Newspaper Page Text
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL THURSDAY. JULY 21.2016 — PAGE 5A
Opinions
Keep the news
in ‘news feeds’
News is a part of our
social lives, and it should
continue to be.
Facebook, the mega-so-
cial networking website,
announced recently its plans
to redo users" News Feeds.
In an effort to “build a better
news for you,’’ Facebook
plans to rework its News
Feeds placing more empha
sis on posts from Mends
and family.
The changes will likely
impact Facebook “pages,’’
resulting in lower traffic
and views for posts. These
pages can be anything from
local newspapers or major
national media groups, to
non-profit organizations or
city government pages.
While there’s nothing
wrong with wanting to
show more updates from
friends and family, our
social lives contain more
than just those people.
In many cases, the posts
from news pages are far
more relevant to me than
the pictures my Mends post
of food and babies. Often,
I’d rather read a story about
something going on around
me than see a status update
from a family member
thanking people for wishing
them a “happy birthday.”
Even among relationships
with friends and family,
there’s more than what is
posted on Facebook. Our
relationships are far more
complex than a status
update or photo gallery.
They involve memories
and pastimes, but they also
involve both local and glob
al events that connect us all
with the rest of the world.
When Mends and family
meet for a reunion or dinner,
rarely does the discussion
solely focus on something
you saw on each other’s
Facebook pages. You also
talk about current events,
interesting news and the
things going on around you.
Facebook is responding
to an influx of stories and
postings from its 1.65 bil
lion users. This has creat
ed “far too much informa
tion for any one person to
consume.”
But the problem isn’t
the number of posts being
made.
The real problem is irre
sponsible Facebook users
(including myself) who
carelessly accept every
“friend” request they get
and “like” every page they
see. When you have over
1,000 Facebook Mends and
“like” over 100 different
Guest
column
alex@
mainstreet
news.com
By Alex Pace
pages, of course, your news
feed is going to be filled
with updates you don’t care
about. When you place an
emphasis on quantity over
quality, quantity is what you
get.
Facebook users should
take responsibility for their
own individual accounts
and their own News Feeds
instead of having Facebook
decide what interests them.
Individual users can ulti
mately control what they
see in their News Feed,
which the company pointed
out in its release.
If you want to ensure you
continue to see updates
from the pages you fol
low, go to that particular
Facebook page. Make sure
you’ve “liked” the page.
Hover your mouse over the
“Liked” icon then click “See
First.” (If you’re on your
phone, click “Following,”
then “See First.”) I do this
for the news pages that I
follow, local governments,
public safety groups and
my closest Mends and fam
ily. Essentially, it brings
posts from those pages to
the top of your News Feed.
Facebook should be mak
ing a stronger push to edu
cate its users about these
features instead of deciding
what they think interests
them and controlling their
content.
Facebook doesn’t need
to filter News Feeds.
Individual users can do that
for themselves.
Facebook is a powerful
tool for connecting. It is a
massive social network that
connects people, groups
and ideas. Our Mends and
family are certainly a part
of our social lives, but they
aren’t the extent of it. The
news affects our social
lives. Current events affect
our social lives. The things
going on around us affect
our social lives. We should
all have that news in our
“News Feeds.” But individ
ually, we have to make sure
the news stays there,
Alex Pace is editor of The
Braselton News, a sister
paper of The Madison Coun
ty' Journal
Fear, not Islam, is the real danger
It's time for us to all take a
deep breath.
We are allowing fear to
erode the very fabric of our
nation.
Fear is a formidable emo
tion. It runs deeper than
calmness, spreads quicker
than happiness and is more
powerful than love.
And fear is an emotion
embraced by political and
cultural leaders as their tool
of choice to manipulate their
agendas. Scare people and
you can control the world.
But fear is often an irra
tional emotion that leads to
overreaction and huge mis
takes.
