Category Archives: Opinions
Courier Letters to the Editor
Things to know about primaries
Dear Editor,
I have been an election poll worker for many years. Here are some things you may want to know about South Carolina’s upcoming Presidential Preference Primary (PPP) elections.
The Democratic PPP will be Saturday, Feb. 3. Polls are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
The Republican PPP will be Saturday, Feb. 24. Polls are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
All voters are required to show a government-issued photo ID when checking in to
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The mountains of smoke and music
Just as the sun began to rise, a Cherokee brave moved swiftly, but silently, up the mountain path. A smoky mist cast a hazy glow over the pine tree-covered trail.
He stopped briefly by a rotting log to inspect the tracks he was following. The Cherokee hunted these “smoking mountains” for more than 1,000 years. They learned to listen to what the mountain told
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Good and bad of the YAM Winter Bluegrass Jubilee
When Ed and I arrived home last weekend from the most wonderful Winter Bluegrass Jubilee with a packed-to-the-ceiling van, we could hardly make it fast enough to the couch and recliner.
We talked for a bit of how we were bursting with pride and joy about our event, and then we fell in the bed. But, at 2:15, I woke up — my head and
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‘We are doomed!’
Starting a conversation with my granddaughter on Christmas morning 2023, I asked about her thoughts on global warming after asking her parents if I could.
She mumbled something. I am hard of hearing, so I asked her to repeat it. She said, “We are doomed.” Not wanting to believe what I heard or hoping I misheard, I asked again, and mom, dad and daughter
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Do we love sin more than God?
A few weeks ago, we talked about a man named Achan and how his secret sin was not a secret to God.
The book of Joshua in chapters 6 and 7 reveals this was not a situation where a person steals something and they alone are punished for it. Since he and his
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Courier Letters to the Editor 1-24-24
Controversy over books in libraries
Dear Editor,
At the first library board meeting of the year on Jan. 18, it became clear there is a controversy.
Usually when there is a controversy over an “idea,” one who wants to debate their “idea” needs to
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Courier Letters to the Editor 1-17-24
Annexation law changes could help
Dear Editor,
You have read in the Pickens County Courier the county council passed a resolution or request of the municipalities to do the following: cease any and all annexations over the next 180 days, coordinate with the county to better manage growth and explore the idea of a joint
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Here we go again
I’m not the only one who has opted, once again, to stay home. Both the rec center and the senior 
center are cutting back on classes and hours because of the lack of participation, again, but mostly because of the sudden increase in cases of COVID, again. Of course
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Psychedelics for our military
The $883.7 billion National Defense Authorization Act for 2024 makes for some interesting reading, not only for what it left out, but what it included. What you won’t find is the medical 
cannabis pilot program for veterans promoted by many, but you will find a treatment program using psychedelics
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for veterans and active duty with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Specifically, it calls for clinical trials with the Department of Defense to create a system wherein they can spend up to $10 million on psychedelics research. It only gives them 180 days to get started. Covered conditions, besides TBI and PTSD, include depression and insomnia.
Some of the drugs to be used are psychedelic drugs psilocybin (magic mushrooms), MDMA (ecstacy) and 5-MeO-DMT (from toad glands).
There are some reported successes from using psychedelics. The Food and Drug Administration said in 2017 that they’d had positive results using LSD and the magic mushrooms. The amounts given are small and are called “microdoses.” A short report with a lengthy list of citations in the Marine Corps Gazette in 2019 describes the use of LSD, mushrooms and more to attempt to gain an edge in efficiency and productivity when it comes to attention to detail, mental processing and reasoning. The report points to the way LSD changes the brain’s method of problem solving. Maybe this explains why it might be useful in helping veterans who suffer from PTSD. By creating new ways to think about things?
Yet another study, documented in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, found that the magic mushrooms reduced PTSD symptoms. The trial combined three doses of the mushrooms with psychotherapy. After Phase 2 of the trial, 56% of participants no longer had PTSD when checked 12 months later, after having suffered for many years.
If you want to learn more, listen to a podcast on the topic that includes a veteran who participated in a psychedelics study nine years ago: news.va.gov/124415/exploring-psychedelics-treatment-of-veterans.
© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.
The plot, the pirate, the plan
During the War of 1812, the British turned their attention to the city of New Orleans.
It was an important port on the Mississippi River. Steamships carried American exports of cotton and sugar to ocean-going vessels. Booming business made lawyers, insurers and
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