Newspaper Page Text
BELIEF
♦ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2007
4A
, Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Hunters for the Hungry...
1,000,000 served and counting
Gun control is often in the news. Perhaps too
often.
With that is a problem for hunters. They often
times, simply because you have to have a gun
to hunt, are lumped into the same category as
terrorists or sickos who shoot people out of the
blue in malls. That, of course, by the people who
are against guns.
Many hunters are just carrying on a family tra
dition. They hunt like their father hunted and his
father before him. They hunt for sport, yes, but
most also do it out of a kind of reverence. They
do it to put food on the table.
And in Georgia, they do it to help put food on
other peoples’ table. People who would go hun
gry otherwise.
This past week, Gov. Sonny Perdue singled out
hunters and the contributions they have made
through this program. It came following a major
milestone: The 1,000,000 th meal served. Can
you believe that? One million meals served!
“The success of the Georgia Hunters for the
Hungry program is evidence of what can be
accomplished when our state agencies and non
profit organizations work together,” Perdue said.
He should have added: It all begins with the hunt
er, we believe. “Serving the millionth meal this
holiday season reminds us all of the importance
of giving to those in need by donating to our
state food banks. It is our hope that through the
continued success of this program, millions more
protein-rich meals will be served to Georgians in
need.”
Hunters have always been there. They helped
blaze our country. Chances are you’ll hear oh so
much more about gun control and sickos shoot
ing up schools (although we hope and pray we’re
wrong - at least about that last one; because
we’re hoping it doesn’t happen again) than their
good works. But, Perdue can rest easy in his
hope of a million more. In fact we’ll be shocked
not to see “many more” millions served.
Letters to the editor
Dealing with crime reporting in schools
1 n Sunday’s Telegraph Julie Hubbard wrote about the
I “erratic” numbers regarding crimes reported for a few of
the local school systems. It did not surprise me to read the
excuses the central office representatives made for “over
and under” reporting crime in their schools. However, as a
parent and taxpayer I would ask ... why should I believe this
is an ISOLATED area in which data is a result of misinter
pretation of the rules?
In other words, if the Central office staff makes excuses
for the gross misinterpretation of school personnel regard
ing crime, then why should I believe reports that claim
“academic” success?
There is an easy way of dealing with the crime reporting
dilemma. If the school takes any action against the child,
then the school needs to REPORT IT! What is actually hap
pening in the school is this: the school disciplines the chil
dren, even when a toy gun is involved in Houston County ...
but mums the word to the government because then it may
reflect poorly on job performance, which in turn may cause
“somebody” to lose their six figure salary job!
One solution to remedy this problem of school person
nel misinterpreting the rules is this: When schools take
See LETTER i, page yA
Marshall, Chambliss irresponsible?
The recent announcements by U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall,
D. Ga., and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, D. Ga., of federal
earmarks for local organizations are financially irrespon
sible and add to our national debt.
They both proudly voted against the expansion of two
S-CHIP Bills that are vital to the health of poor children
See LETTER 1, page yA
HOW TO SUBMIT:
There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E
mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to 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.
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.
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Before, after Christmas thoughts
I won’t bore you with the details
of my Christmas. If there is any
thing that I have learned in 88
years is that most people look with
disdain on how anyone other than
themselves enjoyed - or did not enjoy
- a holiday. Despite the holiday spirit
it is hard to find a time when there is
more self-indulgence and flaunting our
obvious prosperity.
As I write this I am hearing Hillary
Clinton and John Edwards say how
bad things are in this country and how
higher taxes are needed to solve the
problems they perceive. To hear them
tell it, the most pressing problem in
the country is poverty, but the unem
ployment rate is at a historically low
point. Anyone who wants a job should
be able to get one.
Some people do not want to work.
They would enjoy the many generous
government programs that sometimes
make working at a job foolish.
As I listen to them I learn that the
two candidates say they want higher
taxes. Edwards also says that he wants
to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an
hour. Now that is a sure-fire formula
for inflation, which really would cre
ate high prices and the poverty that
these two liberals apparently believe is
already here.
Did someone say, “Bah, humbug”?
Now for some after Christmas obser
vations:
-
I
New Year's Resolution
Is it time to finally commit to change?
I love lists. All kinds of lists. Lists
of the best movies of all time, lists
of the top college quarterbacks in
history, lists of Olympic record holders,
you name it.
