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FAREWELL TO ARMS
On January first when we celebrated the arrival of the 21st century, there were some commentators who said that few, if any, veterans of World War II would survive the first decade of the new century. That view is entirely reasonable. The last shots were fired in that war in August, 1945. That was 57…
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TATOOS
I have lived all these years and it has been my fortune to travel all over the world. My family life has been pretty much routine and employment by the largest corporation in this country kept me occupied for 43 years. And from 1942 until late in 1945, the Army of the United States (AUS),…
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What to do about… GEORGE BUSH’S REBATE CHECK
Last week, there arrived in our mailbox a life changing letter. It was a check for $600. In the first place, it was mailed from Austin, Texas which now seems to be at the center of Bush’s universe. The United States Treasury is on 15th Street in Washington, but for this purpose was moved to…
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ON WOMEN
The news from South Dakota this week is that the legislature there has passed a bill, and the governor has signed it, which forbids abortions anywhere in the great state of South Dakota. There are no exceptions for rape or for incest. This is simply a return to the days before Roe v. Wade was…
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ON GOLF, CIVIL WAR, AND VIRGINS
-Three Disparate Thoughts Growing up during the great American Depression, it was my view that golf was an elitist sport. There were a few driving ranges around, but public golf courses were few and far between. Jobs also were few and far between and money was a problem at every step of the way. Golf…
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A SYLLOGISTIC LAMENT FOR A WOUNDED PREACHER
In my longer than expected life, a minuscule amount of time has been directed toward the peccadilloes of preachers and priests caught in sexual scandals. I am not a Christian and do not intend to become one. Nor do I intend to become a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Jew, a Hindu, et. al. I assume…
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COMPASSION BEYOND ALL REASON
This is an essay that was run over by the events of this week. For two or three weeks, it had been my intention to write an essay having to do with civility. I had thought that the title of the proposed essay might be, “Civility, Decency, and Compassion Toward Others.” But as I said,…
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ON WOMEN – A REPRISE
My essay writing these days has now reached somewhere in excess of two hundred. In perhaps four or five of those essays, I have commented about women. That is not a surprising development in view of the fact that my mother was a woman, my wife is a woman, my daughters are women, my sisters…
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CELIBATE SEX
My wife, Ms. Judith Chicka, says that the title of this piece is a non-sequitur. And she is a descendent of the Serbian royal family so she should know what she is talking about. On the other hand, it is my belief that the title is nothing more than an oxymoron. The Bishops of the…
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“WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE: ME OR YOUR LYING EYES?” – Groucho Marx
Nitpickers may say that Groucho should have used “Whom” instead of “Who,” but they are not writing this essay so the quotation stands as it is. The quotation is an apt one because my eyes last summer became AWOL permanently and now my eyes are often sending me imaginary visions of trees, water glasses, and…