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♦ SATURDAY, JULY 23, 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
A Commendable Effort
Efforts by Houston County schools’ nutrition
director to improve eating habits of students is
commendable.
It also is a formidable task.
Improvements will be made in nutrition offered
to students at school, and that is an improve
ment.
More healthy foods will be offered in school
lunchrooms during the school year, which begins
in only two weeks.
So, at least, when students eat at school they
will partake of healthier foods.
Among major steps being taken is not to permit
students to purchase additional portions of such
fattening items as French fries.
Foods will be prepared in a more healthy man
ner, too. Baked items will take the place of fried
items. Whole milk no longer will be served.
Fresh fruits and vegetables will be made avail
able and rollups will take the place of sandwiches.
Vending machine offerings also will be more
nutritious.
The most important thing is that the new
menus be temptingly delicious. Students have a
way of dismissing meals served as school as being
unappetizing. Generation after generation of stu
dents have used this excuse, whether there is
merit or not.
Parents should applaud this effort by the school
system to improve eating habits of their children
and get them in the habit of eating nutritious
foods. It will be the only place that many students
actually will eat as they should.
It May Be Beneficial
As the city of Warner Robins debates how much
to spend extending Davis Drive from Russell
Parkway to Booth Road to serve a new Wal-Mart
store, some concern has been raised by citizens
who wonder why the city is going to spend about
$200,000 to accommodate a private business.
There is room for argument on both sides of the
issue.
City officials apparently believe that paying the
major portion of the road extension and widening
will provide two benefits, i.e., create new jobs and
add to the city’s tax base.
Both are valid reasons.
Opponents look at it differently. They wonder
why multimillion-dollar corporations receive this
kind of help.
After looking at this issue without prejudice we
have concluded that, in the long run, this can be
a good investment by the city, especially since
there were plans to extend the road sooner or
later.
If you ask the average person who looks forward
to a Wal-Mart in their part of the city the answer
is a slam dunk in favor of taking action to move
the project forward.
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
Eye-rolling kids can drive you wumpsy
Once again, God rest her
soul, my mother has proven
herself to be right. I hate it
when she does that. I espe
cially hate having to admit
it. She's not around to cack
le, "I told you so," but I still
hear her crowing.
We used to argue about,
well, everything. Maybe I
shouldn't call it "arguing."
Nobody, not even God and
his angels, could argue for
long with my mother.
You could try it, of course.
Some fools did. But the
woman would jump on your
back and flog you like a
female rooster, flapping
words like wings about your
head until she drove you to
utter distraction - flat-out,
certifiable, stark-raving
loony - or forced you, as in
some cases, and I'm not
naming names, to partake of
strong drink, preferably
M* '> j " I
Sharon Randall
Columnist
Scripps Howard News Service
moonshine.
Somehow she got a crazy
idea (possibly because I
rolled my eyes at every word
she spoke) that I deemed
myself intellectually superi
or to her - a misguided, if
not fatal condition she called
"wumpsy."
Spanish is now our country's second language
The time seems to be at
hand for educators, as well
as the rest of us, to take our
heads out of the sand and
admit that the United
States no longer is a one
language nation.
English has been the uni
versal language of our coun
try since its founding. Most
of us would like to believe
that it always will be the
language in which govern
ment functions and business
are carried out.
Those of us who complain
about the fact Spanish is
rapidly becoming our second
language have to wake up to
reality.
We already are a two-lan
guage country.
Look around. Businesses
advertise their products in
Spanish. Signs abound with
both English and Spanish
on them. Directions for
products we buy are in both
languages.
Steadily and irrevocably
the language we grew up
with and consider our native
Why the FBI watches the left
Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Civil
liberties activists, anti-war
organizers, eco-militants
and animal rights operatives
are in a fright over news
that the nefarious FBI is
watching them. Why on
earth would the government
be worried about harmless
liberal grannies, innocent
vegetarians, unassuming
rainforest lovers and other
“peaceful groups” simply
exercising their First
Amendment rights?
Let me remind you of
some very good reasons.
