Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

4A ♦ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2006 JLmstmi IBatltJ OPINION Daniel F. Evans Editor and Publisher Don Moncrief Managing Editor Happy as a mule eating briars us V he nuclear test is a historic event that brought happiness to our -L military and people.” So said the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s official information mecha nism. Or, perhaps in this case, propaganda platform might be more appropriate. How about it folks? Do you think a suc cessful nuclear weapons test - even a “first ever” as was the case for North Korea Sunday - would elicit “happy” people here if we accomplished it? Not likely. We’re often labeled warmongers by the rest of the world but even we, as savage as we are sometimes portrayed, would have sense enough not to cele brate a nucle ar weapons test. Not North Korea. Its people were apparently dancing in the streets, happy with the fact they now have the capability to kill thousands if not millions of people. Happy despite the fact they managed to prompt China and Japan to put their differ ences aside to issue a strong statement: "it cannot be tolerated.” Happy despite the fact there may be more condemnation from around the world today. Happy it has isolated itself. Happy despite the fact sanctions - or worse - may be forth coming - ultimately impacting their lives on a more “personal” level such as food, cloth ing and more. Yes, they’re happy now but here’s hoping the world will join together and help turn that smile upside down. Little Bear no longer How ‘bout them Bears? In case you missed it, Houston County beat Lowndes in football Friday. If you’re familiar with football, and who isn’t in our neck of the woods, you’ll note this was big. Lowndes, like Valdosta and only a few more schools falls into that category of football we like to call: "Legendary." And, they’ve got enough state titles to justify that label. For Houston County then it was only necessary if it one day wanted to send the signal it had come of age - more specifically its athletic “program” - it beat a school like Lowndes. Now, the psychological edge those schools may once have had is gone. Da Bears have grown up. Letter to the Edttor Genetic sexuality Is Mark Foley and other homosexuals “genetically driv en” like heterosexuals? Absolutely! Genetics has always played a role in our sexuality and our social behavior. We have all heard of the “red headed temper,” the young girl “tom boy,” or the young boy “sissy.” All of which reflect a behavioral genetic presence. Today, homosexuals are suing in court to be foster par ents in Texas and for adoption rights in Florida. A lesbian recently sued a California fertility clinic for refusing to impregnate her and male gays are seeking females that will give birth to their offspring. Indeed! Homosexual activity fully supports the “genetic drive” to become par ents, to appropriate, to ensure “survival of the human species”; just like heterosexuals! So! If both groups are “genetically driven” to achieve the same objective, why are the homosexuals engaging in sexual activity that will never, repeat never, result in parenthood? The answer, clearly and logically, must be because they choose to do so and have become mentally addicted to the act. After all, humans as all other mam mals, have the “genetic drive” to appropriate. As mam mals and human beings, we can have a range of “sexual activities” such as: (1) fondling and/or having See LETTER, page fA Julie B. Evans Vice President Foy S. Evans Editor Emeritus How about H folks? Do you think a successful nuclear weapons test - even a "first-ever” as was the case for North Korea Sunday - would elicit "happy" people here if we accomplished it? The pros and cons of impact fees Let’s talk about impact fees. Houston County has some outspoken advocates of impact fees for the purpose of passing on to developer and builders the expenses incurred in making it possible to devel op their subdivisions. In reality, impact fees are not paid by developers and builders. They actually pass on those fees to future homeown ers as part of the price of homes. Whether impact fees are a good idea is a subject worthy of debate. You can find plenty of arguments for or against. Cities and counties do spend big money making services available to developers. Advocates of impact fees say the cost should not be borne by present residents, but should be paid by the beneficiaries of the services offered. Developers come back with a very strong argument, which is that impact fees could run the cost of new homes too high and could put a damper on a booming economy and home market. This can be argued either way. Maybe it does. Maybe not. The biggest impact that new subdivi sions have on cities and counties is the cost of education children they bring into the community. A sudden spurt in school enrollment can impact schools dramatically and put a financial burden on education boards that is hard to overcome, espe cially since the state has cut back on funding. Clinton wins again with interview outburst As usual, Matt Drudge got it right. Don’t believe me? Then check out the results of a new Insider Advantage poll that queried the reaction of Americans to Bill Clinton’s Fox News interview on Sunday. I don’t listen to talk radio much, but my readers know that I am a devotee of nationally syndicated talk host Neal Boortz. What I haven’t written is that I make a point of listening to Drudge’s syndicated show on Sunday nights. Invariably he has a first take on topical issues that proves right on. As I have no transcript of the broad cast, I’m relying on memory. The topic was the verbal sparring between Fox’s pundit Chris Wallace and an apparently angry former President Clinton during an interview about Clinton’s supposed negligence as president in failing to take effective action against Osama bin Laden and other terrorists prior to 9/11. Clinton took exception to a question he considered to be a conservative jab by Wallace. Drudge voiced my own belief that Clinton knew darn well the question was coming and that everyone involved in that show got just what they were