View Post IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Editor’s Note: Dr. Newbury is on vacation. The following is a reprint of an earlier column. Most hunters are so gung-ho, they’ll hunt anything that’ll run from ‘em. Similarly, TV news folks salivate at the prospect of all-out chases to pluck credible opinions on controversial topics. This was the case recently when a
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Stories of gasoline price wars were common in Texas around 1960, when regular gas sold sometimes for 10.9 cents per gallon. Competition for college biology teachers, however, wasn’t all that common. Dr. Jack Stanford, retired with his wife Gilda in Brown County, remembers how two colleges tried to hire him. Fresh with his master’s degree
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Perhaps the most current evidence that August falls into the “dog days” category appeared in “neighborhood news” the other day. Most of us “slog” through these stifling days, and media folks scrounge around for news stories when little seems to be happening. For example, a woman in our neighborhood appealed for household scales that she
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury My aged Uncle Mort said more than a mouthful the other day about shenanigans dictated in the name of intercollegiate athletics by high rollers in the world of televised sports. “The almighty dollar is even mightier than I thought.” He hit the nail precisely. Big-time sports are far too big. We’ve drifted far away
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury What are the odds that two remote communities in the far reaches of West Texas would have much in common in what we’ve called the “space race” since Russia launched Sputnik? The USA shifted into overdrive with its Apollo 11 project for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to make the first footprints on the moon.
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Historians who tired of seeking origins that mattered much probably risked losing their licenses oh, 1.4 centuries ago. That’s when they scattered like quail in a hailstorm trying to identify the “inventor” of the hamburger. One of the few points of agreement is that they were introduced during the 1880s, depending on how deeply one
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury If only life could be as simple as that Blue Bell ice cream delivery guy’s view of his job. It seems to take simplicity to another level. “I eat all I can and sell the rest.” That’s what the ad says, as company leadership leans on the old saying about life being a “cinch by
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury I spend a good chunk of time each week working with, learning from, and encouraging fellow senior adults. It seems to me that the ones best able to “finish the race” don’t spend a lot of time employing the adverb “too.” The public at large, however, generally chooses to use the word “too” for maximation of
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury For youngsters, the wheels of time turn slowly, no matter how many “hurry ups” they desire. Indeed, dream fulfillment is painfully slow. The same is often true for grown-ups, too. For Branson, Missouri, the entertainment mecca was hit hard by COVID-19. There was no magic to “grease the wheels,” but as the pandemic weakens, wheels
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Spirit Of Abilene 