If you fail, try, try again. But how many times do you keep trying before you just give up and call it quits?

Long ago I came to realize that no matter how hard I train, the Olympics would forever be out of my reach. A trip to the moon to retrieve that golf ball will never happen. Read More»

I read somewhere once that, by the time we are 19 years old, give or take a couple of years, we are who we are for the rest of our lives. The essence of who we are and who we will be for the rest of our lives is permanently formed. All that is added, from that point on, is experience and, hopefully, maturity.
If this is true, it does explain some of our thoughts and behaviors.

For example, a couple of years ago, our church softball team was in danger of losing a game by forfeit. They needed one other player to be able to field a team and not experience the loss by forfeit. Read More»

The wind carried the odd crunching sound and the laughter of the little girl past my ear once again. And again I turned around, only to find no one standing there but The Wife with an odd look on her face. Had she now heard it too?

It had been over an hour, and our walk through the woods surrounding the lake had been uneventful — except for the crunching and the laughter. Both had started soon after we entered the woods. Read More»

According to a report in The Citizen newspaper, Georgia state Representative Virgil Fludd (D-Tyrone) “wants to add a ‘temporary’ 1 percent income tax surcharge on Georgia’s highest earners as a way to raise more than $200 million for the state’s beleaguered budget. Fludd last week filed House Bill 1066 which would apply the temporary 1 percent surcharge for married couples who have a total income of more than $400,000 and single individuals with an income of $200,000. Read More»

I have a suggestion. The Peachtree City Council can spit in the face of taxpayers by forming a special corporation to dole out more than a half million dollars of hotel-motel tax receipts with little accountability. The council can register the new corporation with the Secretary of State as a “non profit” making it appear harmless. Read More»

Three members of our Fayette County Board of Commissioners are up for re-election this November: Jack Smith, Eric Maxwell and Lee Hearn.

We all know about their “build the West Fayetteville Bypass at any cost” stance. We know about their intentions to close the interchange at Ga. Highway 74 and I-85 in favor of a new interchange at Ga. Highway 92 and I-85, a way to justify building the sham of a bypass, leaving Tyrone, Peachtree City and Brooks commuters in a lurch. Read More»

Whether you suffer through a two-hour commute to work, worry about MARTA’s future, or need a better option than driving to get from one end of the state to the other, we can all agree there is a transportation problem in Georgia.

So, why is our Republican leadership standing idly by as federal aid that could help solve our traffic problem goes to surrounding states?

States in the Southeast recently received nearly $2 billion in federal funds for high-speed rail projects. Florida received over $1 billion, and North Carolina received $545 million. Read More»

Congressional hearings on the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy will soon be televised and will surely captivate a deeply divided nation. No matter which side of the debate you passionately support, there are subtleties to challenge everyone’s comfort zone.

If you have not served in the military, it might help to consider some of the language from the current law (10 U.S.C. § 654) on the matter:

“... There is no constitutional right to serve in the armed forces ... Read More»

One Sunday morning I came breezing into Sunday School class, after having been out of town for a week. My sister grabbed me and hugged me tightly to welcome me home.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re back!” Louise shrilled happily. She hugged me again. “I missed you.”

I grinned. “Well, you wouldn’t know it. You didn’t call me one time to check on me. When I was in Ireland for a week, you worried incessantly. But when I went to Los Angeles for a week, you didn’t call once.” I laughed. “And everybody knows that L.A. is much more dangerous than Ireland.” Read More»

When Toyota President Akio Toyoda testified last week before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, an attitude was exposed that Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) correctly characterized as fostering a “cutthroat corporate” environment that placed costs ahead of quality and safety.

Such a priority would have been anathema to Toyoda’s grandfather, Kiichiro Toyoda, who founded the company and turned it into an automotive juggernaut thanks to a business philosophy created by an American named W. Edwards Deming. Read More»