Did ye ever hear the one about the Irishman, Paddy, who was taking an ocean cruise, be dad? While they was down in the South Pacific, the ship sprung a big leak and sank, with the passengers pilin’ into the…
Anonymous attacks sully a good website
Category: General Commentary
Opinions, Commentaries and Editorials by Wayne Engle
Netanyahu speaks sense to America about Iran
Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of the State of Israel, received the welcome of a conquering hero when he addressed the U.S. Congress Tuesday. And, in my opinion, he richly deserved it. Netanyahu spoke to a packed House chamber, and the…
Stan and Ollie: Our comics, and our friends
The fat guy and the thin guy. “The boys.” Stan and Ollie. L & H. They were tagged with a number of nicknames over the years, were Arthur Stanley Jefferson and Norvell Hardy, their original names. But those still living…
Politicians are faking on the tax, deficit issues
Everybody who likes paying taxes, yell, “Two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar, all for big government, stand up and holler!” That’s funny; I don’t hear anybody. OK, we’re all pretty much agreed: Nobody likes having to cough up…
Muslim terrorists understand one thing: Force
Another Muslim massacre, another round of “expressions of outrage” about the latest raghead murders, these of (unarmed) journalists who had had the unforgivable gall to poke fun at the Muslims’ humorless and rigid views about their prophet Mohammed, and their…
Christmas is sacred, mystical and merry
Christmas is coming! Less than two weeks away, and the usual hustle, bustle, and turmoil is hard upon us! What would we do; what would the WORLD do, without Christmas? It’s the piece de resistance of all holidays, the best…
Ginning up another helping of ‘outrage’
Well, I presume all the young American leftists are puffed up and proud of themselves, now that for the umpteenth time in the last 50 years they’ve marched, chanted, “died in” (we could only hope, couldn’t we?) over the decisions…
Let’s give thanks for the world’s many blessings
Thanksgiving is approaching — and the turkeys are nervous! Sorry. I just couldn’t resist that. Sort of grabbed your attention, didn’t it? Wonder what the turkeys are feeling thankful for right now? OK; I’ll get serious. Because after all, Thanksgiving IS…
Some tales from the Halloweens ‘of yore’
When ghosts and goblins by the score, Ring the bell on your front door — And your little white house, turns GREEN! — From gheelies and ghosties, And long-legged beasties, And things that go “Bump” in the night, Deliver us,…
Have we forgotten “The Hoosier Poet”?
He was as well known as almost any American of his day. From the early 1880s, until his death in 1916, he was a much-sought public speaker, reading his poetry before many thousands of what would be called “fans” nowadays.…
Hey, gang! Let’s have a (multi-) party!
“I wish we could throw them all out and start over!” How many times in recent months have you said that yourself? Or heard your neighbor say it? Or your brother-in-law? Or a commentator on TV? Yes, our disgust with…
Louisiana: It’s a unique and varied state
Here’s a riddle for you: When is a county, NOT a county? When it’s in Louisiana, of course! In the home of New Orleans jazz, jambalaya and the Cajun people, they’re called “parishes” —- possibly traceable to the state’s deep…
The racial spin doctors are busy in Ferguson
It’s now two weeks since Michael Brown, all 6-4 and 292 pounds of him, was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, and the race hustlers are still milking the incident for all it’s worth. Protests, riots,…
Old Corporal is staying a Hoosier
“A funny thing happened on my way to Florida …” “I just flew back from Melbourne, and boy, are my arms tired! …” “Look before you leap — especially if the leap will cost you a heap! …” OK, all…
Time for Congress to impeach Barack Obama
President of the United States Barack Hussein Obama should be impeached by the House of Representatives, convicted by the United States Senate, and removed from office. Pretty bald statement, you say? Well, can you give me any good reasons why…
Tony and Rubye — my Mom and Dad
There aren’t too many people still living who knew Tony and Rubye Engle. He’s been gone 30 years; she, 44. Yes, they were my folks. They were the two most important people in my life, and they didn’t have…
U.S. voters fed up with government lies, lectures
It’s now two weeks since the Madison Consolidated Schools district voted down a proposed $69 million school construction project, by a margin of nearly 4-1. All of us who live here know why it sank without a trace: It was…
Bundy’s truths were painful for many Americans
Cliven Bundy, who was being hailed as a courageous hero for his stand against a federal power grab of his cattle in Nevada, made what passes nowadays for a fatal verbal faux pas, and is now being condemned by the…
Pete Maravich: The Mozart of the Hardwood
He was like Nureyev among clog dancers; like Shakespeare competing with the writers of dime novels; like the difference between Einstein and a first-year chemistry student at a small, insignificant college. Pete Maravich was that rare bird among noted basketball…
Vladimir the Implacable vs. Barack the Pitiful
Big, evil Russia is poised to seize the Ukraine and put it back into place as just another province of the re-constituted Russian Empire that Vladimir Putin is starting to build. Right? Well, that’s what elements of the U.S. news…
Were the Beatles ‘Heaven sent’?
