Legal theft

If a man borrows money and finds himself unable to repay it, despite his honest efforts to do so, then we do not fault him too much. However, if a man borrows money with no intention whatsoever of paying it back, that is theft, whatever it might be termed in legal jargon. The United States every year  borrows itself deeper and deeper in debt, and I have seen nothing that indicates that we EVER intend to pay it back. We are a nation of thieves.

A desperate, depressing tragedy

One of the most heart-rending scenes in American history must have been the thousands of men who were willing to work, able to work, desperately needed work because their families were facing destitution, but who could not find a job - any job.

The orderliness of little boys

It is amazing to me that little boys who cannot even really express themselves yet, when they get a set of toy vehicles, will insist on lining them up in strict order on the playing surface. Orderly, logical minds even at that age.

A lesson from Cappy Ricks

I wanted to show you how hard and cruel men can be and excuse their piracy o the plea that it is business! I tell you, Matt Peasley, when you've lived as long as I have you'll know men for the swine they are whenever they see some real money in sight.

(From Cappy Ricks by Peter B. Kyne)

Slow, drizzly days

They are great, unless you have to be out in the rain. They lend a soft, easy quality to the day that all of us need from time to time.

Learning to let stress roll off

The older you get, the less physically able to handle stress we are likely to be, so we have to learn to roll with the punches. Water off a duck's back.

Verbal Welshmen

I found this description of the Welsh people (which is my main bloodline). However, this particular characteristic is not particularly mine.

"The Welsh enjoy talking. They talk incessantly. They talk passionately. They talk about anything. Two aspects of Welsh conversation can confuse outsiders. The first is their habit of mocking what they hold most dear. The second is the way they argue most violently with those closest to them, because they know what they can get away with. A casual listener, hearing the raised voices and the name calling of the most personal and insulting variety, might have difficulty in telling a normal discussion between two close friends from the start of a blood feud."

Movie goof-up

In the movie There's Always a Woman, Joan Blondell opens a closet door and the body of Jerome Cowan falls out. (Dead bodies always fall out of closets.) However, Cowan's corpse is pretty lively, because as he gets nearer to the floor, his arms instinctively move out to cushion the impact. Perhaps no one ever noticed it until the days of slow motion.


Cowan

A hit song you may have missed

They Say My Hair Is Getting Thin, But Who Wants Fat Hair, Anyway?

(from The Smiths of Hollywood radio show)

The benefits employees provide for employers

For all my employment life, I do not recall ever missing work to have to take care of one of my children. (It may have happened, but it was so rare as to be non-existent.) This was because I had a full-time baby-sitter "on retainer" at my own expense, so the companies I worked for had a benefit that I provided for them. Of course, this is something you cannot mention.

One key to a happy marriage

Any two people have things in common and things not in common. Particularly likes and dislikes, like music, for instance. The key is to emphasize the things that are in common, and spend a good bit of time on them, and be tolerant of the dislikes. For instance, I like some forms of jazz; my wife does not. I listen to it a good bit, but usually by myself. On the other hand, we like old movies and old radio programs, and we spend a lot of time listening to or watching them together.

A little radio hypocrisy

One episode of The Smiths of Hollywood radio program deals with the anniversary of the Smiths, played by Harry Von Zell and Brenda Marshall. In the course of the program, there actually are some very appropriate things said about the sanctity of marriage vows and how people ought to take them seriously. The irony is that even though Marshall was married for 29 years to actor William Holden, they both reportedly were notorious through that period for their illicit affairs.

"Pearly" Gates - lovable hood

Although in real life to say a "lovable" hood is a complete contradiction in terms, Hollywood is able to pretend that things are what they are not. Actor Paul Guilfoylel portrayed Clarence "Pearly" Gates in the last two "Saint" movies (The Saint Takes Over and The Saint in Palm Springs). Hardly a hardboiled type, Pearly is helped to reform by Simon Templar (the Saint) and eventually becomes a house detective in Palm Springs, where he works with Templar to uncover a theft ring. Guilfoyle is one of those actors who had the opportunity to assume a role that fitted him perfectly.

