Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2007
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Group Marketing
Letters to the Emtor
Congrats WRALL
On they came, with names such as Carriker,
Umphreyville, Allen, Lay, Martens, Scott, Conlon,
Jackson, Smith, Purvis and others - and with “moni
kers” such as Muffin, Cupcake, Tall Drink of Water and
Action Jackson, those gallant young men from Houston
County. They played their hearts out and when all of the
hoopla was over, the “best team” had indeed won the
Little League World Series! And when the task at hand
was completed, they again showed their collective and
individual class by consoling their defeated opponents.
It is readily apparent that each of these youngsters
is from a home where discipline, respect, love, com
panionship, parental guidance and concern for fellow
citizens abounds. This is a credit to these youngsters,
their parents, their coaches, their teachers, the soli
darity of their families. These young men are indeed
the stalwart citizens and leaders of tomorrow - their
fervent intent to succeed is apparent and they will not
fail. Their families and all of Houston County, even all
of Middle Georgia, can and should be proud of them
and their accomplishments. Judging from the character
and intensity they each displayed, there is no doubt
in my mind that each of them will enjoy a productive,
successful future whether it be in sports, technol
ogy, teaching or whatever endeavor they choose. It is
indeed refreshing to see youngsters who respect their
parents, teachers, coaches and fellow citizens and who
can function well as a team, Likewise, it is refreshing
to see parents closely involved in the activities of their
children, supporting and participating in their goals.
Unfortunately, on the other end of the spectrum, we
read in local newspapers that another youngster was
involved in an incident in one of our schools. Today
we read of yet another instance where a youngster on
a school bus provoked the driver by shooting rubber
bands at him - this fiasco allegedly ended with the bus
driver pulling a knife on the young person after the
youngster threatened to slap the driver. How tragic
both of these incidents are! Our guess is that with the
proper parental involvement and discipline instilled at
home, neither of these incidents would have happened.
While we are not in favor of a bus driver threatening a
young person with a knife or any other weapon, we also
are not in favor of children being allowed to disrespect
their teachers, coaches, parents, school bus drivers or
any other elder person - or each other for that matter.
Our teachers and school bus drivers must be given
some support in dealing with these youngsters who
choose to disrupt the classroom, the school bus or
any other gathering. The teachers and bus drivers
do not have the collateral duties of raising the chil
dren of other people or instilling in them the prin
ciples of respect for authority and their fellow citizens.
Perhaps we could get Tall Drink of Water, Muffin,
Cupcake, Action Jackson and company to visit other
schools and classrooms and explain to others that there
is a difference between a GANG and a TEAM! We believe
that that they would make the same impression on their
peers as they have made on us - kudos to them, their
parents, their families and their coaches.
Walton & Becky Wood, Kathleen
Save Jekyll Island
I am a 28-year-old housewife with three children. Just
this past weekend my husband and I spent our 10th
anniversary at Jekyll Island here in Ga. We have been
going to Jekyll since 1998 and I absolutely love it. I am
from southern California so I love the beach but no place
compares to Jekyll Island. I am writing because I was
wondering if you could place an article in your paper
about what’s going on down there. Right now, the Jekyll
Island Authority want to renovate the island and make
it a place for the elite on the beach side of the property.
Average income families can stay on the inside of the
island away from the beach. Not only do they want to
add luxury hotels but also condominiums along the beach
where there is nothing at the time. My fear is that this
will bring further development of the island. Right now,
only 65 percent of the island can be developed at this
time but, people are greedy and money talks. If you start
redevelopment now, who knows where that will lead. My
concern is also for the wildlife of this island. There is
such an abundance of it, where will all the critters go?
Where will the sea turtles lay their eggs? I would love to
be able to bring my grandchildren to the island just how
it is right now. I don’t want to see six-story high build
ings or condos lining the beach. It is beautiful and unde
veloped and it needs to stay that way. It’s a state park.
How can a state park be designed for upper-class only?
