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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- SIGH! IT LOOKS> LIKE A Y J mt.WEI&D YOU... 1 rVoUWUP CREATIMts 1 Civil WAR MIGHT EWT ( [„M NEOCON STRATEGY J I TERRORS FAfeTERTHAfi paOn WHATEHOISLD WE '"5 MY.LOOKATITteTWE-T |Y<SOMK>AYI'DREAUYLIKE 1 u ill--- i - L— . i — —————^ 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?”