Rage And Despair In The Business Center

by Kevin Burton    Dear, gentle, intelligent Page 7 reader, may I ask you a question?    What would you say is the key element, all things considered, in the business center of a hotel? What makes a business center a business center?    If you were told by a hotel employee that, yes, said …

Dakota Territory Welcomes The Burtons

by Kevin Burton    After more than half a century’s absence, I returned to the Dakota Territory last week.   We determined that the covered wagon wasn’t roadworthy, so my wife and I took the Toyota instead.    This was part of our long-awaited, much-needed vacation.  We think Kansas is a great place to be, but …

Songwriter Cynthia Weil Turns 82

by Kevin Burton    Happy 82nd birthday to a great American songwriter you may not know much about, Cynthia Weil.     If her name doesn’t ring a bell, her music sure will.  She and her husband Barry Mann formed one of the most important songwriting teams of the 60s. They were contemporaries of writers you …

New Zealand Tries To Tax Burping Cows

by Kevin Burton    Politicians, working in committees, will find a way.     Bet you five dollars they will. And cows will be cows.    This story from the Associated Press out of Wellington New Zealand, marries politics, agriculture and the unseemly but altogether natural acts of cows.     “New Zealand’s government on Tuesday proposed …

Fruit Of The Spirit: Self-Control

by Kevin Burton    Self-control is the final Gift of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. It is potentially the most confusing.    This is the ninth and final part of our series.    Self-control is an easy enough concept, but the self part could throw us off. The power is not in self. It …

Ready Or Not? Jesus Is Coming Back

by Kevin Burton    Remember playing hide and seek as a child?    Surely you do. Just about all of us played. It’s a game played worldwide. You don’t need any equipment, no gadgets, no batteries, no special clothing. Don’t need direct parental supervision.      “Hide-and-seek, (is an) old and popular children’s game in which …

Trivia Time: “Good Night, Sleep Tight”

by Kevin Burton    I don’t think trivia is trivial, do you?    Trivial means of little value or importance. Not all of what can be called trivia fits that description. Some is news I can use.    Anyway, my friend Tracy sent me the following trivia months ago and I am just now getting …

“Free Man In Paris” Peaked At Number 22

by Kevin Burton    Oh my goodness how did I ever miss this one?    Earlier this year to mark the year 2022 I did a series of posts about songs that peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.    It turns out one of my all-time favorite songs, “Free Man in Paris,” …

Fruit Of The Spirit: Biblical Gentleness

by Kevin Burton    One of the most unfortunate rhymes is meek rhyming with weak. Those two words are much closer to opposites than to synonyms.    This is the eighth in a series on the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. We’re looking at those characteristics that will become more evident in a …

The Bible Is What’s Happening Now

by Kevin Burton    The late comedian Flip Wilson had an ongoing gag featuring a hip, fast-talking preacher who strayed for comedic effect, far from a right interpretation of the Bible.    His Flip Wilson Show aired Thursday nights on NBC from 1970 to 1974.  The recurring preacher segment came from what he called “The …