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Recent news about the young boy being expelled from school for having a Boy Scout pocket knife reminded me of a saying of my late wife’s father, Mr. Bridges.
Mr. Bridges’ grandfather migrated from England, and his speech was somewhat flavored with British words. One of his sayings I recall is, “A chap (young boy) that does not carry a pocket knife and piece of string is of not much use to himself or anybody else.”
Most young boys of my time carried pocket knives, and many had the string. Although we sometimes accidentally cut ourselves, I never knew of any school boy cutting a classmate. Our teachers would apply harshly stinging iodine to the wound and bandage it with a piece of cloth secured with string. There were no band aids at that time.
I believe we have lost touch with logic in much of our social world. To expel a young student from school for such a trifling offence is absolutely ridiculous.
— W.H. (Bud) Stuckey
Macon
Record setting
Macon shares two remarkable statistics: The most churches per capita in the United Sates and the most houses of prostitution per capita east of the Mississippi. Give me a break.
It has been more than a year since incontrovertible evidence was given that Macon’s unlicensed massage parlors were what everyone suspected: brothels. For a moment, most of them closed down like cockroaches running from the light, but soon it was apparent that no one was particularly interested. There was some tough talk by politicians, followed by no action and the eerie silence of the church community.
What action that has been taken has been primarily by Mercer students and now the Junior League of Macon from the aspect of stopping the horrible social ill of human sex trafficking. But on the subject of prostitution, not a sound.
I have been to every meeting at City Hall and attended the Mercer conference last fall, and do not recall seeing even one pastor in attendance and only a smattering of church people. Rampant prostitution in Macon and not a sound from the church? Pastors should be thundering from their pulpits leading the charge. City Council meetings on the subject should have to be relocated to the Coliseum to accommodate the numbers.
Every day, I hear the church bemoaning the shape of our city and culture, but when the rubber meets the road, Christians are nowhere to be found. The Army of God? I don’t hear it marching.
We get what we deserve, so let’s decide what we want — a shining city on a hill or sewer in a swamp. We can’t have it both ways. Wake up, write letters to the editor, call your councilmen, demonstrate in the streets like we used to do. Pastors, search your hearts to see if you should lead the charge like the judges of Israel. “Faith without works is dead.”
— Ned Dominick
Macon
Concerns unanswered
There is no justice or mercy for the families who live off Elko, Plant and Limerock roads, because on Monday evening the Planning and Zoning Board voted to change their neighborhood forever by rezoning more than 500 acres from R/Ag to M-2. The large map labeled “Long Range Planning and Development” in which all cities had a part, as well as Houston County, stood unnoticed on its stand in front of the board which sanctions it.
From the beginning of the meeting, it was obvious to all whose side the chairman was on. Bill Schwanebeck began by announcing to a packed room of residents that there would be a limit on numbers of objections by speakers and also the time it took for them to speak. However, the group requesting the rezoning was given unlimited time and numbers to present their case, including a farmer from Macon County (not Houston), who did not have a dog in the fight. He took a lot of time declaring his friendship with Charlie McGlamery and other funny stories.
The project being discussed for the desired zoning is for mining, which requires blasting, heavy trucks hauling and anything anyone wants to do with the property once it is rezoned. Near the end of the meeting, McGlamery gave new meaning to that old saying, “Money talks.” He talked for a very long time. When the vote was taken, it tied 2-2. You can probably guess how the chairman voted. Of course he voted for the investor and builder. The room full of people had faces of despair.
They have one last hope, and it rides on the Houston County Board of Commissioners. It will make the final decision on Nov. 3. Hopefully, this group will support the huge effort that went into the map that depicts this whole area as tranquil, suburban living and vote for the people.
— Joy Land
Warner Robins
What to pay for?
