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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I never thought I would see the day when America would follow in the steps of Nazi Germany when they burned “banned books” by the thousands. We haven’t quite reached that level of fanaticism – yet. But it sure looks like our current national leadership is trending in that direction. I hope and pray the following never becomes a reality. The scene: We stand in front of a blazing pyramid of books outside of an empty library building. A man stands in front, with tears in his eyes as he recites...
For those who do not recognize the reference in the title, it is taken from a song by Napoleon XIV, the pseudonym of Jerry Samuels, who had a one-hit wonder in 1966 with his novelty song, “They’re Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!” His nom de plume, for his series of mental illness songs was a play on the names of Napoleon I and King Louis XIV. Samuels used these songs to make some humorous, yet astute observations about life in the 1960s and beyond. The second stanza of the song should be a fam...
For those of you who did not read my first installment on this topic, T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L. translates as: There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Science fiction author Robert Heinlein used this device quite effectively in a novel titled “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.” I do not know the author’s political party affiliation, but I believe that he would find today’s American government, from top to bottom, to be radically out of whack. Why? As I wrote previously, for more than 50 years there has...
I can visualize readers shaking their heads and asking, “What in the world is T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.? It would be great if I could take credit for this attention-compelling device, but it comes from a science fiction story written by Robert Heinlein titled “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.” It pops ups frequently throughout the story and serves to emphasize a very vital message the author presents in this work of fiction. So you won’t have to buy the book to decode the message, here it is in plain l...
How things have changed, and not necessarily for the better. Since retirement I’m trying to stay out of my wife Dorothy’s hair and not get on her nerves. (But that’s another story!) Like many in my age group I’ve accumulated boxes and boxes of stuff, aka priceless mementoes of days gone by. When I have nothing else to do, I drag out a box or two and rummage through them to see if I can force myself to get rid of an item or two… results to day: a few pieces of packing material pitched. The bigge...
A few weeks ago I reached that “Golden Age” that virtually all working class people strive for. Yes! That time of life when we can do just about anything we want without worrying about scheduling conflicts at our place of employment. Yep! I retired a few weeks ago at the young age of 71.41 years old. The wife and I figured that our financial and health needs can be met without too much stress. Dorothy gave me the go ahead to retire after I convinced her that I would behave at home and not get...
