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By Jim Powers
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As gun violence continues to escalate in the U.S., politicians are again making a lot of noise about the gun problem in this country. Unfortunately, it’s only a magic trick, slight of hand. Most politicians, on the left or the right, have no interest in guns, or abortion, or transgender rights. Or anything else, for that matter. They don’t want to solve social problems. They want to amplify them, use them as a distraction to gain power and control.

It is not the guns that are sick, it is society that is sick. The members of a healthy society do not use guns to settle their differences. The idea that the solution to gun violence is to remove the gun is misguided at best. Just because you have a toddler in the house doesn’t mean you should throw out all your knives and scissors. At worse it is another tactic to deflect attention from our rush toward fascism. Our present national psychosis threatens our freedom.

Over the last 20 years our society has changed dramatically. I’m 72, and over most of my life the direction society moved was mostly progressive. The rights of individuals and groups were expanded, moving toward racial equality, gender equality, and tolerance for those with different beliefs and lifestyles. Toward letting ourselves and others live as we choose, without the heavy hand of government dictating what we believed, who we loved, how we identified. If your choices don’t directly affect me, live however you please.

Presently, however, our government, state and federal, have engaged in building a wall of laws around us, reaching into our personal lives in ways that are unprecedented in our history. While many claim to want less government, they claim selectively. They really want laws to constrain others, not themselves. But every one of these laws we nod approvingly at lay another brick in wall of the prison that will eventually enslave us.

How do you enslave a people? Incrementally, within the noise of social conflict. Convince the people that class and racial conflict are out of control, convince the people that that those not like themselves are evil and must be marginalized, even destroyed at any cost. Convince the people that crime is the worst it has ever been (it’s the lowest in the last 50 years) and that only by restricting their rights can the government fix the problem. Provoke people to hate and distrust each other and all our institutions.

All the social issues that have been amplified over the last 10 years are the distraction that allows those in power to become more powerful.

Leave people alone to live their lives and live your own life the way you want. LGBT, those seeking abortions, those of different races and genders and religions are no threat to you personally. But the government that is passing laws seeking to punish these people are a grave threat to you personally, because if they succeed in destroying them with laws, they will eventually come after you.

Ignore the noise, look at the real threat.

Jim Powers writes opinion pieces. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication

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By Horace McQueen

East Texas land sales continue highs. Go back a couple years and look at land sales. This whole thing today is crazy—some land is actually selling for $10,000 an acre or more. And lots of the land sales are done by internet—with the buyer never seeing the property until the deal is closed. And we are welcoming folks who will have to make serious adjustments to their lifestyle with their move to rural East Texas. No longer calling Uber to deliver the grocery orders—and Target is “only” 30 miles away. Even a loaf of bread may be 10-miles distant. Boy howdy, for those recent transplants to our area it will be an experience to remember. I figure most of the new arrivals will hunker down and within a short time will have adjusted to their new surroundings.

The calf market is on a high—and hopefully our cow folks will have a calf crop to sell later this year. One thing for sure figure out a way to get some hay in the bale as early as possible. There is very little carryover hay from 2022—and much of that is pure junk. Like most others in our area running cows, our expenses over the last year have been mind boggling. With some folks feeding $100 a bale grass and protein feeds close to double that of last year, even calves selling at $2.50 a pound for 500-pounders is still not a profit maker.

By the time farmers and ranchers buy diesel fuel, pay vehicle expenses, feed bills and the rest of the out-of-pocket costs to operate a farm it’s not all the joy it’s cracked to be! Anyway, for those of us in the world of agriculture, I reckon we will keep on keeping on till the cows come home!  That’s –30—This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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By Jan White

There’s been a recent upswing in the use of the term ‘toxic positivity,’ a phrase that intrinsically sounds a bit confusing. After all, isn’t the whole point of positivity about being positive?

A good start to understanding what ‘toxic positivity’ is might be to explain what it’s not. It is not the positive, genuine concern or encouragement from friends, family, or colleagues at the right time. It is not the recognition and acknowledgment of life events like illness, loss of a loved one, or relationship breakups and processing them so we can feel better or move forward. Setting difficult emotions aside temporarily is sometimes necessary. But toxic (i.e., harmful) positivity takes optimism to the extreme and can prevent people from processing their feelings. Psychology Today defines toxic positivity as “the act of avoiding, suppressing, or rejecting negative emotions or experiences.”

An example of toxic positivity could be someone talking themselves into focusing on the optimistic aspects of an abusive relationship, hoping their partner will change, rather than seeing the situation for what it truly is.

An ‘always look on the bright side’ idealism could stifle the ability to face uncomfortable realities and the healthy changes that need to be made.

While toxic positivity may not be ill-intentioned, it can still be unproductive and harmful.

Users of social media can be notorious for exhibiting toxic positivity. Not only do they bombard us with memes continuously telling us, “Don’t worry, be happy,” no matter what, but sites like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have become platforms where users display only the ‘good stuff’ that is going on in their lives. This inauthentic representation that everything is perfect offers unrealistic expectations for their followers whose lives aren’t as seemingly idyllic and can result in guilt, shame, sadness, and anxiety, thus making their positivity ‘toxic.’

