THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury My intrepid Uncle Mort does much “huffing and puffing” about state and national politics. At the end of the day, though–when everything is said and done–always more is said than done. Sometimes he claims to see two imaginary punching bags, one inscribed “Austin” and the other “Washington, D.C.” He flails away at them as

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury When one enjoys a musical comedy as much as we did recently on a trip to our hometown of Brownwood, mass laughter was a tonic. There’d been an almost sold-out crowd of some 300 at the Lyric Theatre, and the experience made the 140-mile drive commencing at 11 p.m. seems less daunting. My wife

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury As productivity lessens in later life, one is sometimes guilty of over-analysis, probing the depths of understanding too far. Been there lately? If not, maybe you’re not old enough, or perhaps you’ve learned to downplay interest in the “I-wonder-whys” of life. This week, my route to productive missions was sidetracked by a proverb

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury The late Will Rogers claimed that all he knew, he read in the newspapers. My aged Uncle Mort–whose routine includes puttering down the lane to the general store most days–still is an avid reader. However, he is not one claiming to read from “kivver to kivver,” like his parents before him. Most of

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Before football coaches have gone any distance in the minefield-laden careers they’ve chosen, they learn that the welcome mat–so warmly extended before their first game–often is jerked away before there’s time to leave a footprint. Finally deciding to accompany his wife to Europe after breaking promises to do so for decades, one old coach

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury When I began writing weekly more than two decades ago, I informed readers that they could expect occasional recipes worthy of clipping, putting under magnets on refrigerator doors or placing toward the front of recipe boxes. I have failed. Maybe it was because the recipe–offered more than 20 years ago–failed to generate any

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury My aged Uncle Mort sometimes stumbles across what he calls “business opportunities,” not unlike hogs stumbling over acorns every now and again. He claims that an epiphany experienced during a recent Sam’s Club visit has led to his dusting off a rarely-used business card indicating that he is a “consultant.” I’m not sure

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Far-out occurrences often are illuminated through the miracle of the Internet, sometimes resulting in findings that may, uh, need additional study. Such occurred recently in Dallas, where a homeowner was troubled by skunks who had burrowed their way under the foundation. Then, frustrations increased when the little varmints proceeded to make unwelcome noise with