J. Davy Crockett III

There is a spirit of anger in the land. You see it all around you. There is disillusionment as iconic figures in entertainment, news organizations, and high political office are exposed as being lecherous, licentious, predatory sexual abusers. There is anger when elected officials fail to deliver on promises to reform regulations and laws that adversely affect working people and small businesses.

Everybody loves a fish story. Somehow, such stories often grow with the telling, stretching the truth and straining all credulity. Listeners respond with laughter and knowing nods as they express their doubts about the fisherman’s tale.

The season is here. In the northern hemisphere, the days are getting shorter and the evenings cooler. The fall semester of school has begun, and that means something very important has also begun. In case you haven't guessed, it's football season!

For much of the United States, football is a passion. Lives are planned around the big games with all the rituals, like wearing school colors, carrying symbols of the team mascots, and of course, “tailgating” with food and friends. It all comes together to make football “Saturday’s religion” for many.

There is a daily deluge of news stories about gun violence and the deaths of young people involved in gang activity, or another ambush of a police officer, or a protest that becomes a riot, often with loss of life and property damage. Big metropolises like Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Houston and even smaller cities like Little Rock, Arkansas seem unable to curb the shootings that end up leaving pools of blood on their streets. Small towns are not spared as the drug culture and resulting crime leave no part of the country untouched by these deadly pursuits.