THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Now that the election is over, my ancient Uncle Mort and his domino-playing buddies down in the thicket can resume their usual mostly-minutia confabs that too often lack authenticity. This reminds me of the annual extravaganza birthed in 1929 when old-timers of Burlington, Wisconsin, held their first-ever “Liars’ Contest.” They called it “harmless fibs

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Carl Sandburg–his poetry collections winning three Pulitzer Prizes–warmed the hearts of Americans with his beautiful description of how tides roll in, “on little cat feet.” He would be hard-pressed to similarly describe crowd’s arrivals at our house each year on October 31. They’re in all shapes, sizes, ages and all manner of dress–but, unlike

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury The deeper dive one takes into life’s hourglass of time, the more likely it is to ponder nuggets of health news that might affect longevity.  One jumped out at me the other day when a physician’s findings gave me an additional reason to keep as close an eye on my cane as I do

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Bob Hope, beloved humanitarian, comedian and patriot, may have been America’s best ambassador of international goodwill–ever. He was able to “localize” his jokes and stories no matter where he appeared. Always on the road, this British-born icon became a naturalized American at age four. He spent some 80 of his 100 years starring in vaudeville,

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Names of luminaries met at intersections along our pathway keep popping up as corner posts in life’s fence row.  They are not remembered as being Republican or Democrat, rural or urban, liberal or conservative. Each, however, has two characteristics in common — notable public service and unquestioned Christian commitment.  A friend of some half-century, the

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury If we weren’t totally “away from it all,” we were on the outskirts, kind of like the characters in the delightful 1953 Broadway musical “Brigadoon.” Only the long of tooth remember the tale of two New York guys stumbling across a delightful village in the highlands of Scotland that came alive for only one day

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Jiminy Cricket!  I never dreamed I’d be writing about an insect popularized by Pinocchio, or that this week’s piece may warrant bottom-of-the-barrel placement. I may have reached a new low, what with insects in the spotlight. Late author Carlo Lorenzini got by with it with his ever-popular fairy tale novel involving a wooden-figured boy whose nose

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury I have probably made this claim previously, but most friends know that my respect for redundancy has never been more than trivial. So, here I go again, certain that there finally are but two groups of people–those who have egos and admit it and those who likewise have ‘em and don’t admit it. I’m in

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Stephen Cox is not an imposing figure. Still, he has the countenance and features to be a Clark Kent look-alike, even if considerably smaller in stature. You remember Clark, right? He’s the guy who morphed quickly from his role as a reporter for a large metropolitan newspaper into Superman, the movie and comic book figure