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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL RBM, | *L» jtprafe. * jtffffik *| ■BBa i' 1f yMm *' \ \ SEjfife 11?4fr- - “ 4 [Hpp ..• ” sy|j . m ijMr 4? i Bi i W"* ®2**%![[ -_ v /.;, fKtjl jjje' . ■B I fl» • W / / :S JFJK . ?%. - *SpA Im^Hßv 1 Wl-. f f pf 4 a 1 H p v.J Submitted Brian McWhirter, Warehouse Manager for The Furniture Gallery, located in the Houston Mall, was presented the Outstanding Employee of the Quarter Award Sept. 11 by the Warner Robins Chamber of Commerce. McWhirter, according to a release from the chamber, was nominated for the award due to his "continual personal care to his cus tomers and representation of the company’s quality service. ” Do you know what gout is? Gout is a disease that affects the joints. If gout is left untreated it can lead to painful foot deformity and kidney prob lems. The most common area for gout to appear is the base of the big toe. Some symptoms of gout consist of the great toe or ankle feeling hot or painful. You might even experi ence swol len and inflamed joints. Goutcan be treated with med icat i o n and prop er diet. In Dr. Jokhai Columnist The Foot Doctor severe cases, surgery may be needed. Treating gout early, can relieve pain and help prevent future problems. What Causes Gout? Intersection between law and quality of life Dear Readers, This spring, I had com mented about meth amphetamine’s threat to our community. Recently, we read about a murder trial for a tragic accidental death while mixing a batch of “home brew.” In an Atlanta suburb, we learned of one of this year’s largest narcotics arrests - Atlanta has become the dis tribution point on the East Coast. This week we look at the intersection between law and quality of life. We are in the throes of a major broad based health cri sis with many faces. We see it in the rav aged face of the me t h M Jim Rockefeller Columnist addict; the wary face of the hard-working undocument ed immigrant in the emer gency room; the concerned face of the working mother, with no health care benefits for herself or her young chil dren; and, the worn face of the adult child with parents suffering from dementia and no safe and affordable care options. Laws can be a solution or a barrier to change. Laws can be used to lock people up for substance abuse, paid for in higher taxds, or they can be used to encourage the wayward to act within acceptable soci etal norms - a “win-win” for all of us. Laws can be used to pun ish immigrants or to provide them with the opportunity to be integrated in our soci ety, including paying taxes and being brought into a non-indigent care health system - again, a “win-win” for all of us. Unfortunately, in the rush to “blame” someone for Outstanding employee < !£&•■*, Jr aßagS; M The Stay Well Company Gout often shows an inflamed joint. Excess uric acid (a waste product made by the body) causes gout. Crystals formed by the uric acid collects in the joints bringing on a gout attack. Tophi are large depos its of crystals that occur in someone who has many gout attacks. Tophi can damage joints and cause deformity. The levels of uric acid can be reduced by a daily long-term societal problems, frankly, laws become a part of the “blame” solution. Parents are “blamed” for children who commit crimes or become addicted to drugs, when their children, in mod ern society, are often beyond their control. Offending children are then shunted off to jail cells, instead of providing the tools to unlock a cycle of addiction. Parents and their children need information and sup port, not blame; they need treatment options not con demnation. Trial lawyers are “blamed” for supposedly driving up health care costs, when all reliable evidence suggests health care costs are a func tion of insurance company profits and/or the “systemic profits” squeezed by arcane accounting and reimburse ment rules. Health care treatment dic tated out by accountants and reimbursement systems has nothing to do with “health” nor “care.” Instead of punishing trial lawyers, thereby robbing cit izens of their fundamental right to seek justice, would it not make more sense to actually attack our health care system’s fundamental flaws? Would it also not make more sense to support fami lies, their loved ones, and their doctors, with an afford able health care system, instead of forcing them to choose between bankruptcy and abandoning their family member in need? On Monday from 6:30- 8:15 p.m. at Middle Georgia Technical College Auditorium, each of us can hear and participate in a Healthcare Town Hall Forum sponsored by Houston County Drug and Alcohol Council; National Association of Mentally 111; and, Families Against Methamphetamine Abuse, Inc. Each of Houston control medication (prescrip tion only). Men are more likely to have gout than women but women increase their chances of having gout after reaching menopause. What Triggers A Gout Attack? Gout is a disease that affects the joints causing painful and swollen joints. Obesity and high cholesterol make gout more likely to occur. Diuretics known as water pills are among the medications that can trigger gout. People who consume a lot of alcohol have greater risks for gout. Listed below are some foods, which can trigger a gout attack. ■ Alcohol (beer, red wine) ■ Certain meats (red meat, processed meat, turkey) ■ Organ meats (kidney, liver, sweetbread) ■ Shellfish (lobster, crab, shrimp, scallop, mussel) ■ Certain fish (anchovy, sardine, herring, mackerel) County’s State House can didates will be attending to address health care issues in three parts. The first segment will concern general health care issues related to the deliv ery of services by ambula tory services versus hospi tal-based, indigent care, and affordable health insurance options/modalities. The second segment will concern mental health issues related to services and sub stance abuse issues afflicting Middle Georgians (particu larly Meth addiction) and what can be done to better and more efficiently serve the community’s needs. The third segment will be reserved for the public to pose questions directly to the candidates. Please mark your calen dars, attend, and be a part of the solution. Warner