Newspaper Page Text
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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2008
Editor: Angela Gary
Phone: 706-367-2490
E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com
Website: www.mainstreetnews.com
Opinions
“Where the press is free and every man
able to read, all is safe.”
— Thomas Jefferson
Losing my voice
and spring cleaning
ou don’t realize how important talking
is until you can’t do it any more. I found
myself whispering last week after my
first encounter with laryngitis.
I lost my voice last Wednesday. That morning I
just went about my business as usual and spoke to
several people at the office. I just did it in a whis
per. You’re sure to get some odd looks when you
whisper. People also often respond in a whisper.
One of the reporters asked when someone would
be arriving to work. When I answered, she stepped
a little closer and whispered,
“Why are we whispering?”
Another person asked me a
question about a photo. After I
responded, she said, “Why are
you whispering about photos?”
I finally put a sticker on my
sweater that said, “I lost my
voice.” This led to a co-worker
putting a sticker on his shirt
that said, “I lost my mind.”
When you have laryngitis
you aren’t supposed to talk at
all — not even a whisper. This is pretty hard to
do when you are at work. I did stay home alone all
weekend and didn’t talk at all. I think that is what
finally brought back my voice.
A weekend home alone without my voice left
me with few options. I slept, read, watched TV
and ate. When I got tired of that, I decided to do
some spring cleaning. I tackled my closet with
plans to get rid of clothes I hadn’t worn in a while.
Do you know how hard that is to do? I have
jeans in three sizes and I just felt I had to hold on
to all of them. Weight is always fluctuating. Who
knows when you are going to go up or down a
size. All the jeans went back in the closet.
Then, I decided if I hadn’t worn a shirt in the
past year, it was time to get rid of it. Also hard to
do. I held up one shirt and found myself thinking,
“I might need an orange shirt with huge yellow
flowers on it for some occasion.” When will I need
an orange shirt with yellow flowers on it? Why do
I even have a shirt like this in my closet? I don’t
know but it went back in.
I had only pulled out a few things to pass on
when Sunday arrived. My sister came by for a
visit and was able to help me pull out a few more
items to get rid of. All it takes is for your sister to
say, “No, looks like an old woman” or “No, looks
like a maternity top” for a shirt to quickly end up
in the discard pile.
My laryngitis may have been hard to get around
at work but at least it spurred me on to a little
spring cleaning.
angela
gary
Angela Gary is editor of The Banks County
News. E-mail comments about this column
AngieEditor@aol.com.
The Banks County News
Founded 1968
The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher /Ad. Manager
Angela Gary Editor
Chris Bridges Sports Editor
Sharon Hogan Reporter
Anelia Chambers Receptionist
Suzanne Reed Church News
Phones (all 706 area code):
Angela Gary Phone 367-2490
Angela Gary Fax 367-9355
Homer Office Phone 677-3491
Homer Office Fax 677-3263
Sports Phone 367-2745
Sports Fax 367-9355
www.mainstreetnews.com
(SCED 547160)
Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.,
P.O. Box 908,
Jefferson, Ga. 30549
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Member: Georgia Press Association
Georgia Sports Writers Association
"The General Assembly wants to negotiate on the
tax cuts, Governor... First point: do you want
your China ticket round-trip or one-way?"
Brain vitamins for Democrats
D r. Drew Westen of Emory
University may be ped
dling just the kind of
medicine the Democratic Party of
Georgia needs, but it’s a bit expen
sive.
Since November, as a consultant
for the Peach State’s Democrats,
psychologist Westen has collected
about $36,000 from the DPG for
imparting such bits of wisdom as
this one:
“Behind every campaign lies
a vision of the mind — often
implicit — rarely articulated and
generally invisible to the naked eye.
Traces of that vision can be seen in
everything a campaign does or does
not do.”
If you want more, pick up Dr.
Westen’s latest book, “The Political
Brain: The Role of Emotion in
Deciding the Fate of the Nation.” It
explains how emotions figure into
successful politics.
