Columns

In May 1969, James C. McCloughan was a 23-year-old army Private First Class serving as an infantry platoon medic in Vietnam. McCloughan was a veteran of combat and had already been awarded Combat Medical Badge, two Purple Hearts, and two Bronze Stars. McCloughan was also nominated for the Medal of Honor (MOH) for his actions during the two day Battle of Nui Yon Hill...

Ever wanted to thank local U.S. veterans in a way that is personal, meaningful and fun? At the SEMO District Fair this September, you can do so by taking part in a "Paint for a Cause" project, the brainchild of local artist and Navy Seabee veteran Aaron Horrell...

Earlier this year, the People's Republic of California imposed a state employee travel ban to four states -- Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee -- who had passed laws the Californians thought were discriminatory toward the LGBT community...

I have been in New York state for more than a week. My old stomping grounds. I was honored to deliver the commencement address to Hudson City School District's (HCSD) class of 2017 on Friday. I taught in the district for more than 17 years, and many of the students who graduated Friday were in my class. ...

A confession: My wife and I have become a part of that technology-advanced option known as "binge watching." Binge watching occurs when an online streaming service (see, I know some of the lingo) makes several episodes of a popular program, like "House of Cards" or "Call the Midwife," available all at once. In other words, you don't have to wait for weekly episodes like in the good old days of black-and-white TV...

A new member of our military services is very quickly taught about the chain of command, which is the command structure that the new enlistee is part of. Orders are transmitted to that individual soldier, airman, Marine or sailor through a chain of increasing rank senior commanders right up to the Commander in Chief (the President). ...

NOTE: I put fingers to keyboard prior to the verdict in this case. The verdict has now been rendered. Read on for my pre-verdict thoughts, and read my "Followup" for my thoughts after the verdict. I am not a lawyer. I write this, therefore, not from the perspective of one deeply entrenched in the law, but as one immersed in common sense...

There was a story this week that made me do some serious thinking. So don't read the rest of this unless you want to be informed with sobering statistics. The story was about an alarming increase in obesity. Just so you know, "obesity" doesn't mean overweight. A lot of us humans are overweight but not obese, which means we are heavier than we should be, but our weight doesn't pose the health risks associated with obesity...

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution creating a national flag. This resolution states the design of that flag, including the colors to be used. The resolution states the flag will "be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." That constellation was honored when the U.S. Navy named one of its first six warships the USS Constellation...

Much of today's political chaos is little more than groundwork for the 2018 midterm and the 2020 presidential elections. Democrats are pushing their well-worn obstructionist model to favorably position themselves for higher office. They believe that chaos today will translate into votes tomorrow...

Does former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders believe Christians should be disqualified from holding public office? It sure sounds like it. During a Senate Budget Committee hearing last week, he attacked Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's selection for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, suggesting that he is unfit for the position because, as a Christian, he has stated that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ. ...

The Board of Aldermen and city staff have spent a considerable amount of time this past year discussing and working on plans for a new bathroom in the park. The addition of a new bathroom was picked as the top priority by the park board. In discussions with the girls' softball league they expressed a need for additional bathroom facilities for the area of the softball fields. ...

Congratulations to the Safe House for Women, which celebrated its Silver Anniversary at a heartfelt and uplifting luncheon on Friday, June 9, which was key noted by Missouri Director of Public Safety, Drew Juden. Several hundred were in attendance at the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau Event Center...

You probably saw the same story I read a few days ago, the one about the techie guru billionaire who bought a guitar once belonging to the late Grateful Dead great, Jerry Garcia. Brian Halligan paid nearly $2 million for the iconic instrument. Wait a minute. It's a guitar...

The recent terrorist attacks in England have caused the police in Great Britain to examine the current and long standing policy of police not carrying firearms. Traditionally the typical police officer in contact with the public would not be armed with a firearm. ...

With little better to do, I managed to force myself to watch Hillary's Excuse Tour '17 this past week. My gosh, you need a scorecard to track the phony excuses this woman is trying to peddle to the American public. Completely and totally void of accepting any personal responsibility, the former first lady is trying desperately to become the poster child of victimhood. But as is often the case with one-trick-ponies, her growing collection of excuses is wearing thin...

When Hillary Clinton lost the presidency, I was relieved the nation was spared the leftist agenda she would have implemented. It never dawned on me that almost as painful would be her incessant complaining and finger-pointing about why she lost. Have we ever seen anything like it?...

Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City and other nearby communities have plenty of banking establishments. You could throw a quarter in almost any direction, and it would land on the roof of a bank. Some intersections have a bank on almost every corner. And sometimes it seems we've almost run out of names for all the new banks. They start sounding a lot alike...

A prime example of bureaucracy purchasing is the way the Department of Defense (DOD) purchasing system operates. The Army and the Marines have just endured a project to select and to purchase a new standard handgun. Specifications for the handgun are established and made available to manufacturers. ...

Welfare reform is red meat for conservatives and a sure sign of racism to liberals. That alone illustrates the stark division concerning the question of welfare reform and more specifically, food stamp reform. The Trump administration's proposed budget calls for a $190 billion savings in the food stamp program over the next 10 years by requiring able-bodied adults to work to receive food stamps...

