Columns/Opinions

Boomer Musings

By J. Leslie Riseden

The Eagles told us this in the seventies, and it’s true. With the enormous decision facing voters next week, I decided to devote this week’s column to the art of detecting untruthfulness. In the excerpts below, the authors reveal some of what they consider telltale signs of lying. Certainly, there are no hard and fast rules for every situation, these may be of interest -- especially when applied to the candidates in this year’s presidential race.

In one deception-detecting book, “Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception” by Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, Susan Carnicero, and Don Tennant, here are some tips these experts offer for spotting untruthful answers:

A Patriot's Opinion

By Jim Snyder

In the past several months some people have been having a hissy fit over Donald Trump reaching out to the African American community.

From My Perspective

By Toni Walker

“…Give me something good to eat.” I believe that everyone in my generation chanted that phrase many times while we were young. That was the quintessential Halloween phrase. As people prepare for Halloween and all its festivities in the coming days, I was taken back to those days growing up.

A Patriot's Opinion

By Jim Snyder

That is a question that every one of us should be asking. How many of you truly know what’s at stake? Or are you simply going to rely on good ol’ party loyalty. It is shocking how many people really don’t know what’s at stake.

So let’s look at the main issues facing our country. Now before we start I want you to put aside any party affiliation you have. I want you to only use the following three things to make your determination as to how you should vote on these issues, your religious beliefs, your patriotism, and common sense.

Boomer Musings

By J. Leslie Riseden

In the 1983 comedy “Mr. Mom”, suddenly- unemployed engineer Michael Keaton switches roles with his stay-athome wife Teri Garr, and finds himself learning how to manage the day-to-day responsibilities of running a household and wrangling children. In one early scene, he causes an unforgivable delay at the deli counter by asking for, simply, “a pound of ham.” I forget the exact dialogue, but the deli-counter clerk began to tick off a litany of possibilities, something like “Smoked ham? Baked ham? Boiled ham? Prosciutto? Low-fat? Low-salt? Nosalt?” Anyway, you get the idea.

I know just how he felt. I get the same sense of wonder and befuddlement shopping for toothpaste. Cereal. Cough syrup. Toilet paper, for crying out loud: About a dozen brands offer multiple choices of one-ply, two ply, soft, strong, extra soft, extra strong, and of course, soft and strong.

A Patriot's Opinion

By Jim Snyder

I know many of you have heard the saying that America was built on the two party system of government. While that may be true that same two party system is doing more damage than ever and is actually tearing the country apart. I’m sure everyone would agree that this year’s election is probably the nastiest in over 100 years. I have seen people unfriended and blocked on Facebook over the politics of this election. I have seen people lose friends and have seen family members at each other’s throats over this mess. Why? Is it because we don’t like one another? No it’s because of a disease we like to call politics, specifically democrats and republicans. The constant bickering and fighting that goes on is crazy. And for what? 99% of the politicians in these two parties care little or nothing about the average person.

From My Perspective

By Toni Walker

Editor

news@steelcountrybee.com

October seems to be the month to schedule any type of awareness campaign. There is Breast Cancer Awareness, Substance Abuse Awareness Month, and Bullying Awareness Month, all observed in October.

I have many friends who have fought the battle against breast cancer, as well as many other cancers. That is a subject near and dear to my heart, because of the people I know who have been touched by this disease. I work closely with a Coalition who is working to reduce drug and alcohol use by minors in Morris County. Both of the causes mean a lot to me. But since my children have all gotten to school age, and especially since my son has gotten into junior high, bullying prevention has really become a big deal to me.

A Patriot's Opinion

By Jim Snyder

It pains me to have to write about this, but there are still people out there that don’t realize what is going on. Every week I either see or hear a story about our veterans not being taken care of or not being treated fairly. By now everyone remembers the VA scandal from a few years ago. The problem is that scandal has still not been resolved and our veterans are still not getting the care they deserve. But what’s more disturbing is seeing the care that millions of the illegal immigrants are getting.

A Patriot's Opinion

By: Jim Snyder

Now, looking at the title, you may be asking, which one of our enemies is doing this to us? That, my friends, is the problem. It is not any of our enemies that are doing this, it is our own government. Fox News did an exclusive report on this topic the first week in September. Now when I say an exclusive report that means that no other major network ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, or MSNBC bothered to report on this. One would think that information pertaining to the degrading of our military capabilities would be a major story. Well not so much, it seems. So let’s look at the details of this story.

Boomer Musings

By: J. Leslie Riseden

According to the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, most Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead, known as Samhain. In the ninth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs -- All Saints Day. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Evening, when, it was believed, the souls of the dead were out and about. Food and drink were put out to placate these wandering souls, faeries and demons. In later years, observers of All Hallows’ Evening began dressing up as these scary entities. They would sing, dance and perform in exchange for food or drink, and threaten mischief if refused. This, scholars tell us, was the origin of “trick-ortreating.”