2019 Columns

I sat down recently for a chat with my twin great-granddaughters, Hadley Ann Yarbrough and Harper Grace Yarbrough, on the occasion of their first birthday.  I thought this would be a good time to share some of my life experiences and to gain some perspective on what their generation is thinking about the world in which they find themselves. The conversation was delayed … [Read more...] about April 1, 2019: Trying to Explain Life’s Challenges to Someone With Icing on Their Face is Not Easy

In a massive college admission scandal the FBI is calling Operation Varsity Blues, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts has released documents revealing that some rich and influential parents have paid huge sums on money – huge to you and me but evidently chicken-feed to them –to get their children into elite schools, allegedly as much as $6 million.  … [Read more...] about March 25, 2019: College Admissions Scandal Proof That There Are Some Things Money Can’t Buy

Dear Georgia Public Schoolteachers: I have some good news and some maybe not-so-good news.  First, the good news:  After years of eye-pokes by the voucher-loving Kool-Aid drinkers in the General Assembly, you seem to have finally found your voice and as a result, one of the most egregious anti-public school voucher bills in recent memory was defeated in the State … [Read more...] about March 18, 2019: Public Education Advocates Battle Latest Private School Voucher Scheme

I am going to have to get to this sooner or later, so I will opt for sooner. A special session of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted recently in St. Louis to continue its long-standing policy that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”  The vote was 438 for and 384 against.  I think this means no gay … [Read more...] about March 11, 2019: Whatever Happens, This Lifelong Methodist Isn’t Going Anywhere

Marlan Wilbanks is a man on a mission.  An Atlanta attorney, Wilbanks is the driving force behind the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic (CEASE) the nation’s first legal clinic dedicated to representing survivors of child sexual abuse.  The clinic is a part of the University of Georgia School of Law and gives second and third-year law students … [Read more...] about March 4, 2019: Victims of Child Sex Abuse in Georgia Faces Powerful Foes