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♦ THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Something to be proud of
Who are the best people to pass
judgment on quality of service
in a hospital? The answer, of
course, is the patients.
That is why we are impressed with the
results of a survey that was conducted
recently by Houston Healthcare.
More than 90 percent of patients who
responded to the survey were pleased
with four categories in the survey, and
anyone familiar with patients’ reaction
to hospital care recognizes that this is
quite high.
Patients overwhelmingly are pleased
with quality
of physicians,
customer
service, qual
ity of nursing
and are will
ing to return
as a patient.
Our appre
ciation of
Houston
Healthcare’s
services
has been
acquired over
a long period
of time, actu
ally from the
time Houston
County
Hospital
opened in
Warner Robins in the mid-19505.
At the time of its opening, the hospital
had 50 patient beds. There was a lim
ited number of doctors on the staff. In
the beginning there was the need for
a surgeon and Dr. VW McEver Jr. left
town and went to St. Joseph’s Hospital
in Atlanta to acquire the skill while
his partners kept a practice going back
home.
From the beginning there was the feel
ing that this was a hometown hospital
where patients came first.
Only a few of the doctors and nurses
who opened Houston County Hospital
are alive today, but we are sure that they
are proud of the healthcare complex
that has been developed during the past
half century. And, we believe, they are
proud that the tradition they established
so long ago continues today.
A spokesperson for Houston Healthcare
says that “the top priority of our organi
zation is patient satisfaction.”
That is what everyone who might
become a patient likes to hear.
After all, everything considered, the only
reason for having a hospital is to serve
patients so well that they are satisfied.
It looks like Houston Healthcare is liv
ing up to that goal.
Worihßeppcting
“It is not merely for today, but for all time to come that
we should perpetuate for our children’s children this
great and free government, which we have enjoyed all
our lives. I beg you to remember this, not merely for my
sake, but for yours. I happen to occupy temporarily this
big White House. I am a living witness that any one of
your children may look to come here as my father’s child
has. It is in order that each one of you may have, through
this free government which we have enjoyed, an open
field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise and
intelligence: that you may all have equal privileges in the
race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations. It is
for this the struggle should be maintained, that we may
not lose our birthright. The nation is worth fighting for,
to secure such an inestimable jewel.”
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-186§
16th President of the United States (Republican, IL)
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Only a few of the
doctors and nurses
who opened Houston
County Hospital are
aHve today, but we
are sure that they are
proud of the healthcare
complex that has been
developed during the
past haH century. And,
we believe, they are
proud that the tradition
they established so long
ago continues today.
TV is an addiction we can't kick
The sign in the case read, “Too
much ain’t enough.”
It could apply to almost any
thing.
For some reason, I equated the sign
with television. It seems that today too
much television “just ain’t enough” for
most people. Especially young people.
Television has opened new vistas. It
has brought information and enter
tainment into our homes to an extent
unimaginable not many years ago.
For the elderly and house bound it
has been a godsend. Their worlds were
bleak, indeed, when confined to home
alone before television brought the
entire world into their living rooms.
For some it “just ain’t enough.”
There are too many channels on
cable to count. There will be hundreds
more in years to come. The demand for
all that diversity seems insatiable.
But is this really good?
I’m convinced that television is a
curse placed upon us and it may be
the worst thing that ever happened to
human beings.
It certainly has changed our view of
the world and it has an abnormal influ
ence on the conduct of wars.
Television takes us to the front lines.
We are given pictures that sway public
opinion.
The enemy needs only to watch tele
vision in this country to know every
national security secret.
Television has deprived generations
of young people of imagination. It
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Americans sure know their Stooges!
I don’t pay much attention to polls,
or polka music for that matter, but
a recent survey caught my very
limited attention.
The Zogby International poll sur
veyed Americans’ understanding of
pop culture, and how it compared to
their general knowledge of civics, lit
erature, and science.
For instance, of the 1,200 adults sur
veyed, 60 percent of them were able to
name Bart as Homer Simpson’s son on
“The Simpsons” television program.
Meanwhile, just over 20 percent were
able to identify one of Greek poet
Homer’s epic poems.
