Ron the Yarnspinner

Memorial Day   “We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in.” — Colin Powell, 2003   Many older Americans still remember Memorial Day as Decoration Day.   Each year, flags are raised. Flowers are laid gently upon graves. The mournful notes of Taps drift across cemeteries from coast to coast. Memorial Day arrives with ceremony, and the nation pauses to remember. Yet beneath the rituals lies a history layered with contradiction—one buried almost as deeply as the dead themselves.   Few Americans realize that Arlington National Cemetery stands on land once owned by Robert E. Lee. During the American Civil War, the Union seized Lee’s family estate and began burying its fallen there—within sight of the mansion itself. The decision carried unmistakable symbolism: rebellion would not be romanticize...

When You Mess with Mother Nature What me Worry?” Alfred E. Neuman from MAD Magazine. Picture a quiet but far away corner of the world… a place where wisdom sometimes trails behind ambition, and where a man—blessed with time, money, and just enough knowledge to be dangerous—decides that nature could use a little help. Meet Thomas Austin, self-appointed architect of the new and improved. A man who looked at the ancient balance of tooth and nail, root and rain, fire and frost… and concluded it could be improved with a little adjustment. But every adjustment demands correction. And in the quiet overgrowth of a world down under,  lies a lesson  for the next man with too much time, too much money… and not nearly enough caution.   “ There’s plenty of room for all of Alaska’s animals — right next to the mashed potatoes.”   Sarah Palin Like former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, Austin had the same fondness for animals—particularly rabbits. But there were...