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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JANUARY 15. 2015
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Letters to the Editor
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Dear Editor:
Bravo, bravo to the Pickens
Seniors for Change. Their ad hits
the nail on the head. I bought a
house in Pickens County un
aware of the political and tax sit
uations. They offer seniors
nothing. The property taxes keep
going higher and higher.. This is
NOT good for people on a fixed
income. I’m a Ham Radio oper
ator. Our signal reaches all over
the United States and more. Most
hams are looking for places to re
tire . I tell them not Pickens
County, Georgia. Find another
place. Other counties offer sen
iors a break in taxes, not here.
So bravo, bravo to the warn
ing ad. Too bad we can’t put it in
a national newspaper like U.S.A.
Today. The people of Pickens are
super nice, the climate is good,
you are close to the mountains.
BUT you will pay. When I first
bought my house the water bill
was $15; then we were told to
conserve. Then the bill went
up $10 bucks but we have
water to build a water park??
Seniors stay away, there is noth
ing for you here in Pickens, ex
cept taxes.
Richard Marsh
Dear Editor:
In regards to your Editorial in
the Pickens Progress dated 25
Dec. 14 - Thinking about Presi
dent Obuma (my spelling!) re
minded me of King Henry II of
England speaking about Thomas
Becket and famously/ infa
mously saying:
“What sluggards, what cow
ards have I brought up in my
court, who care nothing for their
allegiance to their lord. Who
will rid me of this meddlesome
priest?”
If King Henry believed that
by having “his man” in the top
post of the church, he could eas
ily impose his will upon this
powerful religious institution.
He was sadly mistaken.”
See: http://www.eyewitness
tohistory.com/becket.htm
Happy New Year!
BG (ret) Joseph (Buck) W.
Camp, Jr.
Dear Editor:
The past week’s horrific ji-
hadist attacks in Paris have al
ready been all well documented,
analyzed and, in a few bizarre in
stances, justified. All in the name
of Progressive idealism, France
and most other European coun
tries have created the ideal labo
ratory for this type of incident;
uber liberal immigration policies,
open borders and a disarmed
population.
In a fascinating but totally il
logical commentary on MSNBC,
Eugene Robinson of the Wash
ington Post opined that had this
type of incident taken place in
this country, the carnage would
have been much greater since
“guns are openly available here.”
Like most of his fellow anti-gun
pundits, he could not miss an op
portunity to tie gun control into
the current, hot news story. It
would appear that the Paris at
tackers had no difficulty obtain
ing AK-47s and plenty of
ammunition in a country with
strict gun control, so availability
of guns did not seem to be an
issue to them. “When guns are
outlawed, only outlaws will have
guns.”
Speaking of outlaws, our
country did go through a period
when we had our own domestic
terrorists. Among the best known
was the Dalton gang, killers and
bank robbers of no little renown.
Giving credit for this analogy to
Pajamas Media, they rode into
Coffeeville, Kansas, on October
5, 1892, with the intention of
robbing both the town’s banks.
The few lawmen were quickly
overwhelmed, but the armed cit
izenry of Coffeeville shot and
killed four of the robbers. Is it
not possible that the attack on
Charlie Hebedo could have been
stopped, or the body count re
duced, by armed bystanders?
Early in World War II, a high
ranking Japanese Admiral com
mented that attempting to con
quer this country would be
suicidal, because “behind every
blade of grass, there would be an
American with a rifle.” Lesson
learned?
Mark Buchheim
Dear Editor:
The cowardly attacks by fun
damentalist Muslims in Paris
have brought out the usual cho
rus of politically correct ob
servers who rush to a
microphone to reassure the cred
ulous masses that the attackers
have no connection with Islam or
the Muslim Theocracy. Their
propose is noble - to dampen the
rancor and bitterness toward the
Muslims in our society. While
their purpose is commendable,
their grasp of the history of Islam
is woefully defective.
Violence and Islam go to
gether like the horse and car
riage. Within little more than 100
years after Mohammad an
nounced his remarkable visions,
which marked the birth of Islam,
the entire Arab world had been
converted to this new concept of
man and his relation to an Eter
nal Father. This rapid conversion
wasn’t due to a stable of silver-
tongued orators spreading the
gospel of Islam. It was due to the
murderous pillaging and destruc
tion of villages in the name of
spreading the new belief system.
Arab tribes that had survived for
centuries by robbing caravans
and attacking unprepared vil
lages found a saintly glow was
given to their barbarism when
promoting a “religion.” The con
quered villagers were given the
option of converting to Islam or
having their heads removed. This
was an offer that many could not
refuse. Those who resisted found
themselves embraced in the
peace of a grave.
Mohammad commanded an
entire Jewish village murdered.
Blood and Islam are inseparable,
and the effort to claim Islam is
the “Religion of Peace” falls on
its face when the bloody history
is revealed. Islam is a Fascist po
litical system which seeks to di
rect in intimate detail how its
followers must conduct their
lives. The term “religion,” as ac
cepted by Western civilization,
should never be associated with
Islam.
