Susan Estrich: The people have spoken 1/13/2012 12:04:00 PM The people have spoken -- all 126,185 of them. That's how many votes turned Mitt Romney into the Republican nominee, for all intents and purposes. In a country with more than 300 million people, less than a tenth of a half of a percent have picked one of the two men who could be the next president of the United States.
Kathleen Parker: Pious baloney 2.0 1/12/2012 12:40:00 PM WASHINGTON -- One thing we've learned since the Republican primary season began: There's an awful lot of pious baloney out there.
Froma Harrop: The missing 'humanity clause' at Bain 1/12/2012 12:38:00 PM During the Great Depression, my father toiled in a box factory. The workers were all flat broke, he recalled, and desperate for every nickel. But when overtime hours appeared, the men made sure they went to a guy with kids. The laborers were obeying the unwritten and unenforceable "humanity clause," whereby one gives up some personal gain in deference to another's screaming need.
Charlie Mitchell: Feds have kept Mississippi afloat 12/9/2011 1:35:00 PM OXFORD -- A problem for Gov.-elect Phil Bryant is this: If the federal government adopts his self-professed "tight-fisted" fiscal style, Mississippi will go belly up.
In an instant.
Eighth Annual Southern Belle Cotton Pickin' 100 early entry deadline approaching 10/22/2011 1:43:00 AM The early entry deadline is rapidly approaching for the 8th Annual Southern Belle Cotton Pickin' 100 at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Oct. 27-29. Competitors have until today to file their early entry for the event. The early entry fee is $100. After this date, the entry fee will be $150.
Kathleen Parker: Legacy of hysteria 9/11/2011 1:13:00 AM WASHINGTON -- The legacy of 9/11 can't be fully measured even now, but perhaps the most damaging aspect can be found in our national discourse.
Ask Rufus: Turkish corners 5/21/2011 10:43:00 PM When talking to people in the decorative arts field, I have been surprised at how little is known about Turkish corners.
Local voices: 'My spirit leapt up within me': an African visit, Part 1 4/10/2011 12:02:00 PM What began as an afternoon of horseback riding and a glass of wine on the front porch, ended in an invitation to an adventure of a lifetime, a journey that was both joyful and heartbreaking, both life-giving and incredibly draining.
Ask Rufus: A presidential visit to Columbus 4/9/2011 6:02:00 PM Nov. 2, 1909, was to be a red letter day for Columbus. President William H. Taft was coming to town. He was to be accompanied by his Secretary of War, Hon. J. M. Dickinson, a Columbus native. (A few years later, Crawford native T. W. Gregory served as Woodrow Wilson's Attorney General.)
Local voices: 'They swarmed us like bees': an African visit, Part 2 4/9/2011 6:01:00 PM The Limuru Children's Center, the primary focus of Global Connections, is home to 42 orphans. By our standards the facility is substandard, but when I went into town and other places, I realized how upscale Limuru is by comparison. The Center, a residential facility for elementary school age children, is open during the day for preschool children.
Frank Webb: Who is our neighbor? 1/26/2011 10:45:00 AM On Monday I observed an event some of which should be passed on to others in our community. It concerned the life and more particularly the death of Mr. Hozie Hawthorne.
Sherman Meadows: Never famous 12/29/2010 11:31:00 AM The CBS news had a recap tonight of the famous people that died this year. They included Congressmen, Senator, Artist, Composers; men and women of power if politics and entertainment.
Carol Littlejohn: Moving evokes flood of memories 10/25/2010 9:49:00 AM Well, I guess you have wondered where in this world I have been. I have been doing that little something called building a new house. Yes, the next phase of my life is beginning. Blue Cross is right about somethings - I have found myself in another age bracket and you guessed it, a rate increase.
Marty Wiseman: Is Mississippi becoming more like America, or vice versa? 9/7/2010 9:41:00 AM The annual rhetorical outburst that is fast becoming customary during the sweltering month of August has certainly served as the impetus for more than a few moments of reflection. Perhaps the highlight this year was conservative commentator Glenn Beck's dusting off of the spot where Dr. Martin Luther King made his classic "I have a Dream Speech" to make a national religious call to arms.
Turning trees into gasoline 9/1/2010 11:10:00 AM Two centuries ago, wood served as our energy fuel for the American frontier, providing home heat and powering commercial furnaces and eventually steam engines.
Jeremiah Dumas: Change for a better community 8/11/2010 10:55:00 AM I have read with considerable interest the many opinion pieces and articles in the paper pertaining to personal freedom infringement by the current and past actions of the Board of Aldermen.
Local voices: Learning from Nono 8/9/2010 2:54:00 PM My mother and I spent our first night in Mississippi, in May 2008, at Shadowlawn, the antebellum home and bed and breakfast on College Street. The only Mississippians I knew were Shadowlawn's owners, Burnette and Nono Avakian.
When we asked about the couple, we learned they'd met at an antiques auction.
Help take a bite out of crime Tuesday night 8/1/2010 1:35:00 AM On Tuesday, the Columbus Police Department will be sponsoring our Annual National Night Out on Crime Block Parties.
George Hazard: 'Matterhorn' answers wait for Vietnam novel 7/24/2010 10:11:00 PM Two groups have been waiting for Matterhorn, subtitled, "a novel of the Vietnam War," by Karl Marlantes. Veterans of that war are much the more important group, waiting to see if a novel could convey the nonsense of that war, its nonsense, given its constraints on their military power and its stress on body counts rather than territorial objectives -- and convey a realistic reckoning with their suffering and loyalty.
Ben Toledano: Opposition bordering on the ridiculous 7/17/2010 9:34:00 PM Surely I can't be the only person amazed by the opposition to Arizona's Senate Bill 1070 "relating to unlawfully present aliens." However, the opposition itself is one thing; the expressed reasons for it are quite another. What is really going on here?
Alisa Holen: ‘Limiting ourselves to small dreams’ 2/18/2010 9:29:00 AM I write this with a heavy heart. My normal, optimistic demeanor has been sidetracked by the recent announcement by the Mississippi State Legislature to effectively kill the name change for our University. I am truly hopeful that the Mississippi University for Women will be able to survive as a standalone institution, but I am also realistic… and I know that our name is a tremendous hindrance on our ability to recruit students. The statistics are remarkable.
Local Voices: Keep MSMS and MSA separate 1/26/2010 9:43:00 AM Regarding your “Local Voices: Surviving the Next Three Months” editorial of Jan. 24, I sent the below e-mail to each/every Mississippi State Senator/Representative who serve on their respective chamber Education committee.
I am writing to you today concerning the potential move/merger of the Mississippi School for the Arts [MSA] and the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science [MSMS]. I am writing as (1) a Mississippi resident and constituent, (2) a parent, and (3) a graduate of the Mississippi public school system.
Bill Crawford: Mississippi State University for Women 11/17/2009 10:51:00 AM The ex-MUW Alumnae Association must think the sky is falling. First came their nasty divorce from the university. Then, the unwanted name change recommendation by President Claudia Limbert, the College Board, and the Mississippi Economic Council. Now, Gov. Haley Barbour has put merger back on the table!?!
Joseph St. John: National Night Out on Tuesday 8/3/2009 9:59:00 AM Burglaries, larceny, robberies, violent crime - we read about it every day. Our media is full of the images and sounds of society ills. It is the lead story daily. It has often been said, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Crime is always on the top of everyone’s concerns and is often the topic of community debate.
Bert Montgomery: Football players and law breakers 7/24/2009 10:26:00 AM Dr. Kent Sills (“Doc Sills” everybody called him) was the director of bands at Mississippi State when I was a student here back in the mid-80s. I played trombone in the Maroon Band. Doc used to say – especially during football season, and especially when we went to road games – that if any of us got arrested, he wouldn't claim us.
Carol Littlejohn: Lucky 7/13/2009 Does it seem to you, as it does to me, that more and more friends are leaving this earth? Two people that were long time friends of mine died this past two weeks and I find myself, yet again, thinking, “I cannot believe they are gone.” Gen Colvin Bennett and Carl Jaynes were not the closest friends I have, but they shared some of my days, some long ago and some recent. It seems that “puff” and they were gone.
Robbie Coblentz: Requiem for a Camp 7/1/2009 Dan Camp has served this city as a community developer, a member of the Starkville School District Board of Education and, most recently, mayor.
Carol Littlejohn: Gerald 5/18/2009 I do not know what to say or really what to write in this story but I am going to try to tell you my feelings about Gerald. You see, Gerald was my first love back in the “good old days” as we all like to say. I began to date him in my senior year at S. D. Lee High School in 1968. We dated each other for four years. I was at “The W,” and his parents sent him off to “Southern.” He hitched a ride home most every weekend, and on those sad Sundays, I would take him over to Bob’s Place to catch his ride back down to Hattiesburg. I cried many a tear at his leaving.
Claudia Limbert: A thoughtful, deliberate naming process 4/26/2009 As many of you know, MUW is in the process of finding a new name. The process has been thoughtful and transparent, and all the documents relating to it are on our Web site.
Learnard Dickerson: Hard times call for faith, hope and charity 2/13/2009 In response to the difficult and disruptive times we are facing socially and economically, there are three ways to enrich your life, community and the lives of others: Cut back on your spending, build your savings and increase your faith, hope and charitable giving.
