Newspaper Page Text
March 2, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Dear Vladimir...
T he following letter showed up in my email folder
and I feel compelled to share it with you. I have
no idea why it was sent to me.
Dear Vladimir:
I am writing personally to you to express my appre
ciation for you and your armies for invading Ukraine.
What you are doing is a great asset to me. May I explain?
I know you haven’t had the time with all the invasion
planning you have been doing and the invasion but it has
been a propaganda boost for
me and the Democratic Party.
Hopefully you have been
briefed on what is happening
here in America and blame
that I am facing every day by
the American news media and
the voters. Yes, we have infla
tion at an all-time high, gro
cery stores are having a hard
time stocking their shelves
due to the truckers, people not
wanting to go to work because
they think wages are not high
enough, gas prices expected to
hit five-dollars a gallon in the
next few weeks, people who still like former president
Trump, the snowy weather and then COVID and my
confusing coordinated response.
I am doing my best to ignore what is happening in
America and express my appreciation for your actions
taking me off the front pages and no longer the lead
story on just about every television newscast.
In conclusion, you actions are beginning to work for
me and my Democrat party members and Democrat
leadership. Your actions have even taken Black Lives
Matter to a “not right now” news story. I am sending
a copy of this letter of appreciation for your actions to
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and I am sure you will
receive a same like letter from them.
Sincerely, Joe
OUR LOCAL chamber of commerce is resuming its
monthly Eggs and Issues breakfast meetings and this
past Wednesday the executive director of the Forsyth
Convention and Visitors Bureau was the guest speaker
with an update on, we assume, local tourism. Will let you
know in next weeks column.
As you should be aware, Forsyth collects a hotel/motel
tax from the 14 motels and campground to fund the
functions of the FCVB. Here are the top five collectors
and payers and (the amount of tax paid for December
2021 Holiday Inn Express, $8,850.44; LaQuinta Inn and
Suites, $5991.27; Hampton Inn, $5,991.12; Motel Six,
$4,860.18; and Days Inn, $3,383.39.
Total collected was $39,931.41 with 40 percent,
$15,972.56 and the city getting $23,958.85
OVER AT the Forsyth City Council, the city is also
“joining” in the move like the county to identify blighted
properties and sending out letters and making phone
calls to the twenty-two blighted property owners. The
largest property in the process to be condemned is
the stalemated senior center owned by developer Otis
Ingram.
Here are just a few unattributed comments by Forsyth
City Council members; “Its gotta be Monday”; “No fo-
culator”; “Everybody good with that?” “But basically”.
OVER AT the county commission meeting, it was
more discussion about people living in illegal campers
and RVs. Just about the whole meeting was discussion of
designing a “questionnaire”. Hey, I’ll let Will dig into that
discussion.
But, I gotta say this: the county has had an ordinance
for quite some time in regards to illegal campers, RVs
and blighted property. Finally, after many years of “wink
ing their eyes” at the problem(s) the “Fabulous Five”
including the “Curse Breaker” and his little toy figurine
have decided they want something done about the prob
lem.
Also finally, realizing the problem is more than one
code enforcement officer can handle, another officer is
going to be added to assist Code Enforcement Officer
Jeff Wilson.
Could devote a whole column to unattributed
commissioner comments made at last week’s meeting
but instead gonna give you a few: “Down there on the
end are you good!’ “The same amount of stuff:” “I’m
just going to say it like this”; “My long-winded self is
done”; “He’s a bounce off guy”; “My personal gut”; “From
the yes I have seen”; “Quite frankly, the problem is”;
“Once you get that ball rolling” and finally, “a bunch of
screaming and yelling”.
AND THE answer to the question is the Forsythia Fes
tival will be held March 12 and 13 and Nancy Calhoun
was the first with the correct answer and she receives a
certificate for dozen Dunkin Donuts, Whistle Stop fried
green tomato appetizer, slice of Shoney’s strawberry pie,
car wash at Big Peach, single dip at Scoops, Forsyth Main
Street and Reporter t-shirts, slice of Jonah’s Pizza, Dairy
Queen Blizzard.
The Question for this week is who is the Forsyth
woman who found freedom from addiction as reported
in last week’s edition? First correct answer after 12 on
Thursday gets the goodie certificate.
