by Richard Nelson | Dec 31, 2018 | Blog
Have you made a New Year's resolution yet? If not, let me suggest a good one. How about contributing to civility? One way to do that is by engaging in more conversations—civil conversations with those you disagree with. Not arguments. Not rants. But...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 28, 2018 | Blog
Time Magazine named the Person of the Year award to journalists. In fact, they dedicated four editions of their magazine to slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, staff members of the Capital Gazette who were gunned down and two foreign journalists killed while doing...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 27, 2018 | Blog
Merriam-Webster announced that the word of the year is justice. They chose this word because of the spike in web searches seeking the definition of justice. The interest in the meaning of justice stems from the MeToo Movement, the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 26, 2018 | Blog
The headline story in last week's Lexington Herald-Leader said, "This is how cowards run government." It was in reference to the special session of the legislature called by Gov. Bevin. The story didn't include a single interview of proponents of...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 25, 2018 | Blog
According to one survey, the average American household will spend over $1500 on gifts and food to celebrate holiday festivities. Giving gifts to friends and family are one way we celebrate but as you walk through the tattered wrapping paper around your Christmas tree...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 24, 2018 | Blog
It's been a politically charged week leading up to this Christmas Eve but it would be good to take a break from politics and focus on the biggest event in all of human history: the God coming into this world to save us from our sins. Charles Wesley's Hark! the...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 21, 2018 | Blog
The idea that one race is superior to another race is antithetical to everything America stands for. That's why there are so many efforts from the political right and political left to fight racism. For decades, affirmative action elevated job and education...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 21, 2018 | Opinion Pieces
According to Deloitte's 2018 Annual Retail Survey, American households will spend an average of $1536 on the holidays, up from $1,226 last year. Their analysts say American's are bullish on the economy. Altogether, we'll spend over $1.1 trillion in...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 20, 2018 | Blog
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a famous Soviet dissident and author who received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. He wrote the Gulag Archipelago which exposed Soviet atrocities under communism. He was described as “a pioneer in the renaissance of...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 19, 2018 | Blog
In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln reminded us that we have a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." It was a reminder that the people are the ones in charge of the government instead of the government being in charge of...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 18, 2018 | Blog
Students in West Point, Virginia walked out of class last week after the school board removed a popular teacher from the classroom for refusing to call a female student "he." French instructor Peter Vlaming didn't believe he should be forced to call a...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 17, 2018 | Opinion Pieces
On December 10, hundreds of Somerset residents attended the city council meeting to register their opposition to a human rights ordinance that would include sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) as a civil right. The idea behind the proposal is to...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 17, 2018 | Blog
Nashville's last remaining abortion clinic has closed. Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi announced last week that it has "indefinitely" stopped offering abortions at their Nashville location. This means one of the largest cities in...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 14, 2018 | Blog
The National Retail Federation, projects holiday retail sales in November and December will be between $717.45 billion to $720.89 billion That's a lot of cookie dough! Giving gifts are part of the Christmas tradition but when our spending gets out of hand, we...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 13, 2018 | Blog
The 2019 legislative session is just weeks away and a couple of bills proposed to solve Kentucky's financial problems. State Rep. Dennis Keene has introduced a bill to legalize wagering on professional and college sports. State Senator Julian Carroll...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 12, 2018 | Blog
Paradise, California has been nearly destroyed. The deadliest fire in California history took 85 lives, destroyed 14,000 homes and structures and left 153,336 acres of woodland charred. Paradise became a picture of hell on earth. The heat and flames, acrid smoke and...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 11, 2018 | Blog
The picture of Christmas is one of good cheer: family and friends surrounding a dinner table, presents being exchanged— good feelings all around. But this isn't the case for everyone. Some will have no families to celebrate with and others have such painful...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 10, 2018 | Blog
The Eastern Kentucky city of Somerset is updating its human rights ordinance to elevate sexual orientation and gender identity to civil right status. The goal is to protect those in the LGBT community from unjust discrimination. They're called fairness laws but...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 7, 2018 | Blog
Public profanity seems to be on the rise but if you're living in the West Kentucky City of Paducah, you may be hearing more of it. That's because the Paducah City Commission is repealing a 50-year old law that restricts profanity within the city. This is on...
by Richard Nelson | Dec 6, 2018 | Blog
13 federal government agencies released a report with dire warnings about climate change. The report concludes that extreme hot weather is getting more common, and cold weather more rare; That sea levels will continue to rise and that forest fires will intensify....
