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Viewpoints Houston Times-Journal P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll Street • Perry, Ga. 31069 Phone: (912) 987-1823 Member Georgia Press Association-National Newspaper Association ~. t£ | pf- f --J- f~ 3"*'*°'*“"* A " Your right to road thit newspaper is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Our Goal The Houston Times-Journal is published proudly for the citizens of Houston and adjoining counties by Houston Publications Inc., Perry Ga. Our goal is to produce quality, profitable, community-oriented newspapers that you, our readers, are proud of. We will reach that goal through hard work, teamwork, loyalty, and a strong dedication towards printing the truth. Bob Tribble Daniel F. Evans Julie B. Evans Mitch Tribble President Vice-President Treasurer Secretary Our Staff Jim Kerce Editor and General Manager Eddie Byrd Advertising Director News: Jimmy Simpson, Pauline Lewis Sports: Veto Roley Composition: Melanie Bullington Classified Advertising: Melanie Bullington Bookkeeping: Judy Morrow Circulation: Donnie Forehand Our Policies •Signed Letters to the editor welcomed. Please limit to 300 words and include address and phone number. •Liability for an error will not exceed the cost of space occupied by the error. •We cannot be responsible for return of pictures or material unless stamped return addressed envelope is included. The Houston Times-Journal (USPS 000471) is published semi-weekly for SIB.OO per year by Houston Publications, Inc., 807 Carroll Street, Perry, Ga. 31069. Second Class Postage paid at Perry, Ga.,POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Houston Times-Journal, P.O. Drawer M.PerryGa. 31069. ISSN:IO7S-187* Your Opinion Society needs second look Dear Editor: Please allow me to address the abortion doctors and the women who do not want their babies, may they know that God hates what you are doing. You are murdering His little ones. He tells us in the Holy Bible, “thou shall not murder’'. You are working against God’s Holy Will, and you will not escape the judgement that will befall you, and your vast fortunes built up here will not spend in hell. Many people are very disturbed over dance halls that are allowing nude dancing. The environment we have today is not what we need to bring up our children. We voters need to vote for the best men who fear God rather than vote for the party. Our morals are crumbling and it is high time for us to stop in our tracks and beg God to help us to straighten them out or we shall suffer the consequences. Yours truly, Geo. R. Hunt Flood made people believe Dear Editor, My views on The Flood: Let’s look at it from a negative and a positive point of view. The negative side of the situation is the loss of life, property, hurt pride, anxiety, etc. The positive side is the fact that it brought a lot of people together that other wise wouldn’t have been around to help people that they otherwise wouldn’t have. My heart was filled with pride to see how people came from all around to help flood victims. However, it shouldn’t take a tragedy or an emergency to bring people together to help one another, because in each life some rain must fall. This could have very well been the end of time as we know it. 1 feel that this is a sign from God, we should all stand back and take a long hard look at our lives and thank God that he wasn’t ready for us yet. I also feel that this is a warning for all of us. While all the rain was falling, I was thinking “It’s the Lord’s work”, and after the rains I felt the same way. We place too much value on material things which we can’t take with us. 1 know that we as a people can treat our fellow man with dignity, respect, and a little human compassion. The world is full of problems, I know that we can’t solve them all, but we can all do our part towards decreasing them in whatever manner we can. Help someone feel good today won’t you? Linda McKenzie United States facing difficult task in modern world after simple beginning What has happened in the United States? Until recently, we seemed to be a nation that could do no wrong. We went from a society on the edge of the wilderness, barely hanging on to independence, to a nation that conquered a continent and put a man on the moon. We look around and we see a na tion that is first among the world's economies, that is the only world superpower, that barely feels severe floods, earthquakes and other disas ters. We are a nation that has no other rivals. But, we also seem to be a nation that can do no right. Recently, the Family Research Council did a project comparing 1944 New York with 1994 New York. Here is what Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council, says about those findings: SVeto I Roley I Staff Writer I "In 1944, New