Average or better credit still qualifies most consumers for good to great interest rates on home mortgages and auto loans. The credit crisis "world is ending" hype might lead you not to apply for a home mortgage or auto loan. But credit is readily available at interest rates much lower than most people think. Even average credit scores still qualify for low home and car loans.

Angel was only a year old. On Oct. 1, he died and left his best friend, Joey, with a broken heart.

I read with interest the recent education-related articles and opinion page letters to the editor in my local newspaper. One headline that got my attention was the commentary titled "Dys wrong on PACT." Other articles and editorial letters followed on this subject. However, a big disappointment was the personal attacks against someone who questioned the PACT test and the new replacement test (PASS) being developed. This points out one of the biggest problems we have in our public education system.

I once worked with a colorful U.S. representative who in another life was "Cooter" from "The Dukes of Hazard" on TV. Ben Jones was king of the one-liner. When someone questioned his ability to hold high public office (he had never held any kind of public office before he ran for Congress), he replied: "When you are green you are growing; when you are ripe; you are rotten."

I am one of those Democratic female voters who finds herself in a conundrum because the actions of her own party. I have begun to really listen to "both" sides of this presidential debate, not the pundits or party loyalists, to distinguish which platform is really ready to change and which is really ready to lead.

"It takes a skilled carpenter to build a barn. But, any jack ass can kick one down." -- Abraham Lincoln

I am the concerned parent of three beautiful children. I have been following the presidential election very closely since the primaries. After watching the news recently, I was sickened by John McCain's attempt to overshadow the problems in this country by calling Sen. Barack Obama a "high-strung celebrity," comparing him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, saying that he was proud of the ad.

On Thursday, July 24, my family said goodbye to my 18-year-old son, a United States Marine, as he departed Camp Lejuene for Iraq. This would be the first of at least two deployments he will make.

Much has been made of the idea that if Barack Obama is elected this November, he will become the first black man ever to reach our nation's highest office.

As gas prices surge, many rally to what Andy Jackson wrote recently in The Herald: "Drill now, drill here." I am for anything responsible to bring prices down, whether it's more drilling or less speculation. But everyone should know that we are drilling more, and have been for several years. Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued increased by 361 percent. Here in a nutshell are the details: