Steely eyes on opposing sides watched carefully during warm-ups to size up the strength and skill of those they came to engage in the first game on just the third day of school at McIntosh High. Coach Pearce had little time to select players after tryouts and mold them into the synchronized machine they need to be.

When the umpire declared “Play ball!” tension became action, dust flying as the batter dug in feet like a pawing bull, infielders poised for quick moves as the pitcher fired the ball across the plate. Read More»

Last week I mentioned one of my guns has a story, a story I have told you in part before. It begins in 1969 Vietnam, and I hope as you read this story you will think not of me but all the others in all of our wars, troops long ago in WWII, today in Afghanistan, what they live through for all of us and how it changes them. Read More»

In the aftermath of the Aurora, Colo., shooting, we’ve seen a herd of eager gun control advocates on TV riding the wave of public concern while the news is fresh, bursting with outrage over assault rifles and arguing for limits on gun sales.

While it is true America is up to its neck in guns, none of the talking heads seemed to remember that Norway’s strict gun control laws didn’t prevent a madman last year from killing 77 and wounding 319 in that country.

Maybe our efforts should be refocused on deranged people, not guns. Read More»

I have a few thoughts to add to my column last week on T-SPLOST.

Sunday morning provides a number of TV choices for political updates. One of those is The Georgia Gang, a roundtable discussion of local issues among four regulars, two conservatives and two liberals.

As you might predict, T-SPLOST is an escalating topic on this show as the July 31 vote approaches, and one of the liberals, Jeff Dickerson, is a constant and strong advocate of T-SPLOST. Read More»

I know some good people support the upcoming T-SPLOST vote, but I remain unconvinced. Since I am admittedly a mere novice on local transportation issues, I’ll tell you the questions that still trouble me, just in case someone can convincingly clear away my fog.

Why is more tax and more government always the answer? I am reflexively troubled when told we must create yet another level of government, a region of 10 metro Atlanta counties, to make decisions on spending a new sales tax of 1 percent on transportation projects. Read More»

Tucked away near the inside corner of an L-shaped strip of businesses, almost as if trying to hide, 50 yards west of the railroad tracks crossing Kelly Drive and barely east of Dividend Drive, Mimi’s has re-opened in a most unlikely place for a restaurant.

You may think a restaurant is just a place to eat but for many of us in Peachtree City Mimi’s is more than that. We are glad her down-time is over, relocation to the off-beaten path at 303 Kelly Drive now complete. Read More»

I take no pleasure in writing this opinion column. Highlighting someone’s virtues and accomplishments is far more satisfying than throwing rocks at shortcomings, especially in someone I used to talk to now and then over coffee.

But I feel a duty to speak up since I wrote a column recommending Don Haddix to voters when he was running against Cyndi Plunkett for Peachtree City Mayor in 2009. I thought I knew him, but I drank the wrong Kool-Aid and I was not only wrong, I was spectacularly wrong. Read More»

The last day of school is upon us.

You may wonder, as I have, what high school graduation gift you can give that will be meaningful to passage into adulthood rather than something “shiny.” Read More»

Years ago my office wall displayed the picture of two men I admired: John Steinbeck, for reasons I won’t bore you with right now, and Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK), because he was right and had the courage of his convictions.

You may discount my opinion as a white man, but I believe if MLK could come back today he would be saddened that America remains stuck in group politics instead of judging each other on our actions and content of our character. Read More»

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is charged with 17 counts of murder in an Afghanistan rampage shooting civilians, including children. He is 38 years old, married with two young children and on his fourth combat deployment.

Pundits commiserate on what could explain or mitigate these crimes. Was he stressed by family or financial problems? Was the pressure too much from another combat deployment he didn’t expect and did not want? Did absurd rules of engagement that protect civilians and endanger American troops push him over the edge? Was TIB (traumatic brain injury) or PTSD a factor? Read More»