The answer to school violence begins at home

The new three Rs of School Days: Rancor. Rants. Retaliation. And forget the hickory stick. We’re not singing that tune anymore. In Clayton County alone, the school system reports that fights are up some 200 percent over the same period last year, and we are only one month into the new school year.

Letters to the Editor

Dear editor: “Surprise!” they shouted as they piled out of the car, a group of my high school friends. It was my birthday in 1953. Right behind them came a pickup truck, with a teenage black neighbor and his two hounds. My birthday party was to be a possum hunt. Woot was the dog man.

On being first

I was 18 in May of ‘62. ‘Old enough to fight, old enough to vote’ was the catch phrase of the day. I had registered to vote in my hometown of Milledgeville. It would be my first time casting my ballot and I was determined to fulfill this moral and ethical obligation.

We could all use a few more smart ALECs

This has been the summer where Americans returned to travel, and took their chances with COVID-19 meeting them on the road. Vacations, family reunions and conventions are all coming back on calendars…and none too soon for convention and business travel destinations like Atlanta.

What this angry world needs is a lot more hope

My friend, Norm Solon, was a journalist and speech writer for some of the major companies and trade associations in the country. Now retired, he recently shared with me some of the once-in-alifetime opportunities he experienced in his long and distinguished career.

What would Will Rogers think of today’s Republicans?

American humorist Will Rogers once observed, “I’m not a member of any organized political party. I’m a Democrat.” There is no question that if ol’ Will was around today, he would probably be a Republican. The Grand Old Party gives new meaning to the term disorganized.

Crypto’s kryptonite

Here’s the story of the high-flying funny money that flew too close to the sun...and then... There are times in life when a moment crystallizes in your mind, and increasingly, at least for me, when you can anticipate when that latest “hot topic” is about to “jump the shark.

Some random thoughts on some random subjects

Fourteenth Century Italian writer Dante Alighieri in his “Divine Comedy” describes Hell as a place for those who have perverted “their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen.” He could have been describing Alex Jones and his Infowars followers.

The incredible shrinking Trump

It is a phenomenon long overdue. and strangely arguments will be made against my premise both by supporters and opponents of former President Donald J. Trump.

An open letter to Georgia’s public schoolteachers

Dear Teachers: Let me begin my annual message to you as I am going to end it. Thank you. Thank you for your willingness to go back into the classroom once again this year in spite of every roadblock imaginable.