Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2006
4A
Mmxstan
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Unfair in so many ways
This is by no means an endorsement
for oft-trouble (these days) Rush
Limbaugh - far, far from it - but he
makes a good point - one we’ve all surely
heard before - in one of his op-eds making
the e-mail rounds this past week.
In it, he points out that family members
who lost a loved one in the Sept. 11 attack,
are going to get anywhere from a mini
mum guarantee of $250,000 all the way
up to $4.7 million.
Although he never provides proof of
where he got the information - and a
search on the web yielded no confirma
tion - it makes perfect sense in today’s
America.
Now, don’t
get us wrong.
Losing even
one of the
so many lost
during that
terrorist
attack was
far beyond
tragic.
But, truth
be told, it’s
as Limbaugh
states: “They
were in the
wrong place
at the wrong
time.”
Contrast
that to today’s soldier.
If he or she dies, the family member
receives a check for $6,000 (not that the
other isn’t, but this is verifiable). The sur
viving spouse then gets a little more than
SBOO a month unless he or she remarries,
and every child under 18 receives just over
S2OO.
Is it us, or is there a big discrepancy
between those of Sept. 11 and our sol
diers?
Sure there is. There always has been. We
pay athletes millions and pay our soldiers,
sailors airmen and marines pennies.
And the stark truth is - in contrast to
those who died in the Sept. 11 attack: We
then ask them to put themselves between
us and the scope of a rifle; between us and
harm’s way.
Limbaugh goes on to say that there are
those who had loved ones fall victim to the
Oklahoma City bombing as well as embas
sy bombings organizing their efforts to
receive like compensation as the Sept. 11
families.
We say it’s time - past time - for us to
take care of our men and women in uni
form and their families first and foremost,
before anything else.
After all, we wouldn’t be able to say
EDIMGIAFAD without them.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Last month my 17-year-old daughter went to work at a local
daycare center where she was employed for the summer.
While many teenagers take summer jobs in fast food or retail
my daughter searched for employment in the area she loves the
most and hopes to begin her career in, with children. Her com
plete summer was spent working full time with these children.
July 27th at approximately 5:45 p.m. as she prepared to
leave work for the evening she realized with horror that her
purse was missing. After searching the entire center with other
staff members she called me in tears to tell me her purse was
stolen.
Like many teenagers who are into the current electronic gad
gets of today she had her IPOD Nano and her digital camera
in her purse both of which were received as gifts. The camera
contained pictures and videos of recent visits from friends and
family that visited this summer from out of state. All which
were taken with the purse including her car keys and wallet.
These and other personal items were included in the police
report. A newly opened checking account had to be quickly
closed and a fraud alert added. Not your usual teenage con
cerns
It is scary to think that an incident like this could happen
among the children and staff without anyone noticing, which
puts into question the integrity of the center. For those of you
who use these centers are you aware of the true state of security
used in the centers if any at all. Is management doing every
thing they can to ensure the safety and security of your children
and their belongings? Are visitor control measures observed?
Are there surveillance systems in place? These are concerns
that as a young parent you may want to look into too.
It is heartbreaking lor a parent to know that one of their
child’s first adult working experiences ends with them learn
ing that in the most innocent of settings that people cannot be
trusted! .
I hope that anyone who can shed any light on this crime will
contact the Perry Police.
Lori Sullivan, Warner Robins
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
If he or she dies, the
family member receives
a check for $6,000 (not
that the other isn't, but
this is verifiable). The
surviving spouse then
gets a little more than
SBOO a month unless
he or she remarries,
and every child under
18 receives just over
S2OO.
Tiny country no stranger to violence
The first evacuees arrived in the
United States from Lebanon
Thursday, escaping the danger
and ugliness of Hezbollah’s latest fit of
hatred and Israel’s response.
Lebanon is no stranger to war, ugli
ness and hatred, 5,000 years of iron
ic counterpoint to the tiny country’s
stunning beauty.
I say that having never been to
Lebanon but rather because for the
last two years I have researched and
written my father’s family genealogy,
which starts in what today is Lebanon.
The Independent will publish “An
American Family,” the fruits of that
labor, in October.
We hope and pray for international
pressure and a different resolve among
combatants to bring calm to Lebanon’s
southern border, the flash point for
what is another chapter in a long and
dismal history of violence in a place
universally known for its dramatic
landscape, exquisite foods and extraor
dinary hospitality.
Is there anything as inhospitable as
war?
The Phoenicians first settled Lebanon
around 3000 B.C. The Romans would
eventually make today’s Lebanon part
of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Assyrians, Ayyubids,
Babylonians, Byzantines, Mamluks
and Ottomans also invaded, conquered
and controlled this strategic crossroads,
where the Mediterranean shore forms
the western boundary and towering
mountains bisect the country north to
south, providing both protection from
and a hiding place for enemies.
But when Hezbollah lofts missiles
into Israel and kidnaps soldiers, it
has much less to do with geographic
advantage than it does with blind hate.
For its part, Israel, whose sorties above
Beirut and the border have been ques-
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Vacation has its up and down side
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
Click ...
So, this is vacation. This is
what all the hub-bub is about.
Wait a second.
“Eeeeeyahhhhhhhhhhhh! ”
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
Click.
