We are all a bunch of lucky ducks. While all the world is concerned about war, terrorism, plague, natural disasters and whether the asteroid will hit us, we Americans are focused on whether or not anybody had knowledge that the game footballs used by the New England Patriots were under-inflated.

Not that the issue isn’t of utmost importance. Apparently an under-inflated football in the possession of any team gives them an incredible

Analyzing the taxes list

Dear Editor,

I read with astonishment the letter published last week regarding the multitude of taxes we bear, from the Pickens County Taxpayers Association. A closer examination compelled me to respond. Instead of hitting all 61 separate taxes, I’ll group them in the interest of time.

Taxes that we don’t pay in Pickens County: This includes dog licenses, bike licenses, bike and

Dogs are the most reliable of creatures when it comes to being loyal. You can tell a dog anything without having to worry about seeing your secret broadcast on the six o’clock news.

Dogs are also very protective of your interests. Look at Red Dog, our old boxer. He is top dog now and takes those responsibilities very seriously.

He has a squad of loyal soldiers who follow his lead into any situation.

We have a large propane tank in our side yard. Red Dog feels strongly that it is his duty to keep a close watch on this tank and protect it from intruders.

When the propane truck pulls into the yard, Red

Do you care about your county?

Dear Editor,

Pickens County schools need a tax increase in order to restore funding to 2007 levels. There are folks who are passionate about the future of Pickens County, and then there are those who are passionate about their party’s no-tax pledge.

Let’s take a look at some of the folks who are passionate about the future of Pickens County. Google “Concerned Citizens of Pickens County.” Look at the passion, the supporting graphs and

During the 1990s, a documentary titled “Uprising” about efforts by workers in the South to unionize textile mills was made. It was a factual account about events taking place in 1934 at a textile mill in Honea Path.

There was so much concern about having the film aired on SCETV, a decision was made not to air it. This was 20 years ago. But it happened.

Despite the resistance by the powers-that-be, the documentary was shown at the Easley Library on a rainy night with perhaps a dozen people in attendance, counting the team from Columbia that presented it.

Why was the film so controversial?

In September 1934, textile workers at the mill in

Last week, Gov. Nikki Haley was sworn in for her second four-year term and a new legislature convened in the Statehouse. This seems like an appropriate time to look back on their record over the last four years.

Gov. Haley delivered a short Inaugural Address in which she laid out her ideas for the next four years. This caused me to begin to think about the standards and measures we use to evaluate what government does and what it ought to do.

In short: What is the test by which we should judge what government should do?

In thinking about what would be a good standard, I began by Googling a number of terms, such

Saitta talks school taxes

Dear Editor,

When I read the letters of those advocating higher school taxes in Pickens County, I wondered if these individuals actually looked at the data. Responding point by point…

Academic performance is not falling in Pickens County, nor is it low. Pickens ranks seventh in the state out of 85 districts on the SAT. Our PASS ranking is 20th. The graduation rate has risen significantly from 71.2 percent in 2010 to 80.4 percent this past year.

It is also untrue starting teachers in Pickens make $3,000 less a year than teachers in surrounding districts. A first year teacher with a bachelor’s degree in Pickens earns $893 less

The terrorists’ outbreak in Paris was another act of hatred. The extremists who carried out these attacks have nothing to do with religion, but everything to do with the cult mentality which is embraced by those who feed on hatred and cultivate it.

The journalists and cartoonists who were slaughtered lost their lives because they used the written word and political cartoons to comment on what they found ridiculous and illogical.

The magazine suffering the loss of so many valuable staff members wasn’t silenced by the attack. They put out another issue — with one million extra copies — because they won’t allow this act of terrorism to silence the free press.

The word goes on, I guess, but it is definitely poorer.

Mr. Lake Looper of Dacusville has passed away at age 100.

My contact with Mr. Looper was limited, but he made a deep impression on me. When I was a child of maybe 8 years old, my parents made the courageous decision that instead of going to Easley to go to Rock Springs Baptist Church, we would start going to Nine Forks Baptist Church in Dacusville, just a couple of miles from our house.

The four Robinson kids had started school in Easley so we could spend time with our grandmother and our beloved uncle Cecil. When my eldest sister, Rhonda, came to

No repeating our mistake

Dear Editor,

Recent news on economic development in the Upstate has omitted the fact that Pickens County is not a member of the Upstate Alliance. The county dropped out of the alliance two years ago.

S.C. Commerce Department officials have stated publicly that they only want to work with regional alliances, not individual counties. Commerce has $5 million annually to market the