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Friday, Oct. 16, 2009

This is Viewpoints for Friday, Oct. 16

Caveman mentality

Sadly, the extremists of the Republican and Democrat parties have brought anarchy to the airwaves and are pushing it into the streets. This caveman mentality brings nothing but unreasonable mob fear-mongering to intelligent and reasonable American citizens, and makes our system of democracy as a representative republic look stupid and foolish in the minds of other cultures and countries. It is a disgraceful and destructive activity that the founding fathers of American democracy warned against many times over.

— Rick Faiella

Warner Robins

Salvation Army needs

Fall housecleaning may be on your calendar now as one of those “fun” and necessary things to do. If so, when you go through your cleaning and gleaning process, please remember the Salvation Army and donate those “gently” used household items and articles of clothing you no longer need. The inventory at our thrift stores is at an all-time low due to decreased donations and increased demand.

If you need information for donation pickups or location of drop boxes please call 746-8572.

Happy fall and happy cleaning!

— Sandy Kendall

Salvation Army Advisory Board

Kudos to Miller, mentor

I found Mike Stucka’s story about Cathy Miller’s research into a Macon lynching to be both interesting and tragic.

I congratulate Miller and must confess that I envy the professors who had her in their classes. Kudos to the mentor of her research project.

On the other hand, check out Western Toledo and “Route 66” on YouTube. That five-minute episode speaks volumes about the state of society today. It makes you long for “the good old days” when sick women were spared casual distress.

As a society, we have gone nowhere. God help us all.

— Gary W. Blome

Macon

So much misinformation

So it goes, on and on ... the misinformation and the misrepresentation. Syndicated columnist George Will opining on a purely local dispute about speed bumps in Chevy Chase and inflating it to “liberals not playing nicely together” being equivalent to the behavior in August at town hall forums on health care. A letter writer saying that Barack Obama was “nominated and won the Nobel Peace Prize 12 days after taking office.”

Then there is the ongoing misinformation about health-care reform and the absolutely laughable statement that the House refused to include the other party in the writing of the health-reform bill. The Party of No excluded itself and now continually whines.

The references to “change after change is undoing the American way of business and thus life” is pretty revealing. In nine months, what changes have been enacted that so profoundly change the American way of business? Name one, please. And the care that would have been denied in Canada or Great Britain under government-managed health care? How does the writer know that? Canada, by the way, has a single-payer health-care system, not a government-managed one. Britain has a government-managed one, and per my reading, a majority of the citizens of both countries are pretty satisfied with their respective health-care systems and would never choose to exchange them for our far more expensive mish-mash of one.

George Will lives in Chevy Chase, Md., next door to the Chevy Chase, D.C., neighborhood inhabited solely by liberals, so he says, at war with each other. He uses a valid neighborhood dispute to make some over-the-top generalizations about liberals and equates them with the tea parties and the ignorant and angry citizens who attended various health-care reform meetings. For this, he gets paid big bucks and gets published across the entire country, and is the only editorial in Monday’s paper. He needs to retire already and let his prime space be given to someone who is more relevant.

Barack Obama was nominated in February for the Nobel Peace Prize, but the final voting took place in early October, and while the award took most Americans, including Obama and his administration, by surprise, it is not without precedent in the annals of the prize. Further reflection and reading provide plenty of plausible reasons for giving him the award, not the least of which is a recognition on the part of the rest of the world of an American president who is returning the country to its historical heart, one that espoused diplomacy over war and confrontation. The rest of the world is apparently appreciative of a president who brokered a U.N. Security Council unanimous agreement on a path to nuclear disarmament and opened a dialogue with the Muslim world.

The Nobel committee admits one of its aims is to incentivize further such efforts by President Obama and his administration. The president deserves our approbation, not mean-spirited disparagement, like that from a nationally known local blogger who labeled the win as an affirmative action one. Why do conservatives so hate America and its president?

— Donna Williams

Macon

Thanks to Centerville

While the Centerville Center Market opened low-key, it was still a great success thanks to the efforts of Jeanne Bauer, marketing director for the city. The participants, including myself, had a great time and met many new people while enjoying other friends. Thank you, Centerville, for creating this opportunity for us. We look forward to future events.

— John R. Harley

Centerville

The reason for the prize

This letter is in response to Charles Frye’s letter stating that George W. Bush deserves the Nobel Peace Prize rather than President Obama.

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to who should be awarded the coveted prize. The Nobel Peace prizes, and there are five categories, were established after Dr. Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, read a premature obituary of himself in a Paris newspaper.

He was in shock at being labeled “the merchant of death,” and set up peace prizes to recognize people who give positive contributions to humanity.

There are five categories. The fifth category is the one President Obama won in, and that is for the person or society the Nobel committee determines has rendered the greatest service to the cause of international fraternity, in the suppression or reduction of standing armies or in the establishment or furtherance of peace congresses.

There is no category for invading countries or holding and torturing people without due process in any of the Nobel Peace prizes.

— Dwight Hirschinger

Macon

Unprofessional headline

Your Oct. 13 sports headline was very unprofessional in proclaiming, “Rain hands titles to Henley, Jaguars.”

Russell Henley shot a 3-under-par the first day and tied a course record of 7-under-par the second day to take a five-stroke lead. The Jaguars had two solid rounds at 283 and 282 for a 13-stroke lead. This is like saying “Braves slid in the back door to win the division” because they and the second place team both lost the last day of the season.

There wouldn’t be much argument if the headlines read “Nobel Prize handed to President Obama.” The difference is Henley and the Jaguars showed superior skills in leading by wide margins before the final round was canceled.

The bad part of giving an award based on sentiment is a person who has worked a lifetime to achieve the honor is left out. They should have extra awards for future high achievers, such as Horizon Award, Rookie of the Year, Most Promising or Sentimental Favorite.

— Larry Damron

Byron

Suggestions for football

Football is a stupid game played by and watched by stupid people. I am one of those who watch. Some observations:

First a definition from Merriam-Webster for touchdown as relates to football: 1) The act of touching a football to the ground behind an opponent’s goal; specifically, the act of scoring six points in American football by being lawfully in possession of the ball on, above or behind an opponent’s goal line when the ball is declared dead. A touchdown should be just that of the first definition. Breaking the plane of the goal line shouldn’t be a touchdown unless the ball is downed in the end zone. If the ball is not downed in the end zone, then it should be no touchdown. Getting one/two foot/feet down on a pass play to the end zone shouldn’t count.

Same thing on catching a pass and going out of bounds or running out of bounds. If the ball is not downed on the field of play, then it should no catch/gain. Think what this would do to clock management.

Field goals should not be allowed. It’s like giving half a run in baseball for a double. If a team cannot down the ball in the opponent’s end zone, then there should be no score.

Do I expect to see any of these suggestions implemented? No, I’m just one of those who watch.

— Alvin L. Hooper

Warner Robins

Pre-existing conditions

I see where Jean E. Foster wants President Obama to force health insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. Let’s not stop there. The property insurance companies should also be forced to let me buy flood

insurance after my house is swept away and full replacement coverage on my car after it is totally destroyed.

— Stan Dominy

Macon

Father, there are times when we may not know who or what to pray for, and that is when we can say thank you, Jesus. Father, you have watched over us when we haven’t watched over ourselves. In our troubled times, you have provided direction. Father, you have always made a way out of no way. Let your will be done. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

— Ruth Wooten Macon