Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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Popular song writers will, on occasion, dub into their lyrics references to summer. In 1970, Mungo Jerry sang, "In the summertime, when the weather is high, you can stretch right up and touch the sky." In 1972, Bobby Vinton sang, "Yes, it's going to be a long, lonely summer." In 1973, Terry Jacks sang about enjoying his "Seasons in the Sun." In 1977, in the film Grease, John Travolta and Olivia Newton John sang a back-and- forth duet about their "summer days drifting away, to summer nights."... Full story
Last Thursday, July 27, 2023, North Korea's leader Kim Jon Un presided over a military parade that celebrated the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean conflict, from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. North Korea's Foreign Ministry announced, in bellicose language, that "the 21st century would see the irrevocable termination of the U.S. "Should the U.S. choose to offend our Republic, we will annihilate them by using all our military power that we... Full story
Two trials in American history stand out above the others, the Salem Witch Trials and the Scopes Monkey Trial. Both were of a religious nature. The two serve as bookends on America's history, the first in 1693, in the years after New England's founding, and the second in 1925, early in the twentieth century. The trial at Salem Village, Massachusetts sought to identify and then execute those unseen spiritual forces, the witches, who, village's officials believed, went about in secret performing... Full story
This last week I watched the new Lionsgate film, Jesus Revolution. The film did better than expected, grossing $50 million in the first months after its release in February. The screenplay is based upon a memoir that Greg Laurie, and co-writer Ellen Vaughn, published in 2018, Jesus Revolution: How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today. I knew nothing of Greg Laurie when I watched the movie, but since then, I have learned that he is a long-time pastor, fifty... Full story
In National Geographic's May edition, the writer Suzette Brewer, member of the Cherokee Nation, wrote an article about "the some 500 federally funded boarding schools for Native children opened in the U.S and Canada in the 1800s." Catholic or Protestant missionaries, intent on converting the students to Christianity and to white men's culture, oversaw many of these schools, all designed to indoctrinate the students in the missionaries' specific theology. Brewer calls these schools "places of hor... Full story
Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election because of his upbeat creed, his optimism, and his sunny disposition, an attitude that contrasted to Jimmy Carter's beat-down-but-struggling talk. Reagan told the American people, "America's best days are ahead of us," and they believed him. Jimmy Carter talked about a National Malaise, ways to cut the deficit, and how to get hostages out of Iran. The American people were aghast. Warren Buffett says, "For 240 years, it has been a terrible mistake to bet... Full story
William Shakespeare was born close to April 23, 1564, in Stratford-on-the-Avon, in England, 100 miles northwest of London. Roger Williams was born either as early as December of 1603, or as late as April 5, 1604, in Smithfield, a section of London. Shakespeare's father, John, was a glover in Stratford-on-the-Avon, in that he stitched gloves out of animal skins. Williams's father, James, bought, sold, and traded textiles. Shakespeare became a famous playwright in London at the Globe Theater, but... Full story
John F. Kennedy served in the U. S. Congress for fourteen years, from 1947 until 1960. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, JFK was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1946, and he stayed there until 1952, a total of six years. In 1952, he ran for Senate, won the election and stayed there from 1953 to 1960, a total of eight years. He was elected President of the United States in November 1960, and in January of 1961, he and his wife Jackie, and their two children, Caroline and John, Jr...
Twenty-eight-year-old Naomi Biden married twenty-five-year-old Peter Neal on the south lawn, at the White House, on Saturday, November 19, 2022, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. Because there was no tent, and because the temperature was a chilly 39 degrees, some 250 guests received shawls, hand-warmers, and blankets once they arrived. They also checked in their cell phones. The President and First Lady Jill Biden hosted the ceremony, and the family paid for the wedding. At a few minutes... Full story
The United States departed Afghanistan on August 31, after almost twenty years of nation-building, the most recent foreign power to surrender that harsh, cold, Himalayan terrain, “the graveyard of empires,” back to the Afghan people. The British tried three times to tame the poor but fierce Afghan fighters. In the first Afghan War, 1839-1840, the British marched in with high hopes, but suffered one of the worst military disasters of the nineteenth century, an outright slaughter. The Afghan peo...
School begins this month, perhaps this week. Teachers again will introduce students to questions on math, science, English, social studies, and foreign languages. I wish them all well. No subject is easy, but some say math is the hardest. I remember geometry as my hardest. Theorems spooked me. The following year I found algebra more enlightening. Graph coordinates with x’s and y’s, as well as logarithms seemed to click in place. Jordan Ellenberg, a math whiz from Wisconsin, just published a new...
Rarely do men and women seem free, even for a moment, from the evils that have plagued human beings for millennium: war, poverty, famine, slavery, racism, diseases, pestilence, and natural disasters. The U.S. armed forces first attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, and now, the twin wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are winding down after two decades, wars that have cut short many human lives and caused painful, debilitating injuries. On the horizon is a menacing conflict with China...
In recent days a native Icelander named Egill Bjarnason published a book, “How Iceland Changed the World.” I wonder about that title’s bold claim, but nonetheless he writes well, is entertaining. He begins with the Vikings, and then steps forward, chapter by chapter, until he finishes in the 21st century. Along the way, he brings in plenty of fascinating details about the island’s towns, people, weather, government, and the Northern Lights, an enjoyable and readable geography primer. In his int...
