By Michael Kaufman
The National Football League says it is a proud supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I hope one day there will also be an NFL Awareness Month and people will cheer for the widows and caretakers of men who suffered paralysis, brain damage, blown out knees, or other crippling injuries—or who simply died too young as a result of playing professional football.

By Jeffrey Page
Why don’t we play Let’s Pretend, our congressional representatives say, and we can make believe we have even an inkling of what our constituents are going through in this shutdown.

By Michael Kaufman
We had stinkbugs last year but they proved to be no challenge other than being repulsive to look at, especially when perched on furniture or a plate full of food. But they had no survival skills to speak of. This year we have a stinkbug of a different color.

By Bob Gaydos
Today’s language is lacking in words to adequately describe the kind of lout Faust was. Where are “rake” and “cad” when we need them? When words lose precision, they lose meaning. Bring back ‘libertine.”

By Carrie Jacobson
Fall is coming in a whisper this year, quiet and slight and seductive.

By Jeffrey Page
I dropped my Exxon account; so they sent me three more Exxon gas cards.

By Bob Gaydos
What’s a secretion from a beaver’s scent-marking sac doing in my favorite dessert? Plus other food stuff I didn’t want to know.

By Jeffrey Page
Was the lawyer wearing boxers, briefs or nothing at all when he posed the question?

By Carrie Jacobson
It’s fall, and I guess I am now a southerner. Brrr!

By Bob Gaydos
President Obama is too smart to have, as many claim, blundered his way through the Syria chemical weapons crisis. The results bear that out.