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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. AUGUST 4. 2016 — PAGE 5A
Opinions
Memories of past summers remain
Despite the seemingly
oppressive heat we’ve dealt
with in recent weeks, there is,
and always will be, something
unique about summer.
It probably stretches back
to our childhood. Summer as
an adult is just like any other
time of the year. We wake up
in the morning, go to work,
come home and prepare to do
it all again the next day. It can
become like a record stuck on
the turntable at times.
However, summer as a kid
always seemed to be so much
more meaningful. Even for
someone who enjoyed school
(or at least parts of it) summer
was always welcomed with
open arms.
The reason: It allowed for
more time to do the things you
enjoyed most.
For me, those things includ
ed swimming, riding motor
cycles, attending 4-H camps
and having friends stay at my
house overnight or, in turn,
staying at their place. Admit
tedly, there was still plenty of
time to watch some favorite
television shows of the era.
The morning often meant
game shows which lasted until
noon. It was time to venture
outside at this point as nothing
better than soap operas was
available. (My house didn’t
have cable at the time so the
Guest
column
chris@
mainstreet
news.com
Chris Bridges
number of stations was lim
ited.)
Trips to the local swimming
pool was also a social event as
many schoolmates were there
as well. Swimming for two or
three hours had a way of zap
ping your energy, even when
you were young.
Once we made it back home
it was more time outside.
Riding my motorcycle was a
favorite hobby in those days.
The hot Georgia summer days
made ideal riding conditions,
which I often would do until
there was literally no daylight
left.
When I was a small child,
my paternal grandparents still
lived on their massive farm
and it wasn’t uncommon to
make week-long visits to stay
with them. Being less than 10
years old at the time, their farm
was like a world unto itself.
This was a time when I really
was outside most of the day.
My grandparents didn’t have
a TV so my eyes had a break
from watching the big box I
often was glued to at home.
It didn’t take a television,
though, for a youngster to be
entertained, however. Their
farm provided such a large area
that there was always plenty to
explore, from walking through
a shallow creek to trying not
to get lost in the massive rows
of com which towered over
me. The only time during the
week we would leave the farm
would be to go to church.
My grandparents retired
from farming in 1980 and
moved from the place they had
worked and lived for decades.
Still, more than three decades
later, those summer memories
are still just as vivid as the days
I enjoyed them.
While work marches on
for me today, even during the
summer, it’s still nice to get
home on many days when
there is still plenty of sunlight
left.
Recently I noticed it was still
clearly daylight, even at 9:15
in the evening. The humid air
remained as thick as it was
hours earlier, but the slowly
fading sun did cause it to drop
a degree or two.
This week we entered
August and while that used to
mean another month of sum
mer vacation for students, a
new school year began locally
on Monday. Certainly, Aug. 1
seems mighty early to start a
new school year, but students
today do have the benefit of
winter breaks and such that
did not exist once upon a time.
Unfortunately, my sched
ule doesn’t allow for much
swimming these days, at least
not for recreation. Most of
my swimming is spent at the
Winder YMC A, used as part of
my exercise program. I haven’t
been on a motorcycle in years
and I don’t want to think about
how long it’s been since I
attended a week of 4-H camp.
(Reading about the activities of
our local 4-H students today,
however, does help keep those
memories alive.)
Yes, it is definitely too hot
and my mind is looking ahead
to fall, which probably won’t
be felt until late October. How
ever, there will always be a
special place for summer.
If nothing else, summer has
the power to take us back to a
simpler, less hectic time. We
can’t truly go back, but we can
reminisce.
Chris Bridges is editor of
the Barrow Journal, a sister
publication of The Madison
County Journal. You can reach
him at cbridges@barrowjour-
nal.com.
What banning Milo means
Feuds have been breaking out
across social media platforms as
of late. None are more important
than the battle between Leslie
Jones, Twitter and Breitbart edi
tor Milo Yiannopoulos.The petty
internet feuds between reality
stars and singers matter very lit
tle in the world, however Milo’s
pennanent Twitter ban is a dis
cussion worth having.
Recently, actress and come
dian Leslie Jones was hounded
on Twitter with racist and offen
sive tweets for hours. The mes
sages ranged from anger over
the “Ghostbusters" remake (in
which she was a lead) to horri
ble racial slurs. Jones engaged
with the internet trolls who sent
her these tweets. She responded
to them, and she retweeted (or
re-posted) the messages to her
account so her followers could
see them. Several hours go by
and then Milo Yiannopoulos
posts his review of the “Ghost
busters” film. The result? Milo
gets permanently banned from
the popular platform.
