Author: Randall Reeder

Zero death tax puts old rich folks at risk

COLUMBUS: The Global Warming conference in Copenhagen made it’s first big decision: no Christmas trees will be allowed on the premises. See, Christmas is a Christian holiday, and the United Nations can’t risk being influenced by Christian principles.

Besides, Christmas decorations and colorful lights might get the delegates in a cheerful mood. That just won’t do when eighty percent are supposed to be sour and cranky and downright mad about warm temperatures and rising oceans.

These small island nations are worried their beachfront property is about to be flooded. But you don’t see them putting any of it up for sale. They plan to ask rich nations for $10 Billion a year, I suppose to build dikes around their islands. A better use of the $10 Billion is to put in a bid on these sandy beaches. If they accept, you’ve at least got a few years to walk on the land. If they say no, you’ve still got the $10 Billion.

Back home, old rich folks are getting worried as 2010 gets closer. On January 1, the federal estate tax drops to zero, and it will only stay at zero for a year unless Congress votes it back in. Since a bunch of those “old rich folks” run Congress, they are rushing to pass a bill that will stave off a rash of “assisted suicides” and “accidental deaths” among those with money-hungry offspring.

Congress says the new proposed estate tax will affect less than one percent, only the richest among us. But a lot of people are against it. See, in this country even the common man thinks that he might accumulate great wealth, and doesn’t want the government taking three-fourths of it when he’s gone. In these other countries, a common man with nothing figures he will always have nothing so why not let the wealthy pay all the bills. No wonder they’re cranky.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
“I don’t see why a man shouldn’t pay an inheritance tax. If a Country is good enough to pay taxes to while you are living, it’s good enough to pay in after you die. By the time you die you should be so used to paying taxes that it would just be almost second nature to you.” WA#168, Feb. 28, 1926

“Now they got such a high inheritance tax on ‘em that you won’t catch these old rich boys dying promiscuously like they did. This bill makes patriots out of everybody. You sure do die for your country if you die from now on.” DT#1767, March 23, 1932

“They passed the big inheritance tax, and that gets you when you’re gone. You used to could die and be able to beat taxes, but not now. The undertaker don’t go over your body as carefully as the assessor does your accumulated assets, and he gets his before the undertaker. They have it on these big fortunes now where they pay as high as 60 to 70 percent of what they leave. That’s mighty expensive dying when it runs into money like that, and you won’t see ’em dropping off as casually as they have been.” WA #594, May 13, 1934

Will misses out on Indian dinner

COLUMBUS: Last week the President put on a big dinner, and announced it was to honor an Indian. Well, being part Cherokee I figured I could talk my way into the affair. It would give me something interesting to write about, and besides, what harm could it do?

Then I found out the dinner wasn’t for us Indians at all. It was for the Prime Minister of India. So I stayed home and watched football.

Now we’re all reading about a man who took his young blonde wife to the dinner without an invitation, and he’s got more publicity than the Prime Minister. Of course publicity is what he wanted, and now he’s demanding over $100,000 to appear on television to talk about it. Only catch is, if any network is dumb enough to pay him, the check will be delivered by the Secret Service with an arrest warrant for trespassing and impersonating a notable person. The fair thing to do with these publicity hounds is for the U. S. Navy to transport them to the Indian Ocean and set them loose in a row boat off the coast of Somalia. Why, that might get them a role in a reality show after all.

Earlier the government announced that the terrorist who planned the 9/11 attack will get a trial in New York City. It’s going to cost us taxpayers over $100 Million to try a man who already pled guilty and asked to be executed. This decision to foolishly waste these millions of dollars was made by the same government that wants to be in charge of your health care.

Of course the reason for a civilian trial is to show the world that we play fair, even with a man responsible for killing 3000 people. This new gentler approach to diplomacy has already had an effect in the Middle East. Remember how we’ve been trying to get Iran to shut down their two uranium enrichment plants? Well, this weekend Ahmadinejad admitted that having two of these plants is inappropriate; he plans to build ten more.