A situation fraught with possibilities

Script writers did themselves big favors when they thought of scenarios that naturally lended themselves to comedy. For example . . . Phil Harris notices that he is getting a little gray-headed, so he  goes to Alice's beauty shop to get his hair touched up, but it is so embarrassing that he rushes out before anything can be done. He complains to sidekick Frankie Remley that he won't be able to go anywhere to get his hair done, because everywhere he does they will know who he is. To which Frankie replies, "Why go any place? We can dye it ourselves." Of course, the live audience already senses the possibilities of that predicament, and begins to laugh.

Low-demand job

I would not imagine that the Obituary Editor on a high school paper has much to do. At least one would hope not. (Actually, I have never heard of such a post.) However, in those rare cases where a classmate does expire, it could be a very sad job.

Grandchildren are joyfully welcome, whenever they come

My next younger brother just welcomed his first grandchild, three days after we had our 16th. He is only 1 1/2 years younger than I am, but whereas I married at 19, he was in his thirties. Plus, my children began cranking out children fairly quickly in their careers. So, the time schedule obviously is greatly varied. I just talked to him, and of course he is very happy. It is comforting to share in that joy at the appearing of the first grandchild, which is tremendously welcome, whether it comes when we are young or older.

Karloff with McCarthy

The radio was playing an episode of the Edgar Bergen program this morning, with Boris Karloff as their special guest. As you might imagine, it dealt with all sorts of spooky things, and it was hilarious, with Charlie's snide but cowardly character playing perfectly off Karloff's urbane and threatening persona.

Not Louie's dish

"A girl with all those calibers don't appeal to me."

Louie the cab driver to The Saint, after he suggested that they go find a particular young woman who had been packing a rod.

Sally Gray - almost beautiful

Sally Gray was one of those actresses whose compelling attractiveness came from being right on the brink of beautiful - but not quite. As is often the case, that nearness to beauty have her a sort of haunting quality which enhanced rather than detracted from her loveliness. We know her mainly for a pair of "The Saint" movies. In one she was the female lead opposite George Sanders, and in the other with Hugh Sinclair. She and Sanders played off one another exceptionally well, and made The Saint in London one of the better Saint films.

Cecil Parker - prototypical blueblooded villain

His voice and manner oozed cold-blooded disdain and haughtiness. See The Saint's Vacation as a prime example.

Jimmy Valentine and Boston Blackie

In Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood, Blackie has to open a safe in the apartment of his friend, Arthur Manleder. As he prepares to do it, the Runt says, "You haven't done it in a long time, Jimmy Valentine." That is a reference to a safecracker who was the main character in the 1928 film, Alias Jimmy Valentine, which starred William Haynes in the title role.

Train Time radio program

All I have been able to find of this program is the audition program. Maybe it just never made it. Its claim to fame was that it was supposedly recorded completely on board a traveling Streamliner train.

Just being together

My wife and I do not talk to each other a whole lot. Some, but not extensively. After all, after 42 years we have covered most of the ground. So, we spend a lot of evenings in opposite ends of the house - she in the kitchen and I in the study. Communication is not always necessary; sometimes just being together is enough.

Sounds logical to me

Eddie Cantor: Leonard, what did you get Nora for Valentine's Day?

Leonard Seus: Get her something?

Eddie: Yes. It's Valentine's Day, and on Valentine's Day you're supposed to give her a valentine.

Leonard: Why? On Groundhog Day I didn't give her a groundhog.

(from the It's Time To Smile radio show)

Charlie Chan concerning discretion and valor

"Round-about way often shortest path to correct destination." (from Charlie Chan's Courage)

Sounds to me like another way of saying that discretion sometimes is the better part of valor. Live to fight another day.

Now there is a beautiful sight!

An almost-empty Walmart parking lot.

One of the funniest Lum and Abner episodes

LINK

The Folding Cot

It is plumb depressing!

The longer I live, the more people there are who are younger than I am. It is downright discouraging!

Sherlock had connections

Jean Lena Annette Conan Doyle, the daughter of the famous author of the Sherlock Holmes writings, married Air Vice-Marshall Sir Geoffrey Rhodes Bromet. She herself as a Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire (the female equivalent of a "Sir").

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the high cost of the Great War

Like so many British families, Sir Arthur's suffered greatly during World War I. His elders son, Captain Kingsley Conan Doyle, died from influenza aggravated by war wounds in 1918. His brother, Brigadier-General Innes Doyle, died from post-war pneumonia the following year. Conan Doyle also lost two brothers-in-law and two nephews in the conflict.

Bringing Holmes back to life

Sherlock Holmes fans know that Conan Doyle killed him off in 1893, only to bring him back to life in 1901 due to popular demand. Given the finality with which his death was recorded (since Doyle really had intended for it to be final), his revival was a little bit of a stretch. However, as Doyle said, "Fortunately as no coroner had pronounced on his remains" he was able to revive him.

It is an acquired taste

A friend of mine here at work frequently has a large bowl in which he puts a can of soup, a half a bag of Fritos corn chips - and a can of tuna. Hmmmm.

Oscar-nominated Chester Morris

Those of us old detective-movie fans who love the Boston Blackie series probably do not have an overly positive view of Chester Morris as an actor, since he did not appear to be working very hard at acting in those low-budget but thoroughly enjoyable movies. However, Morris was nominated for an Academy Award in 1930 (the second year of the Oscars) for his role in the 1929 gangster film Alibi.

Costello's debut performance at Carnegie Hall

He sang a piece he had composed himself - a western tune called "Who Spilled the Beer on the Stove, or Foam on the Range."

(from the Abbott and Costello radio show)

Lou Costello's cow lost her memory

Now she gives Milk of Amnesia.

Not a hard part to play

"Role of dead man require very little acting."
(from Charlie Chan's Secret)

He was "out of it"

Another folksy Southern expression: "He didn't know split peas from coffee."

Top hats in the Army?

After the prisoners at Colditz Castle were liberated toward the end of World War II, they were transported to Koelleda Airfield. The first thing they saw when they arrived was that all the soldiers were wearing top hats. They had just "liberated" a top hat factory and were enjoying one of the spoils of war.

Older folks' plans

When we are twenty, we plan what we are going to do when we are forty. When we are sixty, we plan what we are going to do after breakfast.
(from The Halls of Ivy radio show)

Women's intuition

"I never underrate a woman's intuition, or anything else that is made up of hope, faith, and inside information."

(Ronald Colman - Dr. Hall - on The Halls of Ivy radio show)

Fowler's English Usage

"I see you have been studying Fowler's English Usage, and fouler usage of English I have seldom heard." (Dr. Hall, on The Halls of Ivy radio show, after his wife had constructed a particularly unwieldy sentence)

Law and order

When genuine, honest law enforcement breaks down, then society descends into chaos, or underworld dictatorship. Integrity in the police community is of paramount importance - obviously.

Tightrope! TV series

If you liked the Mannix television series, you probably also will like Mike Connors in this earlier (1959-1960) series. Connors plays an undercover cop who has to remain anonymous as he infiltrates various criminal organizations. One interesting twist to the show was that Connors wore his hideout gun on the small of his back.

Bob Bailey as a bad guy

In the 1959 television series Tightrope, in the episode entitled "Getaway Day," Bailey plays Frenchie Malloy, the boss of the underworld gang. Strange seeing him in that type of role.

Nazi cowards

The Nazi regime during World War II imposed untold suffering upon millions of people. And yet, when it came time for them to die. all four of the main Nazi leaders committed suicide instead of facing death like a man. They could deal it out, but they could not take it - not that we expected anything different.

