Opinion

I can remember my grandmother using the phrase ‘it sticks in my craw’. The word ‘craw’ is slang for crop which is the place in the throats of poultry and birds where seeds are stored as they break down into a digestible form. I have opened the craw of many a dove in the field to see what they were feeding on that brought them within range of my shotgun.
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I recently completed teaching an eight-week class on Wednesday evenings at Mercer University’s Henry County Center in McDonough. My usual route home takes me down I-75 to the Barnesville/Jackson exit.

These days, the Georgia Department of Transportation is resurfacing that stretch of interstate highway. They do the work at night. My class ended at 9:45 p.m.

You do the math.
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I am rapidly closing in on my 65th birthday which is astonishing to me. When I was young, those who were 65 seemed ancient. But, there is no denying it, I am almost there.
All the old sayings about aging are true.

‘If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.’ Check. ‘The older you get, the colder you get.’ Check. ‘The older you get, the faster time goes by.’ Check. ‘Growing old is not for sissies.’ Check! They go on, ad infinitum.

Thus far, I have been able to open my eyes each morning (though much earlier now), put one foot in front of the other and I recognize every day north of the dirt is a good day. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

I love the United States of America. This is my home. I was born here. I have lived here all my life. I’ve visited a few other countries, but I’m always glad to get home to the good old U.S.A.

To quote the great theologian Chuck Berry, “I’m so glad I’m livin’ in the U.S.A.!”

I love the United States of America. That’s why it makes me happy when we promote equality, practice justice, and foster community. That’s why it makes me unhappy when we don’t do those things.

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The Independence Day holiday in 1994 fell on a Monday. At that time, we were putting out this newspaper and printing many others at our printing plant in Barnesville. We moved production of some papers up and others back to enjoy a long weekend at the beach.

Weather coverage then was not what it is now but we heard it had rained a lot in Barnesville and more was on the way so we came back early as a precaution. On Hwy. 41 between Forsyth and Barnesville, we crossed a normally placid little stream which looked like the Chattooga River in the film (italics) Deliverance (end italics). We knew then there could be trouble.

It was raining hard. It rained hard all night and the downpour continued all day July 5. We initially thought low-lying areas would take the brunt of the damage. Barnesville is largely at pretty good elevation so we thought our building would be fine and it was until the water overwhelmed the city storm water system. Debris clogged pipes and grates and eventually Towaliga Creek was running so full it backed up into the storm drains, or so it was explained to me. [Full Story »] 

On Thursday, July 20, 1969 at 3:17 p.m., the Apollo 11 lunar landing module touched down on the moon’s surface. At 10:56 p.m. on that same day, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin soon joined Armstrong on the moon’s surface.

I was an almost eleven-year-old boy who was really glad to be out of school for the summer so I could stay up and watch the incredible event take place.

I joined millions of people in being enthralled by the moon landing.
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By Mike Ruffin

Some of you are familiar with Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot’s 1971 song, “If You Could Read My Mind.” It’s a great song.

The song was inspired by the divorce that ended Lightfoot’s first marriage. In the recorded version of the song, Lightfoot sings,

If you could read my mind, love,
what a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
'bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong.
with chains upon my feet.
But stories always end,
and if you read between the lines,
you'd know that I'm just tryin' to understand
the feelings that you lack.
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Policy is, or at least should be, based on public opinion. Public opinion has always been like a pendulum - constantly swinging. It swings to the far left and then slowly to the far right. The period of time the pendulum spends in the balanced middle, where common sense thrives, is very short.

There are many out there who try to control the narrative of events you hear in order to swing your opinion toward policies they support and would like to see put into effect.

Perhaps no other issue illustrates this as well as the debate over abortion in America. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

In late spring of 1964, I joined my fellow graduates of Miss Sylvia’s Kindergarten on the stage of the Gordon Grammar School lunchroom. At a designated point in the midst of all the pomp and circumstance, I stepped forward and, with trembling knees and shaking voice, recited the first poem I ever uttered publicly. It was “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson.

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
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May Wingfield Melton (1923-2014) and Oliver Quimby Melton Jr. (1923-2013) were inducted into the Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame May 30 during the 133rd annual convention of the Georgia Press Association at Jekyll Island.

It is fitting their portraits will hang in at the Grady School of Journalism in Athens where they met as journalism students. Both were editors of the UGA newspaper, The Red & Black. May was the first ever female editor after being recruited by legendary Dean John Drewry for a summer when all the male students, including Quimby, were off at war or training for war. She would soon join him at Ft. Riley, Kansas for what turned out to be the last ever U.S. Cavalry wedding at the vast training ground.
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By Mike Ruffin

When I was a boy growing up in the little house on Memorial Drive in Barnesville in the 1960s, my parents and I got ready for church with Southern gospel music emanating from the nineteen-inch black and white television set.

We’d listen to two programs that an Atlanta station sent our way.

The first show was the Gospel Singing Caravan, which featured the LeFevre family. Boomershine Pontiac in Atlanta sponsored it. The second program was the Gospel Singing Jubilee, hosted by the Florida Boys. [Full Story »] 

High school graduation is a definite milestone. For many it is the second major milestone in life following up on the acquisition of that driver’s license and the freedom it bestows. There will be many more milestones -good and bad - to come.

Graduates, there are some things you can do to maximize good outcomes and minimize the bad. There are millions of opportunities out there that your parents and especially your grandparents could never have dreamed of. Take advantage of them! Here are a few ideas you might consider.
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By Mike Ruffin

I recently read a 1955 novel by Leigh Brackett entitled The Long Tomorrow. It’s set a couple of generations after a nuclear war has devastated Earth’s cities. The new Constitution of postwar America forbids the building of cities. People live only in small towns and rural areas.

A major crisis in the book revolves around the desire of a man to build one more warehouse than he’s allowed by law. The limit he wants to violate is in place to keep a city from developing. Things don’t go well for him.
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By Walter Geiger

The level of divisiveness on the national political scene is the highest I can recall in my lifetime. Few, if any, of those in Washington have the term ‘non-partisan’ in their vocabularies. It is all ‘my side is right and your side is wrong’ with seemingly no effort being made toward compromise on even the simplest of agenda items.
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