-
THE MAN AT THE FEED STORE
This essay is about the man who works at a feed store in eastern Kansas. It comes to me from a woman who was born in Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Since her birth, she has migrated first to England and then to New York. So you see, there are international implications to this simple…
-
APHASIA AND ARTHRITIS
In the last few months here in the great luscious garden state of New Jersey, we find that teachers are retiring in droves or perhaps flocks. They are retiring at this time because they sense that shortly their benefits may be curtailed or removed through the generosity of the new governor, Chris Christie. This is…
-
SHOOTING ONESELF IN ONE’S OWN FEETS
A scholar casually reading the title to this essay may conclude that it is not in accordance with the King’s English or at least the King James version of the English language. But if you will bear with me, I will try to explain to the doubters why I contend that we are shooting ourselves…
-
A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT RICHNESS AND POORNESS
Jacob Cohen was a well-known personality who once offered the thought that “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; and believe me, rich is better.” I hope that there is no disagreement from my readers as to the wisdom of Mr. Cohen’s remarks. The fact is that the honorable Mr. Cohen was known as a…
-
ABJECT HATRED AND/OR THE GASEOUS ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
My parents had eight children, five of whom grew to maturity. Only one of them was troubled by vindictiveness to a degree of unpleasant hatred. If a major league hitter knocked out four balls out of five, it would be considered a phenomenon. Now consider this: I was in the American Army for a few…
-
THE WEINER AFFAIR AND AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM
This essay is being written after Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress. In his disgrace, former Congressman Weiner has earned a bit of admiration on my part. For the past day or two, it has been obvious that former Congressman Weiner had no choice but to resign from Congress. Resigning from his Congressional seat is one…
-
THE PHILANDERER’S CUP RACE
A few weeks back when Herman Cain was still in the race for the Presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain sat down for what was laughingly called a debate among themselves. Actually it was not a debate at all but a mutual admiration society. Given the facts of the matter about their past philandering,…
-
THE LANGUAGE ACCORDING TO MITT ROMNEY
Willard “Mitt” Romney is in a pitched battle during the Republican primaries with Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich is a master at spinning a phrase in the English language. Mr. Romney, on the other hand, does not know his backside from third base. But two additions to the American language pronounced by Mr. Romney compelled my…
-
A SORRY TALE OF TWO EGREGIOUS PISSANTS
This is the second case in which I have occasion to refer to pissants. For those who did not see my earlier description of pissants, it should be remembered that pissants are living creatures. They exist primarily in rural areas of this country. They have no eyesight but their hearing apparatus seems to be in…
-
CHERISH THE CHILDREN AND/OR THE UNFATHOMABLE
The dual titles to this essay span a period in time of more than 2500 years. Cherish the children is a maxim from Confucius. Unfathomable was enunciated this week in Newtown, Connecticut by Don Lemon, the indefatigable announcer for CNN on weekends. As you may have guessed, the title has to do with the recent…