The smaller pond

You have heard the expression, "A big duck in a little pond," I suppose. As we grow older, our pond grows smaller. That doesn't mean we are bigger ducks, but just that the scope of what we are able and willing to attempt grows smaller. We bite of smaller chunks. We probably have more time at our disposal, but it takes more time to do the things we have to do.

Things are always in the last place you look

because after you find them, you do not look any further.

(Ronald Colman, on The Halls of Ivy radio show)

Sometimes you can get too much of a good thing

"Remember kind hearted elephant who tried to help hen hatch chickens."
(from Charlie Chan's Chance)

Covetousness revealed through cell phones

You have one of those new ones with all the new bells and whistles? Why, I've got to have that variety, right now! I must have it. I cannot live without it!

Lord Arundell at Colditz castle

Perhaps the bluest of the bluebloods at the Colditz POW camp in World War II was Lt. John Francis Arundell, 16th Baron Arundell of Wardour. He was captured in 1940, later contracted tuberculosis, and died shortly after being repatriated. His was a very old and honored name in England. The first Baron, Thomas Arundell, was given the title in 1605. His blue blood ran (at least) back to Giselbert I Graf von Maasgau, who died in 877 A.D.

The duty to escape

It is well known that it was the duty of officers during WWII to try to escape and otherwise harass the enemy however they could. What may not be as well known is that in August 1944 a memo was circulated relieving them of that duty. The reason was that the Germans had become increasingly flagrant in their retaliations for escape attempts, and the progress of the Allied forces indicated that the end of the war was not far off; so the high command did not want prisoners being needlessly sacrificed.

Maybe the best swashbuckler combination ever?

Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and acting by Errol Flynn. Would it get any better than that?

HERE is the trailer. If you haven't seen this one, you have missed one of the good ones.

Another long Hollywood marriage

They are rare, but occasionally Hollywood couples did stay married a long time. Actress Cecilia Parker made a name playing Mickey Rooney's older sister in the Andy Hardy series of movies. She and her husband, Robert Baldwin, married in 1938 and remained married until her death in 1993.

A Date With Judy - and Gildersleeve

Actress Louise Erickson played the title role in the radio program A Date With Judy. She also played niece Marjorie on The Great Gildersleeve.

A Date With Judy radio show

This is a cute program. It is a comedy, but not of the slide-splitting variety. Judy is a boy-crazy teenage girl, with the obligatory younger brother and all his caustic remarks. Worth listening to.

One of the very most important principles in life

You must not only do things well in life, but you MUST make sure that the things you are doing are the things that MUST be done. If you perform Priority B ever so well, but neglect Priority A, then you have accomplished little. That is why so many famous people's lives are so empty and meaningless, because they spend all their energy doing things that are of relatively little importance.

LEARN THIS PRINCIPLE!

The trials of a detective author

"I've got Lt. Fragwell at the bottom of a 40-foot cistern and I've got to figure a way to get him out." (from the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show)

Which Billy Mills

I have known of two famous Billy Millses. The first was a distance runner who won the 10,000 meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The second was a band leader of some note, especially as a fixture on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio program.

The most refreshing time of the year

I would hesitate to say what is my favorite time of the year. However, without doubt, early fall is the most refreshing time. When there first begins to be a little coolness in the air, a little "nip" when you step out in the morning, it gets your blood stirred and just naturally raises your spirits, especially in Arkansas, where late summer often seems to drag on and on.

The Great Escape and claustrophobia

Charles Bronson's portrayal of claustrophobia in The Great Escape was absolutely brilliant. As one who has a touch of it, I know; and I can guarantee you it would take a bona fide emergency to get me to go into a tunnel like that one.

Beethoven's 5th: familiarity breeds contempt

Beethoven's masterful use of the four-note theme in his Fifth Symphony is, of course, one of the great examples of skillful composition in history. What is sad is that the theme has been used and overused and overused again, even in popular music, that we have come to look on it as commonplace, and thus, I fear, have tended to downgrade the value of the music in our minds.

Martha Raye - a beauty?

