Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JUNE 4, 2009 Opinions Frankly Speaking frankgillispie671@msn.com By Frank Gillispie Some people have no respect for Constitution There is one single authority in this nation that controls the right of government to make laws. This applies whether the law is for a local community or for the nation. That is the Constitution of the United States of America. One of its primary functions is to protect our God given freedoms such as the freedom of speech and the freedom to peacefully assemble. Recent news headlines reveal that some people have no respect for the Constitution or our natural rights. For example: ‘Texas Woman Told to Remove ‘Offensive’ American Flag From Office" Friday, May 29, 2009, at Kindred Flospital in Mansfield, Texas. This lady's husband and two sons had served in the U.S. military and her daughter was currently assigned duty in Iraq. She had put the flag on her office wall as an expression of her support for Memorial Day. That was a form of speech protected by the Constitution. After a confrontation with her employers, she was allowed to put the flag back on the wall, but there should have never been any question of her right to put it up in the first place. A similar situation involving a former U.S. Marine has not yet been resolved. "Homeowners Association Threatens to Tow Vietnam Veteran’s Car Over Marines Decals" Thursday, May 28, 2009, in Dallas, Texas. Frank Larison was showing his support for the Marines by displaying seven decals on his vehicle. The local homeowners deemed the decals to be advertising which is prohibited by association rules. So they made the demand that he remove them even though many other association members had bumper stickers and decals supporting various causes, and political parties. Larison has hired a lawyer to defend his constitution ally guaranteed right to freedom of speech. And then there is this headline: ‘‘Couple Ordered to Stop Holding Bible Study at Home Without Permit” Thursday, May 28, 2009 in San Diego, California. The couple was having a few friends come to their home for a meal and a discussion about the bible. The county mled that they were guilty of making improper use of their homes and that they must apply for a very expensive permit before they can continue the prac tice. This case violates a long list of Constitutionally protected rights. It includes our freedom of religion, freedom to peacefully assemble and our right to be secure in our homes. The absurdity of these headlines is that they appeared at the time we are remembering those hundreds of thousands of men and women who died defending our rights to these freedoms. The Declaration of Independence, the first document on which our government is based, clearly states that we are ‘‘endowed by our creator" with personal rights, and the Constitution verifies and protects those rights. No level of government has the right to interfere with those rights. Yet the headlines above are just a small example of the way those rights are being stolen away by government at all levels. While President Obama is seeking a replacement for a Supreme Court Justice, he needs to assure us that his selection will be someone who will actively protect those rights based on the Constitution, not her personal ‘‘empathy.’’ Our rights come from God and are protected by the Constitution. But we have to actively protect those rights or some government agency will steal them away. Never give up that fight! Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frankgillispie671@ msn.com. His website can be accessed at http://frank- gillispie. tripod, coin/ The Madison County Journal (Merged with The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News, January 2006) P.O. Box 658 Hwy. 29 South Danielsville, Georgia 30633 Phone: 706-795-2567 Fax: 706-795-2765 Email: zach@mainstreetnews.com ZACH MITCHAM, Editor MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager BEN MUNRO, Reporter/Sports Editor MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher FRANK GILLISPIE, Founder of The Journal. Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year State of Georgia $38.85/year Out-of-state $44.50/year Military personnel with APO address $42.50/year Senior rate $2 off all above rates College student discount rate $2 off all above rates POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Looking at the $65 billion scam artist There are swindlers. And then, of course, there’s Bemie Madoff, who “made off’ with $65 billion in investors’ funds. The biggest Wall Street crook in history will be sentenced June 29 for his crimes. It will be hard for anyone to top such an epic criminal enterprise. You might not be able to save GM with that kind of money. But you could bail out California. I’m truly puzzled about how this happened and how Madoff wasn’t dis covered sooner, especially considering that his Ponzi scheme apparently began in the early 1990s. I may never really understand, but a recent Frontline special on PBS offered some interesting details about the crimi nal setup. For instance, Madoff’s insistence on snail mail over electronic financial state ments was a clear sign that something was fishy. Madoff would send out statements by mail to investors, but he refused to offer quicker electronic statements com mon at other firms, which would have allowed clients to keep more current tabs on their investments. “... The fact that Madoff sent trading confinnations in the mail two to five days after a trade was reportedly made allowed hint the benefit of hindsight, like betting on a horse race after it had begun," the Frontline report stated. So if you bothered