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THE MADISON COUNTY IGA) JOURNAL THURSDAY. JUNE 1. 2017 — PAGE 5A
Opinions
May you be active this month
School is pretty much out
for summer, giving young
people the opportunity to
play, explore and enjoy
the outdoors while they
can. This time is great for
them both mentally and
physically, but it can also
be beneficial for you par
ents and grandparents out
there, too! Sometimes it's
hard to incorporate fitness
into the hectic schedules
of work and school during
the school year, but sum
mertime is a great time to
start new traditions of being
active as a family.
Regular physical activity
is good for “kids” of all
ages. The U.S. Department
of Health and Human
Services gives us informa
tion on the benefits of phys
ical activity for these differ
ent age ranges. For children
and adolescents, physical
By Morgan Langford
activity can improve mus
cular fitness, bone health
and heart health. Physical
activity can lower the risk of
heart disease, type 2 diabe
tes and some types of cancer
for middle aged adults and
staying active as an older
adult can reduce the risk
of falls as well as improve
cognitive functioning such
as learning and judgment
skills.
It's easier than you might
think to incorporate differ
ent types of fitness into your
daily lifestyle. Find activi
ties that work for you and
your family. Making small
changes, like taking a walk
after dinner or going on a
bike ride, or for those fam
ilies living close to town,
walking to restaurants and
grocery stores (for small
buying trips) is an easy way
to add a little activity. On
free weekends, take family
trips to local parks where
there is the opportunity for
everyone to be active at little
to no cost. Encourage your
kids to put down their elec
tronics and play a game of
kickball with them, or take a
walk with an elderly person
in your neighborhood.
Regular physical activity
increases your chances of
living a longer, healthier life
in almost every aspect. If
you are not already taking
the time to be active, chal
lenge yourself this month to
get 30 minutes of moderate
physical activity every day.
Moderate activity includes
things like walking fast,
dancing, swimming and
raking leaves.
Not only is fitness import
ant for each family mem
ber physically, it can be an
excellent way to release
stress and spend time
together as a family. Use
this month to start healthy
living habits that can be car
ried over into the rest of the
year. For more information
on Healthy Living, contact
Morgan Langford with the
Madison County Extension
Office at molang@uga.edu
or 706-795-2281.
Morgan Langford is the
Family and Consumer
Sciences agent for the
Madison and Oglethorpe
county extension services.
Buffington...
continued from page 4A
came of age. It’s difficult to
explain today just how much
those events shook the nation
emotionally and affected the
psychology of how the public
viewed its public officials.
•The Civil Rights
Movement following Brown
vs. Board of Education in
1954 and the Civil Rights Act
a decade later had a major
impact on Boomers. Many
Boomers were students when
public schools integrated in
the 1960s and 1970s. Older
Boomers were part of the
Civil Rights movement direct
ly, marching, protesting and
helping register black voters
at a time when most were not
allowed to vote.
•Perhaps the biggest impact
on Boomers, however, was the
Vietnam War. That conflict
sharply divided the nation.
Those who were drafted
into the conflict were often
accused of being “baby kill
ers” while at home, college
campuses exploded in anti
war protests. Not since the
Civil War 100 years earlier
had the nation been so tom
internally as it was over the
Vietnam conflict.
Boomers also affected many
other aspects of the nation out
side of politics.
Culturally, Boomers fueled
the rise of rock-and-roll
music; the advent of birth
control opened the way for the
Boomer’s sexual revolution;
and the rise of women in the
workforce among Boomers
greatly changed our culture
politically, economically and
socially.
All of that context brings
me back to the original letter
I received last week. The writ
er ended the letter by asking,
“Where have all the flowers
gone?”
In other words, what hap
pened to that generation of
freewheeling, liberal hippies
who questioned everything?
What happened to the protes
tors who were anti-establish
ment, but today defend the
establishment?
Many Boomers are now
retired and those of us who
aren’t find ourselves within a
few years of retirement. And
as the letter writer suggests,
we have become a much more
conservative, fearful genera
tion than we were as young
sters.
