opinions
New Year’s Sayings — By Tommy Purser
As I’ve said here before, I get my news and information from a wide variety of sources, eschewing cable news junk like Fox News, MSNBC, etc., and talking heads spewing distortions and out-and-out lies like Shawn Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Rush Limbaugh, etc. ad nauseum. Recently, I ran across a list of New Year’s saying in,…
Read MoreYes, Virginia — By Tommy Purser
“Is There A Santa Claus?” was the headline over an editorial in the Sept. 21, 1897, edition of the New York Sun. When 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon, doubted the existence of Santa Claus, her father told her to write to the Sun saying paper would tell the truth. The editorial struck a chord in people. Over…
Read MoreA Great Day In Hazlehurst — By Tommy Purser
Sometimes, it only takes one person with a vision to get things moving in a community. But even with that vision, it takes teamwork, cooperation, people willing to join the effort …. community involvement. In my view, Saturday was one of the best days in a long, long time for Hazlehurst and Jeff Davis County.…
Read MoreJust Another Day — By John Reed
Just Another Day Next week, a day will come and go that is considered special in some circles. But in that same 24-hour period: -86,400 seconds will go by -The Moon will move 50,000 miles around the Earth -The Earth will move 1.6 million miles around the sun -The Solar System will move 30 million…
Read MoreParson-Reid Stadium — By Tommy Purser
At last night’s Jeff Davis-Vidalia basketball game in Vidalia, the school officially christened their new gymnasium as the Parson-Reid Gymnasium after long-time boys coach Ralph Parsons and long-time girls coach Chuck “Chunk” Reid. The christening was saved for last night because the Indians were hosting Jeff Davis High, and former JDHS girls basketball coach Hugh…
Read MoreA Topsy-Turvy World — By John Reed
A Topsy-Turvy World Legend has it that General Cornwallis’ field band played the British ballad “The World Turned Upside Down” when he surrendered after the siege of Yorktown, effectively ending the Revolutionary War. Interestingly, the tune itself was an anti-government protest song written in the 1640’s to comment on Parliament’s efforts to crack down on…
Read MoreRelaxation
It was hard coming back to work Monday morning. Our 5-day Thanksgiving holiday reinforced my belief that I would enjoy being retired. That 5-day break was the longest I’ve had in my 46-plus years as editor-publisher of the Ledger. In some ways I envy people who can have week-long vacations …. or longer. But so…
Read MoreAnother Christmas Season — By John Reed
Another Christmas Season So out with the turkey and in with the sleigh bells. We’ve barely had time to digest our Thanksgiving feast, but cooks are already planning Christmas dinner. How many to feed? Which random cousin gets put at the kids’ table? Will that one uncle nobody likes make an appearance? Ham this year,…
Read MoreYou Can’t Accomplish Things Alone — By Tommy Purser
Lee Hamilton is a Senior Advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years. He writes occasional columns and I happen to be one of the people on his list of where to send columns for consideration. I generally like Mr. Hamilton’s…
Read MoreLook To The Stars — By John Reed
Look To The Stars This past week, our earthbound eyes were treated to a heavenly sight. Venus and Jupiter were visible in the western sky after sunset, drawing ever closer together. By Sunday they were barely a finger’s width apart in the early evening twilight. No amount of pulpit pounding or bible thumping can be…
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