Newspaper Page Text
Page 6 - Wednesday, December 8, 2021
The Millen News
themillennews .com
A Word From The Doc
Pants on the ground, using
speaker phones in public, and
trucks with front lifts only-these
are a few of the things I simply
do not understand. What makes
a women tick is one more, but
that’s for a future article (one
which I’ll never have the guts
to pen). Yet another is the vast
amount of entitlement I see
amongst people these days.
My mother used to say that we
are “going to Hell in a hand-
basket.” I can’t say I disagree
with that observation, and the
population’s growing sense of
entitlement is one of the top
reasons this country is soon to
lose its place atop the heap. The
‘I want it and I want it now’
attitude is more one of impa
tience than that of entitlement.
I’m referring to the ‘I want it
and I DESERVE it’ mentality.
The recent holiday had me
thinking a lot of being thankful.
It should come naturally to be
thankful for things we receive
that we want and might not
deserve, such as things all the
way from some high-falutin
gift down to every breath we
take. It’s a little less intuitive
to be thankful for things we
don’t want and may or may not
deserve. This would encom
pass any trial or tribulation laid
before us in order to strengthen
our faith and patience. But I be
lieve its harder, and sometimes
Dr. Kyle Gay
impossible, to be tmly thankful
for something we want, and also
FEEL we justly deserve.
I’m as guilty as many of you in
spoiling my kids and grandkid
(that’s still singular for now...).
The difference lies in kids that
are truly appreciative of what
they receive, whilst knowing
what they receive are gifts and
blessings and not simplyitems
to which they are entitled. The
other end of the spectrum would
be one that snatches the gift
from your hand and walks off
muttering “it’s about time.” I
seriously doubt that kid would
have any degree of thanks
in his/her little grinch heart,
because they felt they deserved
that gift and it was my obliga
tion to give it to them, so there’s
certainly no point in expressing
any thanks toward me.
On another scale we see the
same thing in play on a daily
basis in the workplace and
practically anywhere you chose
to look. People loose sight of
what are opportunities, gifts,
or blessings and mistake them
for things to which they are
entitled. No one owes you a
job, a check, food on your table,
clothes on your back, health
care, a home, or anything else.
And it seems we’re headed in
the wrong direction. People
used to expect a lot of things but
knew they had to work to get
a paycheck. Now fewer people
are working and yet making
more money. Everyone has
noticed the shortage of supplies
and limitations in businesses be
cause of the reduced workforce,
and unfortunately there’s no end
in sight. The Land of Oppor
tunity has become the Land of
Entitlement.
I recall seeing a bumper sticker
a few years back that read “The
government is not your mama.”
You can say that again, because
my mama didn’t just give me
an allowance to go blow on
whatever I wanted without
working for it. It may have been
some tasks as menial as clean
ing my room, mowing the grass,
not killing my little sister, or
crawling around in the bushes
picking up those stupid pecans
(as you can tell they all seemed
like insurmountable tasks at the
time).
My memory is slipping these
days but believe it or not I have
a second recollection. It’s worth
your time to google and find the
two-minute YouTube clip of a
grasshopper singing “The World
Owes Me a Living.” (That tests
the limit of my techno-skills
but do what I do in such cases
- look for the nearest four-year-
old to help you out). It’s related
to a Disney movie (back when
they were right wing) adapted
from one of Aesop’s fables.
SPOILER ALERT- the moral
of the story is the grasshopper
eventually learns that instead of
the world owing him a living,
he owes the world a living- and
maybe even someone a little
higher.
New report ranks
Georgia highways 14th in
U.S.
-Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia’s highway system ranks 14th in the nation in overall cost-
effectiveness and condition, according to a new study.
The Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based libertarian think
tank, in its Annual Highway Report placed Georgia near the
bottom in urban fatality rate but ranked the Peach State No. 1 in
condition of urban arterial highways and third in condition of rural
arterial roads.
“Georgia spends around the national average on its highway
system, but this spending is being effectively used to produce
high-quality pavement conditions and well-maintained bridges,”
the report stated.
“One of the state’s biggest weaknesses - urban traffic congestion
- is being addressed by building a network of variably-priced man
aged lanes in metro Atlanta that could improve the state’s traffic
congestion in future reports.”
In safety and perfomiance categories, Georgia ranked 28th in
overall fatality rate, seventh in structurally deficient bridges, 34th
in traffic congestion, 16th in urban Interstate pavement condition,
and 23rd in rural Interstate pavement condition.
Georgia spends $66,994 per state-controlled mile of highway, 20th
in total spending per mile and 19th in capital and bridge costs per
mile.
