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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL »gL -- ~ \ W -1 jJI -T c . t „ ~ > . tr '•. c ■:) t DOLLARS ! .lIMPTBwr mm •~ ' ~ _ _____ i Submitted Warner Robins area car dealers recently presented a check for $40,000 to the 21st Century Partnership. Pictured from left, Don Brooms (Prescott Suzuki), Ashley Hughes (Hughes Honda), Wayne Lowe (Lowe Toyota), Charlie Cantrell (Five Star Chevrolet), Mary Therese Tebbe (21st Century Partnership), Terry Holmes (W.R. Ford), Eddie Wiggins (Eddie Wiggins Buick) Anna Hagler (Jeff Smith Nissan), Bart Miller (Prescott Suzuki). Area car dealers come together for cause Special to the Journal It’s a “super” deal when Warner Robins area car dealers come together for a worthy cause. Such was the case when dealers Prescott Suzuki, Lowe Toyota, Bill Butler Chrysler, Jeff Smith Nissan, Eddie Wiggins Buick, Ballistic missile defense in an era of terrorism North Korea’s July missile volley raised legitimate concern about American vulner ability to ballistic missile and cruise missile attack. Hezbollah’s rocket barrage of Israel demonstrated that terrorist organizations (non state actors) can acquire and use missile systems. The next step, for both North Korea and Hezbollah, is adding a weapon of mass destruction - most likely a warhead carrying either nukes or nerve gas. The longer-range rockets Hezbollah used (for exam ple, Russian FROG-7 vari ants) can be classified as short-range or “battlefield” ballistic missiles. With range exceeding 100 hundred kilo meters, these missiles can strike well beyond the front line. There is good news. The United States isn’t complete ly vulnerable. It possesses a nascent, “thin shield” bal listic missile defense. The defense consists of bits and pieces of tactical and the ater-level anti-mis sile pro grams supported by a dozen or so long range missiles positioned in Alaska and Hawaii. ** W» -Wm. *JfHj ' *|fff| iilllllllpmf'' ' MKi Mb Austin Bay Military Affairs Creators Syndicate This defense has lay ers. The Patriot PAC-3 is designed for short-range, “point-target defense. The Patriot PAC-3 is a com pletely different missile from the Gulf War’s Patriot PAC-2. The PAC-2 was an “enhanced” and “upgraded” anti-aircraft missile. The PAC-3 is a genuine anti-bal listic missile. The Army’s Terminal High Altitude Air Defense missile and the Navy’s Standard -2 and Standard-3 missiles extend the “anti-missile umbrella.” The Navy sys tems are particularly useful. They can be deployed on Aegis cruisers and destroy ers. The Navy systems can quickly place anti-missile firepower in the Persian Gulf (to thwart a shot from Iran) or the Sea of Japan (to intercept a North Korean Warner Robins Ford, Five Star Chevrolet and Hughes Honda committed recently to donate some $40,000 to the 21st Century Partnership. The dealership owners, according to a release, vowed to continue support of the group “dedicated to support ing Robins Air Force Base launch). The Standard-3 missile had a highly successful mis sile test in June. In a July test at the Army’s White Sands range, a THAAD intercepted a SCUD-type ballistic missile. The nascent defense, however, is an inadequate defense -1 don’t think that’s a debatable point. Yet it is a defense in being and a defensive system in the process of expansion. Though limited and frail, it demonstrated political utili ty in July when North Korea launched its missile volley. What do I mean by that? Japan - a threatened ally - asked for Patriot PAC-3s to bolster its defense. The United States agreed to pro vide them. We also have a new U.S.- Japanese missile monitoring station in Japan, activated earlier this year. Our limited anti-missile system isn’t what it should be or could be, and yes, myo pic, wrong-headed politics played a key role in delay ing program funding, testing and deployment. The anti-ABM cant of cer tain influential major media - in the case of The New York Times, a fossil of its 1980 s opposition to the Reagan administration - certainly hindered development. Resistance from McGovernite Democrats was a potent and problematic fac tor in Washington. The Cold War’s “balance of terror” strategy created a “strate gic culture” wedded to the notion of “Mutual Assured Destruction ” (appropriately named MAD). If the Soviets launched a missile strike against the United States, U.S. retaliatory capabilities ensured that Moscow would be turned to radioactive glass. An ABM, in the MAD minds, altered the certain ty of mutual Armageddon. An ABM “destabilized” the ability to assure Moscow and Washington they would both perish in a nuclear exchange. The rise of rogue states and fanatic, “suicide” terror ist organizations, combined with the proliferation of bal listic missiles and WMDs, turned MAD into utter mad ness. A suicide bomber cannot be deterred by the threat of and its future growth.” “I’m thrilled,” said retired Maj. Gen. Ron Smith with the 21st Century Partnership. “Having the local businesses come together like this shows that