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The ADVANCE, Morch 3, 2021/Page 2A
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What is the harm in Euphemisms?
“Euphemism” is defined by OED
as “A mild or indirect word or expres
sion substituted for a harsh or blunt
one when referring to something
unpleasant or embarrassing.” Eu
phemisms, also considered political
correctness, are embedded so deeply
in our language that we use them
every day. There is a dark side of eu
phemism which makes the had seem
good and the unpleasant seem at
tractive, and can be abused to
keep important words out
of a discussion. No matter
if you face “career change,”
“surplus reduction in per
sonnel,” or “downsizing,”
you’re still fired!
Euphemisms are used to
hide the horrors of war in de
scribing soldiers’ response to
the trauma of battle. During
World War I the term was ‘shell
shock’; during World War II ‘battle
fatigue’, ‘operational exhaustion’ and
‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.’ Eu
phemisms change the mental image
from a war-torn human to an inopera
tive war machine.
The accurate legal term “illegal
alien,” became “unauthorized immi
grant,” “undocumented immigrant,”
and “misdocumented immigrant.”
The words are changed in order to
emotionally change Americans’ opin
ions about people who climb fences
waving their native countries’ flags
and demand entrance into the Unit
ed States, while ignoring the plights
of immigrants who follow American
laws and spend thousands of dollars
on legal fees and wait for years before
being allowed into the country
legally.
A Harvard law profes
sor was asked to exchange
emotional terms in rape law
for euphemisms such as “in
appropriate behavior,” "hav
ing sex,” or “taking advantage.”
Revictimizing the vulnerable
by trying to obscure the ugly
dirtiness of rape is cruel.
Overly sensitive future lawyers
will be useless to help the victims
with trauma and to get rapists off the
streets.
It is more rational to put emotions
aside to discuss vital issues. The im
portant thing is solving problems, not
using ineffective words to minimize
them.
Your
Mind
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Got a complaint? Got a
compliment? Call Your
Mind On Line at 537-6397
and let us know what's
on your mind. Quotes are
printed exactly as they are
called in and are not nec
essarily factual, but rather,
callers' opinions. Libelous,
slanderous, personal at
tacks, and unfounded ac
cusatory or lengthy com
ments will not be printed.
Two calls per week per
caller, and calls should
not exceed 30 seconds,
please.
“We should all be
extremely grateful to
Senator Blake Tillery
for his weekly updates
to keep us informed
about what our Sena
tors are doing in Geor
gia. It should also
make us proud that
they are responding
to our concerns these
days."
“As a Toombs
County taxpayer, I
was wondering has
the county and state
gotten together and
made the road from
Lyons to Center to
Alston a truckers'
route? I remember
there used to be signs
up saying "No Through
Trucks'. The signs dis
appeared, the speed
limit is 55, and trucks
are through there all
the time. Is someone
getting a kickback
from these truck
lines?"
“I’m calling about
speeders on Church
Street. I hope the city
will do something
about them. Please
send out cops to slow
them down."
“Thank you, Vidalia
Advance, for publish
ing the beautiful pic
ture of the Ledford
babies. We need
more of that kind of
publishing in our pa
pers. It's so uplifting to
see family pictures.
Thank you for sharing
your family with us."
“I got pork rinds
from the Dollar Tree.
They tasted so good I
looked to see the
name on the bag,
Bryans' Snack Food.
There was a Bible
verse on it. John 3:16.
That's what wrong
with the world. Believe
on God and not the
world."
“Crystal Hobbs, if
you’re reading this, I
sure did miss you at
Oxley Dental this
week."
“Taxes are going
up, more of our men
in uniform have just
been sent back to
Syria, boys can now
compete with girls
and use girls' rest
rooms, gas and food
prices are skyrocket
ing, and no $2000
checks. Any of you
Biden voters got buy
ers' remorse?"
“Rev. Warnock and
Mr. Ossoff, where is
my $2000 check you
promised me for my
vote?"
“When gas gets up
to about $3.75 a gal
lon, I wonder if any of
these Biden voters will
have second thoughts
about casting their
votes."
