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Columnists

BECKY MAUPIN: Overwhelmed Doesn’t Mean Ungrateful

If you’re on social media for any amount of time, you pretty quickly see that there is mixed content. Some of it is positive and gives you really good...

BOB BROWN: When the Underdog Bites Has Rabies, and a Mean Owner

We have a strong human urge to identify with the “underdog.” There is nothing new...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Is Phase Two Of Trump‘s Peace Plan In The Gaza Strip Doomed To Fail? – Part II

Unfortunately, Trump’s present ceasefire as of October 9 is analogous to the armistice signed between...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Is Phase Two Of Trump‘s Peace Plan In The Gaza Strip Doomed To Fail? – Part I

Phase one of Trump‘s twenty-point peace plan in the Gaza Strip, which began on October...

FRED FIRST: Approaching the Longest Night

Yes, you’re right—if you’ve even noticed—that this space has been neglected for some weeks now,...

Mother Nature or Father God?

In a recent Bible study group, a participant was reflecting on the volcano in Iceland that not long ago spewed ash and debris...

One Man’s Treasure Indeed

China provides the U.S. with lots of inexpensive goods.  In return, the U.S. sells back to China many high-end luxury products. Here's a case...

A Perspective on Teachers

It’s that time again – back to school season.  Nearly every advertisement is telling us about hip new fashions and clever new school...

Groundhogs, Bananas, Bluebirds, Peanuts and Other Miracles

It’s a reasonable question to ask: Why do groundhogs love a tropical fruit, bananas? Why do monarch butterflies set forth on...

Recipe of the Week: Watermelon Banana Split

I was cutting a watermelon for a cook-out at my neighbors and it occurred to me very suddenly, that watermelon is such a...

Wretched Bits of Being

In the great outdoors of the Roanoke Valley, have you noticed all those odd yellow, orange, or gray patches on alpine rocks or...