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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2004
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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
The Humanitarian Thing To Do
An earthquake of almost unmatched power
created a tsunami in the Indian Ocean last
week, resulting in devastation in several
countries and more than 70,000 deaths and
still counting.
The damage is unbelievable. The suffering
is heart wrenching. The need for help appears
almost unlimited.
The United States is sending help in many
forms. So are countries all over the world.
It is the humanitarian thing to do. Some of
the countries, where the tsunami created
damage that will require years to repair, will
need financial help for decades.
A suggestion has been made that the United
States should change its priorities and send
foreign aid money that is going to countries
that really do not need to the countries that
suffered so much damage last week.
It won’t happen. We will send help. We will
be generous. But our country will continue to
send billions of dollars this year and every
year to countries that have their hands out
because they can get it, not because they real
ly need it.
We agree that money going to these coun
tries should be diverted to the countries that
are suffering and will need help for many
years to get back on their feet. That would be
a wise and humanitarian action.
Turning The Calendar
The last page in this year’s calendar will be
turned tonight, making way for a new calen
dar untarnished and waiting to become part
of history.
The past year has been eventful. It has
brought some joy and much sadness to our
nation and the world. As long as there is war
and our courageous warriors are dying we
cannot rejoice.
So the new year will bring hope, but any joy
must be tempered with restraint.
We have high hopes for resolution of the war
and dilemma in Iraq, for peace to return to
the world, for harmony among nations and
individuals, for new dreams to be realized.
The turning of a calendar from one year to
the next is merely formality, but it always is
an occasion for people to take stock and direct
their attention and hopes toward better days
ahead.
As we wish everyone a happy new year, we
share in this dream of better days ahead.
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapeis.com
Translating some auld lang syne language
“HUMANS NEED FAN
TASY TO BE HUMAN. TO
BE THE PLACE WHERE
THE FALLING ANGEL
MEETS THE RISING
APE.”
- Death
(Terry Pratchett,
“Hogfather”)
Tomorrow, for good luck
in the coming year, I intend
to dance in the street with a
squid on my head.
My mom says I’m nuts.
I say someone who thinks
it’s bad luck to wash clothes
on New Year’s Day should
n’t point fingers, even at the
fellow with the cephalopod
on his noggin.
Not that she’s alone in her
superstition.
Far from it.
How many of the follow-
ing have you heard this
week?
Eat your black-eyed peas
(for luck).
Eat your greens (for
wealth.)
Want your good fortune to
roll over into 2005?
Leave your Christmas
lights on through this last
night of the old year and
into the new.
’O4 not so good to you?
Better turn those buggers
off beforehand, then.
Ready for a fresh start?
Change into yellow under
wear at midnight.
I first heard that one a
couple of days ago, and I’m
still not sure what it’s sup
posed to mean.
And I have to wonder how
many parties at which such
Thinking of 'O4 on the cusp of 'OS
Do-Tricks is sick. Jerry is
gone. Bobby is not really
well. The “Texas boys” are
not what they were in the
summer of ’63. But, nothing
or nobody is. Right? Still, I
am confused. Sometimes my
question is “why?” and
sometimes “what?” Often
the answer is “I don’t
understand.”
I write this a few days
before Christmas for publi
cation on the last day of this
year. Appropriately, it is
reflective - isn’t that what
we do on the last day of the
year? Let’s look.
The left wants to take
Jesus out of the “holiday
season.” Not only do they
“want to,” they are succeed
ing. The right is opposed to
Santa Claus. Too secular. It
appears to me that while the
left couldn’t elect a presi
dent, it (or they) are having
more luck with their holiday
initiatives than is the right.
The vast majority want
Christmas and Santa, but
increasingly, the “vast
majority” is often ignored.
“Political correctness” (and
I gag as I write) is impor
tant.
Celebrex, Bextal, Vioxx
and Aleve are removed or
under scrutiny. Doctors
Homeland insecurity: the year in review
2004 was a good year for
terrorists, violent gang
members, law-breakers and
fraud artists seeking haven
in America. Let’s reminisce:
The rise of MS-13. The
savage El Salvador-based
gang, Mara Salvatrucha
(MS-13), has now penetrat
ed more than a dozen states.
In May, a Fairfax, Va.,
teenager had his fingers
chopped off in an MS-13
machete attack. In
November, Washington,
D.C.-area police received
warning that MS-13 is plot
ting to ambush and kill
them when they respond to
service calls. Active in alien,
drug and weapons smug
gling, MS-13 members in
America have been tied to
numerous killings, rob
beries, carjackings, extor
tions and rapes. The gang
has also been linked to
efforts to help al Qaeda infil
trate the U.S.-Mexico bor
der.
The path of least resist
ance. Border Patrol officers
and local investigative jour
nalists in the Southwest
reported on increasing num
bers of Middle Eastern
males entering illegally from
Mexico. Muslim prayer
books and Arabic diaries
were discovered on
“Terrorist Alley” in south
ern Arizona. Suspected al
Qaeda operative Adnan
Shukrijumah, a fugitive
Saudi pilot who reportedly
met with MS-13 earlier this
year, is believed to be in
Mexico.
In April, a suspected al
Qaeda agent arrested in
Queens, N.Y., revealed a
scheme to smuggle terror
ists across the U.S.-Mexico
border. In July, two alert
Border Patrol agents appre
hended Farida Goolam
Mohamed Ahmed at
Jon Suggs
Staff Writer
jsuggs@evansnewspapers.com
an Underoo switcheroo will
be practical.
Maybe I’m just not on the
right invite lists.
But wherever I am, I’m
sure it will be accepted that
it’s good luck to kiss your
lap . w
Larry Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgbc.com
withdraw prescriptions.
