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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.