I saw a list of stats about reading and books the other day that made me pause. it said that 33% of high school graduates never read another book the rest of their lives and 42% of college grads never read another book after college. Also that 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years and 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year. It makes me sad. The ability to learn new things by reading books. The ability to be transported in your imagination to new places. The ability to meet new people and to have history come alive. Life, for me would be far worse place without books. And even if you can't afford to to purchase there is a huge building right down the street where almost everything ever written is available FOR FREE. And it's almost all available as well at the click of a button. The fact that many people don't read is a choice and one that disappoints me. For in our fractured society where information is distorted and weaponized on a daily basis…where lies are sold as truth by some of our elected officials…one of the only weapons we possess is our ability to read and comprehend. And that doesnt even cover the joy that comes from reading for pleasure. Many of you maybe struggled with all of the reading that was required of you during your youth…and the internet and other myriad ways we have to entertain ourselves these days certainly makes it easier than sitting down with a book…but, in my opinion, something fundamental is lost. All the You Tube videos or Twitter posts in the world can never replace what a good author can give you. Writing is hard and writing well is extremely hard. Just look at the comment section of any internet post these days. We should be inundating ourselves daily with the wealth of the written word that is out there…instead it is shunned.
I still have well-worn copies of books I was given in junior high and high school that jump-started this love of reading. I'm sure those of you of a certain age remember books like Johnny Tremain, Across Five Aprils, The Young Lions, Red Sky at Morning, Lord Of The Flies, and of course To Kill A Mockingbird. These days it is impossible to keep up with the plethora of great books that are released almost everyday. But it sure is nice to have the ability to try.
And these are only from this week!
Our Wausau American Legion Baseball program will be welcoming back the 1998 Post 10 squad this Saturday at Athletic Park. 20 years ago it became the first Wausau team to win a Legion Baseball State Championship and the team will be recognized between games of our doubleheader with Marinette which starts at noon. We also will be gathering after the games at Bunkers to reminisce about that magical season. If you know any of the guys come on out and join us. The 1998 team was Dan Augustine, BJ Brandt, Jeff Frey, Nolan Gilbertson, Ryan Govek, Chris Hall, Jon Jagler, Zach Johnson, Jay Krambs, Matt McDonald, Matt Martin, DJ Nieuwenhuis, Jeff Pieper, Aaron Schoepke, Matt Stankowski, Bryan Welle, Chad Woller & Andy Zietlow.
The Post 10 Bulldogs will play a makeup game at Stevens Point tonight and will also host DC Everest on Friday night at Athletic Park.
The Seinfeld Chronicles appeared on this date in 1989
Elections have consequences….July 4th and as we celebrated our independence from a tyrant yesterday and a day after the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that Russia DID meddle in our presidential election, 7 Republican Senators (including Ron Johnson) were in Moscow in closed door meetings with Russian officials without any media access. Meanwhile Trump says he will meet with Putin alone with no aides or others in the room when they get together for talks later this month. If you don't have a problem with any of this, you are part of the problem………………………….2 reasons why we don't have Medicare for all: Mitch McConnell has taken $5.9 million and Paul Ryan has taken $4.2 million from the healthcare industry…………………………….John Fitzgerald is a Republican candidate for the US House in the 11th district. He has been appearing in neo-nazi podcasts and claiming that the Holocaust is “a lie”. He also claims that 9-11 was coordinated by Jewish elements in our government and Israel. This man wants to be elected as a Congressman…as a Republican. Wouldnt any reputable political party say that yes, in America you can spout your opinions no matter how vile and repugnant they may be, but we are not supporting you in your quest for power.
Quotes of The Day
“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it. It required no brains at all. It merely required no character.”- Joseph Heller (Catch 22)
“The difference between the Right and Left. A conservative says “I don't care as long as it doesn't happen to me and I will fight to make sure it doesn't.” A liberal says”I care because it shouldn't happen to anybody and I will fight to make sure it doesn't.”- Cait McKnelly
“Black football players can't kneel during the national anthme to protest police brutality but Republican Congressmen can meet with our enemies in Moscow on Independence Day.”-Seth Abramson
“Now we're actually allowed to take lumber from our fields and regrow it, but take lumber from under our environmental system–in the old days you couldn't do that–we had to go to other countries, but we–so lumber is a disaster.”- Donald Trump July 3 2018 (and if you can decipher this you should go work for the NSA)
“Mitch McConnell says that there isn't much that the Federal Government can do to help reduce school shootings: Here's a list, Strict background checks, ban bump stock and assault style rifles, increase age limit to purchase all guns and ammo, and vote out McConnell.”-Ed Krassenstein
“There is no salvaging the Republican Party. Its leaders are beyond shame, beyond rules, beyond reason. Democrats can speak in the dialogue of peace, but the only dialect Republicans can understand is power.”-Kaitlin Byrd
Songs Of The Day
Acadian Driftwood-The Band (1975) a Robbie Robertson tune (happy birthday Robbie who turns 75 today) from my favorite Band LP “Northern Lights, Southern Cross. It's a amazing telling of the Acadian Deportation from Canada to the US. Just a great song!
