James Werrell

I usually am not crazy about columns that begin, “Webster's defines …”

The ball.

That is the latest honoree in the National Toy Hall of Fame in New York. I would be cheering except that the Toy Hall of Fame is 11 years old.

The philosophical problem with hate-crime laws derives from their emphasis on motive. Essentially, the laws allow the federal government to prosecute offenders not only for what they do but also for what they are thinking at the time they do it.

Why is anyone still listening to Dick Cheney?

A bipartisan bill to lift travel restrictions to Cuba was introduced this month, and if it passes, President Obama is likely to sign it. Maybe I'll finally get to visit the island my old friend Danny Valdes used to reminisce about.

Elected officials from South Carolina don't seem to like President Obama's stimulus package.

For exercise, I walk three miles, five days a week, in my neighborhood near Winthrop University.

Barack Obama has demonstrated an uncanny aptitude for putting the lid on potential trouble and keeping it from blowing up in his face.

This big hope-filled bubble so many of us are floating on could pop, sending us hurtling back to earth.

I have a dilemma. I have a squirrel in my house.