Maybe the theory of probabilities was in play. Perhaps the stars were aligned just so. Whatever the reason, I have found myself agreeing with President Obama. Well, let me qualify that. I agree with the spirit of the initiative, not necessarily the implementation... more

I just couldn't pass up the New York Times headline: "Home Burials Offer An Intimate Alternative." Yes, more and more Americans are choosing to save money and create a different atmosphere by cutting professional undertakers out of the picture. ... more

Here's a triple play for today. LANDFILL: Numero Uno Pam Owens says recently she got a phone call from a woman saying she was conducting a poll asking if she wanted to pay $30 a month for trash disposal. Pam though that was an "enormous amount" and recalls that "It sounded like she was against it because it would cost more to transport it elsewhere."... more

One of my favorite toys these days is Facebook. I've used it to reconnect with friends from high school and other people I haven't seen in a decade. But the other day, it helped my crystalize my thoughts on health-care reform. I was debating the topic online with someone I've actually never met before. It was a very cordial, fun and competitive discussion, and it was very telling when he wrote back "I am not in favor of any system that removes competition."... more

As I've been preaching for months, if you think a "public option" health plan is the way to go, one only needs look as far as Tennessee to learn the folly of such a scheme. TennCare was designed not only to take the place of Medicaid but to provide insurance for the uninsured and the uninsurable. The concept was that TennCare would partner with the private sector to bring down costs. The exact opposite was the case... more

Job-seekers, are you 20 years behind the times? According to an online column by 25-year Human Resources veteran Liz Ryan, too many applicants pepper their resumé with meaningless clichéd phrases ("superior communication skills," "strong work ethic," etc.). These phrases once pressed all the right buttons with employers but now tag you as uncreative and vocabulary challenged... more

As the parent of two children, one of whom is still in elementary school, I've been reminded of one of the most basic axioms of academia: put your name on your paper. Some adults would be surprised how many children fail to do this. Then again, some children would be shocked how many adults fail to do this... more

How do you quantify saving jobs? It's darn near impossible according to the Government Accountability Office. Instead of just promising to create jobs President Obama always throws in that he will either create or save 3 million jobs. But as unemployment hits 9.5 percent and is likely to shatter the 10 percent mark, it appears Mr. Obama is doing neither... more

We've all had our brushes with celebrities. One of the perks of being in the media is that I've had a few more than I would normally expect working in another profession. And if you count second-hand brushes with fame -- I know a lot of people who've interviewed celebrities -- I've had a lot of them... more

When the nuclear reactor broke down at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, some residents near there got in their cars and drove away as fast and as far as they could. Some ran out of money and gasoline when they got to Richmond, Va. I was announcing radio news in Roanoke, Va. at the time and later was the morning newsman at a station in Lynchburg, Va., where there's a big Babcock & Wilcox plant that manufactured the boilers for the Three Mile Island reactor... more

I think there's little doubt now that the inmates are running the asylum in Washington, D.C. The Cap and Trade energy tax bill that just passed the House is but one example of how nuts things are. This bill would almost double the average household's electric bill and could push gas prices up another $5 per gallon, at a time when we're trying to climb out of a recession. But every time we start to get back up, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress knock this economy back to its knees... more

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, is changing its name. Why? Because the ACORN franchise has become so tarnished they feel they can't continue under the original name. The Washington Examiner reports that ACORN has changed its name to "Community Organizations International." Shall we call them "coy?" If they were "Community Organizations National" we could call them "con" because that's still exactly what they are. A con by any other name is still a con... more

Only 10 percent of full time college students had a scholarship in 2007-08. The average for those who did was less than $3,000. Why? Well, you might think that the simple answer is because they're stupid. But, not so. Many were qualified to receive scholarships-yet they paid the full tuition themselves. ... more

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, one of Tennessee's former governors, a man who's served as the federal education secretary and, among other achievements, a Republican who ran for his party's nomination to run for President, is to be in Lewisburg next week... more

My father was 70 years old when he broke 25 targets straight shooting a round of skeet. He had been practicing for years, not to excel at skeet, but to improve his ability to kill birds out hunting. The certificate he got from Williams Gun Club in Flint, Mich. after achieving that perfect round of skeet, is one of the few mementos I have from a man who was, and remains, something of a mystery to me... more

After Bill Clinton signed the 1996 income tax reform into law, pundits were calling it the accountants' full employment act of 1996 because it was so complicated that folks who'd been doing their own tax returns were going to tax services for help. Now, the new gun laws coming from the Tennessee General Assembly have generated a great deal of controversy with advocates criticizing editorialists, and others of course, who warn that permitting guns in restaurants where alcoholic beverages are served is a bad idea.. ... more

From the people who brought you Government Motors comes the coup de grace of government takeovers: Government-owned healthcare. President Obama has sent a letter to Congress to let his desires be known. He wants to pass this thing before the country comes to its senses... more

Is Barack Obama the Jimmy Carter of the 21st century? At least one Asian security expert thinks so. India-based analyst Bahukutumbi Raman says the Obama administration is on track to achieve in one year what it took Jimmy Carter three years to accomplish and that is to portray the United States as a "confused and soft power."... more

You don't have to look much further than a couple of our recent front-page stories to pollinate a conversation about union representation for workers. It's probably obvious that one example is the General Motors plant in Spring Hill, if not GM and the United Auto Workers union in general. The other example is the Marshall County Schools System... more

My cell phone rang and I spoke with the caller who was trying to reach someone else named Clint during the Memorial Day weekend. It turned out to be Sarah Dean, grandmother of Daniel B. McClenney, the U.S. Marine who was killed by enemy gunfire from two ambush positions on June 24, 2004 in the Konar Province of Afghanistan... more