Columns

To borrow a quote from the great Yogi Berra: "Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical." America's pastime has always been a thinking man's game, but with the influx of modern technology and new analytics it's become more analytical than anecdotal. Major League front offices are staffed with more people who have Ivy League degrees but who've never played in the Big Leagues...

There is a part of our culture that reveres celebrity — and bravado. One could even say a mark of the modern era is the dominance of celebrity culture, where individuals thrive commercially by turning fame into personal brands, which are then leveraged for money and more fame...

Today, I'm advocating for animals because they cannot advocate for themselves -- and I love them enough to do it for them. Owning a pet is a selfless act because, let's face it, pet ownership is not just a joy; it's a responsibility. Most people understand that. What they may not understand is that not owning a pet is often a selfless act also...

I'm almost as upset that Democratic presidential candidates are squabbling as I am that Prince Harry and the former Meghan Markle apparently don't want to live in Los Angeles until President Donald Trump leaves office. Double bummer. Speaking of doubles, did you know that Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have accused each other of lying? How can this be? Progressives don't lie. With that in mind, one of them must be lying...

Despite its cool Green parties and ambitious wind and solar agendas, Europe remains by far the world's largest importer of oil and natural gas. Oil output in the North Sea and off the coast of Norway is declining, and the European Union is quietly looking for fossil fuel energy anywhere it can find it...

"What I'm always fond of saying is, 'The one thing that will never ever change is everything changes,'" said Mike Kohlfeld in a video announcing Kohlfeld Distributing as the Jackson Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year. Kohlfeld was one of several local businesses honored last weekend at the chamber's annual dinner and banquet. A sold out crowd of 575 people packed the Jackson Civic Center to celebrate a thriving community, growing chamber and visionary business leaders...

The new year brings with it a wonderful opportunity for me to share that the Institutional Actions Council (IAC) of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) -- the regional accrediting body for Southeast Missouri State University -- has reaffirmed our accreditation, extending it for 10 years with no interim reporting or monitoring required! The IAC formally acted on our reaccreditation application in early December. The university's next reaffirmation of accreditation is set for 2029-2030...

I spent much of last week accompanying my wife Victoria to an academic conference in Seattle. Joining us was our 7-year old daughter, Liza, who showed the patience of Job sitting through her mother's panel. Some of the presentations were in German, and let's just say they weren't the most riveting engagements -- even though to me it's fascinating how so many talented professors talk openly about using courses such as language instruction as a vehicle for ideological indoctrination. ...

As we begin 2020, there is the lingering question whether the new decade is actually now or in 2021. I think it's a matter of semantics, and personally I think of the 2010's as the past 10 years -- so we are now in a new decade. Either way, this next 10 years will be a time of great change, maybe even more than the last decade...

It's hard for me to realize we are into a new decade and already 20 years into this century. In October, the board of aldermen met at the annual retreat to set priorities for 2020. The first priority for 2020 is the completion of the Jackson Police Department headquarters and its relocation to the new facility in May or June...

News broke last week that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are stepping away from the royal palace and pursuing life -- and independence -- elsewhere, reportedly in Canada. This, of course, upsets the order of things and has many around the world abuzz with speculation of why, what for and what not. I don't have the specifics. The only thing royal about me is that I'm a child of the King of kings, so I don't have any more insight than most people on this issue, but I do have some thoughts...

On Oct. 11, 2012, Jackson native Maj. Garrett Knowlan died in an Air Force training exercise in Pensacola, Florida. At the time of this tragic accident, his father and local attorney Jack Knowlan told the Southeast Missourian the family was focused on how Garrett's life could inspire others...

Did you notice how presidential President Donald Trump appeared at his press conference on Iran? It was a fitting symbol for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's colossal failure in withholding the impeachment articles from the Senate. Whatever Pelosi's loony strategy -- her unorthodox decision to withhold is only about strategy and not principle -- she has ensured that the hyperpartisan impeachment will be viewed for exactly what it was. ...

After losing its top strategist, military commander and arch-terrorist, Qassem Suleimani, the Iranian theocracy is weighing responses. One, Iran can quiet down and cease military provocations. After attacking tankers off its coast, destroying an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, shooting down a U.S. drone and being responsible for the killing and wounding of Americans in Iraq, Iran could now keep quiet...

This is a quiet time of the year. Kids are back in school. Holiday obligations are over. Christmas ornaments are back in storage. In my house, without the twinkling lights, the space seems a little forlorn, a feeling compounded by gray skies and bare trees outside. With the early darkness and long nights, it's a perfect time to set the cooking aside for an evening and go out to dinner!...