York City had 150,000 more inhabitants than it does in 1994. Yet, 97 percent of all children born in 1944 were mem bers of two-parent families. In 1944, only 50 percent go home to households headed by a mother and a father. "In 1944, a total of 40 people died of gunshot wounds. In 1994, 40 people arc shot and killed every 10 days. "In 1944, 100 babies were sent to orphanages. In 1994, thousands of babies arc abandoned, some “THE VEMUT GALLERY '* V£3, I DID CAST THE DECIDING VOTE. R)R TUB 'RACIALLY \ GEWMANDEPED’ il® , &UT w\l ONLY BECAUSE fT WAS WHAT ( J THE JUSTICE- DEPARTMENT \ (l\\ J VIANTED." \>j / n MVftrHY’S LAW ‘ K ...»JjS JftZ HANG YOJZSBIf, |J|I • .. >:/ J Orms . " i WmMMA 'gu fy V* Passing the torch is never an easy task in life It’s been more than five years since I’ve been at the news desk on a regular basis, but I can honestly say that I missed the opportunity to pass along the news as it came my way. A lot has changed since my departure. One of the biggest being the merging of two publications into one... I’ll be the first to admit, I’d journey to the racks every Wednesday to grab up both, The Perry Times and The Houston Home-Journal, to see which would have the “scoop” on the other. But I’ll have to give both papers credit-- they both did an exceptional job of keeping the city’s residents informed... Love it, or hate it, we now have What ever happened yesteryear's golden oldies? ARE YOU old enough to remember when: •Gross meant 12 times 12...n0t the description of something repulsive? •Young people were taught to do simple math in their heads instead of having to turn to a calculator for the simplest act of addition, subtraction, multiplication or division? •You could tell the difference between a boy and a girl by the length of their hair? •The last time the United States got involved in a war...and won it? •Before TV...when radio was king and you had to use your imagination as you listened to such programs as Jack Benny, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Shadow, Fred Allen and the memorable Invasion of Earth by Martians that frightened the entire nation? •Football was a really tough game played by 11 men on each team going both ways with no substitutions except for injuries? •There was just one All-American football team each season? •Basketball players were short enough they had to throw the ball up to score a basket instead of dropping it in? merely deposited in trash cans and restrooms. "What happened to New York between 1944 and 1994?" asks Bauer. It couldn't be the increased stress of city life. After all, New York has lost—again, lost—lso,ooo people over the past 50 years. There are fewer people, and better services, today than there were 50 years ago. Yet, New York was a better city, it seems, 50 years ago than today. It couldn't be a lack of freedom. One of the things that we might have forgotten is the social climate of the 19405. There was white America and black America. Not only were these two societies kept apart by social approbation; but, also by law. It is true today that we have not eliminated many of the social barri ers between the two races; but, we Houston Times-Journal Page 4A only one publication. And I’ll be the first (or maybe the thousandth) to say that it’s about time... Some have expressed dissappointment concerning the lack of local news coverage in recent months. While we realize that we can’t please everyone, we are striving to constantly make improvements to this newspaper. As always, with change comes new ideas. When Jim Kerce left this newspaper a few months ago, former HHJ news editor Brigette Loudermilk slapped in and gave it her best shot. Now, once again, the tide has changed. She’s on her way to Florida, and Jim’s on his way back to Perry. Jim will return with an abundance of ideas. A lot of the •The United States gorvemment balanced the budget? •Japanese cars were called “tin cans” and Japanese radios were a joke? •We were all just plain Americans...not hyphenated Americnas? • The word “gay” meant happy...not homosexual? •A lady wouldn’t be seen in public unless she was dressed to the hilt, high heels and all? •Gentlemen always opened the door of a car or room for a lady...and stood back to let her enter or leave a room first? •Women in the workplace were a rarity...the arrival of “Rosie the Riveter” to help build airplanes to win World War II? •No self-respecting man would be caught dead doing housework? •A well-rounded, somewhat plump woman was the ideal...not broomstick thin? •Some people thought the moon was made of cheese...and that there actually was a “man in the moon”? •Criminals were not pampered? •Alleged childhood molestation or abuse were not used...and accepted...as legal defenses for adults committing crimes, even have eliminated the legal barriers. And, many