Noah Webster once wrote: “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe.”[1] And you thought all Noah did was write dictionaries! Webster is also reported to have stated, “Tyranny is the exercise of some power over a man, which is not warranted by […]
Having spent far too much time meticulously watching local news reports out of Pittsburgh, I have come to the conclusion that most of the reported crimes are committed by people wearing dark-colored hoodies. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why someone hasn’t moved to ban them. I think that light and bright-colored hoodies […]
World peace! It is a vision long held by many. Each New Year, it seems, we try to cast off the violence of the previous year like a dog trying to shake off water. Unfortunately, dogs are much more effective in their drying off efforts than we are in our quest to eliminate conflict between […]
It has been several days since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and I am still struggling to process the reality of such a horrible event. Other mass shootings in recent years have scarred communities, but this one has left deep and lasting scars for our entire nation. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 had […]
We all want it in one way or another, but some of us definitely more than others. I speak of our human need to be in control—that elusive capacity to get what we want, when we want it, and how we want it. Like a vain pursuit of the proverbial carrot on a stick, a quest […]
I lied the other day. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not in the habit of lying, and on a scale of 1 to 10 in importance, this particular fib probably came in at around a 1.5. But it was a lie nonetheless. I had found myself in an awkward situation and before I […]
You’ll find it there sitting in a corner of Hoss’s parking lot on most days in August. I speak of an old maroon pickup truck with wooden side boards and a green shaded canopy over the bed—a bed piled high with fresh, recently picked sweet corn. Occasionally, “Silver Queen” is the offering of the day, […]
The date was October 29, 2011—once memorable in college football history. Down 7-3 to the Illinois Fighting Illini, the Penn State Nittany Lions drove the ball 86 yards, enabling Joe Paterno (JoePa) to become the winningest football coach in Division I history. On November 5, Jerry Sandusky was arrested for alleged (at the time) child […]
Are you a fan of lobster? It is without question a delicacy in many parts of the world, but such hasn’t always been the case. Early settlers to New England found lobsters to be so plentiful that at times they could wade into the ocean and capture them by hand. An overabundance of lobsters actually […]
The film begins with Barbra and Johnny visiting their father’s grave in rural Pennsylvania. Barbra is afraid to be in a cemetery at such a late hour. Johnny teases her, as any brother would, totally unaware that a zombie–a reanimated corpse–is about to knock him unconscious against a headstone. The rest is history. Night of […]