looking for. Clinton seemed far too prepared when Wallace supposedly blindsided him. And his animated style served to ensure the interview would make stormy headlines. As always, Wallace was fair, forceful and flawless. He will now win further renown for countering the old-style broadcast liberalism from the heydays of CBS and Wallace’s father, legendary CBS broadcaster Mike Wallace. Coincidentally, this interview spat happened during Fox News’ 10th anni versary. It, remains the king of cable news channels. Everybody involved won, including Clinton. The sly master of political per- OPINION School impact fees could help fast growing counties where enrollment stays far ahead of revenue created by new developments. A study by Georgia State University reached the conclusion that “one finds numerous instances where growth failed to pay for itself” in reference to schools. Impact fees are popular in Florida, where they may be as low as S2OO and as high as $8,500. Governments can impose fees of that magnitude in one of the fastest grow ing states in the country, but would hardly be acceptable or sustainable in Georgia. Proponents of impact fees in Houston County are limited in number, but they have been persistent. So far they have gotten nowhere and now want to replace members of the county com mission with like thinking members. Their chance of success seems close to nil. Taxes from new development lag as much as two years behind the time services must be rendered by commu nities. Eventually they catch up. "My, my ...What a calm election year this is!" Foy Evans Columnist !oyevansl9@cox net Matt Towery Columnist Morris News Service ceptions knew that rebroadcasts of his tiff with Wallace would put him back* on the front pages and into the hearts and minds of his nostalgic supporters. Conducted among 687 Americans on September 25-26, our Insider Advantage national telephone survey about the interview found that an amazing 64 percent said they had seen either the entire interview or rebroadcasted por tions of it. We asked: “Was your opinion of President Clinton during the interview, or the portion you saw, favorable, unfa vorable, or do you have no opinion?” Favorable - 51 percent. Unfavorable - 44 percent. No opinion - 5 percent, delayed. The polling results were weighted for age, race, gender and political affilia tion. Counting only those poll respon dents who saw the interview gives the poll a margin of error of plus or minus 5-and-a-half percent. So Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News’ parent company, reportedly donates money to Clinton’s Global Initiative Project, and Fox gets a Clinton interview in which Clinton maligns Murdoch on the air, and yet Clinton walks away having earned a majority favorable view of the inter view, and Fox gets enormous exposure. And presumably, Clinton gets to keep the donation. Collusion? Naw. As Drudge was suggesting, it’s simply the game that must be played in today’s world of instant news and superstar politicians. Neither Murdoch nor Wallace knew Hr HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL The real impact is in the cost of schools. When Georgia passed a law allowing cities and counties to impose impact fees the legislature turned a deaf ear to the need for money to construct and run new schools, so in this state impact fees can be imposed only for non-edu cation infrastructure, roads , sewer lines, libraries and parks. At the present time about 30 cities and counties impose impact fees. These are in and around Atlanta. There is pressure in the Atlanta metropolitan area for more cities and counties to take advantage of this method of rais ing money. I have read an interesting take on the effect an impact fee would have on schools. One argument is that they would keep people away because of the higher cost of homes. On the other side is the argument that people might decide to stay away because of over crowded and under funded schools. Take your pick. It is an interesting subject that will not go away. However, developers, builders and new homeowners do not have anything to fear in Houston County in the fore seeable future. Our county commis sioners seem to be of the opinion that our county is doing right well without impact fees and they would do more harm than good. For the present, at least, this is an interesting subject for discussion, but certainly not in our foreseeable future. Clinton would come out swinging. And yet, most everyone could have guessed it was probable. Why would Clinton benefit from his outburst? The poll tells us that women approved of his interview performance by 56 percent to 37 percent. That’s where Clinton’s media savvy comes into play. Most people saw only small portions of the interview on other media outlets. They saw his showmanship, but not necessarily the context of his remarks. The result? Clinton again scores with the ladies (oops!). Even 23 percent of self-identified Republicans in the poll approved of Clinton’s performance. (Only 7 percent of Democrats disapproved.) It was happy news for all. Fox News scored a huge coup that ranked up there with Dan Rather’s contentious live battle with then-Vice President George H. W. Bush during his cam paign for the presidency in 1988. Chris Wallace will get more and deserved recognition as an unmatched national broadcast journalist. He is every bit as good as Mike Wallace was. But the best news for many may be that Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton. While she tried to tee off this perfect political ball put in play by her husband, her confrontational, ranting style only made her look like a bitter and calculating “me too” politician. It was political theater at its best. Matt Towery served as the chairman of former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s political organization from 1992 until Gingrich left Congress. He is a for mer Georgia state representative, the author of several books and currently heads the polling and political informa tion firm Insider Advantage. To find out more about Matthew Towery and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and car toonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.