Newspaper Page Text
PACE 4A
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2008
Editor: Angela Gary
Phone: 706-367-2490
E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com
Website: www.banksnewsTODAY.com
Opinions
“Where the press is free and every tnan
able to read, all is safe.”
— Thomas Jefferson
Life without AC
becomes unbearable
It was this time a year ago that our air conditioning
unit finally decided to quit.
And while you could say that many appliances have
a key role in any household, that’s especially true for an
air conditioner. Even more so for those air conditioners
here in the South.
Our air conditioning unit died late on a Friday after
noon last summer. It was August and the temperatures
were rising to the upper 90s on most days. The humid
ity also remained unbearable.
That first night, we sweated it out (literally). We
thought that by sleeping in cooler outfits, kicking off
the blankets and bringing extra
fans into the bedroom that we
could sleep through the night.
We didn’t sleep that night.
And the next night, after
watching the thermostat steadily
climb into the low 90s inside
the house, we opted to sleep at a
family member’s house.
As we started to prepare for a
cool evening in bed, the thought
crossed my mind — how did
people survive without air con
ditioning?
My grandparents — who didn’t have the luxury of air
conditioning while living on farms as children — have
always been frugal about air conditioning their home at
night.
As a kid sleeping at their house, there were nights
when the hot, stagnant air became unbearable. I often
stayed awake those nights or slept on the bare hard
wood floor in the living room.
Modern houses in the South aren’t designed to be
without that essential air conditioning unit.
Before air conditioning started to become available
for residential use after World War II, houses were
designed with tall ceilings, open porches and plenty of
windows to promote cross circulation of air.
Today, people don’t have to worry about such design
specifications — we’ve got a man-made climate system
inside our homes.
For that matter, offices are also mini-weather sys
tems. There are days that I don’t realize how hot it is
outside — the air conditioning keeps the temperature
inside the office nice and frigid. (I’m not the one who
turns the thermostat to 62 degrees, should my boss read
this.) At times, I feel like walking outside “melts” the
sensation of coldness from my busy, typing fingers.
We’ve become so dependent (and conditioned) on air
conditioning that it’s easy to schedule our lives around
the activities that do and don’t require man-made cool
ing.
The past few weekends, we’ve considered visiting a
park in the afternoon. But, nope, it’s too hot. You either
take walks just after the sun rises or just after the sun
sets — and stay indoors during the remainder of the
day. Air conditioning also makes it possible to avoid
the outdoors when smog warnings are issued (they
probably didn’t have to worry about smog warnings 50
years ago).
As the temperatures start to climb again this week,
I just hope the new air conditioning unit does its job
— if not, we’ll pack our bags again to sleep elsewhere.
Kerri Testement is news editor of The Braselton
News, a sister publication of The Banks County News.
E-mail comments about this column to kerri@main-
streetnews.com.
The Banks County News
Founded 1968
The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga.
Mike Buffington.
Scott Buffington .
Angela Gary
Chris Bridges .. .
Sharon Hogan.. .
Anelia Chambers
Suzanne Reed ...
Co-Publisher
. Co-Publisher
Editor
Sports Editor
.... Reporter
. Receptionist
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
(SCED 547160)
Published weekly by
Main Street Newspapers, Inc.,
P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549
Subscription in county $19.75
Subscription in state $38.85
Subscription out of state $44.20
Military with APO address $42.20
Senior citizens get a $2 discount
Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga. 30547
Postmaster, send address changes to:
Subscriptions,
The Banks County News,
PO. Box 920,
Homer, Ga. 30547
Member: Georgia Press Association
Georgia Sports Writers Association
National Newspaper Association
"Four-wheeling? No, just getting ready for the fall campaign."
banksnewsTODAY.com feedback
On Chris Bridges’ July 30
column “Clock ticks toward
November vote:”
“Typical Bridges article. Just like
his buddy Bill Shipp, all he does
run off at the mouth at how terrible
Republicans are with questionable at
best logic.
“I for once would like to read
one Bill Shipp/Chris Bridges article
that lists in depth why they feel we
should vote the way they vote and not
full of reasons why not to vote for a
Republican.
“The BCN has a liberal slant like
most media outlets. I would like to
see a conservative columnist occa
sionally to offset Shipp and Bridges.
I think more people in this county
would rather hear what a conserva
tive columnist has to say anyway.
“Bridges doesn ’t like Fox News
because it's one of the very few
media outlets that isn’t liberally
slanted like MSNBC, CNN, etc. but is
actually somewhat balanced."
• ••
“Dear Mr. Bridges:
“If you are going to use a quote,
please research the quote yourself so
that you actually quote the quote. It’s
also good to use a quote that matches
the theme of your editorial. If you
researched the quote, you 'd see that it
has nothing to do with evil President
Bush calling up his SS troops, it was
said jokingly in reference to the dif
ficulties with bi-partisan efforts after
an election, I get it!!
“One more thing: I find it really
irritating that you don’t cite specific
information in your comment piece.