Robins attorney Jim Rockefeller is the for mer Chief Assistant District Attorney for Houston County, and a former Assistant State Attorney in Miami. Owner of Rockefeller Law Center, Jim has been in private practice since 2000. E-mail your comments or confi dential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter. com. Char-Broiled Sizzling Steaks 1.73 fnne-w-w.77 3760 S WARNER ROBINS SUPPLY OF PERRY We Rent! 612 Ball St. Perry, GA 987-2334 LOCAL Ga. Oglethorpe awards conference in two weeks Are you interested in turning your strong organization into something superb? Recipients of this year’s Georgia Oglethorpe Award will be conducting a glo rified “show and tell” in two weeks in Atlanta. I’m going, and I hope two or three leaders from middle- Georgia will join me! Hurry! Sept. 22 is the registration deadline. It is worth changing your sched ule for the last week of this month to take advantage of this educational oppor tunity! Let me explain about this award. At the end of this article, I’ll give the logis tical details and how you can reserve a spot for your attendance. In 1987, after almost a dozen years of Department of Commerce planning and committee debates, Congress passed a National Quality Award. Ronald Reagan quickly signed it into law. The criteria were defined, and 68 awards have been granted. Georgia established its state award, using the same qualifying criteria, in 1996 to complement other eco nomic development initia tives. Having the award at the state level encourages per formance improvement among Georgia businesses. Personally, I don’t know as much about the Georgia Oglethorpe Award as I do the national award. That’s one reason I’ve made room in my schedule to attend next week. I understand, however, that Georgia has one of the strongest state -Hr " m k => f y^s£p^^^m : ’ 'i, I LETTER From page 4A How many employers has Perdue punished for hiring illegal aliens? The Georgia government and the federal government have to get mean and make the illegals very uncomfort able along with the peo ple that hire them. If the illegals are made uncom fortable enough, perhaps they would go home on their own. A good start would be to take down all the Spanish signs in the stores. This is not a bilingual country. The national lan guage is English. A nation al ID card would also be a good idea. I do not under stand how the word illegal Perry High School Football 103£ .Ramy The Patriot || U The Right Station For News, Talk & Sports are teaming up. Listen to Brian Nash, Chris Kirby, and michael Felix for all of Perry High's football play by play action on 103.9. Pregame starts at 7:30 programs in the nation! Georgia also has two “starter” programs that help companies that are new to this “organization of excellence” objective. Further, subunits of larger organizations can apply - that’s not possible at the national level! The Boeing Company in Macon won a subunit award in 2003. Dennis Hooper Leaders Building Leaders categories in which the applying company shows a history of evaluation and improvement based on sound business approaches. Trained examiners review every application and, at a minimum, provide an in-depth analysis that con tains valuable feedback for the company. Companies that qualify for the award are required to share non-proprietary information about the prog ress they made over time with other business leaders. That’s what this conference is all about! You’ll talk with the employees who contributed their ideas, reduced cost, improved quality and reli ability, and astounded their customers. If this conference is any thing like the Washington, D.C. conference for the Yard of the month confuses so many politi cians. It seems that being stupid is not so much a handicap in the political world as it once was. Georgia voters should also get mean and make the rub ber lipped politicians, that promise much and deliver little, very uncomfortable both locally and nation- Assessing Your Leadership Skills -SBS/person :‘, % * I ** _, I THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2006 ♦ national award winners, these employees will be delighted to talk with you! They’ll be bursting with the satisfaction that comes from collaborative, chal lenging work that has been superbly rewarding. A key point that leaders will learn (or have rein forced) is the cause-and effect relationship between operational approaches and results. Six of the seven cat egories in the criteria focus on the methods used by the company in achieving its results. Organizations of excel lence don’t manage their results. They’ve learned that reactionary quick-fix solutions don’t work. What does work is a systematic evaluation of root causes, followed by an intentional consideration of improve ment options. The conference is being held all day Sept. 27 and the morning of Sept. 28 at the Loudermilk Center in downtown Atlanta www. londermilkcenter.com. This brand new confer ence facility is at the cor ner of Courtland Street and Auburn Avenue, four blocks west of 1-75 and a block north of Edgewood Avenue. Cost for all the activi ties is $395; cost for either single day is $225. Reserve your spot at 404- 232-3808 or obtain a regis tration brochure at www. GeorgiaOglethorpe.org (click on “Conference”). Are you a leader of a mid dle-Georgia business? Call Hooper at (478)-988-0237 to talk about the conference and about the award cri teria. The compe tition is not against other compa nies, but against the qual ifying criteria. There areseven White Columns Homeowners Association would like to congratulate Bobby and Kay Herron for winning Yard of the Month for the month of August. Their attractive yard is located at 200 White Columns Drive. Thank you for all your hard work to make White Columns a beautiful place to live. Pictured are Bobby and Kay Herron. Submitted wide. When will the tax paying citizens get enough of the invaders from the south? Perhaps, in November, kicking out the incumbents would be a good start if they can’t come up with a believable alibi for their apathy. Walter Huckeba, Perry F. Dennis Hooper Certified Leadership Development Coach Building leaders and organizations of excellence j * (478) 988-0237 dhoopcr2rajuno.com 5A 37722