Martha Raye made her fortune in show business as a goofy loudmouth. And, her mouth was too big, both audibly and physically, for true beauty. However, one wonders if she might have been made into another sort of star if Hollywood had put its reformative powers to work in her case.

No doubt you are a member of this club?

The Seaside Mandolin and Boating Club. This is a group of which Squire Skimp claimed his family were members on Lum and Abner. Sounds like a jolly little group, does it not?

Lord Richard Attenborough

One of my two all-time favorite movies is The Great Escape. One of the main stars in it was Lord Richard Attenborough, who played Big X. 

He married actress Shiela Sim in 1945, and they remained married until his death in 2014. During World War II, the Attenboroughs took in two German Jewish girls, whom they later adopted when it was learned their parents had been killed.

 
Attenborough collected Picasso ceramics.

Boxing's connection to terrorism

The 9th Marquess of Queensberry is well known for having developed the rules under which modern boxing is conducted. His great-grandson, David Douglas, is the current holder of the title. Douglas has an illegitimate son, Ambrose Jonathan Carey, whose half-sister Caroline married the late Salem bin Laden, head of the global Bin Laden family corporation. Salem was a half-brother and cousin (not sure how that works) of the infamous Osama bin Laden.

Caring for the soul

We feed our bodies. We exercise our minds (a little bit). However, I fear we neglect our souls. The soul is a real and important part of human nature, and if we ignore its needs, we do so to our hurt.

It wasn't healthy to be Mitchell's contact

In the radio show Dangerous Assignment, agent Steve Mitchell was sent to all sorts of exotic places, usually with one person he was to contact to get the information he needed to move forward with the mission. Seemingly as often as not, that contact would meet with an untimely end - before he could give Mitchell the scoop.

Tonsorial humor

They laughed when I said I had only missed graduating by a whisker. They didn't know I had been flunked out of barber college.
(from Fred Allen's Town Hall Tonight radio show)

Trouble comes any time

"Problems rarely wait for clearing weather." (Charlie Chan in Dangerous Money)

Joe Bush, organ grinder

According to Wikipedia, as of 2014, Joe Bush is the lone remaining organ grinder in New York City.

Here is a LINK to an episode of the Fred Allen radio show in which he interviews an organ grinder.


Bush

Bud Abbott's longsuffering wife

Bud Abbott, of the famous comedy team, was married to Betty Smith for over 50 years. The character of Mrs. Abbott was a regular on the radio show. She was continually being insulted by and getting into fights with Lou Costello. Smith was a vaudeville performer with Abbott, but I have not been able to discover whether or not she played herself on the radio show.

Faithful secretary, but she loved the D.A.

Vicki Vola played Miss Miller on the Mr. District Attorney radio program. Miller was a super-efficient and dedicated secretary, but on one program it is revealed that she is in love with her boss, adding a touch of human side to what is otherwise a somewhat grim program.

How much did radio actors make?

There were certain actors on radio who stayed very busy, but never (or at least rarely) starred on programs. An example would be Herb Butterfield on Dangerous Assignment. He was on every week, but only for a few seconds, usually at the beginning of the program or for a brief phone call from star Brian Donlevy later on. I wonder how much he made for that role in today's dollars. Another example would be Junius Matthews, whose distinctive voice got him lots of bit parts in various radio programs. What was hit take for those spots?

When government says, "Just trust us"

that is the very time we ought NOT to trust them. If we could trust them, we would have no need for a Bill of Rights.

London would not be good for me

My sense of direction is very bad, especially without perspective; and fog removes surroundings and therefore visual perspective. I would be totally lost.

Major Hochstetter had a lighter side?

Howard Caine, the actor who played Gestapo Major Hochstetter on Hogan's Heroes, played the banjo. According to Wikipedia, he grew up in Tennessee, and from childhood has been fascinated by the instrument. "From the summer of 1970 until his death in 1993, he had taken trophies at 29 prominent banjo and fiddle contests in the southland for both Best Traditional Banjo and Traditional Singing. He was also a popular folk singer and appeared at a number of prominent folk clubs and folk festivals."

