Along comes the Ukraine War. Who, within NATO, is considered at least a country to be concerned about? Germany. Who outside of NATO, but right up next to Russia is a country to be concerned about? Finland. An all-out European War is going to cause many problems worldwide, there is no doubt about that.

Less than two years ago, we watched as certain groups, behaving in ways that can only be described as anarchical, forcibly occupied cities like Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wash. and Minneapolis, Minn. We were told that these groups had many grievances and were justified in tearing the fabric of these cities apart.

These matters are unrelated, but we need to move on. We moved to the Beaver Farm in January 1963, and of course, Buttons came with us. He seemed to be adapting to the new surroundings at first.

Samuel Colt patented the revolver in 1836. John Browning perfected the modern semi-automatic pistol in 1911. Edward Seymour invented aerosol paint cans in 1949. Which is more dangerous?

The 20-somethings that fought or supported our troops in World War II have been lauded as the greatest generation. The last en masse example of their actions goes unremembered today at a time when we need to remember what they did and how effective it was.

Buttons’ life, like the rest of the family, fell into a routine. We all spent late Sunday afternoon until Friday evening in Troy with weekends on the McNary Farm in eastern Highland County. This went on year around, with the possible exception of a few winter weekends when it was too cold or the roads were too hazardous to make the trip.

Buttons lived out his last years in freedom when we permanently moved to Highland County. We will pick up here next time, after I cover a couple of Buttons' incidents from the transient years.

I am currently so distressed with the condition of politics at the national, state and local levels (including Ohio and Georgia) that I will be doing some escapism for a while. We are going to talk about dogs I have known – a mostly pleasant subject (until they die).

Let’s look at 2020. There is more data available for 2020 than for the recently completed 2021. Checking with the CDC, there were 345,000 COVID-19 deaths in 2020. But there were 690,000 deaths from heart disease and 598,000 deaths from cancer. Did you hear as much about heart disease or cancer in 2020 as you did about COVID-19? Of course not, these were not headline worthy – they happen every year.

Capitalism has created the greatest economy in the history of the world (ours) and lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system in the history of the world. The history of the success of the United States is economically based on capitalism. Today, many downplay or outright scorn capitalism. Socialism is on the rise, even here.

Dennis Prager says the divide in this country is not liberal or conservative, but has to do with your beliefs: Do you believe in the government to save you from the ills of this world or do you believe in God?

Before this week, the last time I can think of to praise a Democrat was April 11, 1951, when President Truman fired General MacArthur for insubordination. I was 10 months old, and The Highland County Press did yet not exist, so you can stop wracking your brain trying to remember my column of Democrat praise. I did not know how to write, let alone type, at that time.

The point we should keep in mind is that energy has always been and will always be fluid. What is being touted as the be-all and end-all at the moment could be gone tomorrow.

Thank goodness for the founding fathers who were able to design a system that has withstood the vilest, crookedest and most incompetent politicians we can elect. Let’s just hope that Covid does not become the final, magic elixir that does us in.

I have gotten so I don’t talk to hardly anyone about climate change, including highly educated family members. I just don’t need the angst.