The brave women and men who wore the uniform, and their families, made great sacrifices to serve our country. As President John F. Kennedy once said: “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” Our veterans deserve not just our gratitude, but also our commitment. As a nation, we commit to give them the quality benefits and care they’ve earned. In Nebraska, we proved that is just the start. When I was Governor, we also committed to reducing the burdens our veterans face to maximize their benefits. It’s time Washington makes that same commitment.

My wife often tells me, “Cody, you don’t have to tell people everything... some of this is embarrassing.” We’ve got mice.

I learned a lot of statistics back in medical school, many of which are outdated and long since forgotten. A few still haunt me, though. One example: over 50% of seniors who suffered a broken hip would be in a nursing home, or in their grave, within a year.

Every family has a story. It may go clear back to the 17th Century or maybe it just happened in recent years.

On October 7, the world witnessed a horrible atrocity. The brutality and inhumanity of Hamas’ terror attacks on Israel shock the conscience. Hamas terrorists raped women, kidnapped children, burned a baby in an oven, and slaughtered over 1,400 Israelis. At least 33 Americans are among the dead. Such barbarism is sick and evil. It must be confronted and destroyed.

How much blood flows through your joints? Would you be surprised if I told you “None”? That’s right! Inside the joint there is a clear, viscous, slippery fluid that lubricates the joint surface, but no red blood flows inside the joint. Doctors do not want to see blood in a joint. When there is blood inside a joint it is usually because of trauma. That means tissue has been injured and blood vessels have been broken, bleeding into the clear cavity.

Nebraska is home to over 100,000 of our most honorable American heroes. These heroes left home and family to follow a call. They showed grit and dedication throughout taxing training. They fought hard for their homeland and made countless sacrifices. Many of them made the ultimate sacrifice — they sacrificed their own lives to protect others.

A common lament I hear from my patients as they try to discuss a real concern they have about their body: “I’m sorry; this is so disgusting!” Their cheeks burn with shame as they tell me how their bowels have betrayed them. No matter what the issue is, so many of my patients are mortified discussing their diarrhea, constipation, fecal incontinence. My response, always, is “you can’t gross me out – we talk about poop every day in this clinic!”

Despite hysteria from social media, late night comedy shows, or even presidential administrations, net neutrality is not a policy that needs to be controversial. Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers should treat all data on their networks fairly, without favoring or disfavoring certain types of internet traffic.

This time of year brings out a lot of windshield time and that means long car rides with children in tow. Understand, you never want them all in one car.