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♦ FRIDAY, JULY 14,2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
No free lunch for seniors
Centerville is experiencing renewed interest in its home
stead exemption for those 70 and over. Fairness to all
residents requires an equitable local property tax system
that provides adequate revenue to operate local govern
ment services. Emotional residents at town hall meetings
tend to represent a vocal minority and not the majority.
Emotions such as selfishness, and not the economic reali
ties of local government, tend to unfairly dominate such
unruly meetings. Those less fortunate and who are absent
are forgotten. Kindness is often absent as emotions boil!
Certainly those residents aged 70 plus of Eagle Springs
living in $400,000 mansions should not be allowed to
avoid city property taxes altogether. Those residents on
lower incomes and living usually in smaller homes should
not have to subsidize those wealthy, older residents! This
is all about fairness and quality of life. The age 70 crowd
will just have to come to realize that there is no such
thing as a free lunch - No matter how many years you
have lived in Centerville.!
Frank W. Gadbois,
Warner Robins
Intelligent Design should
not be taught as science
It is a widely known fact that there is an attempt by
a religious Christian caucus to impose its views on the
whole country. Their ultimate goal is to replace science
with their personal religious convictions. One of their
more obvious moves was their effort to get Intelligent
Design taught as science. This movement is supported
by none other than George W. Bush himself. He said on
television that he supported an alternate concept being
taught as science in public schools. Clerics often say there
are too many gaps in the fossil record to support evolu
tion, thus intelligent design has to be the answer. This
is irritating since these clerics come to the table empty
handed and expect to be taken seriously, when the real
gap is between their ears. '
If these clerics want ID taught as science and let the
students decide which is correct, then why not teach
alchemy as chemistry or astrology as astronomy.
I certainly don,t object to the student,s right to believe
in Intelligent Design as a matter of faith or religion since
it is basically religious creationism. The danger is that it
will be taught in public schools as science. The reason for
this obviously is the expansion in the Christian base is
not keeping pace with the population growth, and unless
children are exposed to the Christian myth earlier in
their formative years, they could opt to follow some other
pathway to the truth. This could develop into bad news
for the clergy’s salaries.
Teaching Intelligent Design as science could have the
long term effect of stunting the intellectual growth of
those exposed to it and would further degrade America,s
scientific base. We already import scientists. This educa
tional concept along side teaching the Bible as literature
or history is purely a insidious ruse to call belief in reli
gious superstitions intellectual freedom.
Some of the preceding facts were published in
American Scientist and was authored by Pat Shipman, a
Pennsylvania State University professor.
Walter Huckeba
Perry
Happy with endorsement
As a supporter of organized labor, I’m happy that the
Georgia AFL-CIO COPE has endorsed Jen Harris for
House District 147.
This endorsement shows that hard-working folks
throughout the state support her bid to elected as our
State Representative.
Please don’t forget to get out and vote on July 18th in
the Democratic Primary.
Roger Marietta
HOW TO SUBMIT LETTERS
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editor. Letters should not exceed 350 words and
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There are three ways to submit a letter to the edi
tor: E-mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail
it to The Houston Home Journal at P.O. Box 1910,
Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at 1210 Washington
St. in Perry - between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday.
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
What about General Courtney Hicks Hodges?
We’ve done well and
are doing good by
Eric P ‘Fessor’
Staples with the naming of
the Houston County School
Board Administration
Building for him as well
as other planned honors.
And, we have properly hon
ored former United States
Senator Sam Nunn with Sam
Nunn Boulevard and ‘Sam’s
Room’ in the Eric P Staples
Building. But what about
Perry’s native son, General
Courtney Hicks Hodges?
Walk down the hall at my
law office, and at the end
of the hall is a photograph
of America’s European
Generals entitled “A
Gathering of The Stars.”
There are 12 of them, and
there he sits next to General
Omar Bradley, who sits
next to the Allied Supreme
Commander, General Dwight
D. Eisenhower. Pretty good
for a little Perry boy, don’t
you think?
General Hodges was born
in Perry on Jan. 5,1887, and
is the only enlisted man on
record to rise from Private
to Four-Star General in the
United States Army.
In 1906, Courtney Hodges
enlisted in the Army and in
1916, Lt. Hodges served with
General John J. Pershing’s
forces along the Mexican
border. He went to France
in 1918 as a captain, was
decorated twice for valor,
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Voting day tips from Lance Mannion
On Tuesday, July 18,
literally hundreds of
Georgians will swarm
to polling places across the
state to vote in our general
primary election.
But this election day could
or could not be different than
ones in the past for Georgia
voters in that a new voter
identification law could or
could not be in effect, which
may or may not affect citi
zens’ ability to vote or not
vote.
Recently, a judge issued
a restraining order, block
ing the law from going
into effect. The state has
appealed. So, at the time of
this writing, we don’t really
know whether you’ll need
to abide by the new voter
ID requirements on July 18
or not.
If the restraining order
sticks, your ID requirements
at the polls will be the same
as in the past. You tell them
your name and vote.