I don’t understand. I understand that hotels have to be
remodeled but why should only the upper-class get to
enjoy the beautiful beach view from a hotel room? Don’t
they have enough places to visit? Please help me out and
put an article in your paper about what’s going on. I am
only a visitor to the island but I would have never known
about what’s going on right now if I hadn’t visited this
past weekend so how is anyone else in Georgia going to
know? You can speak to David Eagan he is the co direc
tor of the Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island). His number
is 912-635-2167. Or, you can visit their website at www.
savejekyllisland.org. Please help me out here, I am only
one voice who has a concern for a place that I love but
with your help, I can reach many other voices who love it
as much as I do.
Heather O’Brien
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Daily Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Some things to kick-off the month
Let’s get the new month off with
some things I find interesting:
• Isn’t it strange the way
we change the meaning of words and
beat around the bush to be politically
correct? The meaning of some words
is appropriated to mean something
entirely different from what it had
meant in the past. For example, the
word gumption meant a person had
good common sense. Say the word
today and it means a person has cour
age. I remember when the word “gay”
was used to describe someone who was
cheerful and happy. Remember Fred
Astair and Ginger Rogers in the movie
“The Gay Divorcee?” Somewhere along
the way the homosexual community
confiscated the word to their own use.
When I was young a “gifted” person
was someone with special talent. Now
it refers to someone with a mental
handicap. Pupils are now students.
Beauticians are now hairdressers. How
can anyone attempting to learn our
language comprehend what we mean
when we say something?
• One of my two favorite college
football coaches - Steve Spurrier - says
that he spends most of his time at
South Carolina counseling his players
not to hit women and not to use drugs.
Obviously, his players are hoodlums
or the next thing to it. Unfortunately,
most college football players today are
not the role models that players were
in other eras.
• I’m thrilled that Herb St. John
is being inducted into the Georgia
Sports Hall of Fame. He is one of the
University of Georgia’s all-time great
football players. He was all-SEC for
four years and was All-American one
year back in the days before free sub-
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B' ", W\ ...FRUSTRATION.' f
The return of the eagles
The dog days of August have
drawn to a close. This is the
calm before the gathering politi
cal storm. On Sept. 15, the far-left
group ANSWER (“Act Now to Stop
War and End Racism”) will descend on
the nation’s capital to demand what
they’ve been demandihg for the last
six years in the aftermath of the 9/11
attacks: immediate withdrawal from
Iraq and Afghanistan; immediate clo
sure of the Guantanamo Bay deten
tion facility and immediate release of
every last suspected al Qaeda opera
tive in American custody; immediate
impeachment of President Bush and
Vice President Cheney; and immediate
capitulation to our enemies at home
and abroad.
WTio will be there to counter the
Jane Fonda retreads? Will you?
Earlier this year, I reported on a
new, nonpartisan movement that arose
to challenge the surrender lobby. On
a bitter cold weekend in March, the
Gathering of Eagles brought together
veterans, families of active-duty ser
vicemen and servicewomen, Rolling
Thunder members, military bloggers
and their grass-roots supporters to
raise their pro-troops, pro-mission
voices. I interviewed Eagles who flew
in from San Francisco, rode motor
cycles south from Georgia, drove all
night from Boston, and trekked in
caravans from coast to coast to answer
ANSWER. At the crack of dawn, facing
biting winds and contemptuous taunts,
tens of thousands of Eagles stood guard
over war memorials threatened by anti
war anarchists and lined the streets
OPINiON
stitution. I was fortunate enough to
be a student at UGA the year he was
named All-American on a team that
went undefeated with such highly pub
licized stars as Charlie Trippi and John
Rauch.
• Too often poverty is used as
an excuse for committing crimes. I
don’t buy this lame excuse. Most of
the crime today can be a result of cul
ture, not poverty, or just plain mean
ness. Folks today who are considered
victims of poverty live far, far' better
than most of the well-to-do people did
when I was growing. They don’t have
any idea what real poverty is because
the government makes sure they get
what they need and, more often than
not, what they want. Despite the real
poverty of the Great Depression there
was no crime wave because of it.
• The bishop of Global Industries
has been accused of beating his wife.
His excuse: The devil made him do it.