everyone in Middle Georgia benefits from the base and we must continue to protect “mutual destruction.” Hezbollah’s rocket rain offers a chilling example. Hezbollah demonstrated it is quite willing to sacrifice its own people and neighbor hoods. Remember, Hezbollah is Iran’s puppet, and Iran is led by a clique that believes the destruction of Israel will accelerate their version of apocalyptic end times. North Korea has already sacrificed its own people (via starva tion) to finance its missile and nuclear programs. In February 2003, I wrote a column titled, “The Hell Formula for the 21st Century.” The formula: terrorists plus rogue states plus WMD. Breaking the Hell formula requires offensive action against terrorists and rogue states - and we’ve taken that, in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I also wrote that “breaking down the Hell Formula will take time.” A more robust missile defense system buys time and blunts the political effects of “fear us” cam paigns waged by North Korean and Iranian despots. To find out more about Austin Bay, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. mss Exclusively at the 'Houstmt Daily Journal nmDv&GD EVERYDAY msimz? CZ3ZMPS2ZH? Contact a Classified Rep today at 078-987-1823 LOCAL what we have.” The 21st Century Partnership is in the middle of a capital cam paign with an annual goal of $300,000 per year for the next five years. For information on the Partnership’s goals or how you can help, visit their web site at www.robins2l.org. Subscribe today Call 987-1823 w Hr m H • l jJbhbSSrl -- - . rt & it v <!■». "Neighbors CtamSoiifli Ways to fight ills in the office By Phillip Tates Morris News Service It’s tough to ignore the hacking cough at the desk next to you or the thun dering sneezes across the room. Germs spread through offices like they grow in petri dishes. The next thing you know, it could be you: Every year, millions of employees - and employers - battle the office bug. A new range of products may help to stem the tide of sickness enveloping the office: antimicrobial office products that can kill mold and the germs that make people sick. Yes, really. Smead Manufacturing, based in Hastings, Minn., has started selling antimi crobial folders, pocket port folios, file jackets and other office products, which have been available for about a year, said Michelle Hanson, marketing communications manager for Smead. The office-supply company has $550 million in worldwide revenue and employs 2,600 people. “The results are very promising,” Hanson said. “It is one of our hottest new items we have launched recently.” The market for products that could lessen sickness around the office is grow ing into big business. — ""■'■lappp— mmmm iDjOAWNrmwwfoiyrieiMNsiiwiEa ies To Cljooss Fram Spljricel This Includes Metal MUmilWltli Single MMiMFlastic tenses Tm ACCEPT MOST INSURANCE ASSIGNMENTS SPECTRA, SUPERIOR S CIGNA )?3S IntemaoenaJ Square • Wvnct Robim*l 922-2020 r*2v P» Mono Avenue • Macon Z ■^l— Bl-1110 " 1357-D Sam Nunn Blvd. Perry, <jA 31069 478-987-0172 questions@comsouth.net ' wwm I oimmiiiii linn SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 2006 ♦ Several other companies sell office products like pens and keyboards with antimicrobial features, Hanson said. University of Michigan Health System research ers estimated the common cold costs the U.S. economy S4O billion a year - roughly $133 for every person in the country, according to 2003 data. Hanson said Smead man ufactures its folders and other products with a pat ented treatment of silver zeolite, an antimicrobial material. The process is test ed and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Drug Administration. “There are very stringent guidelines that have to be followed,” Hanson said. The company says its products help guard against the growth of bacteria, odors, algae, mold, fun gus and mildew - though it adds that other preven tative steps also must be taken to reduce the risk of contamination. Still, it says the products are ideal for hospitals, dentist offices and schools. But Dr. J. Rush Pierce Jr., public health author ity for the city of Amarillo, wonders if the product is really worth the cost, espe cially from what he has seen in the area. \ 4 * Two Complete Pair Ot Eyeglasses $69“ ■ mmmm $ I \ MHBihe tradition of neigh v : bors serving neighbors “ has deep roote in | Georgia. When telephone I service was first introduced in I tilts region over 90 years ago, I neighbors helped each other I ieam to use the "new technol ogy"— and Com South was the I company that started it alt 1 ■d today, me tradition ot serving and helping continues as Com South delivers the latest technologies in • Telephone * internet • Television -.' " . * Wireless With Com South, "Neighbors SIJjTVUIJI is more than a slogan - it is our way of life, if you are not a Com South customer, try us. We are neighbors serving neighbors - the way it ought to be. - | Ask about our money-saving j bundles called Value Packages. 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