Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
Mmxsian djounral
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Does Air Force need this
space?
The Air Force announced last week it
has entered its profile on MySpace.
com.
While this may seem like the perfect
marketing strategy considering the site
has close to 98 million registered users,
we hope it doesn’t backfire.
According
to a report,
MySpace
reaches 49
percent of
all Internet
users
between the
ages of 18-
24.
On it, users
can chat with
old friends,
make new
friends, post
blogs, pho
tos and vid
eos and store
their own
profile.
The Air
Force for its part will, according to
Col. Brian Madtes, Air Force Recruiting
Service’s Strategic Communications
director, use the site to “get the word out
to the public about the amazing things
people are doing in the Air Force.”
That’s all well and good and here’s hop
ing they pick up some quality recruits
and make the service even better.
The problem we see is MySpace has
also gained national publicity as report
edly being the No. 1 site for sexual preda
tors. Some of the postings have also been
challenged - once again on national TV
- as being questionable for a supposedly
“PG” rated website.
The last thing we want to see is all the
good the Air Force does being negated
because of someone in the same vein as
John Mark Karr.
The above are obviously like night and
day but it’s also not outside the realm of
possibility for the media to send a men
tal image they’re related.
For instance, picture this: A CNN cor
respondent comes on and starts talking
about the FBI arresting a. suspect in a
rape/murder. Then they start talking
about how the two met on MySpace.com
- a scenario that has reportedly hap
pened numerous times already. Then
they flash a picture of the website on the
screen and it will undoubtedly probably
be the one where the Air Force logo is
prominently displayed.
Or, imagine this. Someone reads about
the same incident in a national paper.
They ask their friend or neighbor had
they heard about it, to which conversa
tion ensues and ultimately ends with:
“Doesn’t the Air Force advertise on
there?”
All we’re saying is it could happen and
we wonder if the risk justifies the gains.
Letter to the Eduor
Meeting turns frustrating
For me, as a mental health advocate, last night’s meet
ing at NAMI-Central Ga (Warner Robins) on mental
health issues was more frustrating than anything else.
The meeting was well planned and set up by local NAMI
officers and staff who did a fine job moderating and han
dling questions. The crowd was big - maybe 125+ people.
Commissioners, legislators, candidates etc. were there
along with consumers, family members of the mentally
ill and NAMI members.
After some introductory words by representatives from
NAMI’s Atlanta office, the main speakers were DHR
Commissioner BJ Walker and MHDDAD director Gwen
Skinner. Various questions were posed to them and the
answers went like this: They maintain that mental health
funds have not been cut, only rearranged. They maintain
that funds to Phoenix Center have not been cut, but it
just appears that way because money was moved from
See LETTER, page 6A
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
The problem we
see is MySpace has
also gained national
publicity as
reportedly being the
No. 1 site for sexual
predators. Some ol the
postings have also been
challenged - once again
on national TV - as
being questionable for a
supposedly "PG" rated
website.
Walking, talking and squawking
Do you remember in the rural
south when so many walked?
My brother, David, and I used
to walk from our home on Swift Street
to downtown Perry - perhaps to sell
boiled peanuts or just to visit with Mr.
Ed and Mr. Glea at the “feed store”. I
used to walk to school. Started in the
first grade. And to “Seabie Hickson
Field” to play ‘pick-up’ baseball. I could
go on and on. Now, when I go from my
law office to Carroll Street (one block),
I ride. Even the poor in this country
don’t walk much. Some of the wealthy
do, for exercise. Trying to knock off
some of the fat from eating rich foods.
■ Writing of walking, I was recently
in the great American city, Chicago.
On a very pleasant summer morn
ing, my friends, Alan Stalvey, Warren
Thompkins and I walked all over the
downtown, along the river down to
Lake Michigan, and by the new build
ing that Donald Trump is erecting
which is supposed to be the second tall
est building in the world! Chicago is a
great city for walking. Our Atlanta has
got to be one of the worst. You can’t get
up a good head of steam before you are
cut off by an interstate or highway and
you have no place to walk.
■ Let me weigh-in on something
I know little about (not unusual for •
me!). A walking or jogging trail through
Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon? They’ve
got to be kidding! Frankly, if there
was a proposal to put a jogging trail
through Evergreen Cemetery in Perry,
I wouldn’t like it! Would you? Again,
I don’t know all of the facts, but I do
know the proposal sounds like - well, a
Macon proposal.
TALKING
Doddridge K. (“Dot”) Roughton died
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Muslims response - Part one
As promised, I met recently with
a group of Muslims and asked
them your questions. To their
credit, they were not shy, reticent or
unwilling to answer. They said they
were eager to set the record straight.
You may not be satisfied with some of
the answers I wasn’t, either but
I am convinced that what this group
said, they believe.
More than 200 of you wrote and gave
me in excess of 500 questions. (I quit
counting after that.) At least a third
of the questions concerned the percep
tion that Muslims are not speaking out
against the violence being committed
in the name of Islam. The second most
frequently asked question was whether
or not they could be loyal to the United
States and still be true to their faith.
More on those issues later.
If I was expecting a group of fire-eat
ing, sign-waving, “Death to the Great
Satan” Muslims, I didn’t get them. I
sat down with an employee of General
Electric, a wholesale rug merchant,
an information technology consultant
whose partner is a Christian from
Jerusalem, another IT professional
and the head of the Islamic Speakers
Bureau. The group consisted of four
men and one woman. Three were con
verts to Islam one black, one white
and one Lebanese. One was a natural
ized citizen from Syria, and the other
from Egypt.