I got fed up with politics some time ago, and times like these remind me why. The barrage of responses to President Trump's order to kill Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani is expected. But the accusations that he did so to distract from impeachment proceedings are ridiculous and disheartening...

His death removes a powerful force for ill in the world. But the full repercussion of the American military’s targeted strike on him and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the man operationally behind the attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, will not be known immediately.

"Everyone's got an opinion; be an example," author and speaker Bob Goff wrote in a tweet. Those words came to mind this week when I read a story in the Charleston Post and Courier about Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney. The uber-successful coach finds himself back in the BCS National Championship again this year. ...

It’s no secret, print newspapers in most parts of the country are struggling. Many, particularly in small towns, have closed. According to University of North Carolina professor Penny Muse Abernathy, more than 2,100 newspapers have closed in the United States since 2004, 70 of them dailies. ...

A new year has snuck up on us. “Snuck up”? you ask. Not possible: it comes every year. Same time. True, but man, 2019 flew by, didn’t it? The older I get, the faster time flies, and in the metaphoric blink of an eye, we stare into the face of 2020. What do we see?...

Much of what President Donald Trump gets criticized for publicly is his style. His opponents dislike the tweets and his counter-punch approach to politics. Does he make politically incorrect or even ill-advised comments? Sure. But it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Voters knew this before they elected him...

Seventy-five years ago, at the Battle of the Bulge (fought from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945), the United States suffered more casualties than in any other battle in its history. Some 19,000 Americans were killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 reported missing...

The year 2019 is quickly coming to a close. As I have done in past years, I would like to review the accomplishments of the City of Jackson for this past year. I am pleased that most of the priorities for 2019 were accomplished as I review my article for "2019 Priorities" from last January...

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Messiah Oratorio, by George Friedrich Händel (1742)...

Nothing has done more to unite Republicans -- from GOP congressmen in Washington, D.C., to "malodorous" Walmart patrons in rural America -- than the Democrats' quixotic, vendetta-fueled crusade against President Donald Trump. Trump's election was a seismic blow to the left, which has paralyzed it with hatred and reduced it to a gigantic mob of bloated self-importance and radical opposition...

Former FBI Director James Comey and deputy director Andrew McCabe, former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have lots of things in common. One, they ran the nation's key intelligence and investigatory agencies under former President Barack Obama. They were deeply involved in the "Russian collusion" hoax. And they participated in the surveillance of the Trump campaign and transition...

I didn't desire to write this commentary, but I did. The SEMO Board of Regents sets "policy" for the University. As a former member of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents, I respect the difficult duties of the Board and have therefore refrained from criticizing any university policy matters for almost 20 years. The Board has a tough job, a thankless job, but an important job. It is a job that must be done, no dodging allowed!...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats continue to shred their credibility. As I write this column, Pelosi and her House lieutenants have indicated they do not intend to send articles of impeachment, passed by the House, to the U.S. Senate until Democrats can dictate a witness list...

Holidays are a time to celebrate, but they are also a difficult time for many. Instead of rejoicing, some are lamenting loved ones who have passed and reflecting on the traditions that passed with them. This Christmas, it is my prayer that even those who have suffered great loss will give themselves permission to enjoy the holiday. ...

On the first day of impeachment Adam Schiff gave to me A pounding gavel all for free On the second day of impeachment Adam Schiff gave to me Two opening statements And a pounding gavel all for free On the third day of impeachment Adam Schiff gave to me...

A former U.S. Senator once shared a wise axiom that has stuck with me: Sometimes you win, sometimes you get experience. That statement came to mind Saturday evening as I watched the Jackson Indians football team lose in overtime to the Carthage Tigers at the University of Missouri's Faurot Field...

If cosmic justice were to prevail, Democrats would drop their impeachment sham in confessed disgrace and move to give President Donald Trump a second term by acclamation for having ceaselessly abused their power in trying to nullify his first term. Though cosmic justice won't prevail, the Constitution will, including its prescribed Senate check on impeachment and its provision for election of presidents through the Electoral College...

Donald Trump certainly is mercurial at times. He can be uncouth. But then again, no president in modern memory has been on the receiving end of such overwhelmingly negative media coverage and a three-year effort to abort his presidency, beginning the day after his election...

