OPINIONS

Birney Imes: Email inquiry triggers flood of memories

Posted 8/2/2014 in Local Columns

Donna Grant deserves a byline on today's column. Several weeks ago someone mentioned Al Puckett had been named distinguished hospital trustee of the year for the state and wondered why it hadn't been in the paper.

Our View: Summer's home stretch

Posted 8/1/2014 in Dispatch Editorials

There is a video that has gone viral that shows a Copperhead snake that has just been decapitated. The snake's body continues to writhe and wriggle as the head lays motionless near its body. The snake's body makes contact with its head several times, then -- and this is what made the video viral -- the snake's head suddenly sinks its fangs deep into its own body.

Lynn Spruill: Lest we forget

Posted 8/1/2014 in Local Columns

As part of my active (as opposed to financial) volunteer pledge this year I have chosen to work with the Alzheimer's Walk scheduled for Oct. 12. Medical literature distinguishes between the types of dementia, but the details of the ravages of this ever more common disease are astounding.

Susan Estrich: Close to home

Posted 8/1/2014 in National Columns

On Thursday night, July 24, Xinran Ji was walking home from his study group meeting, four blocks from USC, where he was a graduate student in engineering. According to police, four teenagers, three boys and a girl, beat 24-year-old Ji with a baseball bat and a wrench. No reason.

Michael Gerson: The GOP as the party of reform

Posted 7/31/2014 in National Columns

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair came to prominence in the 1990s as an expert in political renovation, transforming the Labour Party from a creaky, socialist relic to a modern, center-left, governing institution. Before Blair, Labour had not won back-to-back victories in a hundred years. Blair secured three.

Froma Harrop: Doing well by doing good -- but better by doing bad

Posted 7/31/2014 in National Columns

How curious to watch "60 Minutes," the famously hard-hitting TV newsmagazine, bless JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon with prime-time beatification for hiring some interns from poor backgrounds. The segment's headline is "Jobs program benefits Fortune 500 and underprivileged youth."

Our View: Oktibbeha, Starkville boards fail to truly follow agendas

Posted 7/30/2014 in Dispatch Editorials

Oktibbeha County supervisors and Starkville aldermen both have something in common: They recently tended to business outside the constraints of their published agendas.

Slimantics: Sunday visitors stir memories of the good ole dog days

Posted 7/30/2014 in Local Columns

Sunday afternoon found us outside trying to coax our waterlogged flowers back to life while trying to figure out a way to get rid of the slugs and snails that seem to have taken a recent liking to our front porch.

Leonard Pitts: Paul Ryan breaks the silence surrounding poverty in America

Posted 7/30/2014 in National Columns

Cover your eyes and hide the kids: A Republican is talking poverty.

Our View: School funding petition worthy of support

Posted 7/29/2014 in Dispatch Editorials

Mississippi has two sales tax holidays. The first came last weekend with a sales tax exemption on back-to-school items limited to clothing and footwear. The other, signed into law this year by Gov. Phil Bryant and enjoying broad legislative support, comes Sept. 5-7.

Voice of the people: Robin Thompson

Posted 7/29/2014 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

Charlie Mitchell: The anger is understandable, the meanness is not

Posted 7/29/2014 in Local Columns

A lithe young singer, Taylor Swift, had a big hit with "Mean" four years ago. The song is a picked-on teen's lament that her classmates are cruel.

Possumhaw: Chiggers, mosquitoes, ants, oh my

Posted 7/28/2014 in Local Columns

The Prairie is not always paradise. Momma used to say, "I'm glad not everybody likes the same thing 'cause then everybody'd want my Henry." Dad wasn't named Henry, but we got the point.

Voice of the people: Nancy Randolph Hoffmann

Posted 7/28/2014 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

Voice of the people: Cameron Triplett

Posted 7/28/2014 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

Editorial Cartoon for 7-28-14

Posted 7/28/2014 in National Columns

Wyatt Emmerich: Skewed statistics and the benefits of fiber optic access

Posted 7/28/2014 in National Columns

Mark Twain complained that there were lies, damn lies and statistics. I've also heard that 90 percent of statistics are wrong. This comes to mind when thinking about a recent study published in Forbes magazine that rates Mississippi number one in the nation for government corruption.