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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 excellen
2019, 2018 winner: Best Headline Writing
2019 winner: Best Community Service
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2019 winner: Best Serious Column - Don Daniel
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
Saving the country
starts here at home
It’s not often I turn this valuable real estate over to someone else. But
I read the following column in the past week, and it was too good not
to share with you, dear reader. Our beloved country is in deep trouble.
Given how powerless we often are at the national level, John Daniel
Davidson says it’s time for conservatives and Christians to focus their
attention on their own communities. I agree. Monroe County has
done that recently by giving conservatives a majority on the school
board. There are other ways too. How will you get involved to help
revive America and Monroe County ?
By John Daniel Davidson
O ne of the things I get asked from time to time
by readers is, what can ordinary people on the
right, Christians and conservatives, do to help
save the country — besides voting on Election
Day?
It’s a good question, and it comes from the very understandable
feeling of helplessness many people feel about the direction of the
country and, let’s be honest, the collapse of Western civilization
that’s now well underway. It’s especially easy to get frustrated after
an election cycle like the one we just had, in which Republican
leaders thoroughly botched it and left things
more or less where they were before the
voting.
Put another way, if voting doesn’t really
change anything in our so-called democra
cy, what will?
There’s an answer to this question, but
you’re not going to like it. The plain truth is
this: You’re going to have to save the country
yourselves. Donald Trump isn’t going to
save it. Ron DeSantis isn’t going to save
it. There’s not a snowball’s chance in
hell that a GOP maj ority in Congress is
going to save it.
By all means, keep voting in national
elections. Keep making your voices heard at the ballot box. But
salvation won’t come from Washington, D.C. If America is going to
be saved, or even just parts of it are to be saved, then ordinary men
and women, God-fearing patriots all across the country, are going
to have to do it themselves, one town at a time. And they will have
to do it the old-fashioned and unglamorous way, by taking over
the local institutions of civic life, organizing and winning elections
for city council and school board, finding reliable and competent
people willing to be candidates and staff and volunteers.
It’s going to be a long, thankless slog, but there’s no other way.
Neither is there any guarantee of success. I speak here only of towns
and suburbs, not of cities, many of which have become unlivable
after decades of failed Democrat governance and leftist policies.
Conservatives who can manage it should move to places where
they can join with other like-minded Americans to take back their
communities and instill a civic culture that reflects their beliefs.
We got into this situation through passivity, and only a sustained
effort at the local level will get us out. For decades, conservatives did
nothing while the left marched through academia — and then kept
right on marching, down from their ivory tower and into the public
square, into the schools, the libraries, corporate boardrooms, local
police and fire departments, even the churches. These people have
radical views far outside the American mainstream but nevertheless
control all our institutions. If you want them back, you’ll have to
take them back, post by post.
This is not the kind of thing the right likes to hear. By tempera
ment and principle, conservatives would rather be left alone to run
their businesses, raise their families, worship in their churches, and
build up their charities and local communities. Unlike liberals and
leftists, they tend not to be ideologues. They are not trying to funda
mentally change the country. They mostly want to be left alone.
But of course, they will never be left alone. The woke radicals will
never stop — until someone stops them. A kind of conservative
radicalism, or at least activism, is going to be required to accomplish
that.
A good example of what I’m talking about is playing out in the
small central Texas town of Taylor, population about 17,000. Taylor,
some 35 miles north of Austin, is a rather conservative place of the
sort you can find all over the country. It recently made national
headlines over its traditional Christmas parade, a longstanding
town tradition organized by a coalition of local churches. Last year,
organizers accidentally approved a parade float for a group calling
itself Taylor Pride, which the parade committee naively mistook for
the name of a group that was just proud of their town. What they
got instead was a float featuring two men dressed in drag, dancing
suggestively in what paradegoers assumed was going to be a fami
ly-friendly event.
See ON THE PORCH Page 5A
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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REECE’S PIECES by Steve Reece
What lies ahead in 2023
Y ou might be interested in
what is expected for the
upcoming year:
• The end of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The head of
the World Health Organization said
back in September that the world
has never been in a better position to
end the crisis which has killed over
six million people. Even so, some
predictions are that there will still
be many sightings of people driving
alone in their cars and riding bicy
cles while wearing masks.
• The Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency will launch a satellite with
an exterior built of wood. Japanese
carpenters are famous for their
skill and as a carpenter myself, I’m
looking forward to seeing if their
dove-tail joints will hold together on
lift-off. Wood is much cheaper than
aluminum and when the satellite
falls out of orbit and reenters
the atmosphere, the 4” cube
will go out in a glorious ball
of fire. Unlike a big chunk
of Chinese metal crashing
down who knows where.
