Point by Dr. Ed Holliday
Parents were and are still confronted with a multitude of decisions as they return to work post pandemic after the Governor issued the Safe to Return Order which reopened all businesses in June. For children who are too young to attend school, child care programs are often the go-to solution…
There was a time in America, unknown or not experienced by people under the age of 50, when politics was a contact sport played with mostly accepted rules and the equivalent of “sportsmanship.” Losers would graciously concede and wish the victor well, in most cases vowing to work with him or…
I am now into my 74th journey around our neighborhood star. By any objective measure, I am an old man. As you might expect, the status comes with a host of disagreeable side effects ranging from the mildly annoying to major irritations. Nevertheless, candor compels me to admit that being old…
While 2020 has delivered a quagmire of complexities from fires to hurricanes to the present pandemic, it also begs to question humanity’s role. While mankind is often considered to have inherited the Earth, many people do not recognize that the inheritance is more of a legacy rental agreemen…
As a kid, I had dreamed about it.
What were you doing the night of Saturday, March 19, 1977?
Paul Kengor is a professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He has just published “The Devil and Karl Marx,” a careful look at the diabolical side of Karl Marx. The book has come out during an important time in our history since so many Americans, parti…
Relax. This is not a column on the efficacy of wearing masks. Who has the energy anymore?
The late New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra would love this one.
Gov. Tate Reeves bemoaned the politicization of COVID-19 coronavirus last week, reported Mississippi Today. He complained that there are “certain groups that want to politicize everything.”
As I write this, the gulf tropical storm is now determined to be hurricane strength. Hurricane Sally formed earlier this morning and appeared to shift east, placing Mississippi’s and Alabama’s entire coasts under a hurricane warning while veering away from Louisiana, where the southwest coas…
As a second-semester freshman at Ole Miss in 1970, I earned a few hundred dollars working as a part-time census taker. My job was to count every male student on campus that spring – approximately 3,500 young men. The job proved more extensive and time-consuming than I had expected, and I can…
Mike Parker, the last Republican candidate for governor to lose in the general election, has for almost two decades been a non-factor in Mississippi politics.
Mississippi prisons were once again a topic of discussion during the 2020 legislative session. Before the state grappled with responding to the coronavirus pandemic, legislators were responding to a prison crisis that resulted in a record number of deaths and a federal investigation.
The Trump-Russia investigation effectively ended on July 24, 2019, the day special counsel Robert Mueller testified on Capitol Hill. Mueller’s halting presentation of his 400-plus-page report troubled both Republicans and Democrats. But of greater concern was this fact: After two years of in…
The cable networks, including Fox News, could talk of little else Labor Day weekend but the Atlantic magazine piece by Jeffrey Goldberg alleging President Trump had said Americans who have died in wars are “losers” and “suckers.” The comments allegedly were made two years ago during the pres…
While working through our renovation time here at the Oren Dunn City Museum, I’ve been reading about specific eras in the Tupelo story. Most recently, I’ve burrowed down into the Civil War with emphasis on the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads and the Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg.
COVID-19 has tested the entire world. It has challenged citizens’ concepts of health and safety as well as reframed communications and interactions. Nowhere is this more apparent than within the context of the typical American classroom. While teachers have always been tasked with teaching c…
Tired of sending the same old Amazon virtual birthday gift of $50?
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it more times than my math skills will allow, “This school year is going to be like no other.”
As the $3 billion stimulus impact provided by Congress winds down, businesses spend out their Paycheck Protection Program loans, and the extra $600 in weekly unemployment payments ends, is Mississippi’s economy ready to go it alone?
There’s a $14 billion dollar industry that wants to sell their product in Mississippi.
I made it through the summer of COVID-19 – though I’m thankful that neither I nor any of my family have contracted the novel coronavirus.
It’s difficult to think of Julia Reed without hearing her raspy, smoky voice – sort of an odd cross between Lauren Bacall and the sound a farrier’s rasp makes on the hooves of a draft horse. When she laughed, it was earthy, twangy, and honest.