At least, he isn’t blaming poverty.
• The SAT scores for Georgia’s
public schools fell 5 points in 2007 to
1472, keeping the state 46h among
the 50 states. Officials claim the test
is flawed. So what? Everyone took the
same test. We all know the answer to
solving this problem, which is the same
solution used every year for decades.
where bongo drum-beating retreatists
marched.
The Gathering of Eagles turn
out was unprecedented. The Cindy
Sheehanistas and socialist rabble-rous
ers had never been met and matched
with such force. Now, the Eagles are
organizing a return to Washington at
a historic moment in the global war
against jihad. Gen. David Petraeus,
top commander in Iraq, and U.S.
Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are
expected to testify before the Senate on
Sept. 11. Yes, that Sept. 11. Four days
later, Sept. 15, is the deadline for the
president to submit reports to Congress
on how Iraq is meeting benchmarks for
progress since the troop surge was
announced in January.
ANSWER will lead what it bills as
a “massive” Sept. 15 demonstration
to “End the War Now!” - no matter
what Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador
Crocker report. They will hold a “die
in” and once again use the names and
legacies of fallen soldiers without their
permission to push for a precipitous
pullout. They’ll remain in Washington
the following week to hold a Code
Pink-led protest in the House and
an Iraq Veterans Against the War-led
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
■** '
Michelle
Malkin
Columnist
malkin@comcast.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Throw more money at it. After all,
hasn’t it worked in the past?
• School officials in Colorado
Springs are protecting their students
by not permitting the game of tag on
the playgrounds. Hello, political cor
rectness.
• Lawmakers in Atlanta are con
sidering an ordinance outlawing saggy
pants, which reveal enough of the
rear anatomy to be revolting. Can you
believe opponents of the ban are claim
ing that it is racial? Even black elected
officials in Atlanta cannot escape that
handy misuse of racism for anything
they dislike.
• Peachcare, the free government
health insurance for Georgia’s children,
is available when a family’s income is
235 percent of the poverty level, which
means families with incomes around
$50,000 a year. Seventy-one percent
of children in Houston County will
be eligible under the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program, which is
taxpayer subsidized Medicare, that is
being proposed in congress.
• Mayor Blumberg in New York
City is paying school students cash for
attending classes. Also, parents are
being paid $25 for attending a par
ent-teacher conference and SSO for
obtaining a library card. Students are
being paid SSO for taking the PSAT
and S4OO for graduating from high
school. There are other cash payouts
for health screenings, keeping a full
time job and completing job training
or educational courses. Now education
not only is free, but if you are too sorry
to take advantage of it the government
will pay you. Can’t get much better
than that.
harassment campaign against military
recruiters in D.C. and nationwide.
harassment campaign against military
recruiters in D.C. and nationwide.
For every anti-Bush activist agitat
ing for immediate withdrawal and
throwing rocks at ROTC offices, an
Eagle will be there in Washington
to oppose the planting of the white
flag. The organizations leading the way
include the Gathering of Eagles, Eagles
Landing, Move America Forward, the
Military Order of the Purple Heart,
Free Republic, Vets for Freedom and
the Victory Caucus. (Visit gatheringo
feagles.org and moveamericaforward.
org for details.)
As retired Army Col. Harry Riley
explains, “Unlike the ‘6os and ‘7os, the
anti-war lemmings will not have the
streets or the political stage to them
selves. This time, Eagle Americans
- we who support our troops, under
stand the stakes in the War on Terror
and the true nature of our enemy, who
aren’t blinded by an insane hatred of
our way of life and our form of govern
ment -- will also be in Washington,
D.C., to show Congress that we will
not tolerate another betrayal of our
own forces or our allies. . . . While
the anti-democracy forces are well
funded by pro-left, anti-Americans, we
Eagles have steadily been building our
own coalition to stop ANSWER in its
tracks, and keep Congress focused on
winning the war, not their political
ambitions.”
I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Michelle Malkin is author of
“Unhinged: Exposing Liberals
Gone Wild." Her e-mail address is
malkinblog@gmail.com.