Americans can take justifiable pride in the stellar performance of our athletes in the 2008 summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Democrats open their national convention today amid troubling news. Several recent polls show presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain now in a dead heat.

Last week someone sent me an email that just infuriated me. Quiet often I get such emails because my friends are so outraged they just have to share the email. 

Every four years, I sit in front of the television, glued with interest to hours of coverage. No, I’m not talking about presidential conventions and election results. I’m talking about the summer Olympics, held this year in Beijing, China. 

The worst thing about the downturn in the newspaper industry, aside from massive layoffs, careers in ruins, frozen salaries and the grim realization that my only other marketable skill is frying hushpuppies at the fish camp, is the cutback in good, old-fashioned monkey coverage.

I’ve been watching with mixed emotions the war-mongering underway this month between Russia and Georgia, and so far what it portends is hardly reassuring for the rest of Europe, or the world, for that matter.

“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
— Vernon Wormer, Dean of Students, Faber College (From the film “Animal House”)

Most companies know that to stay in business they must deliver quality goods and services to consumers.

More than 2 million people have contributed to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Kathi Ream of Falls Church, Va., is not among them.
And she’s steamed about it.

No doubt about it; Virginia is the place to be in November.

Last Saturday, the Washington Post reported on a program in use in the Prince William County Schools (PWCS).

Note from Scott: Here’s the winner of the Write Scott Hollifield’s Column While He is On Vacation or Performing His Court-Ordered Community Service Contest as chosen by a panel of semi-experts. View and comment on all the columns by going to http://www.mcdowellnews.com and clicking on the Write Scott’s Column Button.

Barack Obama has recently been asking voters whether they are better off than they were “four years ago or eight years ago.” But the real question is whether you are better off than you were two years ago.

I suppose when they say it’s not advisable to watch either sausage or laws being made because neither is very pretty,

The image of the sign posted outside the Sherwood Forest Shores swimming pool where other kids and I spent most of our summer vacation remains etched in my mind.

Few will deny that a person’s home has a special place in our society. Federal, state and local laws have been written to ensure that individuals and members of their families can feel safe in the houses or apartments they occupy. Even the U. S. Constitution (Amendments III and IV) says that homes are entitled to special protection.

It was inevitable. Hillary Clinton is back, and she’s John McCain’s new, not-so-secret weapon.

On Wednesday of last week the Olympic torch passed through Tiananmen Square. Can you remember the last time a torch was in that same location? 

It’s hard to realize just how technologically connected we are nowadays — cell phones are almost de rigueur for anyone able to talk. 

All entries are in for the Second Annual Write Scott Hollifield’s Column While He Is On Vacation Or Performing Court-Ordered Community Service Contest, and an expert panel of literary and journalism professionals are at this moment debating each entry, arguing vehemently over symbolism and allegories and the underlying meaning of the term “dog snot.”

When the term “nickel and dime you to death” was first coined, it probably came from the incredulous lips of an airline passenger.

On July 31, a major newspaper that serves the Greater Washington area ran a story about an Internet-based “diploma mill” that operated out of Washington state.

Al Gore got it right when he said, “I don’t remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously.”

OK, I realize that if you know anything about grammarians, you’re aware that a happy grammarian is an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp or rap music.

Hashmel Turner of Fredericksburg, Va., wears two hats: City Council member and part-time pastor of the First Baptist Church of Love.
Rev. Turner wants to pray in the name of Jesus Christ — including at council sessions.

Today, nearly itch-free, I must thank the many readers who stumbled upon last week’s column about being, as we say in my neck of the woods, “eat up” with poison ivy and offered their sympathies, remedies and horror stories of gigantic, oozing sores that I will never be able to remove from my brain no matter how many times I jab myself in the ear with the sharp end of a No. 2 pencil.

Right now I think the greatest invention in the history of man is the air conditioner.

They say if you want to get someone’s attention, it’s better to whisper than to shout. While that may be true, I’ve found that if you whisper too low, the other guy can’t hear you and you wind up repeating yourself, which can spoil the mood, especially if you’re angry and want to stay that way.

Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Dick Cheney, . . . Tim Kaine?

From time to time my wife and I like to spend a “long weekend” at one of the better hotels in New York City. While there, we make it a point to dine at popular restaurants and to take in at least one Broadway show. In the past we’ve traveled by air, but no more. From now on, we will be taking the train.