The head of the team build
ing the satellite, Japanese as
tronaut Takao Doi, said
the project will lead
the way to “allowing
even children who are
interested in space to
make a satellite.” I don’t know what
small children he knows.
• A fashion trend that started with
the caveman is on its way out. If
you’re in the market for a new mink
coat, you could probably get a pretty
good deal if you rush out to Califor
nia before Sunday. As of Jan. 1,2023,
California will become the first state
to ban the sale and manufacture of
new fur products. The law also in
cludes shoes or handbags made with
any type of fur. The bill was signed
by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019,
and fashion designers including
Versace, Gucci, and Giorgio Armani
have already stopped using real fur.
Included in the bill is a ban against
most animals from performing in
circuses. Animal rights activists shut
down two industries in that state.
• We will enter the New Year
sharing the globe with over 8 billion
other earthlings. The worlds pop
ulation wasn’t supposed to reach
that number until 2023 but a few of
us got into a big hurry. I know that
sounds like a lot of people packed on
the planet and the count is growing
by the second, but I’m not all that
concerned. Someone did the
math and figured out that ev
eryone on earth could fit into
the State of Texas. That gives
each person only the space
of a small room with few
amenities, but still, we could
survive if we had to. There are
15.77 billion acres of
inhabitable land on the
planet. If this acreage
was divided equally
(which it never will be)
each person would receive 2.3 acres.
Well probably be all right if we keep
bunching up in big cities as we do.
• Also coming up in 2023, hu
man-like robots will be performing
duties as bartenders, greeters, and
concierges at fancy cooperate events.
Some models will be programmed
to serve as companions for older
adults. Ideal for those whose chil
dren never visit. Elon Musk showed
off two humanoid robot prototypes
back in September that can do sim
ple chores like watering plants and
the like. If all goes well, you will be
able to place an order for your own
personal butler in maybe 3-5 years.
• A list of predictions couldn’t
be considered complete without
mentioning those of the famous
Nostradamus who prophesied
way back in the 1500s that 2023 is
basically going to suck. His believers
who claim to understand his 4-line
verses, or quatrains, say that we can
look forward to more natural disas
ters, civil unrest and hostilities, and
the likelihood of World War 3. Old
Nostradamus has never been known
for making cheerful predictions. He
also predicted we would see a hybrid
human-monkey soldier created in a
Russian laboratory and that a mete
orite the size of a blue whale will hit
the Earth with an alien species inside
just waiting to get out and take us
over. Okay, then.
• Another fortune teller who some
like to compare to Nostradamus,
Baba Vanga, a Bulgarian mystic who
died in 1996, said that there’s a solar
storm headed our way next year
that could have calamitous conse
quences, knocking out power grids
and causing widespread havoc and
financial markets to bottom out. The
good news is that it will be one heck
of an aurora. She also predicted the
earths orbit around the sun will shift
dramatically which is going to mess
up everything leaving no survivors.
But Baba Vanga never officially re
corded her thoughts, so who knows
what she was really thinking? Only a
few even care.
• I’m no Nostradamus or Baba
Vanga but my own prediction for the
upcoming year: Despite the Forsyth
city council giving developer Otis
Ingram until February to resume
work on his Forsyth Station Senior
Community on Brooklyn Avenue
before they consider condemnation
proceedings, we will still be driving
past the ugly blight this time next
year.
Steve Reece is a writer for the Report
er and a known crime fighter. Email
him at stevereece@gmaU.com.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
Do Americans expect 2023 to be better?
H ave you have been
thinking about
2023, and what
kind of year it
will be? Various polls reveal
that many Americans are
deeply dissatisfied with the
way things are going in our
nation. Our growing national
debt, the high cost of
living, immigration,
crime and the break
down of the American
family still remain
serious concerns.
the uncertainties of the New Year,
what can we do? How can
we remain optimistic and
hopeful when the forecast
for Americas future is not
looking too bright at the
moment?
Realistically, every new year brings
challenges, possibilities, uncertain
ties and, yes, hope. When facing
We may not be able
to control a lot of
things happening
in our society. But
there are things
you can do as you
enter 2023 that will help in meeting
new challenges and in making any
needed adjustments. Here are some
suggestions that will help: (1) look
for ways to cut your expenses; (2)
seek Gods wisdom and guidance
in regard to any changes He would
have you make; (3) set realistic goals;
(4) rely on Gods strength to help
you achieve your goals; (5) surround
yourself with positive people who
will encourage you.
Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit every
thing you do to the LORD. Trust
him, and he will help you.” May God
guide you in 2023, and make His
love and blessings known to you in
ways you never experienced before.
Carolyn Martel of Forsyth is the re
tired long-time advertising manager for
the Reporter. Email her at carolynmar-
tell@bellsouth.net.