Category Archives: Opinions
Canadian drugs in our future?
If you watch the news, you might have seen there’s a proposal underway that would allow states to import prescription drugs from Canada, where costs are lower. Drugs are cheaper in other countries because their 
governments control the prices.
As it now stands, we can go across the border and bring back a three-month supply of our medications for personal use, but there are pitfalls. Technically it’s illegal, but it’s often overlooked at the border. Going to Canada for your drugs can be inconvenient, and travel costs can
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One of our country’s grate men
There are many great people living in Washington, D.C., although we can’t seem to agree on who they are. There are also quite a few “grate” people living there, and it is obvious who they are.
This observation was made by my dad, Bobby D. Barnett, during his time
working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the nation’s capital in the early days of the Reagan administration.
The grate people, Dad says, are “the scruffy men who spend the winter on the grates that cover the ventilation shafts leading from the subterranean portions of the city.”
Few places, I suppose, have such an excess supply of hot air as to be able to vent it in such a seemingly wasteful
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Outhouse blues
Being familiar with that little square wooden building at the edge of the yard makes me appreciate modern plumbing, but it does bring back memories of my youth. Having been raised, or reared as some folks call it, in the country gives 
one a different perspective on the morning constitutional.
I vividly recall our outhouse — or privy, if it needed a more dignified name. However, looking back, I don’t recall it looking too dignified. It was a wooden structure made from unusually wide oak boards and measured perhaps five feet by five feet with a narrow, hinged door. It had a concrete floor and a slanted tin roof.
If my memory serves me correct, it was a two-seater — or a two-holer, as they are commonly called. I never could understand the need for more than one hole.
In any event, I found that most privies were situated under some sort of shade tree, for obvious reasons. Did you ever go into a privy in midday in
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Where were you when the lights went out?
Once, some years ago, we had neighbors who had moved into the country for the good life, away from the hectic town life they had lived all their lives.
We could have told them the truth about the simple carefree life they thought we were living, but frankly I didn’t have 
the heart. After all, they’d sold their house in town and moved into their country home. Let the good times roll.
They wanted to grow things, they said. All you have to do is stick plants in the ground and sit back to reap the bounty.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have given them the magic wand we used on Fowler Farm to get all the work done? If, of course, we ever got all the work done.
We didn’t have flocks of sheep, herds of cattle or thousands of chickens.
But at that time, we did have three black angus, a mule, two horses, 25 chickens, one calf, four dogs, numerous cats and a hog. We had given up
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Letters to the Editor 8-14-19
A new and unpleasant experience
Dear Editor,
Having the Pickens Doodle Trail in my backyard was a new experience. Now I am having to get used to eating lunch and watching people’s kids use the bathroom on a tree on the edge of my yard.
Do people not know that people live close to the trail? We do have back windows. Would they like to see people use the bathroom while they eat? Can people respect others?
P.S. Go Blue Flame.
Lynn Whitlock
Pickens
What is it good for?
Dear Editor,
I believe most of the human race wants the same thing. To work and come home to their families. Enjoy life. Live and
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AARP offers scam alert map
The scammers sure have been busy. Is there no end to their creativity?
The AARP is helping us to fight back, however, with its Fraud Watch Network’s free Scam Tracking Map. You’ll find 
the map on the AARP website (aarp.org) when you put “scam tracking map” in the search box.
Be sure to click on the widest possible search area, 200 miles, after you enter your ZIP code. Click first on AARP user-submitted reports. You’ll see colored dots where scams have occurred. Click on one and scroll down to see the details. After you view those reports, go back and click on Law Enforcement Alerts, with authorities warning about scams near you.
The wide variety of scams is surprising. One involved an alleged refund where the thieves wanted to deposit the
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Do hummingbirds really hum?
Have you ever wondered why hummingbirds will fight over access to a feeder when there’s plenty to go around? It’s almost like humans. There’s a feeder right outside my kitchen window. To refill it, all it takes is to open the window, detach the feeder from its hook, clean it and refill it.
There are eight little openings in the feeder, and in theory eight hummingbirds could eat at a time.
But even if there are but two competing for the sweetened water, they will attack each other. I read that the red dye in hummingbird water can be hazardous, so I mix my own for the feeder. When there’s a crowd out ther I’ll mix four cups,. As the population declines the amount will be reduced
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House on the farm
The year was 1943, some two years before I showed my pretty little mischievous face in this world, when George and Dessie O’Shield bought and moved to a farm in northern Pickens County. They carried their brood of eight children with them to this farm called the Old Looper Place.
It was a rather large farm consisting of 111 acres. The farm had a couple of branches running through it and was bordered on the eastern side by Twelve Mile River. It was traversed by three roads. Shady Grove Road, the highway to Pickens, was the main highway, and it was paved. Meece Mill Road, bordering on the north and west, was also paved. Red Hill Road ran between the house and river, and it was unpaved.
I remember helping my older brothers wash their cars in the small branch that ran across Red Hill Road. The property extended across a hill to encompass what is now the county
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A loss of darkness
We are losing our dark skies! It won’t be long before only the moon will be visible in the Upstate night sky.
Excessive and inappropriate artificial light has been documented to have numerous negative effects. It is 
harmful to wildlife and the ecosystem.
Artificial light also negatively affects humans’ circadian rhythm. It wastes energy and thus indirectly is a contributor to global warning. Everywhere humans go, we install lights.
Some argue that lights prevent crime. There have been numerous studies that indicate the contrary. Yes, there are times to appropriately illuminate an area for safety and security.
It is time to preserve our night skies before they are lost forever. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) mission is to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through
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When a veteran dies without family
When a veteran dies and there is no family to tend to the details, the cremated remains will sometimes stay in storage for years. They’re called Unclaimed Veterans. If the eventual burial takes place in a Department 
of Veterans Affairs cemetery, it’s called an Unattended Interment.
Sometimes these veterans are homeless; sometimes they’re in a care facility. Sometimes no one knows the whole truth unless VA paperwork is found in the veteran’s belongings.
I know of three situations in the past six months where veterans with no relatives were buried — yet hundreds and thousands showed up at their funerals. In
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