Archive By Section - Columns
First lady's fitness vs. her critics
Everyone supports physical fitness, it appears, until first lady Michelle Obama calls for it.
When selling yourself is a short sale
I've quite decided that I'm going to become one of those life coach guru types. They're making a killing these days. Surely I can swindle, uh, coach my way to fame and fortune.
Dark days for solar power
Ever heard of the Solyndra solar-cell plant in Fremont, Calif.? Most people haven't. That's a shame, considering how much taxpayer money has been poured into it.
A 'Where's Waldo?' presidency
WASHINGTON -- For a man who won office talking about change we can believe in, Barack Obama can be a strangely passive president. There are a startling number of occasions in which the president has been missing in action -- unwilling, reluctant or late to weigh in on the issue of the moment. He is, too often, more reactive than inspirational, more cautious than forceful.
At the movies ... at home
If Hollywood depended on people like me, the movie industry would be busted flatter than Bernie Madoff's investor friends.
How Rahm defused the race bomb
It seemed like a good idea at the time. After Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced he would not run for reelection after almost 22 years in office, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other prominent black leaders saw a golden opportunity.
Figuring out the dollars and sense
I'm a journalist, which, by definition, means that I hate math. And one thing that I hate more than math is budgeting. So you probably may have guessed that the only thing I hate more than budgeting is having a serious conversation with my husband about how we need to start budgeting. But after examining our bank statements recently, I've come to realize that evaluating our spending habits is something that's ...
How long is a long good-bye?
Lately and more than once, that irritating detail known as "time" has saturated my mind in an especially tense and poignant manner. Tick –tock. Tick-tock. Shut off that annoying sound. Can time be disguised as sound? It can be for some. Perhaps it's the sound of an alarm clock at first light; or the sound of a bell when the school day is complete; or the sound of a buzzer when the game is ...
The power of early education
One of the many priceless moments in the 1990 film "Kindergarten Cop" takes place when Detective John Kimble, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, tries to explain why he is a kindergarten teacher. To a teacher colleague, who is unaware he has entered the school in an undercover role, he explains, "I got tired of teaching teenagers because by the time they came to me I felt there wasn't much ...
Lifting the heavy thumb
WASHINGTON -- Mike Huckabee made a great argument for gay marriage. The once and perhaps future Republican presidential candidate didn't mean it that way, of course. Actually, he was slamming President Obama's decision to stop defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Huckabee, speaking at a session sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, criticized Obama for being "clearly out of sync ...
Music to make you smile
Music makes the world go 'round. A world without music is a world in which I wouldn't want to live.
A crisis offers union-busting opportunity
If anything is clear in the labor clash that has brought Wisconsin government to a screeching halt it is how neither side has been all that clear about what the fight really is about.
Councils' strategies are smart moves
Both Camden City and Kershaw County councils seem to be made up of people with good heads on their shoulders.
The face(s) of Kershaw County public education
While sorting through the papers of a deceased friend of mine who wished them given to the South Caroliniana Library, I came across a 1970-71 annual of the Kershaw County Vocational Center. I soon visited Howard Branham, director of the Camden Archives and Museum, to see if they had a copy in their collection. They did not but in a few minutes Howard made a copy and added it to their collection.
Doing multiculturalism right
Among their other headaches, some of Europe's biggest leaders are troubled by the lukewarm state of their countries' melting pots.
Articles by Section - Columns
New York, New York!
I'm planning my first trip to New York in June and I am so excited!
On press freedoms, Obama races Nixon to bottom
Despite what you may hear from some of his more fevered critics, President Barack Obama's recent scandal-quakes don't appear to fall anywhere near the level of Richard Nixon's Watergate disaster. But by another Nixonian yardstick, trying to put a muzzle on press freedoms, Team Obama appears to have surged into the lead.
Moment of Nature - May 24, 2013
In countries around the world, the oak tree is the symbol of strength, fortitude and endurance. In the U.S., the oak was designated in 2004 as our national tree. Despite this status as a stalwart of the forest and city alike, oaks in our native and urban ecosystems face tremendous challenges from diseases, insect pests and human-caused disorders.
Life and death with the eagles
Last year about this time, I talked with you about how technology is bringing the magic of nature -- specifically, the majesty of American's symbol, the bald eagle – into our living rooms.
A trifecta with little payout
WASHINGTON -- Folks, deep breath time. This is not the end of the Obama presidency. It's a bad stretch with an unfortunate confluence of unfortunate events. None of which will make the first paragraph -- not even the first page -- of the account of the Obama administration in the history books. Let's tick through the trifecta of scandals and what they tell ...
A short vocabulary lesson
This past weekend, I had the rare, but always enjoyable, visit from my grandparents. I don't know about you, but anytime I have the opportunity to spend time with them I learn something new; sometimes about myself, sometimes about life, but always it's something.
Landscape, architectural history professor visits Camden
Camden welcomed an extraordinary visitor and new friend last week: Nina Antonetti, an "urbanist." She's been teaching about cities at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., for the last 15 years.
Not such strange bedfellows
WASHINGTON -- Breaking news: Conservative organizations suddenly have found common cause with one of their favorite objects of contempt -- the benighted Mainstream Media.
Seniors reflect
I meet with a lot of groups and committees over the course of the year, and I think it's important for me to do so. One of my favorite groups is Student Cabinet, which is comprised of student government leaders from each of our high schools. We meet four times a year over lunch. What I love and value about students is that they don't hesitate to tell you what's ...
A matter of conscience:
In 1929, my family moved from Chesterfield County to a farm adjoining the farm of Donald Holland's parents in the Cassatt community. I was a year old at the time but before many years passed, Donald and I established a friendship lasting until Donald's passing in 2003.
When DOJ targets press, we all lose
To say I was stunned was putting it mildly. I was shocked to learn about the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) decision to seize phone records belonging to the Associated Press (AP). The C-I does not belong to the AP; I have never written for the service. That doesn't negate my outrage at DOJ's actions.
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