Columnists

Who’s kin to whom

Ronda Rich's picture

It is of paramount importance that I teach my husband how to be a Southerner, at least a half-decent one if not one of regal bearing.

For instance, I tell this dear man, who descended from those who traveled on the Mayflower, and therefore is generations deep in New England, that to be a true Southerner, you have to get into everyone else’s business. Not in a mean way but in a caring-I-can-help kind of way.

His family has boundaries. No one over shares or over asks. No one intrudes or inquires with personal questions. Everyone minds their own business. Drives me crazy. Read More»

The man of Steele

David Epps's picture

I had been on my first summer job after high school graduation for about seven weeks when my dad announced a change. He had arranged, against my will and without my permission, for me to work at a general construction company inside the giant Tennessee Eastman Chemical Products Corporation. I was paid $1.65 an hour to work myself to the point of exhaustion each day.

“Next week,” he said, “you will start as an electrician’s helper for King Electric Company.” I would still be working inside the Eastman plant and I would make $1.85 an hour. A small improvement, I reasoned. Read More»

Mom by the numbers

Rick Ryckeley's picture

Five was the number of children Mom had. Just how she took care of all of us will forever remain a mystery.

During my 18 years at home, she cooked over 19,656 meals, cleaned and folded over 13,000 loads of laundry and still had time to be a loving wife for over 33 years. What an amazing feat.

But we all know that moms are more than just numbers.

Countless are the times Mom was there with hugs when things went wrong. And with five kids, things were always going wrong. Read More»

When the chickens come home to roost in PTC

Scott Bradshaw's picture

Open letter to Peachtree City Manager Jim Pennington

Jim, Jim, Jim ... I feel sorry for you! You must be worried and exasperated because you are expected to allocate a portion of your busy staff’s time to research the pros and cons of permitting back yard hens and chicken coops in Peachtree City.

City Council members could have hired a chicken consultant but they threw it in your lap. Although hen house research is a really “chicken” assignment, I am confident you will scratch up enough relevant information for the council to consider as it deliberates this highly critical issue. Read More»

Is thinking obsolete?

Thomas Sowell's picture

While it is not possible to answer all the emails and letters from readers, many are thought-provoking, whether those thoughts are positive or negative.

An email from one young man simply asked for the sources of some facts about gun control that were mentioned in a recent column. It is good to check out the facts — especially if you check out the facts on both sides of an issue. Read More»

An honest examination of race

Walter Williams's picture

One definition given for insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results; it might also be a definition of stupidity. Let’s look at some cities where large percentages of black Americans live under poor conditions.

Experiencing a violent crime rate of 2,137 per 100,000 of the population, Detroit is the nation’s most dangerous city. Rounding out Forbes magazine’s 2012 list of the 10 most dangerous cities are St. Louis; Oakland, Calif.; Memphis, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Atlanta; Baltimore; Stockton, Calif.; Cleveland; and Buffalo, N.Y. Read More»

America’s tradition of service: Richard A. ‘Dick’ Dodds

Terry Garlock's picture

Early one rainy morning in 1945, on a runway 90 miles north of London near Peterborough, England, 20-year-old Tech Sgt. Dick Dodds discovered that courage is doing your job while your life is on the line.

He was the radio operator in the second aircraft in a 457th Bomb Group flight of 36 B-17s, waiting for tower clearance to roll and take off on another high-risk mission over Nazi Germany when the bomb-laden lead aircraft just ahead suddenly detonated into a huge ball of fire, shrapnel, wreckage and scattered remains of young men who had played volleyball with Dick the day before. Read More»

New York City for a Southern girl

Samantha Frazier's picture

I am so sleep deprived right now I can barely think. In the last five days, I have been to the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Times Square, Dallas BBQ, HB Burger, Central Park, Statin Island, Manhattan Island, China Town, the Guggenheim Museum, Grand Central Station, Ripley Grier Studios Broadway Workshop, and on a New York City tour.

I watched “Phantom of the Opera” at the Majestic Theater. I was on “Good Morning America” with the rest of the FMS Fine Arts people.

I even sang at the Apollo and was named Apollo Ambassador Billy Mitchell’s honorable youngest daughter. Read More»

When Mama made up her mind

Ronda Rich's picture

Mama was stubborn. “Set in her ways,” is what country folks call it, and boy, was she. When she made up her mind, nothing stopped her. Especially when she set her jaw and punctuated her declaration with a firm nod of her head. If she also threw that crooked forefinger in your direction, you knew that it was set in stone. Destined to be. Read More»

The smell of concrete

David Epps's picture

As I made a visit to a local hospital early the other morning, a vaguely familiar scent filled my nostrils. It was the smell of concrete — fresh concrete, as in “new construction.”

Sure enough, the hospital was constructing an addition which requires lots of concrete. Sniffing the aroma, I was transported back in time. Read More»