Opinions

Kay S. Pedrotti

That sorry Miss Irma the Hurricane has passed into history, thank goodness, but her impact has humbling effects and not-so-gentle reminders. [Full story »] 

By Mike Ruffin
ruffinml@gmail.com

I wrote some of my deepest secrets on a piece of notebook paper, carefully folded the sheet, placed it in an empty Mason jar, and screwed the lid on tight. I then dug a hole about a foot deep out behind my father’s utility house, placed the jar in the hole, and filled the hole with dirt. My plan was to return to it at some unspecified time in the future to see if my fears had come to pass and if my dreams had come true. [Full story »] 

By Walter Geiger, Editor & Publisher

Geiger’s Champale Jenna January came into our lives in 2007. We knew her as JJ. She was born in the shadow of Phipps Plaza in Buckhead and located for us by Jenny Woodlee, thus the last portion of her registered name. [Full story »] 

By Anthony Vinson

Statues come down and anger rises. The anger is not new; it has roiled and frothed in darkness for decades, pressure building until the force becomes too great to be contained.

Statues and monuments are symbols. They represent idealized fantasies and revisionist histories interpreted through the lenses of those who had them erected in the first place. When they come down, it is not the loss of the statues themselves that elicits angry responses, but rather the perception of attacks against the ideals and values they have come to represent in the minds of some. [Full story »] 

By Camila Knowles
camilaknowles@gmail.com

Students in more than a dozen Georgia school districts returned to class in July this year. You read that correctly: July. Forty-eight percent of Georgia schools were back in session by the end of the first week of August. My own children returned to school August 1st. [Full story »] 

By Mike Ruffin
ruffinml@gmail.com

I was recently working on a story in the Gospel of Matthew (14:13-21). Jesus has just learned of the execution of John the Baptist, his kinsman and forerunner. He understandably wants to be alone, so he gets into a boat to travel to a deserted place. But when he arrives, the place isn’t deserted. A large crowd is waiting for him because they have needs they believe Jesus can meet. [Full story »] 

By Barbara Latta

Decades ago summer and childhood were the days of simple. Playtime was spent outside riding bikes, playing hopscotch and climbing trees. If we went in the house during the afternoon we were told to go back out and play, but if we weren’t back in time for supper Mom’s voice could be heard calling for us to come home. [Full story »] 

By Jim Hoak
 
Climb aboard folks for a fast ride through the CFM-YAP shop at Peach State and all the latest.

At the beginning of our Saturday shop session on June 24, interim museum director Keven Sasser thanked our mentors and presented some really great news about our First Annual Youth Aviation Banquet, which is to be held on Saturday, Aug. 12. [Full story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

The other day I was listening to the excellent Georgia Public Broadcasting program On Second Thought. As Athens-based singer/songwriter T. Hardy Morris talked about the 1959 song “Try Me” by James Brown and the Famous Flames, he praised the “perfect mistakes” in Brown’s vocals. Morris was talking about the cracks in Brown’s voice that communicate the song’s emotion. [Full story »] 

“The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. The more weapons you have, the less secure people will be. The more subsidies you have, the less self-reliant people will be.
Therefore the Master says: I let go of the law, and people become honest. I let go of economics, and people become prosperous. I let go of religion, and people become serene. I let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes common as grass.”
- The Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu

As we celebrate Independence Day it pays to reflect on just how independent we really are. We remain free of the tyranny of British rule which our forefathers shook off some 240 years ago and which we celebrate this week but just how many more freedoms could we enjoy if we were better governed?

Various people, Thoreau, Thomas Jefferson, etc., are credited with saying ‘He who governs best, governs least’. Perhaps they studied the works of Lao Tzu who lived 2600 years ago. Perhaps not. [Full story »] 

By Ben Maxedon

The July 4 Independence Day celebration has come to mean more about summer time fun than about the freedom we have because of a handful of men that, in many cases, sacrificed everything to resist oppression. It is said that about one-third of the colonists were loyal to England, one-third were revolutionaries and one-third didn’t care one way or the other. One-third of the citizens stood up and fought for the rest of the nation in order to gain freedom for all. [Full story »] 

Julius and Ethel Rosenburg were convicted of espionage at the height of the cold war. They were the ringleaders in a spy ring that provided secrets about America’s atomic bomb program to the Russians. [Full story »] 

I want to let our commissioners and community know how pleased I am with the J. Joel Edwards Public Library.

I was concerned several years ago when the staff was replaced, but I have been very impressed with Rosemary’s efforts to revitalize our public library. I believe she has worked tirelessly to make the library a welcoming place where children and adults are encouraged to use the resources available to broaden their minds and opportunities. [Full story »] 

Many folks deride soccer. They call it communist kickball. They make jokes about soccer flops and, admittedly, the flop videos are hilarious. But, like baseball pitchers deliberately hitting batters, they are part of the game. [Full story »]