10/30/14 Blogless

Writing in my private journal, with fountain pen on paper, is definitely a low-tech, pleasurable experience. In my journal, I write about all the things I would not post here. You are likely mentioned in my journal, somewhere. Lately, I have felt compelled to write in my journal and not for publication. I have noticed…

10/30/14 The Inevitability of Rehabilitation

Sooner or later, they’re going to come for people you do like. Fredrik DeBoer I was captured by an op-ed piece in The National Review‘s on-line edition by Charles C.W. Cooke which referenced an essay by Deboer, quoted above. To be clear, I did not fully read either essay, but was so captured by the…

Mrs. Elsie Rebukes Me

[This was first published in 2006] Elsie McWilliams is one of America’s greatest songwriters. She has penned such songs as MISSISSIPPI MOON, YOU AND MY OLD GUITAR, EVERYBODY DOES IT IN HAWAII, THE LULLABY YODEL, THE SAILOR’S PLEA and WAITING’ FOR A TRAIN. She wrote most of these songs for and with her brother-in-law, Jimmie…

My First Vote

[This was first published in 2007] In 1975 I turned 18 years old. Being the political animal I was (and still am) I immediately went and registered to vote, looking forward to casting my first vote as a member of the responsible member of the nation’s electorate. I intended to take this responsibility seriously. I…

The Picking Contest

[This was first published in 2006] The Picking Contest Here’s a contest story for you. I hope you’ll indulge me. This is a true story. I moved from Meridian to Jackson in 1984. There was a certain guitar store in South Jackson that had caught my eye a time or two, but I had never…

9/26/14 Seething at the SEIU

So, you were forced by unfortunate circumstances to stay at home and care for an aging parent with Alzheimer’s, or a spouse who had suffered a stroke, or a child born with Cerebral Palsy or disabled in a tragic accident. You have made great sacrifices to spend your time caring for a loved one in…

9/17/14 Ebola Fighters to Liberia

President Obama can’t catch a break, and everyone can use a break from time to time. He is being criticized for some sinister plan he is harboring because he has announced the sending 3,000 American military personnel to assist CDC efforts in Liberia to help stem the growing danger of the Ebola (EHV) virus. The…

9/17/14 Clarifying Clarity

Remember this? “If you like your health care plan you can keep it, period. If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor, period.” This was said over and over again during the 2012 election cycle. The President was perfectly clear. He made it a point to be perfectly clear. He continually reminded us…

9/16/14 My Anniversary

This month is the 6th anniversary of the unknown infection that put me in the hospital for a week. Mainmost (one of my long-time physicians) failed to find any specific thing wrong, but after a week of non-stop testing and IV antibiotics, I improved enough for them to let me go home, having had, they…

9/6/14 Accumulations

Friends come and go, but enemies tend to accumulate. Unknown The above saying could have easily been uttered by any number of kingly advisers, perhaps even the great Talleyrand himself, but certainly it came from the realm of political science, where one collects enemies like a philatelist collects postage stamps. Enemies are far less benign…