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Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not. - Jeremiah 50:2
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 winner: Editorial Page excellence
2019, 2018 winner: Best Headline Writing
2019 winner: Best Community Service
2019 winner: Best Layout and Design
2019 winner: Best Serious Column - Don Daniel
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
Lightning a big player
in Bulldog football
I t was Sept. 12,2014 and Mary Persons was hosting rival
Lamar County, which brought a 33-game regular season
win streak to Dan Pitts Stadium. It was the Bulldogs
who built a 29-13 third quarter lead. But Lamar County
started coming back. With 1:53 left in the third, the Trojans
scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 29-27. The
Trojans called a timeout as they prepared to go for two and
possibly tie the game. As the timeout ended, Lamar County
lined up for the critical 2-point play when a bolt of lightning
struck near the field. The refs stopped the game and the
teams were forced into the locker rooms. Fans hustled off to
their cars. Then the rain came, and more lightning. When the
rain finally tapered off, our then sports editor Richard Dumas
could hear the coaches arguing with the refs and one another.
Lamar County coaches at least wanted the chance to have
one more play, to try to tie the game. But MP coaches pointed
to the GHSAs rule that they could not play until 30 minutes
after the last lightning strike, and could not resume play after
11:30 p.m. In the end, MP won the argument and escaped
with an unlikely win.
Lamar County coaches and administrators were - and still
are — furious. The game came to be called The Lightning
Bowl. Lamar County fulfilled its contractural obligation to
host MP the following year, and the Bulldogs won that one
too. Lamar County has refused to play Mary Persons since
then.
The GHSA eventually changed the rule. Games ended
by storms in the second half are no
longer won by whomever is winning
when the lightning detector first goes
off. All games must be finished. And
thus Saturdays game between MP and
Northeast-Macon must be finished or
be tossed out. Even the stats, including
Logan Hickmans two long TD passes,
wont count unless the game is fin
ished. The GHSA forbids games from
_ being played on Sunday (good for
\CVw ' v\ V them!). Northeast wanted to finish
Monday But unlike MP, they don’t
have a game on Friday. The two
teams’ open dates are not the same. Coach Nelson wants the
GHSA to revisit the lightning rule. The old way seemed to
work pretty well for MP. But it will be too late to affect this
game. Stay tuned!
• ••
The AP Stylebookused to be the Bible for journalists.
Why do we at the Reporter write Aug. 24 and not August
24? Why do we write 50 N. Jackson St. and not Fifty North
Jackson Street? Because it’s in the AP Stylebook. But like so
many things, woke-ism — the arrogant, awful, communist
idea that anything traditional is evil — has ruined the AP
Style Book. On Monday the AP announced that it no longer
proscribes using the pronoun “she” for nations, ships and
storms. Instead, says the Associated Press, use “it”. You know,
like the gender neutral “Pat” from the old Saturday Night Live
skit. (Boy that skit could never be shown today). Because, of
course, it is sexist to call a storm or ship or nation a “she”.
And thus even wholesome songs like “God Bless America”
will be verboten in AP world. “Stand beside her, and guide
her, through the night, with a light, from above,” is a prayer
for America in the famous song. So now, proclaims the AP,
we must ask the gender neutral God of the universe to “stand
beside IT, and guide IT”. Who loves an “it”? An “it” is a table,
a chair, a bike. It’s an inanimate object. What sad, impersonal
lives commies lead.
Anyway, it’s more evidence that our cultural elite are con
stantly waging war not just on tradition, but on long-accepted
gender distinctions. Male and female, God created them.
Boys and girls each have unique traits and tendencies. That
used to be an uncontroversial statement. The fact that our
ruling elite are waging war on sex distinctions, the very thing
that allows us to continue the race through pro-creation,
shows me that our current cultural leaders are under the dark
influence of spiritual evil. It’s demonic. I know that sounds
crazy and conspiratorial. But I think most readers will agree
with me.
See ON THE PORCH . Page 5A
& EDITORIALS
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
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is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President • Robert M. Williams Jr., Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-T reasurer
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
DON'T WORRY HE
YION'T BITE
REECE’S PIECES by Steve Reece
Blissful ignorance can be dangerous
I gnorance, while blissful, can
be a very dangerous thing. For
instance, if you don’t know how
to drive, you’ll probably wreck if
you get behind the wheel. Ignorance
of the law can have you jailed with
no excuse. And if you mix igno
rance with stupidity, there can be a
significant impact on happiness and
well-being. A person can wind up
accidentally killing themselves.
This is exactly why we have warn
ing labels on wheelbarrows that let
us know they are not intended for
high-speed highway use and why we
are advised not to hold the wrong
end of our chainsaws while in use.
Another sticker might say never to
use a match to check the
chainsaw’s fuel level.