of the barriers that seem to exist today are more economic barriers, barriers that have existed between the rich and the poor for ages, than racial barriers. And, at the same time, it isn't poverty. The world hasn't changed much since Jesus walked the world 2,000 years ago and said, "The poor you have with you always." Poverty was a fact of life no less in 1944 than it was in 1994. Also, in 1944 many were limited in their ability to break the poverty cycle by laws that restricted their access to the free market. It wasn't poverty. Then what is it that has changed in the last 50 years? I think we have lost our national faith. And, this goes deeper than los ing our faith in God, although that was the basis of our national faith. Wednesday, July 27,1994 H Houston Times-Journal familiarity our reading audience once enjoyed will, undoubtedly, return to these pages on a regular basis. I, myself, am looking forward to continuing the friendly community/newspaper relationship I once enjoyed while News Editor of The Perry Times. I really enjoyed the opportunities presented to me early in my career, and look forward to the additional ones that will hopefully come my way in the years ahead. Change is always difficult. I found that out while renovating my wife’s beauty shop, Graffiti Hair Salon, with a good friend, Lamar Beamon, over the course of about three weeks. I don’t expect there’ll be as murders? •There were no interstate highways? •Businesses could operate without computers...and often with less people? •Baseball players played the game because they loved it and did it better than those multi-million dollar primadonnas now in the big leagues? •Discipline in the schools was taken for granted and parents backed up the teachers and principals? •People could associate with their friends and acquaintences without congress passing laws telling them they had to add others they did not know and didn’t want to socialize with or go to prison? •News media struggled endlessly to present the news accurately and fairly...instead of printing anything that can sell a paper or get a viewer, regardless of how inaccurate and tasteless? •Airplanes were novelties...not the most preferred form of transportation? •The wonderful, remarkable Model T Ford? •We got our water from a well...and went to the bathroom in an outhouse popularly referred to as We've lost our faith in our ability to succeed. We were the nation chosen by God to bring his Kingdom into the world. We were, in our mythology, the New Israel, chosen to live as the example of a nation governed by the rules of God. It was our Manifest Destiny to conquer for God. What this meant in practical terms is that we could not fail, since God would not allow his peo ple to fail. As a nation, and in our communities, we took on the im possible, and we succeeded, since part of success is believing that it can and will be done. After all, "If God be for us, who can be against us." Not only would God not allow his New Israel to fail; but, tomor row would be greater than today, since God would bless his people, ~Jimmy L m sri many aches and pains involved around the newspaper office, but I’m sure there will be a lot of new looks many of you will favor when Jim’s “renovation” has been completed. In the meantime, I would ask that all of our readers give credit where credit is due-- Thanks, Brigette, for a job well done! We’ll miss ya! a “Chic Sale”? •Children used their imagination and played games with each other...and governments didn’t spend bundles of money providing them with organized recreation? •There were no government giveaway programs.. .and people were too proud to accept a handout without doing some kind of work for it? •Doctors made house calls...and medical care was affordable? •Children were expected to be “seen and not heard”? •Americans were proud they were born in a country whose constitution guaranteed them that everyone was equal...before there were so many laws making some people more equal than the rest of us? •Businesses were permitted to hire workers based on competence and qualifications. ..not based on arbitrary racial quotas? his nation. There was hope founded in faith. Being a nation chosen by God required a special citizenry, a citi zenry that took personal responsi bility. The citizens of the New Israel took their responsibility to God and to their neighbors seri ously. There is a lot said today about our people's tendency to do every thing but take responsibility for mistakes, for wrongs. If you can't claim your mistakes, it is hard to claim your successes. What is wrong with America? We have lost our faith. We have not replaced it with anything posi tive. Like air rushing into a vac uum, the negative has come in, fill ing our nation. For' America to grow strong again, we must regain our faith.