The big global warming conference starts December 6 in Copenhagen. If it’s like previous conferences, while it’s on you can expect Denmark to have a record cold spell. President Obama is expected to announce, in a good will gesture, that we will drastically cut carbon emissions. In the spirit of global cooperation, China, India and other countries are lining up to applaud our cuts. They are also offering to help us reach our goal by taking off our hands any excess manufacturing jobs.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it.” Saturday Evening Post, June 9, 1928

 “America has a unique record: We never lost a war and we never won a conference.” Radio, April 6, 1930

(Concerning national topics) “We discuss them morning, night and noon and I don’t suppose there ever was a time when everybody knew as little about what they are talking about as they do today. Actual knowledge of the future was never lower, but hope was never higher. Confidence will beat predictions any time.” DT #2224, Sept. 19, 1933

Weekly Comments: Plenty of turkeys, and not just in Congress

COLUMBUS: It’s Thanksgiving in America, and turkeys are plentiful. And not just in Congress either. Our turkey growers outdid themselves and the country is flooded with cheap gobblers. Grocery stores are practically giving away turkeys this year. Plan to buy an extra one or two and donate them to a charity that’s feeding the hungry.

You might remember a few weeks ago I wrote about a shortage of chicken wings. Well I think if one of these Wing restaurants wants to be a big hit with customers, they can advertise a “super size” special and hand out turkey wings. No need to pretend that little chunks of chicken breast is boneless wings. These are real wings, bones and all.

The health care bill got 60 votes in the Senate, but it don’t mean anything. They are merely agreeing to sit down and argue over it till Christmas. But still, these votes didn’t come cheap. Senator Landrieu wrangled $100 million for her Yes vote, and she practically said it’ll take far more to get another Yes in the final round. Senator Lieberman is in there to look out for his Connecticut insurance folks, and no one knows what he received.

An Illinois senator, who already received a prison and 3000 jobs, voted for it. He said on television that the American people want this health care bill passed so we can get on to fixing the economy and finding jobs. Really, I think what most people want is a job and the economy fixed, then worry about health insurance later.

When more than 10% is out of work, having a job is something to be thankful for. Prospects are looking mighty bleak for next year because employers are cutting jobs faster than President Obama can manufacture new ones. He’s holding a Jobs Summit in Washington next month but I doubt it’ll add many jobs, at least outside of Washington. He just returned from China and all he had to do was look around over there and he could see where many of our jobs went to.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“A bought vote is better than no votes at all. The counters can’t tell whether they are bought or just bargained for.” DT #73, Dec. 4, 1926

“You can’t have a picnic lunch unless the party carrying the basket comes.” DT #1714, Jan. 21, 1932

This time it’s Pelosi sweet talking Reid

COLUMBUS: The Health Reform bill finally passed the House. I think it was by 220-215, and now our Senators get to argue over it.

Don’t be surprised to see Speaker Pelosi standing beside Harry Reid addressing questions about the merits of the bill. She’s liable to reach over, put her arm around Harry’s waist and say, “Harry, we have written a perfect health care bill; why don’t you go to your Senators and sweet talk them into passing it as is, as a favor for little ole me.” Well, you’ll see Harry’s eyebrows raise and his eyes open wide as he inches sideways out of her grasp.

No doubt we need some reform for the few million who can’t get insurance. I was talking to a Judge in Claremore a week ago, and she said it’s really sad to see so many foreclosures in her court because severe illness has wiped out a family’s ability to make house payments. And some of these houses are old and small, worth only $35,000 she said.

Just wish Congress would concentrate on helping those kind of folks and reducing costs for the rest of us without messing up what’s good about our system. Why would you cut salaries for doctors and nurses and leave the lawyers alone? Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and other Wall Streeters say we have to pay bonuses of $30 Billion this year or we’ll lose these bright financiers. Aren’t they the ones who helped shove us into this recession? Wouldn’t it make more sense to reserve the $30 Billion for doctors?

I just returned from speaking in Lubbock. Headline in the Avalanche-Journal says: Cotton producers are all smiles. They’re smiling because cotton yields in West Texas are ten percent above last year, while the rest of the country is down. Bet you didn’t know almost forty percent of our cotton will come from Texas this year. Wonderful people in Lubbock; even got to see the famous American Windmill Museum, a must-stop for a windy speaker.