If the author maintains his con
sulting contract with the Georgia
Democrats past the 2008 election,
he will have billed the party more
than $100,000. Some Democratic
candidates for House seats are boil
ing at the expenditure. They believe
the cash-strapped party could better
spend its funds on tried-and-true
campaign approaches.
Dr. Westen was the talk of the
political consultants’ community
last year. Somehow he had dis
covered that rational appeals often
do not work with Democratic or
Republican voters — so why not
try irrational pitches?
Westen — his friends call him
“Dr. Drew” — devotes an entire
chapter of his book to crafting
challenges to the gun-rights posi-
tion of the
National Rifle
Association.
Whoa! Is that
correct? Dr.
Drew wants to
put down the
NRA. Where
does he think
he is, Lower
Manhattan? Just
because kids
mow down other
kids in parking lots doesn’t mean
the NRA is bad.
The most successful Democratic
candidates often wear NRA buttons.
Govs. Roy Barnes and Zell Miller
were NRA guys. The NRA helped
Georgia Attorney General Thurbert
Baker, a Democrat, in all three of
his campaigns. Democrats run
ning statewide or in rural Georgia
probably won’t find much use for
Westen’s guidance on gun control.
Remember, in areas south of the
Farmers’ Market and north of Big
Shanty, guns are us.
Westen also offers some enlight
ened insights on past Democratic
disasters, including incumbent Sen.
Max Cleland losing his post to
Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss
in 2002. He dissects John Kerry’s
dismantling at the hands of George
W. Bush in 2004. Westen, like many
other commentators, notes that
Democrats have an established tradi
tion of failing to respond effectively
to Republican attacks, or of declin
ing to play the necessary hardball to
win.
In another medium, Westen pro
vides advice to Democratic presi
dential hopeful Barack Obama on
handling the incendiary and racist
comments of his former pastor.
Writing on the Huffington Post
blog, Westen dismisses the problems
created for Obama, stating, “The
meaning of Obama’s loyalty to his
pastor in the face of enormous pres
sure to cast him aside is not likely
to be lost on white males who value
strength, courage, honor and loyal
ty.” That sounds nice, but defending
a pastor who curses America is not
likely to create support for a candi
date anywhere in the white South.
Then again, remember that Westen
dabbles only lightly in rationality.
Before we delve further into
Westen’s treatment plan for Georgia
Democrats, we ought to consider the
following:
—The state’s presidential primary
turnout clearly indicated new enthu
siasm for Democrats. Record turn
outs were recorded among young
voters and minority voters.
— Holding on to and expanding
the party vigor through the elec
tion will be no easy job. A change
in campaign approaches and better
candidate recruiting may provide
the answers. Last year’s left-wing
nuts and racial firebrands may be
this year’s mainstream voters among
Democrats. So before state-level
Democrats trash Weston’s pointy-
headed theories, perhaps the donkey
brain trust should give his prescrip
tions a try. No telling what a few
more dollars spent on Westen might
buy.
You can reach award-winning
political columnist and author Bill
Shipp at P. O. Box 2520, Kennesaw,
GA 30156, e-mail: shipp1@bell-
south.net, or Web address: billship-
ponline.com.
bill
shipp
Letters to the Editor policy given
The Banks County News has estab
lished a policy on printing Letters to
the Editor.
We must have an original copy of
all letters that are submitted to us for
publication.
Members of our staff will not type
out or hand-write letters for people
who stop by the office and ask them
to do so.
Letters to the Editor must also be
signed with the address and phone
number of the person who wrote
them.
The address and phone number
will be for our verification purposes
only and will not be printed unless
the writer requests it. Mail to,
The Banks County News, P.O. Box
920, Homer, Ga. 30547.
E-mailed letters will be accepted,
but we must have a contact phone
number and address. Letters that are
libelous will not be printed.
Letters may also be edited to
meet space requirements. Anyone
with questions on the policy
is asked to contact editor Angela
Gary at AngieEditor@aol.com or by
calling 706-367-2490.
News department contact numbers
Anyone with general story ideas,
complaints or comments about the
news department is asked to call edi
tor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490.
