The farmer’s aphorism in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” still rings true: “Good fences make good neighbors.” Later, Carl Sandburg would be more blunt about the matter: Love your neighbor as yourself, but don’t take down the fence. Dan’s Papers Jun 20, 2015 “Mending Wall” – by Robert Frost We just put up a beautiful, white, 6′ high, 63′ long privacy fence on the south side of our property. It looks great, especially compared to what our neighbor’s backyard looks like. This beautiful fence means we get to look at our beautiful back yard and we don’t have to look at their … Continue reading Good Fences make Good Neighbors

Please see my previous post here. Meals on Wheels is a barometer of inflation and the health of the economy, especially for the elderly recipients most of whom live on limited, fixed incomes. So, the wife and I just got back from doing our MOWs route. Even with two of us working together the route took another 30-40 minutes to complete. Our hundred-year-old lady even called to make sure we were still coming to her house because we were running behind. And the retired volunteer guy who is always there helping us volunteers load the meal buckets into our cars … Continue reading We just hit a new high for number of elderly receiving MOWs

Jessica Votipka – -Mar 29, 2021 – for the York News Times My cmnts: Here is what children who grow up on the farms and ranches of Nebraska do Continue reading 50th Annual York-Hamilton County Cattlemen’s Classic

By David Leonhardt – April 28, 2022 – for The New York Times The power of humility  Tonight at the Caesars Forum Conference Center near Las Vegas, thousands of people will gather for an annual demonstration of human overconfidence. The official name of the gathering is the N.F.L. draft. There, with millions of Americans watching on television, executives of the N.F.L.’s 32 teams will choose which college players to add to their rosters. And the executives will almost certainly make a lot of decisions that they later regret. I recognize that many readers of this newsletter are not football fans. Still, I … Continue reading Tonight, America begins an annual festival celebrating hubris: The NFL draft.

We have been married going on 46 years now so we have been asked on more than one occasion (usually at a bridal or wedding shower) what has made our marriage last. When we were first married we were told by an older couple, “Don’t go to bed still mad at each other.” Good advice as it echos scripture, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,” in Eph 4:26. We remind the young couple that marriage is the matrix of life whose primary purpose is to show Christ and His Bride to the people around … Continue reading Tips to a lasting, happy marriage

By JOHN NOLTE – 28 Mar 2022 – for Breitbart.news Here’s what I think happened between Will Smith and Chris Rock during last night’s Oscars… First off, comedian Chris Rock is not getting enough credit for his poise and class. How many people would have reacted the way he did to such an awful and ugly thing? In front of the whole wide world, Rock’s sucker-punched/slapped by a man-baby who easily has 40 pounds on him. Rock’s reaction? He doesn’t give up even an inch of ground. Then he makes a joke: “Will Smith just slapped the shit out of me!” … Continue reading Cuckold Will Smith Takes His Humiliation Out on Chris Rock

December 1983 • Volume 12, Number 12 • Leonard Read – for Imprimis Hillsdale College Leonard ReadFounder, Foundation for Economic Education My cmnt: Be sure to let your kids watch the great little animation of “I, Penci” here. Editor’s Preview: Imprimis this month invites your wonder. Wonder at the countless bits of human know-how and natural materials spontaneously organized by our global market economy into the making of a simple wooden pencil. Wonder at what one individual can achieve for millions of his fellowmen through a lifetime of dedication to principle. And wonder, most of all, at the everyday miracles made possible by a political … Continue reading I, Pencil

By Allison Finch, AccuWeather staff writer Published Mar. 11, 2022 5:04 PM CDT | Updated Mar. 14, 2022 After rapidly reproducing in Georgia last year, the Joro spider, native to East Asia, could spread to much of the East Coast in the coming year,according to new research from the University of Georgia, which also suggests the arachnids’ ability to survive certain weather conditions will influence just how far north they move. The Joro spider is a part of the Trichonephila clavata species and is part of a group of spiders known for highly organized, wheel-shaped webs. The females have colorful yellow, red and blue markings on … Continue reading ‘Zillions’ of big spiders are about to invade the East Coast

Winners in this year’s World Nature Photography Awards were selected for 14 different categories varying by species and habitat Elizabeth Gamillo Daily Correspondent – Mar 11, 2022 – for Smithsonian magazine Animal Portraits: Tom Vierus My cmnt: I include this one photo above to entice you to click over to the Smithsonian link above to view the incredible originals in a larger format. Continue reading Top prize winning nature photos

