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PAGE 4, JUNE 15, 2009, THE ISLANDER
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THE ISLANDER (USPS 002430), A
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and Glynn County’s only weekly newspa
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County by Permar Publications, Inc.,
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Established 1972
Matthew J. Permar - Publisher
Elise J. Permar - Publisher 1972-2003
Gertrude Bradshaw - Co-Editor 1972-1991
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Pamela P. Shierling
912-265-9654
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No Smiling, No Hugging
June 5, 2009 - Things sure have
changed since I was a kid. It used to be
okay to smile. Encouraged even. And
hugging someone was considered nice,
friendly, compassionate.
Today, in my home state of Virginia,
the Department of Motor Vehicles, or
DMV, is discouraging smiles. No, not
just discouraging smiles, wiping them
out entirely.
The DMV is telling people not to
smile — or say “cheese” — when get
ting their photos taken for their driv
ers' licenses. If they do smile, the pic
ture cannot go on their license and they
have to take another.
And all over the country, public
schools are banning hugging.
Why the official suppression of
friendliness and good cheer?
Well, in schools the administrators
apparently cannot tell a friendly hug
from a sexual grope, or a jovial high-
five from a bullying slap.
So they're outlawing all touching.
When I was in school, I don't remem
ber any rules against hugging or hold
ing hands or even kissing — unless
folks got carried away. And we trusted
teachers and principals to make the
judgment as to what was going too far.
Now, any touching invites what one
administrator calls a “gray area.”
The DMV may have a better excuse
to suppress smiles and grins and such:
They are developing facial recognition
software, and smiles get in the way.
It's all to protect us from identity theft,
they say.
And yet isn't it odd that protecting
us makes us less human? Can that
really be protection? □
Calendar
Tuesday, June 16, 7 p.m. The Golden
Isles Woodworkers will hold its regu
lar monthly meeting at 22 Woodfall
Court, Eagle Crest Subdivision, Bruns
wick, Georgia. This months meeting
will feature a demonstration on making
wooden cooking utensils by Roy Yarger.
Details 265-4749
Thursday, June 18, 7:00 p.m. The
Lower Altamaha Historical Society will
hold their monthly meeting at Fort
King George Historic Site.
Saturday, July 4, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Fourth of July Tea Party at Gascoigne
Park/Bluff. □
Common Sense
By Paul Jacob
I Don’t Rule the World
June 8,2009 - Last week I had some
fun with Judge Sonia Sotomayor's com
ment to the effect that she was able to
make better judicial decisions than a
white male because of her experiences
as a Latina.
I don't take offense “as a white
male.” I object as a rational human
being.
But while Judge Sotomayor contin
ues to catch flak, I must say, bashing
white males has become rather com
monplace.
Being rational, not so much.
For instance, Kathleen Parker, a
usually reasonable columnist, had this
to say in defending Sotomayor's state
ment:
“Could a white man get away with
saying something comparable about a
Latina? Of course not. After Latinas
have run the world for 2,000 years, they
won't be able to say it ever again.”
So the reason it is open season on
white males is because we run the
world?
You see, I'm a white male and I've
never ruled the world. Not even for one
minute.
I don't even want to rule the world.
I don't even want to dictatorially rule
my own house — that's done by a a
nice oligarchy of my wife and me, with
a barking veto from the dog.
I'd like my freedom, though, and to
have a democratic say in my govern
ment.
Oh, and to be judged on my demon
strated character . . . not blamed for
what some other guy with similar skin
hues did two thousand years ago.. □
A Law to Be Named Later
June 10, 2009 - Nevada's legislators
have long desired to do something that
they haven't been able to do.
I understand. It happens in baseball.
Two teams want to trade a player, but
can't decide who to trade for that play
er. So, one team hands over, say, their
left-fielder for “a player to be named
later” from the other team. These deals
require tremendous trust.
I wonder how much the people of
Nevada trust their state legislature. I
wonder because what their legislators
want is to make the ballot initiative
process much, much harder to use.
Years ago, the federal courts struck
down a requirement that petition sig
natures be gathered in three-fourths
of Nevada's counties. So the state leg
islature passed a new law requiring
signatures from every county.
Yes, the court struck that law down,
too.
Nevada solons came back with leg
islation mandating that petitions be
gathered in each of 42 legislative dis
tricts. This makes a petition drive actu
ally 42 drives — greatly increasing
costs and the opportunity for error.
Worried that scheme wouldn't pass
court review, legislators amended the
bill to require petitions to come from
every U.S. congressional district. But
only for this election cycle. There's a
kicker: By 2011, legislators will cre
ate “petition districts.” How many dis
tricts? They'll decide later ... as many
as they determine can get away with.
The bill passed in the last days of
the just-completed session. It's sort of a
policy to be named later. □
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