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PAGE 6A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016
Nothing better than Denver in fall
DENVER, Col. - To get to Pierre,
the capital city of South Dakota by air,
your best option is for Delta to take you
to Denver and then complete
the journey via Great Lakes
Airlines.
Flying Great Lakes and tak
ing a window seat, you can
glory in the views of the land
scape, which is smitten with
fall color.
There is more—the rugged
Rockies and the Great Plains.
I have never taken a regional
flight in this part of the country
without allowing the lyrics of
America Beautiful flow gently
on my mind.
“Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
“For amber waves of grain,
“For purple mountain majesties,
“Above the fruited plain,
“America! America!
“God shed his grace on thee,
“And crown they good with brother
hood,
“From sea to shining sea.’’
Such powerful lyrics, such insightful
feelings — this magnificent song should
be required singing in every classroom
every day.
They were first composed as a poem by
Katharine Lee Bates, a Wellesley College
teacher, who spent the summer of 1893
in Colorado.
She was struck by the vastness of the
United States on the long train ride from
Massachusetts to Colorado via Chicago.
Then following a trip up Pikes Peak via
horse drawn carriage, her thoughts about
our beloved country were reinforced.
America the Beautiful almost became
our national anthem which I’d much pre
fer over the Star Spangled Banner.
President Herbert Hoover thought
differently and America the Beautiful
regrettably lost out.
From the Internet, this vignette. After
her trip up to Pikes Peak, she told friends
at dinner afterwards, “...that countries
such as England had failed.
“While they may have been ‘great’ they
had not been good and that ‘unless we
are willing to crown our own good with
goodness and our bounty with brother
hood, our beloved America may go the
same way.”’
Her words resonate more today than
they did when she wrote her treasured
poem well over a century ago. I can’t get
enough of the American West.
Denver’s museums are enlighteningly
classic, cultural and intellectually ful
filling.
There is much to do here in a versatile
city where there is Georgia flavor
emanating from many advocates
of UGA: Paul Egins, the traveling
secretary of the Colorado Rock
ies, Bucky Dilts, former Georgia
punter. Grant Dipman, Gener
al Manager of the Downtown
Ritz-Carlton and Bob Walsh, a
native of Valdosta with a home in
Vail and a loft in Denver.
Denver’s 16th Street Mall with
its abundant shops and cafes,
bars and hotels, is one of the
most exciting downtown center-
pieces you will find in the U. S.
of A.
Coffee in the briskness of early morn
ing and seeing the sunrise among the
snow-capped mountains, makes one fin
ish an energetic walk and head to the
shower where you can’t resist singing,
“America the Beautiful.”
You don’t have to be Caruso, you
don’t have to be Sinatra. After all, Kath
arine Lee Bates wrote her passionate and
uplifting words for all of us.
West of here, 157 miles to be exact, is
Glenwood Springs, which is where you
will find the resting place for Georgian
Doc Holliday, the dentist who went west
owing to consumption and became one
of the good guys in the “Gunfight at OK
Corral.”
The anniversary of this epic Western
episode is coming up. The famous gun-
fight took place in Toombstone, Arizona
on Wednesday Oct. 26, 1881.
Bill Clanton and the McLaury bothers
were killed and Morgan and Virgil Earp
and the mustachioed Doc Holiday were
wounded.
Wyatt Earp went unscathed. I remain
fascinated by the legend of one of Geor
gia’s most famous natives, but I like the
west of Katharine Lee Bates better.
Now, what could be more fun than
Denver and the Rockies on a fall day?
Only thing that could top it would be
to stalk a cock pheasant in the fields of
South Dakota.
The Midwestern landscape is different,
but the inspiration and the lifestyle of the
people reverberate and bring about the
best of feelings in a land where hospital
ity and goodwill prevail.
Loran Smith is a columnist for the
Barrow News-Journal. He is co-host of
the University of Georgia football radio
pre-game show.
Random Rants in Rhyme
Gropers in the White House?
If you’re one that has heard all the media hype
and believes Donald Trump is the groping type,
especially if you’re female or have a female spouse,
you had better not visit the upcoming White House.