In March 2003, I reported
on a manifesto disseminated
across the Internet by infa
mous eco-radical Craig
Rosebraugh - former
spokesman for the violent
Earth Liberation Front -
who called on fellow leftists
to take “direct actions”
against American military
establishments, urban cen
ters, corporations, govern
ment buildings and media
outlets. His instructions
included:
1) Attack the financial
centers of the country. Using
covert or black block tech
niques ... physically shut
down financial centers
which regulate and assist
the functioning of U.S. econ
omy. This can be done in a
variety of ways from mas
sive property destruction, to
online sabotage, to physical
occupation of buildings.
2) Large scale urban riot
ing. With massive unrest
and even state of emergen
cies declared in major cities
across the country, the U.S.
government will be forced to
send U.S. troops into the
domestic arena thereby tak
ing resources and political
focus away from the war.
3) Attack the media cen
ters of the country. ... Using
any means necessary, shut
down the national networks
of NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN,
etc. ...
4) Spread the battle to the
Wumpsy? Who uses words
like that? I never said she
was stupid. She was just old.
I told her with all respect
it was the dumbest thing I'd
ever heard. I assured her
from my vast, lOth-grade
knowledge of the English
language there was no such
word as "wumpsy."
"It's in my dictionary," she
said, tapping her head,
"right next to your picture.
If you don't know what it
means, just wait. You'll have
your own wumpsy kids
someday."
She spoke it like a curse, a
pox you might wish on the
head of your worst enemy
who has just shot the tail off
your dog. For years, I tried
to ignore it.
My three children, when
they were little, thought I
was the smartest woman
alive. They never said it, but
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevans 19@cox.net
language - English - has a
sister language that has
become as much a part of
our culture as apple pie.
Don’t like it? Neither do I.
But there is reality. And
reality says that our country
has a new language -
Spanish - which is being
used almost universally side
by side with English.
So what can we do?
The change is here to stay.
We have to accept this fact,
whether we like it or not. I,
Ik -44'?^
Michelle Malkin
Columnist
Creators Syndicate
individuals responsible for
the war and destruction of
life - the very heads of gov
ernment and U.S. corpora
tions. No longer should
these people be able to hide
behind their occupations,
living their lives in peace
while they simultaneously
slaughter countless people.
Hit them in their personal
lives, visit their homes, and
make them feel personally
responsible for committing
massive atrocities.
5) Make it known publicly
that this movement DOES
NOT support U.S. troops as
long as they are serving an
unjust and horrifying politi
cal regime. Create an atmos
phere lacking of support to
assist U.S. troops at home
and abroad in losing their
morale and will to fight...
6) Actively target U.S. mil
itary establishments within
the United States ... use any
means necessary to slow
down the functioning of the
murdering body.
In April 2003, I reported
on a mob of “peace” activists
from an outfit called Direct
Action to Stop the War that
coordinated a seditious
blockade of an Oakland port
in shipping military sup
plies. The antiwar mob’s
primary target at the Port of
Oakland was American
President Lines, a longtime
carrier of military cargo. For
I saw it in their eyes. They
could ask me anything at all
about God's green Earth and
I would (a) know the answer,
(b) make something up or (c)
ask for their opinion.
This never failed to satisfy
them. They got a mite
wumpsy as teenagers. (Had
eye-rolling been an Olympic
sport, my daughter would
have taken the gold.) But
they never seemed to doubt
my intelligence. If they did,
they hid it pretty well.
Lately, however, when
they've come over with their
"others" for dinner, we've
engaged in a not-so-friendly
competition that tests our
knowledge of political fig
ures, pop-culture icons and
such.
The kids call it the "Name
Game." I call it "I Am
Stupid."
It's not that I don't know
for one, do not like it.
Many businesses and gov
ernment agencies require
that new hires be fluent in
both Spanish and English.
Some businesses are hiring
interpreters.
In my opinion, the time
has arrived for our educa
tional leaders to recognize
this change that has taken
place and begin teaching
Spanish in our schools.
Already many schools are
teaching English to students
who do not know this lan
guage. We can’t afford to
permit English-speaking
Americans to become
estranged in their own coun
try.
