Category Archives: Opinions
Goals for 2023
I didn’t rush to create my goals for 2023, but the time has come …
One year ago I made two goals: to buy weekly food donation cards at the grocery store to give to the food bank and to continue to pick up weekly groceries for three elderly neighbors. I made it three-quarters of the year on both of those.
Food prices just got too high for me to continue to buy a donation card each week. And picking up groceries for the three
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Barnett’s bold predictions for 2023
Back, by popular demand — my predictions for the new year, 2023 edition.
Disclaimer: Since I am the self-proclaimed pundit of this column, I can predict anything I want, but I make no guarantees of accuracy.
So why not go with some wildly optimistic prognostications?
Here we go:
Vladimir Putin, also known as Pootin the Terrible, is going to be visited by the ghost of Rasputin, the deviant spiritual advisor to the last czar. From this nocturnal encounter, “Poot” will undergo a mystical transformation not unlike that of
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Enjoying the comforts of remaining the same
As God continues to move upon the earth, He has never stopped calling His children to be truth seekers, to speak His words and demonstrate His character. The painful fact is this does not happen automatically. There must be a passion to advance into God, and this means the closer we come to Him, the more we will become 
the best version of ourselves.
Most people have never really studied religious history and know very little about why we believe the way we do. The traditions the masses learn about God derive from what they have been told and very few have the desire to research on
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Courier Letters To the Editor 1-4-23
Advice for the new year
Dear Editor,
We’re starting a new year, which is sort of like having a second chance to try at life again. Trying hard not to fail with the second chance.
Here’s some advice for the new year. Anyone who has read my letters over the years knows I rarely mention politics, local or national. The way I see it, it’s a waste of time and precious print space. I’ll make an exception because of New Year’s.
Now anything said about one political party could just as easily be said about your party. “They rigged the election.” “They stole the election!” If I wanted to, all I’d
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A musical review of 2022
First, let me set the scene:
Imagine the voice of Johnny Cash and the guitar pickin’ of Carl Perkins, with a rowdy crowd of Folsom Prison inmates cheering them on, to a boom-chicka boom-chicka beat…
Now, in your mind’s ear, take an imaginary listen to my musical review of the old year, as it slowly fades into the tattered pages of history.
Kick it off, Carl!
Boom-chicka boom-chicka boom-chicka, boom…
Well I’m gonna sing a song about 2022
And it goes to the rhythm of “A Boy Named Sue.”
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Our hope for the New Year
We are at the end of another year, and it always brings thoughts of starting fresh and having hope for the future.
Most of us have watched the ball drop on New Year’s Eve, which officially declares “out with the old and in with the new.” At midnight, people from all over the world will celebrate the turning of the next page of their lives.
Over the years, the “time ball” has undergone several changes in design, and the most recent was created for the millennial celebration in the year 2000 by Waterford Crystal. It’s a geodesic sphere, six feet in diameter and weighing approximately 1,070 pounds. It’s covered with a total of 504 crystal triangles that vary in size, and each piece has a
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Enrolling in VA life insurance
As of now, for the first time in 50 years, the Department of Veterans Affairs is opening up enrollment in Veterans Affairs Life Insurance, aka VALife. Veterans who 
are age 80 or under, with any level of service-connected disabilities, are guaranteed to be accepted to receive up to $40,000 in whole life insurance.
A bonus is that there is no requirement for medical underwriting, meaning that no one is going to squint
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Billion safety recalls
It was recently disclosed that in the first half of 2022, there were over 1 billion recalls across the country of products that we buy.
That’s billion, with a “b.” Depending on the level of the recall, some of them can be extremely serious … even deadly.
How do we know whether we missed an announcement about a product we own? We can go online
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Saitta talks Highway 11 ordinance
As you may have read or saw on TV, there was a final vote on Scenic Highway 11.
I’m calling this plan passed by the council 5-to-1 (I voted “No”) “The Highway 11 Land Development Act of 2022.” Our section of Highway 11 will end up looking like 
Oconee’s Highway 11 in a matter of time, sad to say.
The council plan does very little to protect the beauty of the highway, as it allows manufacturing, commercial and subdivision development all along Highway 11. Really, it just controls the look of those things.
The dollar stores will be built; they’ll just have to look like a tree. The storage facilities, too; they’ll just have to look like the side of a mountain.
If you went to the public meetings or talked to those who live on the highway, an overwhelming majority oppose new
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Courier Letters to the Editor 12-14-22
Dear Editor,
I know people will be leaving their homes to celebrate Christmas with family and friends, so here are just a few ways to secure your home. Burglar alarms are the best option, but you can add fire alarms and even surveillance cameras if you want to.
I have personal experience with a burglary during the early morning while sleeping. A burglar got the front door open by prying it open. This set off the alarm, which made them run off. Don’t advertise your house — for example, mailbox overfilled, thrown-out papers on the driveway. I have seen this in my 28 years of law
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