From a variety of Internet sourc
es, I’ve gleaned the following list of
the top 10 New Year’s Resolutions,
and I wanted to share it with you.
Really, there are no surprises here, but
let’s start with the Top 3 New Year’s
Resolutions.
1. Lose weight
2. Quit smoking
3. Quit drinking/drink less
Let’s stop there for a minute. While
this isn’t the Top 3 on every list I
found, these three are near the top on
most. And they indicate dissatisfaction
with habits people have developed,
including overeating, “under-exercis
ing” or using substances people would
like to quit using. However, the next
four resolutions take on a different
tone. Take a look ...
4. Go back to school
5. Spend more time with family and
friends
6. Work on spiritual growth
7. Help others/volunteer
I like these four resolutions because
they show a desire to get beyond imme
diate self-gratification, or even self-
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
"Global wanning. Is it
peal? It so, is It the fault
of mankind op a natural
phenomenon?"
0 Who among Democratic candidates
for President will get the black vote? In
the beginning it looked like Hillary
was going to receive her husband’s 92
percent. The latest polls show Barack
Obama with 52 percent of the black
vote. When the chips are on the line
Hillary will be lucky to get the 8 per
cent the Republicans usually get. Race
does count.
0 How’s this for improving educa
tion? The principal of a high school in
New York City has informed his teach
ers that they must pass at least 65 per
cent of their students or hit the road.
0 News item: There are more cell
phones in this country than land line
phones. Cell phones are much more
profitable, too, because service is sold
Randy
Hicks
Columnist
Georgia Family Council
improvement. Yes, continuing one’s
education is about bettering oneself;
but it takes time, shows diligence and
long-term planning to improve future
circumstances. This list also shows the
desire to build relationships - really
important relationships with loved
ones and with God. And, perhaps most
notably, this list expresses a desire to
help others; a truly honorable aspira
tion that I think expresses a need to
do something significant for someone
besides “me.”
Now, the final three ...
8. Take a trip
9. Get out of debt
10. Get a better job
You can probably guess that, for me,
these three resolutions pale by compar
ison to numbers 4-7. No, there’s noth
ing wrong with any of them, but again
they focus on what is best for “me.”
So, let’s go back to the second group
Hr JGH
*■ « fPE
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
by the minute instead of the month-
About 25 years ago the telephone
companies tried to get approval to
charge by the minute for land line
(residential and commercial) service,
but regulators said no.
□ The federal government’s new
energy policy already has increased
the cost of living and it will get worse.
The goal for use of ethanol has been set
high and, since ethanol competes with
the food supply for grains, one has to
wonder if this a good swap.
The purpose is to help keep the cost
of gasoline down but it may result
overall in a higher cost of living.
Q Consumer groups say that $8 bil
lion in gift cards are unused each year.
What a windfall for businesses that got
their cash up front.
0 Global warming. Is it real? If so,
is it the fault of mankind or a natu
ral phenomenon? At the present time
alarmists headed by A 1 Gore have the
media on their side blaming it all on
human beings.
However, more and more scientists
are beginning to come forward and say
the human effect is overblown.
Recently the U.S. Senate received
a report from 400 scientists from all
over the world throwing cold water on
the theory there would be no global
warming if humans just disappeared.
The report cast serious doubt on the
validity of the movement headed by A 1
Gore.
of resolutions, and particularly, let’s
focus on 5-7.
I can always do better on numbers
5-7. It won’t surprise you that as an
organization, Georgia Family Council
would strongly encourage every person
in the state to spend more time with
their families (Resolution #5). Time
is such a precious commodity, and it
is required in order to build healthy,
strong relationships that can be sus
tained over a lifetime.
Personally, I agree that spiritual
growth (Resolution #6) is good to pur
sue. My relationship with God is the
most important relationship in my life,
and it influences and improves every
other relationship. Certainly spiritual
growth is worthy of year-round atten
tion.
I like looking at the lists of New
Year’s Resolution because they show us
what people consider important. And
they point out that when you boil it all
down; most people aspire to make posi
tive changes that will affect themselves
or others. (Notice we don’t see “spend
more time at the office” or “drink more
beer” anywhere on the list.)
I also find the lists a bit amus
ing. And I often ask, “Why do you
need a new number at the top of your
See HICKS, page j/1