ArcaMax

The ancient Romans coined the phrase "dog days" based on the period that the brightest star (Sirius, the Dog Star) rose and set in conjunction with the sun. The Romans believed that Sirius radiated heat back to Earth, causing the hottest part of the year as it traveled with the sun.

The "dog days" dates vary based on the source. The Old Farmers...Read more

An oxymoron is "a combination of contradictory or incongruous words," according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Think of the phrases "open secret" or "working vacation."

This week, the oxymoron that came to my mind was "government competency." I went to my local post office to mail a book to a friend. When I got there, the lobby was ...Read more

Georgians, whose votes proved key during the last election in setting the nation's balance of power, are unhappy with the way the country is headed, according to an AARP poll released last week that holds clues as to how candidates in the state can succeed in the coming election.

As background, Georgia's last governor's race, in 2018, was close...Read more

If you're a Democratic elected official, you know you have problems when the New York Times begins to question your future. This happened Monday when the Gray Lady published an article by Shane Goldmacher titled "Most Democrats Don't Want Biden in 2024, New Poll Shows."

"With the country gripped by a pervasive sense of pessimism, the president ...Read more

Bad news seems to be all too prevalent today. Some of the news is tragic (innocent people killed watching a parade on July 4 in Highland Park, Illinois); some of it is inconvenient (supply chains disrupted, items back-ordered and projects delayed); some is draining and depleting (high gas prices, increases in inflation, and the acknowledgment ...Read more

I am proud to be an American. Yes, I know that our system of government is not perfect, but I firmly believe that it is the best in the world. We are an exceptional country, not because our people are exceptional but because we have a different, and exceptional, structure of government. I am grateful that I was born an American.

We declared our...Read more

Today it's clear that the economy is not doing well. Gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 1.5% in the first quarter of 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and inflation is at a 40-year high.

What we do know is that consumers are feeling the burden of rising prices, and there are still supply chain issues ...Read more

I've often told my children that the most important decision they will ever make is whom they marry. For those of us blessed to have children, the decision has an impact that goes beyond who will love, comfort, honor and keep us (as the Episcopal Church vows state).

It includes who will be a role model to our children, who will help provide for...Read more

We lived in Belgium in the late 1960s while my father researched for his dissertation. I was too young to remember, but my mother told me that, while traveling in France, we were greeted by a standing ovation at a restaurant because we were Americans, and American troops had freed their city from Nazi control a few decades before.

That ovation ...Read more

May is graduation month. Students, parents and friends celebrate the end of one process and the start of another. Once we finish with our formal education, we often forget that our learning should not end. Lifelong learning is critical, and I hope that this column will serve as a reminder that we all have something more to learn. Think of this, ...Read more