“The Chinese can agree on just about anything, but the question is; will they actually follow through?” – Former Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, currently President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, regarding ongoing trade negotiations with the Chinese government. Part of my weekend consists of watching newsworthy programs on television or on the Internet. Former Secretary of […]

“All politics is local.” It begins there, anyway. Recently, I had the opportunity to observe activity as the county chapter of the Republican Party was in the process of selecting candidates for upcoming electoral races. It was democracy in action, and a peaceful event at that. Moving on, politics is less than a peaceful event at the national level. In […]

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces….” Isaiah 53:2-3 I cannot wait to see my children and grandchildren once again! Anticipation of the day […]

“He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.” Proverbs 28:19 Thanksgiving, 2018 is now a fond memory. I choose to dwell on the good, the family, and our time together. It is no secret to anyone living in this part of Kansas that the fall harvest has […]

Mid-term elections are fast approaching. By now, all eligible citizens should have thoroughly vetted the candidates vying for their respective positions in our representative government, having a clear understanding of the issues facing local, state and federal governments. Sadly, that is likely not the case. In much the same way young students try to get out of doing their homework […]

That’s it. I’m done with waiting for our rural roads in Marion to get better without some form of radical change at the county government level. Roads are an important part of the infrastructure, the lifeblood, as it were, which determines the level of success within these borders. This “patient” is seriously ill and on life support, and nothing is […]

Salt is a mineral we cannot live without. We benefit from its chemical properties as an essential nutrient for human health through its role as an electrolyte and osmotic solute. And yet, if we consume too much, it can make us ill and even be deadly. We use salt as seasoning in food, as well as a preservative to increase […]

Making America great again isn’t so great. Contrary to popular opinion floating around the White House, it may actually be slipping further into decline. Paul Krugman, opinion columnist for the New York Times, writes a summary of events that are unflattering, given the well-known fact that the United States, for decades following the end of World War II, has been […]

Media bias is an issue that rarely escapes our attention these days. It matters little whether one picks up a local publication or a larger city newspaper. Even in personal conversations in which a topic comes up, a likely reaction on the subject may arise. “Consider the source.” “I don’t give much credit to that rag.” “All news media are […]

This Facebook post, written by Art Acevedo, chief of police at the Houston Police Department, copied in its entirety without editing, reflects the emotions of a growing number of adults and youth, following another mass shooting in a school that resulted in the needless deaths of 10 more victims in Santa Fe, Texas. * * * “To all my Facebook friends. Today, […]