And so the 50th anniversary of the world’s first discovery of the greatest rock band of all time — perhaps the greatest ENTERTAINMENT phenoma of all time — has passed with suitable note and well-deserved praise for the Fab Four,…
‘The Day the Music Died’ — but it lives on
They died 55 years ago today — three young men who gained immortality for the music they wrote, played and sang, and for what further heights they might have reached in their careers, if only … Two Texans, Buddy Holly…
‘The Man With No Name’ turns 50
Remember “The Spaghetti Western?” This is the 50th anniversary of the release of the first of three movies which became synonymous with the phrase: “The Man With No Name Trilogy.” Actually I don’t think the trilogy most people think of…
Supremes rain on Utah’s ‘gay pride parade’
The U.S. Supreme Court this week brought the state of Utah’s mad gallop into “gay marriage” to a screeching halt. The liberal minority in that most conservative of U.S. states had been huzzawing and slapping high-fives ever since a federal…
From the carpenter’s hands …
Paul Rhodes was a very smart guy. Too smart to believe in all that nonsense about an “invisible man in the sky,” or “life after death,” or “heaven and hell.” Oh, yeah; he was too smart for all that fairy…
The JFK assassination: We all remember …
Where were you that day when our world changed forever, 50 years ago today? What were you doing when you first heard that our young, glamorous President John F. Kennedy had left us, suddenly and tragically, the victim of an…
The atheists: Arrogant, cocksure — and wrong
The atheists are at it again, with the U.S. Supreme Court about to consider a case that has come before it in which communal prayers recited before public meetings are targeted by the militant atheist movement, which wants those prayers…
‘Some Came Running’ is a drama, time capsule
I took a trip back into the 1950s of my hometown, Madison, Indiana, last night. As it has before, it brought back some wonderful memories. No, Old Corporal doesn’t have his own time machine; wish I did. I went,…
‘Down All the Days:’ Christy’s masterpiece
When you can’t do things, when you have to sit, day after day, like a potted plant, you could become angry and bitter and life-hating. Or, you could utilize the only two abilities you have that everyone else does — your…
New royal birth re-fuels tabloids’ vitriol
Now that little Prince George Alexander Louis has been safely born and is “pretty loud and, of course, very good-looking,” according to his dad, Prince William, the trash tabloids in Britain and on this side of the Atlantic can…
George Zimmerman not guilty, but still a target
BULLETIN Florida police revealed today that George Zimmerman, and another, unidentified man, rescued a family of four from their wrecked vehicle on a Florida road last week. Meanwhile, the Sanford police have turned over their files on George Zimmerman, and…
Our regatta: Good show, even without boats
This was the Madison Regatta that wasn’t. A major hydroplane race, with no boats on the water. No exciting heats; no overall winner; no points added to any team’s season totals. But, you know, this year’s cancellation of the actual racing,…
Rich Berry tells of his days in old North Madison
In “Growing Up in North Madison — 1945 And On”, Rich Berry tells us in rhyme about his childhood and teen years in a little town that’s no longer here. Oh, the area is still here — part of Madison, Indiana, where Rich…