This is Viewpoints for Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015
Needed response
Many positive and negative articles have been written lately on Christianity and the Bible upon which Christian faith is anchored. I believe the negative writers should have a response to four questions:
1. Are you a Christian?
2. If so, when did you become a Christian?
3. Why did you become a Christian?
4. Do you have anchored assurance that if you died today you would enter into the presence of God?
Gary McCall's 10/25 article is a vivid revelation of how we become Christians and how we are to live our lives.
— Rev. Richard Aultman
Byron
Bring on more puzzles
I always enjoyed the four different games in The Telegraph. I always did the Sudoku, crossword, Cryptoquote and Jumble with relative ease. I noticed the Cryptoquote isn't there but equally entertaining are the seven words, through process of elimination, and the find words within a word. I can do all five, including the bigger crossword in about an hour.
Those who complain about the larger puzzle need to grow and expand their vocabularies, their thinking processes and their patience. I was able to do Monday's in about 40 minutes. Don't take away anything, just add some more.
I don't want to digress in my reading skills even as I age.
— Anthony Smith
Byron
Kudos for new puzzles
No need to answer or publish this note, but please put it in your 'Love the new crossword' hopper. Like many, I finish the paper with the funnies and puzzle page. The old crosswords were so simple and repetitive that it rarely took more than five minutes to finish them.
The new version is more challenging, partly because it's larger, but I have yet to be unable to finish one and it lasts a lot longer, extending my puzzling time. As far as the Sunday puzzle, I expect it to be more difficult and I usually have to peek to get through them, but it gives me a lot of pleasure when I'm able to actually complete one on occasion. I vote "Keep the New Puzzle."
— Ron Wheeler
Warner Robins
Good puzzle
When I first saw the Universal Crossword, I was skeptical because I had really enjoyed the Thomas Joseph crosswords. However after completing the first puzzle, I was hooked. Yes, they are harder than the former ones but are very challenging and doable. Sometimes there are two or three clues that I need help with but that makes for a good puzzle.
If you know all the answers the first time through, you are not challenged to think. I sincerely hope that you will keep the crossword puzzle as it is but whatever you decide, I will continue finishing my day with a good puzzle.
— Sue E. Thomas
Eastman
Old puzzles will reappear starting Monday. New puzzles will also remain.
— Editors
Vision for Centerville
His phone is always to his ear, in constant contact day and night, answering questions, listening to concerns of his "people" as he describes the residents of Centerville. "My people" is his slang for the residents in which he cares so deeply for.
For his people, his vision is to see the city expand both economically and socially to grow this city through a commercial tax base. His goal and desire is to defray the tax burden of the individual homeowner through corporate growth.
He has seen the mistakes made by surrounding communities in which rapid growth outpaced their quality of life by failing to plan for parks and recreation. It's rare to find a politician whose main interest is not self-serving. In this case, true servanthood is the driving force in which he desires to lead the residents of Centerville. His decisions are reinforced by his faith. His faith defines who he is. Perfect he is not, but he will tell you this. He understands that mistakes are the catalyst for change. Doing the right thing even when the right thing goes against the grain is still the right thing to do.
Choice is something we all face. Making the right choice is difficult, and for me this choice is about individual character, faith and intent. Jon Nichols is the man who fulfills all these characteristics I require in a candidate to lead the city Of Centerville, to further the planned vision for this community.
— Ronnie Babbitt
Centerville
A vote for Betsy
As Warner Robins prepares for the upcoming City Council race, I would like to urge the citizens to vote for Betsy Loiacono. In the time I have worked with Betsy I have found her to be committed to advocating for those whose voices are often drowned out in a hectic criminal court system, making sure the victims are heard and well-informed. She is genuinely interested in the cases her attorneys are assigned, and not just filling out paperwork pro forma or using a rehearsed script when explaining victims' rights and compensation. She is a team player and goes out of her way to be an asset to this office.
As a city council member, Betsy would bring that same level of commitment and compassion as she shares her knowledge, experience and fiscal responsibility to the people she desires to serve. A vote for Betsy, City Council Post 4, is a vote for continued progress, fairness, and integrity in Warner Robins city government.
— Nancy Scott Malcor
Chief Assistant District Attorney
Macon Judicial Circuit
Foreign policy mess
In September, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin gave speeches to the United Nations General Assembly. The two speeches could not have been more different as Putin positioned Russia to be the "new sheriff" in the Middle East while Obama pleaded with Putin to "be nice." President Obama's speech left no doubt about the terrible foreign policy mess he and the Democrats have created over the past seven years of his presidency. President Obama thinks that if the United States refuses to confront our enemies that they will simply go away. That is not only ignorant and amateurish but very dangerous.
When Hillary Clinton was Obama's secretary of state, they both did a lot of huffing and puffing and congratulating about their accomplishments in the Middle East claiming they ended this war and that war. Now we see how naïve those comments were as just about every country in that region is less stable and more dangerous than it was back in 2008. Obama, Clinton, and now John Kerry have supervised the United States willful disengagement from the Middle East. They have even bragged about their failures all the while thinking those failures were successes. If ignorance won wars, Obama would be ruler of the world, but it doesn't.
Into the Obama, Hillary and Kerry failures steps Putin who is trying to do what the United States should be doing — defeating oppressive terrorist organizations that threaten the U.S. Russia is in the process of forming a coalition consisting of Syria, Iraq and Iran to defeat the Islamic State In Syria (ISIS). Russia is sending troops and fighter aircraft into Syria to fight the terrorists whom President Obama stupidly called a junior varsity team. In response to these Russian moves an Iraqi militia leader said, "We believe Russia and Iran are serious about defeating ISIS while the U.S. doesn't want to defeat them."
The bottom line is that Obama and Clinton not only abandoned Iraq to ISIS but abandoned U.S. leadership in the Middle East to Russia and Iran. As bad as that sounds, our foreign policy mess will only get worse if Hillary is elected president.
— Sloan Oliver
Juliette
Bright billboard
The Sanford Company's laser billboard at 4482 Forsyth Road is entirely too bright for safety or comfort. Why an insurance company would think that this kind of roadside distraction reflects on them positively is beyond my understanding.
— Paul Fisher
Macon
Lucky feline
Waking up before sunrise, I drove the 15 miles to Riverside Drive for an oil change and inspection of my vehicle at Five Star Dodge. Soon after surrendering my keys to Ms. Shannon, I retreated to the lounge but was approached by the staff wanting to know if I owned a cat. I thought to myself OMG, not another cat caught up in the fan belt, but was relieved to know that the feline did not seem hurt. The staff, Steve, Shannon and A.J. showed extreme TLC and compassion in rescuing the kitten safely, wedged as he apparently was between the air filter and the hood. For this gesture alone, I will remain indebted to Five Star Dodge the rest of my life. Having survived four tours of duty in Afghanistan, I have come to realize how precious life — both human and animal — ought to be. Blessed are the folks who care for all life forms.
— Kali Baer
Macon
This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 10:04 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015 ."