Newspaper Page Text
September 28, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Neither snow nor
rain ... nevermind
O bviously the United States Postal
Creed, “Neither snow nor rain nor
heat nor gloom of night stays these
couriers from the swift appointed
rounds” didn’t apply to five postal carriers at
the Forsyth Post Office who didn’t report for
work last week. Last
Wednesday the five
carriers decided to
take the day off for
some reason(s) and
the mail was not
delivered, delayed
in some instances
until Friday Readers
of this newspaper
had to wait to get
breaking news.
Of course we f fj /
had neither snow,
nor rain nor heat.
Maybe the five carriers were suffering from a
communicable disease, one-day Covid, and didn’t
want to expose others. Maybe they just all went
on a picnic. Who knows why they didn’t show up
for work but on Thursday they still had their jobs.
My recent experiences with the local post office
and mail delivery include getting other people’s
mail at least several times a week which makes me
wonder where my mail is being delivered; mailing
myself a letter and it being delivered five days later
after putting it in the local Forsyth post office; and
getting today’s Wall Street Journal maybe today
but more than likely two days later.
No complaints, yet, about the post offices in
Juliette, Bolingbroke, Culloden and Smarr.
ADVERTISING FOR help wanted to work
for the county’s water department “to handle the
increased size and scope of the county’s water sys
tem” according to a news release by the county’s
PIO. The release further states the county water
system has expanded to 4,000 customers with
400 on a waiting list to tap-on when the county
completes “some” ongoing water system expan
sion projects.
The anticipated hired employee will be filling
the county’s utility billing agency vacancy. The
Commissioners unanimously approved the hir
ing of the one employee.
Last week’s commission meeting will go down
in the books as one of the longest, three hours.
Here are a few unattributed commissioner com
ments: “You are not gonna want to hear this”;
“The way I understand it”; “For those not aware”;
“Everything is so inflated”; “I’m just throwing
something out there”; “Let me back up”; “My
gut tells me”; “Don’t get me wrong”; “I’m not
going to say any names”; “I’d like to add my two
cents”; “ That’s my thought”; “I know I sound like
Scrooge”; “Everything over top is gravy”; You
may not want to hear this”; “It’s a pet peeve of
mine” and finally “my brain is totally fried”.
WE NOW have a very progressive Develop
ment Authority of Monroe County promoting
the industrial opportunities of the county. Every
issue of Georgia Trend magazine makes note of
industries locating or expanding all over Georgia.
I anxiously look forward to when they list one
locating in Monroe County.
Over in our neighbor county, Jasper, Gov. Brian
Kemp has announced an industry will locate in
Jasper with a $25 million investment and creating
80 new jobs. One day, a governor will announce
such an industry coming to Monroe County.
I JUST don’t understand our local board of edu
cation attempting to teach something other than
reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic. I can see the
importance of history, geography, and science, but
attempting to teach sexuality is none of their busi
ness. It is a parent(s) responsibility.
Teaching “alternative” sexuality is not a school
board responsibility to be told teachers or any
educational professional to teach. Send it back
home. The chairman of the board of education
should be a leader in what to and not to teach not
to be an advocate of sexuality teaching!
I found it very interesting that stadium “rules”
will not apply to members of the school board.
Thank goodness for school board member Greg
Head and sometimes Eva Bilderback and Stuart
Pippin for attempting to use common sense in
their governing.
I WANT to extend an invitation to all to attend
the 199th Homecoming Celebration up here
in Blount at Paran Baptist Church this Sunday
beginning a 10:30. Not only will there be preach
ing but there will be special music by “Segos The
Next Generation” whom I have never heard of but
looking forward to hearing.
Best of all, members of the church will be
preparing food for the lunch following the service.
I have discovered there are a lot of good cooks
who attend Paran. Real fried chicken not the store
bought fried.
NO CORRECT answers to last week’s The
Question. So here’s this week’s: What kind of
housing would the county’s new zoning ordi
nance ban? First correct answer after 12 noon on
Thursday gets the certificate for a Big Peach Car
Wash, Whistle Stop fried green tomato appe
tizer, slice of Shoney’s strawberry pie, single dip
at Scoops, dozen Dunkin donuts And a Dairy
Queen Blizzard.
Don Daniel founded the Reporter in 1972. Email
him at mediadr@bellsouth.net.
^Reporter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We’re on to you, Mr. Copehagen litter bug
To the Editor:
ear Mr. Copen-
hagen-smokeless-
tobacco-can litterer
on West Johnston
Street:
You feckless fiend. You
think you are so smart and
devious by littering your cans
more toward town on West
Johnston instead of the usual
turn-off to Stroud Street. But
we at Beautify Forsyth will
not be duped by your weak
attempt at deceit. It doesn’t
take a Sherlock Holmes to see
through the effort to throw us
off your trail.
In the meantime, Beautify
Forsyth will be ever-watchful,
looking for your day of
reckoning with Forsyth gen
darmes!