Contact Don Daniel, the founder of this newspaper, at
tullaybear@bellsouth. net.
^Reporter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Get Forsyth ready for visitors
To the Editor:
Beautify Forsyth, in preparation
for Forsythia Festival, has scheduled
a litter pick-up for Saturday morn
ing, March 5 at 10 a.m. for one hour.
Volunteers should meet at the City
Hall parking lot. Pick-up sticks, vests
and gloves will be provided.
We ask all neighborhoods and
local businesses to keep their areas
litter-free to give our festival guests a
good impression of our town.
Tom Perry
Forsyth
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
Ukraine invasion sad but predictable
“PRESIDENT ZELENSKY, you’re
on your own.” That was Biden’s
message to Ukraine’s president as
Putin’s 100,000+ man army invaded
Europe’s second largest country.
For weeks, Joe told us “sanctions,
sanctions, sanctions” would prevent
Putin from invading. The day of the
invasion, in a presser, Biden actually
said, “we never expected sanctions
to work.” Then, he went on and
announced more sanctions against
Russia, saying we’d have to wait 30
days to know if the new sanctions
worked. Meanwhile, Russia’s army
and air force continue to bomb and
attack Kiev and Ukraine, killing
thousands. Yes, Biden is that stu
pid; even worse his handlers think
you’re even stupider. How else do
you explain Biden’s contradictory
statements “sanctions will prevent
an invasion”; “we never expected the
sanctions would prevent an inva
sion”; “we’re imposing more sanc
tions to halt the invasion”?
ELECTIONS HAVE consequenc
es, and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is
100% on Biden voters; who
so disliked Orange Man
and “mean tweets” that
they hitched themselves to
a feeble old man. The me
dia denies it but the world
sees exactly who Biden is
- a senile senior who
mumbles about, con
trolled and told what
to say by others. One
of the problems we (Americans and
the West) have is the inability to see
the world from our opponent’s point
of view. Descartes’ expression “I
think, therefore I am” has morphed
into “I think, therefore that’s reality)’
How America views things is not
how most of the world views things.
Americans tend to see things
through a materialistic / economic
point of view (POV). “I like large
houses, fast cars, and nice clothes;
therefore, everyone likes large
houses, fast cars, and nice clothes.”
That’s a western, materialistic mind
set. We make decisions based on
our POV and project that POV onto
others. We don’t understand why
every country, culture, and leader
doesn’t possess a hedonistic end-goal
of material goods and pleasure. So, if
sanctions will prevent Putin and the
Russians from obtaining nice clothes
and fast cars, then, those sanctions
will obviously force him to behave
as we demand. That mindset might
work on a materialistic, narcissist
western millennial but it won’t work
on most non-western cultures, and
it doesn’t work on Putin. Actually,
sanctions don’t work on anyone.
How many decades have we had
sanctions on Cuba, Iran, and North
Korea, only to see them thumb those
sanctions in our faces?
TO UNDERSTAND Putin’s attack
on Ukraine, we need to understand
the Russian point of view. For most
of the 20th century, the Soviet Union
was a military superpower and
respected as such. Economically,
they couldn’t compete with the West
and, in 1991, it collapsed. Fifteen
separate countries formed from the
crumbled empire. It was humiliating,
especially for a proud people.
Several years later, along
comes a strongman (Putin)
who talked about restoring
Russia’s greatness. Sounded
good, especially as NATO
gobbled up country after
country (Poland, Hun
gary, Romania, Slovenia,
Slovakia, Czech Republic,
Croatia, Bulgaria, Albania,
Montenegro, and Macedonia) that
previously had been in the Warsaw
Pact; even worse as NATO admitted
countries that had been part of the
Soviet Union (Estonia, Latvia, and
Lithuania). Each of these countries,
as they entered NATO, squeezed
Russia’s security, making them
feel less secure and more vulner
able. Think how we’d feel if every
country in Latin America, Canada,
and Mexico aligned politically and
militarily with China? If that were to
happen, at some point, (hopefully)
a U.S. president would stand tall,
invoke the Monroe Doctrine, and try
to reduce that foreign influence. To
Putin and Russia, Ukraine became
jj+JY
the straw that “broke the camel’s
back,” especially when Biden and
NATO kept hinting that Ukraine
might be admitted to NATO.