We began with Mansour Ansari, the
rug merchant, saying that Islam is not
a monolithic faith and that Muslims
have divergent views of the faith, from
both a cultural standpoint and by
the way some choose to interpret the
Qur’an, the book of sacred writings
that Muslims believe was revealed to
OPINION
last week. His funeral service is today.
Dot was a character with character.
Not a perfect man, but a very good one.
A “man’s man”, if you will. Dot did so
much, for so many, for so long. Perry
will never see another one like Dot.
And, yes, Johnny Cash’s song, “A Boy
Named Sue”, does come to mind as we
remember this Perry icon. God Bless
you, Dot.
■ Back to walking (and jogging). My
daughter, Wendy Way, and her friend,
Melissa Sparrow, have proposed put
ting a jogging trail in the new State
Park south of Perry. It wouldn’t cost
much and it would probably be much
used. I hope our capable State Senator,
Ross Tolleson, will think well of this.
Ross can get it done if he thinks it’s a
good idea.
■ Ralph Dorsett is home from the
hospital, convalescing. I have had the
privilege of visiting with Ralph, a cou
ple of times. I told him, and it’s the
absolute truth: “I never met a person
who didn’t like Ralph.” One of my
favorite high-school memories is of
going to the cattle show in Albany, with
Ralph’s driving Mr. Marvin’s truck and
with our calves in the back. Ralph was
a senior, and I was in the ninth grade.
I really thought Ralph was something
- and, I still do. God bless Ralph and
Joan.
the prophet Muhammad by God, via
the Angel Gabriel.
Anthony Costa, of Cartersville, and
a number of other readers wanted to
know why Sunni and Shiites don’t get
along. Why are they always fighting
with each other? Soumaya Khalifa,
the executive director of the Islamic
Speakers Bureau, says that there is
no difference between the two sects.
She says she wasn’t even aware she
was Sunni until recently. “No Muslim
approaches another Muslim and asks
‘Are you Sunni or Shiite?”’ Khalifia
says. (It turned out that all the panel
ists were Sunni.)
Amin Tomeh, the IT consultant, says
that from a religious standpoint both
Sunnis and Shiites believe in one God
and that the Prophet Muhammad is
his messenger. It is the radical ele
ment of both groups that promote the
animosity.
Ansari says one way that Arab
politicians and Muslim leaders main
tain political power is to encourage
Muslims to fight among themselves.
He says about 2 percent of the Muslims
who are Sunnis and 2 percent of the
Muslims who are Shiites try to divide
the other 96 percent. Ansari cites our
own War Between the States in which
Christians fought against Christians
as an example. The war was not about
M
Larry
Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-law.com
Dick
Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
SQUAWKING
Webster’s defines squawking as “a
noisy complaint”. This is the part I
shouldn’t do - but, it’s the fun part.
■ Perry’s Chamber of Commerce has
sponsored the Georgia Congressional
Luncheon for the past three years,
including last week when more than
1,100 attended. Quite an honor. But,
if we are to have it, again, two sugges
tions: faster food service and encour
age the non-Congressional program
participants to leave the politicking to
the elected officials. And, remind them
that this is supposed to be a bi-partisan
gathering.
■ Why would a very high rank
ing City of Perry official say that he
“expects no development in south
Houston County” when, at the same
time, the city is negotiating with sev
eral large property owners on the pos
sibility of furnishing sewer service to
their properties? Perhaps he was mis
quoted, or perhaps his quote was taken
out of context. I hope so, as I’ve heard
from several who were upset by his
statement.
■ How long has Houston Lake Road
improvements been in the works? How
long have the contractor(s) been work
ing on the job? Frankly, it is ridiculous
ly slow. Tommy Stalnaker, Houston
County Public Works Director, says the
problem is “too few contractors and too
much available work”. Perhaps some
one should tell the road builder that
the Empire State Building was built in
less than 400 days.
CONCLUSION
I do more squawking and talking
than I do walking. I need to change my
priorities. Unfortunately, I’m not the
only one.
religion, he says; it was about politics
and control.
The group says much of the discord
in the Muslim world originates from
the Wahibist philosophy, a very fun
damental school of thought that has
its base in Saudi Arabia. One of its
disciples is Osama bin Laden. They
say the alliance between the Saudi
ruling class and Wahibists is one of
mutual convenience. Thanks to Saudi
oil money, the fundamentalists have
the means to export their hard-line
philosophy beyond Saudi Arabia and
for the most part leave the Saudi rul
ing family free to rule as they please.
Interestingly, all of the panelists con
sider Wahibists a “fringe group” that
loses as many adherents as it gains.
I’m not convinced.
Spencer Connerat Jr. of Savannah,
and several other readers wanted to
know about how mosques are orga
nized in the United States, and how
decisions are made. The answer is
that all mosques are locally operated.
There is no hierarchy. No centralized
organization.
For example, the Pope is acknowl
edged as the head of the Catholic
Church, but there is no equivalent
authority among Muslims. Each local
mosque makes its own decisions.
An hour into the discussion, we were
just getting warmed up. Next week, I
will tell you what Muslims say about
women’s rights, the State of Israel,
infidels, terrorism and leaving the
faith. I think you will be surprised at
their answers. I was. Stay tuned.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo(ajbellsouth.net, P.O. Box
725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139, or
Web site: www.dickyarbrough.com.