Newspaper Page Text
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• WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2005
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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
Hope For Good Results
Georgia now has a new congressional districting
map, courtesy of the Republican majority in the
General Assembly this year.
Republicans say that it eliminates gerrymander
ing. Democrats say it is just as partisan as the map
they drew after the last census.
One Republican - Rep. Larry O’Neal of Warner
Robins - says that he hopes the new map does not
hurt us here in Houston County. U.S. Rep. Jack
Kingston, who has been a staunch supporter of
Robins Air Force Base and has made numerous
friends here, no longer will represent us if the U.S.
Justice Department accepts the new map.
It is obvious that it is impossible to please every
one. Even though the Republicans claim that the
map they drew is non-partisan, you have to take
that message with a grain of salt.
It just may not be as partisan as it could have
been.
However, the map does make more sense from a
geographical standpoint than the one it is supposed
to replace. The map now in use geographically is
nothing short of disastrous.
Mostly Good But Some Bad
We like to see news about teenagers. We like to
encourage them. We like it when then excel aca
demically, as well as in sports. We are excited
when we learn of their achievements.
But there is a dark side, too. Lately, we have
learned that there are teenagers who go out of
their way to make news by committing crimes
that will get attention, even though the law pro
tects their names from being printed.
Teenagers breaking into schools and stealing
computers. A teenager calling in a false bomb
threat. Incidents of vandalism.
We hope these are isolated instances and do not
reflect a trend among teenagers to do anything
for a thrill.
This is the kind of news it hurts us to hear and
read about. We hope they get help and straighten
their lives out. There still is time and we believe
that most people in our community are pulling
for them.
Wow! I can't
f wait to show off )
.-.- ''' T tl^^_ chrn&eS / ■ V.
Utter was a Christian, too
Editor:
Ms. Kellie Day’s letter
“Christians contributed too”
was interesting, but not
totally candid.
George Washington’s
Christianity has been refut
ed by legitimate historians.
A “warm deist” is a term
sometimes associated with
Washington, but not
Christian.
Knowing the intolerance
of the religious right, since
he was both black and gay, I
was surprised to see George
Washington Carver’s name
on her list. Compared to the
great George Washington
Carver, the rest of her list
was small potatoes.
She omitted, and you can’t
blame her, the most notable
Christian in history, Adolph
Hitler. Christians call him
“atheist,” but in the follow-
Editor:
ing quotes, Hitler, a
Catholic, says differently:
“Hence today I believe
that I am acting in accor
dance with the will of the
Almighty Creator: by
defending myself against the
Jew, I am fighting for the
work of the Lord.” (Adolf
Hitler, “Mein Kampf”)
Hitler realized that brain
washing must start early to
be most effective, thus the
next quote should be famil
iar since, conceptually, it fits
perfectly in the dogma of the
Christian evangelists:
“Secular schools can never
be tolerated because such
schools have no religious
instruction, and a general
moral instruction without a
religious foundation is built
on air; consequently, all
character training and reli
gion must be derived from
faith ... we need believing
Parenthood the domain of the sleep-deprived
“You snooze, you lose,” so
the saying goes, and if that’s
the case, wife Teresa and I
must be among the biggest
winners on the planet. It
seems like it’s been years
since we actually enjoyed an
interrupted night of bliss on
the mattress, and I mean
the kind of joy that comes
from being fully uncon
scious for eight uninterrupt
ed hours. Of course, we’re
not alone - according to a
recent survey by a leading
medical college fully one
half of all Americans fall
into the category of “sleep
deprived.” Hmm, I wonder
how many of our co-insom
niacs also have young chil
dren?
This should come as no
surprise to other parents,
but my wife and I were once
fully rested, happy people -
back before the breeding
started. Then came the chil
dren, with their passel of
nighttime concerns: bad
dreams, illnesses, and gen
eral resistance to staying in
the bed once tucked in.
Throw in the late night
requests for diaper changes;
drinks of water, and mon
ster patrols and you can
appreciate the fact that we
might, just might, string
together two and a half
hours of back-to-back slum
ber. The insidious thing is
Milking the scared cow
What is the one thing that
the Democratic Party, the
AARR and the AFL-CIO all
have in common?
