IDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury Probably no governor in the history of the Lone Star State has faced double-barreled “standing in line” issues like the current Texas boss, Greg Abbott. Throngs coming from the south want in, and flustered Texans are standing in line for hours to obtain or renew driver’s licenses. Life must be more than tedious for
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON One of my favorite TV shows is NCIS. One of the reasons I like it is that the characters come across as real people with real-life problems and struggles. In one episode, Agent Torres is obsessed throughout the show on trying to fix a pair of sunglasses that he accidentally broke. Throughout the show, no one understands
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By NANCY PATRICK My husband Mike and I made a rather spontaneous plan to visit our granddaughter Hannah in Denver this summer. We decided to make a road trip of it so we could visit several places along the way. Our itinerary required that we spend three nights in hotels as we made our way to Denver. All our accommodations
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS One of the best things about medical chaplaincy is that it is ecumenical. When I enter a hospital room, the patient and others in the room often ask, “What church are you from?” My response is to tell them where I usually am on a Sunday morning, but then to say, “But when you are a hospital
Read moreIDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury As might be expected, my Uncle Mort thought he had heard every birthday-related joke in the book. At his 107th party a few weeks ago, he got a real birthday surprise. They rolled out three large gifts. When he tore away the wrapping on the first one, there was a birthday cake adorned by
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON My day had been going great when I drove into the bank drive-in. There were six lanes open with two cars in each. As I drove up, one car went on through, so I pulled behind the single car. Fifteen minutes later I was still sitting in the same spot. All the other lanes had fulfilled the
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By LORETTA FULTON Growing up, Austin Channing Brown was curious about her first name. Her mother told her that “Austin” was her grandmother’s maiden name. Not satisfied, Brown pushed her mom, wanting to know why her mother chose the name, not just family history. Her mother’s answer hit with the force of a sledgehammer. The name was selected from a
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By LORETTA FULTON People who love scholarly lectures are in for a treat, with three coming up within the next few days. One speaker, Jason Byassee, will do double duty, speaking at the Festival of Faith at First Central Presbyterian Church and during the 2019 Summit at Abilene Christian University. Hardin-Simmons University also will hold its annual Cornerstone Lecture Series
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS One of the things humans just seem to do naturally is to compare our behavior to that of animals. We are good at this anthropomorphic trick—saying, “Look how that animal is acting just like a human.” Kevin McGowan, an ornithologist at Cornell University, suggests this is backward reasoning. “Thinking of animals like people is misleading and unhelpful
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Spirit Of Abilene 