Most of us are amateurs at the majority of things we do. We try our best, but we’re not experts. But if there’s one thing many of us are pros at, it’s pro-crastinating. (Have you ever met an amateur-crastinator?) Tasks we dislike quite easily are delayed for another time. “Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow,” Aaron Burr is reputed to have said. Even though the ... (click for more)

False pride and rebellion against authority cause many of our problems. Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s clear command. I have inherited that bent toward rebellion and not only am I inclined to rebel, sadly I do rebel. It is a sad fact of human nature, that when someone tells us what to do, we become at the least, defensive. Worse, we often go on the offensive. Who among us has ... (click for more)

Two brothers who in 2017 pledged to build a textile plant in economically distressed Bledsoe County that would provide 1,000 jobs have been indicted by federal authorities on a variety of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering charges. Governor Bill Haslam had been among those attending the announcement at Pikeville by Karim and Rahim Sadruddin. Prosecutor Steve Neff ... (click for more)

The head of the citizen watchdog group, Accountability for Taxpayer Money (ATM), says both the Market Center and the The Maclellan apartment building should give up their PILOT tax break agreements. Helens Burns Sharp noted that both have changed their business models and now include short-term rentals. Ms. Sharp sent an email to members of the board of the city's Health Educational ... (click for more)

I appreciate our underpaid teachers here in Tennessee so much. We as a whole have a moral obligation to make sure we contribute to their pay. A wheel tax on our cars is a minimal expense to most of us. Sixty dollars is not enough for us to complain. We shouldn't even bat an eye at that if it contributes to the hard working teachers who sacrifice daily for our children. We ... (click for more)

One summer’s day when I was in my early teens, I was walking home from swimming practice and decided I might stop by the house of the most beautiful girl my age that I had ever seen, which was about halfway between the pool and where I grew up. Told she was at the house next door; I went to find her and was confronted with something I had never experienced. She was being playfully ... (click for more)