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FREEDOM MASK: WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE?

October 14, 2021 by

What’s a freedom mask? Is it the expression on a prisoner’s face on the way out of jail? The look married people have after the final decree is signed? Or is it a blue four-ply square with pleats that comes with loops that fit behind your ears? Since I’ve never been to jail overnight, just […]

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AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE UPDATE: NOW WHAT?

July 2, 2021 by

We all understand American Independence from a historical point of view. “Freedom from the tyranny of taxation without representation.” And other tyrannies? What about independence from other tyrannies? Can we get freedom from self-imposed tyrannies? Personal tyranny? If so, how? That’s the question, how? You could read an essay for starters. It’s an Oregon-born essay […]

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AMERICAN STEW, A RECIPE OF HOPE AND HEALTH

January 28, 2021 by

American stew, in spite of the name, is a delicate dish with a layered flavor profile. The ingredients are common to most every country, but the preparation and cooking temperature are the biggest difference. What American stew is not, is half-baked. It’s also not for diners who eat out of cans with a plastic fork, […]

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WORDS: FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD? NO, NO IT’S NOT

January 15, 2021 by

Words change with age. For a few years I lived next to a quirky neighbor. Sound familiar? Most folks have either had one, or been one. I was already there when he moved in, a ripped muscle-man with a crewcut. ‘Great,’ I thought, I’ve got either a policeman neighbor, or a gym kook. Either way […]

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NANNY STATE vs MANLY STATE – IN THE OCTAGON

January 14, 2021 by

Nanny state is a term of British origin that conveys a view that a government or its policies are overprotective or interfering unduly with personal choice. The term “nanny state” likens government to the role that a nanny has in child rearing.  That’s the wiki-definition, which seems pretty good. The Manly State, a term I made up after hearing Mr. Trump […]

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FREEDOM SINGS: JAILHOUSE ROCK FROM CELL BLOCK D

January 12, 2021 by

“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.” Was Kris Kristofferson right? Nothing left to lose is the same as freedom? Ask someone who lost everything in 1969 what they think. It might go like this: “How did you lose everything?” “I got drafted.” “Drafted?” “Yes. Conscripted into the United States Army.” “I […]

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QUITTERS NEVER WIN, WINNERS NEVER QUIT, BUT . . .

July 4, 2020 by

Quitters carry a label that’s hard to peal off, steam off, or scratch off. Once someone gets used to quitting important things, they can quit anything. The best of them develop a skill set where they try to convince themselves they didn’t really quit anything. The reasoning? They were surrounded by real quitters so no […]

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CHOICES MADE, ROADS TAKEN

May 24, 2020 by

We live with choices made, some we make, some made for us. Who among us wants a voice? Who here asks a question and accepts the answer offered? Most important, what is the question that needs an answer today, right now? I’ll go first, since I’m the blogger authority here, and start with wrong questions.

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WRITING LIFE LOOKS FOR SMOKING WRITERS

May 5, 2020 by

Do people in the writing life smoke to show they’d rather die than change bad habits? Or maybe they secretly want to lose a few pounds, although Joan Didion may disagree. The writing life? Please. I hear that and think of droopy people sitting around typewriters with a pipe or cigarette stuck in their face. […]

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FASHION FORWARD: HOW TO DRESS AMERICA

August 15, 2019 by

Lady Liberty greeted my in-laws when they sailed on the Queen Elizabeth from England to Canada showing them how to dress America. She wore the same frock then as she does now with diagonally draped material pinned to her left shoulder and her bare right arm raised overhead holding the torch of liberty. It’s been […]

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