Newspaper Page Text
♦ SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2008
4A
OPINION
You'd better wake up America
Barcelona, Spain. The Majestic
Hotel. Sept. 29, 2008. I’m sit
ting on top of the Mtyestic
Hotel in downtown Barcelona, Spain.
The weather is gorgeous - like a sunny,
late afternoon in a Georgia October.
Although our hotel is only 10 floors,
we tower over the bustling city except
for a gorgeous cathedral off on the
horizon. The cathedral has several tall
spires and “they” say they’ve been
working on these spires for over 25
years. Huge construction cranes encir
cling the church giving credence to
what “they” say.
Barcelona is supposedly a city of “1.5
million people with 3.5 million in the
area”. I am always amused with such
local estimates. Who knows? Is it 2
million with 4 in the area, or 1 million
with 3 in the area.
It matters not. It’s obviously a
dynamic city. In fact, the whole coun
try, including Madrid, belies my myo
pic, egocentric idea of Spain prior to
our visit.
We are here to study Spain’s trans
portation infrastructure (which, in
many ways is superior to that in our
own country), and to talk with huge
companies - companies that would con
struct what is commonly called public
infrastructure (roads, rails, terminals,
airports, etc.), and finance same under
programs with names like Public
Private Partnerships and concession
finance. Astoundingly, Spain has three
or four of the top 10 companies in the
world that do this.
Let me back up and start over. When
invited by Gov. Sonny Perdue to make
the trip, due to my role as a Georgia
Department of Transportation Board
Member, along with GDOT Board
"I thought I'd come vote early before
my candidate said something to change my mind!"
He is the potter, I am the clay-tloh
I have gotten hooked on the new
video game called SPORE. The
same as millions of others, I’ve
read.
The game as its premise lets you cre
ate a one-celled life form and then you
raise that “creation” through different
stages of evolution; from out of the
waters onto dry land, to building vil
lages to building cities and even going
so far as to explore the universe.
If you want him to be tall - “male” is
your only choice - you just stretch him
out on your work table. If you want
him to walk upright or on all fours, you
just click here, click there and make it
happen.
You control everything about where
he goes, how he acts, but more impor
tantly, how he looks.
It’s like being a god, for lack of a bet
ter term. Not “the” one and only God,
but a tiny, insignificant - even smaller
than that - god.
The real God I’m sure would not
operate that way (but just for fun).
God: “Hmm. Wonder what I should
create today? I’ve got My clay. I’ve got
My table - the universe.”
He begins to sing to Himself about
Himself. “I’ve got the whole world in
My hands ...”
“Now let me see. Hair. What should
I use for hair? Samson and Delilah
hair? No, too many bad hair days. Oh,
I know: Noah hair. Full and thick one
day. Swallowed up by time the next.”
“Eyes? Green I think. Man’s going to
put glasses on him one day. Pity that.
They’ll never learn that there’s just
some things I don’t want him or man
to see.”
“OK, let’s see. Ha! I made a funny.
(Who says God can’t laugh at His own
Larry "JJ
Columnist
"America had better wake
up and go to work. The
Spanish might soon be
talking about America as a
third world country. And,
unlike me, they might be
right!."
Chairman Bill Kuhlke, I had my ideas
of what Spain was like. It was a coun
try of bullfights, siestas, and pretty
but poor people living like America of
the 19505.
I was very wrong. It’s cosmopolitan
and dynamic - at least, Barcelona with
its outstanding port, and Madrid, the
Capital City, are. Walk the streets of
Madrid and you could be in Atlanta
or Jacksonville. The port at Barcelona
seems to me to be three to four times
the size of ours in Savannah.
If its economy and quality of life are
not on par with ours, it’s fast catching
up. I think of Rio de Janeiro and Buenos
Aires, two cities I have recently visited,
and I draw the same conclusions. If not
“economic America,” these countries
and cities are fast catching up.
Moncrief
Managing liditor
donm@evansnewspapers.com |
jokes?) His nose. Let me just stretch
this clay out a bit ... a little more ...
nope, not quite right ... further ...
Oops. Too far. Aw, that’s OK. I don’t
make mistakes. I’ll just give man the
idea of ‘sudafed’ one day to ease his
pain.”
“Now for his ears. A stretch here,
a stretch there. Whoa! I’ve created
Dumbo. Hey, that’s a funny name. I
think I’ll plant that in the head of Walt
Disney one day ... When I create him
that is.
“But this guy. Hmm. I suppose I
should make it, the whole nose and
ear thing, up to him. I’ll know. I’ll give
him great hands, great arms and legs
and feet.”
He pauses to think, to look into the
future. Then he sighs aj, the thought of
how many times those hands and feet
and arms and legs will betray Him.
A length of time that only He can
measure later...
“Well, that’s that. All I’ve got to do is
give him a heart. I’ll just use the same
one I use for everybody. I know, seeing
a 3 I am the one and only God and all
that, that the size of the heart doesn’t
matter. It can be big or small. The key
is it has to be in the right place.”
