A welfare program that may have gone unnoticed had not Congress gone too far has resulted in an economic disaster. Now Congress offers the usual solution: more money. Along with Congress, add Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD, and A.C.O.R.N to the mix; and, the American taxpayer. ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is a community-based counseling agency certified by HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It was a Congressional scheme of money for votes. Read the rest of this entry »

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Francis Marion University hosts the Pee Dee Fiction and Poetry Festival Thursday through Saturday, November 6-8, in the Lowrimore Auditorium, Cauthen Educationa Media Center. The free festival features readings, panel discussions, and presentations by six noted authors and poets: Dorianne Laux, Valerie Martin, Sara Gran, Tom Perrotta, Ethan Canin, and Robert Wrigley. For information, call 843-661-1371.

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     Let’s take a look at the mortgage crisis from the bottom up instead from the top down. The parties involved for a single mortgage are are seven in number: 1) low wage earners as home owners; 2) original lenders as first owners of the mortgages; 3) second owners (mortgage bankers) of the mortgages acquired from the first owners; 4) purchasers of securities backed by “mortgage bundles” consisting of  mortgages of low wage home owners and of high wage homeowners; 5) Wall Street brokers as sellers of the securities; 6) purchasers of homes at a foreclosure sale; and, 7) Congressmen. Read the rest of this entry »

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   Let’s take a look at the learning side of education rather then the teaching side. We presume that a child in school will learn what the teacher teaches. However, some children live in such a stressful environment with a single parent who is also caught up in  poverty and neighborhood violence. These parents are without employable skills except for jobs that pay the minimum wage. They are unable to get out of an environment where the slightest dispute is settled by violence. Take a look at the evening news These parents are unable to help themselves much less their children. Money is scarce and the parent often has to work two jobs to provide the bare necessities. The result is little or no time to devote to the child who is left to take care of himself. A child living under such conditions will find learning difficult. Read the rest of this entry »

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Francis Marion University hosts the Pee Dee International Festival, Saturday, October 18, from 10:30 am to 5 pm.  Featuring the Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats, the event will include music, dance, food booths, cultural displays and activities for children.  Admission is free, and the festival will be held rain or shine.  For information, call 843-661-1225.

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      Nancy Pelosi said on TV’s Meet the Press that a precise definition of when life begins has been an issue in controversy throughout the history to the Catholic Church and cites St. Augustine, the fourth century Doctor of the Church, as her authority. Senator Obama says the question of when life begins is above his play grade.    Read the rest of this entry »

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     Champion of the people. Defender of life in the womb, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for the downtrodden. Able to stop a charging moose with a single rifle shot. Feared by the establishment. A mother of five. Wife of an Eskimo husband. Former beauty queen. As noted on the State license plates: “ALASKA: THE COLDEST STATE - THE HOTTEST GOVERNOR.” 

G W Jefferson

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     A friend in Charleston spent 10 years in Egypt in the 1990s working under contract to the Egyptian government. He recently emailed me his recollections about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.This is what he had to say about Muslim religious beliefs and practices.  Read the rest of this entry »

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A family faced with the challenges of change is the heart of Fiddler on the Roof, a story that unfolds at Workshop Theatre Sept. 5-20. Read the rest of this entry »

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