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Page 4 — Wednesday, April 15, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
“Chatter” is short this week as I have been out of the office the
past week due to the illness of my husband. Thankfully, Wayne
is now out of the hospital and recovering at home. And I am back
on the job!
Unfortunately, my creativity has not yet returned. Stay tuned -
until next week!
Happy birthday this week to: Kathleen Rabitsch, Trey Black,
Rosalie Dwelle, Barbara Burke, Anna Joiner, Joyce Hodges-Hite,
Joe Law, Shalontay’e Richardson, Verdie Banner, Juel Waters,
Lester Brinson Jr. and Hattie Atkins.
Military Active Duty List: Lance Cpl. Adam Lanier, U.S.
Marines, 8 th & I Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.; E-4 Sr. Air
man Roy Davis, U.S. Air Force, RAF Molesworth, United King
dom; Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Marines, Twenty Nine
Palms, CA; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion, Baghdad,
Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Camp Pendleton, CA; E5
Petty Officer 2 nd Class Eric B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NS A Naples,
Italy; Airman First Class Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force
Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Barksdale
AFB, Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Divi
sion, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, 735th Air
Mobility Squadron Detachment 1 Commander, Richmond Royal
Australian AFB, Richmond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C.
Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty
Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps
Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy,
Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S.
Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National
Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf; 1st
Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Divi
sion, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General
Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS
Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl.
Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expedi
tionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young,
U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr.,
E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait;
Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas;
and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB,
Texas; and SPC Charles “C.J.” Amerson, U.S. Army, Camp
Adder, Iraq.
Jim Hite
NEWSPAPERS AND A MORNING CUP OF COFFEE
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
Most of us have served or
have had family members or
close friends who served this
country in battle. Many of those
battles were fought to protect
Europe. Those men who died on
the beaches of Normandy were
there to liberate France. Many
of our veterans came back
scarred and disabled, some
came back with memories that
would follow them throughout
their lives. Some gave all and
never came back.
Since declaring our Indepen
dence from England, the United
States of American has been
called upon time after time to
defend and rebuild Europe.
Once, the King of England was
able to boast that the Sun never
set upon his empire. How ironic,
that in today’s world, it is
Americans who pour foreign
aid, food and medicine into the
crumbling remains of that old
empire.
It was the power of American
strength and bravery that caused
the Berlin Wall to be torn down.
It was by blood shed by our fa
thers and grand fathers that Eu
ropeans walk as a free people
today.
Last Thursday night during a
rain storm, my grandson com
mented that the thunder was es
pecially loud. I remember think
ing, “Son, that’s not thunder. It’s
our veterans and patriots turn
ing over in their graves!”
President Obama stood near
the bridge between France and
Germany and apologized for
America’s arrogance. He ad
monished us for not recogniz
ing the French as progressive
leaders. He wants us to tone
down our attitude.
Mr. President, that attitude is
not arrogance. It’s not indiffer
ence. It’s not even distain for
those who continue to suckle on
the teat of American generosity,
while finding time to stop long
enough to curse us. Mr. Presi
dent, that attitude that you wit
ness, but do not recognize, is a
combination of bravery, pride,
determination and respect for
ourselves and our forefathers.
You may be correct on one
count: We don’t respect coun
tries that let us fight their wars
and continue to take our taxpay
ers earnings, yet have the gall
to tell us that we should be more
refined and Europeanized.
Mr. President, I, for one,
would appreciate it very much
if you didn’t apologize for me
to anyone, anywhere, at any
time.
Mike Lane,
Millen
- See Letters, page 8
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While it has been several weeks since I last had the opportunity
to write, the hiatus was for a good cause. It was far more important
that limited space be used for the weekly reports from Rep. Jon
Bums and Sen. J. B. Powell during the 2009 session of the Geor
gia Legislature.
And that segues into my comments this week.
