Most of the experts and all of the wives tell us that generally men are not nearly as communicative as women are. They don't express what they're feeling, and that tends to shut out their friends and loved ones. These people need to know what we're feeling so they can share our good times and help us through the bad. Now, I know their intentions are good, and it would be very nice to have that kind of relationship, but it might be impossible. I don't express my feelings because I don't know what I'm feeling. I don't even know what I'm thinking, and I very rarely know what I'm doing. I often say things just to see how they sound. And there's nothing worse than being forced into defending a position you don't even hold. So the best solution for us is to keep our mouths shut. We may not be communicative to our loved ones, but we include ourselves in that group. Don't worry, it's not a serious problem. Whatever we're feeling is pretty much on the surface. It doesn't need to be said. You don't have to dig deep with us. In most cases, surface strip mining will reveal the whole lode.

Mary Jo Nemec sent us this picture of her daughter, Erin Nemec, who graduated from High school a little more than a week ago. She is pictured with Jacob Moser, who it appears has graduated from something himself here. Jacob was in Kindergarten with Shelby Hinkle. Maybe he graduated from that. We know Shelby did, because that's all she talks about.

Someone in the Army decided to celebrate Memorial day by reading the Holabird Advocate. We know they were Army, because their computer came from here:forscom.army.mil/. All of us here at the Holabird Advocate were honored that of all the websites they could have chosen to celebrate with, we were one of them that were chosen. You guys are doing great work.

Keep it up!

It's been quite a while since Harold and Mary Hinkle left for Wyoming to attend Tamera Peterson's wedding. Some of us wondered out loud if they went on the honeymoon. It has finally been confirmed that Harold and Mary are on the way home, and are expected back at the Ponderosa sometime tonight.

They have been unable to stay in contact with home because Upton, Wyoming is in an area that sounds like cell phone hell. Harold's cell phone couldn't connect until Enning. Perhaps they need a PUC chairman like Dusty Johnson out that way. Too bad! They can't have him!

There is a different kind of War on Terror being fought in this world. It is being fought without guns and bombs. It is a war being fought with Word and the Spirit. It is a war that Kevin Zilverberg, as well as the men and women like him, will be fighting every day.

At Kevin's reception, there was a lot of good natured ribbing between the Lutherans and the Catholics, but the Lutherans are not who Kevin is fighting. He's not even fighting the Methodists, Universal Lifers, or even the Jews. He is fighting Satan!

Much like our friends in the U.S. Army, when Kevin puts on his "uniform" there is an invisible target on it. Like the Army, it's because of the side with which he is fighting that he is being targeted. He may or may not get shot at. One thing is for sure Satan will be using ever nasty trick at his disposal to dispatch Kevin. Like Jesus before him, Kevin will be tempted. Satan will promise him anything it takes to defeat him. The life Kevin has chosen will be difficult, but not impossible, to live.

The other day, my mother was discussing Dad and me what kind of gift we should give Kevin for his ordination. I jokingly asked, "What do you give a guy who has taken a vow of poverty? Plenty of nothing?". Now I know what I can give him. Prayer is the answer. Kevin will have need for it in the days ahead. Not just in the tough times, but also when things seem to be going well. This is especially true considering he is being sent to the cesspool that is Sioux Falls. Join me in praying for Kevin if you aren't already doing so. We are always being told adopt a soldier, so why not adopt a priest too!

