By BONNIE WILLIAMS, Scripps Howard News Service

ANDERSON, S.C. - This nation was created by people who knew that to be free carried responsibility. America is kept free by men and women who accept that responsibility and defend our principles, even when the ultimate price may be paid for that defense.

What a shocker: Potato chips are the main culprit behind the average American's small but steady yearly weight gain, according to a study at Harvard University.

But it's not so much the chips' fault as it is our inability to -- paraphrasing the slogan of one of the best-known brands -- eat just one.

Peter Falk, who died last week at 83, had a varied and celebrated career, including film and the Broadway stage. He received his first Oscar nomination for his first movie role. Both his stage and screen work varied from madcap to manic, from amenable to antagonistic.

If you never heard storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham, you never heard a tale the way it should be told.

The legendary Alabama native, who died earlier last week at her home in Selma, brought life to characters as few others could, transfixing audience of all ages with her ability to take them to the places and introduce them to the people who populate her favorite place on earth.

ANDERSON, S.C. - Republican Nikki Haley and Democrat Vincent Sheheen, now on their way to what we hope will be a civil battle for the South Carolina governor's office, will soon begin to point out their differences.

We'll start with their similarities:

Picture this scenario, if you will: "Good morning. I'd like to upgrade my cell phone. This one is so old that I can't even get batteries for it anymore and . . . "

"Welcome! We have a number of phones from which you can choose. This model lets you take pictures and stream video and play 'Farmville' and surf the Web and search out a restaurant address and e-mail and text . . . "

Barbara Walters has reinvented the definition of "fascinating" with some of those on her list for 2009.

Tiger Woods is the best-known athlete in the world, not just for his prowess on the golf course but for his familiar face in television commercials for high-profile products.

It's, like, you know, so annoying, the word "whatever," especially when, like, it's drawn out by your 16-year-old who doesn't want to go to the family reunion. Like, it's just the pits. At least it is to 47 percent of the people surveyed by Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which is kind of a goofy name for a town.

On Friday, Sept. 18, at 4 p.m. EDT, 72 years of radio and television history came to a close with the final broadcast of "Guiding Light." It was the show's 15,762nd episode.