If you are a parent and have children less than 21 years of age, you are doing a great disservice to them if you do drugs, smoke, vape, drink alcohol, gamble, use profanity, and run with immoral or ungodly people. The reason is simple: parents have more influence over their children than anyone else, and if we are going to have a better country in the years ahead, we must begin by having better parents. When we have a “mindset” to do just that, amazing things will happen.  What motivated…

One of the greatest attributes any person can have is wisdom. And let me be quick to point out that there is a vast difference between wisdom and education. A person can have tons of education and still be almost completely devoid of wisdom. What is wisdom? The dictionary says it is “good practical judgment, common sense.” Now that we have that settled, we can proceed. The next question is, if wisdom is so important, how do we get it? From my own personal experience of 50-plus years, the Bible…

There is a very divisive issue in our nation that, in my view, needs to be put to bed. This is the issue of the Civil War flag and hanging it all across our country on a tall flagpole for all to see. We have a group in my state that has raised money, bought some land, and plans to hang a 20X20 foot Confederate flag on a 40-foot lighted pole along Interstate 30 between Rockport and Malvern. The group says they have some very good reasons to do this,…

It’s often been said that “Age is mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” There is a great deal of truth in the saying, “You’re only as old as you feel.” To feel good most of the time is a blessing that many of us take for granted. When it comes to the subject of old age, someone once said, “Old age is a club that, with luck, we all join.” I’m looking forward to it, aren’t you? You may respond by saying, “I’m already old.” This…

Here is a somewhat humorous experience I had back in the late 1960s when I was selling printing and office supplies in downtown Little Rock. You will appreciate this and there is a lesson to be learned here, too. The man who hired me was the late Bert Parke, President of Democrat Printing and Lithograph Company, and he was Co-Chairman of the Goodwill Tours taken annually by the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce. I went on three of these tours — first, to San Antonio, then to Houston and the…

While doing research for today’s column, here is a headline I ran across: GAMBLING ADDICTION STATISTICS 2023: IS IT A MENTAL ILLNESS? And here is the subtitle: Gambling can be a fun thing to do, but when you see the gambling addiction statistics and facts, you will see the less glamorous and fun side of it. From my perspective, I will go a step further. It has been coming on over the past several years but today I think that gambling is the scourge of society. If you don’t know…

Would you like to have a beautiful log cabin somewhere in the mountains or the woods where you have peace and quiet all the time? Some of us say we would, but when we get right down to it I think most people would rather have good neighbors where they can interact with others and have them over on a regular basis. This is another way of saying we are gregarious. What brought this to my mind was all the terrific log cabins I see on Facebook, and all are…

It’s been said that teachers and administrators are not moms and dads, and they don’t have the same love, investment and responsibility that parents have when it comes to their children’s education. But sadly, many “woke” educators and politicians think that parents should have zero say in where our children go to school, and zero in what our children are taught. It’s an all-out assault on parental rights, and it must stop.  When schools closed during the pandemic, parents learned two things: 1. Screen time is not “school time.” The…

If America’s high school and college coaches, both men and women, knew how much influence they had on the lives of their players, they would take what they do a lot more seriously. Of course, many do realize this, but others don’t. That is what I want to speak to you about today, especially as it relates to players’ lives after they graduate from high school and college, if they attend. I don’t have the latest statistics, but only a very small percentage of high school players make it to…

Soon after the turn of the century, I learned something that would change my life forever. The late Mrs. Eva Easley, a faithful reader of my column in Bluefield, W.Va., told me that she had learned from a reliable source that 61 percent of low-income families in our nation had no books in their homes. Can you imagine what kind of future a child reared in this kind of environment has? To be sure, it would not be good. If you check the statistics, you will learn that a great…