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THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2003
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OPINION ~
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Sobriety Road Checks Make Sense
One of our readers came home from Atlanta a
few days ago complaining that he had encoun
tered three road blocks, where officers were
checking for driving under the influence.
We have heard some of our neighbors com
plain, too, about the sobriety road checks being
held in our area.
We have trouble getting upset when law
enforcement officers, here or elsewhere, period
ically stop drivers, check their drivers licenses
and learn if any of the drivers are under the
influence of alcohol.
These roadblocks can save lives and we
believe they are justified.
Unfortunately, there are many drivers who
have no regard for their own lives and the lives
of others by driving under the influence. They
should be removed from our roads and high
ways.
If anyone questions the value of these road
blocks all they have to do is take note of how
many DUI citations are issued when they are
held.
It may cause a little inconvenience. But in our
opinion, the inconvenience is far outweighed by
the benefits.
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GA 31069, or drop it off at one of
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2060 Watson Blvd. in Warner try
Robins - between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. / / .
Monday through Friday. fy
Iraq isn't Vietnam -
Iraq isn’t Vietnam. For
starters, Iraq is much more
important. Success in Iraq is
absolutely central to long-term
victory in The War on Terror.
Not so for Vietnam in the con
text of the Cold War, that long,
gritty siege to contain the Soviet
Union and its communist
clients. Germany and Korea
were the Cold War’s central the
aters, the spark points for glob
al nuclear warfare. The
Vietnam War - so costly and
destructive - was a tough fight
in a valuable but less-than-deci
sive region. Despite Vietnam’s
draining loss, the West won the
Cold War.
Iraq, however, strikes dead
center in the malign and
medieval societies that murder
and impoverish their own popu
lations, nurture and use terror
ists, and seek or possess
weapons of mass destruction.
Moreover, Iraq lies in the mid
dle of what is arguably the plan
et’s most politically dysfunc-
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Austin Bay
Military Affairs
Creators Syndicate
tional and war-producing
region, the fractious arc of
Islamic instability that stum
bles from Pakistan to Algeria.
Vietnam was strategic
defense, an attempt to buy time
while avoiding nuclear conflict
until the Soviet Union “mel
lowed,” as George Kennan
opined. Iraq is strategic offense
directed at, the dictators and
Houston school standards remain high
I AM INDEBTED to
Gervaise Perdue for an interest
ing booklet about education in
Houston County. It is a survey
conducted “under direction of
the Department of Education”
in 1915.
The pamphlet starts off with
these words: “The public school
system of Houston County
appears to be regarded as a
business matter. It is, therefore,
organized and directed in a
businesslike way. That is,
according to the best approved
business plan.”
It adds: "... there is a single
unit of support and administra
tion, as approved by the U.S.
Department of Education and
the experience of those Georgia
counties which have made the
greatest educational progress
.... This single unit of support is
countywide local taxation and
the single unit of administra
tion is the county board of edu
cation and their executive offi
cer, the county superintendent
of schools.”
It is pointed out that “results,
as shown in detail in this bul
letin, are expressed in economy
Man's best friend for a reason
My Golden Retriever, Tess, is
part dog, part human. She
reads my emotions as well as
anyone I’ve ever known. When
I’m upbeat, she will drop a ten
nis ball on my foot. When I am
sad, she gently nudges my hand
with her golden nose. And when
I’m grumpy, she gives me my
space, patiently waiting for my
emotional storm to pass.
Given the escalating divorce
rate and the fact that most
wives outlive their husbands,
people are relying more and
more on friends of the furry
kind.
A researcher at the
University of Texas has studied
the emotions of dogs and discov
ered very distinct characteris
tics - social ability, affection,
emotional stability, obedience
and intelligence.
Call me crazy, but are these
not the exact same traits we
look for in a spouse? I’m not
suggesting that people start
walking the aisle with their
Boston terriers, but it is odd
that our canine friends reflect
many of the same characteris
tics that we look for in a part
ner.
Newsweek magazine also
points to the fact that depressed
dogs react to the antidepressant
drug, Prozac, in the same ways
as their owners. I’m not kidding
- mind altering drugs for dogs
in now available and it evident
ly works.
Just listen to “Floppy” an
overweight Bassett hound - “I
was in a depression so deep that
all I wanted to do was sleep. I
found no joy in chasing after the
Frisbee or even taking an
evening walk with the family.
Now that I am on Prozac, I feel
like a puppy again. I’m even
thinking about taking a couple
of classes at the community col
lege.”
I have been taking my dog to
work with me this summer to
genocidal ideologues whose
design for the 21st century is
12th century autocracy imposed
by death squads and nukes. Iraq
is about “rolling back” the
source of terror, because 9-11
demonstrated terrorists armed
with high technology cannot be
contained.
Those are the “big picture”
differences between Iraq and
Vietnam, the ones that make or
break history. They are also the
ones that roll the eyes of TV
talk-show producers, who say:
“We’ve only a minute of air
time. Now why isn’t Iraq
Vietnam?”
Because Vietnam was no Iraq.
As a military pal recently said to
me, if Vietnam were Iraq, the
United States would have occu
pied Hanoi, killed or dispersed
the Politburo and utterly
destroyed the North
Vietnamese Army. Laos and
Cambodia would not have
served as sanctuaries for com
munist troops and supplies.
■m i H
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevans 19@cox.nct
in taxation and efficiency in
education.”
Further, it says, “efficiency
first, economy next, are the
qualities that count.”
