday was the first birthday I've had since joining Facebook and it was a pretty remarkable experience, both good and bad. The good part was that I received over a hundred happy birthday wishes from friends, family, and former students. I heard from people from my home town in Arkansas that I haven't seen in decades. ...
A chink in the armor of global warming (10/01/10)
I was a big fan of Carl Sagan, the scientist and astronomer, when he was alive and so I was interested when I heard that his widow, Ann Druyan, was going to be on Bill Maher's HBO show the other night. She was there to discuss the "proofs" science gives us to many age-old questions that many people today question because it conflicts with their own personal belief systems...
Too many laws (09/24/10)
We live in a country that has more laws prohibiting more behaviors than any other country in the world and, because of that, we incarcerate more people per capita than any other country in the world too. In a country based on individual liberty and personal freedom, that doesn't make sense...
The pleasure principle (09/17/10)
Sigmund Freud had a lot of kinky theories about why we do the things we do but one of his theories wasn't kinky at all and it was called The Pleasure Principle. Freud said when we're born, we're basically a blank slate. We have potentials, needs and drives but we don't have a direction for any of those things. ...
The big lie (09/10/10)
I noticed a story in the paper this week about a person who left his job. The reasons given for him leaving were not accurate. I know that because I know the person and the situation. They were, in fact, a lie. Because that's what we do anymore. My golfing buddy this past summer and I used to talk about this a lot as we played. On the one hand, as I wrote last week, the only truth we accept anymore is our own truth, whether it's supported by the facts and the evidence or not...
It is what we say it is (09/03/10)
I saw her scruffy, ill-tempered husband get into his battered, mud-splashed truck today and wondered what goes through her mind. When I got home, I pulled this week's copy of Newsweek magazine out of the mailbox and the cover said, "THE MAKING OF A TERRORIST-CODDLING, WARMONGERING, WALL STREET-LOVING, SOCIALISTIC, GODLESS, MUSLIM PRESIDENT who isn't actually any of these things."...
Leave it all on the field (08/27/10)
The McCook Bison and several other area high school football teams will kick off their seasons tonight and the locker room pep talk before the game will likely include the admonition from some coaches to "leave it all on the field." Coaches were using that strategy when I played and I'm sure they still are because the reason for it is timeless. ...
You got me in trouble (08/20/10)
I remember one time when my boys were young, Michael had gotten into some mischief and I scolded him for it. He ran into the living room crying and told his mom that "Daddy got me in trouble." I quickly reminded him that I didn't get him in trouble, he got himself in trouble...
Why I dropped out (08/13/10)
I've been asked several times over the past few weeks why I never write about politics anymore and I'm going to use this column to explain why. Politics used to be interesting, fun, and exciting, regardless of which political party you were a member of. ...
How to win the lottery (08/06/10)
Most people would like to win the lottery and why wouldn't they? An extra million dollars or so would help anybody's financial situation. But the statistical odds of winning a state run lottery are astronomically high. In fact, most of the people who play for a lifetime spend more money buying lottery tickets than they ever win. When I ask people why they do it, they all say essentially the same thing: "You can't win if you don't play so at least I have a chance."...
Why today's kids are fat (07/30/10)
America's pre-teens and young teenagers are more overweight than ever before new reports indicate and the health experts are working overtime encouraging mothers to carefully monitor the amount and kind of food their children are consuming. School lunchrooms are re-evaluating their menus and the kind of food and drink that is made available to students. ...
A rock 'n roll reunion (07/23/10)
In the 1960s, music was huge in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Students attending the University of Arkansas joined old bands needing new members or formed bands of their own and played every weekend at one of the many clubs located around town. Some of the bands went on to enjoy national success, some broke up after band members graduated, but because of the camaraderie that exists between musicians, many stayed in touch with each other. ...
Addicted to love (07/16/10)
Robert Palmer had a hit song a few years back called "Addicted To Love" and now there's scientific proof that may be more fact than fiction. In the July 19 issue of Time magazine, an article reports that scientists have discovered something most of us have intuitively known for a long time, at least those of us who have ever been in love. ...
Find something you enjoy (07/09/10)
I was a pretty good athlete in high school and college and played all sports, except golf and tennis. After college, I picked up tennis and got good enough to represent the Tulsa police department in the Police Olympics held in Phoenix, Arizona with my doubles partner, Sgt. Jack McFarland. We didn't win but we held our own in the first round against the team from the Los Angeles police department and then the New York City police department team in the loser's bracket...
Bison 2010 this weekend (07/02/10)
Another Bison alum celebration happens this weekend. Former Bison and their families from all over the country are planning on attending and for the next three days, the population of McCook is expected to swell to beyond 10,000 people. Motels have been booked for months and it's my understanding that even all the dorm rooms at MCC have been rented. It's truly going to be a grand time, reminiscent of Bison 2000...
Morning Joe and Gen. Stanley McChrystal (06/25/10)
Even though I've been disillusioned and disenchanted with politics and politicians for awhile, it's still important for engaged and concerned citizens to make every effort to keep current with what's going on in our world. Oddly enough, as the number of television stations and Internet blogs increase, the ability to find an unbiased site or at least a site that attempts to give exposure to both sides of an issue decrease because everyone is presenting their own particular points of view which often times aren't grounded in the facts at all.. ...
Life is not a catchy little phrase (06/18/10)
John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach who died last week at the tender age of 99, was known for summing up the problems we have in life with short little catch phrases and, even though most of them made a good point about a particular problem or situation, that's not how we live our lives...
Privacy and social networking (06/11/10)
The whole idea of privacy has gone through a sea change over the past couple of generations. People in general used to be much more private that we are today about practically everything. The phrase I used to hear the most when I was growing up was "It's nobody else's business."...
