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Viewpoints
Our Opinions
Seif discipline and self
control are disappearing
The high principles represented in the U.S. Constitution, wmcn made
this nation a beacon of light to the world, were the result of self-discipline
and moral integrity.
What disturbs historians and social science experts today is that self
discipline and self-control are fast disappearing among Americans, and as
the ideal of generations.
Television has taught viewers different values, primarily self
indulgence, rather than self control. In the process, moral standards
prevailing a generation ago, which when violated produced from
communities words like shame, disgrace, sin, dishonor, are no longer the
norm.
We are brainwashed that everything and everybody and any behavior is
equal or accepted. Nothing is odd, abnormal, unnatural or immoral.
Great diversity in our society hasn't been divisive in the past because
there were moral standards accepted by all. Today, as Arthur Schlesinger
has written, the nation is dividing along ethnic and racial lines-with no
common goal, agitation for no common language, and a trend among
millions to blame their ills, failures or station in life on‘the government,
or the majority.
Instead of emulating what one sees on commercial TV (violence,
sadism, crime, degeneracy and self-indulgence) Americans should remember
the principles our Constitution represents, self control and self discipline.
As the influence of our churches continues to decline, individual
responsibility is the hope for the future.
Clinton scandals shed
light on one-party rule
Scandals involving Bill and Hillary Clinton are casting a new and
different light on one-party control of the U.S. Government It was said
regularly during Reagan and Bush presidencies that Democrats' control of
Congress and Republican control of the executive branch produced
stalemate.
To a degree, that was correct. Some of the stalemate was politically
inspired, however, and not inevitable.
It was said when one party had control of the executive and legislative
branches of government, legislative progress would follow. For a time,
when the Clinton economic program was passed last year, for example,
that argument had apparent confirmation.
But the scandals enveloping the Clintons and White House and
executive department appointees, have given rise to the realization that
one-party rule, as practiced in Arkansas and transferred to Washington, is
not always a positive.
In this case it has led to stonewalling by the Democrat majority in
Congress in opposition to investigate hearings. When Republicans were
in the White House there were hearings aplenty, and all the facts came out,
if not all the indicated punishment.
Now that process is threatened—by executive and congressional
cooperation in stonewalling. Democrats in the majority would never
impeach a Democrat. They have delayed indicting an obviously guilty
congressman (Dan Rostenkowski) because he’s more liberal than his
would-be replacement, Sam Gibbons, a Florida moderate.
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Editor
Houston Times-Journal
P.O. Drawer M
Perry, GA, 31069
Houston Times-Joumal
P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll Street • Perry, Ga. 31069
Phone: (912) 987-1823
Member Georgia Press Association-National Newspaper Association
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Views on Singapore, the Olympics and more
Recently in Singapore an
American young man plead guilty
to 72 counts of wanton vandalism
and part of his sentence will be six
lashes with a moistened rattan cane.
Members of the United States
congress and the president have
stuck their noses into the case and
are trying to get Singapore
authorities to call the caning off.
The punishment is severe.
Everyone admits it. The incident
has resulted in thousands of letters
to Singapore officials from
Americans, with the overwhelming
majority in favor of the
punishment People seem to be fed
up with our permissive society.
The significant thing about this is
the sharp contrast between justice
and punishment in Singapore and
the United States. Severe crimes in
this country warrant a slap on the
wrist, because real punishment
might warp the bulprit's
personality. In Singapore and some
other places around the globe
punishment is severe...and crime is
low.
Singapore has about the same
population as New York. Its crime
rate is about the same as Macon!
Caning is applied to the bare
buttocks. Each lash splits the skin.
It is very painful. The broken skin
will leave scars. But very few who
have received this punishment ever
commits a crime punishable by
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My eyes are opening to a new way of thinking
It's finally happened, I'm getting
old.
Maybe it's not that I'm getting
old actually (I'll turn 26 this sum
mer and a college psychology class
instructed me that middle age
doesn't even start until 40), but
maybe it's just that I'm becoming
domesticated-the career/family life
is changing my attitudes.
I first noticed it this week when
I hear John Knox speak at Rotary
and thought to myself "Good grief!
I'm a Republican!"
Don't get me wrong, I have
nothing against Republicans, sev
eral of my family members are pro
Your Opinion
Thanks to Hospice volunteers
Dear Editor:
April 17-23,1994 is National Volunteer Week, and I would like to take
this opportunity to publicly thank the people I believe are the most
dedicated volunteers in our community, the volunteers of Hospice of
Houston County.
Most people know that hospice provides a very special kind of care for
terminally ill persons and their families, but it's less known that if it were
not for volunteers, our hospice could not function. Even the federal
government recognizes the importance of volunteers in the delivery of
hospice care by requiring that Medicare-approved hospices utilize
volunteers from their community.
Hospice care is provided through an interdisciplinary, medically directed
team. This team approach to care for dying persons typically includes a
physician, a nurse, a counselor, a member of the clergy, and a home health
aide. While Hospice of Houston County employs paid professionals, we
lashing again.
