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4A ♦ FRIDAY, JULY 14,2006 plouston Patfg HJmmral 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 We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor. Letters should not exceed 350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and tele phone number. All letters printed in The Home Journal will appear with the writer’s name and hometown - we do not publish anonymous letters. The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity. Letter writers are asked to submit no more than one letter per person per week. We cannot guarantee that a letter will be printed on a specific date. The Home Journal prefers that letters be typed. Letters to the editor are published in the order they are received as space permits. A Journal employee will call to verify the author of each letter. 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, ONCE UWHAHWE. THESE WAfc ONEDAY A HURRICANE CNAE So IWE DETERMINED RICH MAN A rich man who bout a and took m home an at rebuilt home at lUE VERY NEXT TEAK. A " MAT&E WE SMQULO £OllO ODR "PONT 0E RIDICULOUS," SAID W WURRICfcNE PESTPSOYEP SUMMER MOME SOMEWHERE RICM MAN, M A<b LQHCt AS CON&RESS THe <=>U/IMeS HOME AGAIN.' ELSE," SAID THE RICH MAN'S* CAN SET AT GUY to 7& _ OUR FLOOD INSURANCE, WE CAN 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.