Now, of course there is more
to the story. Milo didn’t just write
a review of this film; he wrote a
negative review. For those who
might not know about Milo, he
is British, gay, and a conserva
tive. Though he is ostentatious,
he does not fit the homosexual
mold. He does not pander to the
leftists and social justice warriors
who base their “arguments” on
nothing but hurt feelings. Milo
is interested in rational debates
with facts and reason.
So, when he reviewed “Ghost
busters” July 18, he had much
to say about it. In his lengthy
By Jessica Brown
article he briefly discusses each
lead character (just a sentence or
two) then moves on to his larger
arguments. His commentary on
Leslie Jones’ character Patty was
:“Patty is a two dimensional rac
ist stereotype by even the most
forgiving measure. Patty is the
worst of the lot. The actress is
spectacularly unappealing, even
relative to the rest of the odious
cast. But it’s her flat-as-a-pan-
cake black stylings that ought to
have irritated the SJWs.”
While Jones fought with
“the haters” for several hours,
here comes Milo posting this
review and gets on Jones’ radar.
She asked who this Milo guy
was, and a fan responded. She
retweeted that response which is
what caused most of this mess.
“He’s basically the Uncle Tom
of Gay [people]. Huge Trump/
alt-right fanboy who is gay,” she
retweeted. Milo responded, albe
it with a tweet calling Leslie
Jones a man. Then he was per
manently banned after having
received several warnings in the
past.
Twitter released the state
ment: “People should be able
to express diverse opinions and
beliefs on Twitter. But no one
deserves to be subjected to tar
geted abuse online, and our mles
prohibit inciting or engaging in
the targeted abuse or harassment
of others. Over the past 48 hours
in particular, we’ve seen an
uptick in the number of accounts
violating these policies and
have taken enforcement actions
against these accounts, ranging
from warnings that also require
the deletion of Tweets violating
our policies to permanent sus
pension.”
This opens a can of worms
because Milo was presumably
banned for “inciting or engaging
in the targeted abuse or harass
ment of others” but there were
no tweets posted by Milo incit
ing bis fans to go after Les
lie Jones. He posted his review
hours after her battle with angry
Twitter users began.
But, by this statement released
by Twitter, Leslie Jones has vio
lated it as well. In an interview
with Seth Myers that was posted
on YouTube May 12, 2015 she
stated: “Yes, if you call me a
name I’m going to call you a
name back. I don’t care how
famous I am or how popular
I am, if you call me a gorilla
I’m going to call your mama
one. And I’ll blow you up, too,
so if you tweet me and you’re
thinking I’m the only one who is
going to get it, I retweet it so all
my followers can see it and get
on your punk."
Stating that you retweet offen
sive messages for the sole pur
pose of having your followers
go after the original poster is
inciting harassment, is it not?
That’s what many Milo support
ers are asking. How can Milo
get permanently banned with no
evidence he ever stated to his
followers to flock Jones’ with
offensive tweets when she has
stated on record she is guilty of
the same crime?
Jones is still on Twitter and
Milo is banned. Milo isn’t
too broken up about it though
because this incident has made
him a martyr for free speech.
Whether one agrees with him
or not, Milo represents a fight
for free speech on the internet.
His silencing only draws more
attention to his cause. He was
banned right before the Republi
can National Convention where
he had media in his face ready to
call out Twitter for banning a gay
conservative journalist.
For those who support Milo
and free speech, Twitter has
made a huge mistake as this now
opens many debates on what
free speech on their platform
entails. Though Twitter want
ed to shut down the massive
amount of racist tweets direct
ed to Jones, they failed to act
upon the Twitter accounts mn by
Islamic terrorists who are recruit
ing for ISIS. They failed to act
upon the accounts praising the
deaths of police officers in Dal
las. According to Milo, Twitter
is not a place for conservatives.
Unless Twitter acts to curb all
of these sects of harassment and
hate, then Milo is right.
Jessica Brown is the staff
photographer for the Barrow
Journal, a sister publication of
The Madison County Journal.
You can reach her at picsbyjessi-
cal @ gmail.com.
Beardsley...
continued from page 4A
mals that need the space,
keeping large swaths of land
“wild” yet available to the
public are legacies from lead
ers dating back to Abraham
Lincoln, who protected what
is now Yosemite during the
Civil War, Ulysses Grant, who
created Yellowstone, the first
national park, and Theodore
Roosevelt, whose adminis
tration created five national
parks — and 18 national mon
uments, four national game
refuges, 51 bird sanctuaries
and over 100 million acres of
national forests.