Georgia’s highways compare favorably to the neighboring states
of Florida, Alabama and South Carolina but placed behind North
Carolina and Tennessee.
Georgia ranked high among the nation’s most populous states, eas
ily besting California, New York, Illinois and Florida, and ranking
just ahead of Texas.
“To improve in the report’s overall rankings, Georgia could reduce
its urban fatality rate and urban traffic congestion,” said Baruch
Feigenbaum, the report’s lead author and senior managing director
of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation.
“The state made progress reducing its administrative costs and
improving rural arterial pavement quality leading to a 12-spot
improvement in the rankings.”
LAWTON
continued from page 4
the 9th was originally desig
nated the 7th, and all unit papers
reference that designation.
However, by the time the paper
work reached the Confederate
powers that be, the 7th designa
tion was already taken by an
other Alabama regiment, so they
were redesignated the 9th. The
7th aka the 9th Alabama had
also had a hard year. The reason
Dobbs was in command was a
result of almost all his superiors
being captured or killed at the
Battle of Shelbyville the year
before, where he himself was
wounded.
But we know exactly what the
9th was supposed to be doing
around Millen and Lawton:
Dobbs specifically references
dispatches ordering the destruc
tion of the bridge across Buck
Head Creek at the church, and
‘other’ bridges. Thus, Capt.
Dobbs and the 9th Alabama
burned the bridge at Buck Head
Creek Church, and in accor
dance with orders, fell back
while constantly skirmishing
with scouts and cavalry from
units screening the 20th corps
advance. It seems clear that
General Wheeler had ordered
the 9th Alabama, under the
command of Captain S.R
Dobbs, to harass foraging
parties, scouts, and otherwise
engage in asymmetric warfare
against the oncoming Union
columns. As Union forces ap
proached, on December 2nd,
Dobbs fell back to Lawton
Station where the 9th Ala
bama sheltered under fire for a
period before withdrawing into
Screven County towards Beaver
Dam Creek.During this retreat,
Dobbs and the 9th Alabama
fought at least one, and likely
two, sharp engagements against
Union pursuers inside what is
now Magnolia Springs State
Park. Which we’ll address
next week. Despite the 9th
Alabama’s small size—likely
around a hundred troopers—and
their pursuers who were prob
ably roughly equal in number,
these encounters left their mark
in the soil under the pines at
Magnolia Springs, in the form
of archaeological evidence
Georgia Southern students
uncovered this Spring and Sum
mer, and from which we’re still
untangling the story of the sharp
and short conflict fought around
these dates in December 1864.
November Students of the
Month announced
The JCES staff members nominated students for the August “FLY Students of the Month” to reward
academic excellence and behavior. Students received a Planters Electric t-shirt and lunch provided
by the Millen Dairy Queen.
m
-fM
■ ill If 2
m i 4|
w m *
Front Row: Unique Major, Khloe’ Sea, Desirae Daughtry, Kimber Brackin, Jarrell Wright, Camieo-
Lariscy, Adrian Maust, Audrey Shockley, Jaylin Lockett
Back Row: Joseph Davis, Frank Williams, Melanie Perryman, William Ward, Addilee Newton,
Chanen Conway, Jennifer Bello-Linares, Sueiry Vasquez
Front Row: Charleigh Sasser, Jakob Wadley, Kennedy Thomas, Broderick Moody, Amber Oglesby,
KadrianBessent, Luis Mora Mendoza, Emily Wright
Back Row: Jordan Hemphill, Leia Mendez-Russell, Luke Cooper, Makayla Smith, Amber Sapp,
Savannah Oglesby, Ananias Jimenez, Trinity Hill
Herrman
wins raffle
Debra Herrman has won the
Traegar Pellet grill raffle
sponsored by the North Jenkins
Volunteer Fire Department. The
county’s volunteer fire depart
ments are run almost entirely
on donations and fund raisers.
Congratulations Debra! Pic
tured are Eddie Dickey, Debra
Herrman, Michael Turner and
Chief Wally Sasser, (photo by
Debra Perryman)
EAGLE
continued from page 4
cannot free ourselves to just
love. There is too much strife
and violence in the world that
is interfering with our children
while they are still trying to
learn how to be.
I have always considered
our school a safe place. That
conviction was shaken a bit a
few weeks ago. But now our
school is an even safer place.
And although we cannot control
what these students see and
hear outside of this place, we
can be a safety net inside. Help
us in your homes and in the
community by having conversa
tions about what is appropriate.
Encourage goodness, love, and
self control. Discipline starts by
example.
Let’s have some peace, love,
and joy - not just for this season,
but in them all!
Call For A Free
Estimate
TODAY!
706-526-8686
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