The reasons for that are var
ied and complex. The hippie
era didn’t put much emphasis
on money, but someone has to
work to pay taxes and put food
on the table. And politically,
most of us tend to become
more conservative as we get
older.
But that alone doesn’t
explain what the writer points
out has been a 180-degree
political and cultural shift
among many in the Boomer
generation. Many Boomers
who were once idealistic
about the future are now pes
simistic.
I can’t explain all of it, but
I think one major part of that
shift is due to 20 years of
talk radio and 24/7 news chan
nels which have become a
drumbeat of negativity about
America. Because of that
incessant drumbeat, many of
my generation have come to
believe the nation is going
to hell and are fearful of
the social and demographic
changes that have taken place
in our lifetimes.
Maybe there are still some
flowers to be found, however.
Idealism is reborn with every
generation and perhaps some
of those who are coming
behind us will spark a renewed
sense of purpose that is less
fearful and more open.
Bette Midler, a Boomer
icon, perhaps said it best in her
1979 pop song:
“Just remember in the win
ter, far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed, that with
the sun’s love in the spring
becomes the rose.”
Mike Buffington is
co-publisher of Mainstreet
Newspapers. He can be
reached at mike@mainstreet-
news.com.
Abstract idea not a factor
when mcyor pain comes along
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins
aptly framed the decision
about healthcare, and
about nearly all decisions
about government spend
ing, in his recent “call-in
town hall.”
Collins told a woman
from Dawsonville, “You
believe, frankly, in a more
government-controlled
system and I don’t.”
That is a debate
the Democrats and
Republicans should have
about most any govern
ment program: Is this
something the govern
ment, at any level, should
do?
Collins’ view is the con
servative one, mostly an
exercise in philosophical
attitude toward an abstract
idea, health care coverage.
The woman’s version
was the opposite. Bemie
Sanders, among others,
describes it as “health care
is a right, not a privilege.”
Republicans generally
don’t view health care as a
right. They emphasize the
“freedom” to make your
own choices, the freedom
to decide how much health
care you will, or can,
afford for yourself.
Collins also touted the
GOP philosophy that a
rewrite of health care law
would “make sure we have
affordable insurance for
everyone” and that every
one could "go out and buy
the insurance that affects
them.”
My view
ron@
mainstreet
news.com
By Ron Bridgeman
The representative does
not give much credence to
the notion that we should
have health insurance that
covers whatever comes
along. I never dreamed I
would have "detaching ret
ina” surgery on both eyes
in five or six years.
I have been a user of
health care, and of health
insurance, since I was in
my 20s. That happened
because of kidney stones
into my 60s. I have had
at least one kidney stone
attack every decade, more
than that in my 30s and
40s.
Without insurance, good
insurance, I would have
been broke and in bank
ruptcy a long time ago.
I can assure you, when
kidney stones are pushing
on the internal organs you
don’t give a damn what the
cost is. You want strong
chugs as quickly as you
can get them and as much
as you can get. You want
the kidney stones gone and
that’s about all you care
about.
Those drugs, the last
time I had at least three
“helpings” of dilaudin in
the emergency room, are
not inexpensive. I also had
CAT scans, an MRI and
more X-rays than I can
remember. Two lithotrip
sies and two stints. None
of those are cheap.
My wife and I learned
the hard way about the cost
of good medicine when I
had to have surgery on a
detaching retina and our
company at the time had
canceled our insurance
about two months earlier.
Between the kidney
stone and that surgery, we
spent more than $20,000,
including premiums, that
year. Luckily, we had a
chunk of money from the
sale of a house. It is now
gone.
Collins’ view, and the
Republicans generally, is
not in great favor in my
house. It is pure self-in
terest.
Since my early 50s, I
have learned more and
more about health prob
lems, thanks to six surger
ies for various ailments.
All but two of those were
covered by insurance paid
for by employers and me.
The two that weren’t
covered nearly broke us
financially.
We are a long way from
rich, but we are what is
generally thought of as
“middle class.”
It is easily demonstra
ble that our “middle class”
would disappear in the
blink of an eye based on
one medical emergency
and poor insurance cov
erage.
