The 9-11 terrorist attacks that created the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security also inspired the tagline: “See something, say something.” However, when people take those words seriously, they aren’t necessarily treated with respect or seriousness. Case in point is the educator and former car salesman who observed numerous 9-11 hijackers in southern…
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Bad news travels fast these days, as I discovered last week through the modern equivalent of the back fence: Facebook. A family member posted an RIP for Tom Sirotnak, an evangelist in Southern California who I had known for nearly 24 years. Until I met Tom through a writing project that led to collaborating with…
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College football kicks off tonight with a slate of 16 games, followed by 11 more on Friday and such big-name clashes on Saturday as Alabama vs. Southern California, and UCLA vs. Texas A&M. However, if you want to watch some football and finish with a good feeling—no matter who wins—check out the movie, Greater. The…
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Last year I wrote a blog about the impressive public art project in Huntington, West Virginia known as the Artisans Express. A fund raiser for the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital, it was sponsored by the Cabell Huntington Hospital Foundation. The organization invited artists to submit their interpretations for train engine models (trains being a key…
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There were so many good things to talk about in my last blog about Time’s recent double issue on reasons to celebrate America that I couldn’t include them all. Especially the article titled: “The death of the bookstore was greatly exaggerated.” Ironically, the issue arrived the same week I saw a Publishers Weekly article headlined,…
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After watching two of the most contentious, anger-filled political conventions that I can ever remember, it would be easy to get depressed about the state of our nation. It’s hard to believe that participants of the respective major political parties could throw so many slings and arrows that a visitor would think they were describing…
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After two weeks of Brexit-inspired waffling, the stock market shot up near its all-time historic high at the end of the first week of July. Reported Fortune magazine: “Investors cheered the jobs report showing that the U.S. added 287,000 jobs in June, exceeding economists’ expectations by more than 100,000 jobs.” Almost lost in the cheering…
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When someone makes a decision to follow Christ as their Lord and Savior, those outside the church tend to yawn or shrug, “They got religion.” But in the case of William Anderson (better known as Devil Anse) Hatfield, his conversion at the age of 71 is still making an impact more than a century after…
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There is nothing like a thousand-year flood to give you a more balanced perspective. Right before monsoon-like rains struck West Virginia last month, I was in the midst of a pinch caused by a hefty, long-overdue invoice. While I was confident I would get paid eventually, it still feels a tad irritating when you know…
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When people who have been more successful in business than me offer advice, I tend to listen. So when not one, but two, associates suggested late last year that it was time to scrap my antiquated-looking e-mail address, I thought, Better pay attention. Changing e-mail addresses is no big deal to lots of folks. Over…
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