Opinion
Regifting etiquette: Making the most of Christmas 2011
After learning what you received for Christmas from friends, family, neighbors, customers, associates, and your ex-sister-in-law’s first husband’s second cousin, whom you may or may not have briefly dated in college, you now know exactly how many of those gifts you plan to give to someone else next Christmas.
'Moonbeam' history
A 30-year-old nickname that made its way back to the headlines of early 2011 has had many in the American media digging up old newspaper articles to find out why, and how, California’s new – and former – top excecutive ended up being labeled as “Governor Moonbeam.”
How I wish Mike Royko could see the news now.
Keep Facebook about faces, PLEASE!
Tonight I turned on the computer after a few hours completely off line, checked into Facebook, had those warm fuzzies as I commented about how we had just had our whole family out for our Christmas get together, and how fun it was to see everyone around, and how I was feeling so blessed that everyone is happy and healthy.
I clicked the "share" button then my page updated and immediately I said, "EW!", shivered and hit the button that hid THAT post.
Provoking your New Year's agitations with force and persuasion
Every year at this time, we hear people talking again about "resolutions."
Lose weight.
Stop smoking.
Spend less time watching TV.
Say nicer things about my bosses/colleagues/relatives – or at least stop saying what we think of them in front of our children.
Old Long Gone Song: An ode to resolutions soon forgotten
It only takes, according to people who like to count this stuff, about 17 days for the average American to say, "Oh, never mind" to his or her New Year's Resolutions.
Tonight – December 31, 2010 – the people who have with nothing to better to do are standing up at some city street, looking up to the sky to let some giant piece of metal tell them it’s January.
The sights and sounds of a prison in progress
In a few months, perhaps, the unwilling occupants of the new Benton County Law Enforcement Center will hear the sound most-often associated with prisons: The echo of a door clanging shut.
From the outside, it appears as though the building is nearly ready for use. Most exterior brick work has been finished. Why many in law enforcement are concerned about Iowa's new 'Shall Issue' gun law
If – under the new law that went into effect Jan. 1 – Mark Becker had walked into the Butler County Sheriff’s Office on the morning of June 23, 2009, and requested a permit to carry a handgun, that sheriff would have been required by law to issue him one.
Becker would not have had to “reasonably justify going armed.
A friendly visit from the Ghost of Christmas past
For Ebenezer Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past was sort of creepy and scary. And sad.
But for us, this year, it was kind of cool.
In this age of Wii and Kinectics and 3D movies, I received, as a gift, something that is not available at any of the stores that sell all of those things – a 1970s video game.
'The View' for men offers evidence there is no constitutional right to be heard
We were playing one of those “tell your secrets” board games.
The question I had to answer: Which of your five senses would you prefer to live without first, if you had to choose?
My wife knew what my answer would be: Hearing.
There is way too much noise in our world – and in our American society.
The little engine that could, and did...
A couple years ago, we had a discussion in our house about careers and how it seems that in the newspaper business nothing was a sure bet.
Businesses were constantly being sold, bosses get moody, and you are suddenly out the door over a typo...it seems to be the easiest way to get rid of reporters, of course the company never would pay a proofreader.