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT DEATH
Submitted by Mavis Kennedy
Death is certain but the Bible speaks about untimely death! Make a personal reflection about this. Very interesting, read until the end. It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7): "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Here are some men and women who mocked God:
JOHN LENNON: Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said: "Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was OK, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him" (1966). Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.. TANCREDO NEVES (President of Brazil ): During the Presidential campaign,he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.
CAZUZA (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet): During a show in Canecïo ( Rio de Janeiro ), whilst smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: "God, that's for you." He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible manner.
THE MAN WHO BUILT THE TITANIC: After the construction of the Titanic, a Reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said: "Not even God can sink it" The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic.
MARILYN MONROE: She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: "I don't need your Jesus". A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.
BON SCOTT: The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang: "Don't stop me, I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell". On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.
CAMPINAS/SP IN 2005: In Campinas, Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend. The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter -holding her hand, who was already seated in the car: "MY DAUGHTER, GO WITH GOD AND MAY HE PROTECT YOU." She responded: "ONLY IF HE (GOD) TRAVELS IN THE TRUNK, CAUSE INSIDE HERE IT'S ALREADY FULL".. Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died, the car could not be recognized of what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact. The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none were broken.
Christine Hewitt: A Jamaican Journalist and entertainer, said the Word of God was the worst book ever written, in June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.
Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus. Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive. JESUS!!!
Why Are The Bees Disappearing?
by Doug, of the Straight Dope staff
I'm an entomologist with the University of California at Riverside. Here's a summary.
First and most important: There are some 20,000 species of bees in the world, and many thousands more types of pollinating insects. What you're hearing about, "colony collapse disorder," affects one species of bee – the European honey bee. That species happens to be the one global agriculture relies upon for about 30% of its pollination requirements. So while we're not talking about losing all the world's pollinators, we are talking about losing a significant fraction of them. That's the worst-case scenario, with the species wiped out completely.Second, there's no reason at this point to think European honey bees are going to be wiped out, now or ever. The die-offs so far appear to affect some beekeepers more than others, sometimes in the same area. That's one reason scientists are so puzzled, but it strongly suggests the losses may have something to do with how individual beekeepers are managing their bees. The "significant percentage" of failing hives is still a drop in the bucket when viewed against the global population of honey bees, and there are lots of beekeepers (even in the U.S., which appears hardest hit) who have not had, and may never have, significant losses of colonies. Plenty of honey bees remain to replace the ones that have died. It's not yet time to scream that the sky is falling.Third, it's almost impossible to get hard numbers on how many colonies have died recently, and how much of the current uproar is media hype based on guesses, estimates and anecdotal accounts from the handful of beekeepers who have had the most colony losses. If you talk to other beekeepers, most admit they have colonies die off every winter, but they don't always keep records on how many. A lot of the reports we're hearing are based on personal recollection rather than careful documentation. In other words, the scary figures you're hearing could be exaggerated. Fourth, even the original report describing and naming the phenomenon explicitly says it's something that has been seen before (repeatedly), named before, and studied before – in all cases without coming to any conclusion about the cause. The researchers didn't like the older names for the syndrome (which usually included the word "disease," which has connotations about infectiousness that don't seem applicable here), so they renamed it colony collapse disorder. That point has largely eluded the press, with the result that most people think this is a new phenomenon, when in fact the researchers who described it note reports of similar die-offs dating back to the 1890s.Fifth, if what we're seeing is indeed a recurrence of a century-old phenomenon, that's a pretty good argument against theories of causation involving things that haven't been around that long. Yes, it's an assumption that current and past die-offs have a common underlying cause. Some researchers don't accept that assumption – they're the ones proposing things like pesticides as possible causes, and they may yet prove to be correct, since some modern pesticides can indeed kill honey bee colonies in a manner consistent with the present symptoms. But the leading hypothesis in many researcher's minds is that colonies are dying primarily because of stress. Stress means something different to a honey bee colony than to a human, but the basic idea isn't all that alien: If a colony is infected with a fungus, or has mites, or has pesticides in its honey, or is overheated, or is undernourished, or is losing workers due to spraying, or any other such thing, then the colony is experiencing stress. Stress in turn can cause behavioral changes that exacerbate the problem and lead to worse ones like immune system failure. Colony stress has existed, in various forms and with various causes, as long as mankind has kept honey bees, so it could indeed have happened in the 1890s. Many modern developments like pesticides or mite infestations can also cause stress (in fact, many of the things theorized to be involved can cause stress, so it's possible multiple factors are contributing to the problem, not just one). Unfortunately, stress is difficult to quantify and control experimentally, so it may never be possible to prove scientifically that colony stress explains all this year's deaths.
Sixth, it's never a good idea to trust what the media are telling you. At least once in the present case the media got something completely wrong and created a huge mess: The story about cell phones was basically a misrepresentation of what one pair of reporters wrote about a study that they misinterpreted. In a nutshell, the original research didn't involve cell phones, and the researchers never said their research was related to honey bee colony die-offs. Even details like the alleged Einstein quote are dubious. No one has yet found proof that Einstein said anything about bees dying off – the earliest documented appearance of the "quote" is 1994 and, yes, Albert was dead at the time.The bottom line? No one is certain what's going on, but a lot of the theories can't – by themselves – explain everything we're seeing. More important, the situation hasn't yet risen to the level of a catastrophe (except, sadly, for some of the affected beekeepers). If the same thing keeps happening every winter for another decade or so, then we might really start worrying. But for now, classifying this as a "problem with potentially severe economic impact should it persist" would be a more realistic assessment.

