When I was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the campus mall, which opened onto Madison’s State Street, attracted not a few colorful characters. There were street musicians and jugglers, and people peddling political agendas.

It may seem surprising to you — for it is to me — that I, the undeniable embodiment of all things Southern, should become so fascinated by a Yankee.

Almost since its inception, much of Christianity has had a callous disregard for the principles Jesus taught. While there have been many true adherents who seemed to have grasped the moral principles Jesus illustrated, too many supposed Christians have read into the faith too much of their own prejudices. History is full of acts of the “faithful” far removed from the teachings of the New Testament.

Today started like any other day. I got up, walked the dog for an hour, ate breakfast, and kissed The Wife goodbye as she went off to work. It was my day off so I spent some time in the basement, did a little yard work and around noon came inside for lunch. I cut on the news just in time for the special report and immediately lost my appetite. It seems that the entire state of Georgia is at war with the Russians.

“Where you from?”

An illegal alien from Mexico, Pedro Espinoza, allegedly asked that of Jamiel Shaw Jr., 17 — before Espinoza shot and killed him.

Every so often, someone enters our lives that changes us for the good and leaves a lasting, positive impression. From the moment I met Kenneth Turner, I liked him. You had to like him — he didn’t really give you a choice. His warm smile, his generous hugs, his obvious love for God and those whom God had created, drove away frowns and self-pity.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently called congressional Republicans who want up-or-down drilling votes “hand maidens of the oil companies.” Let’s call Pelosi what she is: House girl of the Big Wind boondogglers.

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.

When people learn that for nearly 40 years — including more than 17 spent disagreeing, often heatedly, with him on CNN’s weekly “Capital Gang” — that columnist Robert Novak has been my good friend, they often shake their heads in disbelief.

We take it for granted that a vote means a secret ballot, but it was not always that way. Moreover, it will not remain that way for workers who vote on whether or not they want a labor union, if legislation sponsored by Congressional Democrats and endorsed by Senator Barack Obama becomes law.

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.

During his recent Middle East and European tour, Senator Barack Obama stated his strategic positions on Iraq and Afghanistan, which involves a timetable for withdrawal of most, if not all, U.S. forces from Iraq, and redeploying some forces to Afghanistan, which Obama seems to think is the epicenter of the misnamed “War on Terror.” This would constitute strategic disaster.

Thanks to the timing of this year’s Olympic games, the Democrats and the Republicans will be holding their presidential nominating conventions back to back. So by the time their staged, silly goings-on are over, the voters will have less than two months to properly vet John McCain and Barack Obama.

Most people know the tragic state of black education today. We know that billions of dollars are spent on federal government programs such as No Child Left Behind and the billions spent by state and local governments. If you were to ask an education “expert” to explain the tragedy, you’d get answers such as racial discrimination and underfunding.

It took awhile. You start with small steps. First I got Terri-at-the-Waffle House to give me a tall glass filled with ice, into which I poured my coffee. Then I got her to skip the cup and start pouring the coffee right over the ice.

A group of public health and emergency services officials in Fayette and Coweta counties met last week, along with their counterparts in the other counties in Georgia Public Health District 4, to discuss a response to a potential pandemic of avian flu. While not generally on the public radar, the planning by those responsible for addressing such a crisis head-on cannot be underestimated. Here’s why.

Why is it that so many Obama supporters seem to reach their decision by feelings while so many McCain supporters seem to reach their decision by thinking?

“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.” — Jean Baptiste Colbert (French economist and Minister of Finance under King Louis XIV, 1619-83).

Right then and there in the Los Angeles International Airport, I thought I was going to have to pitch a conniption fit. That, to explain a conniption fit properly, is when a woman of Southern origin creates a scene of dramatic wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their congregations. Here are a few questions that I’ve gotten during my years of ministry and via email for this column.

Just before I do something stupid, I hear a little voice in my head warning me about the impending danger. Some call the voice a conscience. Others call it the voice of reason. And still others call it a voice from above. Me? I just call the voice in my head Fred.

Most people who write to the column are looking for their ancestors who died long ago. But this week we're looking for living descendants so we can have a proper tombstone dedication.

Edgar K. Browning, professor of economics at Texas A&M University, has a new book aptly titled “Stealing from Each Other.” Its subtitle, “How the Welfare State Robs Americans of Money and Spirit,” goes to the heart of what the book is about.

by Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

Thrift used to be a virtue in America. In Asia, thrift remains a way of life — for example, it is estimated that the average Chinese family’s thrift rate is 30 to 40 percent — which helps explain the rapid growth rates there.

In our fast-paced, fast-food society we are used to getting what we want, conveniently, quickly, and at a reasonable price. The trade-off for this convenience has often been a loss of customer service. We have become accustomed to encountering people at the drive-thru windows who are surly, barely intelligible, and frequently unknowledgeable.

Come on. Give an old man half a chance.

I speak for myself as well as for John McCain.

No more sneering talk of the sort we’ve heard lately concerning McCain’s ineptitude when it comes to computers — an ineptitude he’s striving to overcome.

LOS ANGELES, CA, AUGUST 4, 2008 — Robert D. Novak announced today that he is retiring from writing his column, Inside Report, distributed by Creators Syndicate, due to the dire prognosis resulting from his recent diagnosis of a brain tumor.

By Sean Wilson

As Georgia continues to grow and thrive, it needs power generation capable of sustaining that growth. But the options seem to be shrinking among the body politic for varying environmental, economic and aesthetic reasons.

In the 2008 legislative session, four years after the passage of HB 237, the “Comprehensive Statewide Water Management Planning Act,” state lawmakers approved the framework for the comprehensive statewide water plan.

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.