I have opinions!  Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines opinion as: “A view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter.”  In describing how “opinion” is used, Webster says, “Opinion implies a conclusion thought out yet open to dispute.” 

Yes, I have opinions about: politics, which includes what I think of the performance of the U.S. Congress; the programs and actions of the President of the United States; our country’s handling of world affairs; how other nations feel about us, how they treat us, and why; the use of our military forces; our obligations as the superpower of the world; and the inability of the Democrats and Republicans to forget about being re-elected and the 2016 elections and concentrate on what’s best for the United States of America. 

I also have opinions about the laws Read more…

If we take a thumbnail look at the history leading up to the first Thanksgiving celebration in America, perhaps we will be more likely to appreciate this year’s Thanksgiving.

In about 1570, the Puritan movement emerged in England.? The people were called Puritans because they wanted to reform or “purify” the Church of England.? They did not want to leave the Church, but reform it from within.? After about twenty-five years, with little progress toward reform having been made, another movement, the Separatists, emerged.? They were called Separatists because they concluded that it was impossible to reform the Church from within and began to “separate” from the Church and establish independent congregations. Read more…

In the early days of our country, it became obvious that the Articles of Confederation was an inadequate governing document.? The early leaders had declared our independence and fought the Revolutionary War to rid our country of domination by the King of England and the unreasonable demands of the British government.? The Articles provided for a weakened central government with each state retaining its individual rights.? Under the Articles, each state had one vote, but the government had no power to enforce what few laws it supposedly had the authority to make.? So a Constitutional Convention was called for the purpose of writing a new governing document for our young county. Read more…

The story of Adam, Eve, and the serpent in the garden of Eden is found in chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis, the first book in the Bible.? Whether you interpret the story literally, believing it took place exactly as it appears in the Bible, or prefer a more symbolic translation is absolutely unimportant for our purposes?the meaning of the story is the same.? And there is no question about it?this story has genuine relevance for all of us today.? Let?s take a look at what happened.? [In the Hebrew and in most English versions of the Bible, the ?g? in garden of Eden is lower case; in current popular usage, the ?g? has been capitalized: Garden of Eden.] Read more…

The lesson plan for eighth-grade school teachers called for the teachers to help their students understand names stemming from their ethnic origins. In this particular class period, one of the teachers was concentrating on the term “African-American.”

After she explained to the class what it means to be an African-American, a fair-skinned girl in the class with long blond hair by the name of Angelina said, “I am African-American.”

The teacher was somewhat taken aback by a white girl with blond hair thinking she was African- America, especially after she (the teacher) had just explained what it means to be African-American.? She gathered her wits and replied, “I don’t think so, Angelina. What makes you think that?”? Read more…

Do you know someone who is working on essays for college applications?perhaps a member of your family?? Or you may know a young man or woman who is completing applications for that first full-time job after graduating from college.? Or how about that man or woman who is being considered for a promotion, or the seasoned business executive who is responsible for preparing executive summaries? ??In some of these situations correct grammar is an absolute necessity; in others using correct written grammar will definitely give you a leg up.

In my book, The Big Ten of Grammar, I deal with what, through research, I believe are the ten most frequent grammatical errors that people make on a pretty regular basis.? Without question, the most common grammatical error many of us make when writing is getting mixed up with whether commas and periods go before or after quotation marks.

There are three basic rules you need to remember when using quotation marks with other forms of punctuation.? There are absolutely no exceptions to these three rules in American English. Read more…