She can also be reached by e-mail
at AngieEditor@aol.com.
Anyone with comments, ques
tions or suggestions relating to the
county board of commissioners,
county government, county board of
education, Maysville City Council
and crime and courts is asked to
contact staff member Chris Bridges
at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at
chris@mainstreetnews.com.
Bridges also is sports edi
tor of the paper and covers local
high school, middle school and
recreation sports.
Anyone with comments, ques
tions or suggestions relating to
Alto, Lula, Baldwin and Gillsville,
should contact Sharon Hogan at
706-367-5233 or by e-mail at
sharon@mainstreetnews.com.
Calls for information about the
church page should go to Suzanne
Reed at 706-677-3491. Church
news may also be e-mailed to
churchnews@mainstreetnews.com.
The Banks County News web
site can also be accessed at
www.mainstreet.news.com.
Enjoyment of
nature helps
life's hectic pace
I t happens to all of us. We become
so consumed by our work obliga
tions that we hardly take time to
breathe, much less sit back and enjoy
the smaller things of life.
I’m as guiltly of that as anyone. If
I’m not at the local ballfield covering a
game, then at a local government meet
ing keeping track of the latest happen
ings on the news side of things in our
county. Being hunched over at my com
puter — literally — causes major back
and neck pain. So much so that my chi
ropractor jokes that he has to sit down
and rest after trying to release the ten
sion every couple
of weeks. (Maybe
he’s not kidding
as sometimes I see
him trying to catch
his breath after
working on my
back which he has
described as “con
crete” in the past.)
That’s why
it’s important for
everyone — myself
included — to try
and relax from time
to time. We all have interests which pro
vide a diversion from our daily routines.
Some of mine include watching old
football games and following state and
national elections. (I won’t attempt to
list all of my side interests but feel free
to look up your friendly columnist’s My
Space page for a complete listing.)
One hobby which has been increas
ingly helpful with battling stress for me
has been helping take care of a constant
ly growing flock of birds which have
moved into the area in the backyard of
my better half’s residence. What started
off as a few birds passing through from
time to time has grown to be quite a
flock.
I’ve learned that birds, even wild
ones, can be demanding, just like any
domesticated pet. We now are likely to
see any number of redbirds stopping in.
Doves are also a frequent visitor as well
as a few species which I cannot identify.
I am by no means an expert on birds
although I have learned they can keep
you running to the grocery store for
additional bags of seed.
In addition to the birds, a family of
squirrels has also taken part in the daily
feeding ritual. As soon as I make it back
to the house and look through the blinds,
two, sometimes three, squirrels can be
seen helping themselves to the bird seed.
I’m not sure which of the seeds the
squirrels enjoy most, but they certainly
dive right in with equal enthusiasm.
My better half has commented on
how fat the birds are getting. She jokes
that pretty soon they won’t be able to
fly away. To be honest, I don’t think
they fly that far now because it only
takes them a matter of seconds to appear
when a new helping of seed is placed
out in several containers.
They can be heard rustling and mov
ing about just a few feet away in the
woods as I leave their latest offering.
There are times, I sit down on the
back porch and simply watch the birds
(and squirrels) as they scamper up and
take part in their most recent meal. They
seem appreciative, it seems, and some
times I think they even look my way and
give a chirp of thanks.
I admit the colorful birds are the most
enjoyable to the eye, but I enjoy know
ing each one is getting its fill of seed for
the day.
We have also been known to leave
an apple on the chain link fence which
surrounds the backyard. (The fence is
meant to keep the family dogs from
straying but have no fear. They pay no
attention to the birds. See the previously
mentioned part about being too fat to do
much of anything.)
Nature is a great stress reliever
although one which I have only tapped
into recently. It was also one that my
chiropractor no doubt wishes I would
spend more time enjoying. Perhaps then
I wouldn’t give him such a massive
workout.
Chris Bridges is a reporter for The
Banks County News. Contact him at
706-367-2745 or e-mail comments to
chris@mainstreetnews.com.