Columnists

The Voting Rights Act must be updated

Lynn Westmoreland's picture

Everyone agrees that the Voting Rights Act (VRA) was desperately needed when it was passed in 1965. But that was nearly 50 years ago.

Since its passage, we have seen dramatic changes across the country, especially in the South, that points to the fact that the VRA needs updating.

Georgia has four African-American Members of Congress and some of the highest minority voter turnout in the country. In fact, in November 2012, a higher percentage of registered African-American females turned out to vote than registered white females or males. Read More»

For Mama, no short stories

Ronda Rich's picture

It was one of those days. The kind when you have a lot of work to do and none of it you want to do, so you just piddle.

Tink and I both were piddling. He had a script for a pilot to write and I was rewriting the content for my website. Both creatively “stuck,” we sat in our office — he in a cushiony comfortable chair and I on the sofa — and we piddled. We checked email, discussed the brief rain that came, then, just as I set about serious work, Tink picked up the diary on the coffee table. It was Mama’s.

And that is where the piddling ended and the story began. Read More»

Pope Francis

David Epps's picture

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, of Buenos Aires, has been elected the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Francis. He is the first Latin American pope to lead the church, as well as the first Jesuit priest.

Many believe that Pope Francis brings to the papal leadership a new feature of humility and boldness in spirituality. While archbishop in Argentina, he did not live in the archbishop’s palace but chose to live in a small room in a downtown Buenos Aires home, it has been reported. He also cooked his own meals and visited the poor in Argentine slums. Read More»

Get the green out!

Rick Ryckeley's picture

Spring brings back wonderful memories from our time growing up at 110 Flamingo Street. Climbing high up into young trees, then jumping off and riding them back to the ground (only to watch as they fly back up and smack brothers) is just one of them.

Another is being stuck knee deep in the gray mud of Cripple Creek, then having my shoes sucked from my feet. Doing flips off a rope swing and landing with a splash into cool waters of a lake at the edge of a haunted forest. Read More»

Was it worth it?

Sallie Satterthwaite's picture

In the course of less than a month, Fayette County lost two of its most revered citizens, Drs. Ferrol and Helen Sams.

In sheer gentility, they epitomized devotion to community and to family – which for the most part are the same thing.

I forget, sometimes, how the years slip away, and when a friend spoke to me the other day, I was taken off-guard. Our county is so populous now that it’s hard to imagine that when the Samses opened their Fayetteville office, they were the only full-time physicians here. Read More»

Intellectuals and race: Part II

Thomas Sowell's picture

Once we recognize that large differences in achievement among races, nations and civilizations have been the rule, not the exception, throughout recorded history, there is at least some hope of rational thought — and perhaps even some constructive efforts to help everyone advance.

Even such a British patriot as Winston Churchill said, “We owe London to Rome” — an acknowledgement that Roman conquerors created Britain’s most famous city, at a time when the ancient Britons were incapable of doing so themselves. Read More»

Herschel Walker

Loran Smith's picture

WESTLAKE, Tex. — The Herschel Walker you know is likely the one who won the Heisman Trophy, played 15 years of professional football, and pursued a number of competitions — from bobsledding to mixed martial arts. There’s the Herschel who collects antique automobiles, the Herschel who is trying to improve his golf game. Read More»

Game changer in Latin America

Dick Morris's picture

The twin developments of the death of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio may offer a turning point for Latin America.

Chavez had established an eight-country empire of minions willing to do his bidding including Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Cuba. In addition, the Dominican Republic and Brazil are under his influence. Read More»

Detroit’s decline and one-party rule

Cal Thomas's picture

Since the Motown sound went silent — except on oldies stations — and General Motors and Chrysler (but not Ford) required life support from Washington, there has been little to recommend Detroit, Mich., to visitors, much less its residents.

The recent conviction of Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit, on multiple charges, including racketeering, fraud and extortion, adds another insult to the city’s injury, increasing its misery. Read More»

Learning to live in a virtual world

Bonnie Willis's picture

I think the first time I consciously noticed the power of “living in a virtual world” was about ten years ago when a girl I was mentoring seemed to be far more conversational when we would “talk” via email than when we talked on the phone or in-person.

I could barely get her to speak two sentences to me in the real world, but when we would “talk” online, she could go on for pages.

When I questioned her as to how she seemed to open up via email, but barely spoke in person, she smiled and shrugged. Read More»