Communication by tone of voice

It is amazing how much a child can communicate just through its crying. Mothers know almost instantly whether he is mad, scared, slightly injured, or badly hurt.

Who has won the most Academy Awards?

This is one of those "duh!" questions. After you hear the answer, it is glaringly obvious. Walt Disney. Of course! Duh!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cartoonist and film producer Walt Disney

Walt Disney (1901–66) won or received a total of twenty-six Academy Awards, and holds the record for most Academy Awards in history.^[1] He won twenty-two competitive Academy Awards from a total of fifty-nine nominations, and also holds the records for most wins and most nominations for an individual in history.^[1]

Disney won his first competitive Academy Award and received his first Honorary Academy Award at the 5th Academy Awards (1932). He received the Honorary Academy Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse and won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) for the film Flowers and Trees.^[2] In the seven Academy Award ceremonies that followed (6th–12th), Disney consecutively earned nominations and won in the same category.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Disney received three more Honorary Academy Awards, one in 1939^[8] and two in 1942.^[10] At the 26th Academy Awards (1954), Disney won the Academy Award in all four categories in which he was nominated: Best Short Subject (Cartoon), Best Short Subject (Two-reel), Best Documentary (Feature), and Best Documentary (Short Subject).^[11][12] In 1965, Disney earned his sole Best Picturenomination, for the film Mary Poppins.^[13] He was posthumously awarded his final Academy Award in 1969.^[14]

The strongest drug?

When the human body is desperate for sleep, is there a stronger drug upon it? It becomes all-consuming.

The Simon Legrees of literature

His name is synonymous with cruelty, but virtually no one these days has actually read Uncle Tom's Cabin, the novel in which he is a prominent character. I wonder how many such character's exist, who have become a part of the English language, but who are actually unknown to modern-day readers.

Alice Faye, radio, and the movie industry

In the episode of the Phil Harris and Alice Faye radio show entitled “Movie Role,” from 24 April 1949, the executives of the movie studio are trying to get Alice to go back into pictures, and decide that they will offer Phil a bit part so he will stop refusing to let Alice go into pictures. Faye had famously left movies after Fallen Angel, which was released in 1945, when her parts were cut to allow more time for Linda Darnell. Also, she wanted more time to be with her family, as her two daughters had been born in 1942 and 1944. Since her contract has called for her to make two more pictures, she was blackballed for breach of contract by Darryl Zanuck, and did not appear in pictures again until 1962. This episode is obviously poking fun at the movie industry for letting Faye get away.

The difference listening to radio

Radio is an option to us - one of many media possibilities. In its heyday, however, it was the only broadcast medium there was. There were movies and records, but they were not broadcasts. Families would gather around the set for their favorite programs, and it was a big deal in that day. Now we can enjoy the same programs, but it is not the same, because, again, it is not live.

Rexall's One Cent Sales

In my youth, Rexall Drug was a retailing powerhouse. We had a store in our town, and one of their big events was the One Cent Sale, in which you could get two for the price of one, plus a penny. They were great fun.

Different twists to detectives

The private investigator was a very popular theme in the years during World War II, and especially immediately following it. There were several programs in which the stars were not Private Eyes strictly speaking, but had a different twist to that genre. Johnny Dollar was an insurance investigator. Mr. Keen was a Tracer of Lost Persons. The Saint was just a wealthy adventurer who got a kick out of helping people in distress. Pat Novak owned a small business and was ready to do whatever was required for a few bucks. And there were others. They spiced up the category with a little variety.

Charlie Chan on jokes

"Practical joke sometimes disguise for sinister motive."

(from Castle in the Desert)

Excuse or reality

As we age, our capabilities decline (or at least our pace does). Dealing with that decline is one of the most important things we will do at that point in our lives. Do we use it as an excise not to attempt, or do we let it be a frustration because we can no longer do what we could? The "well-adjusted senior" deals with it and moves on, at whatever pace he can afford.

