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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007
4A
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Foy S. Evans
Vice President Editor Emeritus
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Will latest litter
campaign clean house?
Gov. Sonny Perdue, as he’s done for at
least the second-straight year we believe, has
announced a new initiative to combat litter.
This one partners Pepsi and Wild
Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta together,
the two of which reportedly will display anti-lit
ter messages featuring the state’s anti-litter
mascot (Buster the Brown Trasher).
“This is about economic development,”
Perdues says. “Litter is a nuisance. It costs us
millions to clean up, drives down our property
values, and destroys our natural resources.
Working together, we can all achieve our
goals to create cleaner, healthier and more liv
able communities.”
Most of us agree with that statement.
In fact, to a whole lot of extent Perdue is
really “preaching to the choir” so to speak.
Most of us are good citizens and care tons
about keeping our communities clean. We
know what a trash can is and we know how to
use it.
Unfortunately, the ones we believe are doing
the greater part of the damage around the
countryside, in our towns and cities, will either
1) not receive the message or 2) reject it when
they do.
In other words, we believe it doesn’t matter
how many times they see an anti-litter slogan
on the side of a Pepsi truck or a trash can at
Wild Adventures, it’s not going to make a dif
ference. They simply are not the type to take
responsibility and care in the first place.
So, while we certainly have to commend
Perdue and Pepsi and Wild Adventures for at
least taking the initiative for doing something,
we certainly have to wonder just how much
real effect - if any - it will make in the long
run.
Letters to the editor
Locals need to retain tax rights
I suppose that if people were to decide whether or not
they would pay taxes, we would all vote to do away with
taxes. Is it just human nature to wish to get services or
things for nothing? However, there is no such thing as a
“free lunch". Our tax structure is far from perfect, but some
body has to pay. Maybe we need to just make it fairer for
all that pay and for all that receive.
Speaker Glenn Richardson is proposing to do away with
property taxes. Georgians need to take a serious look at
this proposal. In the economics classes I took in college,
property taxes on land were regarded as “land use taxes”.
Since there is a limit on available land it differs in concept
from other natural resources and property built by man
such as buildings.
See TAX, page
Constitution Day, a vote for Paul
Constitution Day this past Tuesday celebrated the 220th
anniversary of the Constitution’s signing.
The Constitution is the shining achievement in the peren
nial fight for freedom and liberty. The Constitution plays
an integral part of what has made The U.S. the world’s
greatest country. It is the document that guarantees our
freedoms by strictly limiting the scope and power of gov
ernment.
Unfortunately, our government has overstepped its con
stitutional bounds. We are beginning to loose some of our
rights.
Habeas corpus is being challenged. Anyone that
See DAY, page $A
HOW TO SUBMIT:
Letters should not exceed 350 words and must include
the writer’s name, address and telephone number (the
last two not printed). The newspaper reserves the right to
edit or reject letters for reasons of grammar, punctuation,
taste and brevity. We cannot guarantee that a letter will be
printed on a specific date. There are three ways to submit a
letter to the editor: E-mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com,
mail it to The Houston Home Journal at 1210 Washington
St., Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at the same location
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
On a state tax, other notes
One person, one vote. One per
son, one opinion. So I will
exercise my opportunity to
express this one person’s opinion on
a variety of subjects in the news this
week.
■ Local elected officials are lining
up in opposition to Speaker Glenn
Richardson’s plan to eliminate prop
erty taxes and adopt a state sales tax
that would include services. I find the
reasoning of city officials, county com
missioners and school board members
right on target.
I would never agree to serve in a
local elected capacity if I did not have
the power to raise revenue to pay for
services I had to provide to my con
stituents. Cities, the county and board
of education need the power to collect
property taxes required to fulfill their
individual responsibilities.
The idea of all tax revenue going to
Atlanta for redistribution could result
in Houston Countians, for example,
paying taxes disproportionate to the
amount coming back for use in our
country.
A suggestion: Leave the ability to col
lect property taxes as it is, but extend
the state sales tax to include services,
while sending the newfound money
to local governments so that they can
lower property taxes.
Or - probably a better idea - use
"Hey, it's my money... I can throw it away if I want to!"
