Category Archives: Opinions
No games played here
I went to my very first hockey game in Nashville last Thursday night and watched the Predators play the Anaheim Ducks for a spot in the Stanley Cup finals. It was an 
amazing experience. No. It was more than that. It may have been a life-altering experience.
The only thing to compare it to was the battle scene from Braveheart, the movie, when the Scots are lined up with their blue-painted faces and roar out their battle cries as the English bear down on them on horseback.
There were people at the game who had painted their
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Why me?
Questions:
There have been several questions about people who realize they have the beginning stages of dementia and loved ones who realize they, too, may someday have the 
disease. We have grouped them together, because the answer is similar to anyone experiencing dementia or any life-threatening disease.
Answer:
It is easy to have a pity party and bemoan our fate. It takes a stronger person who, amid a disaster, can focus on the positive. Each day
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Courier Letters to the Editor 5-24-17
Keep your hands off our funds
Dear Editor,
This letter is to all the politicians who keep calling Social Security and Medicare “entitlement” programs. I’ve got some hot news for you uninformed politicians.
These programs are business deals we workers made with our government. The deal
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A big step for transparency
It’s been a long time coming, but citizens of South Carolina will soon have faster and cheaper access to public documents.
For seven years, the Legislature has for one reason or the other not passed a Freedom of Information reform bill. Lawmakers did so on the last day of the session this year, and it offers some real improvements in our state’s open government law.
The House, led by Reps. Weston Newton and Bill Taylor, pushed hard for the reform and in the end concurred in a last-minute Senate amendment doing away with establishment of a Freedom of
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Letters to the Editor 5-17-17
The Never Ending Roads Story
Dear Editor,
The Never Ending Roads Story has been going on and on for three, four, five years or more, maybe since the beginnings of government. Has it truly come to an end? Doubtful.
During the last three to five years, I’ve had the opportunity to watch ETV and see the
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What were they thinking?
Does anybody remember Jim and Tammy Bakker? Remember their dogs and their air-conditioned dog houses? The gold hardware in their bathrooms? Or maybe it was gold plated. It has been a long time ago.
The only reason they came to mind is because my Southern Living magazine came in the mail and I was leafing through it.
I read the recipes, Rick Bragg’s pieces in the back and enjoy poring over the garden pages. Also, I enjoy just looking at the beautiful photography.
But this month there was a jarring note. It was not something I was expecting.
Often, they’ll run house plans with pictures of the house.
And there in the magazine was a house plan.
It wasn’t very large. I thought it might be one of the new tiny houses.
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Courier Letters to the Editor
County officials get raises
Dear Editor,
I’ve been looking at Pickens County Council meetings, pulling up the meeting agendas and reading the minutes of their meetings. A couple of times I saw an agenda item “Compensation Study” with words added like “Phase I or Phase II” or “Elected Officials.” The topic was mentioned in meetings, but no specifics were given.
Reading the minutes, examining the agenda and watching the meetings, you’d have to be Sherlock
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Could your loved one be a budding ‘Grandma Moses’?
Your loved one may be a budding “Grandma Moses.” Anna Mary Robertson (Moses), also known as “Grandma Moses,” began creating art in her late 70s. She was completely self-taught. Anna lost her husband, Thomas Moses, and suffered a great loss. She sought ways to keep busy and overcome her grief. Art was the answer for her.
It may also be the answer for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that affects the brain in a predictable way. It begins in the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for creating memories from experiences. From there it moves to the front of the brain, where language is processed and executive functions like decision making are formulated. Next, it moves to the logic center, where problem solving and planning are controlled. Emotions and creativity remain viable for a much longer time.
Studies have shown that art is a wonderful therapy for patients with any type of dementia. “We would
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Study: Exercise boosts cognitive function
Australian scientists at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise at Canberra analyzed 39 studies to explore whether structured exercise really does improve cognitive function in adults over age 50.
Results of the study, printed in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, say yes, it does. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s aerobics, resistance training or tai chi, or any combination of those. Even if there is existing mild cognitive dysfunction, moderate-intensity exercise can help.
It’s thought that exercise increases the blood supply to the brain, along with oxygen, reducing the effects of aging and
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King without a kingdom
We Americans once had a king named George. George had some issues with our ancestors, who came here in the first place because things weren’t perfect for them in England. They bore with the monarchy for a while. But because we were separated by an ocean, George couldn’t control us as much as he would have liked. We didn’t lie down and roll over. We weren’t that Kind of people.
When our people were finally fed up with being taken to the cleaners with no representatives speaking on their behalf, they rebelled.
After lots of debate, disagreement and then compromise, 56 men from the 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence. They formed the Continental Congress, and
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