opinions
Just Rambling — By Tommy Purser
Let’s just ramble for a few moments today as my column idea machine has run out of juice. There’s a fly dive bombing at my head as I type away at this column, which brings to mind the fact that my namesake son gave me a gift a few months back that promised to be…
Read MoreTrying To Be Positive — By Tommy Purser
I went to yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) called meeting of the Hazlehurst City Council because I was curious — interested. I didn’t want to say anything, I just wanted to watch. Mary Ann Anderson was there to report on the meeting on this newspaper’s behalf. So I wasn’t there to report. I was just a silent observer.…
Read MoreThe Rest Of The Story — By John Reed
The Rest Of The Story People of a certain age remember flashcubes. For younger readers: before phone cams and digital cameras, a company named Kodak made very inexpensive film cameras called “Instamatics.” Once you shot your photos, you sent the entire unit in to have the film developed and printed. If you were indoors or…
Read MoreTake Pride
The comment I heard yesterday was a truthful, honest assessment. Moving to Hazlehurst was a culture shock. Limited restaurant choices. Nothing to do. Lack of concern among citizens for how our community looked, what kind of impression our community makes on visitors, on potential residents, on potential businesses, industries and employers. Almost 48 years ago,…
Read MoreQAnonCasualties — By Tommy Purser
I made a commitment years ago that I intend to live to be 100 years old. I have less than 27 years to achieve that goal. I may not reach that goal but, if I do live to be 100 years old, I will never understand QAnon believers and how they have been so brainwashed…
Read MoreWho Can You Trust? — By John Reed
Who Can You Trust? When you put information together to answer a question, it’s called “problem solving.” We all dealt with that in math classes in school. But when you have to weigh the truth of information, the source of that information, or the bias of that source, the issue becomes trust. These days, it’s…
Read MoreSquirrel War II — By Tommy Purser
Squirrel War II is underway. Regular readers of this column may recall that, about a year ago, I wrote a column about the fact that our backyard squirrels’ nest-building activities relied on stuffing from the good wife’s outdoor furnishing cushions. They’d sneak onto the back porch, rip open a seat cushion, remove great quantities of…
Read MoreWhere Was The Leadership? — By Tommy Purser
“We were elected to do what the people want.” That was what a county commissioner told me many years ago. It appears he slept through his American government class in high school. Our government is not a democracy, it is a republic. In a democracy, a majority of the people make all the decisions. In…
Read MoreAs For Me And My House — By John Reed
As For Me And My House This wonderful scripture in Joshua chapter 24 comes in the middle of a longer passage about choices. Well worth a read, even in modern editions…the King James Version, translation errors aside, is still my preference. I thought of this phrase after getting into a flame war online. I’m embarrassed…
Read MorePlease participate in our comprehensive plan — By Tommy Purser
There were 35-40 people gathered at the Hazlehurst Civic Center Tuesday to talk about our community and brainstorm about the future for us and our neighbors. Under the guidance of a wonderfully efficient facilitator, we put our thinking caps on to consider the positives associated with Hazlehurst and Jeff Davis County, and the negatives as…
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