They all delight in scaring
the hell out of old people. A 1
Gore may not have created
the Internet, but he certain
ly created the left wing’s
strategy opposing Social
Security reform. Al’s idea
was to create an imaginary
“lock box” for the money
withheld for Social Security;
our government would nei
ther invest this money nor
lend it out. What went into
Social Security would stay
in Social Security. The only
small problem with the plan
is basic accounting; by 2018
Social Security will pay out
more money than it takes in
and will therefore bankrupt
itself by 2042.
It was during the 2000
presidential campaign when
the Democratic Party’s spin
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
people.” (Adolf Hitler, April
26, 1933, from a speech
made during negotiations
leading to the Nazi-Vatican
Concordant of 1933)
The balance of her letter is
nonsensical pratter.
Walter Huckeba
Perry
I am not an atheist
Editor:
I am proud that I am not a
Christian, but a practicing
Deist and humanist who
tries to practice tolerance
and understanding here in
the Bible Belt.
As a transplanted Yankee,
I am proud of my Boston
accent and excellent liberal
education. I am fortunate
enough to have lived and
worked in England and vis
ited every country and
Europe. Thus I am not a
flag-wagging, extreme patri
ot who hates France because
.I .1.
Joe Bishop
Columnist
joe@wnng.mgacoxmail.com
that the negative impact on
our sleep pattern increases
geometrically with each
additional child: one kid is
tolerable, two a strain, three
an open invitation to thera
py. And I’m not entirely sure
they don’t know what
they’re doing, either. It’s as
if they held a private meet
ing, probably while Mom
and Dad were having a pri
vate meeting of their own in
the kitchen, and decided
“Hey, if we drive them nuts
now, we’ll inherit the house
that much sooner.” So now
it’s a race - will we survive
long enough to see the ten
month-old graduate and
reclaim our rightful night
time peace? Granted, we got
what we deserved, even if
*-•>. v ’ ft 0%-
William John Hagan
Columnist
William_Hagan@exdte.com
machine started the lie that,
if elected, George W. Bush
was seeking to steal little old
ladies’ retirement checks.
The same people that
believed Gore’s lie about his
role in creating the Internet
are still propagating this
falsehood about President
Bush’s plan to save Social
Security. The time has come
to strip away the lies of self
serving Democratic politi
cians, and study the realities
surrounding this debate.
If we continue to follow
the Clinton-Gore legacy of
inertia, the system will be
bankrupt by 2042. Neither
A 1 Gore, as a member of
Congress, Sen. Hillary
Clinton or any other current
Democratic member of
Congress has ever purposed
a single piece of legislation
to protect the future of
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
that country knew that to go
war with Iraq was wrong.
And dumb!
I am not an atheist, but I
am a proud member of the
ACLU, AARFJ the Audubon
Society and the Sierra Club.
I love America!
Frank W. Gadbois
Warner Robins
Illegals are killing America
Editor:
Oh, yeah, let’s give the
Mexicans credit for
Americans not being taken
over by the French, Laura
Gunn! I am so sick of the
idea that everyone’s so
called “culture” is better
than ours. Who’s going to
save us from having a bilin
gual society, which will be
the downfall of this country?
Are we going to have to have
an all-out war with Mexico
to stop the destruction of
we didn’t ask for it!
The daily struggle usually
begins right around 8:30,
when it’s time for 7-year-old
Joseph and 4-year-old
Thomas to hit the sack.
That’s when my boys show
they’ve become masters of
Fabian tactics - a long string
of delays to include a last
minute snack, bathroom
time, appeals for “just one
story,” then more water. By
then a good 45 minutes is
gone, and the covers haven’t
been turned back yet.
Thankfully, ten-month-old
Beth is easier to work with.
Then it’s time for a few left
over chores, maybe an hour
of television, and off to our
own bed by 11:30. Maybe.
Then the real fun begins.
Sometime between one and
three Beth is back up,
demanding a diaper change,
a bottle, or allergy medicine.
Anywhere from a half hour
to an hour later, she’s back
asleep, but her parent don’t
stand a chance to follow
suit. Twenty minutes later,
Thomas is up, asking for
help to navigate his way to
the bathroom just around
the comer from his room.