The President decided to try the foreign terrorists in New York instead of at Guantanamo in a military trial. The Attorney General says we will convict them in NY, then put them in prison in Illinois. He did not say what would happen if their lawyers are better than our lawyers and they are set free.

Senator Durbin is thrilled that 3000 Illinois Democrats will be hired to guard the 200 prisoners from Gitmo. They plan to buy an empty prison and fix it up. I’m wondering, with 15 armed guards for each prisoner, why do you even need a prison.

Back in May I proposed Nevada as a better choice. We already spent $10 Billion tunneling out a storage space for nuclear materials under Yucca Mountain, but Senator Reid won’t let us store any. So, just build a steel gate across the entrance and put the terrorists in there. Once a week bring in food and water and let them take care of each other. No guards needed inside. Let those 3000 do something useful, like farming or working in a meat processing plant. Maybe some could become doctors and nurses. Anything but Wall Streeters.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“(Congress) wouldn’t be so serious and particular if they only had to vote on what they thought was good for the majority of the people. That would be a cinch. But what makes it hard for them is every time a bill comes up they have things to decide that have nothing to do with the merit of the bill. The principal thing is of course: What will this do for me personally back home? A man’s thoughts are naturally on his next term, more than on his country.” WA #78, June 8, 1924

Will Rogers celebrates 130th birthday

CLAREMORE, Okla.: In the election Tuesday the results in New Jersey and Virginia shook up Democrats. In Ohio the voters passed two Issues that shook up Nevada and HSUS.

Voters who have opposed gambling for fifty years changed their minds and Ohio will now have Casinos in four cities. This means massive changes. The big airlines are adding non-stop flights to Toledo. Cincinnati will become known for something besides the pork packing capital of the country. And why would Californians and New Yorkers go to Vegas when they can choose to lose their dough in Cleveland.

On the animal care Issue, Ohio decided that farmers and other ag professionals know more about caring for farm animals than HSUS lawyers in Washington, DC. The majority of voters like meat, and when it comes to ensuring a bountiful, healthy local supply they trust veterinarians more than vegetarians.

On November 4, Oklahoma celebrated “my” 130th birthday. The Indian Women’s Pocahontas Club was in charge and did a marvelous job. Of course they’re 110 years old themselves. At this age, when they ask you to make comments, there’s hardly anything that you haven’t said before. So I just thank my young friends and relatives. To me they’re all young.

The Rotary organized the parade in Claremore. When it’s 75 degrees on a Saturday afternoon in November, it’s not hard to draw a crowd. After a month of rain, it was sunny and warm all week and folks just wanted to be outside. The high school band was behind me and they played Oklahoma!  Probably played it 20 times, each time sounding sweeter than the previous. Antique cars are always popular; Model T and Model A Fords, Chevys, Packards. My personal escort was a 1921 Model T Ford Huckster pickup. Among the two dozen cars and trucks was a 1909 Hupmobile. That’s no joke. Of course there were horses, plenty of old farm tractors, and who could forget the Shriners in their entertaining little cars.

Friday night I had what you might call a return engagement at the Poncan Theatre in Ponca City. A top professional speaker will tell you there’s nothing better than to be invited back a year or two after a talk. For a mediocre speaker, it might be 10 years. For me, it was 78. Yes, Feb. 5, 1931 was the first one. I think 78 years is a new record for a speaker returning to the same place. At least without Botox. Or embalming fluid. This beautiful auditorium was built in 1926, and my first talk was during a fund-raising tour for those suffering from the drought and Depression. The Poncan was fully restored around 1990 and seats 800.

Ponca City is full of history. E. W. Marland made a fortune in oil and invested it all right at home. (His company became Conoco.) The Marland Mansion, with 55 rooms, is the biggest and most magnificent in the whole Southwest. He funded the famous Pioneer Woman statue. I was there for the unveiling April 22, 1930. President Hoover opened the ceremony (from the White House) over a national radio broadcast. I got to pull the cover off, and said, “This is the first time I ever undressed a woman. In public.”

