Columns

I remember a conversation I had with a friend who warned me about getting too close to neighbors because problems might arise, and the relationship could become awkward. I have found that advice to be avoided and ill-advised.

To the editor: Pete Seeger’s song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” is a protest song against the madness of war. It reminds me of our political situation right now, in real time.

To the editor: As a little boy, I was really happy when my dad returned from serving in the infantry during WWII. He brought home mental and physical scars, but never doubted the selfless service that he and others had performed in Europe to stop Fascism and champion democracy.

The organic garden industry has a lot of snake oil salesmen, or rather, neem oil salesmen. Have you ever tried using neem oil? Are you as disappointed in it as me? A pint of the stuff can cost as much as $25.

“The Better to Hear You with, My Dear” Above is a quote from The Big, Bad Wolf who was lying to poor Lil’ Red Riding Hood. He had already eaten her sweet, little Granny and was picking his teeth, getting ready to devour poor Lil’ Red as well. All of us old timers remember that traumatic story. The moral to the story is that Big, Bad Wolves may have big ears but they are very hard of hearing. Big Bad missed his lunch of eating Lil” Red because he could not hear the Woodcutter working close by, chopping wood with a big, sharp axe... a fatal miscalculation for a Big Bad Wolf.

The growth of industrial-scale users of power could strain the Texas power grid, ERCOT’s chief announced last week. The Dallas Morning News reported Pablo Vegas, the agency’s CEO, said bitcoin miners and artificial intelligence data centers going in across the state, as well as industrial growth in the Permian Basin, could create the need for a massive buildup of power transmission lines in the future.

Most ranchers use barbwire to fence cattle “in” in Texas. But Texas is a fence “out” state. That is if you want to keep someone’s cattle off your property, you need to put up a fence. Otherwise, it is considered open range. Cattle on the road is a big problem in Texas.

T EXAS History “Hippo” Vaughn cursed his rotten luck on May 2, 1917, after losing the only double nohitter in major league history. James Leslie Vaughn grew up in Weatherford, the Texas town west of Fort Worth where he was born in 1888.

To the editor: CNBC recently published a story with this headline: “The U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion every 100 days.” That astounding rate of increase adds up to $3.65 trillion per year, or $14.6 trillion after a four year presidential term.

To the editor: America is repeating trends of history. The study of history is critical to understanding the present.