By Joe Rector My, how times change. I haven’t heard the song “In Your Easter Bonnet” in years. A lifetime ago, children sang it in school and companies included it in their marketing strategies. Other things during Easter are much different as well. My brothers and I always got a little excited as Easter […]
By Ralphine Major Get your tickets! Show time is almost here! Lots of hard work and hours of practice will all come together under the leadership of Natalee Elkins, Director/Musical Director; Daniel Lineberger, Director/Choreographer; Taylor Branson, Production Coordinator; and Emily Carr, Production Assistant, as the talented cast of Holston Middle School’s Kids in America Show […]
By Rosie Moore Why a bird can fly but I can’t? What is in a little pill that makes my body react? How can my grandson talk to me on my cell phone from Scotland? Why do bodies become allergic to certain properties in the air and on the ground? Why do good people die […]
By Dr. Jim Ferguson Sometimes, it’s hard for me to remember whether I’ve written about something or just thought about it. As a result, I have a new project putting my previous five hundred and thirteen Focus essays in a computer file which I can then easily search. If I had realized ten years ago […]
By Steve Hunley The ethics complaint filed by perennial candidate Bo Bennett against Knox County Commissioners Charles Busler and Bob Thomas has gone from a circus sideshow to an outrageous witch-hunt. Bennett’s complaint was based upon little more than a news story in the Knoxville News Sentinel, allowing the joyous opportunity for the Sentinel to […]
By Ray Hill From 1931 until 1947, the Republican Party had suffered shattering defeats largely brought on by the Great Depression. Following the 1936 election, where GOP presidential candidate Alf Landon only won the electoral votes of Vermont and Maine, Republicans in the House of Representatives constituted only 88 members. Throughout the decade of the […]
By Dr. Jim Ferguson These days, a lot of things mystify me. An old example is dead possums on the road. I realize possums are nocturnal creatures and don’t understand roadway etiquette. However, you would think natural selection would serve as a disincentive to cross highways traversed by other night creatures traveling home from late […]
By Joe Rector Polls show that more and more Americans believe in the theory that the government is being influenced by “the deep state.” Those same polls show that nearly 3 out of 4 individuals don’t know what “the deep state” actually is. The situation is just another example of citizens surrendering their God-given ability […]
By Mike Steely After some 50 years of wandering around the Southeast I’ve visited many, many places that interested me or my wife. We’ve been in every Tennessee State Park except one, in many parks in the region’s states and many National Parks. Sometimes the things you remember the most are not in parks […]
By Ralphine Major It is hard to believe winter is over! We were invited to speak at the Ossoli Circle Clubhouse; we introduced “Piddle Diddle, the Widdle Penguin, and the Texas Longhorns”—our latest book in the series—in an interview with Alan Williams on CW 20 television (see our Facebook page and www.majorbooksofjoy.com); we had […]
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