Marion Hill’s February 3rd column “It’s a Free Country” addresses several Oklahoma legislative initiatives that are part of a large national education problem. She deals with some state bills that are attempts to restrict what students can read and study in schools and universities. One bill would prohibit universities from requiring students to read about being more inclusive toward all varieties of sexual and racial differences unless the information is required for a major. Another bill would prohibit school libraries from having books on the same subjects—sexual and racial identity. more

Hi friend — here is a warning: School libraries and many homes have a book that contains graphic descriptions of murders, suicides, rapes, incest, genocides, and other acts of extreme violence. Should it be banned? more

Oklahoma Senator Rob Standridge (R, Norman) has proposed legislation (SB1142) that would enable parents to ban books in public schools, setting a $10,000 bounty to be collected by parents for each day a challenged book remains on library shelves. more

“It’s a free country.” more

People will go to any length to show their love. So many sacrifices are made in order to please the one who is loved. Young men will work at very difficult jobs in order to buy a certain young lady a gift. Parents will do without some important items to give their child all the things “everybody else has.” more

Senator Chuck Schumer eagerly opened his office door and greeted Senator Mitch McConnell. more

It’s just a little thing when showing a sewing project I was involved in, and someone admired it. I said, “But it’s just a little thing.” more

Although the Kyle Rittenhouse acquittal came just before last Thanksgiving, this verdict still disturbs me. Rittenhouse was seventeen. In response to racial unrest in Kenosha, WI, he crossed a state line from his home in Antioch, IL, armed with an AR-15-style rifle. The youth said his intent was to act as a medic and to protect private property (National Public Radio). more

Every Sunday morning, I look at the soccer complex that joins the church property. Unless it is terribly bad weather, kids are playing soccer, while crowds join along the sidelines with their cheers. As we often do after church services, we drive past the World Soccer Headquarters just a mile from our house. At least twenty soccer fields are filled with players. What do I see unusual in this? Well, I remember when it was unthinkable for youth sporting events to be played on Sundays. Schools never scheduled any activity on Wednesday evening which was called, “prayer meeting night.” more

“Oh, I hope it rains today.” Another person says, “I hope the fish are biting today.” The word “hope” is probably one of the most often used words in the English language. It would be interesting to count the number of times a person uses the word in a single day. It is used as if it were a prayer, a wish, an expectation, or many other purposes. more

“All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” more

“Decisions are simple when values are clear.” more

At the beginning of a New Year, it’s pleasant to take a break from partisan wrangling long enough to acknowledge some of the many individuals doing their bit to make the world a better place. If one googles “lesser known charities,” information comes up about numerous organizations that most of us have never heard of but which are striving to improve some aspect of our common life. more

I have been awake most of the night. Don’t know why, but I decided I’d use my awake time Thanking the Lord for Blessings. It is really amazing at how many blessings we overlook. I spent about an hour expressing gratitude for blessings. more

Who, or what, was Deerfoot? Until my kind and generous neighbor gave me the book, Five Kings of Distance Running, I had never heard of this unique runner. Joe gave it to me when I ran past his home. It tells the stories of the runners Deerfoot, Walter George, Alfred Shrub, Paavo Nurmi, and Emil Zatopek. This is now in my library alongside my other special books—the original edition autobiographies of Charles Lindbergh’s We, Eddy Rickenbacker’s Seven Came Back, and Jimmy Doolittle’s Winged Defense. more

Are women not included in “we the people”? In deciding Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion before the viability of the fetus, the Justices cited multiple provisions of the Constitution, including a right to liberty, freedom, and privacy. This has been settled law now for 50 years. What has changed? Certainly not the Constitution. more

Now, some people are making New Year’s resolutions—or at least thinking about making New Year’s resolutions. Some may even have been giving serious time to the task for a while already. more

Some of the most frequently made resolutions are: Quit smoking, quit drinking, lose weight, and/or exercise more. Plus, attend church every Sunday of the new year, and/or daily read the Bible. more

I went for a couple of country drives over the Christmas holiday weekend, photographing old bridges, farmhouses and cemeteries. more

In the fall/winter of 1941, out on a cotton farm in west Texas, I saw differences in lifestyles, but it didn’t register. We weren’t a transient family, but I met folks who followed crops. My parents had both attended college at Southeastern State College. They both had teaching degrees. That’s where they met, but here we were living near a cotton patch. more