Peg Zilverberg reported to us that the Vice Rector of the seminary that her son, Kevin Zilverberg, attended will be the one conducting the Mass in Harrold and Highmore. He is being described as quite a character, and our Publisher is looking forward to meeting him. He's going to bring his clipboard and take notes so that he doesn't forget anything. You know, important details like the guys name. Hopefully he will be done in time for Jerry to get to the Methodist Church by 11:15.

Wives tend to be extra sensitive about germs and bacteria and any unseen microorganisms that can hurt their family members. If a perfectly good T-bone steak gets a little paint on it, or a handful of mashed potatoes drops onto a gravel driveway, they quickly scoop them up and throw them into the trash. Men are much more resilient. If food is relatively chewable and more or less in the same range of color it started out in, they'll eat it. And they'll eat it quickly, before their wives confiscate it. Many wives are food police. Many husbands are repeat offenders. And the biggest law that separates the two sides is the "Best Before" date. How many tons of perfectly good food have been thrown out by a food cop just because it reached an arbitrary date, stuck on there by some marketing genius who realizes that once it expires, you'll need to buy more. Whenever you see a man in the middle of the night, sitting alone in a chair with the fridge door open eating everything in sight, you know that tomorrow is "Best Before" day.

It appears that when our Publisher, Jerry Hinkle goes to Register at DWU, he will have to have a copy of his vaccination records. It will take a while for him to hunt that up. He will also have to go to his doctor for the old poke prod and cough routine. This will be especially hard on Jerry for two reasons. Firstly, he hates having that done. Secondly, Jerry has only seen one doctor in his life, and that doctor is dead. This one may take a while to figure out.

When they talk about the World Series at the Ponderosa, they just might be talking about the World Series of Monopoly. Recently, Jerry Hinkle bought Monopoly computer game for 50 cents at a rummage sale. Since then the Hinkle family has played 10 games from beginning to end. Jerry Hinkle has won 3 games, Darrel, Justin, and E.E. Hinkle are tied at second place with 2 games won. Brittany Hinkle has even won a game herself. What makes Justin's and E.E.'s victories so remarkable is that Justin is only 5 years old, and E.E. is dead. The computer game settles all claims of cheating as one cannot steal from the bank or another player without the others knowing about it. It also helps enforce the rules. E.E. has been lucky in that he landed on Boardwalk and Park Place before anyone else both times that he won.

Professor Ken Hansen thinks that Mary Hinkle needs a break and that she should pack her bags and tell her hubby that he’s got a weekend job chauffeuring her and her mother to Minneapolis. Trouble with that is, Mary is not able to get away. Friday she has UMW, and she also has to watch Justin Hinkle graduate from Head Start later that evening. Mary has been feeling good enough to get out into the garden. She does get tired, but it's the good kind of tired. The kind that lets one sleep through the night.