Call it severe disorienta
tion. By 3 a.m., the night
time allergies set in, result
ing in a chorus of coughs,
wheezes, and sneezes from
all children in the house,
Social Security. The system
was created by an act of
Congress and can only be
reformed through congres
sional legislation. President
Bush is constitutionally
powerless to change Social
Security. The needed
reforms he is currently pro
posing are recommenda
tions to Congress. The pres
ident’s powers derive from
the Constitution. He is a
part of the executive branch:
the President proposes,
Congress disposes. Only
Congress can reform Social
Security through legislation,
which Republicans seem
willing to do. Except
Democrats have not only
stonewalled all attempts at
“self-help,” they have failed
to produce one piece of legis
lation to reform a system
that they know will be bank
rupt in most of our lifetimes.
They have simply been scar
ing the elderly and milking
this scared cow for votes
while President Bush has
been working on a plan to
secure Social Security for
future generations.
The Republican plan does
not affect Social Security
recipients born before 1950.
That means that is you are
55 or older your current and
future benefits will not be
affected. Your scared cow is
safe. The only people that
need to fear the future of
Social Security are the
OUR way of life? Mexicans
are costing us billions of dol
lars each year with their cal
culated invasion of our
country by illegals who come
in here, have their “anchor
babies” and draw WIC pay
ments, welfare payments,
demand that their children
be taught in Spanish in our
schools, ballots in Spanish,
signs all over our govern
ment buildings in Spanish,
special treatment all the
way around.
I just spent 10 days in
Eastern Kentucky, and was
amazed to see Americans
doing the very jobs, (food
service, motel maid service,
construction, etc.), that our
government officials and
illegal aliens claim that
American workers “won’t
do.” However, I predict that
the hard-working people of
Kentucky won’t have these
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
and their father as well.
Somewhere along the line I
get a wife-sized elbow in the
ribs and a stem request to
stop snoring. Then I’m wide
awake, enjoying the chorus
of nighttime moans, groans,
and snores from my bed
mate. And if we’re really
lucky, our tomcat Puddings
will find the two-way moni
tor in the kid’s room and
begin a feline rendition of
“American Idol.” All this
noise wraps up around 6:30,
just in time for another 30
minutes of broken rest
before the alarm goes off,
sending Teresa and I into
another blurry-eyed morn
ing. Not a bit of REM sleep
in the whole experience!
Being a bit of an eternal
optimists, I have great hope
for the future.
Just 18 years at the most
and I’ll get another chance
at a solid bout of nighttime
peace. I’m counting the
days! Until then, though,
I’m investing all my spare
cash in a Brazilian coffee
bean farm. I figure I’ll get
my money back, through
consumption of product if
nothing else, by the time
Beth gets out of pull-ups!
Joe Bishop is the news
director for WNNG 1350
AM, Houston County’s only
locally-owned radio station.
younger generation. Back in
the 19505, there were 16
people paying into Social
Security for every one
receiving benefits. Today
that number is three to one,
and by 2008 that number
will drop to two to one,
according to a White House
report. If the Democrats get
their way and stop reform,
then, according to the White
House statisticians, “today’s
30-year-old worker will face
a 27 percent benefit cut
when he or she reaches nor
mal retirement age.”
A system where two tax
payers pay to support one
retiree will need to find new
income to stay afloat. The
choices are clear: we can
institute massive tax
increases, cut Social
Security benefits, increase
the national deficit or
responsibly invest our Social
Security dollars into the
United States economy. One
option is low risk diversified
investment of our present
withholding dollars in
America’s Fortune 500 com
panies. The Fortune 500 is
the backbone of this
nation’s economy and has
been for the last 50 years.
The reality is, this is an
investment worth making.
William John Hagan is a
freelance writer who lives in
Elko. Contact him at
William_Hagan@excite.com.
jobs to do much longer, as
the illegals come in and fool
employers into thinking
that they will do these jobs
for less. What no one is
watching, though, is how
much worse these jobs are
performed, and for what
period of time before they
find out how much they can
“con” from our social sys
tems. Have five or six
“anchor babies,” and you no
longer pay any taxes, if you
ever were, because you were
getting paid “under the
table” by employers who
should be in jail for hiring
you in the first place.
Wake up, Americans!
We’re losing everything. All
10 or 12 million illegals
should be walked back to the
border. They walked in -
walk them out, along with
their children!
Carmen Lyons
Perry