When I was in high school
-70 years ago - I was
taught Spanish. With the
help of a friend who was
born and grew up in the
Panama Canal Zone and
went to high school in
Americus, I became fairly
fluent in the language. But I
had no use for it then.
Within a few years young
Operation Iraqi Freedom,
the carrier made nine of its
vessels available to the
Defense Department in
order to move ammunition
and sustainment cargo to
support U.S. military forces.
The anti-war obstruction
ists weren’t simply exercis
ing their “free speech.”
They blocked trucks,
employees, entryways and
streets in order to stop the
shipment of things like bul
lets, rations, lubricants,
medical supplies, repair
parts and chemical defense
equipment to our troops.
They also targeted
Stevedoring Services of
America, which handled
some 3 million tons of
humanitarian aid.
In August 2004, radical
guerrilla activists from the
“Black Bloc” group publi
cized plans to disrupt the
GOP convention by
attempting to distract police
dogs, halt trains in New
York City and spur the evac
uation of Madison Square
Garden.
In January 2005, the anti
war extremists of Code Pink
traveled to the Jordan-Iraq
border and doled out
$600,000 in aid to “the other
side.”
In February 2005, civil
rights attorney and left
wing darling Lynne Stewart
W new- wcm MEDICAL STOWE* ARE WfIONG ASOOT V 3 Of THE TIME '
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that stuff. I know plenty. I
swear. But I can't get the
words out as fast as the kids
do. I'm not stupid. But I'm
no match for their young
firecracker brains.
Moreover, I recently mar
ried a self-confessed
"cesspool of trivia," a man
who's spent years editing
the news and can spit it out
like he's chewing tobacco.
The kids love it. I don't. But
lucky for him, he also cooks.
This is how bad I am at
that game: My own children
take turns "letting" me be on
their side. How embarrass
ing is that? Pretty soon
they'll take turns wiping the
drool off my chin.
I don't like feeling old and
slow-witted and lame. (I
turned my ankle a while
back, now I walk like
Forrest Gump.) I hate feel
ing like my mother.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
people who are not fluent in
both English and Spanish
will be handicapped working
in the private sector, as well
as government.
The time to recognize
what has happened is now.
The time to make teaching
of Spanish a compulsory
part of curriculum in our
schools has arrived.
Teaching this language,
which is foreign to those of
us who always believed that
English was the only lan
guage we ever would need,
should begin in the lower
grades, when it would be
easier for children to master
a second language.
We can complain all we
want to. Then there is reali
ty
People who live in most
foreign countries are fluent
in two languages - their
native language and
English.
The time has arrived
when we must look around
and see what has happened.
It is irreversible.
was convicted on five counts
of conspiring to aid murder
ous Islamic terrorists and
lying to the government
about smuggling messages
from her jailed client, ter
rorist mastermind Shiekh
Omar Abdel Rahman, to his
followers in Egypt.
In June 2005, moonbat
celebrity professor Ward
Churchill suggested to a
Portland audience that
killing military officers with
explosive devices was a more
effective anti-war tactic
than conscientious objec
tion. “Fragging an officer
has a much more impactful
effect,” Churchill advised.
The FBl’s job is to take
threats to our domestic
security seriously and act on
them before catastrophe
strikes. Given the suspect
words and actions of left
wing groups over the last
several years, “dissent is
patriotic” is a bromide no
responsible agent can swal
low blindly. Tolerating the
unfettered free speech of
saboteurs has threatened
enough lives already.
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.
"Focus, Mom," the kids tell
me, and I try. Sometimes I
think of a name they've
never heard of. Occasionally
it's even the right answer.
Then they clap for me the
way I used to clap for them
when they went potty.
They say you're only as old
as you feel. I felt fine until I
tried to play that stupid
game.
But I'll keep on playing
just as long as they like hav
ing me around. It's fun to be
smart, but it's far better to
be loved.
Besides, they'll have their
own wumpsy kids someday.
Sharon Randall is the
author of "Birdbaths and
Paper Cranes." She can be
reached at P.O. Box 931,
Pacific Grove, CA 93950, or
a t
randallbay@earthlink.net.