Opinion

In an El Paso hotel room on the seventh day of January 1914, Pancho Villa came to terms with a Hollywood studio to make a silent movie about the role of the bandit-turned-rebel in the Mexican Revolution.

No one can say for sure whose idea it was to shoot the “Centaur of the North” and his peasant army in action or how much the “star” was paid.  Villa may have approached director D.W. Griffith instead of the other way around because he grasped the importance of the new medium as a propaganda tool.  

As the hours of 2025 dwindled to single digits, Americans FINALLY heard a new sports expression that is NOT likely to catch on.

The guy from ABC-TV--describing the Michigan/Texas football game in Orlando--uttered a couple of ill-fitting words as he attempted to explain that one line shown on TV screens during football games is used to indicate ball placement. “The line is literally an approximation,” he droned. Huh? He went from the tall weeds into the marshes for this contradiction…

The Texas Longhorns piled up the points on Jan.1, 1946 setting a Cotton Bowl scoring record that stood for 29 years. Bobby Layne played 17 more seasons in college and the pros but was never better than that New Year’s Day in Dallas.

Robert Lawrence Layne graduated from Highland Park high school in 1944 a year ahead of teammate and close friend Doak Walker. While Doak completed his schoolboy career that fall, Bobby called signals for the University of Texas under a wartime waiver of the rule banning freshmen from varsity competition.

The New Year is a time of resolutions. It’s a time when people commit to making a change in their life. 

Losing weight, changing jobs, saving money, making money, a new relationship, getting in shape, going back to school, or giving up smoking, are just some of the goals people set for themselves on Jan. 1.

Although it’s possible for anyone to make a change or a new start, it takes determination, commitment, and persistence. 

Often, I believe, writers spend too much time on the “what was” and “what will be” instead of the “what is.” 

I admit to such whimpering occasionally, and this time, make no promises to do better, but I’ll try. 

Keep in mind, though, that my promises--if golf shots--typically veer off to both the left and right, perhaps no closer to the hole than when teed up. Like golf, life isn’t a straight-down-the-middle fairway…

The Holy Bible teaches that it is more blessed to give than receive. 

Many folks along the way have--through various ways--expanded boundaries of giving. Someone campaigning for increased giving to the church reminded that “the Lord also accepts from a grouch.”

How grateful I am, as 2025 closes out, to be the recipient of much good provided by health care professionals. 

The generous spirit of many warrants the greatest of blessings. Thanks to them, I’m still vertical and ventilating at age 88…

Deciding the gravely wounded captain was a goner, a Confederate general gave George Littlefield a battlefield promotion to major on Dec. 26, 1863.

The Littlefields had lived in Gonzales County less than two years, when the head of the house suddenly up and died. Cut off from her kin in Mississippi, Mildred Littlefield found a way to raise and educate four children while running a successful business. To her oldest son, the iron-willed woman always served as a real-life role model.

Dear Rusty: I called the Social Security office, as well as went with my husband when he went to collect his Social Security. Because I work full-time (at about $800/week), they said I could not file for my Social Security. Yet I seem to read articles all the time about people doing so. 

My husband just filed for his benefits and is now collecting them. Out of the two of us, his Social Security will be larger. Please advise me. 
Signed: Wanting my Benefits 

I’m weary of TV and Internet ads, namely those promising more than is usually delivered. 

My focus today is largely on outlandish appeals thrust upon us by lawyers and political candidates. 

(If lawyers omitted references to 18-wheelers, their commercials would be significantly shorter.)

Much of my frustration can be traced to my computer‘s delete key. When I press it, my intention is to subtly unsubscribe from future emails.