The same 60 percent knew
Superman’s home planet (Krypton)
but only 37 percent knew Mercury was
the planet closest to the sun.
Nearly 80 percent of respondents
could name at least two dwarfs from
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”
while only 24 percent could name two
U.S. Supreme Court Justices (Ruth
Bader Ginsberg and David Souter were
correct answers to both questions).
And the one that had all the curmud
geons crowing: 74 percent of Americans
surveyed could identify Moe, Larry and
Curly as the Three Stooges, while only
42 percent could identify the three
branches of the U.S. government.
This poll had all the bloggers blog-
OPINION
has deprived them of initiative. It has
turned generations into lazy couch
potatoes with eyes glued to a screen,
while eating their way to obesity. The
same can be said for most adults, too.
Look at the legs of most young peo
ple today. Except for athletes, they are
soft. Almost unused. Before television
young people got out and walked and
ran and played. Their bodies were
firmer, their legs harder.
And the minds of everyone? We used
to read a lot. What has happened to
reading for pure pleasure today? Some
people do. Most people don’t. It is
easier to plop down on a chair or sofa
or bed and watch a story unfold.
Do you know many young people
who don’t believe they must have tele
vision going full force while studying?
Are they smart enough to watch a tele
vision show and do their homework at
the same time?
I never was that smart, but we did
not have television when I was young.
We didn’t even have radio.
Most of what you see on television
is garbage. Shows are becoming more
ging and the columnists columnizing
about how “stupid” Americans are,
and how we are dumber than the rest
of the world, and how we are stupid
dummies, and stupidheads, and stupid
dummies too, and other words I found
too hard to read and stuff.
Allow me to offer some alternative
observations.
First of all, one reason more people
could name the Three Stooges than the
three branches of our government is
that the Stooges are much more com
petent than our government has ever
been. Americans recognize and appre
ciate competency, unless, of course,
they are voting.
Secondly, 42 percent knew the three
branches of the government to be the,
uh, (looking it up), ah, yes, executive,
legislative, and judicial. I think that’s
great! That’s almost (looking it up
again) half!
But I was absolutely elated that
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
L _
Len
Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
vulgar by the day. Talking heads who
pretend they are smarter than anyone
else spout their versions of what is
going on around the world and you bet
ter not believe most of what they say.
Can we get along without television
today?
Surely, we can.
But we won’t.
Without television we would not see
those pictures from all over the world
that tear at our hearts and make our
leaders send soldiers all over the world
to solve unsolvable problems. Without
television, wars would be fought on the
battlefield instead of in the political
arena.
We would see the problems around
us and spend our money and our ener
gy on them.
Television, in its way, is a blessing
and a curse.
It is here to stay.,
There is no going back to simpler,
saner days.
As a people, we will become, genera
tion after generation, more sedentary,
more dependent on the television set
to bring us information and to control
our lives, more willing to accept what
others tell us, instead of learning for
ourselves, more dependent and less
independent.
That doesn’t sound very good. But
if what has happened in the decades
since television became a reality, it is
easy to see how devastating its effect
can become in the years ahead.
74 percent could name three of the
Stooges. Curly died in 1952 and last
appeared in a Three Stooges feature
in 1947, and people still recognize him
nearly 60 years later.
That’s quite a legacy, and memory
for those of you who answered it cor
rectly. Congratulations!
My third observation is that the
question itself is rather deceptive, and
thus, the results highly questionable.
For instance, if you answered “Moe,
Larry and Joe Besser,” was that con
sidered correct? Or instead of Curly,
you responded with Shemp or Curly
Joe? All of those answers are, liter
ally, right, although Shemp, Curly Joe
and Joe Besser were poor excuses for
Stooges, and certainly not in Curly
Howard’s comedic category.
And the three branches of govern
ment question is also faulty. Title II of
the Patriot Act actually changed the
three branches of the U.S. government
from the executive, legislative, and
judicial to the executive, legislative,
and Karl Rove’s office.
See how that could be confusing to
some poll participants? They could have
answered George W. Bush, Congress,
and Karl Rove and, technically, gotten
both questions correct.
Now you know why I don’t pay much
attention to polls.