Columns - Topics from May, 2015
A letter to our newest alumni
By the time The Baxley News-Banner hits the stands next week, both Appling County High School and Appling Christian Academy will have new graduates strutting about the county. Grins will still fill their faces, and rightfully so. Many of their wallets still hold the cash that came as presents for this auspicious occasion. Only a few days have passed since the commencement ceremony and the excitement lingers.
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Georgia school teachers share their feelings about future of public education
My recent open letter to Georgia’s public school teachers produced as much response as I have received in a long time. Teachers from one end of the state to the other have weighed in and the comments are still coming.
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What Nobel Peace Laureates have incurred should not have occurred
I have been trying to figure out what to do with my free time now that I have decided not to run for President of the United States (or what’s left of it.) Some of you wrote and asked me to reconsider my decision. I am humbled by your pledges of support but I don’t want to broach the subject again with the Woman Who Shares My Name. She has access to a lot of broccoli and says she know where she can get more. I had best leave that alone.
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My bucket list
It seems to me that the idea of making a bucket list has become inordinately popular in the last few years since the movie by the same name appeared in 2008. In the movie, two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman outdo themselves in this movie, as far as I’m concerned. I can’t at the moment remember their escapades. It’s been a while since I saw the movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it at the time. Nonetheless, the movie moved the expression “bucket list” into the everyday vernacular. Now everyone seems to have such a list with bungee jumping as number one.
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Legislative Report from the People’s House
Last week ended the 40 day period that Governor Deal had to sign or veto bills passed by the legislature during the legislative session. The following bills were signed by the Governor since my last report. I will also discuss a couple of controversial bills that the Governor vetoed.
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Mother’s Day 2015
On Saturday before Mother’s Day, we spent a lovely afternoon in Atlanta. About 3 o’clock we loaded a set of proud grandparents, two little brothers, a set of proud parents, and of course Trey and his trumpet into the minivan and headed off to Trey’s final band concert of the year at Kennesaw College auditorium. The other set of proud grandparents came in a separate car. We then stood in the cool lobby with about 500 other people waiting for the doors to open at 4:30. We had to have the band members there at 3:30 to practice one last time. The rest of us ambled into the art gallery and admired the drawings and sculpture, then luckily found a seat along the lobby wall before the crowd packed in.
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To Georgia’s public school teachers: Thank you for your efforts
Dear Public School Teachers in Georgia:
Congratulations on surviving another year in the classroom.
As you take a moment to catch your breath and enjoy a brief respite before you start the process all over again, I hope you will reflect on the good you do; the impact you have on young people; your ability to make a difference. Yours isn’t a job. It is a calling. [Full Story »]
Congratulations on surviving another year in the classroom.
As you take a moment to catch your breath and enjoy a brief respite before you start the process all over again, I hope you will reflect on the good you do; the impact you have on young people; your ability to make a difference. Yours isn’t a job. It is a calling. [Full Story »]
Personal responsibility
“Woe is me. It’s someone else’s fault. There are no jobs for me. The system is fighting against me….ad nauseam.”
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What lurks in the woods?
The aroma of well-decayed compost teased my nostrils Friday morning and the crisp, cool spring breeze caressed my face, keeping at bay the mosquitoes, at least for a while. The pungent smell of dirt grew stronger as I raked dead leaves, small sticks, and pine straw into piles to mulch my flower beds. My grandson Stuart and I had picked up a barrelful of pine cones before we started raking. We worked close to the bigger woods that form the side of our property, but not actually in them. In fact, we were working right in the back yard under a copse of oaks, pines, and assorted small trees that I can’t identify.
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Centennial celebrations cause trip down memory lane
You are going to have to give me a little scat room today. I am having an attack of the nostalgias. Going down someone else’s Memory Lane can be as boring as a lecture on the life cycle of guppies but this has been a reflective few weeks for me. My beloved Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia and the campus chapter of my college fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, both celebrated their 100th anniversaries this past month in Athens.
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Rep. Rick Allen supports Balanced Budget Resolution
U.S. Congressman Rick Allen (R-Ga.-12) released the following statement after the House passed the Conference Report to S. Con. Res. 11, the budget agreement reached by the House and the Senate for Fiscal Year 2016:
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Legislative Report from the People’s House
Governor Deal signed several important bills into law last week. They deal with education, healthcare and public safety. Of these, the following bills have received the most attention and interest from my constituents:
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Sitting and pondering
I sit at my computer, place my diet Pepsi on a coaster to my right, and straighten the papers scattered about my desk. I explain to Charlie that I can’t play ball right now and send him to his bed. My weekly ritual complete, I open the faucet to my brain and wait for the flow of ideas to begin. Nothing comes forth. I wait a few minutes. Still nothing. Perhaps browsing Facebook for ten minutes will spark an idea so I log on and skim the stories. Ah, someone cooked pork chops for supper and posted a picture. Wow! High interest, there, I’m telling you. I see gardening tips, wedding announcements, cute babies, and family reunions. There are dogs and cats, revivals, birthdays, recipes, ball games, and even a hamster, but there’s nothing of high interest to titillate my readers’ fancy this week. So much for Facebook. Still the faucet is desert dry.
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