Straight From The Hart

My column in today's paper. The Origin of Evil As a child growing up on the cusp of the decades of the 1940s and 1950s, I still have a vivid memory of turning on the big console radio in our “front room” and tuning in to hear a male voice intoning the sinister words: “Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of man?” The answer of course was “The Shadow knows.” It was all we knew about evil in our childish innocence of that time, not having a live streaming of Adolf Hitler’s newest concentration camp during the Holocaust being piped though our television sets every evening. The closest we came to understanding a presence of evil during those days of the Cold War was running out into the yard every time we heard an airplane, trying to read what insignia might be emblazoned on its fuselage, hoping it was not a Russian bomber, because we were having drills at school of ducking underneath our desks just in case we were attacked. Now, thanks to the 24 hour streaming news on all our e...

Former U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice is in the news again.  Yesterday’s news reports all centered on her possible role in “unmasking” the names of the Trump transition team who got caught up in incidental surveillance, and then leaking the  information to individuals both within and without the government who were not legally entitled to have such information.   These are only allegations of course, but they do tie in with the fact that former President Obama  made it possible on January 12 when  his administration finalized new rules that allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) to share information it gleans from its vast international surveillance apparatus with the 16 other agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. Rice first came up on my news radar following the attack on our Consulate at Benghazi on September 11, 2012, when she was sent out to five news outlets, under the tutelage of Ben Rhodes, to inform the American peop...

While we in the U.S. have been absorbed in our national news coming out of Washington D.C. and other places, some interesting things have been happening in Russia of which we need to take account.   On March 26, more than 1,000 people were arrested in Moscow, along with smaller numbers in 82 different Russian cities.  Those arrested were protesting against Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev because of allegations published earlier this month by a political opponent of President Putin and the Prime Minister.  Medvedev is a former president of Russia and a close ally of Vladimir Putin.   It was estimated that altogether 60,000 people turned out  for the protests throughout the country. The allegations were made by Alexei Navalny,  a 40 year old politician in Russia who has expressed opposition toward Putin and Medvedev and other officlals, charging them with high levels of corruption.  Navalny’s high profile expose alleged many accounts of corru...

I know many of you love stories about the people and places in Lebanon’s history.  I hope you enjoy this one about Raymond Medley and the Medley Drug Store, which was located at 221 W. Commercial in the building currently occupied by Walters, Staedtler and Allen, CPAs. Raymond, who was born on March 11, 1905 and died on March 12, 1984, was one of the most respected and well-liked businessmen in town.   He took care of his customers and their families and also their dogs and livestock. He didn’t charge for the animal care and  there were many families who received free care and advice from him over the years. When he died, his family found boxes of checks from customers which had been returned by the bank, and Raymond never tried to collect on them because he knew the customers were unable to pay. Raymond's mother died when he was a young teenager and he was the oldest of his siblings so he assumed major responsibilities early in life.  When he was abou...

Well, did any of you women stay home from work as a protest this week?  I didn’t think so.  I didn’t see any of you marching in the streets wearing vulgar pink hats either.  We don’t do that in Laclede County.  We’ve never done it, not our thing.  Missouri women, especially those of us who live and work in the out-state  areas, have way too many other things to do, like going to work every day to put food on the table and buy gas for the car, and cooking and doing the laundry, and volunteering at church or other organizations. I’ve been doing some history research, and hard work, sacrificial love for family and country, and compassion for others is firmly engrained in the nature of women in this area.  It didn’t just start during the Civil War period, but I have some interesting stories about how it was demonstrated during that time right here in Laclede County. Missouri was a divided state during the war, and Laclede County was a divided county...

Have you seen “The Shack”, or do you intend to see it?  I would encourage you not to go, but not for the reason you might think.  I would strongly advise you to read the book instead.  I found the book to be so fascinating and thought-provoking that I fear the movie will not live up to it and you would not get the full benefit of what the author is trying to say.  Also, you will enjoy the story  more if you have to use your imagination.  I understand from others that movie makers feel they have to “fill in the gaps” and elaborate on things that take away from the real message of the story. I rarely read fiction and I don’t go to movies.  So how did I get caught up in reading such a controversial book as “The Shack”?  I am a very conservative, born-again, Bible-believing Christian, not exactly the type of person who would read, much less enjoy, the type of novel Wm. Young has written. Well, you might say it was due to medical advice.  Si...

My column in today's paper. THE KEEPER OF THE CLUTTER What do collectors, hoarders, savers, and clutterers have in common? I should know the answer to this question since my husband and I fall into all these categories to some extent or the other. I often facetiously tell my friends that I could be the poster child for hoarding, but in all seriousness I don’t go that far. My dishes are always cleaned up (thanks to my industrious husband), I don’t collect empty cartons (except those left over from Christmas last year and which are destined for the recycle bin as soon as I can find someone to haul them away for me), and there are no “goat trails” through my house - not downstairs anyway. For those of you who, like my daughter, are minimalists and actually have bare shelf space in their homes, a goat trail is the term used for hoarders who pile stuff floor to ceiling, leaving only a narrow path to walk through the rooms. So we can safely eliminate the word hoarding from my housek...