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Waging war on a ‘king’

The entertainment press found it very important to report that Hollywood thinks President Donald Trump is an authoritarian. This is still somehow considered “news.” Over 2,300 members of the Writers Guild felt compelled to speak out in an open letter because they believe in their “role in a healthy democracy.” In 2024, democracy was healthy, and Hollywood’s candidate lost. “Writers Guild of America West PAC Endorses Kamala Harris for President,” they announced. So sad. They can’t get over it. When the Left’s feverishly spinning propaganda machines don’t work, ...

Overreach not partisan

Partisanship, although a persistent feature of American politics, has become increasingly intense and divisive in recent years. Both parties seem convinced that the new millennium is the time for either “golden” ages or social experimentation. During the Joe Biden administration, the use of executive orders aimed to alleviate student indebtedness and other economic ills. Donald Trump has his own brand of executive fiat, challenging birthright citizenship and/or pushing tariffs. The central feature of Biden and Trump’s overreach is that they tried to bypass Congress. Before ...

Education emergency measures

State Senator Robbie Morris was our special guest for the August First Friday Focus on Education meeting at Kump Education Center. He explained Senate Bill 516 for providing a new formula to increase tax funding for students in remote rural schools. He introduced this bill as a new legislator in the winter session, but it never got beyond the finance committee. On Tuesday, the Randolph County Board of Education had a visit from state efficiency experts to explain why our county has Emergency Status with the West Virginia School Board. Our local B)E has six months to come up with a ...

Future requires dinosaurs

Long before man walked the Earth, God in His providence created the animals, then sent a massive asteroid that collided with the Earth, wiped out the dinosaurs and other large animals, piled rubble, heat and pressure on top of them and turned them into fossil fuels. Or something like that. God, generously, provided a source of energy a long, long time before Henry Ford rolled the Model T off his assembly line. Take the creation story however you want, but the bottom line is that the world runs on fossil fuels. They are necessary for more than just the internal combustion engine. They ...

‘Drop the Rock’ to gain serenity and improve relationships

“Drop the Rock” is a short talk by the late speaker Sandy Beach. (Yes, his real name!) It is a favorite message of mine. You can click here to listen to it on YouTube, but to summarize, the story describes a person struggling to swim out to a boat where her friends were waiting. She was weighed down by a rock around her neck (her friends could see it, yet she could not). The friends kept yelling, “Drop the rock!” When she finally began to untangle the strings holding the rock around her neck, the load became lighter, and she could swim out to the boat and meet her friends. In ...

Barbour County ready for county fair, going back to school

The next time you hear from me, school will be back in session. The summer has flown by. School in Barbour County starts Aug. 14. I hope everyone has a good and safe year. Barbour County Youth Football and Cheer still has space open for cheerleaders in the 10–12 age group. Thanks to a generous anonymous donation, registration is now completely free for anyone in that age group who signs up between now and weigh-ins. At least three more cheerleaders are needed to form a team — let’s help make it happen! Philippi United Methodist Church is excited to welcome back and ...