Finished, he steps back to take a look.
“Hmm. Plenty of stretchability for the
belly area. Ditto for the lower part of
the back side. Loving, not very lovable.
Likely, we will soon see “foreigners”
constructing infrastructure in Georgia,
and soon. It might be Spanish compa
nies or it could be huge corporations
from Australia or Portugal, or some
where else in the world.
Oh, they will use American and
Georgia contractors, but the financing
and much of the know-how will come
from outside or borders and perhaps
from even what I, erroneously, thought
of as third world countries.
Is this bad? I don’t know. I don’t
think so. But, I do think the world’s
economies and the old rules no longer
apply. It’s a new game, and America
had best “wake up” and try to stay in
the game.
Let’s shift from Madrid back to
Perry. We, Perryans, need an exten
sion of Ball Street with a new bridge
over Big Indian Creek. By the time
we get government approvals for his
toric and environmental requirements
and design and construction okays, it
takes, what, 10 years?
And, that’s with a State Senator,
Ross Tolleson, who chairs the State
Senate Natural Resources Committee,
a State Legislator, Larry O’Neal, who
chairs the tax writing House Ways and
Means Committee, a Department of
Transportation Board Member, and
even a governor, all from Houston
County. Ridiculous and scary.
America had better wake up and go
to work. The Spanish might soon be
talking about America as a third world
country. And, unlike me, they might
be right!
This column appeared in the
September issue of James Magazine. It
is printed here with permission of the
editor of the magazine.
A good sense of humor, though. Shame
he won’t be able to do much with it
writing wise. I don’t know ... Maybe I
should just squish him down and start
all over.”
“Naw, I guess I’ll keep him.”
Me: Whew! That was close. (Yes, this
is a glimpse into me.)
God: “Still I don’t think he’s ready
for the world of floods and 10 com
mandments and all that. I think I’ll
just put him on the shelf until, oh say,
July 18, 1957.
“I think he should fit right in there
among the other Donald’s ... the other
quacks ... Trump ... Duck ... just ...
need to ... reach ... up ... to ... the ...
top shelf ... and ... Oh my! I dropped
him on his head. That’s going to leave
a mark.”
Me: Story of my life.
• ••
I’m sure you saw or heard the story
that the National Debt Clock in New
York City has run out of digits to
continue recording our $lO trillion
and counting debt. Figures. We have
no problem making more money but
when it comes to clocks ...
• ••
I’m also sure you saw or heard the
story that foods in the U.S. will now be
labeled with the country of origin.
About time. Even though the report
added numerous outbreaks of contami
nation have actually come from U.S.-
produced foods, I am an American.
If I’m going to get food poison, by
golly I don’t want it to be by China or
Russia or anybody else. I want it to be
by an American.
I’m not sure that came out right ...
"One voice can make a difference"
4 great idea whose time has
come ... well, after 2 readings
It’s actually a catch-22.
It's an ordinance we believe is so good we'd
like to see it enacted immediately - as do others
- and yet the ordinance itself reads that it can't
be enacted until after two readings by the Warner
Robins City Council.
The ordinance is one made by Warner Robins
City Councilman Bob Wilbanks.
He, not criticizing his fellow councilmen but
including himself and just looking for a better way,
said during last week’s work session: “I'm tired of
taking up the same thing week after week, after
week. We approve an ordinance and then we
change our minds. We did it for Demon Valley,
the law enforcement center (note: that was later
stricken from the record as an example as it was
pointed out by Councilman Terry Horton that it
was never voted on to start with), cell phones.
"Every time, we're facing the public or doing
research and changing our minds."
Not that one is needed to make the point, but
here's another example. Twice now - at the past
two meetings - members of the Houston County
NAACP have approached the council and asked
them to re-look at the saggy pants ordinance.
At Monday's meeting, Councilman John
Williams, who made the original proposal to start
with, responded to a complainant by saying he
thought it was a good idea that they did revisit the
ordinance. He said it was aimed at "adults” and
not children but conceded that the latter might get
caught up in it. (Note: As of last week’s work ses
sion, Acting Mayor Clifford Holmes said nobody
has been cited/arrested for it.)
If they did, they would be as Councilman Bob
Havrilla stated when talking - again at the work
session where Wilbanks made his proposal, and
on that topic: "Unintended consequences of our
actions. ”
To minimize that from happening and to, "Be a
little more decisive, pass things because we’re
doing things right the first time, ” said Wilbanks,
he recommended the ordinance, and the first
reading of it (see: two readings above) was dur
ing Monday's regular meeting.
See IDEA , page 6A
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ BOE policy
versus the Lexile framework
Recently I was reminded of a “don’t ask don’t tell”
mentality that has plagued too many in this military
associated community.
Now, before folks start jumping to conclusions and move
on to the classifieds, please understand that this is about
questions that parents/guardians don’t ask, and the school
system is “not” telling.
Perhaps a brief history of the subject might be a
See LETTER, page 6A
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