There is a bright warning
label stuck on the handle of a
fancy cordless drill hanging
in my tool shed that advises
the tool wasn’t designed for
drilling out cavities in
human teeth. I must
disagree. A drill is a drill
and can sometimes even
be used as a hammer. It
is a tool helpful with numerous proj
ects. Just ask the drunk Juliette man
who last July held a battery-powered
drill with a G” wood bit in the
chamber to his head while threaten
ing suicide. This was just before he
tossed the tool and hit a deputy on
the leg. Soon there will be advisories
released by drill makers not to try
that at home.
Mothers are warned against fold
ing up strollers before removing
their children and not letting them
play in the dryer while the dryer is
in use. On our coffee cups, there is
a printed advisory that tells us to
avoid pouring the hot liquid into
our crotch areas. I have so far never
needed this piece of advice.
Due to my passion for reading the
warning labels on packages and my
shirt labels, I am educated in the
fact that I am not supposed to iron
my shirts while wearing them. I also
know that an egg carton may con
tain eggs, that pepper spray may ir
ritate eyes, that a hair dryer is not
intended for use while sleeping,
and that a scooter moves while
in use. Luckily, I read that a
fishing hook is harmful if
I swallow it and made a
mental note to keep all
fish hooks away from
my mouth area.
There is a reason
for all these
warnings that
most consider
ridiculous. We all
have the
sense to
remove that
Of course, no one can know ev
erything. Fortunately, we don’t have
to. I don’t have to know how to set a
broken bone, drill out a nasty tooth,
or get myself out of jail. I simply
call a doctor, a dentist, or a
lawyer who hopefully isn’t too
ignorant to correct my legal
problems because I’m too
small for prison.
Sometimes a lack of
knowledge can be
justified due to a
person’s age and
situation. While a
WARNING! 1)0 NOT “blysLowyou 1 ”
READ THIS COLUMN how to use your
cellphone, we
can’t expect them
to know the rules of
WHILE SLEEPING
c3^^
folding windshield sunshade
before driving. Still, some
manufacturers feel compelled
to put a sticker in direct view
of the driver stating
the obvious danger
of operating a vehicle
with the apparatus still
in place. The sticker is
there simply because one bright day
a not-so-bright driver didn’t like the
sun in their eyes and took a spin,
dependent only on GPS directions.
You can’t fix something if you
don’t realize it is broken. If you are
ignorant, you can’t prepare for what
you can’t see coming. Your choices
are limited. We have never had so
many people with so much access to
endless knowledge yet who refuse
to learn much of anything. Most of
these people are ignorant of their
own ignorance.
Some of this resistance against
knowledge can be blamed on the in
flux of fake news. Fundamental rules
of real evidence are rejected, and
few make logical arguments. This is
seen every day on all news channels.
Other than the Bible, no one knows
what they can truly believe anymore.
the road and trust them to drive.
Sometimes ignorance can be a
lot of fun for those in the know.
It’s much easier to pull a prank on
someone who has no idea what’s
going on. Victims must stay on their
toes and be ever vigilant.
If you’re ignorant, you simply don’t
have knowledge or understanding.
If you’re being stupid, you might be
educated, but for unknown reasons
(again ignorance), you do stupid
things anyway. The mistakes I’ve
made due to stupidity far outnum
ber the mistakes I made due to ig
norance. I’ve even repeated the same
mistake more than once expecting
a different outcome. They say that’s
insanity.
The simple cure for not knowing
something is to learn it. We all begin
with a blank slate, and it is up to
each one of us to fill it with as much
knowledge as possible. Whenever I
see someone walking around smil
ing for an unknown reason, I won
der what it is that they don’t know.
Steve Reece is a writer for the
Reporter and a known crime fighter.
Email him atstevereece@gmail.com.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
Lack of faith our big problem
M aybe you’ve read this
quote before:
“Good morn
ing, this is God.
I will be handling all your
problems today. I will not
need your help, so have a
good day’
This quote brings a smile to
my face, but it makes
me think too. If we
truly believe that God
can handle all of our
problems, why do we
worry like we do?
Before you answer my question,
consider the following. What if you
could go to the other side of eternity,
and sit in the presence of God for
10 minutes, and then come back
here and live out the rest
of your life? What would
that change about the rest
of your life? I dare say, it
would change every thing
wouldn’t it?
MAY I suggest that
every negative at
titude you’ve ever had,
every doubt you’ve
had about God and
His love for you, and
our inclination to worry too much
would forever be changed!
Well, none of us can go to the
other side of eternity and sit with
God for 10 minutes, but there is
something we can do right now that
will impact our future in a positive
way. I encourage you to get into
God’s word and let the word get in
you! When we feed our faith, we
starve our doubts, fears and worries.
If Jesus is your Savior and Lord,
this reassuring promise is yours:
“Because Jesus was raised from the
dead, we’ve been given a brand-new
life and everything to live for, includ
ing a future in heaven—and the
future begins now!” (1 Peter 1:3-4
MSG).
Carolyn Martel of Forsyth is the
retired long-time advertising manager
for the Reporter. Email her at car-
olynmartell@bellsouth. net.