As a physician who served a largely rural area, I know recent years have been tough. It is ever harder to build and maintain a successful practice. Providing excellent patient care has become increasingly difficult due to authorization delaying tactics by insurance companies. ...

"I don't know you anymore," my friend joked. I had to laugh because I'm starting to wonder if even I know me anymore. 'Tis the season for most to embrace the festivities, the lights, the snow, but not I -- until this year. Look, I'm no Scrooge. I'm no Christmas "hatah." I enjoy seeing the decorations, the pictures of snowfalls (from afar!), the rainbow colors. ...

7:55 a.m., Dec. 7, 1941. A sleepy Hawaii had awakened to another beautiful Sunday morning. U.S. military personnel were going through their morning routines, with countless sailors, Marines, and Army personnel at attention, bugles sounding the daily raising of the Stars and Stripes...

The SEMO Humane Society received strong support in its recent fundraiser for a new adoption center. JSE Surplus and Purina combined for a $35,000 match as part of the shelter's #GivingTuesday campaign. Every dollar donated through Dec. 3 was doubled...

One symptom of a society in crisis is the unreliability or even corruption of its own auditors. After all, when the watchmen have lost moral authority to watch, who can be believed or trusted? Or, as the Roman satirist Juvenal famously put it, "Who will guard the guardians?"...

Law professor Pamela Karlan did more than cross the line in taking a cheap shot at President Donald Trump's son, Barron Trump, in her pro-impeachment testimony. In openly demonstrating her strong personal animus against Trump, she disqualified herself as an expert witness...

There's nothing wrong with the idea of Facebook, for example, but in practice, social media platforms are usually designed to exploit human weakness, distracting us from greater potential.

How did I manage to avoid having sex with my students during a career that spanned nearly two decades? A facetious and rhetorical question, but with each passing week, it’s one that merits asking. Unfortunately, refraining from such inappropriate behavior reveals itself as more of an accomplishment than simply an expectation...

Is it just me, or has it also occurred to you that Democrats, in this all-important year leading up to the 2020 election, rarely talk about policy issues? They are exclusively focused on removing President Donald Trump, and they only discuss policy during their somniferous debates...

"Good evening, Lord." Those were the words Jack Mehner spoke during his invocation at the Cape Chamber's annual dinner. It stuck with me, partly because you hear so few people begin prayer this way. But if you know Mehner and what he endured 13 months ago, it makes perfect sense. Prayer has been his source of strength...

During special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, his legal "dream team" tried to make a secondary case that Donald Trump also obstructed efforts to prove Trump-Russian "collusion." Trump was said to have advised his lawyers and other subordinates, past and present, not to cooperate fully with the Mueller investigation. Yet the special counsel did not pursue any actionable cases of egregious interference by the White House...

I'm proud to call Gary Rust my father. No one is a stranger to him. He celebrates all people, but especially those who apply themselves to improve the world around them. He is loyal, hard working, playful, generous, insatiably curious, loving and visionary. On Thursday he was recognized by the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce with the first-ever Drury Family Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award...

We are pleased tonight to join with the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and all of you to recognize the very first recipient of the Drury Family Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award. This award builds upon the powerful example of entrepreneurship expressed by three hometown sons of Cape Girardeau, the founders of Drury Hotels: my father, Charles, and his brothers, Bob and Jim...

Christians love Thanksgiving because it is a pure and simple giving of thanks for what God has blessed us with in this life. Thanksgiving is thanks toward God, not toward man. That may explain, in part, why it is minimized in our culture. It is also not as profitable for retailers and advertisers like Black Friday and other materialistic shopping days. ...

It's hard to say goodbye. After 32 years spanning four decades, I am retiring the day before Thanksgiving. It's a fitting time. I am truly thankful for the opportunities I have had as a reporter at the Southeast Missourian. I began working at the newspaper in the spring of 1979, within a month or two after the blizzard buried Cape Girardeau...

It was a special night in Cape Girardeau on Thursday as the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce recognized award winners in small business of the year, chamber ambassador, the Rush H. Limbaugh lifetime achievement award and a new Drury Family award for entrepreneurship. Common in the acceptance speeches was a theme of gratitude -- along with a celebration of this corner of the world as unique...

I'm a little late to the Popeyes debacle. Only recently did I hear about fights breaking out over -- that's right! -- a chicken sandwich. I'm all about good food, but really? So the backstory, I hear, is that Popeyes created a sandwich that's obviously to die for because some people actually have -- at least one. ...