“Numerous books written by award
winning political journalists, college
professors and those who follow
the election process..." Who exactly
are you citing ? What books did you
read? Or are you just repeating other
peoples published comments? I can’t
believe that the only source you actu
ally cite is the comic book paper USA
Today."
• ••
“I agree with the previous com-
menter that the BCN needs a conser
vative voice for politics, both local
and national. I would like to read
smart, thoughtful, informative pieces
on problems with the election process
and what we can and should do to
protect our rights and freedoms, on
the upcoming election, on immigra
tion, etc."
“I agree with the above. Cite the
sources. It is basic grade school
research. From the sources, readers
can determine the bias or non-bias of
the writer. Your bias is clear."
(See Bridges’ column in today’s
edition for information on his
sources regarding past presidential
elections.)
Letter to the Editor
Echols family offers thanks for assistance
Dear Editor:
The family of Lloyd Echols would
like to thank everyone for their help
during our tragic loss. We would
like to say thank you to Sheriff
Charles Chapman and the deputies
that responded, Chief Pollard and the
Banks County Fire Department, the
911 operators and our neighbors that
helped with everything that happened.
To all who brought food, visited fam
ily at the funeral home, sent flowers,
made donations, or gave of their time
with the cleanup, we offer our sincere
appreciation and thanks.
Sincerely,
Marybelle Echols
Billy and Brenda Whitfield and
family
Horace and Sandra Whitfield and
family
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, questions
or suggestions relating to the coun
ty board of commissioners, county
government, county board of educa
tion and crime and courts is asked to
contact staff reporter 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 concerning the City of
Maysville should go to staff report
er Justin Poole at 706-367-2348.
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 website
is updated throughout the week and
can be accessed on the Internet at
www.banksnewsTODAY.com.
See columns by Jana Mitcham and
Sheri Stephens on page 5A
Political process
slanted against
third parties
Many of you probably aren’t aware
just what third party and independent
candidates have to go through just to be
on a ballot.
Take for example this year’s presi
dential election. A candidate running
for president as an independent in 2008
would have to collect 867,134 signatures
from voters in all 50 states in order to
have his or her name printed on the
Nov. 4 ballot.
By comparison, Republican and
Democratic nomi
nees have to col
lect a grand total
of zero signatures
to have their name
printed on the bal
lot in all 50 states
when Nov. 4 rolls
around. That’s
right. Zero.
Our own state
of Georgia is one
of the worst in
the country when
it comes to fair and open ballot access
laws. In the Peach State, a candidate
(other than a Democrat or Republican)
would have to gather 42,489 signatures
to be listed.
While it may sound easy to do, think
about it for a minute. Try going up to a
complete stranger and getting them to
sign their name and address to some
thing.
We have all become so jaded today
most people first of all assume you are
trying to sell them something. Second,
even if they understand you aren’t sell
ing anything or trying to scam them,
they might not understand if you sign a
petition to place Ralph Nader or Cynthia
McKinney or the ballot, it doesn’t mean
you don’t have to vote for them.
It’s a daunting task. Only Libertarian
Party candidate Bob Barr will be on the
ballot in Georgia this November along
with John McCain and Barack Obama.
The national Green Party attempted to
gather enough signatures but fell way
short. Nader didn’t even bother even
though he did make a recent campaign
appearance in Athens and spoke against
Georgia’s unethical ballot access laws.
Other political parties such as the
Constitution Party also did not even
bother to try and gain ballot access here
because of the unreasonable number of
signatures necessary.
So how can it be that Democrats
and Republicans have no such require
ments when other parties are shackled
with such burdens? It’s simple. The
Democrats and Republicans control
things.
At this point, what can those who
want open and fair elections in Georgia
(remember ballot access goes for elec
tions at the state and local level too. )
Write your elected officials including
our secretary of State Karen Handel.
Let each of them know that you demand
equal ballot access for all candidates,
not just those who have an “R” or “D”
by their name.
Having two choices is not enough in a
country which is supposed to have open
and fair elections. In fact, it is downright
UnAmerican in my opinion.
• ••
Several readers made comments about
my column from last week wanting me
to “cite my sources” concerning com
ments I made about the 2000 and 2004
presidential elections.
Ask and you shall receive:
“Unprecedented: The 2000
Presidential Election,” DVD documen
tary;
“Was the 2004 Presidential Election
Stolen? Exit Polls, Election Fraud
and the Official Count" by Steven F.
Freeman and Joel Bleifuss;
“What Happened in Ohio? A
Documentary Record of Theft & Fraud
in the 2004 Election ” by Robert J.
Fitrakis, Steven Rosenfield and Harvey
Wasserman;
“Down & Dirty: The Plot To Steal the
Presidency" by Jake Tapper;
“State of Denial: Bush At War, Part
III” by Bob Woodward.
Happy viewing and reading.
Chris Bridges is a reporter for The
Banks County News. Contact him at
706-367-2745 or e-mail comments to
chris@mainstreetnews.com.