“What has hap
pened to Wendy's? It
used to be my favor
ite place for a ham
burger and fries and a
frosty. But the last 2
times I've been in
there, the customer
service has been hor
rible."
“Why can’t Toombs
County and Vidalia fix
the roads? The farm
ers road in Johnson's
Corner and the other
end of the county are
fixed."
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Summary for 7th Week of 2021 Session
The seventh
week of the 2021 leg-
^ * islative session marked
| 1 the halfway point and
proved to be our busi-
• est week yet. The House
jRBn a - examined a wide variety
of legislative initiatives
By Rep. Robert Pruitt , ° , , r
(District 149) and passed a number or
bills. One of these be
ing House Bill 286 which would prohibit
counties and municipalities from reducing
their police force budgetary appropriations
by more than five percent, unless specified
conditions exist
Additionally, House Bill 307was passed
at the beginning of the week and authorizes
health care providers to continue providing
telehealth services from home even after
the pandemic is over. To ensure insurance
coverage for these services, HB 307 would
prohibit insurers from requiring separate
deductibles or an in-person consultation
before paying for a virtual appointment and
restrict insurers from requiring providers to
use a specific telehealth platform or vendor.
They also could restrict the prescribing of
medication more so than what is currently
required by state and federal law.
The House also passed House Bill 437
to require gas station employees to dis
pense gas to vehicles that have a special dis
ability permit displayed when the disabled
driver is not accompanied by someone who
can provide adequate assistance. If only one
employee is working, then the gas station
would not be required but encouraged to
provide assistance. Decals
will be added to pumps that
displays the international
symbol of accessibility.
Currently, Georgia’s
child custody laws require
one or both parents to be
responsible with decision
making authority for a child’s
upbringing. House Bill 442
was passed and would re
quire parents to include so
cial media management in
their joint parenting plan.
This bill would allow our
child custody laws to remain
relevant with ever changing
technology.
We received news from
Governor Brian Kemp this
week that the state is poised
to expand Georgia’s CO-
VID-19 vaccine priority list
to include teachers and school staff. Start
ing March 8, all of Georgia’s pre-k and K-12
teachers and school staff, as well as Depart
ment of Early Care and Learning staff, will
join the state’s Phase 1A+ group. In addition
to Georgia teachers and school staff, the
state will also expand vaccination access to
adults with mental and developmental dis
abilities and their caregivers and children
with complex health issues plus their care
takers. Since vaccination efforts began a lit
tle more than two months ago, roughly 1.9
million vaccines have been administered to
approximately 1.2 Georgians, which means
we have surpassed 50% of our eligible resi
dents. Our testing positivity rate is also at its
lowest in months at approximately 10 per
cent.
As “Crossover Day” draws near, we will
continue to vote on meaningful House legis
lation before we start the process of review
ing Senate bills. I encourage you to reach
out to me with any comments or questions
about legislation that is important to you,
your family and our community. My capi-
tol office number is 404-656-0116 and you
can reach me directly via email at robert.
pruitt(a)house.ga.gov. As always, thank you
for allowing me to serve as your representa
tive and I look forward to seeing you soon.
As the State Representative for District 149,
Robert Pruitt serves Dodge County, Telfair
County, Wheeler County, Cadwell, and
Hazlehurst. During the second week of the 2021
Legislative Session, Rep Pruitt was appointed to
serve on the Industry and Trade, Economic
Development, and Small Business committees
for the next two years. Robert and his wife Kelly
have been long time residents of Eastman.
SIAVO KU Solu,lon ’ pa9e 10A
Fun By The
Numbers
Like puzzles?
Then you’ll love
sudoku. This
mind-bending
puzzle will have
you hooked from
the moment you
square off, so
sharpen your
pencil and put
your sudoku
savvy to the test!
Lsvek Intermediate
Here’s How It Works:
Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine
3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each
row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row,
column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will
appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The
more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
9
8
4
0
7
5
2
3
7
4
6
2
1
1
2
7
0
9
1
3
4
0
5
1
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