“This is for the one who drives the big rig, up and down the road. Or the one out in the warehouse bringing in the load. Or the waitress, the mechanic, the policeman on patrol…for everyone who works behind the scenes with a spirit you can’t replace with no machine. Hello America, let me than…
“How was your vacation?” used to be the standard query at Labor Day. Not this year.
Carl and Gayle Long tied the knot in 1939 in the pastor’s study at Tupelo’s First Baptist Church. Carl was a salesman who supplied grocery stores, and Gayle taught in a local school. Two years into their marriage, Pearl Harbor changed everything. Like so many young Americans of that generati…
Recently, an article appeared in the Mississippi Business Journal recommending that the State of Mississippi not adopt Medicaid expansion. The argument made was now is not the time to expand Medicaid, because “right now the real challenge is prioritizing very limited healthcare resources.” F…
Wise King Solomon said, “There is an appointed time for everything...to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be by born, and a time to die; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn... A time to love... and in my words – a time to h…
Gov. Tate Reeves, who says his primary goal is to take steps to lessen the impact of COVID-19 in Mississippi, recently lamented how some people try to politicize issues surrounding the pandemic, such as mask wearing.
A new furor has erupted over Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe’s decision to give some members of Congress written updates on foreign election interference instead of in-person briefings. In the past, some Hill Democrats have spun and leaked information from the old oral brief…
The ouster of Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. over allegations of sexual misconduct and other behavior that falls short of the university’s code of conduct – not to mention Scripture – is another in a long list of object lessons each generation of Christians seems to have to l…
While progress has been made in the fight against COVID-19, we must continue to be careful, especially during this holiday weekend.
Nearly every day, we post on social media “Today in Tupelo History.” We select a digital version of the Tupelo Journal that dates to the early 20th century, recap a couple of headlines, and let you read the rest.
One of the best ways for students to improve their reading levels, word comprehension, and fluency is to read, and frequently. One of the easiest ways to nurture this skill regularly is to visit one’s local library. Unfortunately, with the world of COVID it may be difficult to schedule these…
The sports jacket was a little tighter around the chest than the last time I wore it.
As the father of four school age children in rural Mississippi, I would like to propose a common-sense enhancement to COVID era education. My proposal won’t cost hundreds of millions of dollars; it won’t take decades to implement; and it will provide an immediate workable solution for our te…
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming was a 1966 comedy about an accidental Russian invasion on the west coast. The Guatemalans are coming, the Guatemalans are coming was the comedic response when our president in 2018 projected an immigrant invasion on the Mexican border. Of the …
One of the highlights of my 93-year-old mother’s week is when she receives an inspirational essay from a church lady (hi, Regina!) who maintains a mailing list for Special People.
I hope we get it right.
A decade ago, I was writing about what I saw as a crisis in Mississippi’s death investigation system. Last week, the state Supreme Court took an essential step toward facing up to a system that remained broken for decades in the case of Death Row inmate Eddie Lee Howard Jr.
With summer coming to a close, school buses are making the rounds again as children head back to school. But for thousands of Mississippi parents, teachers, and administrators, the new semester is adding new challenges to an already stressful year. School districts have had to make tough dec…
My friend, Emad Hajjaj, was arrested on Wednesday in his home country of Jordan. His crime? Drawing a political cartoon.
More than 16 hours of political conventions over two weeks boiled down to a single word: fear.
I am proud to support Donald Trump for re-election as President and here’s why:
In July, my husband and I were driving thru Downtown Tupelo and I was so amazed how many people were downtown, just walking, looking and taking advantage of the many different places available for them to eat. Tupelo has come so far with the downtown area and we, as citizens, can give thanks…
After seeing pictures in the Journal of the two proposed state flags that will compete for a place on the ballot in November, I feel compelled to comment. When I looked at the flag containing a shield, my first thought was "battle." So, I consulted my old American College Dictionary and foun…
This year has been challenging on so many levels, but we are encouraged to see the efforts and donations made to Boys & Girls Clubs of North Mississippi.
Approval of medical marijuana on Nov. 3 by Mississippi voters, based at least on polling, seems like a lead-pipe cinch.