You can’t hurry love
It takes more than feelings to
create a meaningful relationship
We Americans love the thrill
of newness. We seemingly
live for the rush that accom
panies the new, action-packed block
buster movie or video game. We line
up for days to purchase a cutting-edge
high-tech pocket-PC-phone-like thing
amajig. Our loyalties - I use that word
loosely—to a political candidate that
may have inspired us a few months
ago can be transferred to another can
didate faster than you can say “Barack
Obama” or “Fred Thompson.” The
car that we just couldn’t wait to have
a year ago is now just another car and
we’re eyeing another.
I’m sure this sounds familiar to you.
It’s human nature. And left unchecked,
it can be the root of some terrible
and consequential decision making.
Nowhere is that danger more preva
lent than in relationships.
The fact is we love the thrill of new
ness in love also. A budding relation
ship often is unencumbered by nagging
little inconveniences like obligations,
hurt feelings and regrets. It’s just ...
new. It’s fun. It’s adventurous. It’s
exciting.
And according to a recent article fea
turing several relationship experts, if
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Evans Jj |j
Columnist j§» / ai
foyevansl9@cox.net
’ln my opinion, combining
the two chambers of
commerce could
eventually lead to
problems that neither
group wants."
additional revenue collected through
an expanded sales tax to reduce or
eliminate the state income tax.
■ Members of the Warner Robins
and Perry chambers of commerce will
vote soon on whether to combine the
two organizations.
At first blush, it sounds like a good
idea. I, personally, see it as a mistake.
Perry and Warner Robins are two dis
tinct communities and identities, and
we’re not at least a little sOber-minded,
it can prove to be damaging.
Now before you married readers
Columnist SMi . a|M
Georgia Family Council mm.
think this column is all about dat
ing relationships, hang on. There’s an
important application for you too.
The article’s author explained some
of the pitfalls that come when two
people begin dating and, after just
a few meetings, one of them begins
expressing their love and devotion and
even discussing future plans.
“It can actually be a little scary when
one person in a new relationship is sud
denly like 'I know we don’t know each
other well, but I think we’re the kind
of couple who could wind up married,”’
said one psychotherapist interviewed
for the article.
Scary is right, especially considering
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
though they have many mutual con
cerns and goals they also have differ
ent agendas, too.
In my opinion, combining the two
chambers of commerce could eventual
ly lead to problems that neither group
wants. They are working together well
now. If there is a need for more uni
fied actions, why not follow the lead
of Houston County commissioners and
the cities of Warner Robins, Centerville
and Perry?
They saw a need to work together
and to plan for the future. So they
organized Vision 2020, where repre
sentatives of the governments meet
regularly. Something like a Vision 2020
for the chambers of commerce would
leave each free to carry out its mission
while providing a way for them to work
hand in hand and harmoniously at the
same time.
■ The Georgia Board of Education
has stepped up to the plate and is plac
ing greater emphasis on mathematics
and English related courses in high
schools. Hurrah. Before long students
will take as many courses in English,
history, mathematics, geography and
science as I took when I went to high
school 70 years ago. Maybe someday
they will discover phonics.
■ I was talking with a friend from
Asia recently and he pointed out
See EVANS, page $A
that those feeling may have little to do
with the other person and more to do
with fulfilling a need of their own. Ms.
Neumann lists several possibfe reasons
for such behavior. It could be an obses
sion with the “buzz” that comes with
the rush of feelings in a new relation
ship. Unfortunately, once these feel
ings wear off the search moves on to
someone else.
In cases like this, the person may
simply want someone else to be a part
of their love story fantasy - to play
the role of the ideal partner. Of course
fantasies collapse under the weight of
reality, unable to sustain a long-term
relationship, built upon a paper-thin
foundation.
Sometimes, unfortunately, expres
sions of devotion are really just an
attempt to hurry into a sexual relation
ship. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist
to know that this is not a solid founda
tion for lasting love.
These are the one-sided scenarios
in which I hope the recipient of these
overtures hears warning bells. There
also are those times when both the guy
and the girl fall head over heels and
plunge headlong into romance.
See HICKS, page