“Is there anything I can do to keep performing well in sports as I age?”

In 2004, one of my patients, Ronald Bradstock, (nearly 50) became the first man in any age group to qualify for the Olympic Trials! Another, Jerry Caldwell, was in his 60s and couldn’t play tennis any longer. He went on to win the Seniors’ National Championship. No, age doesn’t have to mean decreased performance.

It could happen to anyone. On my way to the soccer fields for son’s game, I reached for my phone to leave a voice mail and checked a few text messages. Then realizing Kid Rock’s CD was giving me a slight headache; I switched it out with some Alison Krauss. After which, I tragically lost Internet connection and began pressing every button on my phone all the while feverishly cursing my cell phone company. At this point, my son loudly protested strapping on his shin guards. Turning around, I threatened nothing but “Little Bear” on television for the next month. Darn. I remembered this was the time financial guru Dave Ramsey was on radio. Since my husband and I are digging ourselves out of a debt pit reaching down through the earth’s core all the way to nonnuclear-wielding Korea; I began searching the over 250 XM stations to find the talk show.

Soon after, I looked up to see the Buckhead grocery store. No Heritage Park pavilion, no green soccer fields or towering light poles. I overshot my original destination by 15 minutes and almost as many miles.

“Mommy, why are we stopped in the middle of the train tracks?”

I fibbed. Saying we were stalled in front of the Buckhead grocery sounded a bit better than coming to my senses teetering on the Buckhead railroad ties.

I quickly turned the car around and headed toward my original destination. How could this happen? Looking to my cell, there were five missed calls. Mostly, my husband trying to figure out where I was. Glancing up, two Morgan County Sheriff’s cruisers sped past in the opposite direction having been scrambled by the dispatcher to investigate a suspicious Silver Suburban wobbling on the tracks.

Before Travis Peters comes knocking on my door, this is a fable; though surely everything in that story has been done by me while driving -- though not all at once. Honest.

By: Fred Johnson; Columnist

The White House war on free speech that started with Fox News has been expanded to include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and healthcare insurance companies.  Like Fox, these organizations are guilty of opposing Obama’s agenda. The Chamber of Commerce opposes the healthcare plan and Cap & Trade taxes on energy because both plans are harmful to businesses. The healthcare insurance companies are opposed to Obama’s healthcare plan because it basically puts them out of business.

The method used to attack these opponents has become very familiar.  First they are called out and demonized. Then they go after the funding of the organization by discouraging advertisers or discouraging membership. Remember the TEA Party marchers? Jimmy Carter called them racists and Nancy Pelosi feared violence from them and called them Astro-Turf protestors paid for by Obama opponents.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said this about the Chamber of Commerce, "… it does give us pause that they continue to throw millions of dollars against productive efforts under way to reform the regulatory structure, provide access to affordable health insurance for more Americans and reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions -- all plans essential to the continued growth and recovery of our economy." 

By: George Warren; Columnist

When, as a result of massive fraud in the home mortgage securitization business, the economy quickly collapsed in late 2007, the US Congress rode immediately to the rescue. Since the housing industry had led the collapse, plans were made to revive it. Please do not misunderstand me. I believe the original homebuyer credit was a good idea, if given only to those with the ability to repay a mortgage. But as they say, “The devil is in the details.” I shall try to show how Congress missed the details. Congress passed HR 3221, The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. To encourage first time single family homebuyers, the government would fund refundable income tax credits of up to $7,500, not to exceed 10 percent of home costs. The individual maximum income limit was capped at $75,000, or $150,000 for joint income. While this was a direct government check, it was really an interest-free loan to be repaid with your future returns at $500 per year for 15 years. The date of purchase had to be between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009.

My own grandson, age 22 and a student at Southern Tech who also works, with my advice and my co-signature on his loan, purchased his first home, a foreclosure. When the government legally offers you a one time interest free loan to buy something you really need, you would be a fool not to accept it. He rents rooms to two other students to help pay his mortgage. He will be paying the tax credit back for the next 15 years at $500 per year.

By: Dave Belton: Columnist

Last week I had the distinct privilege of attending the first-ever Academic Excellence Award Dinner for MCHS. I was there - not as a member of the Board of Education - but because both of my daughters won academic achievement awards.

The dinner was paid for – not by the Board of Education – but by the local Kiwanis Club. Like so many other great things that happen in Morgan County, private citizens stepped up for our children.

IB Diploma honorees were Daniela Belton and Grant Phelps. AP Scholars were Caitlin Belton, Catherine Bishop, Trent Conn, Emily DeJarnett, Emily Jones, Sara Lindsey, Mathew Pusateri, Mahreen Sultana, and Sara Lydia Tuell. Katherine Key was an AP Scholar with Honor, and Grant Phelps and Patrick Vernon were AP Scholars with Distinction.

My thanks to Joe Houston, Lee Abney, and the entire Kiwanis Club for sponsoring the entire event. Many thanks to the Chop House who did an excellent job preparing a large and delicious meal. Owners Pat and Natalie Reams have done more than most will ever know supporting our schools, in a modest way that is frankly humbling. Last Thursday’s night benefit for Laura Margaret was yet another example of their selfless philanthropy.

The dinner was important because it celebrated what school is all about – academic excellence, specifically in the AP and IB programs.

The AP program at MCHS has been so successful in fact, that 21 percent of our seniors had at least one college credit under the belt last year. That beat Georgia (16 percent) and the nation (15 percent). Georgia was an impressive ninth in the nation.