• • •
THE TAX rate in the county
was a mere one and one-half
mills. Perry and Fort Valley
taxed five mills. (Houston
County included what is now
Peach County before it was
divided into two counties.) A
debate on whether children liv
ing in rural areas were less wor-
Steve Tesseniar
Columnist
writeronstonn@aol.com
keep me company. She is so
excited to be in a school again.
As many of you know, when I
was a teacher she came to class
with me.
It was during this time that I
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it's more important
(Syria understands this differ
ence.) Southerners from Saigon
would be part of a new national
council in the process of draw
ing up a democratic constitu
tion.
That’s the minute answer -
America won a big military vic
tory, and did so quickly.
Is there a flickering “guerril
la-style” conflict? Sure, Baath
remnants use hit-and-run tac
tics. Mao, however, said guerril
las are fish swimming in the sea
of the people. Saddam’s
Baathists lack a sustaining sea
of support - they operate from a
few isolated ponds of Baath-
Sunni holdouts (like Fallujah).
The men who kill Americans for
cash are pond scum, not soldiers
in a wider people’s war. In time,
they will be isolated and cap
tured - or, if they fight, they’ll
be slain, just like the 101st
Airborne killed Uday and Qusay
Hussein. As for outside jihadis
coming to wage holy war, bring
‘em on. The United States has
thy of financial support than
those living in cities was recom
mended.
The school term was 32
weeks. “Teachers,” the booklet
says, “have had normal training
and successful experience.”
“Fair salaries, promptly paid
to trained teachers” was prom
ised.
The system was “remarkably
free from petty complaints,
petitions, etc.”
The countywide school sys
tem, including Perry and Fort
Valley, employed 36 teachers in
white schools. Thirty-one held
first-grade licenses, five of them
held second-grade licenses.
There were 27 schools in the
county, reflecting the necessity
of having schools close to chil
dren because of the kind of
transportation available in
1915. A typical elementary
school had one or two rooms.
Value placed on these schools
was between $450 and $1,500
each. Students attended high
school in Perry and Fort Valley.
• • •
THE BOOKLET states that
“the matter of Negro education
saw Firsthand the incredible
calming effect that dogs have on
people. My students would use
her as a giant pillow during
silent reading time.
Children experiencing prob
lems in the home such as
divorce or abuse were drawn to
Tess like a magnet. Just
stroking her soft fur and look
ing into her trusting, dark eyes
seemed to bring them comfort.
Tess has had the same impact
on elderly folks living in retire
ment homes. I have witnessed
the miracle of a sedated and
lifeless senior citizen coming to
life while talking and petting
my patient canine friend.
I don’t know what I would do
without my beloved dog. About
a year ago, I discovered a large
lump on her chest. It turned out
to be cancer and for the First
the military instrument in place
to kill them over there, instead
of over here.
Vietnam and quagmire are
hot-button media shorthand for
blood lost in an endless, no-win
conflict. Shorthand may serve
useful purposes, but when com
bined with short attention
spans, it’s foolishness bordering
on fraud.
Likewise, Iraq doesn’t con
form to another buzzword for
disaster, “Mogadishu.” That’s
slang for lack of resolve. It’s
also the frail thread Saddamite
diehards cling to, that the
United States is a nation of
quitters, at best capable of
fighting a “flash war.” The
Baath holdouts, like Osama bin
Laden’s minions, confuse the
Hollywood Left with the
American people.
America doesn’t confront a
quagmire in Iraq. It does face an
extremely difficult task that
requires blood, sweat, tears,
treasure and faith.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
has not been neglected in this
county and considerable stress
has been put upon its proper
direction.
It was pointed out that the
‘Fort Valley High and Industrial
School is generally regarded as
one of the best Negro schools in
the state.’”
Emphasis in Negro elemen
tary schools, as well as the high
school, was on farming and
industrial education. The cus
tom of “holding district food
fairs ... have stimulated a
wholesome and intelligent edu
cation in their public schools on
the part of both races,” the
booklet said.
• • •
I FOUND IT interesting to
look back into the past - almost
90 years - and compare values
then with today. And compare
the facilities and educational
opportunities of that era with
today.
It seems that facilities and
educational opportunities have
come a long way in 90 years, but
they had values and aspirations
that would stand up in any era.
time in eight years I was forced
to think about life without Tess.
My veterinarian, Dr. Dura,
who is a true animal lover him
self, removed the lump. While
no one can predict the future,
Tess is doing well and is as
active as ever (and she isn’t
even on puppy Prozac).
If you know someone that is
recently widowed or divorced,
or if you know anyone in need
of a good and faithful friend, a
puppy just might be the thing to
get him or her through the lone
ly days and nights to come.
Maybe if more people owned
dogs, there wouldn’t be so many
prescriptions being written for
mood altering drugs.
Steve Tesseniar is principal of
Russell Elementary School His
column appears every
Thursday.
Sadly, major stories, like an
Iraqi national council backed by
Shias, Sunnis and Kurds, get
short shrift because they move
slowly and are tough to explain.
For me, the biggest tick are
reporters who insistently por
tray American and British sol
diers’ bravery, professionalism
and sacrifice as fruitless. Many
in this crowd, such as the BBC’s
Andrew Gilligan and The New
York Times’ R.W. Apple, dubbed
Operation Iraqi Freedom a
quagmire even as CENTCOM
was rolling into Baghdad.
Baghdad’s long, hot summer
of snipers is a test of nerve, a
test of America’s national will
to persevere in a war of nation
al survival. The American peo
ple are up to that test.
To find out more about Austin
Bay, and read features by other
Creators Syndicate writers and
cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate Web page at www.cre
ators.com.