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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