Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PAGE 4A 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 Subscription in county $19.75 Subscription in state $38.85 Subscription out of state . Military with APO address $42.20 Senior citizens get a $2 discount Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga. Postmaster, send address changes to: Subscriptions, The Banks County News, P.O. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547 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.