Newspaper Page Text
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♦ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Voter ID law works OK
The Voter ID law did not turn out to be
so bad, after all.
The first test of the Georgia law was
in Twiggs County this week and everything
went well.
Opponents of the law have predicted dire
results when a election was held under the
law, which requires that voters produce
a picture ID
card.
Anyone
interested in
protecting
the integrity
of voting in
Georgia has
to believe that
the Voter ID
law is a good
one.
We have con
cern about
the motives
of opponents
of the law. It
certainly does
not deprive anyone of a right to vote. It cer
tainly is not a poll tax, as some opponents
claim, since the state will provide a picture
ID card free to anyone without one.
Georgia has a history in the past of seeing
tombstones vote and seeing one person vote
several times under different names. The
Voter ID law prohibits these abuses.
We look forward to future elections to ver
ify the importance and validity of this law.
Perdue hits a home run
Gov. Sonny Perdue struck a popular
note this week when he said that the
first thing he will do when reelected
is get rid of the state income tax on retirees.
We assume that he was referring to seniors
who are in retirement.
This message from the governor as he
seeks a second term offers financial relief to
a large segment of Georgians who are find
ing it hard to make ends meet.
Being able to keep the six percent of their
retirement income that now goes to the
state will be a big boost to the standard of
living of millions in this state.
• It is not uncommon for candidates for pub
lic office to make big promises. This could be
construed as “just politics” if it did not come
from the mouth of Sonny Perdue.
We know him as a man of honor who will
do his very best to live up to every promise
that he makes.
This promise certainly gives him a leg up
in his reelectipn campaign.
Worth Repeating
“The first nine pages of the Internal Revenue Code
define income; the remaining 1,100 pages spin the web of
exceptions and preferences.”
Warren Magnuson
U. S. Congressman & U. S. Senator (Democrat, WA)
HOW TO SUBMIT LETTERS
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it to The Houston Daily Journal at P.O. Box 1910,
Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at 1210 Washington
St. in Perry - between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday.
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
We have concern
about the motives of
opponents of the
law. It certainly does
not deprive anyone
of a right to vote. It
certainly is not a poll
tax, as some opponents
claim, since the state
wHI provide a picture
ID card free to anyone
without one.
No Butts about it—SL John worthy
I got satisfaction when I learned
that the Houston County Board of
Education was naming the Perry
High School football stadium in honor
of Herb St. John.
I first became aware of him when
he played football for the Georgia
Bulldogs. I was a student in the School
of Law in 1946.
Herb played for the one and only
Wally Butts. Today’s breed of football
players could not have played for Wally
Butts. He was tough. He was a great
disciplinarian. He put up with no fool
ishness.
And, for the record, Wally Butts
could not coach today’s players. They
are too spoiled to be a Wally Butts
Bulldog.
He does not get credit for one of
his most important contributions to
college football. At the time he began
coaching, teams depended almost sole
ly on the run. Butts was an innovator
who made passing a part of his offen
sive game and other colleges soon fol
lowed suit.
Wally was one of a kind and a friend
from pre-World War days, when I first
covered the Bulldogs for the Macon
newspaper. While I was a student after
the war Wally made it easy for me to
sell numerous sports articles to nation
al magazines about himself and a team
that included John Donaldson, Charlie
Trippi, Johnny Rauch, and, of course,
Herb StJohn.
Herb StJohn was named All-
American at Georgia in 1946, at a time
when there were only 11 All-Americans
on the team named by Grantland Rice.
He returned home to coach in Perry
and became a legend in his own right.
■ ■■
If you have any doubts how irrel
evant the United Nations is, just con
sider that actor George Clooney, hardly
a heavyweight on international affairs,
was invited to speak before the Security
ceooe CREATORS ATE iHC
"Test-driving" may damage your relationship
Most people shopping for a new
car want to test drive the vehi
cle they’re considering before
writing the check. It just makes sense
to ensure that we’re getting the right
vehicle, that it will meet our needs and
fit our lifestyle. But transferring that
thinking to choosing a mate does not
result in the same assurance.
In fact, test driving a marriage by
living together first is actually the
equivalent of putting sugar in your gas
tank before you drive it off the lot. And
the result can be just as damaging.
Many who “test-drive” potential
spouses by living with them before
marriage don’t realize that there is a
strong link between cohabitation and
the wreck of that relationship later
on, decreased safety for both them
and their future children, and less
satisfaction and contentment with the
relationship. Research suggests that
rather than ensuring against marital
difficulty and divorce by giving couples
a chance to test each other out, cohabi
tation has a negative impact on those
relationships that later progress to
marriage.
While six out of 10 high school seniors
surveyed believe that cohabiting will
better prepare them for marriage, cou
ples who live together before marriage
are 46 percent more likely to divorce
than those who do not. In fact, the
preponderance of data showing that
cohabitation increases the likelihood
of divorce has caused Glenn T. Stanton,
analyst and author on the topics of
marriage and sexuality, to conclude,
“There is really no debate in the social
science literature on whether premari
tal cohabitation increases a couple’s
risk of divorce. It does.”
Some people who live together before
getting married do so with what they
would consider to be noble reasons.
They hope not to repeat the errors
of their divorcing parents. But the
deck seems to be stacked against them
from the start, and an abundance of
research bears this out.
Cohabiting couples do not feel as
secure in their partner’s love as mar
ried couples - for good reason. In any
given year, men are four times and
women eight times more likely to cheat
on their partner in a cohabiting rela-
OPINION
Foy
Evans
Columnist
loyevansl9@cox.net
Council.
