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♦ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 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
Driver's ED Is Needed
A few days from now, a 5 percent surcharge will
be added to traffic fines all over Georgia to help
fund “Joshua’s Law,” which will require manda
tory driver’s education for young people under
the age of 17. The law goes into effect Jan. 1,
2007.
Meanwhile, money will be accumulating to pay
for the program when it is implemented.
As time passes since the legislature overwhelm
ingly adopted a new law, of which this was only
one element, there have been critics who contend
that it is a waste of time to give young people dri
ver’s ed courses.
Their contention is that the six hours of actual
driving included in the course is inadequate to
prepare a student to drive in today’s traffic.
Therefore, it is a waste of time, they contend.
This rationale doesn’t make sense, in our opin
ion.
Six hours of training behind the wheel of a vehi
cle is better than none. Perhaps many more hours
are needed to make a driver proficient in the han
dling of a vehicle. But some training, in our opin
ion, is better than none.
We have been an advocate of compulsory dri
ver’s ed for a long time. We are glad that it will
become compulsory for young would-be drivers.
One father, who actually teaches driver’s ed,
contends that such courses are useless because it.
is impossible to teach a young driver how it feels
to hydroplane or respond to an emergency. We
agree that some things about driving are difficult
- maybe impossible - to teach, that they can be
learned only from experience.
However, any experience a young person
receives behind the wheel of a vehicle has to be
valuable.
Some parents are in a position to teach their
children to drive in off-road situations. Most par
ents, living in urban areas, do not have this luxu
ry.
We hope that the naysayers do not sway mem
bers of the legislature away from their commit
ment to driver’s education even before it becomes
compulsory.
Let's All Go Nooilling
Some laws are good. Some are bad. And some
seem foolish or unnecessary.
One law passed by the legislature this year that
goes into effect Friday just seems unnecessary to
us.
It is called noodling. Beginning Friday, it will be
legal in Georgia to wade into a stream and catch
a catfish with bare hands. That is called noodling.
Why it required a new law is beyond us.
However, anyone wishing to noodle Friday and
thereafter can do so without fear that they are
breaking the law.
We wonder how many people have been arrest
ed for this unusual way of catching catfish in the
past. In someone’s view, it must have been a
heinous crime.
The disturbing link between PETA and domestic terrorism
This week the organiza
tion People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals
(PETA) came up on the
national radar screen. Two
PETA employees, one
named Adria Joy Hinkle,
were arrested for disposing
of dead animals in a shop
ping center’s Dumpster. The
animals had been killed by
PETA, which was astonish
ing given their incessant
rhetoric about being the
guardians of America’s pets.
Police discovered 18 dead
animals in the Dumpster
and 13 more in a PETA
owned van. It turns out
that, unbeknownst to most
Americans and PETA’s
charitable donors, it is a
common practice for PETA
to euthanize healthy com
panion animals. In fact, it
was discovered that over a
six-year period, of the
William John Hagan
Columnist
William_Hagan@excite.com
12,735 animals obtained by
PETA’s Virginia headquar
ters, only 2,540 had actually
been adopted out while the
remaining 10,195 were
destroyed. Daphna
Nachminovitch, director for
PETA’s Domestic Animal
and Wildlife Department,
Perry needs to do the right thing
The great thinkers
throughout the history of
the human race have come
up with many theories as to
what differentiates humans
from the lower animals.
Bigger brains, opposable
thumbs, fewer legs; the the
ories are many and varied.
One is the concept of per
fectability.
That theory states that
while as humans we are not
perfect, we do have the capa
bility and the will to become,
if not perfect, at least more
perfect than we were before.
We learn from our mistakes
and we aspire to do better
than we did in the past.
And in an effort to steer
this column in the direction
I want it to eventually go,
we also aspire for per
fectability in our elected
leaders. After all, they are
supposed to be reflections of
ourselves. We make mis
takes but try to do better; so
our leaders make mistakes
but we hope that they will
try to do better in the
future.
