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Pickens County
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For the New Year - 7 see no reason why I should be consciously
wrong today because I was unconsciously wrong yesterday. ”
- Originally stated by Justice Robert Jackson when he reversed an earlier opinion.
Recently re-stated by current Justices Scalia and Ginsburg to explain changing views.
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• Opinions • Community Views • Good ‘01 Common Sense January 1, 2015
Lessons learned in 2014
The lesson of the water park - “The $140
million tourist attraction is coming and it’s
gonna be great for the economy.” “No it’s not
coming.” “It’ll totally change our whole way
of life.” “It’ll cost the taxpayers millions.”
The lesson of the water park was one of not
jumping to conclusions. It seemed many peo
ple had opinions on it before they had facts.
One rumor we heard was our hotels were al
ready full of construction workers, while an
other was that it failed environmental tests.
Neither was true. At this point about the most
accurate description is the developers say they
are still working on it, but it’s obviously not
moving very quickly.
The lesson of the JeepFest/New Year’s
Eve celebration downtown - These events
stand in stark rebuttal to those who complain
that local people will not support events here.
These two new events show plainly, folks will
come out to an event if it entices them. Jeep-
Fest with its unique mix of offroad fun and
Jeep watching drew more people to the bonfire
last year than we have ever seen at any event
here. Last year’s New Year’s Eve drew well
over 1,000 people — in spite of freezing temps.
It may be hard to find something that catches
the public’s interest, but these events show it’s
not impossible.
The lesson of the Dragons - Is there any
great lesson that we got from having the best
PHS football season in decades in 2014? Prob
ably not, but it sure was fun to see the home
team roll up yardage and wins. It builds com
munity pride and let’s hope 2015 continues the
winning ways.
The lesson of Snow Jam — In 2014 we all
learned we should have at the very least a half
a tank of gas in our cars during the winter
months. This little gem of knowledge was
learned after last winter's massive ice storm
turned Atlanta into a slick parking lot. Snow
Jam, as it was affectionately called, stranded
thousands of drivers for hours on frozen roads
in and around Atlanta - and even a few of us
up here in the mountains. We also learned it
can’t hurt to stash some water and chocolate
bars in the glove compartment. Of course, we
all already know to have plenty of bread and
milk at home.
The lesson of big news in small towns -
Just last week the New York Times published
an article about the Helen tourist who was
killed by a Jasper resident after he accidentally
fired a shot that first went through his own
hand. The incident has kicked up national dis
cussions about gun rights, with a focus on ex
panded carrying rights legislation passed by
the Georgia Assembly (and sponsored by Pick
ens’ own representative Rick Jasperse). Small
towns like Jasper may seem to be perpetually
under-the-radar, but make no mistake they can
be thrust into the limelight just like middle-
sized cities and metropolises (whether they
want the attention or not).
The lesson of the volunteers - If you hang
around non-profits or volunteers for a while
you’ll probably hear the phrase, “If you want
something done, give it to the busiest person.”
We go to a lot of meetings and cover a lot of
events for non-profits. While all those events
are all different, many of the same faces pop
up again and again. There are plenty of people
who volunteer when they can (and we and
everyone else are grateful) but for some people
volunteering is something you’re just sup
posed to do and they do it all they time - even
if they don’t really have the time.
The lesson of the goofy idea - Who would
have thought that throwing a bucket of ice
water on your head and challenging others to
do the same would become such a philan
thropic blockbuster. The ALS Ice Bucket Chal
lenge that went viral across Facebook and
Twitter for several months at the end of the
summer raised more than $115 million dollars
for the ALS Association. With that money, the
ALS Association has approved substantial
funding to support six programs and initiatives
to expedite the search for treatments and a cure
for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The lesson of the child. This year the
Progress staff met three-year old Sammy Sim
mons who was bom with cleft hands and feet,
along with a list of medical issues that would
excuse any bad attitude she might have had.
But Sammy wasn’t grumpy or hopeless at all.
She was bright-eyed and happy when we met
her, and after her story was published in this
paper letters arrived from readers who knew
her and who said being happy is how she is all
the time. Despite their naivete, children teach
grown-ups life lessons everyday.
AGREE OR DISAGREE? Tell us your thoughts on this week’s editorial either with a letter to the editor
that will be published next week. Letters may be e-mailed to news@pickensprogressonline.com. All let
ters must have a valid e-mail address, full name and telephone number for verification. We still take
them by regular mail at Pickens Progress, P.O. Box 67, Jasper, GA 30143
The Essential Bad Attitude
By Alan G' bson
Top ten items of folk wisdom which are not really wise
We assume they’re wise be
cause we’ve heard them all our
lives. But they’re not wise and I
can prove it!
It takes two to tango. No it
doesn’t! I refer you to Raul
Beznos’ book “I Tango Alone.”
Ten weeks on the Buenos Aires
bestseller list.
A presidential candidate must
have fire in the belly. Nonsense.
Eating six tacos will give you
fire in the belly but it doesn’t
qualify you for president.
Shape up or ship out. Ok I’ll
ship out.
Politics make strange bedfel
lows. It’s also true that bedfel
lows make strange politics,
witness the Clintons, the Madis
ons and the Frank Roosevelts.
Life is just one thing after an
other. When I said this to an At
lanta bar patron, he howled that
life was not just one thing after
another and he’d deck any man
who disagreed. The bartender
threw him out which sort of
proved my original point.
Everybody makes mistakes. I
knew a guy named Johnson
whose ambition it was to go
through life without making a
single mistake. Achially he only
made one when, on a junket to
Alaska, he mistook a snoozing
grizzly for a large fuzzy rock.
The early bird catches the
worm. I prefer to sleep late and
do not want a worm.