Millions suffer - more so
than they have done in
years. My opinion - my
reflection or prediction - is
that experts will recant and
most of these drugs will
eventually return to the
marketplace. In the mean
time, mass tort lawyers “lick
their chops” and prepare
their lethal paperwork.
Politically, the country is
pretty much evenly divided.
Many on the right preen and
strut. The left whines and
complains. Not nearly
enough think about “the
common good” and uniting
behind our just-elected pres
ident. If you think I’m exag
JSm wSt V
' 5L M
Michelle Malkin
Columnist
Creators Syndicate
McAllen (Texas) airport.
She was carrying an altered
South African passport,
muddy jeans and dirty
shoes. She confessed to hav
ing entered the country ille
gally by crossing the Rio
Grande River. Court docu
ments showed that she was
on a government watch list
and had entered the United
States up to 250 times.
JOCS CREATORS SYNDICATE. INC (£ COT*' 11 j
beloved as the clock strikes
12.
No beloved?
Best make a resolution to
change that, pal.
You don’t want to spend
the rest of the year that way,
do you?
Ultimately that’s what a
lot of these assorted silli
nesses amount to: setting
the tone for a new year, even
if it’s done by harkening
back to some very old tradi
tions.
For example, the black
eyed pea eating might stem
from hard times in Southern
cities razed during the Civil
War. Supposedly in their
desperation folks took to
eating the little legumes -
previously reserved for live
stock - as a last resort, and
gerating, read the letters to
the editors and watch the
so-called experts - the talk
ing television heads. But,
cooperation and working
together doesn’t sell, does
it?
Iraq is rapidly becoming
to this country what
Vietnam was in the ’6os and
’7os. Should we pull out, or
should we bomb the place to
smithereens? My prediction:
this will ultimately be the
choices. An enigma or a
Hobson’s choice. Neither
answer will be the correct
one. I don’t envy our presi
dent in having to make the
decision.
In the first grade, Miss
Frances Couey popped us
with her pencil. In the
eighth, Mr. J. T. Moss
thumped us on the head
with his huge thumb. And,
in high school, Mr. E. H.
Cheek introduced us to
“John Henry” - his oak pad
dle. None of these three
excellent teachers could
make it today. The ACLU
would see to that. When are
we going to buck-up and
retake our schools from the
bullies and the thugs?
Ray Charles sang "... cot
ton is down to a quarter a
pound, and I’m busted ...”.
Upon news of Ahmed’s
arrest, intelligence experts
reported that suspected ter
ror agents are acquiring
passports from South Africa
and other non-suspect coun
tries; flying to the al Qaeda
coddling “tri-border area” in
South America; learning
Spanish; traveling to
Mexico; and doing the back
stroke into America.
Lawmakers in Texas
warned that the feds are
arresting and then releasing
thousands of other suspect
ed terrorists classified as
“Other Than Mexicans”
because of lack of jail space.
President Bush said “fam
ily values don’t stop at the
Rio Grande.” I repeat:
Neither do the
Islamofascists.
Bungling Washington
bureaucrats. In the skies,
federal air marshals contin
ue to be hampered by direc
tor Thomas Quinn’s moron
ic “professional” dress code
then when the new year
dawned brightly, that mea
ger meal got the credit.
If that’s true - and I heard
from somebody who heard
from somebody who maybe
probably has a historian in
the family, so it must be,
right? - at least there’s some
sense to the tradition.
I like sense with my super
stitions.
For that reason, I’ll heed
my mom’s washing ban:
while it’s wise to avoid
washing anyone out of the
family, it’s just as well to
avoid the wash altogether
for a day.
And if, by coincidence, I
eat some peas and greens
tomorrow, they’re just good
for me anyway, right?
Yep. These all make sense
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Many American and
Georgia farmers are “bust
ed.” If you don’t believe it,
ride through our agricultur
al region of southwest
Georgia. Many have held on
for years by “farming the
government,” but that’s
about over. Hopefully, our
own senator, Saxby
Chambliss, in his new role
as chairman of the Senate
Agricultural Committee,
might be able to offer some
new common-sense solu
tions.
Well, I’ve touched on the
“faith-based” controversy,
the drugs scare, the recent
presidential election, the
war in Iraq, school disci
pline, and the plight of agri
culture. I’d have to say, a
pretty bleak report. And I do
it from a warm house in an
economically blessed coun
try and with wonderful
friends and family. So much
to be thankful for. And I am.
Still, I am concerned and
confused in these complex
times. And my questions
remain: “What and why?”
And often I simply do not
understand.
(no athletic socks or jeans
allowed). Although he no
longer oversees transporta
tion security, underper
formin’ Norman Mineta
remains in charge of the
Department of
Transportation, where he
maintains an absolutist
opposition to homeland
defense profiling. And kow
towing to civil liberties
Chicken Littles and Muslim
lobbyists, the Bush adminis
tration canceled the
Computer Assisted
Passenger Prescreening
System out of fear of privacy
and discrimination lawsuits.
In July, the Department of
Homeland Security rebuked
Border Patrol agents in
Southern California for con
ducting interior enforce
ment sweeps because they
did not bow down to the
“sensitivities” of open-bor
ders radicals. In September,
DHS Border Security
See MALKIN, page 5A
- of a sort - once you look at
’em.
Even the squid.
Really.
The eight arms represent
the points of a compass and
how the next year spreads
out like a fresh map before
us, while the two tentacles
stand for past and present,
the little suckers upon them
a sign that sometimes we
just need to get a grip.
That bit of ink running
down my forehead? Just a
reminder that into every life
a little darkness sometimes
falls.
And the whole deal with
dancing in the street?
It’s been a good year,
folks.
My best to each of you in
the one around the corner.