Opinion

The battle of the textbooks

William Murchison's picture

Few things in life are as clear as the futility of a real debate on the clarity of America’s religious origins.

“Debate,” I said? Lay a finger, unsuspectingly, on The New York Times Magazine’s inspection of the attempt by so-called Christian fundamentalists to overhaul history textbooks, and you require treatment for first-degree burns.

I refer less to the article itself than to readers’ sulfurous responses to the claims of Texas State Board of Education members concerning the need they see for forthright teaching of the founding fathers’ Christianity. Yow-ee! Read More»

Snowball etiquette

Rick Ryckeley's picture

The snowball was the size of a grapefruit, or at least it felt that big when it slammed into the back of my head. With the force of a sledgehammer, it almost bowled me over. Snow then slipped down the inside of my shirt. The wetness brought with it the frigid hand of Old Man Winter.

I didn’t have to turn around to know who had hurled it my way. But turn around I still did.

The second snowball hit harder than the first. It brought me to my knees. Under a snow-covered cheek, my skin stung like a thousand bee stings, then suddenly went numb. This was war. And I was losing – losing badly. Read More»

Playing freedom cheap

Thomas Sowell's picture

If eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, incessant distractions are the way that politicians take away our freedoms, in order to enhance their own power and longevity in office.

Dire alarms and heady crusades are among the many distractions of our attention from the ever increasing ways that government finds to take away more of our money and more of our freedom.

Magicians have long known that distracting an audience is the key to creating the illusion of magic. It is also the key to political magic. Read More»

The Census and the Constitution

Walter Williams's picture

The Census Bureau estimates that the life cycle cost of the 2010 Census will be from $13.7 billion to $14.5 billion, making it the costliest census in the nation’s history.

Suppose you suggest to a congressman that given our budget crisis, we could save some money by dispensing with the 2010 census. I guarantee you that he’ll say something along the lines that the Constitution mandates a decennial counting of the American people and he would be absolutely right. Read More»

Is our national anthem sacred?

Terry Garlock's picture

At a local high school sporting event recently, a few parents were offended that one school’s supporters sang along with the ending of the national anthem and changed the last word to support their team. The offended parents feel that is disrespectful to our troops and want an apology. The identifying details don’t really matter.

Personally, I don’t think that kids changing a word in the national anthem to support their team means any disrespect to anybody, I think they are just playing around in school spirit. Read More»

The failures of the school board

Steve Brown's picture

With a sense of literary tragedy, the exit of John DeCotis, Ph.D., coincided with a bitter cold front, snow and the closing of our schools, an image ripe with symbolism.

I cannot consider John DeCotis a tragic hero as most in that genre fall from their own hubris. There is not an ounce of pride or presumption in DeCotis’ body. The man is a dedicated public servant.

The DeCotis as superintendent era, 1999 to 2010, carries the heavy burden of a school system brimming with promise and achievement, but sinking under the weight of unfortunate choices. Read More»

Week 4 legislative update: Mandate relief, budget and tests

The Citizen's picture

Last week the Georgia General Assembly convened on Monday through Thursday for legislative days 14-17 of the 2010 Georgia General Assembly session. There were several important bills considered on the floor of the House; also a number of significant bills are working their way through the legislative committee process.

On Tuesday of last week the House passed H.B. 908 by a strong bipartisan vote. The measure provides local school systems with additional flexibility and freedom from certain state mandates to help in managing the current budget crunch. Read More»

Gov. Perdue: Transform schools by paying teachers for actual results

The Citizen's picture

By Gov. Sonny Perdue

Last month I proposed a new plan that will transform the way we compensate K-12 teachers and leaders in our state. It will put them on the same playing field as our state’s top coaches who are rewarded for consistently winning games. Read More»

Dixie grits meet Las Vegas glitz

Ronda Rich's picture

Like any self-respecting Southerner, it’s hard for me to pass up reading a well-written obituary. Especially when it runs in the Wall Street Journal and begins with she was “a dash of Southern class in a raucous old boys club.”

Thus began the ending of the life of one Claudine Williams, a Shreveport, La., native, who remarkably showed her Southern prowess and charm in the toughest of worlds – the mob-run Las Vegas of the 1950s and ‘60s. Read More»

MHS and the anthem: No disrespect meant

I am writing in response to Carol Jensen-Linton’s recent article referencing the alleged poor behavior exhibited by McIntosh High School students during the singing of our National Anthem at the McIntosh/Starr’s Mill basketball game played on Feb. 2, 2010. I have a different opinion. Read More»

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