Flags are flying at half-staff to honor those killed at Fort Hood. Thirty were injured and thirteen killed. They were preparing to face enemy gunfire in Iraq or Afghanistan but were gunned down by a hate-filled psychiatrist who likes Muslim terrorists more than American soldiers.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

(Unveiling of The Pioneer Woman statue) “Well, Oklahoma had a great day here today.  Mr. Hoover opened our ceremonies from Washington, in repayment for the State going Republican the last election. Then Pat Hurley, our unanimously most popular Oklahoman and Secretary of War, from a sick bed in Washington, made a radio talk to us that would have done credit to a Democrat. It was a wonderful gathering, a tremendous crowd. Ah, folks, you can act and talk, and do stunts all over the world, but the applause of a home audience is sweeter to your ears than anything in the world.” DT #1167, April 22, 1930

“Five thousand feet in the air, and [pilot Frank] Hawks is starting a dive for the field to land at Ponca City.” DT#1416, Feb. 5, 1931

What did we learn in 80 years?

COLUMBUS: It’s been 80 years since the stock market crash that started the Great Depression. It was caused by too many people spending money they didn’t have to buy things they couldn’t afford. Kinda like a couple of years ago. Back then it was overpriced stocks they were buying, and more recently it was houses.

Treasury Secretary Geithner is walking an economic  tightrope. He’s got to balance bankers and Wall Street financiers against business, farmers and the general public. He wants business to hire more, banks to loan more, us to spend more, and China to hold a second mortgage on the whole country. But we’re knocking him off his high wire by saving money when we should be spending and demanding the government save more, too. We don’t want to add two trillion dollars to the deficit just to give health insurance to six million people.

Here’s some ironical news on global warming. Ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting and in the process has uncovered vast supplies of oil and gas. Democrats say, “We don’t want it, it’s tainted. Let the Arctic freeze over again.” But Republicans will say, “Sure, let it freeze. But can’t we drill and lay the pipelines first?”

In Afghanistan, Karzai’s opponent for President announced he is dropping out because he has no chance of winning the election. When the news reached Washington, John McCain muttered, “Wish I’d thought of that.”

In football the big excitement today was Brett Favre returning to Green Bay to play the Packers. He’s 40, and led the Minnesota Vikings to their second win this season over his old team. The old guy just keeps going and going.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers (on the Depression):

“Sure must be a great consolation to the poor people who lost their stock in the  crash to know that it has fallen in the hands of Mr. Rockefeller, who will take care of it and see that it has a good home and never be allowed to wander around unprotected again.
There is one rule that works in every calamity. Be it pestilence, war or famine, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  The poor even help arrange it.  But it’s just as (columnist) Arthur Brisbane and I have been constantly telling you, ‘Don’t gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock, and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don’t go up, don’t buy it.” DT #1019, Oct 31, 1929

“Candidates have been telling you that if elected they would ‘pull you from this bog hole of financial misery.’ Now is a good chance to get even with ‘em, by electing ‘em, just to prove what a liar they are.” DT#1334, Nov. 2, 1930

Weekly Comments: Chicken wings, hogs and horses. Plus Fox and FFA.

COLUMBUS: I am proud to report that, considering the boycott of Fox News,  President Obama and his administration are not ignoring me any more than they used to. Whereas they have ordered newspapers and networks to disregard Fox News stories, no one has been barred from repeating any stories I dig up, humorous or otherwise.

Still, I am concerned. So to avoid upsetting the government any more than I did eighty years ago I am screening my readers. This screening is kinda like the TSA, except you get to keep your shoes on. Anybody who shows a pained expression from trying to read between the lines is obviously from the government and will be asked to skip to the funnies. Those reading with a smile and occasional hearty laugh are clearly bright, well educated, and recognize foolishness when they see it.

At least our government is not as bad as Saudi Arabia. Here, if you report something they don’t like on television news you get snubbed; over there you get 60 lashes.

This whole country is upside down. They want to reduce payments for doctors, nurses and insurance companies but expect them to give better health care. They want to reduce the deficit by spending more. Their solution to unemployment is to give more people jobs in government.

Even chicken prices are upside down. Do you like chicken wings? Well, those flapping appendages of skin and bones and a little meat are more expensive than chicken breast. Folks are just wild over chicken wings and it’s created a national shortage.

Bars and restaurants tried disguising chicken legs as wings, but there’s way too much meat on ‘em to fool anybody. Tyson has breeders working overtime trying to produce White Leghorns with four wings.