■ ■■
The Air Force is spending millions of
dollars on development of non-lethal
weapons, and the general in charge
of the project wants to test them on
Americans first, so as not to offend an
enemy. Why not develop more lethal
weapons and use them without politi
cians setting rules of engagement that
are favorable to the enemy?
■ ■■
Though it speaks poorly for
Americans, millions of them get most
or all of their national and interna
tional news from the Evening News on
NBC, CBS and ABC. How much hard
news do they really get? An analysis
of last week’s news programs on those
networks shows that CBS aired 18
minutes of hard news, ABC 46 minutes
and NBC 44 minutes. Getting by on
that little information, it is no wonder
that so many in this country cannot
name the vice-president, secretary of
defense or secretary of state, among
other government officials.
■ ■■
I’m going to stop buying any prod
uct that has a mail-in rebate to get
the price down to its advertised price.
For some reason I receive checks for
only about half of the rebates I send
off for. The largest rebate that I never
tionship than in a marriage. Possibly
as a result of increased feelings of
instability, cohabiting men and women
are more depressed than married cou
ples. They also report less overall sat
isfaction with their relationship and
sex life.
Another troubling statistic for cohab
iting couples is the link between cohab
itation and violence against women
and children. Cohabiting couples are
three times as likely to become physi
cally aggressive than married couples.
Children who live with parents in a
cohabiting relationship are more likely
to be physically abused, have behavior
al and emotional problems, live in pov
erty, and struggle academically than
children of married parents. If one
of the partners is not the child’s bio
logical parent, the child is 33 percent
more likely to suffer severe abuse and
has a 73 percent higher risk of dying
from abuse than a child with married
parents.
These statistics are particularly trou
bling because nearly half of cohabiting
couples between ages 25 and 34 have
children - and 70 percent of those
children are biologically related to only
one partner.
I’ve been asked, “How can this be
true? Doesn’t it make sense to live as
if we’re married to see if our chemis
try is right, whether our values and
priorities line up, to ensure I’m really
in love?” Actually, no. In the end, it
doesn’t work that way, as the evidence
clearly indicates.
Why are couples who live together
more likely to divorce once they do
marry? One possible reason is that
cohabiting couples develop an “escape
route” mindset: if the relationship
isn’t working, they can walk out. After
marriage, that mindset remains. They
tell themselves, “If it’s not working for
Bin /ME
jgi -fa / '
Randy
Hicks
Columnist
Georgia Family Council
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
received happened this way: I was
required to send the original bar code
for the product and a receipt from the
store, which I did. About two months
later I received a letter advising me
that the only was I could get the rebate
was to send them the original bar code,
which they already had. My best efforts
were futile. I have suspected for a long
time that rebates are a way that many
manufacturers make an extra profit on
items they sell.
■ ■■
Talk about turning fire protection in
unincorporated Houston County north
of Highway 96 over to the city of
Warner Robins is meeting with luke
warm acceptance by some of the people
who will be affected. Some county resi
dents are downright hostile to the idea
and the possibility of paying for it.
Some opponents say they do not need
consolidated fire service because, even
though they live in the county, “the fire
department will come if needed.”
That is true, with the agreement
between the city and county that exists
today. In a sense, it passes on to city
residents the responsibility of funding
and providing a certain amount of pro
tection to county residents.
There was a time when a line was
drawn between areas that were served
and firefighters were not permitted
to respond do a fire outside the city
limits.
During this time, at least one mayor
forbade his firefighters to go beyond
the city limits, and at least one home
I know of adjacent to the city limits
burned quite a while before county
firefighters got there.
The city firemen could have mini
mized the damage but didn’t. This
probably led to the mutual agreement
that exists today, which, in effect,
extends Warner Robins’ expensive fire
protection into the unincorporated area
without any offsetting compensation.
me, I’ll leave,” rather than, “If it’s not
working, I must do whatever necessary
to make it work.”
Generally speaking, it seems that
the cohabiting person is asking a ques
tion that is ill-suited for marriage. The
nature of cohabitation prompts the
partners to ask, “Is this working for
me? Is he or she giving me everything
I need?” When the relationship stops
centering on them, they start looking
for an exit.
Marriage demands something total
ly different from us. While this isn’t
always easy to do in a marriage, the
questions we need to be asking are, “Is
my spouse satisfied in this relation
ship?
Am I providing my spouse with what
he or she needs to be fulfilled, success
ful, and joyful?”
The wonder of marriage comes from
seeing your spouse live out their love
and commitment. As a couple focuses
on the other person’s happiness and
fulfillment, standing on the foundation
of a marriage commitment, their rela
tionship is much more likely to grow,
deepen and mature into the stable,
rewarding partnership most people
hope for but don’t find by cohabiting.
It’s true that couples should test
their compatibility before marriage,
but they can accomplish that purpose
without increasing their risk of mari
tal difficulty and divorce. Pre-marital
counseling is a proven and risk-free
method to determine potential person
ality clashes and conflict areas without
compromising couples’ attitudes about
commitment to each other.
Committing to your partner and dem
onstrating your commitment through
marriage is harder - and, at first,
scarier - than cohabiting. But it is ulti
mately one of the most important steps
you can take to make your relationship
lasting and satisfying. And it’s a deci
sion much more likely to stand the test
of time.
Georgia Family Council is a non-prof
it organization that works to strength
en and defend the family in Georgia
by impacting communities, shaping
laws and influencing culture. For more
information, go to www.georgiafamily.
org, (770) 242-0001 and gregg@gafam.
org.