Any organization, such as
Islam, with an estimated one-
and-one-half billion followers is
going to have a great variety in
the depth of conviction its mem
bers embrace. There’s no doubt
that many Muslims reject the
draconian demands in the
Koran. Recently the President of
Egypt, el-Sissi, has declared that
Muslims must begin changes (he
used the term “revolution”) in
their religion to separate Islam
from its bloody past and more
extreme teachings. He’s to be
commended for recognizing that
major change is needed in Mus
lim fundamental beliefs if Mus
lim society is to become a
functional partner of civilized so
ciety in the modem world.
Rules of conduct for follow
ers of Islam that have existed
since early in the 7th century will
be slow to change - and some
followers will never accept
change. In the meantime, we
must realize that bringing large
numbers of Muslims into our
country is like bringing a hairy
animal into our house. Fleas will
soon appear. Peaceful Muslims
have not succeeded in ridding
themselves of the True Believers,
although they routinely decry
their violent behavior.
It cannot be ignored that Pres
ident Obama, who has just ex
pended multiple millions of
taxpayer dollars on vacation in
Hawaii, failed to participate in
the meeting of Western leaders to
discuss cooperation in fighting
terrorism. He continues to suffer
severe constrictions in his throat
if the terms Islam, Muslim or
Terror appear on his
teleprompter.
Ben Blackburn
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Card of Thanks
The family of Don Pharr wishes to express thanks to everyone
that came by the funeral home, sent food, flowers or cards, called
by phone or kept us in your thoughts and prayers. Your kindness
and compassion was appreciated beyond measure.
Helen Pharr
Donna & John Mullins
Kerra, Kyler & Konner Mullins
Grief Support Group
People say you have to let go and move on with your life, but
they don’t tell you what you need to do to accomplish that.
The Grief Recovery Method not only makes that possible but
provides partnerships and guidance to ensure that it happens.
Mountain Light Unitarian
Universalist Church
2502 Tails Creek Rd (Hwy 282W) Ellijay, GA
For further information call
Donna Waddell
Certified Grief Recovery Specialist
770-789-3507
www.drdonnawaddell.com
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Lunch 2015
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Executive Chef Hans Rueffert
Chef de Cuisine Faye Stein
Sous Chef Kheene Russell
Tater Patch Players putting final touches on Farce of Nature
By Pat Jewell
Tater Patch Players
Rehearsals are underway at
the Tater Patch Players Theater.
The actors perfecting their roles
and taking on the identity of their
characters, costumes being fitted,
props gathered and the stage is
set. Lights are being set and the
front of the house is being set up.
All of this is to provide you qual
ity entertainment. If you have
never been to the Tater Patch
Players Theater, this is a great
time to start. Our actors and vol
unteers are ready to make your
evening (or afternoon) an excel
lent and exciting experience.
Do you still need a good rea
son to join us for Farce of Na
ture? OK. Where else will you
find love, frustration, fishing, ro
mance, incompetency, paranoia,
Arkansas, actors, paintings,
sweet tater pies, criminals, suspi
cion, deceit, misunderstanding,
determination, fainting, paranoia,
wild animals, hypnosis, reluc
tance, lies, artists, Mississippi,
theft, eavesdropping and a guy
that can’t seem to keep his pants
on? On top of all that, there are
laughs, great actors, more laughs,
lots of action, more laughs and
then more laughs. All of this is
packed into the most fun you
have had in two hours in a long
time. Oh, and it’s cold outside, so
come on in the warm theater.
Come and sort everything out
for yourself. Farce of Nature
show dates are January 23, 24,
30, 31, February 6 and 7 at 7:30.
February 1 and 8 at 2. Tickets are
$15 adult and $14 seniors and
students. All shows will be
staged at the Tater Patch Players
Theater at 95 Philadelphia Lane
in Jasper. To purchase tickets or
for more information see
www.taterpatchplayers.org or
call 706-253-2800. Season tick
ets are still available at the box
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Each meat comes with your choice of two sides
Additional sides are 2-
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The cast takes a break:
Standing (l-r): Tyler Roper
(Carmine), Pat Northcutt
(Maxie), Wesley Giambra
(Sonny), John Murphy (Ty);
seated: Carlene Archer
(Wanelle), Leah Chapman
(Lola), Alex Nawrocki (D.
Gene), Dezarea Brown
(Jenna). Not shown is
Joann Magana (Roxanne).
office for $60 each. Season tick
ets include all five 2015 main
stage shows and discounts on
other events. Thursday, January
22, is “share night”. Come and
enjoy our final dress rehearsal
on the house. We request that
you bring non-perishable foods
for CARES.
When a flag becomes too worn to
properly symbolize our country and
freedom, it should be properly
disposed of by burning in a dignified
manner. Roper Funeral Home and
Crematory would be honored to take
your old flag and cremate them with a
deceased veteran. Please come by or
call us for more information.
US Flag Code:
The flag, when it is in such
condition that it is no longer a
fitting emblem for display, should
be destroyed in a dignified way,
preferably by burning.
206 Holly Street Jasper, Ga. 30143
706-253-7500