Those parks and wild spaces
belong to each of us. Thank
God we had leaders who saw
the importance of protecting
them for posterity. It would be
nice to have such visionaries
in Washington today.
Mark Beardsley is editor of
The Commerce News, a sister
paper of The Madison County
Journal.
BOC should provide
raises for library staff
Dear Editor:
The Friends of the Madison County Library are very
supportive of our county library. Without them, there
would be very few new books or programs.
The county and state governments do not supply
funds for books and programs.
The board of commissioners (BOC) did not give rais
es to library employees.
I take that as they don’t care much for the library. So
BOC, as you work on the 2017 budget, I strongly sug
gest you increase the library budget to include raises for
the library employees.
The Friends have two book sales each year to raise
funds for new books and programs. They are now
selling $5 tickets for a fundraiser, with the winning
ticket receiving $500. The ticket proceeds will be used
to purchase a large copy machine. The drawing will be
in October. Please go by the library or see a Friends
member to purchase your tickets.
Sincerely,
Gene Lurwig
Danielsville
Return of the
Armyworm
This summer has been
incredibly difficult for
forage producers. Dry
conditions have con
siderably reduced hay
yields (losses of more
than 50 percent for
many producers) and
many producers are
already feeding hay that
would be saved for use
months from now.
Now. another issue is
threatening what hay
crop many producers
might have left across
the county - the return
of fall army worms. Over
the last couple of weeks,
we have seen these pests
spotted across several
parts of the county. Few
things will strike fear
into the hearts of pas
ture and hayfteld own
ers like knowing that fall
armyworms are on the
march. These pests can
quickly decimate a field
or bermudagrass, fescue,
pearl millet, and several
other crops and then dis
appear as quickly as they
appeared. Growers and
even homeowners will
need to keep a close and
frequent lookout for signs
of these pests.
Fall armyworms can be
up to 1.5 inches long and
are light green to nearly
black with light and dark
stripes that stretch hori
zontally along the body
of the worm. One of the
most distinct characteris
tics used to identify army-
worms is an inverted “Y”
on the head of the worm.
As the name implies, fall
armyworms are most
numerous in late summer
and early fall, meaning
right now is a prime time
to start looking for poten
tial infestations. They are
unable to tolerate even
a mild winter, but each
year moths are carried
by wind currents from
Florida and Central and
South America which
then lay eggs throughout
the south.
Armyworms cause
damage by chewing on
plant tissue. They are
typically most active in
Extension
wise
By Adam Speir
early morning or late
afternoon when tem
peratures are cooler. In
newly cut hay or shorter
grass, armyworms will
hide in thatch and top
soil layers during the
heat of the day but they
could be seen foraging in
tall grass during any part
of the day. Armyworms
go through 6 stages of
larval development. The
very young larvae do not
eat much but the mature
larvae can eat more than
all other ages put togeth
er. Damage can appear
differently depending on
the type of forage and
conditions. On closely
grazed pastures, damage
may appear as thinned
out grass and brown
spots, which could be
misdiagnosed as drought
damage. In hayftelds or
pastures with tall growth,
damage can be devastat
ing with nearly all tender
green vegetation being
removed. Established,
healthy bermudagrass
is not likely to be total
ly killed by armyworm
infestations, but the dam
age caused by a complete
infestation will weaken
the plant and result in
reduced forage availabil
ity for livestock.
Armyworm damage
is sometimes described
as “coming in waves.” If
you notice armyworms in
your field, you will need
to keep a close eye over
the next few months on
that field and any sur
rounding fields to look
for subsequent genera
tions that have hatched.
You should start look
ing at least two weeks
after initial damage has
— See “Speir” on 6A
DRAKE
GAS CO.
Service
You Can Depend On!
NOTICE OF PROPOSED BUDGET
FOR MADISON COUNTY INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING AUTHORITY
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND BUDGET MEETING
The Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority has prepared its pro
posed 2017 budget as of August 1, 2016. The proposed budget is available at the office of the
Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority, 101 Courthouse Square, Dan
ielsville, Georgia.
A public budget hearing is scheduled for August 15, 2016 at 6:00 p.m., at which time any
person wishing to be heard on the budget may appear. On August 23, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. during
a called meeting, the Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority shall set
the 2016 millage rate. On September 19, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. during the regular Board of Directors
meeting, the Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority shall adopt the
budget for 2017.
The public hearing on August 15, 2016, the setting of the millage rate on August 23, 2016,
and the adoption of the budget on September 19, 2016 will be held at the Meeting Room of the
Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authority, 101 Courthouse Square, Dan
ielsville, Georgia 30633.