Opinion

Dear Editor, “Put a beggar on horseback, and he'll drive you to your grave.” -- this is an old Irish axiom that my mother taught me as a very young boy That our new president is on his way to fulfilling the truth of this axiom by becoming the perfect example of such a “beggar” -- there can be no doubt...

Dear Editor, I recently read about the passing on January 23rd, of the longtime Television host, Larry King, who hosted “Larry King Live” on CNN for many years. Although I live in Texas, I regularly drove up to Kansas and Nebraska to visit relatives. Ironically, I didn’t have cable television at my home, but if I stopped at a motel along my journey, I’d sometimes tune-in Larry King’s show...

What an insult to have our National Guard troops “vetted” before they could go on guard duty at the inauguration! Being a military veteran it hit my heart because I consider all military as family. Unjustifiably insult my kinfolk and I will respond in retaliation. Evidently, the Governor of Texas feels the same way...

At the south end of Norris Avenue in McCook sits what I consider one of our most under-utilized, not-fully appreciated and oft-maligned assets: the Amtrak train service. Last week, I, along with my two youngest children, hopped the train for our yearly ski trip. We boarded with another half dozen people, a few from McCook whereas others had driven to McCook, specifically to catch the train. (And yes, it was late by an hour, but it can’t be early because we would get left behind.)...

Noticeably absent from this week’s inauguration festivities was our oldest living President. Jimmy Carter, who excused himself for health reasons. Mr. Carter, or as I call him, “Jimma,” was born in October of 1924 and has survived at least one bout with cancer. He’s not getting any younger, and I fear that we won’t have him for much longer...

It has been a very busy week here at the Legislature. My office holds many responsibilities that require my attention and input on. One of the issues on the forefront is the continuing presence of Covid and the fact that many things need to be tweaked this year to try and accommodate safety concerns and social distancing...

My cell phone rang. An unknown number calling. I answered anyway. “Col Trail this is Jack Barnes. I was the assistant crew chief on that tanker you were flying when you did the tri-level refueling.” Understand it has been nearly fifty four years gone by since that event back in 1967. ...

Dear Editor, Immediately following the January 6 “siege” upon the U.S. Capitol, Senator Ben Sasse, bringing to bear his tenor of painfully patronizing, pretentious moral outrage, hitched his wagon to the Democrats’ team of wild-eyed jackasses – and proudly rode shotgun for those shameless hypocrites who accuse President Donald Trump of “inciting insurrection.” Once again, our junior Senator revealed his lack of prudence and demonstrated that his oft-lofty pontificating on the Constitution is but political grandstanding. ...

An Emory University study published in the journal “Frontiers in Neuroscience” in 2018 demonstrated that dogs are indeed able to understand human language. The dogs’ cognitive abilities were measured by using specific verbal phrases, measured by MRI scans. The study indicated, in an objective fashion, that dogs recognize our words. Who didn’t know that?...

Good news and a riot Yes there is good news out there in this great country but we hear little of it. Digging through TV news sources I’ve become aware that many business owners have done the right thing. Independent businessmen living in those Democrat-controlled areas of the country where Governors have locked down the economy their customers are barred from entering. ...

“Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark.”   ~R. Tagore The earth rotates around the sun, not in a circle, but in an elliptical orbit. Oddly enough the earth is closest to the sun in January (91.3 million miles) when it is the coldest in Nebraska and farthest from the sun in the searing heat of July (94.4 million miles). ...

Since leaving my hometown of Brainard, each time I move I land in a bigger city. Along the progression from Brainard to Lincoln to Detroit to New York City, I’ve come to see things differently. It’s natural that our environment will influence our opinions, including our political views. But these days, people living in the country and those living in cities have developed such differing viewpoints that at times it feels like they’re operating in separate worlds...

Welcome back. We took a couple of weeks off for the holidays, but it was not without adventure. A member of my family, Typhoid Mary, returned from college with a case of the Covid. While the rest of you were enjoying New Year’s Day and contemplating the workout routine that you won’t continue, I was camped out at the Community Hospital emergency room...

Earlier this week, I shared a post on social media that I think is even more relevant today after the events of Jan. 6 in both Washington D.C. and across the country.. “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. Today.” - Mother Teresa Now, normally, we don’t advocate to do things alone. After all, the saying is “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”...

Dear Editor, Anyone who missed NBC’s Meet the Press, last Sunday, where a contentious debate ensued between Chuck Todd and Senator Ron Johnson over the so-called conspiracy theory over the fraud in the recent election touted by President Trump and the Republicans...

What a circus! The Senatorial Election that takes place in Georgia today is a two-ring act. The Republicans are convinced the world will end if their candidates don’t get reelected. The Democrats see that a win will better enable them to enact their socialist agenda in Washington. Promises that they know won’t be kept. Millions of dollars (from where?) thrown in to help each side. It is a total mess and a great example of why we ordinary Americans are totally frustrated with current politics...

There are a lot of words to describe 2020: exhausted and frustrated, chaotic to challenging. While every year, there are many lists dedicated to describing the past 365 days, 2020’s list ranges from a long list of profanities to simply being tired. But the word I am selecting to describe 2020 and which I hope to hold up for 2021 is grateful...

It is the final straw. If something does not work it is time to replace it. I am talking about our three congressional representatives. Adrian Smith in the House of Representatives, Ben Sasse and Deb Fisher in the U.S. Senate. Yes, all three voted YEA on the grossly expensive and misnamed Covid Relief bill last week. That will be our overly expensive Federal Budget for the year to come. I was hoping that President Trump would veto the monstrosity but no he signed it into law...

Do you know anyone who’s went to Iceland this year or plans to next? Don’t be surprised if you do. Iceland certainly hasn’t been immune to the pandemic, and has imposed and eased restrictions in response to the COVID-19 virus like the rest of the world...