Highmore's best greenhouse is open and ready for business. Darrel and Kristi Hinkle got up dark and early Sunday morning to pick up this year's inventory. Early on Sunday afternoon, the whole Hinkle family helped load the inventory into the greenhouse. Five year old Justin Hinkle carried more than his share of flowers in, but occasionally he said, "This one is too heavy". Mary Hinkle even got out of her sickbed to help the cause. She is feeling better now.

All of us here at the Holabird Advocate sure hope all who are able to will go to Kristi's Greenhouse for your Mother's Day shopping.

It was reported through the CaringBridge site that Larry Jensen went in for surgery at about 7:30 am, but the actual procedure didn't start until 11 am. The whole process was supposed to take 8-12 hours with someone updating the family every 90 minutes. Many of our Readers have taken the time to sign his guest book. That's one reason why our Readers are the best!

The latest news from Tulsa is that Larry came through surgery fine at about 4:00. Larry still has his arm and it sounds like things went very well.

Thanks Be To God for His Wonderful Goodness!

Joshua Bell, 39, is a world-renowned classical violinist who has won the highest honors in his field and normally plays to standing room only crowds who pay upwards of $100 per ticket to hear him play. He plays a Stradivarius violin that was handmade in 1713 and is valued at $3.5 million. Despite his reputation and musical genius, however, Bell couldn't draw a crowd who could hear him for free in a Washington, D.C. Metro subway station.
The Washington Post had invited Bell to participate in an experiment in "context, perception, and priorities." The question the Post wanted to explore was, "In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?" Dressed like an average street performer, Bell stood near a trash can in the L'Enfant Plaza station during a Friday morning rush hour in January 2007 and played several classical pieces on his Stradivarius, including Bach's Chaconne (one of the most difficult violin pieces to master), as busy commuters came up the escalators on their way to work.
The results were telling. In the 45 minutes that Bell played, 1,097 people went by. Only seven people stopped to listen for at least a minute. Twenty-seven people dropped money in Bell's violin case, most without stopping or looking at him, for a total of $32.17. Said the Post: "If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing?"

Today all of us here at the Holabird Advocate present edition 1100! We've waited 64 months for it too! As it happens, we do it on the birthday of our Publisher, Joan Hansen. We won't give her true age, because she might give our Publisher's true weight.

The Iron Woman Returns
After a little more than a months hiatus, Ana Nemec is blogging again. It sounds like she's been busy too. Besides doing all the regular college stuff, she's also been training for her big run in the Iron Woman triathlon, which was last Sunday. She must not have come in first, or she'd have bragged about it. Still, providing she finished, that makes her a winner as far as all of us here at the Holabird Advocate are concerned. Great job Ana! Were all proud of you. Better her than us, eh! To hear about Ana's adventures in more detail go to her website:collegetales.blogspot.com/
Dakota Statesman Sets Up
Prairie Deacon CEO, Jerry Hinkle is running a different kind of marathon. He has set up a Myspace website to get ready for the "Independent" reality show when it comes on. The site is a work in progress. One good sign is that almost at once, the President of Myspace, a man named Tom Anderson. You can check out the new edition to the Prairie Deacon Media family at:
myspace.com/dakotastatesman
Fatted Calf Changes Form
Instead of serving mock prime rib, the Come Hahn in Make Your Own Bed And Breakfast served up barbecued Iowa Pork Chops. One can only imagine how much that it thrilled Ken Hansen to find Iowa Chops in Pierre, South Dakota.
Our Publisher was not there last night, but Agnes did send a leftover chop up to the Ponderosa. He didn't even heat it up. That method of eating any pork product is usually not recommended, but our Publisher didn't mind it a bit. The sauce was especially good.

Today is a work day at the Come Hahn Inn. Harold and Mary Hinkle left to go there this morning with lawn mowers. They even brought their own gas. All of us here at the Holabird Advocate are sure that Agnes will have the best lawn in town for her 89th birthday tomorrow.