I know you are aware that media have changed greatly in a very
short period of time. It was not so long ago that newspapers kept
us informed daily, along with radio and later television. Maga
zines provided weekly in-depth reporting.
Then came the explosion of television into a 24/7 information
and entertainment source, followed by the even more rapid growth
of internet online sources of information. Media were now scat
tered over a seemingly ever expanding landscape of words and
pictures while the line between news and entertainment has be
come more and more blurred.
We find also that newspapers are increasingly taking a back seat
in the information arena. Add to that the economic downturn of
the past several years leading to the present-day recession, and we
now see newspapers straggling mightily just for survival. As ad
vertising revenue falls, the number of pages available shrinks, some
papers publish less than seven days a week, and a large Midwest
ern daily provides home delivery just three days per week.
And the effect trickles down even to Jenkins County as we no
tice a slimmer Millen News.
I for one am not impressed by the "new” media. I do not like to
read a newspaper on a monitor, and while I view and listen to
news broadcasts, there is little of the depth that can be provided
only by the written word. And since they present us with many
examples of the man-on-the-street’s lack of knowledge of the world
we live in, the narrowness of outlook and ignorance of current
events and their underlying causes, the “new” media seem more
entertainment and less information.
Finally, what better way to spend time is there than with a news
paper and a morning cup of coffee at the kitchen table, on the back
porch, in a cafe, at a table outside a bakery in London or along the
River Seine in Paris.
So, freshen your cup and turn the page!
Jon Burns
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
The 2009 Legislative Session of the Georgia General Assem
bly officially adjourned Sine Die last Friday, April 3rd. We ac
complished many important items on the agenda and passed key
pieces of legislation during the 2009 session. Over the course of
40 legislative days, we worked together and devised a budget
that basically includes only the essential and necessary programs
for the state. Also during the 2009 session, with the cooperation
and input from chambers, we passed legislation that meets the
needs of the people we represent.
The main issue on our legislative agenda, like every session, is
creating a balanced budget. This year was difficult given the cur
rent economic situation we are faced with, not only as individu
als but also a state. Families across Georgia are cutting back and
we had to do the same with the budget here in Georgia. In the
late hours on Friday night, we passed HB 119 which includes an
$18.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2010. It is still awaiting the
signature from Governor Perdue. Faced with statewide revenue
shortages, we had to make some very difficult decisions about
- See Burns, page 8
J.B. Powell
SESSION ENDS WITH NO TRANSPORTATION FUNDING PLAN
In the final week of the 2009 session of the Georgia General
Assembly, lawmakers approved an $18.6 billion budget for fis
cal year 2010 and passed a package of tax cuts designed to spur
the economy. But for the second year in a row, the Senate and
House leadership failed to agree on a solution for Georgia’s
transportation funding problem.
The Senate voted two months ago on a transportation funding
plan, one of the first actions we took this session, calling for a
one-cent sales tax to be voted on, collected and invested on a
regional basis. Under SR 44, counties would have been able to
join together and levy the special sales tax - if approved by vot
ers in those counties - to address specific transportation needs,
if any, at the local level.
The House of Representatives, meanwhile, insisted on a state
wide sales tax to finance a pre-determined list of transportation
Letters policy
Letters to the editor of The Millen News are welcomed and
encouraged. These are pages of opinions, yours and ours.
The unsigned editorials generally appearing on the left side of
the editorial page represent the opinion of the newspaper and not
that of any one person on our staff. Personal columns represent
the opinions of the writers whose names appear on them and are
not to be considered the opinion of this newspaper, its manage
ment or owners. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the
newspaper’s readers.
The Millen News reserves the right to edit any and all portions
of a letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must
include the signature, address and phone number of the writer to
allow our staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should be lim
ited to 400 words.
The deadline for letters is Friday at noon. You can email letters
to themillennews@yahoo.com.
projects in selected areas. Under the House plan, HR 206, all
Georgians would have had to pay the tax, even if their local ar-
- See Powell, page 8
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