Common Sense Authoritarians

The clearest path to a tyrannical government is restricting the ownership of weapons by the populace.  Background checks, red flag laws and the other “common sense” gun laws are bad laws. They all serve the purpose of disarming the people and taking away their power.

History of Graham County roads

Prior to 1838, there is no record of any roads in Graham County: only old Cherokee Indian trading paths that were only narrow trails at best.   The first wagon road was the road built from Andrews to Robbinsville around 1838 for the removal of the Cherokees. It was built by the U.S.

“Bronze serpent” can be inoculated

On Easter Monday, my family had a trip to visit the North Carolina Zoo. It was a beautiful day and a great experience.  On the way out of one of the parks, to my right, was a bronze snake on the hand rail. I didn’t notice it was bronze until I had put some distance between me and the sculpture.

Charlie 1, COVID 0

Well, I guess I’m part of history now.  Some of you readers may have noticed the absence of my byline in the April 8 edition of the Star. During that week – and for half of the prior one – I was in isolation, after testing positive for COVID-19.

Twenty years later, where are we in the "War on Terrorism?"

President Biden announced last week that we would withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021.  Twenty years ago, this date was seared into our memories with four hijacked planes.  Two toppled the World Trade Towers. One crashed into the Pentagon.

Tales from years in timber camps

During the early logging days in Graham County, logging camps were located in several areas, including Big Santeetlah, Big Snowbird and Slickrock.  As would be expected – any time a group of men are together for a period of time – there are bound to be some stories come from it.

Hearing both sides

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. “   The Derek Chauvin case seemed pretty clearcut. When the video surfaced last May, I had no problem with saying that Chauvin should be convicted.

Control diabetes before it controls you

Diabetes Mellitus is one lifestyle disease that affects all ages, whether young or old. In fact, studies show diabetes affects an estimated 25.8 million Americans of all ages – over eight percent of the population.

Easter is a year-long celebration

The Christian faith just celebrated another Easter day.  With Easter over, it is time to put Granny’s deviled egg dish back in the china cabinet and settle back into the routine.  Not so fast! I challenge you with the question, “Is Easter just one day?

Everyone likes infrastructure

The second phase of Biden-omics was announced last week.