There are two primary goals for health care, lower costs and care for all citizens. Excluding insurance companies would be the first step in this process. Insurance companies are in business to make money, and that is the only goal. They are not in business to provide health care. Bypass insurance companies and we immediately save all that cost. We will pay for insurance regardless of how it is offered or by whom, so ask yourself this: Do I want to pay for health care or do I want to pay $20 million for some insurance executives’ bonus? Do I want to pay for health care or pay the insurance company to write a large check for political re-election funds?
Your choice.
— Jon Phillips
Warner Robins
Don’t need Gadbois’ help
Apparently things are going so smooth for Frank Gadbois and his liberal friends that he now is giving free advice to Republicans on how we should do our business. While I agree that Houston County Commission Chairman Ned Sanders has done an admirable job, he had absolutely nothing to do with the stimulus money the county received to prevent teacher layoffs. I also cannot understand how Gadbois’ annual city taxes decreasing has anything to do with Sanders, as he represents the folks in the county not the city. Perhaps Gadbois needs to tighten up his “librarian bow tie” and mind his own business, as Republicans can get in enough trouble on our own without his free advice. After all, Republicans acting like Democrats is what got us in this current mess.
— Ben Damron
Warner Robins
Different breed
Former President George H.W. Bush decried the incivility that he hears from both sides of the political spectrum. Bush 41 said the cable news media treated his son “mercilessly and obscenely.” Bush’s civility didn’t last very long, for he then proceeded to attack MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Rachael Maddow, referring to them as “sick puppies” for their attacks on his son.
It’s surprising that Bush would speak of incivility when he started it all in 1988 with his Willie Horton smear campaign against Democratic challenger Michael Dukakis. The character attacks during the 1988 election were benign compared to the election of 2008. Barack Obama was called every name in the book and was accused of “paling around with terrorists” and would “wave the white flag of surrender to America’s enemies.”
The Republican Party has bred diseased, worm-infested packs of attack dogs like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and the spawn of Limbaugh, Glenn Beck. They and the Republican Party are against anything President Obama does, even if it’s good for America. Their aim is to destroy President Obama (even if America is seriously damaged in the process) and subvert our democracy. They are the offspring of a party that knows no ethical or moral bounds and are willing to destroy anyone or anything in order to achieve their unpatriotic means.
Now those are the real “sick puppies.”
— William D. Carter
Bonaire
Left alone
“I’m convinced that today the majority of Americans want what those first Americans wanted: A better life for themselves and their children and a minimum of government authority. Very simply, they wanted to be left alone in peace and safety to take care of the family by earning an honest dollar and putting away some savings. This may not sound too exciting, but there is something magnificent about it.”
— Ronald Reagan
“The makers of the Constitution conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone; the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized men.”
— United States Supreme Court Justice Brandeis Olmstead v. United States (1928)
Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve wanted to be left alone to do as I pleased. It took longer than it should have, but the Lord being willing, I came to fairly well understand what being left alone as a personally responsible, God-fearing adult really meant. It’s an ongoing process. Subsequent to my deliverance from an affection for 2-year-old autonomy, among other things, I’ve only wanted the powers that be to go on about their limited business of watching my back and staying out of my way, and to leave me alone.
That doesn’t seem to be all that much of an unreasonable request, but so far not a single governmental minion, from the greatest to the least, has even considered it, if in fact they could understand the concept in the first place.
— Michael Kilpatrick
Macon
Prayer for today
Heavenly Father, you have so abundantly supplied my greatest need through your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you father for my conscience which checks me and guards my actions. Help me to be alert to its promptings through your Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for another birthday, strengthen me Lord to do your will in my life. I praise your holy name for all the blessings you have given to me throughout my long life. In the name of Jesus I humbly pray. Amen
— Johnnie N. Moore
Cochran
Readers — ministers, priests, rabbis, imams and laypersons alike — are invited to contribute prayers for this daily feature.
Send them to “Prayer,” The Macon Telegraph, P.O. Box 4167, Macon, GA 31213; or by facsimile to 744-4663; or online to letters@macon.com.
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