The Ruth Pauley Lecture Series celebrates its 23rd season with five presentations considering the topics of Afghanistan, globalization, taxes, and insurance-free health care.

There will also be a special guest appearance by the nation's 16th President.

On Sept. 16, Peter Bergen will present a lecture entitled "Beyond the Kite Runner: Exploring Afghanistan Today." Bergen, a CNN terrorism analyst and author of "The Osama bin Laden I Know and Holy War Inc.: Inside the Secret World of bin Laden," will discuss modern Afghanistan.

The Soviet occupation, the civil war in the 1980s, the rise and fall of the Taliban, and Afghanistan's future will be explored. This will be The Pilot's Sam Ragan Memorial Lecture.

On Oct. 28, Roland Stephen, Ph.D., will present a lecture entitled "Globalization and North Carolina." Stephen is assistant director for the N.C. State University Institute for Emerging Issues. His talk will seek to identify policy responses available to economic leaders, developers, state officials, and the public, given a rapidly changing and competitive global economy.

The Pinecrest High School Speech and Debate Team will present a debate on "Taxes" on Nov. 17. Pinecrest is home to one of the most successful and fastest-growing National Forens-ic League teams in the nation. Coached by Libby Carter and assisted by debate coach Robert Sheard, the team has seen great success in both local high school and national tournaments. The night's topic will focus on the pros and cons of various national and state tax plans.

On Feb. 23, 2010, travel back in time to the Civil War era with a first-person presentation by award-winning Lincoln re-enactor Jim Getty called "An Evening with Abraham Lincoln." Getty has portrayed the 16th president on A&E's "The Assassination of President Lincoln" and TBS's "The Ironclads."

Dr. Robert Berry will present a lecture entitled "The Trials and Triumphs of an Insurance-Free Doctor" on March 25, 2010. Berry is a leader of a growing movement of physicians who no longer participate in health-care's third party payment system. This preserves the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship and eliminates the cost of filing thousands of small medical claims each year, thus enabling Berry and others to provide affordable care for the uninsured. He has presented his insurance-free model on ABC, CNN and Fox News.

The Ruth Pauley Lecture Series is sponsored by Sandhills Community College, the Moore County League of Women Voters, the American Association of University Women, and the Moore County public schools.

Lectures are at 7:30 p.m. in Owens Auditorium on the Sandhills Community College campus in Pinehurst. Previous speakers have included Sandra Day O'Connor, Stephen Ambrose, George McGovern, Ossie Davis and Newt Gingrich.

Admission is free and open to the public with no tickets required. Additional information can be obtained by calling 245-3132.