Retired business professor Mike Landry, Ph.D., has been a journalist, broadcaster, and church pastor. Living in Northwest Arkansas, he writes on current events and history and is a commentary writer for The Western Journal.
Living somewhat nearby, my wife and I are occasional visitors to Branson, Missouri.
Branson became a tourist destination early in the 20th century due to a best-selling novel about rural life in the Ozarks.
Named for an official of a new railroad then pushed through, Branson hosted visitors wanting to see the places and the people reflected in events and characters of Harold Bell Wright’s book “Shepherd of the Hills.”
There's an image on the internet of preparations being made to burn a woman at the stake. The cartoon dialogue balloon shows one of the magistrates, who is wearing a surgical mask, saying: "No mask, no jab, and she is still healthy? Do we need any more evidence of witchcraft?"
It brings to mind a U.S. federal court discrimination claim by an exceptionally health-conscious Major League Baseball scout against the Washington Nationals for firing him for refusing COVID vaccination.
Bernard "Benny" Gallo is typical of some individuals proactive in their own personal health care – he exercises regularly, eats organic foods, and avoids medications, according to the court filing (thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GALLO-v.-WASHINGTON-NATIONALS-Baseball-Club-4-20-22-Complaint.pdf).
The school board meetings have been heated. A mother slapped a school board member; a father threatened to beat up another school board member.
There’s been controversy over psychological tests given to students that some parents say are intrusive. A school board member concurred, saying the tests are “sowing seeds of doubt” in children’s minds.
“I think,” the school board member said, “The questions asked would cause children to doubt God, democracy, and individual enterprise.”
A few days ago I watched the 2000 movie "Thirteen Days" about the Cuban missile crisis.
It was the third or fourth time I had seen it and given the current situation with Russia and some of the outlandish talk (assassinate Putin, use first-strike nuclear missiles) I thought Thirteen Days would be timely.
It was.
Thirteen Days is set in October, 1962, and dramatizes the agonizing decision-making of President John Kennedy, closely accompanied by his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and Kenneth O'Donnell, the president's political advisor.
It’s the flags that make the impact.
Sure, the sight of big trucks in convoy to demonstrate for freedom is impressive. And the festive atmosphere in Ottawa and the measured articulations by trucker leaders are memorable.
But the red and white Maple Leaf everywhere also makes a statement. Because, in these days of globalist groupthink, flag waving, like opposing vaccine mandates, should not be done.