A definition of management

People who are willing to have people hate their guts for decisions that other people make.

Lund was good. The organ was not.

Actor John Lund did a good job portraying Johnny Dollar during his tenure in the title role. However, that confounded organ music that they used during that period is AWFUL. I figure I know why they did it: one organist was a lot cheaper than a whole band, but it was not worth the money they saved.

Tales of Fatima and Basil Rathbone

This old radio series starred the great Basil Rathbone as himself, a detective solving various cases. I have only found two episodes remaining. Fatima was a brand of long cigarettes that sponsored the program.

Three different Falcons

For a character who started in a short story, there certainly was a lot of mileage gotten from The Falcon - a movie series, a radio program, and later a television program. What is interesting is how the character changed as it moved from one medium to another. George Sanders and Tom Conway portrayed a suave, sophisticated ladies' man in the movies. In the radio program the character was portrayed by several actors, but Les Damon's version is best remembered. He, also, was a ladies' man, but he had a harder edge to him in his dealings with criminals, with a sarcastic, cutting sense of humor. Finally Charles McGraw held forth in the television series. His Falcon was entirely hard-boiled, no-nonsense and effective.

The old men of World War II

There were over 325,000 men who served in the Seabees during World War II. Their average age was 37 years old.

A surfeit of recreation

Any human being needs rest. Our bodies, minds and souls all need rest at times. However, in this modern age, it almost seems as though things are backward: most of our time is given to pleasure, and we take occasional work breaks.

Chid

Here is a word I am guessing you do not know. It is the past tense of chide. "Chided" is also proper, and is probably much more common.

Ladies I have known

It is one of the great privileges of my life to have known a good many ladies. I mean ladies in the fullest and truest sense of the word. Not crude and trashy individuals, but also not snooty and conceited. Gracious, kind, faithful, hospitable, diligent, with an inherent dignity that keeps them from being commonplace, even though they are from the common people. May God prosper them in the midst of this untoward generation.

Another finality of funerals

At a funeral, we say goodbye to a loved one. It is the final goodbye; there will be no renewal of the acquaintance here upon earth. However, sometimes at funerals there is more finality than we might realize. There we will see cousins or other relatives, and it will be the case that that will be the last time we will see them on earth. Perhaps they live at a distance, and only came home to see their immediate family, and now that the family is gone, there is no more reason for them to return. Funerals are sad times for more reasons than one.

The consequences of absurd positions

A handful of lawyers has dictated to the country that we cannot forbid the legal marital union of people of the same gender. Perhaps few have considered that in doing this they set up an underlying principle that has far-reaching consequences. They basically said that we are not allowed to acknowledge any difference between men and women. Any difference. Ignoring all rules of common sense and logic, they have launched the country on a logical downward spiral, and who knows where it will end. Because there is no difference, then each person should now  be able to decide which gender he or she is. Thus, there can be no such thing as "His" and "Hers" restrooms. Furthermore, if there is no difference between the sexes, and it is legal for men to appear without a shirt in public, how long will it be before women do the same? After all, we can acknowledge no difference between them, even if there is one. And the list can go on. Our deliberate idiocy knows no  bounds.

More borrowed theme music on radio shows

I just heard some of the music we associate with Barry Craig on the program, The Chase.

A state of war

Men have long relieved themselves of moral scruples by saying that any tactics are justified where a state of war exists. Then, all we have to do is to conjure up in our minds sufficient grounds for declaring war, at whatever level, and we are "free" to do whatever we want. Convenient, what?

A woman of her word

I feel sure that not very long into our 42-plus years together, it dawned on my wife that she had perhaps made a bad deal and had come out on the short end of the marital stick. Thankfully, she is a woman of her word and has stuck by the contract despite its shortcomings, unlike so many in this age of infidelity.

Don't count your Chinese chickens

"Perhaps good idea not to accept gold medal until race is won."
(from Charlie Chan at the Olympics)