Opinion

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 »] 

By Mike Ruffin

When I was a boy, Christmas morning was fantastic. It was also fantastically confusing.

It was fantastic because I’d get just about everything on my list.

I think the only reason I didn’t get everything is that it was an embarrassingly long list. Santa Claus was better to me than he should have been. But hey, it wasn’t my fault that I was an only child.

So I’d get a lot of stuff. It was fantastic. My parents enjoyed watching me enjoying my haul. They’d give each other one present. And they’d seem so happy. [Full Story »] 

Is what’s good for the goose good for the gander? The old saying notes ‘what is good for the goose is good for the gander’. I have no idea from which barnyard this came from or what practice it was used to justify but it certainly does not apply to politics and media coverage in this country.

Barronelle Stutzman is a longtime florist in Washington who has served and employed people of all backgrounds during her long career that has spanned over 30 years. Those customers and employees have included gay individuals. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

When Laura and I first moved to Barnesville back in 1979, among the first folks to take us in were Holland and Louise Jackson.

Louise, who died 10 years ago, was a gourmet cook but all she did was cook. Holland set tables, assisted in the kitchen and cleared and washed all the dishes. He polished silver. He polished brass. He relished the menial tasks most of us menfolk despise. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, watching the news media and others dealing with president-elect Donald Trump reminds me of the nuns trying to deal with young Maria in ‘The Sound of Music’.

Maria disrupted business as usual at the convent and Trump is going to take a sledgehammer to what has passed for normal in the White House for the past eight years and beyond. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

I’ve been praying for as long as I can remember.

My parents taught me the bedtime prayer that begins, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.”

They also trained me to add an extra line before I said “Amen”: “God bless Mama and Daddy and everybody!” Their addition of that petition struck me as a tad self-serving, but that was okay. I mean, I really did want God to bless Mama and Daddy and everybody. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

Remember the promises that were made?

If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Premiums will go down an average of $2,500 for a typical family. And so on and so on ad infinitum.

Lies. All lies!
[Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

There was a time when I really looked forward to the World Series. I’ve been a Braves fan ever since they moved to Atlanta in 1966. From that year until 1990, my team never played in the Series. Oh, they won their division a couple of times and so had a shot, but they never made it. [Full Story »] 

Barnesville native Dr. Sid Chapman is president of the Georgia Association of Educators. He wrote the following column, 'A vote against Amendment 1 is a vote for keeping our school decisions local'.
[Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

I have been thinking a lot lately about the beginning of life, the end of life, and the life that is lived in between the beginning and the end.

Before we are born, we spend several months safe and secure in our mother’s womb; it is a small space that provides very little room to move (although all mothers can testify to how hard we try). Then, when the time has come, we squeeze through the even narrower confines of the birth canal. [Full Story »]