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Columnists

BOB BROWN: The American Flag

All my life, I’ve loved the American flag. I was taught there is something special about our flag, that it is never trampled upon in war or peace, and...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: There Is No Need For A U.S. Ground War In Venezuela

The easiest way to overthrow Nicolás Maduro, the narco-terrorist dictator of Venezuela, is to finance an insurgency....

SCOTT DREYER: Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving today, and along with Canadians in October, are the only people on...

DAWN CUSTALOW: Pocahontas Reframed and Thanksgiving

I just returned from the 9th annual Pocahontas Reframed film festival 2025 in Richmond, VA,...

SCOTT DREYER: “Forgive Me When I Whine”

This poem, of unclear authorship, reportedly comes from the dark Great Depression days of the...

Krispy Kreme Provides Balm for Spinal Surgery and More

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said “The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.” Recently, I spent six weeks with...

Christmas Comes To MBC

Christmas celebration came early at Mary Baldwin –  before the college closed for the holidays in mid-December, and three hundred girls packed up...

The Importance of Thank You Notes

 In the days of yore when most written communication took place via mail, it was always a pleasure to open the mail box...

My Aneurysm And ‘Christmas’

Christmas this year came on December 15th, this year of our good Lord, 2012, but it began three years ago when I suddenly...

People You Meet In The ER

Perhaps nowhere in the world has the invasion of ‘texting’ become so obvious. It’s no longer uncommon to walk in to a patient’s room,...

White House Christmas Cards: 1945 to the Present

President Ulysses S. Grant made Christmas Day (December 25) a national holiday in 1870. From that point forward, a Christmas card from the White...