Opinion

The backup plan

Rick Ryckeley's picture

No matter how careful you are, sometimes things just don’t always work out the way you planned. That’s why you gotta have a backup plan. I learned this lesson early on in life — at the tender age of 8, to be exact — and it all started with a stick.

Unusual? Yes, but where I learned that lesson was even more so. To do so, I actually had to go out on a limb — the limb of giant oak tree some 50 feet above the meanest kid that ever lived on Flamingo Street. Read More»

Progressive values: Forever changing

Dr. Paul Kengor's picture

Bill and Hillary Clinton have endorsed gay marriage, completely reversing their support of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Mrs. Clinton calls herself a “progressive.” It’s funny: I wrote an entire book on Hillary Clinton, and never once heard her call herself a “progressive.”

Well, that’s just as well. The progressive tag fits best. After all, that’s what she and other liberals are doing: they are ever evolving, changing, progressing along to something. Read More»

Beware public opinion

Cal Thomas's picture

“If there is anything that links the human to the divine, it is the courage to stand by a principle when everybody else rejects it.” — Abraham Lincoln

History is full of warnings about what happens when people follow public opinion instead of standing by their principles. In its most extreme manifestation, public opinion might well become mob rule when vigilantes take the law into their own hands. Read More»

Can it happen here?

Thomas Sowell's picture

The decision of the government in Cyprus to simply take money out of people’s bank accounts there sent shock waves around the world. People far removed from that small island nation had to wonder: “Can this happen here?”

The economic repercussions of having people feel that their money is not safe in banks can be catastrophic. Banks are not just warehouses where money can be stored. They are crucial institutions for gathering individually modest amounts of money from millions of people and transferring that money to strangers whom those people would not directly entrust it to. Read More»

Going to funerals

Carolyn Cary's picture

I sure have been to a lot of funerals in the past year. I guess when you become older than dirt, that happens.

One funeral was conducted by a preacher who loved to sing. Not only did he lead the congregation in song, but when he followed the deceased up the aisle, he was belting out a song with all he had. And yes, he was good at it.

At another funeral, the deceased for decades had always sat in the same seat. If you’re a church-goer, you know that the faithful will always sit in the same spot, and woe be to those who dare to occupy that spot. Read More»

Uncle Jesse’s truth

Ronda Rich's picture

Occasionally, someone truly interested in the art of writing will ask me, “What does it take to be a writer?”

The answer is one that often surprises them for they expect me to say something about talent, a love of language, or even a passion. But it’s a bit more complex than that.

It takes an ability to observe life in general and people in particular in order to pick out universal truths that can be understood by others — those pieces of wisdom that enlighten and even entertain. Read More»

Keep music in our Fayette schools

To the Fayette County Board of Education: I write as a concerned former Fayette County band student parent, a citizen, and a business owner in Fayette County. I understand you will be voting on a proposal to possibly eliminate fifth-grade band programs and all high school assistant band and orchestra director positions on April 15. I write to voice adamant opposition to what would be a near-sighted approach to fixing budget problems in the school system. Read More»

Remembering the Samses and the Buseys

Mrs. Satterthwaite, please indulge my two cents worth on the history of the Sams and Busey doctors’ service to Fayette County (and Clayton County).

I’m almost 73 years young, and a “refugee” from Clayton for over a dozen years now.

Dr. Busey, Sr. was our family doctor, having assisted my mother at my birth in our home in Jonesboro (house calls were common) in 1940. By the time my brother came along in 1942, Dr. Busey, Sr., had built his clinic in Fayetteville and Mother delivered little brother there. Read More»

A centurion’s perspective of the cross

I am Scipio, a centurion in the Roman army, a veteran of many wars. After all my experience, sacrifices for Rome, and rank in the army, I found myself stationed in Judea, a backward post.

I had much preferred something closer to home in the countryside near Rome. The Jewish population here hates me, or maybe I should say they hate Roman occupation. We are on constant alert to the possibility of riots and threats from Jewish insurrectionists. Read More»

Why we still work to stop Obamacare

[Editor’s note: Marking the 3rd anniversary of Obamacare, which was signed into law March 23, 2010, Reps. Tom Graves (R-GA-14) and Doug Collins (R-GA-9) co-authored an op-ed featured last month in the Pickens County Progress about the Defund Obamacare Act (H.R. 1005) and why they will continue working to stop the law.] Read More»

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