Category Archives: Opinions
Courier Letters to the Editor 8-26-20
Ronald and the Donald
Dear Editor,
Gather around now, boys and girls, and grandpa will tell you all a bedtime story. It’s a story about two men — one named Ronald and the other, the Donald.
Now Ronald said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” And the wall came a-tumbling down!
The Donald said, “I’ll build a wall, and Mexico will pay for it.” The wall never was compelled. Mexico
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Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling
Within the Christian faith, we understand that an individual will not come to God on their own. The depravity of mankind and the lost condition of their spiritual state prevents everyone from having a 
desire to love and serve or even an interest in God until God intervenes.
So, what can cause a person to want to know more about God? They must be drawn to Him, as they would not have the faith to come to Jesus unless God first
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Cover up, Pickens — masks stop the spread
With each new disease or infection that is identified, there is always a fairly steep learning curve that goes with solving it and finding a cure, a treatment or a vaccine, in case of a viral agent.
We all know too well about this, having gone through the ups and downs of daily briefings on the current COVID-19 pandemic. At times, the information has been very confusing. Should we wear a mask, should we not? Should we shelter in place, should we not? We can go to a big box store, but we can’t go to church. We should physically distance ourselves, but it is OK to gather in the thousands to protest. What data is really
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Courier Letters to the Editor 8-19-20
Recycling changes a positive step
Dear Editor,
I want to thank the county administration and council for listening to the public, and praise the Courier for last week’s story entitled, “Recycle centers back to six days a week.” The council has reopened all recycle centers on Wednesdays, so they are again operating with a Monday through Saturday service schedule.
During my campaign for county council, I was happy to add my voice to the chorus of those who were already saying the county was growing and closing the centers on Wednesdays was a bad idea. The county does an extensive audit each year, and solid waste tonnage grew from 36,545 to 44,554 — or 21 percent — from 2015 to 2019. As a result, it should not be cutting back on this essential service, nor cutting manpower at the centers.
As part of the six-day schedule, though, the council cut the hours from 7:30 a.m. to 7:20 p.m. to the
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A record years in the making
It has been touted as “the No. 1 most highly unanticipated release in over a decade.”
Coming from an artist who hasn’t put out a record since 1981, it’s no wonder.
I’m talking about the new, just-released album by Jim Van Buskirk and the AVANT GARDE recording project, and I am proud to have been a part of it — both in 1981 and 2020.
With a gap of 39 years between releases, this album, called “The Shellers,” ranks No. 5 on Wikipedia’s list of longest gaps between studio albums. (Yes, there really is such a list. If we’d waited four more years, we could have tied the Strawberry Alarm Clock’s gap of 1969 to 2012.)
And, yes, this album, like its predecessor, actually has been pressed into vinyl discs that are played on old-fashioned machines that use a needle to wondrously
Our highest quest is to know God
The Christian worldview of life is about learning what God requires and willingly accepting the call to become a devoted disciple of Christ. This life-changing decision has everything to do with yielding mind, body and soul to the Creator of heaven and earth. It’s definitely worth considering since He has promised with all certainty that He is the way, the truth and the life.
Most Bible scholars are convinced there are two categories of judgment that are commonly referred to as the saved and the unsaved. Even though there are levels of good and bad behavior, the basic concept describes a certain number of souls who are spiritually born-again and are declared as being a child of the Most High, and on the other side of the fence, there are those who willingly reject the invitation to
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Near-catastrophe with the computer
My computer had a stroke. At first, I feared the stroke was a fatal one, a very sad loss. Because if the thing can’t be repaired, it must be replaced. That isn’t something I want to do right now.
But before any type of treatment could begin, it was necessary to have diagnostics done so I could 
know whether the end was near. Was the stroke fatal? Could my lost files be found and restored? Would the hard drive have to be replaced? If it was repaired, would it be any faster?
This particular computer isn’t a spring chicken, and death comes to us all.
If the heart and brain go, there’s not much to be done unless a transplant can be carried out.
And it apparently was my lucky day.
We went together to the computer repair shop, the
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On Easley’s recycling situation …
Greetings from the Barnett summer residence — which is actually the same place as the Barnett winter, spring and fall residence, but with more live music on the front porch and more outdoor cooking in the back.
Only it’s just me doing the live music and grilling; no crowds of people who may be carrying the coronavirus are allowed within 10 feet.
COVID-19 is real, and it hit close to home a few weeks ago when a member of our extended family who was living in a nursing home in Pickens was stricken with it and taken from us. She was a character, and she will be greatly missed.
So I’ve been pretty much taking it easy for the past few weeks. It’s the first stretch of time in more than 30 years that I have stepped back from deadlines and tried
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Freedom vs. responsibility
Note from Pickens Mayor Fletcher Perry: At our last city council meeting, it was a consensus from members of council and seven voices from the community who felt that mandatory mask wear should not be mandated by the city. From that discussion, a committee was formed that included members of the medical community. I have asked each member to share their perspective concerning these times of uncertainty and the subject of the mask.
As the medical scientists are trying to learn more about the coronavirus, including how to create a 
vaccine and better ways to treat those infected, we are faced with a community dilemma. I think of it as “freedom vs. responsibility.” On the one hand, we value our freedom and ability to decide for ourselves how to lead our lives. This allows us to determine what risks we want to take, like smoking, riding a motorcycle without a helmet or eating junk food. But on the other hand, with freedom comes responsibility. Our responsibility for each other means we obey traffic laws, we don’t endanger others with our choices and we care enough to bend our desire to keep others from being harmed.
Although there is still a lot we don’t know about this virus, there are many things that have been
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Taking everything one day at a time
Sunday morning, we experienced an earthquake. Well, some of us did, at least. I was oblivious.
Now, granted, the quake centered in Sparta, N.C., and, according to the weatherman on channel 4, we felt it because of the strong vibrations running through the rock in the Appalachian Mountains.
At our house, Fowler was drinking coffee and said it shook the head of the bed.
I was walking upstairs with my coffee and didn’t notice anything. I was thinking that we were out of Tide and needed to add it to the list.
Why didn’t I notice? Maybe because during the past year there have been so many disturbing things going
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