The wiregrass farmer. (Ashburn, Ga.) 1984-current, November 19, 2008, Image 4

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The wiregrass farmer., November 19, 2008, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextPage 4 - The Wiregrass Farmer, November 19, 2008 Editorial & Opinion The WIREGRASS FARMER - Established 1902 Official Legal Organ of Turner County 109 Gordon Street • P.O. Box 309 • Ashburn, GA 31714 Telephone 229-567-3655 email wiregrassfarmer@yahoo.com THE WIREGRASS FARMER (USPS 487-460) is published every Wednesday by Ashburn Newspapers, Inc., 109 N. Gordon St, Ashburn, Georgia. Periodicals Postage Paid at Ashburn, Georgia. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Wiregrass Farmer, 109 N. Gordon St., Ashburn, GA 31714 STAFF Bob Tribble, President • Ann Knight, General Manager Ben Baker, Editor • Linda Sellars, Sales Director Robin Tillman, Office Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES Senior Citizen discount in county only $20.00 Inside Turner County, $24.00 • Elsewhere in Georgia, $32.00 Outside Georgia, $40. Overseas rates on request. OUR POLICIES Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please limit letters to 500 words and include a name, an address and phone number where the writer may be reached during the day. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. All letters become prop erty of the newspaper. Liability for an error will not exceed the cost of the space occupied by the error. We cannot be responsible for the return of pictures or materials unless a self-addressed stamped envelope is included.The deadline for LEGAL NOTICES is Monday NOON before Wednesday’s publication. Holiday deadlines will be announced at least one week in advance. Letters Thank God for Agriculture Editor Political races, Tax assessments, Job losses, etc. have taken precedence in our lives lately. Some of my employees were talk ing with me the other day about all the things going on around us, and one of them had a T-shirt on with the front of a Guernsey on the front and a caption saying “Amish coming” and on the back it was the back end of the cow saying “Amish going”. When you stop to think about the Amish and the Mennonites, who, will not be affected by this financial crisis going on? Their whole world revolves around agriculture. They don’t put diesel fuel in their plow horses! Maybe they have the right way of doing things. We need to take a new perspective on the economy! All of the technical toys and goods that make life so easy and convenient need a closer look. The companies that make all these mechanical goodies are biting the dust left and right. Do the Amish have limousines, computers, electric or motorized any thing? We better get used to their ways, because our government can’t get the cost of living and wages down to become competi tive with all of the countries whose children were sent to America to leam from the best schools available how to do all the things that we pioneered so they could go home and compete with us. I heard a remark from a friend today that “we gave it all away!” After Hiroshima and Nagasaki got bombed who taught the Japanese how to build Hondas and Nissans? You think our gov ernment was watching out for us? I don’t think so! And how long has this been going on? Look at the money they are throwing at the financial industry, and the financial industry is begging for more. Now the manufacturing industry wants money out of our pockets to keep from losing 2.5 million jobs in the automotive sector. Can You SAY DEFICIT SPENDING? When is this mania cal business going to end? Maybe, just maybe, when the politi cians realize that the whole world is doing what we made so good a living on for all these years, only the rest of the world’s cheap labor has stolen our technology, processes, and companies that we all had good jobs at and made a good living. Companies are going to pursue cheap overhead and unless the overhead “Wages, Cost of doing business, Taxes, etc. here becomes competitive with the rest of the world you all had better learn how to Farm, because the rest of the businesses are not going to survive the competition worldwide. Reverting a moment back to the “Political and Socialism issues” thing. From what I have seen of all the election rhetoric about “Spread the Wealth” and how much crooked garbage over adding 150 billion dollars of our tax payer dollars to get senator’s “Special Interests” appeased so they would be prompted to vote (FOR) the 700 billion bailout proposal of Paulson, Pelosi, and Bernenke’s, it looks like the majority of us that were against this scam don’t count! Yes, it would have been horrific if everything crashed by not doing it, but did it just prolong what is inevitable with these post moronic actions, with our children’s futures at stake? If this kind of bait and switch garbage isn’t socialistic and at the spur of the moment called a necessity to our wellbeing, is going to fix any thing, then why is Paulson changing the game plan and not open ing the books for all to see? Now, the auto industry and states being eaten up by unem ployment benefits and loss of tax revenues are all seeking federal “monetary considerations” for help. Where do the feds get all this money and who’s going to pay in the long run? I don’t know about you, but if I was printing money and passing it out like our government, I would be arrested for counterfeiting! Where is all of this going to end? When the government is mnning everything and you have no say and they don’t listen, do you think that would be called socialism? Yes, we can still vote for these guys, but do we really know what we are going to get? Think about who you’ve voted for in the past, and don’t just go back one administration because a lot of this mess and policies came from long ago, and ask yourself if you looked deep enough into the ideology of those you put in office. If we said “No more handouts, and the economy crashed think about what would happen. The bad executives and unprofitable companies would go under, the good operations and CEOs would have to get labor costs and costs of their products down to a com petitive rate where we could again be competitive with all the countries that have lower wages and offer