ACTUALLY, THE invasion of
Ukraine was decades in the mak
ing, dating back to 1994 with the
Budapest Memorandum - an
agreement between the United
States, Great Britain, Ukraine, and
Russia. In exchange for surrender
ing nuclear weapons abandoned by
the old Soviet Union; Bill Clinton
promised the U.S. and Britain would
protect Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Ukraine should have been smart
enough to review every 19th century
treaty made with Native Americans
to determine our reliability at keep
ing promises. Ever since Ukraine
gave up their nuclear weapons, Rus
sia (and Putin) has been very clear
about its goals - restore the glory of
the old Soviet Union.
AS MUCH as the media tries to
portray Putin as a madman, he’s
not. He’s a former KGB agent. He’s
calculating and measured. In 2014,
he knew that Obama would do noth
ing when he/Russia seized part of
Ukraine and the Crimea. Putin knew
Obama was weak when in a 2012
presidential debate Obama mocked
Romney when Romney had the
foresight to claim that Russia was our
greatest geopolitical threat. Obama
disdainfully told Romney, “The
1980’s are calling to ask for their
foreign policy back.” Also, remember
Obama’s infamous “line in the sand”
threat directed at Syrian President
Bashar al Asad? He promised severe
retaliation if Syria used chemical
weapons in that nation’s civil war.
Asad used chemical weapons and
Obama did nothing. As weak and
predictable as was Obama, President
Trump was the exact opposite. Bet
ter not test Trump; best to wait for
Hillary, Bernie, Mayor Pete, or even
better, wait for Biden - a wimpier
version of the hapless Obama. Proof
of Biden’s incompetence was his
humiliating Afghanistan debacle and
See OLIVER Page 7A
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
A Report from The General Assembly
By Rep. Dale Washburn
dale.washburn@house.ga.gov
As you read this report, we are approximately
halfway through 2022 session of the Georgia General
Assembly. We have passed a number of bills in both the
House and Senate and those bills are crossing over to
the other for consideration.
As I consider legislation that comes
before us, I try to fulfill the pledge I made
when I was a candidate and continue to
make to those I represent. That pledge is
that I will cast yes or no votes based on
the question: is this bill good for Georgia
families and for Georgia business?
As I see it, as a general rule, legisla
tion that favors less taxation, less regula
tion and legislation that provides good
health care for Georgians should receive
my support. In the rest of this report, I want to focus on
a bill in which I am personally involved involving health
care, House Bill 1 400.
Legislation allowing the manufacture and distribution
cannabis oil medicine was passed a few years ago and
a commission was created to implement the licensing of
the firms that would be authorized to manufacture and
distribute the medicine.
Since that time, the process has been very slow and
ineffective and there is still no medicine available for
legal purchase for the people in Georgia who need
this medicine. There has been litigation filed by many of
the applicants for the license who were not chosen.
This result of this is that the legal action taken will result
two or three more years of delay as the legal process
goes forward.
Last summer, The Regulated Industries Committee, on
which I serve as Vice Chair, held hearings on the
current situation relative to the progress in getting this
medicine to the people who need it. Most of what we
found was highly frustrating as we found little real
progress in the delivery of this needed medication..
House Regulated Industries Committee Chair, Alan
Powell, has introduced House Bill 1 400 which would
issue licenses to the companies that were approved as
well as those which were not selected and have taken
legal action because of that. The legisla
tion will allow more firms than ever to be
involved the manufacture and distribution
of the medicine.
The Regulated Industries Sub Commit
tee which I chair has held two hearings on
this bill with most of the testimony given to
the committee being in support of the Bill.
There will be a full committee hearing this
week for the purpose of taking a vote on
the passing of the bill out of the committee
with a “do pass" recommendation.
If passed out of our committee, the bill will continue
in the legislative process and we will see where it goes
from here.
I support House Bill 1 400 because it takes action to
deliver this medicine to people who need it as soon as
we can.
I am honored to represent the people of my district
and all the people of Georgia in The Georgia House of
Representatives. Please contact me to share your views
on any issue or if I can help provide constituent service
to you.
Rep. Dale Washburn 404-656-0152
401-D Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg.
Atlanta, GA 30334
dale.washburn@house.ga.gov
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