This wing deficit was serious till they solved the whole thing by cooking tiny pieces of breast meat, doubling the price, and selling them as “boneless wings.”

Hog farmers, who have lost more money and said less about it than anybody, used to advertise “Pork: the other white meat.” Their new slogan is “Pork: it tastes like wings.”

The All-American Quarter Horse Congress ended here today. Seldom do you see so many beautiful horses at one place.

Meanwhile, in Indianapolis the national FFA convention wrapped up. The farm boys and girls from Oklahoma won top honors in so many categories no other state even came close.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“Last week when I was (in Kansas City), there was 1700 young boys and girls brought there by that great Paper, the Kansas City Star, from over 30 states. They were taking vocational (agriculture) training and had led their various districts back home in the studying of farming, and stock raising.” WA #207, Nov. 28, 1926

Weekly Comments: Deficit dollars could fill Grand Canyon

COLUMBUS: Do you remember how awful you felt a year ago when the federal deficit for 2008 was announced at over $400 Billion? How can we ever pay it back? What’s this country coming to?

Well, hang on to your hat and bank account. The deficit for 2009 is $1.4 Trillion. According to the Associated Press, in one year we added more to the debt than the total for the 200 years from 1776 to 1976. It’s $4700 for every man, woman and child in the country. Let’s suppose you’re a family of five and you have an extra $24,000. If you send it to Washington, and the rest of us do it too, then we would have a balanced budget. But only for this year. Prospects for next year look like you better be ready to donate $30,000.

With this deficit hanging over our heads like an anvil, you might think the big news programs this weekend would have been investigating what caused such a calamity, and how to fix it for 2010. No, I didn’t hear any tough questions about the budget. All the investigative reporting was about a balloon floating over Colorado. If you asked a television executive they would likely admit, We’ve got all this great video of the balloon, but nary a photo of the deficit.
Well, here’s a suggestion for a photo of the deficit: take a picture of the Grand Canyon. Then ask viewers to guess, if you stood on the rim and threw in a dollar bill for every dollar of the deficit, how long would it take to fill it. Well, my guess is if you took all our unemployed and lined them up around the Canyon with a scoop shovel, the way the deficits are growing they would have it plumb full by election day 2012.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“The budget is a mythical bean bag. Congress votes mythical beans into it, and then tries to reach in and pull real beans out.” DT #2047, Feb. 24, 1933

“At the next session, [Congress] won’t have anything to settle much, outside of unemployment, two billion dollar deficit, arrange extra taxes where they will do least harm next November, relieve Wall Street and think up something new to promise farmers.” DT #1672, Dec. 2, 1931

[Will humorously proposed splitting the country, with Republicans taking states East of the Mississippi, and Democrats taking the West.] “We’d split up and that would do away with the debt, see?  Both sides would start in owing nothing.  And the Republicans would perhaps continue the same way. But the Democrats, it wouldn’t take them long to dig up a deficit.  And then the Democrats could take whatever they’re using for money, and they could inflate or do anything they wanted to with it.  And the Republicans, who say we should never have gone off the gold, well, if they had their own country they could go back on it, if they want to.” Radio, June 9, 1935

Weekly Comments: Prizes for the President, but the wrong ones

COLUMBUS: Sometimes a man can’t win. You lose the Olympics that you wanted to win; then win a Nobel Peace Prize you wanted to lose.

President Obama said he was “humbled,”  and announced he would donate the $1.5 million Nobel prize money to charity. I suggest he give it to the Red Cross, or to whoever finished second. But any good, deserving charity is fine, but not PETA, ACORN or HSUS.

Last year those Nobel folks in Norway picked a man who worked on peacemaking for more than 30 years. But nobody ever heard of him so this time they selected one that’s famous, even if he had only been in the White House a week. My friend from Oklahoma, George Campbell, joked it was the Nobel Prize for Unpacking. The Nobel committee even admitted it was a prize for promise. They liked his potential and attitude. (Kinda like most 2008 voters.)

Now in the last hundred years they have selected many deserving winners of the Peace Prize. Norman Borlaug was a great one because his agricultural research helped feed an extra billion people. Mother Teresa in Calcutta and Desmond Tutu. The Red Cross got it three times.