It was fear after 9-11
that led President Bush to
make an irrational choice to
declare a “war” on terrorism
and invade Iraq, a move that
helped destabilize the entire
region. Rather than defeat
ing terrorism, that decision
— bom of fear — led to the
birth of more terrorists and
the deaths of many American
soldiers.
Today, fear is the fuel of the
Donald Trump campaign for
president.
Fear Hispanic immigrants,
so build a wall.
Fear a world economy, so
shred bade agreements.
Fear all Muslims, so ban
them from America.
In the wake of recent ter
rorist incidents, that latter
fear has grown to immense
proportions and is quickly
becoming irrational.
Last week, fonner House
Speaker Newt Gingrich
opined that the U.S. should
shred the Constitution and
start an inquisition of all
Muslims in the country. If
those of the Muslim faith,
whether U.S. citizens or not,
don’t pass Gingrich's inqui-
Mike Buffington
From the
publisher
mike@
mainstreet
news.com
sition test, they would be
deported from the country.
“(TheU.S.).. .should frank
ly test every person here who
is of a Muslim background,
and if they believe in Sha
ria, they should be deported.
Sharia is incompatible with
Western civilization,” Ging
rich said.
Gingrich is a student of his
tory and knows his proposed
Muslim test is unconstitution
al, but he doesn’t care. He is
whipping up fear to manipu
late the political dialogue.
He isn’t the only one who
has decided we should target
those of Muslim faith.
Georgia's 10th DisMct
Congressman Jody Hice, a
fonner Baptist minister, pre
viously called for Islam to be
denied First Amendment pro
tections of freedom of reli
gion and freedom of speech.
“Although Islam has a reli
gious component, it is much
more than a simple reli
gious ideology,” Hice wrote
in a book. “It is a complete
geo-political structure and, as
such, does not deserve First
Amendment protection.”
The editor of Georgia's
Christian Index, the publi
cation of the state's Baptist
churches, recently echoed
Hice's views in a column
by its editor — that Islam
doesn't deserve to have free
dom of religion.
And lest you think this
assault on the Constitution
is only by Republicans.
Democrats are also calling
for unconstitutional actions
against terrorism. Democrat
ic Sen. Joe Manchin recently
said the due process clause of
the fifth amendment is incon
venient in stopping suspected
terrorists from buying guns.
Due process is “killing us,”
he said.
And others on the left rou
tinely stoke the fear of vio
lence to call for banning guns
in the country.
It's time for both liberals
and conservatives to take a
deep breath.
Although Gingrich and
other right-wing crazies are
whipping up a fear of Mus
lims and Sharia law, there
is no chance that the U.S.
is going to replace its legal
system with Islamic Sharia
law. This isn’t the Middle
East where Islam is not just
a religion, but also a culture
and political system. This is
the U.S., a nation that was
founded on the idea of reli
gious freedom and has long
resisted all efforts to establish
any kind of theocratic gov
ernment where one religion
is favored over another.
And this is also a nation
that doesn’t just ignore
due process, or the second
amendment, so that the left-
wing crazies can confiscate
all guns.
What’s really going on here
is that the terrorists are win
ning. They are getting exactly
what they want, which is to
stoke fear to undermine our
nation's ideals.
Terrorism isn’t about a
military gaining and holding
territory. That’s not the goal
of terrorists.
And terrorism isn’t about
killing people. Committing
mass murder with a truck in
France isn't going to bring
down the French govern
ment.
Murdering people in an
Orlando nightclub isn’t going
to bring down the U.S. gov
ernment.
Terrorism is about creat
ing fear through murder to
psychologically undermine
an enemy.
It’s about goading an
enemy to overreact and make
mistakes.
It’s about manipulating
an enemy's political leaders
by controlling their agenda
through the repeated use of
terror.
In that light, the terrorists
are winning. They have cre
ated a huge amount of fear
in the U.S. and around the
world. They have goaded our
political leaders into ignor
ing the nation’s freedoms by
calling for unconstitutional
actions, such as Gingrich's
call for a litmus test for Mus
lims.
You don't have to be a
Muslim to see why that is
wrong.