The John Mullen Pro-Am and Ron Coleman Horse Race (06/04/10)
For a golfer, this weekend is the most enjoyable weekend of the year because it's time once again for the John Mullen Pro-Am Health and Heritage Classic golf tournament on Saturday and Sunday, preceded by the Ron Coleman Memorial Horse Race on Friday...
The men and women in blue (05/28/10)
The most chilling thing you can hear on a police radio is "officer down" and unfortunately this happens many times a year, every year, in the United States. As we celebrate Memorial Day by honoring those who have gone before us, I think it's especially important to remember those law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty while protecting us...
Our biggest regret (05/21/10)
We all have regrets. We've all done things we shouldn't have done or didn't do things we should have done. Even Frank Sinatra sang "regrets, I've had a few," in his classic song "My Way." So this is a common bond we share with each other. There are two kinds of regrets: internal and external. ...
Reward the good, fire the bad (05/14/10)
American education is at a crossroads and where we go from here will, in large part, determine this country's future as a major player on the world stage. In particular, we have fallen behind several countries in educational achievement. The United States is 9th among industrialized countries in producing high school graduates and 7th in producing college graduates. Twenty years ago we were first in both categories...
Good luck, graduates; some think you'll need it (05/07/10)
Every year at this time, hundreds of thousands of people, most of them young, graduate from high schools and colleges around the country. They will listen to the usually boring and mundane commencement addresses that challenge them to take charge of their own destiny and be the best they can be. In recent years that charge has become even more fervent because of rapid social change...
Thinking about different things (04/30/10)
Last Sunday, I and my perennial golf partner, Jim Lemon, played the Cambridge Volunteer Fire Department Scramble at Cross Creek Golf Links down the road in Cambridge. We've participated in this event for several years in a row now and always have a good time. ...
Why do we settle for less? (04/23/10)
Life is filled with choices and the difference between the successful and unsuccessful people in the world is often based on those very choices we make. It's important to understand that there's no such thing as "not making a choice." We make good decisions and bad decisions but there's no such thing as making "no decision." If we decide not to act, it's simply a choice of omission rather than commission...
The marvels of technology (04/16/10)
I bought my first smart phone today. It's a Motorola Android and it can do everything except tuck you into bed at night if you know how to use it. And that's somewhat of a problem, especially for older guys like me that were raised in a non-technological world. I'm sure the geeks who invented this phone and other brands like it called it the smart phone because it does so many remarkable things. I call it a smart phone because you have to be pretty darn techno smart to figure out how to use it...
Tiger's back (04/09/10)
Tiger Woods, the best golfer playing the game today and perhaps the best golfer ever, returned to competitive golf this week, playing in the most prestigious of the four major championships; the Masters. Due to the multiple allegations and confirmations of extra-marital affairs, he hasn't played since last November. ...
Customer service (04/02/10)
A friend of mine was telling me the other day about ordering a plant last spring he had seen advertised on television. The plant was shipped promptly and planted but it didn't really take root and my friend was disappointed to the point that he called the company. ...
An interesting journey (03/26/10)
Last Thursday I headed for Arkansas for two reasons. The main one, of course, was to attend my son Will's Arkansas wedding reception for his friends who weren't able to make the trip to Lincoln for his wedding. The second reason was to go to a concert featuring The Doobie Brothers with my former wife at the Winstar Casino just south of Thackerville, Okla., about five miles north of the Oklahoma-Texas border...
Will gets married (03/19/10)
I drove down to Lincoln last Thursday to attend the wedding of my youngest son Will. He was getting married to Erica Lance, a beautiful young woman from Seward, at the Apothecary in the Haymarket in downtown Lincoln. It was 40 degrees when I left McCook but I ran into snow at Holdrege and the temperature quickly dropped down to 34 degrees. ...
The John Daly saga (03/12/10)
Just about everyone, even non-golfers, know who John Daly is and his reputation precedes him every where he goes. He is the idol of "the common man" and plays to that image. He played college golf at the University of Arkansas and lives in Dardanelle, Ark., just four miles across the Arkansas River Bridge from the town I came from when I took the teaching job at MCC and moved to McCook...
Wasted days and wasted nights (03/05/10)
One of the greatest tragedies of life in America is that so many people throw away their chances. I've never understood how someone can be born in the greatest country in the world and not avail themselves of the opportunities that people in most other nations of the world would give anything to have. The history books are replete with people who gave up everything and risked everything, even their lives, to come to America while far too many of the people born here were doing nothing...
The way we were (02/26/10)
A friend and I were reminiscing about our childhoods the other day and those old memories just came rushing back into my consciousness. I grew up in an extended family with my mom, dad, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and uncle all living under the same roof in a small town in Arkansas. Four women and two men so it was a pretty matriarchal family. The women pretty much ruled the roost...
Wallismarsh -- Part II (02/19/10)
It's my understanding that last week's column created quite a stir. I say "it's my understanding" because I write my columns the same way a football coach prepares for and coaches a game. Most coaches don't read their press clippings and neither do I. They're not going to change the way they coach and I'm not going to change the way I write. I pick my subjects carefully, write what I feel or believe and then do it all over again the next week...
Wallismarsh (02/12/10)
I've been writing this column for 12 years now and I don't suppose I've ever been as incensed as I was over an anonymous posting this past week by the person who used the handle mentioned in the title of this column. The last time I thought what someone wrote merited a response was from the ignorant Sheriff in northeast Nebraska who thought he knew what MADD stood for when he didn't and that he DIDN'T know how the DUI laws are significantly impacted by that strong interest group's perspective. ...
Mike Hendricks
Mike at Night