THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury It’s a line lifted from a short poem written by Robert Gray in 1868. “Ignorance is bliss when it is folly to be wise.” Ever fresh, it is an ongoing ponderance, like whether spearmint gum retains its flavor after overnight repose on the bedpost. My Uncle Mort–cocksure of much–seems ever ready to provide answers, sometimes

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Critics swear that the French successfully smeared “lipstick on a pig” for a big chunk of the 2024 Olympic Games. The French, though, are used to sloughing off jokes and insults. Someone said that if they can’t find an argument to join, they’ll start one. Further, on slow days, restaurant waitpersons resort to insulting each

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Uncle Mort’s contraptions and inventions usually are “far-fetched.” Finally, he’s come up with one that is “near-fetched.” And, it may be of considerable help to those among us who daily dread what used to be a thoughtless and effortless routine: putting on socks. Some of us have basically surrendered, choosing to go barefoot at home,

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury I’m not sure who the TV weather guy was, which city he served or exactly what he said, but if his observation passed down through the ages is even close to accurate, it still has wide application today. The man must have had his news antenna aimed far beyond the weather. He was a philosopher

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury A popcorn tradition was born 50 years ago this summer in the garage of our home in southwest Fort Worth. That was some 26 tons of popcorn and four machines ago. It was sparked by the late Dr. Veda Hodge, who owned a string of movie theaters and multiple West Texas oil wells. She heard

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Walt Kelly is most remembered for his comic strip published more than a half-century ago. Its central figure Pogo–campaigning to fight world pollution–made an incisive statement that still rings true. You remember it: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” It’s about money. The golden rule has become twisted, however. Now, “them” who

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury A Texas doctor, closing out a hectic week, hoped it to be his final medical appointment. He stared at a Q-tip that was devoid of cotton at both ends. “This Q-tip must have gotten right up against 5 o’clock Friday at the factory,” he muttered. In the span of one week recently, I felt that my

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Aunt Maude, wed to my Uncle Mort since Noah’s ark went into dry dock, says that her hubby regularly encounters premonitions while in dreamland. “When he says, ‘I’ll bet you can’t guess what I dreamed last night,’ I know that soon he’ll be untangling his dreams in his workshop, not likely to be heard from