I have that hope for the
city of Perry. I have hope
that the Perry City Council
can show perfectability and
erase a mistake made by
their Public Works
Oversight Committee
Bird Girl statues migrating to Perry
A few years ago after leav
ing one of those unique eat
ing establishments that can
only be found in the low
country of South Carolina, I
spotted something interest
ing at a nearby business.
There, in the midst of bird
baths and garden gnomes
stood a small statue that
looked just like the famous
Bird Girl of Savannah!
I admit to being 'of those
people who just adores this
city - yes, even though they
shipped some hurricane
evacuees our way who
caused some consternation
out at the fairgrounds a few
years ago.
I urged Rick to stop,
telling him I could just not
go home without my own
version of the statue which
was removed from
Bonaventure Cemetery
after it appeared on the
cover of the popular
“Midnight in the Garden of
Good and Evil” and is now
safely kept in a Savannah
museum.
Just how would we get it
home? Rick asked. The vehi
cle was already packed to
overflowing.
He was right. I could not
find even a few extra inches
to squeeze her in.
I suppose we could have
tied her to the top of the car,
but I had visions of my love
ly statue coming free of her
binds and falling off the
Talmadge Bridge or some
other place on our trek back
into Georgia.
She was left behind in the
low country, staring off at
the boats traveling up and
down a nearby river.
• • •
In the past few weeks, I
have been spotting this type
of statue popping up in
conceded the following in an
interview with Fox News:
“Did we euthanize some ani
mals who could have been
adopted? Maybe.”
When contacted about this
matter, PETA assured me
that it was definitely against
their policy “to put the bod
ies of animals in
Dumpsters” They further
described the offending Ms.
Hinkle as “a caring soul”.
Really? It seemed to me this
was quite possibly an exam
ple of the fox guarding the
chicken coop, and I had to
wonder what other types of
good works PETA might be
doing to our communities.
I interviewed Jen McClure,
PETA’s media liaison, and
concluded it would have been
easier to get a straight
answer out of Al-Qaeda.
When questioned about cer
tain facts, I was struck by her
Timothy Graham
Staff Writer
tgraham@evansnewspapers.com
Thursday.
You perhaps saw the story
in the weekend edition of
the Home Journal. Dell and
Joyce Emerson lived happily
at their Cedar Ridge Drive
residence for 17 years and
dutifully paid their sewer
bill every month. When they
had a problem with the
sewer line they called in a
plumber and discovered that
for all that time their
sewage had been flowing
into a septic tank and not
the city sewer system.
Naturally, they went to
the city and asked to have
those 17 years of sewer pay
ments returned, to the tune
of almost $4,000.
The city called in the
yards around Perry!
Where are they all coming
Emily Johnstone
Columnist
ejohnstone@evansnewspapers.com
from?
It is probably just as well
that the one I saw in the
Low Country did not make
it to my house.
Statuary usually does not
fare very well there!
MM, S
stark evasiveness. For exam
ple, it had been rumored that
PETA had contributed
defense money to the notori
ous domestic terrorist group
ELF. The Earth Liberation
Front is known for blowing
up buildings, medical
research labs and budding
development communities.
The FBI has estimated that
ELF has committed more
than 600 criminal acts in the
United States since 1996,
resulting in damages in
excess of 43 million dollars.
Naturally, it would be
unthinkable to assume that
PETA money was going to
finance domestic terrorism,
however, when asked if
“PETA directly or indirectly
donated money to the Earth
Liberation Front (ELF)”
McClure, at first, refused to
answer. Later, after checking
with her superiors she stated,
lawyers who said there is a
state law that imposed a
four-year statute of limita
tions on such payments,
lowering the Emerson’s pos
sible refund to $1,141.49.
There is also the fee that
Perry established four years
ago which charges city resi
dents a fee if they choose not
to connect to the city sewer
age. Imposing that fee
retroactively would lower
the Emerson’s take to less
than S9OO.