If Donald isn’t there to possibly treat you ill,
then Hillary will be - and with her, you get Bill.
Now here is a man who has been there before
and has hands that are trained to exploit and explore.
The Clintons speak respect for the female gender.
How they get by with that is a real mind bender
when Bill’s sordid acts demonstrate that he
has little or no respect, even for Hillary.
If Trump is guilty as he is charged,
and we know he has pockets that are deep and large,
why has he never been taken to court
to make him pay for deeds of this sort?
To pick this time for the charges they have made
makes you wonder how much these women have been paid.
Even if it’s true, as these women have cried,
it’s not like Benghazi, where good people died.
They used the same tactic on Herman Cain
and, from running for president, he did abstain.
When it was over, we got - not him -
but Obama - a Kenyan, Marxist, Muslim.
Hillary’s email cover-up is of much more consequence
than a hand long ago laid on somebody’s rump.
Her actions endanger our national defense,
while Donald’s could have brought a shriek/slap/jump.
To cast him aside just does not make sense.
When I go to the polls, I plan to vote Trump.
© 2016,cbs
skelton
‘Til death do we part government
Seeing that a couple of my col
umns have made their way to The
Barrow News-Journal's website, I was
intrigued by one of the comments my
abortion piece got.
Because I am pro-life, believ
ing that government should not
have the right to dictate who lives
or dies, especially without due
process of law, one of my readers
mentioned being curious about
whether or not I was in favor of
the death penalty.
Although I have always been
pro-life in regards to both abor
tion and the death penalty, I can
say that there can be a good lib
ertarian argument made for both
sides of the death penalty.
On the one side, where I fall, gov
ernment should not have the right to
deprive a person of the right to life,
even with due process of law.
The reason I fall in this category is
because of the reality of false convic
tions.
Believe it or not, but government
doesn’t always get it right, and because
of human error, innocent people get
convicted of crimes they didn’t commit
while guilty people get to walk free.
To be honest, I prefer the latter rather
than the former.
Here’s why: Aside from Jesus, Liber
ty is the greatest gift given to mankind
by God himself.
It is the reason He placed the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the
Garden — so that we may freely choose
Him.
I believe that only God Himself has
the right to end another individual’s life
(unless the individual decides this for
him or herself), with the exception of
one acting in self-defense.
As mentioned above, human error
means that some people will be wrong
ly convicted.
For this reason, there is no justifica
tion for the death penalty.
I see both sides of politics— the right
and the left — arguing their cases for
different things and declaring “if it
saves just one life, we should try it!”
This goes for both the drug war and
gun control, amongst other things.
The problem with this is that a lot of
people on both sides, although admit
tedly the right is more likely to believe
this, argue in favor of the death penalty
and ignore the fact that innocent people
get convicted and sentenced to death.
If you favor the war on drugs, gun
control, or even implied consent laws
based at all on the idea that you could
save at least one life, then how could
you justly advocate for the death pen
alty?
Let’s go back to the year
of 1999 in the state of Illi
nois when Anthony Porter was
finally exonerated of a crime
in which he did not commit.
Porter had been convicted
in 1982 for the murder of two
teens.
While it is reported that Por
ter was a gang member at the
time of the murder, multiple
witnesses came forward to
name another suspect, Alsto-
ry Simon, as the perpetrator;
however, police chose to pur
sue charges only against Porter.
While Porter had been denied appeal
after appeal, it was not until he was
tested for mental capacity and reaching
an IQ of only 51 when the appeals were
granted.
Porter had been just two days shy of
his execution when his attorneys were
able to get him a stay, and finally after
working with students of Journalism
at Northwestern University had gotten
him exonerated of the charges.
After Porter’s exoneration, another
man came forward having confessed to
committing the crime of which Porter
had been convicted.
That man was Alstory Simon, the
other suspect that had been named that
police refused to pursue.
George Ryan, the Governor of Illi
nois at the time of the exoneration,
commuted every death row inmate’s
sentence to life term sentences just days
before leaving office.
While he believed that the death
penalty would be an acceptable form
of punishment for heinous crimes, he
did not think that such a punishment
could be carried out justly if it meant
that innocent lives would be terminated.