From The Big Bang Theory fan website Check out the excellent website above for all things Big Bang. All references are shown on the website. Of course some of these only stand out if you’ve seen the entire episode they hail from – I’ve seen them all, multiple times. The Big Bang Theory is one of our favorite sitcoms of all time and Stuart is our favorite character. As with all regulars on the show he is a well-developed and interesting person. When he moved in to take care of Howard’s mom we saw some of the funniest episodes – … Continue reading The Big Bang Theory – quotes from Stuart

Millions in federal taxpayer dollars were awarded in FY2021 for projects that included adding on-road bike lanes, and the infrastructure law expands the program by 50%, despite 37% rise in cyclist fatalities in decade preceding pandemic. By Nicholas Ballasy – February 5, 2022 – for Just the News My cmnt: Mayor Pete is finally back from paternity leave while his stay-at-home husband watches the kid and is up to the usual democrat shenanigans. Bike lanes are his number one priority, not solving the supply chain crisis. My cmnt: I remind my readers that Libness takes precedent over all other concerns (i.e., … Continue reading Adding bike lanes on roads leads to soaring cyclist road deaths

I have been a volunteer delivering MOWs with my own car and gas for over 40 years now. My wife and I did them together until our boys were born then I would deliver them by myself. When our oldest was around 3 I would take him with me and let him carry the milk cartoons up to the doors. The old ladies, most of the MOWs recipients are elderly single women, would just go gaga over our small son walking up to them and handing them their milk. MOWs recipients don’t get out a lot. Unless their family comes … Continue reading Meals on Wheels numbers follow the economy

By Emily St. James 12/17/2012 – for AVclub.com My cmnt: Growing up in 1950s & 60s I and my siblings were forced to let our Czech-immigrant Grandfather watch “The Lawrence Welk Show” on our only TV every Saturday nite. He would eventually fall asleep and we would then stealth up to the TV and very slowly turn the volume down. If he didn’t wake up we would carefully turn the channel knob so that its click wouldn’t wake him and when we had it back to whatever it was we were watching we would carefully turn the volume back up just … Continue reading The Lawrence Welk Show was TV’s best party—until it wasn’t

By Historian Alan Royal August 6, 2015 admin Did You Know? 37 My cmnt: This mostly is for old people like yours truly. I grew up admiring Spencer Tracy in the movies and, his not exactly doppelgänger, but close enough in style and acting abilities kissing cousin James Whitmore. As a kid I often confused the two. My cmnt: I remember seeing Tracy in “Boys Town” (not when it came out in 1938 but much later on TV in the 60s) and I just thought he was Father Flanagan. And my mom took me with her to see “Guess who’s coming to dinner” … Continue reading SPENCER TRACY – A nightmare of a man.

This Is a New One: ‘Reality Privilege’ My cmnt: There were no video games when I was growing up instead we had pinball machines (which I didn’t play because I had no money) but my cousin did for hours at Treasure City. He played because his mom gave him money and wanted him out of her hair and he was good enough to make four quarters last a very long time. Pinball was so cool (still is) they had their own song “Pinball Wizard” which came out in 1969 by “The Who”. My cmnt: My kids and now my grandkids … Continue reading Some thoughts on video gaming

Chuck Lorre and the rules of the network sitcom. By Tom Bissell – November 28, 2010 – for The New Yorker My cmnt: I include this article because it covers Chuck Lorre and his sitcoms in some detail. I say that because I’m about to criticize Lorre and want to be fair in my assessment of him. I’ve edited the piece for space and brevity. My cmnt: Though this piece was written in 2010 “The Big Bang Theory” went on to run for a remarkable 12 seasons. It was and remains one of my wife’s and my favorite sitcoms. My cmnt: … Continue reading The TV sitcom: A Simple Medium

My dear, you have… THE GRIM. BY JILLIAN MOCK | PUBLISHED NOV 6, 2018 2:41 AM – for popsci.com My cmnt: A much more detailed article and photographs can be seen here at the Daily Mail. My cmnt: As a fan of the Harry Potter movies and stories I found this entertaining and weird. My cmnt: I find J. K. Rowling to be a genius story-teller. To have conceived of and written this 7 volume series is remarkable. She has stated in interviews that the entire story was in her head before she wrote book one. I read each book first before giving … Continue reading This strange creature isn’t a spider or a dog, but it sure looks like both