Now, where was I? Oh yeah. The
family said this would be good for
me. “You need a break away from the
office,” they said. “All you ever do is
work,” they said. “We hardly ever see
you anymore and when we do, you’re
always so tired and worn out.”
Excuse me for a second ...
“Oh my Goooooodddddd!
Whooaaa. Whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa.
Whooaooo!”
Whew. Almost lost my $lO hot dog
ther6.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click
As I was saying. Hey, l think I can
see my house from here. It’s not like
I didn’t agree with them as far as the
benefits of vacation. I learned that
last year when we went to Universal
Studios. Would you believe it was the
first real actual vacation I/we had
taken in something like 20 years? Oh
hold 0n...
“Noooo! Nooooo! Whoop. Whoop.
OPINION
Columnist
tioned by some, was nothing if not
predictable. It has for years been more
than willing to defend its borders and
people with military force.
And so, Lebanon’s beauty once again
shares its space with the beast of war.
My grandfather came to the United
States during another such time. The
harsh Ottoman rule of Abdul Hamid
II (1876-1909) prompted both Arab
Christians and Muslims to form under
ground political groups.
I have no way of knowing exactly why
my grandfather, a Christian, boarded a
ship in Beirut in 1894 at age 12. But
as he arrived at Ellis Island three
months later, internal fighting and vio
lence among those groups and among
a crazy quilt of religious factions were
commonplace back home, part of the
decline and eventual death of Ottoman
control of the region.
Some things, sadly, never change.
When they don’t, long-standing enmi
ties become entrenched and hundreds
of years of hatred magnify every provo
cation, however slight. Hezbollah, not
the nation of Lebanon but a powerful
force within it, could hijack the coun
try’s fledging democracy. The fighting
at the border gives form to this dys
functional infrastructure.
And it makes Lebanon ground zero
once again.
My grandfather grew up in Rashaya,
in the southern Bekaa Valley, about 40
miles east of Beirut and 75 miles from
Columnist ■njkg^gfj
Managing Editor
Whoop. Whoop. Whoop.”
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click
It was great - last year that is - all
except we went to Universal Studios
and I was kind of hoping that lady
with the big breasts would put my
head between them like she does on
the commercial and give me the jell-o
treatment (whatever that means).
This year ... oh wait...
“Help me Jesus ... nooooooooo. Yi.
Yi. Yi. Uw. Ee. Ya. Where’d the ground
go ? Whew-hew. Somebody save meeeee
Burp. Eeew. That tasted like last night’s
Burger King."
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click
Anyway, at first I fought hard to get
out of it - this year.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click
“You do realize I’ve only been doing
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Lebanon’s southern border, where mor
tar shells and death now rule the day.
At Rashaya’s highest point is an
18th-century citadel, where in 1943
the French imprisoned several nation
al leaders during - what else - another
period of unrest in Lebanon.
My grandmother was born in
Jerusalem in 1888 but raised in Ferzol,
a tiny town in the hills above the Bekaa
some 20 miles northeast of Rashaya
but closer to Beirut, known as the
“Paris of the Mediterranean” before
17 years of war ending in 1990. Since
then, the city has worked and to some
extent succeeded in regaining its grace
and beauty.
As diplomats talk and soldiers fight,
we watch to see what will happen on
the southern border and in the city.
The sea breezes still arrive in ( Beirut,
but I wonder how many there notice
amid the fear. Hundreds of others,
particularly Americans, have been pre
occupied with leaving the allure of
Lebanon.
Rising thousands of feet and angling
northeast from the fighting is Mount
Lebanon, actually a range of moun
tains standing majestically above a
hostile world below.
In Hebrew, Lebanon means “white,”
a nod to the year-round snow on Mount
Lebanon and its limestone cliffs and
peaks.
Now, Lebanon, having moved from
discord and violence toward peace and
democracy and having reclaimed and
celebrated a measure of its natural
wonder and reputation for hospitality,
once again stands on the frightening
edge of meaningless war.
George Ayoub is senior writer at The
Grand Island (Neb.) Independent. His
e-mail is george.ayoub@morris.com.
Read his blog, “A Shoe on the Freeway, ”
at www. theindependent. com/george
this job (managing editor) for like two
months," I said. "I still have so much
catching up to do.”
Plus, Six Flags just didn't appeal
to me. A couple of years ago we had
visited - on a weekend, not as part of a
“vacation.” The kids had convinced me
then to ride “most” of the scary things
... the Batman, Scorcher, Mind Bender
- no way in heck was I getting on the
Goliath this, or any other, time.
That in itself - getting up the cour
age - was a monumental stress factor.
I didn’t want to have to go through it
again.
But, they were insistent - and a
report on Americans once again losing
their vacations to the job helped push
me over the edge - so I ... sorry ... one
more time ...
“Aiiiiyyeeeeeeeeeeyaaaaa! Not gonna
faint. Not gonna faint. Not gonna faint.
Where am I? Did I just faint? ...”
One week later ...
Coworker: “Don, what’s wrong with
you?”
Me: “Me? Nothing. I just returned
from vacation. I’m refreshed. I’m rar
ing to go. I am pumped. I stand ready
to lead us to greatness.
Coworker: “Yeah, but why do you
keep making that ‘clicking’ noise?”