Opinion

No, Virginia, Santa cannot withstand scrutiny. Neither can the platform of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis.Visualize a debate moderator interrogating Santa Claus.“Mr. Claus, Earth contains nearly 2 billion kids. If you deliver a gift to each in 1 minute — down the chimney, back up and onto the next — your distribution takes 38 centuries. You claim to do this in one night, sir, with a sleigh.”Santa: “You know I’ve never really claimed I could do that. Not once…”Santa sounds much like our friend Jared Polis in the Gazette/KOAA gubernatorial debate Saturday night with Walker Stapleton.Polis, the Democratic nominee, came off as a kind, approachable, Santa-like figure eager to distribute a life-changing assortment of gifts. Free all-day kindergarten and preschool. Medicare for all. Energy from the wind and sun, and more. We applaud his benevolent intentions. If he can do all this, he might also give us wings to fly. Election … [Read more...] about EDITORIAL: Polis concedes he may not deliver

Alex Kane: 'My adoptive parents took a traumatised, scared six-year-old and allowed him to start his life from scratch... they helped me become the dad I am today' BelfastTelegraph.co.uk There is, of course, no such thing as a perfect adoption - and that's because there is no such thing as perfect children or perfect parents. Also, every adopted child brings baggage with them. I've carried mine for the 57 years since I was adopted. I still have the nightmares when I wake up screaming and bathed in sweat. I still have mornings when I wake up and wonder where I am. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/alex-kane-my-adoptive-parents-took-a-traumatised-scared-sixyearold-and-allowed-him-to-start-his-life-from-scratch-they-helped-me-become-the-dad-i-am-today-37418548.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/article37418546.ece/add35/AUTOCROP/h342/2018-10-15_opi_44909653_I2.JPG Email There is, of course, no such thing as a perfect adoption - and … [Read more...] about Alex Kane: ‘My adoptive parents took a traumatised, scared six-year-old and allowed him to start his life from scratch… they helped me become the dad I am today’

Tainted To the 60s-something woman who sat next to me at the Hudson movie theater the other night watching “A Star is Born.” I know these movie seats are comfortable and recline so you can relax and enjoy the movie, but removing your shoes and having your bare feet in the chair was completely rude.  To make matters worse, you didn’t put your shoes on the floor, you put them in the chair next to me. I had to endure the smell of your wet shoes throughout the entire movie and the smell was overwhelming. Please realize your surroundings and be a little respectful to the other people in the theater. Darren Grass, Hammond, Wis. Sainted Oct.1 was my wife’s 90th birthday and we were celebrating at Perkins in Stillwater. I am hard of hearing so talk a little loudly. The folks in the adjacent booth overheard us and wished my wife a happy birthday. They were a real upbeat couple and made our day. After they left the waitress told us they had paid our bill. WOW … [Read more...] about Sainted and Tainted: No one wants to smell your feet in the movie theater

Left-leaning critics of Kanye West are beside themselves that he continues to violate liberal orthodoxy by not only wearing a Trump Make America Great Again hat, but that he actually talks to Trump, as he did the other day in the Oval Office. Actually, it was more of a soliloquy and with each new gust of bravado and gibberish from West — a hydrogen-powered airplane? — even the president looked confused. West’s presence in the Oval Office was not at all unnerving. It’s a development of modern culture that celebrities go to the White House. The Obamas certainly had their share of rappers in attendance, even the ones who speak of violence and misogyny. Trump can invite anyone he wishes and Trump must love giving the needle to the left as much as West does. A black American male in the entertainment industry is forbidden to even acknowledge Trump’s existence, much less seek out an invitation to join him for lunch. A panel on CNN the other night laughed and … [Read more...] about Soucheray: If only Kanye had taken off the hat and skipped the *%#!

By Peter Howell Movie Critic Thu., Oct. 11, 2018 As a kid, I always used to wonder why my dad, John Peter Howell, was so fascinated with movies about the Second World War. He’d served in the war as a flight mechanic in the Royal Air Force, almost perishing in 1943 when a troop transport ship he was on was torpedoed and sank in the Mediterranean Sea. I couldn’t understand why he’d want to revisit a harrowing experience by watching and rewatching such films as The Battle of Britain, The Great Escape and Tora! Tora! Tora! Dad’s interest in the war burned bright right until his death this year at the age of 92 — he managed to see Dunkirk and Darkest Hour in the weeks before his February passing. Now that I’m older, I totally get it. People watch movies about significant events they’ve lived through not just out of a sense of nostalgia — although there is that aspect — but also from an innate desire to better … [Read more...] about How Neil Armstrong kicked off my writing career