to look at the state ment, it would look like Madoff had In the Meantime zach@ mainstreet news.com By Zach Mitcham made some great decisions with your money, because he sat back and created the statements after the trading for the day was actually over. Of course, Madoff wasn’t investing the money given to him, but deposit ing investors’ money into his business account at Chase Manhattan Bank, then funneling out some of that cash whenev er investors wanted a withdrawal, while mailing out bogus information about fictitious investments. This worked as long as too many people didn’t request returns on their investments at once. Investors, who received kickbacks for convincing others to give their money to Madoff, apparently paid little attention to the details. They were more interest ed in the bottom line, in the appearance of easy earnings. The investor who did ask for more details was quickly put on the defensive. “I remember one phone call I made,” said investor Joan Sinkin. "He said, ‘If you don’t like what I do, we’ll send your money back." It was very intimi dating because, first of all, I didn’t want the money back. And I didn’t know what was so terrible about the question I was asking.” Madoff also insisted on secrecy. For instance, an investment advisor who services more than 15 clients is required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but Madoff serviced over 3,200 clients without reg istering. "... Madoff had one condition he had to impose on everyone,” according to the Frontline report. "Funds were forbidden from fisting him as an investment advi sor in any marketing material." According to the Frontline report, the SEC knew that Madoff was unregis tered and servicing over 3,200 clients, and yet they still avoided investigating him. Meanwhile, accounting for his massive finn was handled by “a one- man operation in this strip mall an hour’s drive north of New York.” He told people who questioned his secre tive accounting practices that he didn’t want to expose his trading techniques to competitors - which was, of course, hogwash. In 2000, a man named Harry Markopolos contacted the SEC about Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Markopolos examined the numbers and Madoff’s amazing ‘'ability" to get a good return even in a down market. "I gave them (the SEC) a road map and a flashlight to find the fraud, and they didn't go where I told them to go," said Markopolos. In January 2006, the SEC lawyers did question Madoff, but, amazingly, two years later they cleared him. Without the stock market crash, when so many investors grabbed for their money at once, Madoff may never have been exposed. When the market col- lased, he admitted the scam to his sons, who turned him in. The government surely wasn’t up to the task of uncover ing his dirt. They were led to the mess and still didn’t do anything. For years, many people looked at Madoff and believed that he worked some sort of magic. "How do you split an atom?” one person close to Madoff asked. “I know that you can split them, I don’t know how you do it. How does an airplane fly? I don’t ask." That comment offers some insight on why the scheme worked — and why scams, in general, are appealing. If you’re enjoying a boat ride, you don’t want to think about the structure of the vessel and whether it will actually stay afloat. You leave such details to the skipper. And if you’re getting money for noth ing in the turbulent stock market, it’s easy to send your fortune with the captain of the steady ship. Sadly, in this case, there was no boat. Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal. Letters to the Editor Raising literacy leads to stronger community Dear Editor: Thank you for all the recent letters talking of the value of lit eracy and books. I am so thankful that my own parents helped me by reading to us at a young age. I’ve certainly made my share of bad choices in life, maybe still do and will, but I believe it is educa tion that gives us the chance to recover from those bad choices. And, it is that early foundation in reading that helps us to get that education. If there is one thing that can be done to return thanks, it is to support other youth in get ting that solid foundation. We’ve read here recently from experts that there is a direct link between a child’s reading level in third grade and their odds of finishing school. Georgia has the third highest drop out rate in the nation. That must be unaccept able. That costs us money! It seems that the further back to the root of our county’s low literacy we can work from, the better our results will be. That’s why the Rotary Club of Madison County has taken on this four-part lit eracy project to help the young est in our community to do better in their first years of school. Whether they are from a family that has many books already or from a household with no books at all, this cost effective program has shown powerful results. If you are reading this, you are probably one of the ones that can most help this program. Find some way to get involved in rais ing literacy in Madison County! Recently, several merchants in our communities have agreed to help Rotarians sign up children for the Ferst Foundation free book program. Forms can now be picked up at the Dollar Generals in Hull, Colbert, Danielsville and Ila. They are also available at the Food Lane and Carmine’s restaurant in Comer, as well as the Marketplace in Danielsville. Several individuals have offered to take forms to not only their own churches, but to others as well. In just the first year, the Madison County Rotary Club, with the support and the help of the community, now has over 500 children under five