This is something that we should con
sider in today’s society, as punishments
do not always fit the crimes carried out,
and not all criminalizing laws are just.
I am not saying that heinous crimes
would not fit such a punishment, but
I am saying that man is fallible, that
human error can never fully be squan
dered out of our nature.
I am therefore against the death pen
alty.
Jessica Swords is a local columnist.
She can be reached at jlswords!998@
aol.com.
jessica
swords
Letters to the Editor-
Bill Brown for BOC
The Barrow News-Jour
nal editor got it wrong in
his coverage of the candi
dates for Barrow County
District 2 election at the
“Evening with the Can
didates” sponsored by
the Chamber in the Oct.
12, 2016 edition. Scott
Thompson stated that the
“anonymous” resident
who through the ACLU
filed suit for the remov
al of a Ten Command
ments display was award
ed $1 million dollars. He
missed it by $999,999.
The Barrow News, Athens
Banner Herald and many
other media outlets cor
rectly reported the U.S.
District Court order that
awarded only one (1) dol
lar to the “anonymous”
resident. Ten Command
ments-Georgia Inc. paid
all Barrow County legal
fees with the exception of
$150,000 that the Court
awarded the ACLU for
legal fees.
As a former Barrow
County Commission
Chairman (2004-2008)
and a citizen of Barrow
County since 1975, I
endorse Bill Brown for
District 2 Board of Com
missioners. From first
hand experience I know
how dedicated Mr. Brown
is to the citizens and how
he will serve with integ
rity and honesty as Com
missioner.
A man with strong
Christian beliefs experi
enced as an elected offi
cial and leader, and a
love for Barrow County
Bill will work for eco
nomic development to
keep our taxes low while
providing the needs of all
Barrow County citizens.
Please vote Bill Brown
for District 2 Commis
sioner.
Doug Garrison
Winder
Tea Party is the Problem
Editor;
I think the Tea Party is
the cause of all the prob
lems of the Republican
and Democratic parties.
They want total control!
They think they can block
everything and get total
control.
They could have pre
vented Trump from get
ting the nomination, but
they said to themselves,
“We got them now!”
Please don’t let the Tea
Party get control of our
country.
They will dictate to us.
Sincerely,
Jim Freeman
Winder
Terrell continued from 5A
feel demoted and may even
have to punch a time clock.
That will present a loss of sta
tus to many.
For some businesses, the rule
changes will certainly affect
flex time and for employees
who now use flex time, the
changes will create issues.
Human Resource surveys indi
cate the proposed FLSA rule
will lead to increases in OT
pay but employees will likely
see decreased flexibility and
autonomy.
Employers will need to sit
down with each employee to
discuss the pros and the cons
of the mandatory changes if the
rules go into effect as they are
now written.
The change is scheduled to
take effect December 1, 2016.
Fortunately, members of Con
gress, including Georgia Rep
resentative Jody Hice, are
actively working to undo the
damage.
Representative Hice is a
co-sponsor to House Resolution
6094, the Regulatory Relief for
Small Businesses, Schools and
Nonprofits Act introduced by
Representative Tim Walberg, a
Michigan Republican.
The proposal would postpone
the effective date set by the
DOL from December 2016 to
December 2017.
The purpose of the delay is
to provide time to review and
revise threshold income for
determining overtime pay.
HR 6094 has passed the
House. Representative Hice
openly states he is against the
administrative rule change but
feels the House Resolution is
the best answer at the present
time.
Hice released a statement
saying, “I believe that the best
way to improve the economy
is by reducing our national
debt and the tax burden on
the American family, not by
increasing the budgetary strain
imposed on small businesses.”
He went on to say, “Rest
assured that I will continue to
work hard to promote free-mar-
ket based economic policies
that create jobs and spur eco
nomic growth at both the local
and national levels.”
For the record, Representa
tive Hice welcomes your com
ments and concerns.
Regardless of what happens,
we can expect to receive a dou
ble-edged sword.
Jimmy Terrell is a retired law
enforcement official. He can be
reached at ejterrell65@gtnail.
com