The City of Perry knows
what the right thing - the
perfectible thing - to do
would be. That would be to
send the Emersons a check
for all the money they sent
in by mistake for 17 years,
plus interest. But the
lawyers get in their ears and
start warning them about
setting bad precedents.
Bad precedents? How
many people do they fear
are out there paying for
sewer service but not receiv
ing it? Is there some sort of
massive scam going on here?
Does Perry really provide
sewer service to anyone?
Are all the people in Perry
secretly being served by sep
tic tanks without their
knowledge?
The City Fathers of Perry
need to take a deep breath
I have one small hand
shaped angel with one wing
(she is my favorite), an angel
with no wings and a little
frog missing a few toes.
Oh, and a gnome with a
gaping hole in its back.
• • •
’Tis the season for magno
lias to bloom and they are
especially lovely this year!
I can really enjoy the
large, fragrant blooms now
that I am all grown up and
do not have to spend hours
raking the leaves from the
yard of my childhood home.
Just try to stay on top of
raking leaves of a huge mag
nolia tree!
• • •
Of course, while still
attached to the tree, those
large leaves provide a won
derful place for a child to
hide and daydream!
• • •
You do not see children
“PETA has no involvement
with alleged ELF actions.”
Then, in a propaganda spiel
worthy of Baghdad Bob, she
went on to define terrorism
as the “violence inflicted on
billions of animals annually
in the meat, dairy, experi- *
mentation, tobacco, fur,
leather and circus indus
tries.” Or, some would say, in
PETA’s animal shelters.
As it turns out, McClure
later admitted that PETA
did give a grant of $1,500 to
Craig Rosebraugh, a leading
member of ELF and their
self-declared spokesman.
Mr. Rosebraugh’s stated
goals are to “Attack the
financial centers of the
country. Physically shut
down financial centers
which regulate and assist
the functioning of U.S. econ
omy.” Further, it’s been
reported that PETA gave
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
and think this one out. Due
to their bad recordkeeping,
they falsely extorted more
than $3,000 from one of
their citizens. The
Emersons, like good citizens
everywhere, trusted their
city leaders and regularly
paid for a service they naive
ly believed was being deliv
ered.
Is the best answer to this
to hide behind a statute of
limitations to save $3,000?
What is the value of honest
government and the trust of
your citizens? I hope it is not
$3,000.
Perry needs to ignore the
lawyers and start working
the public relations angle.
They need to call in the
Emersons and all of the
local media and present the
aggrieved family with one of
those oversized checks for
what they are due plus
interest. A lot of speeches
need to be made about trust
and doing the right thing.
And the Emersons need to
have all of their future
sewer fees waived in perpe
tuity.
People are perfectible.
Governments are per
fectible. All they need to do
is learn that once they step
in it, they can still wipe it
off.
playing outside as often as
years ago, for a number of
various reasons, I suppose.
In large cities, you hear
people being advised to stay
indoors because of poor air
quality.
Can you imagine that?
Maybe they should spend
their time indoors writing
and calling their representa
tives to push for more strin
gent environmental regula
tions.
• • •
Have a safe and happy
Fourth of July!
The Georgia National
Fairgrounds and Agricenter
has another Big Bang Boom!
event scheduled for this
year.
On July 2, gates will open
at 6 p.m.
A spectacular fireworks
show will begin at 9:30 that
evening.
Bring your blankets and
chairs!
$45,000 to the defense of
Rod Coronado, an Animal
Liberation Front (ALF)
member who was convicted
of a fire bombing at
Michigan State University.
For years, PETA has
duped good people into
donating their hard-earned
money to this organization
under its claim of helping
animals. The truth is that
PETA kills thousands of
pets each year and financial
ly supports domestic terror
ists. The time has come for
the IRS to revoke PETA’s
tax-free status and for the
FBI to begin an investiga
tion into their possible
fraudulent and criminal
conduct.
William John Hagan is a
freelance writer who lives in
Elko. Contact him at
William Hagan @excite.com