Contrast this with our country
where criminals are coddled and
prisons are like revolving doors.
You can bet the young man who
will receive the six lashes with a
cane in Singapore never, ever will
go out and commit vandalism in
Singapore again... Severe
punishment will prevent future
criminal acts there. Some people
are good because they know it is
right...most because they fear
punishment for doing wrong.
Take, for example, driving an
automobile. Almost everyone
speeds when no law enforcement
officer is around. But, fearing
punishment in the form of a ticket,
almost no one will speed when they
know they are being observed by a
law enforcement officer.
The young man may come back
to the United States and destroy
other peoples' property because he
knows there would be no
punishment at all for his deeds...but
never in Singapore.
There has to be a lesson here.
There is. Real punishment for
crimes will prevent further crimes.
Comparison of statistics in
Singapore and the United States
bear that out
We can feel for the pain the young
man will suffer. But, like a good
parent who tells a child that
punishment hurts him more than
claimed Republicans. It's just that
they're all older than me (and I
never really liked the attitudes of
the younger ones I’ve met either).
Still, when Knox, who's seeking
the Republican candidacy for the
1995 governor’s race, spoke about
being tougher on criminals and giv
ing the control of schools back to
the communities I totally agreed
with what he was saying.
Actually, I discussed these same
issues with a friend of mine just
this weekend.
I guess I'm not the zealous lib
eral many people claim I am after
all.
Houston rimes-Jounwl
Page 4A
-Wednesday, April 13,1994 "Houston Times-Journal
the child, we know that from now
on he will be a better person
because of the six lashes he will
receive.
* * *
Latest information on the cost of
attending an Atlanta Braves baseball
game is sll2 for a family of four.
That doesn't include the cost of
transportation, parking, etc.
How long, you must wonder, will
people continue to fill up the
Atlanta Stadium at that cost? Or,
better yet, where do so many people
get that kind of money to spend so
many times during a summer?
* * *
Isn't it possible that the
International Olympic Committee
has wondered many times during
the past two years why they
selected Atlanta as site of the 1996
Olympic games? Never in the
history of the Olympics has there
been so much bickering, so many
demands by greedy special interest
groups and minorities to be paid off
so they won’t "interfere" when the
games are held. Black people want
their neighborhoods rebuilt and
already are receiving large sums of
cash as a payoff. Homosexuals are
having their say. And the homeless
are standing in the way of building
a park. Minorities are demanding a
big piece of the construction pie,
regardless of what might be low
bids. And on it goes. Sickening,
I guess my idealistic nature and
optimism have been squashed by
the rat race and motherhood.
All I know is that things can't
get much worse and we definitely
need a change. A Republican has
never been elected governor in this
state and look where we are-educa
tionally at the bottom, economi
cally scraping the bottom and
crime-wise at the top.
Doesn't sound too impressive for
the Democrats, does it?
* * *
Thinking back now, I can trace
my "evolution" of political affilia
tion to the last presidential election.
also strongly rely on volunteers to provide assistance at all levels of skill.
Nationally, almost 100,000 people serve as hospice volunteers, and last
year, they give well over 5 million hours of their precious time to serve
terminally ill patients and their families. Locally over 130 persons
donated their service to our community hospice at a savings of over
$25,000.
In a number of ways, volunteering for hospice differs from other
community work. For one thing, patient-care volunteers are required to
undergo at least 32 hours of standardized training before being allowed to
work directly with a patient or family, and continuing education hours are
required to maintain this certification.
No task is too big or too small for our volunteers, but often the most
important thing they can do is just "be there" for patients—to reassure them
that they are not alone, to hold a hand, to offer a smile, or to just listen.
It is not easy work, but the personal rewards are enormous! The strength
and courage of patients provide a constant source of inspiration, and
volunteers usually feel they gain more than they have been able to give.
Hospice of Houston County is growing as more and more persons seek
Please see LETTER, page 10A
to say the least. Considering all
the demands for a "piece of the pie"
it may be a miracle if the games
come off at all. It certainly gives
foreigners a terrible (though
accurate) impression of Atlanta.
* * *
A new state law is requiring that
certain pets be spayed before being
given to owners by animal shelters
to hold down the animal
population. Does this give you
any ideas?
* * *
It was first reported in Time
Magazine. So-called "melanin
scholars" now tell us that blacks,
who have more of the dark skin
pigment melanin than other races
probably are superior and have even
supernatural traits. Time says that
many educators, black and white,
are accepting the views that the
more melanin (the pigment that
colors the skin) a person has in his
skin the more intelligent and
superior he is. This valuable
information is being reported as a
public service without comment.
SJ Brigette L
P flLoudermilkl
P || Editor i
There was no way I was going
to put up with "four more years" of
Reagan-Bush. They'd never done a
thing for me so I gambled with
Clinton, and still feel I made the
right decision.
Please see LOUDERMLK, page 10A