Some experts believe the workplace is a breeding ground for toxic positivity. Asking employees to maintain a positive attitude even when facing challenging situations or lacking an avenue to express negative emotions can lead to anxiety or depression. The feeling of being unable to express concerns or suggest improvements can also hinder an employee’s work performance.

Coworkers can sometimes add, if sometimes inadvertently, to positivity stress. Say you’re in the break room refilling your coffee cup, and a coworker tells you that his dog passed away last week, or his wife has cancer, or he’s afraid he might lose his job. Responses like “Well, think positive thoughts,” “I’m sure it will all work out,” or “Just hang in there” won’t help his situation. They might even worsen it by not validating his emotions while at the same time shutting down interactions that might have given him an avenue to discuss his concerns. Now he may feel like he has to put on a façade rather than own up to his true feelings. And from a production standpoint, emotional suppression like this could affect not only his job but also his whole work team.

Sometimes we unintentionally resort to a form of toxic positivity because we feel like our words are inadequate, and we don’t know what to say to the person struggling with a negative emotion. What if your coworker came to you depressed because her presentation bombed? If you tell her not to worry about it, it was terrific, and the audience didn’t appreciate her effort; your ‘positivity’ has just become non-helpful and could be construed as toxic. Instead, you might respond with, “I know how you feel. Do you want me to look over it first next time?” Or “Is there anything I can do to help?” Now you’ve offered a solution and left an avenue for discussion open that doesn’t suppress her unhappiness over the failed performance.

Obviously, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with showing optimism and encouragement. These are traits that help human beings thrive. But always searching for the ‘silver lining’ in a bad situation can be detrimental to resilience. Robert Frost was famous for saying, “The best way over is through.” While negative emotions are difficult to deal with, they are part of our navigation through life. The ability of a person to adjust or recover from illness, adversity, significant life changes, or crisis is the very fabric on which our humanity is constructed.

So next time you are tempted to answer negative emotions with “Just stay positive,” “Good vibes only,” or “Failure is not an option,” maybe replace them with “I’m listening,” “That must be really hard,” or “Sometimes bad things happen, how can I help?”  Not only are you helping to combat toxic positivity, but you’ve also become a true source of encouragement and hope.

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By Chris Edwards

Last week, a lot of folks were likely left scratching their heads at a video posted by rap-rocker/fedora enthusiast Kid Rock. In the viral clip, Rock opened fire on several cases of the beer-flavored water known as Bud Light.

The purpose of the ridiculous video, from what most spectators have deduced, is to protest the “beer” goliath’s association with a trans person, Dylan Mulvaney, who is an internet celebrity of sorts (the kids call ‘em “influencers”).

Ridiculous as the clip was, what I found appalling (aside from Rock’s poor marksmanship and the inherent transphobia) was the message on the back of the hoodie he sported in the video. It advertised “The First Annual Kid Rock Fish Fry.”

If Kid Rock’s music weren’t bad enough, the low-rent icon has to sport a garment screaming a grammatical error. Sidenote: the video is all kinds of ironic since Kid Rock is, for all intents and purposes, a sentient can of watery light beer.

Folks, the springtime is here and as such, it is a fine time to host fundraisers, parties and various happenings where people can find good times.

However, when you are planning that event, if it is something that you want to use as a cornerstone for a new tradition; something that can reoccur year after year after year, there is one thing you need to not do.

Please, for the love of all that is righteous and holy, do not use the term “first annual” in promoting your shindig.

Sure, that couplet of words might roll off the tongue and might fill more space on a flyer than “inaugural,” or on the other end of the spectrum, might be more succinct than “first in a planned series of annual events,” but the problem is, it is incorrect.

I get so many emails, messages, smoke signals, etc., describing events that are coming up. It can be the most professional-looking press release in the world promoting an event, but if I see that “first annual” nonsense in a headline, I’m probably not going to read any further.

Simply put, an event cannot be considered to be annual until it has been held for at least two successive years, and that is not some esoteric stylistic thing native to the newspaper world, no, that is just good grammar at work.

Now, if those events become successful (and I cross my fingers that every fundraiser, party, family reunion, barbecue cook-off does) then they can become annual happenings, provided there are enough willing hands on deck to do the work to produce said events.

The general rule of thumb, grammatically speaking, is at least two successive years allows for that “annual” signifier to be used.

Now, instead of “inaugural” as a descriptor, the phrase “this is the first of what is planned as an annual series of events” can also fill that void.

“First ever” also works, but, again, there is no such thing as a “first annual” anything, so stop saying it, and stop writing it.

The moral of the day: it’s great to have goals, and while the oxymoronic term “first annual” indicates the presence of goals for events, don’t be presumptuous and be better regarding grammar.

Oh, and if you’re going to shoot up cans of beer, you’ll still have to pay for them.