What are our children being taught in the public schools?

Just two weeks before the mid-term election day, on October 23, there was a mid-sized story, page width by 4.75 inches, which was buried within the obituary section of our daily news(?)paper with the headline: “U.S. report: Efforts to suck carbon from air must be ramped up.”  The headline makes one wonder if it really…

The Moore Family has the most beautiful ugly Christmas tree

It has become a tradition in the Moore family to put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. For reasons unbeknownst to me, this duty has fallen my way. It always starts with a trek out to the backyard shed. Of course, all the Christmas stuff is stacked behind the lawn mower, the seed…

America must rebuild its crumbling infrastructure

Recently, the world learned yet again that inadequate investment in infrastructure – roads, bridges, tunnels, and railways – can have tragic consequences. This time, those consequences befell the people of Genoa, Italy, where the collapse of a 51-year-old bridge killed 43 people.  Area residents had long expressed concern about the bridge’s structural integrity. For years,…

Dan Keating left his mark on America, Oklahoma, Tulsa

I first met Dan Keating in 2004 when he was instrumental in raising funds for the first Senate campaign for former Sen. Tom Coburn. We met but we didn’t speak a lot. Not too much later, Dan asked me to join him for lunch. I didn’t know what to expect. I thought he might be…

As a Christian nation, we enjoy freedom of religion

In normal times, six days after a general election the results are known and final. As this is written, it seems as though in at least two states the final, unchangeable results are now decided. These, as anyone interested in the outcomes would know, are Arizona and Florida. And there may be a few other…

Christmas music includes a wrap session

A quick question: What kind of music do you listen to the week before Christmas? Wrap music. Enough of the Christmas puns. With our grandsons getting older, Christmas has taken on new life in the Moore home. Titus the Honorable is already anticipating presents, Christmas trees and family. Cohen the Goodhearted is just looking forward…

The Health Insurance Tax needs to be repealed as soon as possible

A little-known provision of the Affordable Care Act has been stealthily contributing to higher health insurance premiums. It’s called the Health Insurance Tax, or HIT — and Congress is finally ready to do something about it.   Earlier this summer, a bipartisan House majority voted to suspend the HIT through 2021. Now it’s the Senate’s…

“When I am weary and cannot sleep.I count my blessings instead of sheep.And soon I fall asleep… Counting my blessings. When my bankroll is getting small.I think of when I had none at all.And I fall asleep, counting my blessings.” – Sung by the late Bing Crosby in White Christmas. You get in trouble when…

A Four-Year Thanksgiving

There is probably no book that sets forth Thanksgiving as well as Bob Greene’s true story of the American spirit, Once Upon a Town. As he puts it, he was not sure he would find it on a long hot drive across Nebraska.  He was seeking: the best America there ever was or at least…

Political races aside, we had a great Veterans Day

For a more pleasant change of pace after the recent hectic two-year election season, the need for more relaxing and pleasing subjects is obvious. One subject immediately evident is the immediate holiday now labeled “Veterans Day.” My church home, Kirk of the Hills-Presbyterian, has for the last several years on the last Thursday preceding November…