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All I Am, I Owe To My Mother

I’m a crossword puzzle fanatic, loving the challenge of completing the trifecta of The Post-Journal’s Jumble, Cryptoquip, and daily crossword puzzle, hoping I can get every circle, code, and box filled in before filing the page in our paper recycle bin. One crossword puzzle clue often used asks for a three, sometimes a four letter word given as “May Honoree.” The answer they are looking for is mom/moms, which brings us to their day of honor which we’ll celebrate tomorrow. The title above, from George Washington, pretty much says it all, when it comes to our mothers, ...

Help Us Starve Algae

Our lakes are hungry for help. We are all aware of the excessive algae and plant growth we have been struggling with in our lakes. There are many factors that can promote and contribute to algal blooms and excessive plant growth. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can occur in fresh, salt, or ...

Ban This! No, Never Mind!

Recently, many politicians were in such a hurry to ban plastic bags. California and Hawaii banned them, then New York. Then Oregon, Connecticut, Maine and Vermont passed laws against them. More than 400 cities did, too. Why? Because plastic bags are evil, didn’t you know? “Look at the damage done by plastic bags! It is everywhere!” complained New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. A Washington state senator cited “videos of animals choked by plastics, tangled in garbage!” So what should we use instead of plastic? Cloth bags! They’re reusable! “Certainly the way to ...

Accused Deserve Presumption Of Innocence

It’s hard for those who have never been wrongly accused of something serious to understand what it’s like. Imagine that happens to you. Unless the accusation pertains to a specific time and place, and you have a convincing alibi, you may well find yourself in the impossible position of proving a negative. Imagine further that the accuser alleges the incident occurred long ago. Imagine perhaps also that since the alleged incident, the accuser has said little or nothing about it - least of all to you - and instead has in effect waited until the accusation can do maximum ...

The Good Life: Lockdown Lesson: Save Some Money, Now

The lost jobs accompanying the current coronavirus should inspire us to get or keep emergency fund of from three to six months’ net spendable income. I have one. Then again, I am 77 years old with no dependents. My wife has her own emergency fund. Back when I had children ... Oh, did I have children! One, two, three, four, five, six. I paid bills once a month. My now-grown children mirthfully tell their children, “When Grandpa paid the bills, we learned many new words, in English, in Italian, even a few in German and in Russian. One sentence, minus the obscenities, went like ...

Let’s Talk About Vietnam War

As many news organizations have noted, in just three months the American death toll from the coronavirus has exceeded the number of Americans who were killed in the Vietnam War. This may feel like just another statistic to younger generations, but many who lived through that war hear it and might need a moment. This is not ancient history for us. Of the 59,220 who died in Vietnam, 26 were from my home county in northeast Ohio. We didn’t have many college or bone-spur deferments in Ashtabula County, which was full of working-class and rural families. Of those who survived, so many ...