Editor's Note: If you're not a weekly subscriber to Taylor Armerding's column, you can publish this one if you notify him at t.armerding@verizon.net.
---

By Taylor Armerding
CNHI News Service

I hope David McCullough is right. The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, interviewed on “60 Minutes” last week, said he was disappointed in the campaigns of both President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, but declared unshakeable confidence that the nation is much bigger and stronger than any president.

Editor's Note: If you're not a weekly subscriber to Marta Mossburg's column, you can publish this one if you notify her at marta@martamossburg.com.
---

By Marta H. Mossburg
CNHI News Service

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev told a crowd in Houston last Thursday that “America is on the verge of great change.”

He said that not knowing who would win the presidential election, although he all but

By Carol Stark
CNHI News Service

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Almost 18 months after one of the deadliest tornadoes in history cut a swath through the heart of Joplin, I discovered these words of wisdom from Emerson, a writer I have often admired.

They leapt off a page of copy I was reading, grabbing my attention.

By Mike Hinkle
CNHI News Service

Let’s get off politics, disasters and crime for awhile and talk about something — wonderful. Let’s talk about pie.

I know the simple act of closing your eyes, taking a deep breath and visualizing your favorite pie works wonders in calming the agitated spirit. I also know it’s almost impossible to carry on a heated argument and think about pie at the same time.

By Dr. E. Kirsten Peters
CNHI News Service

Some say it’s the most complicated machine ever built. We rely on it not just each day, but each moment of each day. It reaches into our homes, factories, offices and stores. And at times it’s surprisingly fragile and subject to massive failure.