In both retina surgeries,
doctors told me I would go
blind in that eye without
the operation and subse
quent care.
I was not interest
ed, and still am not, in
an abstract philosophy
about my “freedom” to
buy the coverage I want.
Neither of those instances
hurt much, but they scared
me. I very much want
ed the two surgeons to be
as skilled as possible and
to get me in an operating
room quickly.
I did not want to have to
fight with insurance com
panies about a surgeon
who was “out of network,”
and was the only surgeon
of that type within 60 or
more miles.
I do not know how best
to structure an insurance
program, what it should
include, who should pay.
I do know we all need
that coverage, and few of
us can pay for it.
Rep. Collins does not
represent me on health
care. I appreciate his will
ingness to face antagonis
tic views, but that is not the
only kind of representation
I want.
Ron Bridgeman is a
reporter for Mainstreet
Newspapers. Send him
email at ron@mainstreet-
news.com.
Time to prioritize
rural broadband
BY CASEY CAGLE
Internet connectivity has disconnected our com
munities. Contradictory - I know. But, as cities and
counties in metro Atlanta and other metro areas enjoy
high-speed Internet, and can even choose between
numerous providers, our rural communities either
completely lack access or find a lack of choices and
high prices.
The impact of this disparity is startling. In a world
that is no longer defined by bricks and mortar, access
to the super highway of high-speed broadband is crit
ical. No Georgian — in any corner of our state — can
afford to miss the boundless opportunities technology
provides.
Rural broadband is an economic issue. Businesses
will not locate in areas without adequate broadband,
and existing enterprises are inhibited by a lack of
high-speed access. One example is the business own
er in the North Georgia mountains who thought that
he had paid his taxes online, but months later is as
sessed late fees because the Internet connection failed
and now may be forced to close his business. On the
contrary, I recently visited with a pecan farmer in
Ocilla who has grown his business ten-fold by infil
trating the Chinese marketplace. This growth would
have been impossible without the instant connectivity
of the Internet.
Rural broadband is an education issue. The Internet
has revolutionized education by allowing students to
learn in ways that redefine traditional textbooks and
expanding imaginations to dream the impossible. Our
children must be afforded access to a world-class ed
ucation regardless of their hometown’s population.
Simply, rural broadband is a quality of life issue.
All Georgians deserve access to high-speed Internet
so they can earn, learn and live in the 21 st century.
We have done extensive studies — specifically
through the Joint Study Committee on High Speed
Broadband Communications Access for all Geor
gians - to develop legislative solutions.
Personally, I have done extensive research to un
derstand the avenues by which other communities in
our state, and nation, have extended broadband infra
structure to include rural regions. I have studied the
co-op model that has been a success story in Sibley
County, Minnesota, and the many public private part
nerships, such as in Westminster, Maryland, to exam
ine if these models could work in Georgia.
Just this week, I met with an assembly of cable
executives and then visited local leaders in our own
community of Thomasville to learn about their suc
cessful broadband initiative.
I have a bold vision and a lofty goal. We will build
out our broadband infrastructure so that every single
community in this state has access to high-speed In
ternet. This will be a monumental undertaking, and
an issue of this magnitude will require relentless ex
ecutive leadership from our next governor. As a life
long businessman, I fully understand that a project of
this size will require immense investment and focus.
I will continue to lead on rural broadband. I want
every business and every citizen in Georgia to have
access to high-speed Internet. The first step is explor
ing public private partnerships and other options in
order to ensure that fiber-optic connections are avail
able to every single community. That access can then
be easily extended to a house or business at a speci
fied cost.
I believe in a Georgia that isn’t defined by obsta
cles, but is resolute in turning obstacles into opportu
nities. However our broadband infrastructure is built
out, all Georgians will get access to broadband. The
Internet is essential to our continued growth, and I am
committed to connecting every Georgian to the pros
perity of the 21 st century.
To those that think my vision is impossible: just
Google our success in a couple of years -1 guarantee
you’ll be able to in all Georgia communities.
Casey Cagle is lieutenant governor of Georgia.
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