Gingrich's call has the
stench of pogroms carried out
in Europe over the centuries
against Jews.
It has the odor of the
Catholic Church’s Inquisi
tion against “heretics” in the
1400s.
The U.S. is better than this.
We are not a nation that bans
religions we don't agree with.
Terrorism will never bring
down the U.S.
It’s the overreaction to
inational fear that is the real
danger.
Mike Buffington is co-pub
lisher of Mainstreet Newspa
pers, Inc. He can be reached
at mike@mainstreetnews.
com.
Bordon...
contimied from page 4A
much the same way.
I, never much of a dog-
loving-type person, was all
of a sudden faced with a
decision to have this dog
treated with less than a
40-percent chance of sur
vival or have her put to
rest with no more suffering.
Despite my less-than-soft
heart towards pets, this was
a different type of feeling. I
didn’t realize how coming
home to a house without
a greeting from this little
dog would be so missed.
This small dog was a part
of our lives for just over 10
years. This little dog did
her job and just as said in
the movie Marley and Me,
this quote is all too true. "A
dog has no use for fancy
cars, big homes, or design
er clothes. A water logged
stick will do just fine. A
dog doesn’t care if you're
rich or poor, clever or dull,
smart or dumb. Give them
your heart and they’ll give
you theirs.”
Now I clearly see that this
was the most difficult part
of raising this little dog of
ours — having to put her
life down yet she cared so
much for ours.
Dallas Bordon is a sports
reporter for The Madison
County Journal.
Remember: Georgia’s sales tax holiday hits stores July 30
The Georgia back-to-
school tax holiday week
end, which starts at mid
night on Friday, July 30
and ends on midnight
Saturday. July 31. will
allow consumers to pur
chase certain items that
will be exempt from state
local sales tax.
According to Michael
Rupured, UGA Extension
Consumer Economics
Specialist, it is important
By Morgan Langford
to be prepared before you
start shopping.
Three types of goods
are exempt from sales tax
during the tax-free holiday:
clothing and footwear:
computers, computer com
ponents and software; and
school supplies.
Clothing and footwear
are exempt from sales tax
as long as the item costs
$100 or less. Jewelry,
watches or watchbands,
eyewear, handbags, belt
buckles — those sold sep
arately from belts — and
selected other items are not
exempt from sales tax.
Computers, computer
components and prewrit
ten computer software pur
chased for noncommercial
home or personal use are
exempt if the purchase
price is $1,000 or less per
item. In previous years,
the $1,000 limit applied
to transactions rather than
— See “Langford” on 6A
FISCAL CONSERVATIVE KIP THOMAS SAVING YOUR TAXES
RESPECTING
TAXPAYERS.
PROTECTING
FAMILIES.
County
2015
Expenditure
Population
Per
Citizen
Madison
$ 3.5M
28,057
$ 124
Hart
$ 3.5M
25,534
$ 138
Oglethorpe
$ 2.9M
14,548
$ 147
Elbert
$ 2.9M
19,364
$ 151
Oconee
$ 6.0M
35,965
$ 168
Banks
$ 3.2M
18,415
$ 174
Franklin
$ 3.9M
22,009
$ 176
Jackson
$ 11M
61,044
$ 180
1 1
SHERIFF THOMAS'S 2015 SAVINGS
TO MADISON CITIZENS = $1,037,828
P roven conservative Sheriff Kip Thomas is committed to protecting families
from both crime and higher taxes. He and his staff provide 24-7 protection
to our families, businesses and schools at a cost much lower than surrounding
counties. In 2015, Kip spent $36.99 per resident less than the average of
surrounding sheriffs offices for a savings of $1,037,828 to Madison taxpayers.
SHERIFF KIP THOMAS
GOP RUN-OFF JULY 26 th
EARLY VOTING ENDS FRIDAY
YOU CAN VOTE FOR SHERIFF THOMAS IN THE RUN-OFF
EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T VOTE MAY 24™