signed up for the “books to the home” program. We still have over 1,200 kids to find. But, the good news is that when kindergarten starts next August, more than one out of four of those children going to their first day of school will have already been receiving books delivered each month free to their home. If we want to bring business to Madison County, raise literacy. If we want to lower crime, raise literacy. If we want to lower poverty or increase quality of living, raise literacy. Join the PTO, work with the Partners in Education, help the Rotarians, read to a classroom, read to your children, thank a teacher and ask how you can help. Every thing we do in that direction will return tenfold and honor those who taught us. Thank you, Chris Young Service Chair Madison County Rotary Club What is wrong with a church reaching younger generations? Dear Editor: In response to the letter stat ing our churches are no longer churches on the basis of what kind of music they play and that people dance is completely wrong. Where in the Bible does it say the music must be as follows to be a perfect church? Each church shall consist of one piano and one organ. Each church shall have a choir direc tor that stands up keeping time with his right hand/arm. No church member shall clap his/her hands and/or sway to the beat of the music. Only music inside provided hymnal will be performed. I’ll tell you, it doesn’t. What is wrong with a church that plays music that reaches to the younger generation of this world? The generation that simply needs God the most! The generation that lacks from open prayer in school. The generation where the home is riddled with divorce and abuse. God can work through this gen eration to reach other teens and even their parents! The parents that might be on the edge of divorce but a child brings God into the house and helps save the marriage. What’s wrong with a church that is just on fire for God? What is wrong with a church that gets up on its feet and let’s God know the reason why they rejoice? What’s wrong with swaying to the music and dancing to the beat of the music? Why is it so wrong for a church to make a great joyful noise for the Lord? Now is the time for the church to reach out to each and every person it can! I can tell you now, my church has not failed me! I was tired of “church” after years of being involved heavily with my one piano and one organ church. A church that if the music didn’t come from the provided hymnal, you didn't sing it! I grew very dis heartened with this and I left God's path for a long time. Ever since I've found a church that is truly doing God’s work and reaching out to all generations! A church that praises God every Sunday with a loud rocking band that gets us jacked for the sermon! If it hadn’t been for a rockin’ church like the one my family attends, I would still be on a path to nowhere. My rockin’ church didn’t fail me ... It saved me! Sincerely, Kevin Cheek Hull Why were special ed classes left out of yearbook? Dear Editor: I am the parent of a sixth grade special education student at Madison County Middle School. I purchased a yearbook in October for $39.50. I thought this was little expensive, but chose to buy the yearbook as something I would keep forever. On Monday, I found out that students had received their year books the previous Friday. I was concerned that my son’s yearbook was lost or had been misplaced. I found my son’s yearbook on a table in one of the yearbook advi sor’s classroom. They assumed he was absent when no one picked up his yearbook on Friday. I was dis appointed that he didn’t have the opportunity to have his yearbook signed on Friday like all the other students did, but at least he had it now. That disappointment quickly turned to anger when I realized that my son and his class had been left out of the yearbook. Two special education classes had been omitted. When I talked with one of the yearbook advisors, she blamed Lifetouch, the company that makes the yearbook. When I talked with Lifetouch, they blamed the school. When my husband and I met with the principal, we were told that the yearbook advisors are basically volunteers that make about $200 to work on the yearbook. I believe whether you are paid or not, when you take on a job such as this, you should do a good job at it, or at least take total responsibility when something this major goes wrong. That has not bee the case here. No one is willing to say that it is their fault that my son’s picture, or any of his classmates’ pictures, are not in his first middle school yearbook. If no one can tell me who is at fault, or willing to take the blame for this mess up, then how can they be sure that this will never happen again? I have never asked or expected special treatment for my son. I want him to be treated like every other student at the middle school. My son does not belong to clubs, or play sports for his school. However, he does participate in Special Olympics four times a year. There is not one single pic ture of any Special Olympic activ ity that any of these students have done this year. Both MCHS and any elementary schools that have special education classes include these pictures in their yearbooks. I believe schools should be proud of all students and include all of them in their yearbooks, not just those in regular education classrooms. Just because you have your child’s picture made at school, buy those pictures and buy a yearbook, don’t assume your child’s picture will be in that yearbook. Maybe the school or someone at Lifetouch can explain to my son and all his classmates why they can’t find their pictures in their yearbooks. Sincerely, Tina Smith Comer