Beech Tree News Network

On television a couple of weeks ago, I watched the 2013 State of the Union Address given by President Obama. Traditionally, the State of the Union Address allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and national priorities. This address included some thought-provoking points.

Writer, and common-sense philosopher, Eric Hoffer, said, “Societies are likely to function tolerable well when least interfered with by government.”  President Ronald Reagan said essentially the same thing: “A government that governs least governs best.”
Regarding free trade, governments don’t get that shook-up when two good ole boys out here swap pocket knives, or shoat-pigs, with no “boot” involved.  But what they get upset about is the boot; they want a piece of it.

There’s a saying in journalism: If you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras.  I wish I could get this concept across to my family.  There are times when I find myself thinking, “Why would you think that?” or “That’s the first thing that entered your mind?  Really?”

When growing up, many of us remember being offered “second chances.” Little children play games, and sometimes say, “do-over!” I think about second chances when I think of that beloved “delete” key that is attached to my computer! How many times I have needed a “do over” in writing, and found the “delete” key a welcome sight! In fact, computers have an option called “undo” where we can go back to an earlier version of our document. In many aspects of life, it seems we can have second chances.

Sunday, February 17 was Michael Jordan’s 50th birthday.  No, I won’t write a Jordan column.  Plenty others have done that recently.  Michael Jordan did things his own way.  People like him, who stood out by finding success their own way, had their own identity.  www.MiriamWebster.com defines identity as distinguishing character or personality of an individual; individuality.

Recently, I saw the Lone Star Rodeo at the WKU Ag Expo Center. As usual, I sat on the edge of my seat during much of the rodeo. I love to watch the events, but I fear that someone will get hurt.

Were it not for cursing and foul language, a lot of movies nowadays would be superb.  The Shawshank Redemption is one example.
We’ve come a long way down from when Rhett Butler told Scarlett he didn’t give a D..  what became of her….the old movie was Gone with the Wind.  Folks talked about that profanity for weeks.

It all started last Thursday.  My granddaughter, Sabria, began vomiting.  By 7:30 p.m., her mom, Natalie, and I were headed to the emergency room.  We did the whole sit-in-the-waiting-room thing for two hours, then the sit-in-room-13 thing for two more hours before we saw a doctor.  During the interim, the attending nurse wanted to make sure Sabria wasn’t keeping fluids down, so she gave her some grape Gatorade.  Fifteen minutes later, I was now wearing the grape Gatorade, and the nurse determined that Sabria really couldn’t keep fluids down—nothing like the old scientific method.  After ch

Week Two of Kentucky General Assembly Focuses on Public Safety & Efficiency in Local Government- The gavel has fallen on week two of part two of the 2013 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly.  A flurry of new bills were filed, bringing the total in the House to 390.

Dangers occur when men stop (or never begin) speaking with one another. Often misunderstandings are calmed when the parties involved speak with each other. When men, who are otherwise good men; productive, who have great knowledge and abilities, do not communicate as they should, bad things can happen. Perhaps work that could be otherwise accomplished is slowed, or neglected altogether because these men refuse to communicate, share ideas, and help each other.