Opinion

Get ready for it! Missouri is one of 12 states that tax social security and retirement benefits. According to author, Katie Brockman, in “The Motley Fool,” a financial website, “Retirees can expect a massive social security raise in 2023, but with that raise also comes a higher tax bill.” In her article, Brockman claims that next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) may be the highest ever, but it could also trigger more taxes, depending on a senior’s retirement income...

The Delta Fair arrives Tuesday and I can’t wait. Partly because of the games and the rides. Partly because of the music, but mostly because of the food. I love Fair food! Where else can you get a fried Oreo cookie? I usually start off with a large corn dog. That’s my base...

Many look forward to the fall season for various reasons, such as cooler weather, shorter days, and the various holidays. Farm motifs, including hay bales, and carved pumpkins are set up in front lawns along with plastic skulls and the profile cutouts of flying witches appearing on front porches. ...

Premiering next weekend is a new version of Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire. Viewers will sink their teeth into an interview with journalist Daniel Molloy about how he met Lestat in 1910, became a vampire, and all that followed. The highly visible trailer for this new series shows all sides of the relationship between Louis and Lestat to include the “daughter” Claudia. ...

While reading in the book of Proverbs, I noticed in chapters 25 and 26 a few proverbs that are quoted in the New Testament. Jesus, Paul and Peter used some proverbs to teach needed lessons to their fellowmen. The first occurs in Proverbs 25:6-7. “Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.” So many people arrogantly seek to elevate themselves into the presence of important people so as to feel important themselves.. ...

We have all heard the saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” but these days it can be more than a treasure, it may be a survival tactic in the world of older Americans. Today, more than ever, with prices of everything from beans to coffee tables increasing, being able to find those items for nothing from eggs to Christmas gifts are important and “priceless.” How do you do it?...

I don’t like to cuss, but sometimes, like Huckleberry Finn, you’ve just got to go off somewhere and let a few fly. There are situations we go through that just deserve a good cussing or putdown. Here are few classic insults that aren’t used anymore that I wish would return in popularity. I’ve followed these with the original definition pulled from old dictionaries...

In the fall of 1968, my public-school class would begin our day as fifth-graders by opening our dark red New Testaments which were generously given to all students by a group of Christians called the Gideons. We would read some Scriptures and say a prayer and then began our secular lessons. ...

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, you may wish to deepen your knowledge of the longest-running female monarch in world history. There’s a wealth of books out there to delve into. From exhaustive biographies, to illustrated coffee table books, to dishy accounts from former palace staffers, here are a few that are available at the Dunklin County Library and on the free ebook service, Libby...

Bees are everywhere in the world pollinating flowers and crops. Therefore, everyone is familiar with honey which is made by bees and how sweet it is! The book of Proverbs mentions the word “honey” several times, and also gives us some needed admonitions...

My first introduction to Mark Littell was through a phone call. An article written about the alleged demise of Kennett, titled A Dying Town, had been published in an issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. I had written a rebuttal to that article in the DDD spotlighting the positives of our area...

Sometime last year (2021), I was listening to a podcast associated with my church body which reported that forty-percent of our congregations received a noticeable increase in tithes and offerings during the months which Covid had shut down about everything. ...

When you’ve gone to the retailer and picked out the goods they provide, I wonder how many folks would turn brazenly around and walk out without paying. And if they did that and were stopped, then accuse the retailer of being greedy for asking for payment for their work?...

Marriage is God’s idea. God is the originator of marriage. “… Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?” (Matthew 19:4-5) First, we are told that God made the first couple, male and female. ...

Now that I’m over 60, I realize that I don’t bounce quite as good as I did in my thirties, so avoiding situations that could possibly cause a fall is high on my list these days. Even those beautiful stiletto heels I always loved wearing have been put to rest, well most of them anyway. With September 18-24 slated as Fall Prevention Awareness Week, it is important to remind everyone how easy it is for a senior to slip and fall...

If you’ve read my columns through the years you’ll know that I’m patriotic. I love my country. I love the people that fought for this country. I also love our flag. I was reading an article this week where the author stated the American flag disgusted him. As I got deeper into the article it was plain he also hated America...

A Christian apologist is a person who defends the Christian faith by explaining misunderstandings, difficult passages, and debunking myths told by unbelievers and God-deniers. Today, non-Christians do not debate Christians as often as they once did, perhaps partly because there are more Biblical Christians and honest historians who can answer objections to the Christian faith. ...

It’s the perfect time for a list of books you can’t put down. Soon, sundown will be earlier and an engrossing book is a wonderful companion. According to NBC News, getting lost in a book this way is actually good for you. Reading fiction teaches empathy and actually pushes growth and change. Furthermore, reading fiction increases one’s sense of belonging, while boosting social skills. There is even research to suggest that reading voraciously can help you live longer...

The Bible speaks about the “milk” and the “meat” of the Word of God. “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. ...

EDITORIAL: About a fifth of our country now lives in a news desert, according to research by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. They define this as “a place where residents in a community have very limited access to the sort of news and information that helps them make good everyday decisions, as well as good decisions that will affect the long-term quality of life of future generations.”...

The saying, “you are what you eat” is so true, because of the food that the body absorbs. A healthy digestive system provides the body with a healthy body, mind, and attitude. The reason is because a variety of chronic conditions can be traced back to poor digestion and inadequate nutrition absorption...

I’d like to share this again with you because it made such an impact on me. I hope you enjoy it and it helps you realize the significance of gratitude. I never really understood how vitally important gratitude is for a healthy life. In fact I always dreaded the traditional Thanksgiving prayer where everyone holds hands and proclaims what they’re grateful for...

Lamenting these evil days, a woman wrote a blog recording her heartbreak of doom and despair pervading here. She contemplated and confessed her participation in the decline of our civilization: “I used to be a libertarian—live and let live—but I know now what a mistake that was. ...

Most successful people credit reading, in some capacity, as a factor in their success. In a recent “Insider” magazine article, Warren Buffet stated he spends five to six hours a day reading five different newspapers. “That’s how knowledge works,” he recently told an investment class at Columbia University. “It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”...

Last week, we studied portions of Galatians 3:6-29, as relating to the “seed” promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 and 22:18. We will now study portions of Romans 4:9-25. God’s promise to Abraham, that through his seed all nations would be blessed, is connected to Romans chapter four by verse seventeen which says, “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) …” This portion of scripture is quoted in Genesis 17:4-5. ...