August 4, 2011
Mac Gordon
Stories this photo appears in:
Peanut Proud brand ready for its debut
Opinion Column
Blakely’s 5th annual Peanut Proud festival is set for Saturday, March 23, on the Courthouse Square, but you would be wrong to assume that this will be just a one-day celebration of the noble peanut plant on which Early County thrives.
More political chicken is sure to come
Opinion column
I am often confused over what goes on in the nation’s capital, no doubt due to my constant switching of TV news channels that lean left and right.
Vicksburg discovers itself in mighty tall company
Opinion Column
Many Southerners consider it the worst day in the region’s history: July 4, 1863.
Sparsity fund cancellation a bad gamble
Opinion column
I have never seen a place — yes, Georgia — where the k-12 public education system takes more turns for the good and then just as broadly takes giant steps backwards.
Health care a hot issue under Gold Dome
Opinion column
In a news disseminating career of four decades-plus, I have seen my share of hospital- and medical care-related controversies. Health-care companies’ attempts to overtake one another or, on another angle, governments trying to put more taxes on hospitals to help fund certain services come to mind.
There's a new sheriff in town in Blakely
Opinion column
There is a new sheriff in town in Blakely and Early County, a phrase that has not been uttered in this community in almost three decades.
New year opens with a great many promises
Opinion column
The new year, 2013, is heavily upon us. There is almost nothing more promising than a new year because of the opportunities it presents to the world.
Rural America picks bad time to nap
Opinion column
Results were posted earlier this month on the latest survey of our region of the country. I wish I had two versions of the report to offer ("first, the good news, and then the bad"). But I have only one and it's not a pretty picture.
Fears over gun control just shooting blanks
Opinion column
The looming “fiscal cliff” is getting most of the page one attention in newspapers across the land. Talking heads on television and radio can’t seem to stop discussing whether President Obama and Congress will soon make the plunge — or whether they’ll avert the economic death drop. On Main Street, however, there is another issue dominating the political talk — gun control.
Being thankful doesn’t stop with the holiday
Opinion column
Thanksgiving Day has come and gone but certainly we are not prohibited by law from continuing to express our thanks for all things great and good.
Statesmanship a lost art in Congress
Do members of the United States Congress ever stop and consider what their legacies might be upon leaving office?
America would benefit from being united
Opinion Column
The host of a popular sports talk radio show in this region of the country often advises would-be national champion football teams that fall by the wayside to “sit down and shut up.”
OK, President (?), here’s your to-do list
I knew not at this writing which candidate would be elected as the president of the United States. The polls indicated that the battle between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was too close to call. I believe the polls.
Pocketbook will be deciding factor Tuesday
Election consultant James Carville’s watchword for Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election will likely go down as the most effective campaign slogan ever used in American politics.
Hillary Clinton poised for 2016 run
Wouldn't you like to see a record turnout in the Nov. 6 presidential election?
Romney off target hunting Big Bird
Opinion column
I came to know Big Bird and his Muppet friends due entirely to a former work station. So trust me when I opine that Jim Henson’s characters are all about education and almost zero about federal spending.
Getting older isn't much fun
Opinion column
Somehow, I knew this would happen. I should have seen it coming. Just my luck.
Romney scores Round 1 win in debate
Opinion column
President Obama was supposed to deliver a final staggering blow to challenger Mitt Romney Wednesday night on the way to a second term. But in their debate, Romney scored epic upset.
Reinstate teacher bonus program
As a native of Mississippi, the economically poorest state in America, and a resident of Georgia, the South's tower of financial stability, I am often given to myriad comparisons between these provinces.
Dear GOP: A penny for my thoughts
I can’t tell the Republican National Committee that my check is in the mail.
Georgia should consider Medicaid expansion
Georgia is among a handful of states yet to decide whether to expand its Medicaid program.
Old meets new in hunt for 'black gold'
I don't guess anything can cause more of a commotion -- or general excitement -- than the prospect of an oil boom in a small community.
Rain gives crops a heavenly start
My wife and I moved back to Georgia almost exactly two years ago. The night we arrived, we brought with us from Mississippi a bounteous, torrential rain. (Mary Lee still cannot believe that she drove a U-Haul truck, pulling a vehicle, 400 miles through it from Jackson, Miss. I wish I had a picture.)
Will Georgia go for big casino payoff?
Mississippi needed casino gambling when the state Legislature made it legal in 1990.
State charter schools not the answer
I have yet to buy in to all this hooey over the supposed greatness of K-12 charter schools, a movement that appears to be sweeping a large portion of our national landscape.
Gov. Perry the 'smarty pants candidate'
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is being characterized in various ways by myriad pundits as his presidential campaign begins, but to me he's the "smarty pants candidate."- Mac Gordon, syndicated columnist
Early County sheriff in battle for life
According to a recent report in the Early County News, Sheriff Murkerson is battling stem cell therapy for myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disorder. He is a patient at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Public TV, radio worth keeping
With all of this quality programming available and so little fuss about its cost, I take heart in knowing that Georgia conservatives aren't leaning quite as far to the right as those back in my home state -- at least on this subject.
Verdict is the final word in tot murder case
Lacking the ability to peer into human minds, I am at a loss to explain why so many of us tuned into the Casey Anthony murder trial in Florida like it was a Super Bowl game in overtime.- Mac Gordon, guest columnist
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