As the year 1776 unfolded, American colonists were confronted with the question of independence. Some favored it, others rejected it, and a third group remained uncommitted. This political question caused hard feelings between colonial Americans. More and more colonists were forced to take sides in this bitter conflict. Some chose. Some refused. Battle lines were drawn. The question divided families, communities, churches, schools, and local governments. Those who spoke out in favor of separatin...
You and I, and all others who claim American citizenship, now have reason to celebrate a new Federal holiday, Juneteenth, our 12th legal public holiday. Last week, on Tuesday, June 15, the Senate unanimously passed legislation to make June 19, or Juneteenth, a national holiday. On Wednesday, June 16, the House passed it with only 14 “no” votes. On Thursday, June 17, President Joe Biden signed into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in the White House’s East Room. In his remar...
How does one recognize great writing in a novel, a work of history, or a scientific treatise? The typical answers include: if it sells 5,000 copies, if it makes the “New York Times Best Seller” list, if it wins a literary prize, if a literary critic gives his or her stamp of approval, or if it is printed for decades. Each generation of young people discover for themselves the wealth of ideas that they can dig out of Plato’s Dialogues, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays, or Shakespeare’s plays. Th...
The 1921 race riot in Tulsa began on Monday, May 30, Memorial Day, when a young black man stepped into an elevator, tripped, and either grabbed a young white girl’s arm to steady himself, or stepped on her foot. She screamed. No one else witnessed what transpired on that elevator. Someone suspected a possible assault and called the police. He was 19 years old. His name was Dick Rowland. He shined shoes on Main Street. A number of Tulsa’s lawyers knew Dick, because he shined their shoes, but non...
In recent days, an editor at the New York Times asked readers to send in their wise words that they try to live by. The best responses appeared in two Sunday editions in April. A few examples follow. A Missouri resident named Dave Dillon said, “Always behave as if someone were watching.” Kristy McCray of Ohio, said she lives by the Platinum Rule. “Treat others as they wish to be treated.” Norma Douglas of Idaho, quoted her dad. “You are not better that anyone, but no one is better than you.” Ron...
William Shakespeare passed away on April 23, 1616, at the age of 53, leaving behind some 39 plays that he wrote alone or assisted in writing, for his acting company, the Kings’ Men. Two others in that company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published in 1623, 36 of his plays in the First Folio. Of the 750 copies of the First Folio, only 235 remain in existence today. Heminges and Condell’s heroic editorial work preserved and saved from extinction the better of Shakespeare’s plays. We all w...
“When I was fifteen years old, I traveled the country giving speeches about the Constitution at American Legion halls for prize money. This was a scheme invented by my mom, a debate coach, to help pay for college. I would travel to big cities like Denver and Fresno, and win a bunch of money.” Those are the words of Heidi Schreck, a fast-talking, loud actress, at the beginning of her 2019 smash Broadway play, “What the Constitution Means to Me,” that she wrote and stars in. She re-enacts that te...
Two weeks ago, there appeared in “The New York Times Book Review” a review of Derk DelGaudio’s just-published memoir, Amoralman: A True Story, and Other Lies, even though he says, “It is not a memoir.” Rather, he says, “I had a story to tell about my days as a bust-out dealer, hired to cheat card players at a series of high-stakes poker games at a house in Beverly Hills. I told the story through a memoir.” In the the first half of the book, Derek tells of his early years growing up in Colorad...
In the first scene of William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar,” a military official named Flavius reveals his disgust with a dashing military and political official named Julius Caesar, by asking, “Who else would soar above the view of men, And keep us all in servile fearfulness?” In the second scene, on a crowded street filled with people cheering for Julius Caesar as he passes by, he hears a single voice above the din, and asks, “Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue shri...
A 17th century philosopher named René Descartes struggled to make sense of the mind-body problem. He understood that thoughts originate in the brain, but he observed that mental activity is ephemeral, without physical substance. How can this be? he wondered. Ever since, philosophers have called Descartes’s philosophy “dualism.” They concur that what occurs within the mind exists in a separate reality from what occurs in the physical world. The 16th century writer Michel de Montaigne tried...
In recent days, I reread Daniel Boorstin’s book, The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream. Boorstin trained as a historian, but in his 1961 book, he steps away from history long enough to peer deep into American’s modern-day thought processes. He identifies certain illusions that, he insists, hamper correct thinking. I would agree. Illusions abound in modern-day America. We wonder, “what is true, what is false, what is real, what is fake?” We fill our minds everyday with trucklo...
Four outgoing Presidents have boycotted the incoming President’s inauguration: John Adams, his son John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and Andrew Johnson. The second President, John Adams, was first elected in 1796, by defeating Thomas Jefferson 71 electoral votes to 68. Four years later, in 1800, Jefferson won the election by defeating Adams 73 electoral votes to 65. A bitter Adams refused to attend Jefferson’s inauguration on March 4, 1801. Four men ran for President in 1824: Andrew Jac...
