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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL Trade New Year resolutions for a new tradition New Year’s comes with many traditions. Whether thete are certain rituals, foods, or symbols, with every New Year, there are the same old things. Why does the coming of a new year bring about the need for people to impose life-changing decisions in their life? New Year’s resolutions as we call them. Once again I began men tally drafting list of things that I want or need to change in my life. In years past I have resolved a wide array of things. They have been to study Zealot: Guilty as charged Editor: In Walter Huckeba’s response to my letter Wednesday, he said that I should be called a zealot. That means a fanatically committed, God-fearing person, so I’m guilty as charged. All our actions take their cue from the complexions of our heart, and as Huckeba so correctly stated, we display excessive enthusiastic actions at times. Mr. Huckeba’s evolution means the belief that all things change with the passage of time so that all descendants differ physio logically from their ancestors in accordance with the characteristics of a living organism. Or, as he would like us to believe, God emerged from under a rock at some time like we all did. Yes, Walter, I have trouble with that. Mr. Huckeba declares that I ignore the sci entific explanation of plant life. Science is but a pile of facts, not a golden chain of truths, if we refuse to link them with the existence of God. After all, what is the true aim of scientific endeavor, if not to link it to the discovery of a greater power? Those who speak of the incompatibility of Hopefully, a lesson learned If there is any good that can come from the horror that struck South Asia this weekend it is this: We are all passengers on this planet called Earth. We are not the masters of all we survey. We do not dominate this ball of rock. We are merely passen gers and we can be thrown off at any time. I realize that few of us are learned in the concept of plate tectonics that teaches us that the surface of the Earth is thin plates of rock that are floating on hot magma. There are many of these plates, and sometime they run into each other, causing all sorts of stress and strain on us who ride them. If you would like to see an example of what can happen when two plates col lide, take a look at a map of the Himalaya Mountains. They came into being mil lions of years ago when the India plate collided with the Asia plate. Imagine what it would have been like to have been a passenger when those two express trains wound up on the same track. Sunday two of the smaller plates collided six miles below the surface of the ocean a few miles off the coast of the island of Sumatra. The collision resulted in an earthquake, which registered 9.0 on the MALKIN From page 4A Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson stated publicly that it’s “not realistic” for his own officers to try to do their jobs and deport law breakers. Morale among rank-and file enforcement officers has plummeted. The botched Bernie Kerik DHS nomina tion and the refusal of the Bush administration to sup port common-sense immi gration enforcement and secure identity measures in the “intelligence reform” bill (which ended up con taining more non-intelli gence than intelligence pro visions) didn’t help. Amnesty, shamnesty. The year ended as it began, with Teresa D. Southern Staff Writer tsouthern@evansnewspapers.com more, stop procrastinating, lose weight, improve my relationships with people, science and religion either try to make sci ence say what it never said, or try to make religion say that which it never thought. Some people put a lot of trust in the sci entific works that make our world a better place to live, like flu shots. But is our live here improving? Look about you! The sci ences are mostly beneficence, but they pre vent men from thinking. The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself. Learn God and you will know yourself. Scientists are immersed in self-love. There are many kind of self-love, but the kind that won’t admit that there is a greater knowledge than theirs is the worst. Mr. Huckeba belittled my reference to a drowning child, but he never revealed what he would have done in a similar circum stance. If he can honestly tell us that he would refuse to ask for intervention of a higher authority in the chance that it would save his child’s life, then God help him and his loved one. His child would be proud of his expertise in scientific research on its way to oblivion. Russ Norris Warner Robins H ' ' | H Timothy Graham Staff Writer tgraham@evansnewspapers.com famous Richter scale. That made it one of the most pow erful earthquakes in the century. The force of the quake forced the island of Sumatra 100 feet upward. Just try to wrap your brain around that concept. An earthquake six miles below the surface caused a huge island with more than 100 million inhabitants to rise 100 feet. I can’t put my fingers on the facts to back it up, but I would hazard to guess that all of the weapons at the disposal of the United States military would fall short of being able to pull off a feat like that. The quake spawned tidal waves called tsunami, which spread out in all directions across the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. Where they struck, they wiped President Bush dangling his abominable proposal to grant a mass governmental pardon to millions of illegal alien workers and their employers. First floated in January, the White House also pushed through a Social Security “totalization” pro gram with Mexico, which will dispense billions of dol lars to illegal alien workers who used counterfeit Social Security cards and stolen numbers to secure illegal jobs. Announcement of the Bush plan led to a spike in illegal alien apprehensions at the border the first three months of 2004 - 25 percent higher compared with last year. Those are just the ones who got caught. T.J. and maybe a little attitude adjustment. For many reasons I did not adhere to any of them. I decided I studied enough, worked better under pres sure, my weight isn’t perfect but will do, my relationships with people are fine, and so is my ’tude. This year I resolve not to resolve. I’m not making any New Year’s resolutions. No change of eating habits, no crazy diets, no holding my ’tude back for close friends and loved ones. Without it who would I be? Like many people my New Year’s resolutions only last ed through Jan. 2. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR clean the coastal areas of some of the richest areas in the world, as well as some of the poorest. While such an occurrence would have been disastrous in a developed country such as the United States, it is much worse in countries such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand, where worry over the health and welfare of their citizens does not rank among the top five concerns of their gov ernments. In those coun tries, money which might have gone into developing a tsunami warning network as exists in other areas of the Pacific Rim probably went to collecting this years’ bribes. The death toll from the quake and tsunamis is rap idly approaching 100,000 and will probably surpass that by a large amount. That would make it the worst natural disaster since a typhoon killed more than 300,000 in Bangladesh in 1970. We are merely passengers on this planet. With just a shrug of its shoulders or a breath of its wind it can kill countless numbers of us rid ers. Maybe this knowledge will help us treat this planet with a little more respect. It isn’t like we can just hop off and wait for the next planet to come along. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told the Washington Times in April: “People were coming up to our agents and saying, ‘Where do we sign up for that guest-worker program, or that amnesty?’ Word travels like wildfire down there.” And around the world. The word is we’re open. Wide open. What a way to ring in the new year. Michelle Malkin is author of “Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores” (Regnery). Malkin’s e-mail address is malkin@comcast.net. OP-ED We have 364 other days to make these changes. And if they are so needed in our lives, can’t we do them any old time? Why begin at the beginning? In the South there are other things associated with the new year. Those foods, several of which I despise. At my house Mom dishes up col lard greens, black-eyed peas, rice, maybe a hog jowl or two and chitterlings. Always being a picky eater, she made me something else but insisted on me eating peas and greens to have fortune in the new year. Once again, couldn’t we Mayor thanks Perry citizens Editor: Please let me take this opportunity to express appreciation to the citizens of Perry for their generosity in helping the patients at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville have a meaningful Christmas. The Georgia Municipal Association’s “Mayor’s Motorcade” was tremendously successful this year in providing gifts to more than 3200 needy Georgians In mental hospitals throughout the state. Our local effort was directed by Fire Chief Freddy Howell with the support of the men in the Perry Fire Department. Georgia’s First Lady, Mary Perdue, said, “The annual Mayor’s Motorcade is a won derful example of communities coming together to support those in need with com passion and good will.” Jim Worrall, mayor Perry (CcsMbmtt© tffln© Now "ifeaur IN YOUR* DREAM JK home! mamm Open House Sunday, January 2, noon - 5 p.m. Your SIOO ticket puts you in the running to win the beautiful St. Jude Dream Home,® located in Alden Acres valued at approximately $310,000! - Amazing odds! % Fewer than 1.500 - ..3r ; tickets sold! Hurry Tickets Limited!!! Call NOW! 1-800-736-2415 24-Hour Hotline DISC/VISA/MC/AMEX www.stjudedreamhome.org Sponsored by 13 WMAZ, WDEN Best Country FM 99, WDDO AM 1240 Gospel, Hancock Fabrics, BB&T, and Moon Family Properties. All proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Danny Thomas, Founder. Bring this entry form to the St. Jude Dream Home ® built by Moon Family Properties for your FREE chance to win $5,000 worth of furniture, courtesy of Southern Decors! (No purchase necessary.) Directions to the Dream Home from 1-75: Take the Hartley Bridge Rd. exit and turn right. ► Follow it onto Mt Pleasant Church Rd * Cross over Dixon Rd and turn left at the next street » Follow St. Jude/Alden Acres signs * 245 Carnet Dr. Name Address City State _Zip Home Phone ( ) E-mail Limited SIOO tickets available to win this $310,000 house! St. Jude does not sell or rent donor names. JX)OK^ eat these any old day of the year and fatten our personal funds and bring luck to our lives. And couldn’t there be something a little tastier to bring luck into our lives. Many Dutch people eat donuts on New Year’s Eve to symbolize coming full circle, completing a year’s cycle. Well, I would make Krispy Kreme very happy if this were a U.S. tradition. Imagine the “hot light” would shine brighter than usual on New Year’s Eve, as everyone enjoyed a fresh hot piece of dough dripping with glaze. And imagine you would get to pick the flavor 'Happy Holidays' works fine for me Editor: Concerning those who have stated that the Christ is being taken out of Christmas, they should realize that 25 percent of us are not Christians. Plus a recent poll reported that a majority of us don’t want a constitu tional amendment declaring us a “Christian nation.” We should try to understand that many of us don’t want our malls and public buildings festooned with Christian holiday greetings. What one does at home, at church and with friends is a large enough venue to celebrate Xmas! Just try to say “Happy Holidays” and remember that we live in the International City! Frank W. Gadbois Warner Robins 1-475 US Highway 80 1-75 '■ 1 "■■■ Macon s « „ / : c % Moon Family T S Bethel x Welcome Canter a Church Bd. 5 i . /■ \ Mount Pleasant X / Sandusky\ Church Rd. / y* Estates ) ykr f (+ Aldan A X' X, l* 1-75 The St. Jude Dream Home * w ill be open to the public every Saturday and Sunday from noon - 5:00 p.m. January 2 through January 23- See all the features on Hoivatott THtoine if CEL l|c Web site! hhjnews.com FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2004 of your luck. Let’s banish these New Year’s traditions, and make some new ones. Of course, the first one will be the donut addition. Though many people enjoy those New Year’s vegetables, let’s just not force people to eat them. Let’s get rid of the old man and the baby image, placed on everything that Santa and a wreath were on a week ago. Has the old man really aged that much in one year? And most importantly let’s actually make our new year a happy one, like the phrase says. 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