But when it comes to wars, they gave more Peace Prizes to men that ended a war by surrendering than to ones that won. Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill “won” World War II and saved Europe, but never got a Peace Prize. President Reagan won the Cold War over Russia, and never got a Peace Prize. But Gorbachev did.

Don’t be surprised if President Obama is also named the Time magazine Man of the Year. And there’s a chance he’ll be the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. But whether he makes the cover of the Swimsuit issue, I’ve got my doubts.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“We are a good-natured bunch of saps in this country. When the President is wrong we charge it to inexperience…When Congress is wrong we charge it to habit…. When a bank fails we let the guy go start another one….Everything is cockeyed, so what’s the use kidding ourselves.” DT #1226, June 30, 1930

“I would like to stay in Europe long enough to find some country that don’t blame America for everything in the world that’s happened to ’em in the last fifteen years– debts, depression, disarmament, disease, fog, famine or frostbite.” DT #1718, Jan 26, 1932

“This Kellogg peace treaty,  a lot of folks don’t seem to be enthusiastic about it, but it’s based on a great idea (to outlaw war), and if he does get away with it he deserves a lot of credit… I have a scheme for stopping war. It’s this: no nation is allowed to enter a new war till they have paid for the last one.” DT #653, August 29, 1928 (Secretary of State Frank C. Kellogg received the 1929 Nobel Peace Prize)

H1N1, by any other name, can make you squeal

COLUMBUS: It’s a shame some folks are getting H1N1 flu virus, especially students. For most of them, it’s no worse than other ailments that occasionally torment college students.

While I was in Norfolk last week I read the Saturday edition of the Virginian-Pilot. I’m sure it’s an honorable newspaper, and that they practice “honest and intelligent journalism” because that’s what it says right under their masthead. So I was surprised to read a story in there about swine flu. Calling H1N1 by another name that defames an innocent farm animal is about as “honest and intelligent” as saying the Washington Redskins are a great football team.

According to the Virginian-Pilot, the Medical College at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has started a plan to call anything associated with H1N1 by a swine term. They say it’s in fun, but I rather doubt the Agricultural College at Johns Hopkins would be too thrilled about these learned medical professionals poking fun at their business. Of course, Johns Hopkins has not seen fit to teach agriculture, so there’s no one to complain, for instance, that a student with swine flu be called a pig. Or a sick freshman, a piglet. I’m guessing an older female student with flu is a sow. A sick student’s room is called a pig pen, or if it gets messy while the student is laid up with flu, a pig sty. An isolated area at the dining hall where flu-laden students are allowed to eat together is called the trough.

Well, as long the dining hall keeps serving all the students ham and pork chops for supper and bacon and sausage for breakfast, I guess they can go hog wild with their swine terms without any real harm. And if the students remember to wash their hands frequently (with hog tide) maybe it’ll keep a few more of them from having to pay a visit to one of these Medical College interns. That could be dangerous because those funny docs might jab a needle in sideways just to hear you squeal.

Here’s another idea for ‘em: change the name of the university to Johns Hog-kins.

Now I don’t mean to pick on a fine newspaper or university, because there’s plenty of others just like them. You may remember my feeble attempt to change H1N1 to Hiney. I think our students would quickly adopt the nickname Hiney flu, if the newspapers and MTV would get behind it. They are great to take on new terms, like BTW and LOL, and I think calling it Hiney flu would have a certain appeal to them.

Even David Letterman might joke about Hiney flu. That’s about as close as he’ll want to get to a joke of a sexual nature. Now, I’m not going to pile on a fellow humorist except to point out that this may explain why Katy Couric hasn’t been on his show for a while. And I did hear a rumor that CBS is insisting he change the name of his business to Worldwide Pants Down.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“The New York Times advertises ‘All the news that’s fit to print’. I believe the news that’s NOT fit to print is what makes the newspapers.” WA #138, Aug. 2, 1925

“Well, all I know is just what I read in the papers. The old paper in the morning is my breakfast. Course I don’t entirely depend on it. I like it accompanied by some ham and eggs, and a few biscuits, a series of cups of coffee, and a few wheat cakes to help get your mind off the editorials.” WA #257, Nov. 27, 1927