http://www.picayuneitem.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:02:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_235160327.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_235160327.html Russia’s invasion of Georgia on the pretext of “protecting” Russian peacekeepers stationed in the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and ending the “ethnic cleansing” of native Russians living there, is a sobering reminder that the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 was not a sign that old-line communists were ready to walk the sawdust trail of repentance and convert to capitalism, democracy, human rights and religious freedom. Quite the contrary. Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:01:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_235160205.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_235160205.html I had a call last week from a lady who explained that her granddaughter had possibly contracted Lyme Disease. “It’s so sad to see her twin able to play sports, but Mary hurts so badly and is so tired all the time that she just can’t keep up with the other girls. What can we do?” Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:59:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_235160058.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_235160058.html President George Bush visited New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast yesterday and declared that they are coming back and bragged on his administration’s efforts to help with the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:45:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_227114705.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_227114705.html For years, one of C-Span’s most riveting regular programs is “Prime Minister’s Questions,” during which the head of the reigning political party faces criticisms of his government’s policies and failures from members of the House of Commons. What fascinates those of us Americans who watch is direct democracy in action, not unlike our town meetings of yore where local officials could not hide. Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:43:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_227114520.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_227114520.html When it’s “change” you’re merchandising, the easy phrases flow easily enough. Walls between people “cannot stand.” With “improbable hope,” we prepare to “to remake the world once again” — “a world that stands as one.” “This is our moment, this is our time,” proclaimed Barack Obama, when speaking in Berlin. Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:24:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_224122557.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_224122557.html If our era could have its own coat of arms, it would be a yak against a background of mush. This must be the golden age of endless and pointless talk. Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:22:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_224122402.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_224122402.html The City of Picayune and several other municipalities in Mississippi and around the nation, including cities in the state of Utah, have gone to the four-day work week as a means of saving energy. Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:21:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_213122223.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_213122223.html Among the few absolute certainties confronting the human race is the growing need for energy. As the world’s population approaches 7 billion, with no end in sight, it is perfectly obvious that mankind must find ways of generating more and more energy to fuel both human and technological growth. Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:18:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_213122108.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_213122108.html There is a reason the psalmist warned, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” (Psalm 146:3) Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:53:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_212085404.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_212085404.html The problem with satire as a political weapon is that it’s virtually always a two-edged sword. One would expect the editors of a literary magazine like The New Yorker to realize that. Its July 21 cover caricaturing Barack and Michelle Obama as Oval Office revolutionaries, complete with Kalashnikov, a portrait of Osama bin Laden, and an American flag ablaze in the fireplace couldn’t help but cut several ways. Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:51:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_212085254.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_212085254.html Despite a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Va., has continued to use textbooks that teach hatred of everyone not of their specific brand of faith, the U.S. State Department has yet to act to close down the school. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:02:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_207130340.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_207130340.html I remember the first time my wife and I visited Europe and the Middle East. The trip resembled Sen. Obama’s current version of speed travel, but without the entourage, security and network coverage. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_207130204.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_207130204.html T. Boone Pickens is one of America's biggest independent oil producers, so he could be forgiven if he simply chose to sit back and pile up his profits. But the Texas entrepreneur is convinced that America must break its dependence on oil as a major source of energy, and has announced that over the next few weeks he is going to outline in the major media a plan for doing exactly that. He is right on the money, and I am going to listen carefully to what he has to say. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:11:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_206121232.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_206121232.html In one of those front-page editorials disguised as “news” stories, the New York Times blames “the lucrative lending practices” of banks and other financial institutions for helping create the current financial crisis of millions of borrowers and of the financial system in general. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:08:00 +0000 http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_206121031.html http://www.picayuneitem.com/columns/local_story_206121031.html The economic news is so bad that it’s no wonder Sen. Barack Obama is leading the presidential race. But he is giving political gifts to Sen. John McCain on Iraq policy.