Opinion

Obviously, I am in the information business but I submit to you that we now live in an era of information overload.

We have data at our fingertips. Our cellphones can access more data instantly than all the dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference materials ever published.

Easy access to endless information can be both a blessing and a curse.

Sometimes we suffer under the onslaught of too much information. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

It was 1950, and some scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico were walking to lunch.

Along the way, they talked about some recent reports of UFOs and a New Yorker cartoon that attributed the recent disappearances of New York City trash canisters to alien activity. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

I silently chafe when I hear Social Security referred to as an entitlement program though, technically, it is one.

That language originates from Social Security falling under Title II of the Social Security Act. Thus the root word ‘title’.

Once you meet all the qualifications to receive Social Security benefits (meeting the age and work credit requirements), you are ‘entitled’ to receive benefits. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

I want to understand people. I want to understand why people – all people – are who they are, why they think the way they think, why they believe what they believe, why they say what they say, and why they do what they do. What would such understanding require?

It would require that I be Muslim. It would require that I be an immigrant. It would require that I be a woman. It would require that I be poor. It would require that I be black. It would require that I be Russian. It would require that I be Jewish. It would require that I be unemployed. It would require that I be a high school dropout. It would require that I be a factory worker. It would require that I be an inner city resident. [Full Story »] 

Though the United States has had an Office of Education dating back to 1865, the federal Department of Education as we now know it was not formed until 1980. Federal interest in education blossomed under President Lyndon Johnson’s failed War on Poverty which has never been won and will not be won no matter how many taxpayer dollars are spent on it.

President Jimmy Carter formed the current federal education department in 1980, combining several smaller departments.

The original education budget was $140 million. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

It was the late great Mr. C.E. Julian, esteemed teacher of history at Lamar County High School, who taught me that Lamar County was named for a man named L.Q.C. Lamar. I don’t think he told us that “L.Q. C.” stood for “Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus” but it did.

(By the way, he was actually L.Q.C. II - yep, they actually named him after his father, who was already saddled with that name that sounded like a law firm in a gladiator movie. Also by the way, I once asked my father why he didn’t name me after him. He said, “You must be kidding. Would you really want to go through life being called Little Champ?”) I also don’t think Mr. Julian told us that John F. Kennedy devoted a chapter to L.Q.C. Lamar in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Profiles in Courage (1955) - but he did. [Full Story »] 

Recently I was driving along listening to WSB radio’s news coverage of the death of one child and the maiming of another as they were walking to their Atlanta School bus stop. They were attacked by pit bulls allowed to roam free by their owner or owners.

One of the dogs attacked responding police and was shot dead. The other was hunted down, captured and euthanized. Sadly, the charges against the irresponsible owner are not serious enough. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

The dialogue in lots of good movies and television shows contains profanity. I don’t always mind. In fact, as one who works in words, I can even appreciate the occasional well-placed curse word, especially if it fits the character speaking it and if it helps to communicate true feelings.

I mean, let’s face it: if Rhett Butler had said, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a hoot,” the line wouldn’t have gone down in history. And it would have sounded silly. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

The Gospels of Mark and Matthew (Mark’s Gospel came first and Matthew used it as a source, but that’s a column for another time) tell the story about Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand right after telling the story of King Herod’s birthday bash. You can read it all in Mark 6:17-44 and Matthew 14:1-21.

It’s hard to imagine two more contrasting culinary events. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America Friday.

Like all other inaugurations, it will be an historic event.

The transition of power from Barack Obama to Donald Trump has been the most interesting of my lifetime in that the two men and their priorities could not be more different.

A largely adoring press corps fawned over Obama and almost never called him out on anything. Trump, well, not so much. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

The Amazon original series The Man in the High Castle is loosely based on a novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick. My Good Wife and I have recently finished watching the second season. It’s a fascinating and troubling show. I’m glad there will be a Season 3.

I evidently enjoy being fascinated and troubled.

The premise of the series, which is set in 1962, is that the Axis powers won World War II. The Nazis control the Atlantic side of the United States, while the Japanese occupy the Pacific side. A neutral zone in the Rocky Mountains region separates the rival empires. [Full Story »] 

A new year has dawned and countless behavioral change resolutions have been made. No doubt many of those will have been broken by the time you read this.

Humans are creatures of habit. Our good habits go largely unnoticed but our bad habits are always under the spotlight’s glare. We may not be able to see them but everyone around us can. Our egos often will not let us acknowledge our negative traits and, thus, we allow them to take over our lives. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

This edition of The Herald-Gazette was published on the third day of Christmas. Speaking of which - did you receive three French hens? Or, if you’re reading this on Wednesday, did you receive four calling birds? If not, you might want to consider just how true your “true love” is.

You might be like me, though: I’d prefer three Cornish hens (they’re mighty tasty!) or four non-calling birds (I’m on the bird no-call list).

If you’re like me (admit it: you just said, “Not likely!), you were a grown human being before you learned that there really are twelve days of Christmas. For the first two decades of my life, I thought it was just one of the worst Christmas songs ever written.

It’s not the worst one, though, not by a long shot. The worst Christmas song of all time is “Last Christmas” by Wham!. [Full Story »] 

Christmas is upon us once again and I, for one, am thankful for the opportunity to experience another one.

As always, I got a charge out of reading the hundreds of letters to Santa we received and are publishing this week. The wish lists are full of old standby toys and newer ones that I have never heard of.

BB guns and GI Joes are still on a few lists as is Barbie and her various accoutrements like the playhouse and Corvette. Rubik’s Cubes seem to be making a comeback among the kids this year even if they have a tough time spelling Rubik. Then there is the new stuff. Shopkins, Stikbots, Zoomer Hedgiez and Hatchimals are among the many things I have never heard of. [Full Story »]