Good fences make good
neighbors. Implicit is the strange
assumption that isolating oneself
is an amiable act. By that logic a
gator-fdled moat would be an
excuse for a party.
It’s like waving a red flag in
front of a bull. Or, for variety,
waving an 8-by-10 glossy of Bill
O’Reilly in front of a bull. Same
result.
That’s the way the cookie
crumbles. I wasted a perfectly
good batch of chocolate chippers
in research which ultimately dis
closed nothing. As my wiseguy
lab assistant observed, “Well
that’s the way it crumbles.”
What a jerk. Give some guys a
white coat and it goes right to
their heads.
[For more of the same, visit
Alan’s blog, essentialba.com]
Weather
By William Dilbeck
Dec. 16 - Dec. 23
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(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main St. P.O. Box 67 Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.pickensprogress.com
JOHN A. POOL DAN POOL
Publisher Editor
WILLIAM E. POOL
Managing Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper Georgia 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE PICKENS
COUNTY PROGRESS, P.O. Box 67, Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year’s Subscription: $29.96 in Pickens County and in Gilmer,
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OTHER VOICES
Moving to ugly: Common core education facts
By Peter Jennings, author of
‘MEganize - Empower your
child with an ‘education for
life.’
The origins and purpose of
the Common Core State Stan
dard (CCSS) was set in the 1980s
when American students were
performing below par, and there
was inconsistency in testing stan
dards. The goal was to raise over
all performance and create a base
for consistent measuring.
This was the reasonable basis on
which most of the states accepted
the CCSS.
So what has gone wrong? In
one word, Control.
It appears that politics got in
volved, with a select few apply
ing ideologies that are
inconsistent with our Constitu
tion and common values, who
have tried to manipulate educa
tion into a political platform. The
original goals seem to have been
forgotten. Centralized control is
now ever increasing while indi
vidualism and values are at risk.
The strategic core of education
has been ripped out in favor of a
new branded base ‘Brave New
Worldish’ conformity. So what
could have been the basis for
consolidation has ended in fail
ure.
We are now in a battle of
these opposing ideologies. Cen
tralization is not what America is
about. Not only does the Federal
Law prohibit government from
creating national tests and stan
dards, but we are all taught at
business school that centraliza
tion means bureaucracy, which
sucks the spirit and purpose out
of everything. From a govern
ment perspective we have seen
the risks of centralized control,
where poor strategic decisions
can place the country at risk on
many platforms. This is a caveat
in our current form of central
government, and we have seen
the potential over the past
decade. We are a Republic. There
are sound principles behind that
mandate, and we are at risk of ig
noring them. Let the CCSS deba
cle be a warning.
A few states have abandoned
the Common Core and public
opinion has become vehemently
opposed to what has evolved.
Whether the Common Core has
failed or not, we still have a prob
lem that needs to be addressed.
All blame cannot be laid on that
doorstep, even though it may be
convenient. We still face huge
challenges and while many offer
criticism, few have come for
ward with solutions.
Some are looking to China,
who aced the PISA tests, while
the US stays in the middle of the
pack (23rd in Science and 30th in
Math). What is their model?
Should we adopt it? The differ
ence in cultures would suggest
not. But they must be doing
something right. The answer
can’t that hard. Based on the
PISA scores, Belgium, Estonia,
Germany, Ireland and Poland
have now moved ahead of the
US. Even Vietnam, a poor devel
oping country, now has higher
scores in Math and Science than
the USA. Astounding!
While we complain about our
levels of unemployment, the U.S.
Department of Commerce esti
mates 1.2 million unfilled jobs in
science, technology, engineering
and math (STEM) fields by 2018
due to a lack of qualified work
ers. We are importing skills by
the bucket load.
Entrenchment is the name of
the game in any monopoly. Edu
cation has become one of the
most rigid and protected indus
tries in our country, while our
businesses have led the world in
best practices and process. We
have a huge disconnect. Perhaps
we can learn something from our
updated practices, or a gardener...
The Crystal Palace was de
signed in 1850 (by a gardener)
under severe constraints. This
was used to house a Great Exhi
bition of the Works of All Na
tions. This virtual miracle laid
the foundation for Britain’s
wealth for the next century. It
was used to connect the knowl
edge of the world imder one roof.
creating a wave of innovation
and cross pollination of ideas that
swept through the country. Eng
land became the leading patent
holder among all nations and
held this title well into the 20th
century. This ‘spirit’ of course
spread to North America, creat
ing its own winning culture of
creativity in a land of possibili
ties. A parable perhaps?
‘Innovation and productivity
are driven by intellechial capital.
This brings economic growth to
the country and increases the
welfare of all. This is the engine
of a country and virtually ensures
prosperity.’(MEganize) We are a
country of innovative, enterpris
ing individuals, not low cost pro
duction clones like China. We
have our own core competence
and winning culture that is em
bodied in our Constitution. Vi
sion and values must design our
structures which frame our cul
ture which drives our perform
ance. However, if our leadership
(schools and government) does
not embody our core values as
defined by our founding fathers,
we’re on the road to nowhere. If
our leaders do not have a strate
gic perspective that aligns with
our vision and values, we will
fail.
‘The principles that unite par
ents of all ideologies against Fed
Ed are bedrock tenets of our con
stitutional republic: local control,
parental sovereignty, privacy
protections and fundamental
skepticism about the actual edu
cational benefits of massive gov
ernment expenditures in the
name of “reform.” (Michelle-
malkin.com)
This is our mission critical.
Everything else pales in rele
vance. Our leadership struchires
must reflect the strategy that has
proven itself.
For a fundamental solution to
our problems, a comprehensive
guide on how to secure our future
and best educate your child, and
an unabridged version of this
blog, visit
www.MEganise4Life.com.
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