Editorial
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Welcome to Grad-advice-ville. Population: You
A recent high school or college graduate can’t go to the bathroom without receiving “words of wisdom” from us old folks. I recall my graduation from college – not too many (dog) years ago. I sat in a cap and gown at a graduation and some guy got up before us and said a bunch of stuff like “Be all you can be and you’ll go far,” and “One person can change the world” and “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.” I haven’t - mainly because I have...
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Targeting the Tea Party
It’s like something out of George Orwell’s novel “1984”: a government agency using its authority to spy on and obstruct any opposition to the ruler. Except it’s not the plot of some science fiction book. It’s a real story about the Internal Revenue Service. An audit of the IRS has uncovered that the agency has been secretly targeting groups who applied for nonprofit status if their names included words like “tea party” or “patriot” or if th...
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7th Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Banquet
Tuesday night we held the Seventh Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Banquet. Hundreds of people came to pay tribute to the police and deputies of the Griffin Judicial Circuit. As always, fifth graders were there. Each year they help us honor the officers by writing essays. Their observations were spot-on accurate this year. Consider what Jonae Anderson of Fayetteville Intermediate Elementary wrote: “Lives are saved everyday by police of...
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I’m rich in many different ways
Over the last four years of working at the paper, there have been several days when my job has been less than desirable. I have stood in the freezing rain to cover an event, been nearly hit by cars while taking photos of ribbon cuttings and sat through many long meetings. I have lost countless hours of sleep from working until after midnight to finish a story when on deadline, only to be up before dawn the next day to cover a breakfast meetin...
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Why newspapers matter to newspaper people
The newspaper belongs to the community. Your friends and neighbors who work at your local newspaper believe what we do everyday is more than a job. We believe what we do matters. That is why we love what we do and that is why we love newspapers. It is easy to forget when facing the pressures of deadline, or just the daily grind of our jobs and all that comes with that — but it is important that we not forget the reasons why we do what we ...
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Marijuana/Malaria, Dysentery/Dyslexia
I was leaving a message with a secretary for someone to call me back the other day and got the last four digits of my phone number backwards. I realized it after I hung up and called her back. While I waited for her to pick up, I thought about telling her that I had a dyslexia moment while I was giving her the number. But for the life of me, I couldn’t think of “dyslexia.” Instead, all I could think of was “dysentery.” I knew that wasn’t it, ...
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Directions are different in a small town
I had to go to Atlanta the other day. It wasn’t a condition of my probation, for the record. Here were the directions I received to my destination: Take I-75 North to I-75/I-85. Then take I-85 North. Get off on exit 56 at Peachtree Dunwoody Road. Ten miles later, take a right at Peachtree Road. After 43 stop lights, take a right on Peachtree Lane. Fourteen stop lights later, take a left on Peachtree Terrace. After the mall, take a right o...
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Benny and the field trip
My children always go on field trips this time of year, and they’re happy when I can go along, so when my schedule allows, I try to join them. I often find myself the lone father amongst a large group of mothers. On one particular day, we gathered in the kindergarten classroom early in the morning. For our trip to the zoo, we were each going to be assigned a group of children for which we would be responsible. Each of the mothers was assign...
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Oh, for a memory like dear old mom’s
In growing up, one of the outstanding things in my relationship with my mother had to do with her memory. She could remember everything. All I had to do was ask dear old mom and she knew the answer. She knew everything. No matter the topic, she had an opinion about it, which truly amazed me as a young person. Before I went to school, my mother was my entire world. From the time I got up in the morning until she tucked me in bed at night, ...
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Eulogy for a prosecutor
I’m sure you know that a District Attorney and his wife were murdered in Texas on March 29. Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke at the funeral. This is what he said: “The book of Romans tells us: “‘Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us, for the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.’ “By any measure we’re capable of understanding we shouldn’t be here to...
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Keep the Sprewell Bluff deck open
One of the first places people told me I had to go see when I first came to Thomaston almost three and a half years ago was Sprewell Bluff. They said it had one of the best views in Upson County… and they were right. Anytime I’m out there, whether it is the dead of winter, the promise of spring, the heat of summer, or especially the color of the fall, I pull over and look out over the bluff down to the split of the Flint River. Of course, l...
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It is seed catalog time
I have one major weakness. That is, I’m not saying I only have one, but there is one that stands out. I like gardening. Mostly I like eating the results of my labor and seeing things grow, but sometimes, when I am frustrated, I even like weeding. “Bwa ha ha! Die weeds, die!” Put a hoe in my hand and let me at a nasty patch of weeds, and it can bring out my deep, dark competitive spirit. But nothing gets my passion flowing for growing plants...
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Bad day? Look for a man on a bike
The day had started off poorly. Stepped on a tack getting out of bed. Ran over the garbage can leaving the driveway. Had two calls from life insurance agents before I could get some caffeine. Went into the post office with my fly open. Basically, a normal Wednesday. My brow was furrowed. My mood dark. Unsaturated venom oozed on the tip of my tongue, waiting for the enemy who dared to say “howdy.” Then, as I was scowling, driving acros...
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The history of American conservatism
Pinpointing the date or location of a discreet event in human history such as a birth, a death, or a battle, is often a simple task made easier, in many instances, by the discovery and/or review of actual historical records. Pinpointing the date of the emergence of a philosophy, an ideology, or a religion, which are not discreet events occurring at specific instances in time, is often much more difficult. Such is the case with American conser...
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An antidote for a TV-induced bad attitude
One of the problems in today’s world is that we watch the television news and let it affect our attitudes. After awhile we think that everybody is corrupt and that all of us are doomed. Admit it. Your worldview is more pessimistic than it used to be. We need some hope. This week I turned off the TV and watched and listened to the people around me. Here’s what I found. A lawyer called me. He had some questions and I did what I could to...
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