@Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass:

[quote][b]Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass[/b] - @Used2baFreeCountry: The dude is begging you to write a column. Why not do it?
[/quote]

Bears repeating! Thank you!

@The Invisible Hand:

[quote][b]The Invisible Hand[/b] - It's difficult scheduling what weekend I need to leave Athens when they keep moving around the "Human Rights" Festival.
[/quote]

"Keep moving around the 'Human Rights' Festival?" Please pay attention. The original festival date was the weekend of May 4-5. Now it is June 8. That is ONE move. Sorry you won't be there, Mr. Invisible, but I'm sure we can get along without you somehow. Perhaps you can jump in and do the volunteer work to organize an event more to your liking. Meanwhile, I submit that any weekend along with any weekday might be a good time for you to "leave Athens." Thank you and enjoy your travels. Have a good day.

Impressive project, a great "teaching moment" and an education for us all here on Planet Earth. Great job by the students, teachers and sponsors who sent Athens' own electronic emissary to the edge of space.

@Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass:

[quote][b]Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass[/b] - James A. Robertson appears to be astonishingly ignorant of the people who live around him; those who provide service to him in his community, those who entertain him, and those who protect him.
[/quote]

Bears repeating.

@Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass:

[quote][b]Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass[/b] - When is National Commenter's Day? After all, without us, this would be less of a page.
Or more of a page...I suppose that could be the case...
[/quote]

National Commenters Day? April 1 might be appropriate ... or any Friday the 13th. Have a good day where you are, TJS.

Winters was a truly funny guy. I have a copy of his book of paintings, amusingly titled "Hang Ups." Rest in peace and thanks for the laughs, Jonathan Winters.

Glad things are better for you and yours. Thanks for mentioning me in your new book. Have fun on Jekyll Island.

@melmarino: Thanks!

@annacat:

[quote][b]annacat[/b] - @melmarino: Since the cat is out of the bag anyway, I just wanted to say congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Wishing you both a long, happy, and fulfilling life together!
[/quote]

As the song says, "I second that emotion." I send melmarino my best wishes for love, luck and life. Congratulations to her and her partner.

I like the Little Free Library and left them a copy of a new book, The Presidents Club, yesterday.

I carried a good book to the Little Free Library this morning, Way to go, y'all.

@MyraBlackmon:

[quote][b]MyraBlackmon[/b] - For some reason, neither Ed's nor my column is showing up on the online opinion section. How did you find this? And if you're interested, here's mine: http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-03-23/blackmon-roguery-marks-closin...
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I notified the editors about the problem. Maybe that makes me the honorary proofreader. Have a good day, Myra.

What? No quotes from Dr. Sheldon Cooper? He probably got a "Big Bang" out of the news.

@roadwarrior:

[quote][b]roadwarrior[/b] - @EdwardLTant: I couldn't agree more. Thanks for saying it.
[/quote]

Thanks. I noticed that "Used2b" didn't respond to my suggestion that he submit signed columns himself. Too bad. I'm sure all readers were waiting with bated breath for the premiere of his priceless prose.

@Used2baFreeCountry:

[quote][b]Used2baFreeCountry[/b] - It is a shame that the Banner-Herald has chosen Leonard Pitts as a regular provider of commentaries if others are available.
[/quote]

Maybe you should step up to the plate yourself and submit commentaries to the Banner-Herald. Perhaps you can do better than a mere Pulitzer Prize winner like Leonard Pitts. Of course, like Pitts, you would have to sign name to your work.

Way to go, y'all! Congratulations!

@zyzygy: Thank you. I had not seen the several Huffington Post articles about the Rosa Parks statue but I just looked them up and I'm glad you called them to my attention.

@RightWingExtremist: Thanks.

@McCarthy: The original "Rosa Parks Bus" is now on exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum near Detroit. According to the museum's website, two other black women had been arrested for defying the city's segregated bus system before Parks became famous. The site says that activists felt that the well-respected Parks would be the right person to gain white support for their cause. Search "Rosa Parks Bus" and you'll see the info about it. The Ford Museum looks like a really interesting place.Thanks.

Re-reading a good book can be as pleasant as reading it for the first time. I'm a big fan of novelist Sinclair Lewis and many of his books I have read two or even three times.

@SIGNOFF: Thanks back at you. Glad you enjoyed the column. Have a good Sunday.

@Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass: Right you are, sir. Also, before the famous Freedom Rides of 1961, when the black and white people on the ride were brutally attacked in Alabama, there had been a similar ride on segregated Dixie bus systems that was called the Journey of Reconciliation. It happened back in 1947, the year I was born--so that's a long time ago. Activist James Peck wrote about it in his great little book titled "Freedom Ride." In the book he describes a 15-minute stop by Freedom Riders at the Athens bus station in 1961, where he said that the integrated group got served without incident at the station's lunch counter. Thus the humble little Athens bus station had a brief brush with history. Back about ten years ago two of the original 1961 Freedom Riders, Hank Thomas and Congressman John Lewis, spoke at the 25th Annual Athens Human Rights Festival. They were honored guests and living history right here in Athens. Have a good day.

@RightWingExtremist: What hard-earned money? You don't work. I didn't wish death on you. I just stated a fact with the Twain quote. You really need to get a job and a life, not necessarily in that order.

I didn't start anything with you. If you'd get a life outside cyberspace maybe--just maybe--you'd actually be able to get and hold down a job like an adult. To be called a troll by you is about like being called fat by a hippopotamus. You're the biggest troll and cyber-bully wannabe on this site. You just can't handle the fact that I fire back when fired upon by the likes of you. Look for a job and contact that job fair and quit wasting your time here before you break another computer chair. Your wounds are self-inflicted. As I told you when I met you, you're not as smart as you think you are. If you were you would be contributing to society instead of being such a pitiful waste of bandwidth and protoplasm. Good luck getting a job and have a nice weekend.

@RightWingExtremist: There's no maybe to it. I suspect you might be wrong about a lot of things. You've only met me one time very briefly at the symphony when I told you that Barry Goldwater is turning over in his grave at your use of the moniker RightWingExtremist and when I told your nice grandmother that she must be a very patient woman. You do not know me at all. I work for a living so I don't have time on my hands to play cyber-tennis with you ad infinitum, ad nauseum, but if you fire potshots at me then don't whine if I choose to fire back. Good luck with your job search if indeed you are searching. Have a nice weekend. Get off the computer chair and enjoy the pretty day. There are lots of folks in this world with more problems than you have and, in the words of Shakespeare, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."