Archive By Section - Columns
Westerns still have their fans
I'm not much of a movie-goer -- maybe one a year, or two at the most. But I intend to see "True Grit." First of all, westerns are my favorite type movie, though they don't make many of them anymore. And second, Jeff Bridges is a good actor. I'm not a sophisticated enough movie maven to truly appreciate fine acting, but his performance as the down-and-out country singer in "Crazy Heart" was ...
Cooperation
My first Saturday night in office started at 8:00PM in the training room at the Sheriff's Office. I joined Sheriff's Deputies, Camden Police Officers, a couple of 16-year-old minors and two of my captains for a briefing by a Sheriff's Office investigator. He briefed everyone on our operations for the night. We were going to target stores in Kershaw County that could legally sell beer just to see if they would sell to these ...
Huck Finn stirs trouble again
Making good on a campaign promise, the Republican-dominated 112th House of Representatives opened with a reading of the Constitution. But they copped out of reading some of the most thought-provoking parts.
Better read than dead?
NEW YORK -- While sorting through the perennial lip-pursing tempest about a certain word in Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" -- the "N-word," as we now say it -- I turned for inspiration to the master himself.
Camping out
"You want to do what?" I said. Although I asked the question, I fully understood what the boy had just asked. He is my son, after all, and since he has not yet reached high school, we still speak the same language although the dialect is becoming more and more, let's say, strained. His question was short and to the point and he knew I understood, but asked again anyway with perfect clarity: ...
New year, new budget
Something I didn't do very well in 2010 was managing my family's personal finances.
Boomers, embrace your inner grouch
We baby boomers begin to turn 65 this year, which gives us a new excuse to be grumpy.
Is there a vaccine for that?
Good morning, and please step into my office. I'm Dr. Tucker. Are you feeling bummed out by the colder-than-normal temperatures? Left shivering by nights in the teens and days that don't get out of the 40s? Weary of winter and ready for spring? Not so fast. You're not just weary of winter; you're sick. As in "ill." What's that, you say? You might have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which ...
Good teen pals equal good politics
Of all the scientific studies that came out this past year, the most intriguing to me confirms an old theory: Adult politics are really an extension of which clique you joined in high school.
Out with resolutions, in with bucket list
I refuse to make a New Year's Resolution this year. They never work. For the past several years, I always ran to the gym and ate healthy during the first two weeks in January -- three weeks, tops -- only to then get complacent with how healthy, frugal and "grown-up" I'd become. But then I got so complacent that I eventually slacked off on my resolutions, felt guilty about slacking off, ...
Crushing the winds
In part two, I continue to recount my trek through Wyoming's Wind River Range. If you didn't catch part one, I will briefly get you up to speed: This past August, while looking to recharge mental strength and energy, I connected with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and its Rocky Mountain Light and Fast Backpacking Course. Our team, eight students and two instructors, hiked 140 miles in 13 days through the remote Wind ...
Save us from our devices
WASHINGTON -- Mr. Speaker, please don't. Go ahead, if you must, and cut taxes. Slash spending. Repeal health care. I understand. Elections have consequences. But BlackBerrys and iPads and laptops on the House floor? Reconsider, before it's too late. The current House rules bar the use of a "wireless telephone or personal computer on the floor of the House." The new rules, unveiled recently, add three dangerous words. They prohibit any device ...
A resolution for all times
NEW YORK -- It befalls the columnist this time of year to look back and recap; to assign blame and shame, while offering the obligatory mea culpa; and, of course, to resolve.
Don't speak, write
My voice bothers me. Hearing my intonation on an answering machine or a message makes me wince. But there's not really a thing I can do to change this, is there? Sure, I often enjoy cigars, and think perhaps this will give my pipes a deeper, raspier tone, but I don't honestly trust it'll Barry White my inflection.
Sometimes, crime makes you laugh
About this time last year, I started a new tradition: looking back at the year in crime -- but from a funny point of view.
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.
Page 1 of 1
Contents of this site are © Copyright 2013 Chronicle Independent All rights reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of service
