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GOING HOME
Among my fellow GIs of the Second World War was an idea that enjoyed almost complete universality. The idea was to win the war, bid farewell to the United States Army, and go home. The GIs of World War II came from every walk of life and from every corner of the United States. But…
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PRESENTLY AND/OR THIS-A-WAY
This essay on the English language was inspired by a preposterous source. The someone who inspired this essay departed this vale of tears more than 51 years ago and was generally known as my father. He was a laconic man who used country speak to convey his thoughts to the outside world. Country speak is…
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GRIM NEWS ABOUNDS
This is only the third day of June, 2009 but we have had enough bad news to last a lifetime. On Monday of this week, General Motors filed for bankruptcy. At about the same time, Air France lost one of its airbuses on a trip from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Both of these events…
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MEMORIAL DAY 2009 A RETROSPECTIVE
Memorial Day will be celebrated two days hence. On that day, the President of the United States will lay a wreath on The Tomb of the Unknowns. In Millburn, New Jersey the American Legion post will gather a few of its members, dressed in overseas caps, who will march from their headquarters on Main Street…
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CLAYTON 714-J
People with prodigious long-term memories may recognize the title of this piece as being a telephone number. That is indeed the case. It was a four party line associated with the town of Clayton, Missouri. In 1934 or 1935, my father was again employed after a layoff of six years, which was a function of…
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A THOUGHT OR TWO ABOUT “THE GIFT OF CHASTITY”
There are two or three thoughts that must be established before we proceed into this essay. The first has to do with vows that Catholic priests embrace, saying that they will live a life of poverty, obedience, and chastity. Secondly, your old essayist has never claimed to lead a life based on these three concepts. …
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“…REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE”
Tom Harkin is the junior senator from the state of Iowa. Harkin is a well-regarded fellow and has had presidential ambitions. Unfortunately those ambitions never got past the primary vote in the state of Iowa. But be that as it may, Harkin has an idea worth considering. The idea has to do with naming a…
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ON BEING SCARED SPITLESS AND/OR THE BIG GUY SYNDROME
Since the Bushies have departed the political scene in Washington, we find that many of them are emerging from their burrows and holes in the ground to tell us that following the events of September 11, 2001, we were all scared spitless. I have a clear recollection of my thoughts after the destruction of the…
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LIPSTICK FOR PIGS
Logic has taken one brutal beating recently from Condoleezza Rice and from our former Vice President, Mr. Cheney. For example, this past week, which was the last week in April, Madame Rice, addressing a group of Stanford University Students, was asked about waterboarding. She provided an answer that was convoluted as well as full of…
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UP WITH SECULARISM
The Merriam-Webster dictionaries that we have in this house describe faith as a belief not supported by fact. When this country was founded, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and the rest knew that faith had to do with subservience to the Anglican Church which had as its head the King of England. And so…