Maybe you will wise up and
discontinue using the product.
But until then, may you suffer
from severe stomach gas.
Tom Perry
Forsyth
WINTERGREENW.
MERRY’S MUSINGS by Merry Harris
Democrat Diverson
Le+'s converse about
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should have about:
+ he (non) issue o-C
re n a m ing -the
brave / team 4ha4
won a series o-C
ga mes in order
4ha4 we may gloss
over -the -failure 4o
converse over -the
\real (?) issues-**
GUEST COLUMN by Dr. Wenyuan Wu
Monroe County schools shouldn’t trade
excellence for fluffy woke freebies
C ongratulations to
Monroe County
Schools for being
named a 2022 Cog-
nia System of Distinction!
As one of the 38 systems
worldwide that have been
awarded this honor,
Monroe County
Schools provides
a positive example
against a national
trend of declines in
educational quality,
based on the latest
Nation’s Report Card
findings.
BUT BEFORE we
pat ourselves on the
back, let’s play devil’s
advocate: what will our pub
lic education system become
if we allow in the trojan
horse of pernicious race
programming and gender
grooming?
YOU DON’T need to
ponder and wonder because
the trojan horse is already
here! The Monroe County
Board of Education recently
approved a partnership
agreement with Big Broth
ers Big Sisters (BBBS) of the
Heart of Georgia to train
school administrators and
educators for a youth men
toring program. Under the
pretense of helping remedial
and at-risk students avoid
the school-to-prison pipeline
and integrate academically,
the BBBS program will 100%
translate into an ideological
vehicle for far-left proposals.
It is ready to smuggle radical
teaching practices of Criti
cal Race Theory (CRT) and
over-sexualization of kids
into our high-performing
schools.
WHEN QUESTIONED,
the CEO of the BBBS of the
Heart of Georgia admitted
that its training
program will
include the JEDI
(Justice, Equity,
Diversity & Inclu
sion) technique
as a professional
development tool
recommended by
the national um
brella organization
BBBS. This is a
huge red flag.
Earlier this year, I helped
expose, on national news
outlets including Fox News
and the Washington Ex
aminer, a school district in
Southern California where
a JEDI working group pf
parents and nonprofit advo
cates discussed introducing
transgender literature to pre
schoolers and indoctrinating
kids on America’s systemic
racism.
JEDI, LIKE its relative
euphemisms such as social-
emotional learning, cultur
ally responsive teaching,
anti-racism initiatives, and
restorative justice programs,
has been thoroughly co
opted by Neo-Marxist CRT.
I can confidently predict
that BBBS would deny its
involvement with CRT. “We
are just teaching history
and helping disadvantaged
students!” It is never that
simple. If you challenge
them to elaborate their views
on JEDI and other woke
codenames, you will surely
see the teaching and train
ing rooted in the belief that
America is perpetually and
institutionally racist and the
only way to combat racism is
through anti-racism.
OFTENTIMES, THE
illiberal thought experiment
is marketed to unsuspecting
local education policy mak
ers, parents and communi
ties byway of “harmless”
regional or local groups that
offer their services for free.
I recall a conversation I had
with my friend - the national
co-founder of Moms for Lib
erty Tiffany Justice, who had
a similar experience when
she served at the local school
board in Florida’s Indian
River County. There, she was
enticed to approve a contract
with a social-emotional
learning consultancy which
turned out to be dumb
ing down students with
un-educational and biased
programs.
REMEMBER, THESE
regional or local affiliates
are part of their national
mothership which always
has a political agenda. For
Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America, the agenda reads
like a far-left boilerplate: “We
are committed to a nondis-
criminatory and anti-racist
approach and are committed
to dismantling any inequities
within our policies, systems,
programs and services.”
THE RACISM witch hunt
shows no empirical evidence
of lifting up needy kids
and families. The last thing
they need to hear is that the
system is designed to fail
them and they are powerless
because of white supremacy.
The victimhood mental
ity divides and demeans.
Instead, what our most vul
nerable students need is true
community-based solutions
from authentic local people
who celebrate best practices,
excellence, resilience and
empowerment.
I WANT to end my essay
with an honest proposition
to the Monroe County BOE,
the members of which are
gatekeepers for our students.
I gladly offer my time and
expertise to testify on top
ics pertaining to academic
achievement, CRT, and
community engagement
in public education. As
someone who has regularly
testified as an expert wit
ness at the California State
Legislature and the Rhode
Island State House, a short
list candidate to address the
U.S. House Judiciary Com
mittee, and the person who
helped the Orange County
Board of Education organize
high-profile expert forums
on CRT and produced the
nation’s first county-level
white paper on this topic, I
consider myself qualified.
Please reach out soon, before
the trojan horse initiates its
infiltration!
Dr. Wenyuan Wu of Forsyth
writes about educational top
ics at www.rejectcrt.org.