Columns

Necessity is the mother of invention, we are told. The recent economy reminds us of how the mother of all hard times, The Great Depression of the 1930s, turned desperate families into hothouses for creativity and imagination. Times were especially challenging for farmers. Even in the best of times, many farm families often lived dangerously close to poverty.

A text arrived saying a dress I ordered online had been delivered to our front porch. And so it had, in a large and heavy box.

As still a part of the work world, I see my share of people pretty much every day in the buildings I’m working, in the occasional hotels in which I stay and in the places I grab a bite, in addition to those I pass when I’m not working. While observing my fellow men and women and their actions, I’ve taken note of some things that may carry a larger message.

I honestly hadn’t thought about the image in a very long time, mercifully. It’s been 12 years since it first hit the internet, and I’m happy to say I — and everyone else — have moved on.

The 2024 election is 280 days away. How can we survive until then? How can we help America survive beyond it?

People often want to purchase land or machinery and equipment for a business. Because cash is always king, borrowers sometimes cannot satisfy lenders’ requirement of a 20% to 30% down payment.

My family and I were lifting weights together the other night.

As approval for any further billions of American taxpayer cash to Ukraine stalls in Congress, one of Washington’s top allies sees an opportunity for its own military industrial complex to cash in on the racket.

PBS NewsHour’s senior correspondent Judy Woodruff traveled the country for six months last year to get more insight on the partisan divisions, economic struggles and continued skepticism many people have regarding our nation’s institutions. I had some time recently to watch one of her November reports on Steubenville, Ohio, which hit close to home for me.

On Jan. 11, 1954, a date which will live in infancy, I made my grand entrance into the world. I arrived more than three weeks past my due date and have seldom been on time for anything since.