When you go back to vote
again, you change shirts
and tell them a different
name (I always use “Lance
Mannion”) and you vote a
second time. Repeat as nec
essary.
But if the new voter ID
law is indeed in place, vot
ers are in store for a host of
changes.
Larry Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-law.com
and returned after occupa
tion duty in Germany as a
lieutenant colonel.
Later, Colonel Hodges
served as an instructor at
West Point. In 1943, he
was named Commanding
General of the Third Army.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944,
General Hodges landed at
Normandy, and on August
1, 1944, assumed command
of the First Army. The First
Army spearheaded the
Allied Forces drive through
Europe.
After Germany surren
dered, General Hodges and
his staff were redeployed
to the Pacific to organize
another Army for the inva
sion of Japan. En route, he
returned home to Perry to
be honored and on May 31,
1945. People of Perry gave
their famous son a tremen
dous welcome home celebra
tion. It was presided over by
Mayor Sam A. Nunn Sr., a
boyhood friend. Perhaps you
Len Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
I have researched this new
law and have compiled an
easy-to-follow, step-by-step,
how-to guide to make your
election day painless and
carefree.
Here are my Voting Day
Tips:
• This is a primary elec
tion, which is different from
a general election in that
you have to choose a party
and vote for only those can
didates running for offices
on that party’s ticket. Why
is it done this way? Beats
me.
Poll officials will ask you:
“What party ballot would
you like?” I usually answer
“Whig.” Poll officials uni
formly don’t find that
response funny, so I wouldn’t
suggest doing that.
• The main stipulation of
the new voter ID law is that
you must present a photo ID
■ * ' ]
have seen photographs of
this great occasion.
General Hodges was on
the battleship Missouri and
watchedthe Japanese surren
der. Returning to the United
States, he again became
Commanding General of the
First Army. After more than
45 years of active service,
General Hodges retired on
January 31, 1949. He died
on Jan. 16, 1966, and is bur
ied in Arlington National
Cemetery.
General Hodges still has
relatives in this area. Edward
Mason and Courtney Mason
(named for General Hodges)
are his nephews and Thomas
Mason, now deceased, was a
nephew. John Houser is a
nephew. Mr. John Hodges,
deceased, long-time Houston
County Ordinary (now
called Probate Judge), and
at one time owner of The
Houston Home Journal,
was his brother. As an aside,
nephew, John Houser, was a
€ * 1 ~
in order to vote.
A driver’s license will suf
fice. If you don’t have a driv
er’s license or a photo ID of
some kind, your best bet is
to make a fake ID.
To secure a fake ID, there
are two generally-accepted
methods:
1. Do it yourself.
This will require you to
cut out a picture of yourself,
preferably a “glamour shot,”
and paste it to a card roughly
the size of a driver’s license.
Then write your name,
address, and other vital
information (height, weight,
sex, birthdate, astrological
sign, blood type, hat size)
to the side of your picture.
Lastly, type up something
official to go across the top
of your ID. I would suggest
“NASA Astronaut ID Card.”
And don’t forget to sign it at
the bottom.
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
WWII pilot as was nephew,
Courtney Mason. Courtney
‘flew over the Hump.’ There
are probably men in our part
of the state who served in one
of General Hodges’ Armies
in WWII and certainly there
are still some who remem
ber the great Welcome Home
Celebration in 1945 (even
though the celebration was
61 years ago!).
Back to my opening para
graph. We need to do more
to honor and remember
General Hodges. Oh, we
have a road named for him,
and at one time the Armory
(now converted) was named
in his honor. But, in my
opinion, this is not enough.
What about a museum?
Perhaps in the Welcome
Center or in the old Houston
County Courthouse. Maybe
even a new facility at or near
Big Indian Creek. Maybe
even in the Eric Staples
Building, if there is room.
The Perry Library has some
memorabilia “stored,” and I
bet family members would
be willing to donate or loan.
Also, we could probably
have material loaned by the
United States Army. This
could be a positive thing for
Houston County.
We’ve done well by Sam
and ‘Fessor. What about
General Courtney Hicks
Hodges? We could do better,
couldn’t we?
Or, 2. Get in touch with a
college freshman or sopho
more and have them procure
one for you.
The photo ID is the main
component of the new voter
ID law.
Other minor stipulations
of the law include: You can’t
vote if you’re poor, gay, and/
or a mouthy woman; and
household pets of wealthy
registered voters are allowed
to vote (with proper ID, of
course).
• A little-known tip for
your trip to the polls - with
the new touch-screen vot
ing machines, it’s relatively
easy to vote for “write-in”
candidates.
For instance, if you come
upon a race where you don’t
know who to vote for, I would
suggest just writing in a can
didate you know. I do it all
the time (usually for Millard
Fillmore). All you have to do
is bring a permanent mark
er to the polls with you and
when you want to “write
in” a candidate, just scribble
that person’s name on the
screen (legibly, please).
• One more tip - if you
plan on voting for Ralph
Reed on the Republican bal
lot for lieutenant governor,
the polls open at 10 p.m. on
Tuesday, July 18.
Don’t be early.