Being from New York, I have yet to get used to May commencement ceremonies that accompany the early end of the school year. Where I’m from, another month remains before school concludes., However, the pictures posted online remind me that here in the Midwest, it’s that time...

In November 1942 -- 75 years ago -- five Sullivan brothers were serving on the same ship, the U.S.S. Juneau, in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. All five brothers perished. This was the greatest military loss by any American family during World War II...

Memorial Day began as Decoration Day a day when the graves of Civil War Union soldiers were decorated with flowers and flags. In the South a similar custom was done to recognize and remember their dead from that terrible and costly war. Estimates vary but about 620,000 died in the Civil War. Decoration Day was celebrated independently in many states...

Expect a population boom in New Orleans now that the city has rid itself of those hurtful Confederate statues that have long been a draw for tourists and history buffs. At least that is the expectation of New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu who said the historic monuments are the cause for the out-migration of New Orleans residents...

As Memorial Day approaches and chaos continues in Washington, DC, it's a good time to remember the price that our United States servicemembers pay to keep our nation afloat and defend our freedom. All kinds of mess transpires with politicians and pundits, yet patriotism is found in the hearts of the men and women who wear the uniform, and honor is due those who died doing so...

A lot of attention is being given, by the news media in particular, to town hall-style meetings conducted by various elected officials who say their aim is to find out what's on our -- voters, taxpayers, citizens -- minds. Some of these meetings, as you have seen and heard, have been a mite unruly. ...

The country is named the UNITED States of America. The Civil War ended in May 1865, and with the end of that war we had created a nation of independent states strongly united in a common purpose. That unity would be tested many times against many enemies, and the UNITED States would survive and be strengthened...

Though I am long from jumping ship on the USS Trump, I will admit it is often discomforting to defend his words and actions. I have to keep reminding myself of some critical and telling aspects of this presidency. For starters, Trump is barely into his fourth month in office and, like many of his predecessors, there is a steep learning curve to the most important job in the world...

The health care debate has flooded the news as Congress attempts to repeal and craft a replacement for the Affordable Care Act -- an increase of governmental involvement and regulation albeit considerably less than a single-payer system such as Canada's. The costs of the law, it seems, have been the impetus for calls to replace it. In fact, enthusiasm for single-payer coverage plummets when people find out the coverage's costs...

Again, the left has done what they do when they run into a black conservative they cannot control. The script never flips. The narrative never changes. On Thursday, Breitbart News released its latest video in a series we have been running. Each video features a person on the Breitbart team speaking about a particular subject -- their unique story, their passion, their take on an issue. ...

My parents live in Sikeston. My great aunt lives in Kennett. My cousins, meanwhile, live in Salem and Monett and a host of aunts, uncles and family members live throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. What happens in Missouri affects them, and as we all know, what affects family affects you...

In the main living area of our home is a wall lined with bookcases. The shelves are crammed with those special things we couldn't bear to let go when we went through a major downsizing a couple of years ago. If you are a stranger, looking at the bookcases might give you a few clues about more than a half-century of our lives. But you wouldn't know why most of the items on display are of special significance to us...

Missouri's flagship university -- the University of Missouri -- is in a bit of a pickle. Enrollment has tanked, revenue is down by millions of dollars, seven residential halls -- once packed with eager freshmen -- are closed and tuition costs are expected to climb to make up for the financial shortfall...

Mother's Day is Sunday, so I am likely among the first to wish moms a happy day. This is a holiday that gets quite a bit of attention -- more than Father's Day for sure. In fact, Sunday in church, our pastors reminded the husbands and children to do what they have to do this week in preparation to treat their mothers and wives well. "You've got a week" was the message. In other words, "It ain't go'n be good if you drop the ball on this one!"...

Two Sundays ago, my wife and I and a friend of ours took one of those no-rush, nowhere-we-have-to-be rides through the countryside. We wound up in tiny Whitewater, and we managed to find the nearby cemetery where a mutual friend was buried. After we paid our respects, we decided to see where the county road running alongside the cemetery might lead. Off we went...

Kim Jung-Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea commonly referred to as North Korea, is, to my mind, a wacko. The man makes threats of major military actions against the United States, South Korea, and Japan. Do not aggravate a bear unless you are prepared to fend off an attack by the bear. He should consider himself extremely lucky that no nation's leader has taken his threats seriously and launched a preemptive strike against North Korea...

Bill Gates of Microsoft fame is worth an estimated $87 billion. Amazon's Jeff Bezos follows closely on his heels with an estimated worth of $80 billion. Reliable Warren Buffett is worth $75 billion. Those numbers alone are astounding. Yet economists are predicting that given their financial history, Gates or Bezos could be the world's first trillionaire...

It's time. Thursday is the Flourish Women's Summit: A Leadership and Empowerment Event. Flourish, the Southeast Missourian and rustmedia have been preparing for this and announcing it for months, and now, we're at the door. I am growing excited in anticipation of delivering the keynote address. ...