incentives for them to set up operations there instead of here where we need jobs. The cost of living would become affordable in the US if the products, taxes, and labor costs were lowered to a level competi tive with the rest of the world! If we could sell to global markets at a cost that was going to get them to buy our products and exports went up again we would be back on top of things. If you don’t believe that just go to A STORE and check the “Made In ” tags. I see China, VietNam, Pakistan, Korea, etc BUT I DON’T SEE “Made In The USA!” on much of anything! Think about it, how does a Chinese auto worker survive on a $20 a week paycheck and afford what we afford here? Craig Zabriskie Letters to the editor welcome! Your opinion is important! Write: Editor, P.O. Box 309, Ashburn GA 31714 or email <wiregrass farmer@yahoo.com> We do not charge to publish letters to the editor. But, your letter must meet our publication requirements. Letters must be signed. We must have a phone number to call to verify the number. (Your phone number will not be published). Letters which do not meet our publishing requirements won’t be printed. Call 567-3655 for more information. Community newspaper publishing-Pt.l than your community newspa per. If you don’t believe that compare the local news in the issue of the newspaper you now hold in your hands to any other media that covers news in your community, be it the nearby daily, cable TV, radio or shopper news. Yes, we might have the daily break a story on us on occasion, since most of us only come out weekly, but when you read our in depth story you will be proud of the manner in which it was handled, as well as the detail. An elderly gentle man around town told me on more than one occasion, “I have heard all the news before your paper comes out, but I read it anyway to verify that what I heard was true.” That’s a good compliment for a com munity newspaper! Finally for today, your newspaper staff has chosen to live in your community for a number of reasons. They love the people, churches, schools, fresh air, values, slower pace, and other many benefits that small town living afford. They enjoy the connection their newspaper has with its commu nity and accept proudly the responsibilities that go along with that relationship. More next week on com munity newspapers and our mission (goal). crash the managing editor of mor e about your community one of South Dakota’s larger daily newspapers and the editor of the community newspaper near the crash site were talking. The weekly editor could sense that covering the crash story had been difficult for the daily reporter and he asked why. The daily editor said, “we know the governor personally.” To which the weekly editor replied, “with all due respect, that’s what those of us who work on week ly newspapers deal with all the time.” To go a step further, when our people rush to the scene of a bad accident there’s a good chance they will know the vic tims. When they take photos of a home or business burning they in all probability know those affected. When they write an obituary chances are pretty good they know the person well. When unpleasant stories coming from city hall, county commission, school board, or whatever have to be written, they very well could involve someone who attends their church, or is a member of their civic club. Folks, it’s an awesome Wishbone, Backbone, & Funnybone ... by Charles B. Perry Inside the staff box located on the editorial page of our community newspapers you will find our mission statement (goal) which read as follows: The—is published proudly for the citizens of—by—. Our goal is to produce quality, prof itable, community oriented newspapers that you, our read ers, are proud of. We will reach that goal through hard work, teamwork, loyalty, and a strong dedication toward printing the truth. Let me expand on that a little today. Most of our newspapers are published in small commu nities with 1,000 to maybe 7 or 8,000 population-all are week lies except for two small dailies. The staff members of our newspapers know personally many of the folks in the com munity. They know the busi ness leaders, the political lead ers, the bankers, preachers, school teachers and many of those who are readers of their newspaper. I tell you this for a purpose so that you will understand the attachments that our people have to the communities they serve. To emphasize this read the following story. “Several years ago a governor of South Dakota and some of the state’s business leaders were killed in an airplane crash. After the From Where I Sit responsibility to publish a com munity newspaper whose goal is to produce a quality product that you will be proud of, and a product dedicated towards printing the truth fairly and unbiased. But you can rest assured that is the goal of your newspaper manager and staff. A friend of mine who is in the newspaper business in a much larger way than we uses the slogan, “strong newspapers build strong communities.” Think about it. That is a very truthful statement. Newspapers who take the lead in their com munities for what is good, and take a firm stand against what is bad, can do nothing but help build strong communities. We trust that we are doing that in every community we serve. Let me assure you that there is no other media that cares For the last several days, I have tried to predict some of the things that Americans can expect from the newly elected President and his administra tion. Of course, the most pow erful trio will consist of President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- Califomia) and Senate Majority Leader Henry Reid (D-Nevada). All three of these Democrats.. .along with their associates.. .will yield tremen dous influence on shaping the “CHANGE” that we have heard about over the last sever al months. So what does the triumvi rate of Obama-Pelosi-Reid offer? What can we expect the first 180 days or so of this new administration bring? The fol lowing are my predictions... my opinions.. .could be right.. .could be wrong, we’ll just have to wait and see. Rep. Barney Franks (D- Mass.) is calling for new tax hikes on the most successful individuals and businesses along with a 25% across-the- board slash in national defense. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) is talking up new and massive federal spending, a la FDR’s New Deal. I expect to see our federal government’s view of the econ omy as: If it moves, tax it, if is keeps moving, regulate it, and if it begins stopping, subsidize it. I believe we can expect to see swift amnesty for 12-20 million illegal aliens and a drive to make them citizens allowing them voting privi leges as in the Bill Clinton years. If this comes to fmition, this will mean that Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona will soon move out of reach for any Republican presi dential candidates as has been the case in the state of California. Over the next 120-180 days, I expect that border secu rity will be retired to the back burner, and America will be left with a virtual open border with Mexico with 110 million people. Taxes will be raised on the top 5% of wage earners, who now carry 60% of the U.S. income tax burden, and tens of millions of checks will be sent out to the 40% of wage-earners who pay no federal income tax. This must be done to accom plish “the redistribution of wealth” that we heard about during the campaign. I believe that Social Security taxes will be raised on the most successful among us, and capitol gains taxes will be raised from 15% to 20%. The Bush tax cuts will be repealed and the ‘death tax’ re-imposed I also believe that the Obama administration will push for the same-sex mar riages that state judges have forced California, Massachusetts and Connecticut to recognize to become legal in all 50 states. IF, this does not occur in the first 120-180 days, when Obama appoints new Supreme Court justices, I believe this will be a forgone conclusion. (California on Nov. 4th voted to ban same-sex mar riages, but the people’s wishes will be challenged in court.) A “Freedom of Choice Act” nullifying all sate restrictions on abortions will be enacted and America will me the most pro-abortion nation on earth. I believe more ‘affirmative action’ will be forthcoming. Affirmative action—hiring and promotion based on race, sex, and sexual orientation until specified quotas are reached— will be rigorously enforced throughout the U.S. govern ment and the private sector. I expect to see immediate action on “universal health insurance”. Such will be enacted and will cover legal and illegal immigrants provid ing another powerful magnet for the world to come to America even if it means breaching our borders. Look for a federal bailout of “credit card” debt. You will be told that the consumer has run up thousands and thou sands in credit card debt through not fault of his own.. .maybe the boogie man made him or her do it... and we can’t let the consumer nor the credit card companies go “belly up”! And last but not least, the first trillion-dollar deficit will be mn in the first year of an Obama presidency. This will be the first of many! I pray I am wrong! If so, I will acknowledge that fact IF it happens in my lifetime! Baker’s Dozen “May you lead an interest ing life,” is the most severe insult you can deliver in some cultures. Personally, I think “May you climb a bear-infested tree while deer hunting and not realize it until you are 30 feet off the ground” is a much more intense insult than just wishing someone an interesting life. Insults aside, deer hunting is a dangerous business, which is the topic of this week’s col umn. The chance for personal injury is tremendous and I don’t just mean falling out of a tree stand, not to mention the possibility (when I hunt at least) of scaring various critters to death. Except for deer. They die laughing. It is so dangerous in fact that years ago Larry “Hawgin”’ Fishbreath and I decided to quit climbing trees altogether and either hunt in very sturdy elevated blinds or on the ground. Climbing 30 feet into a tree to RIGHT THEN discover the tree is also occupied by a sleeping bear provides for an extremely interesting life. Having given up squirrelish ways, I figure if I’m sitting in a chair on the ground, I don’t have very far to fall when the deer comes up behind me and snorts in my ear causing me to suddenly leap forward, forget ting that I am not an Olympic- class high jumper and instead of leaping up and forward, I kind of spasm in some random direction tangling myself into the chair and throwing my gun into the tree just out of reach while the deer backs up and wonders whether he should attack me or find a safer place to live. Elevated blinds are not that safe either. Hawgin’ was climbing into one last week. He stuck his head into the blind past the burlap. I’m not sure who was more surprised, him or the bobcat. Fortunately it was a very low stand so when Hawgin’ fell out, he landed on his back and was not hurt by the three-foot drop. As best we can figure the bobcat was also not hurt. We’re not sure. The cat may be hurt since it landed on Hawgin’s head, which is one of the hard est substances known to man. It could have broken a few claws trying to get traction as it revved up to speed on Hawgin’s skull much like the Road Runner in the old car toons. Ground blinds present other hazards. In black powder sea son, I was sitting in one of my popup blinds when I heard something coming up behind the blind. Sounded exactly like a deer walking through the woods and I have heard PLEN TY of deer walking through the woods. Haven’t seen many though. Something started pushing at the fabric of the blind. Now I was seriously excited. The deer was checking out my blind. Any second and it would walk around into view and be so close even I couldn’t miss it. It worked around the back side of the blind for nearly a minute. A gray nose stuck under the edge. An armadillo. Never, ever, never shoot a black powder gun at close range at a fabric-based hunting blind. At least don’t do it if the material is flammable. Yes. I shot the armadillo. Yes, the blind caught fire from the discharge of my rifle. No, I was not hurt (sorry to disappoint some of you.) Fortunately it only burned about half the back panel. Now I just have to make sure the back of the blind is up against a non-bobcat, non-bear, non coon, non-coon filled tree. Maybe I’ll just start laying down in the middle of a 200 acre field with no blind at all.