Opinions - Topics from February, 2012
I’m going to miss his wit
About five or six years ago when my parents were getting ready to retire, I decided to replace the ageing roof on The News-Banner’s building. My dad and I discussed several options including going back with a tar and rock-type roof or go with a modified-type roof, which would be lighter on the building’s structure and more energy efficient. I opted to go with the modified roof, even though the tar-type roof held up for over 25 years.
[Full Story »]
A trashy week
On those rare occasions when the pump malfunctions and we have no water, my subconscious panics, and I experience an immediate intense thirst. It matters not one whit that I have bottled water in the refrigerator and jugs of water stored for emergencies. My subconscious doesn’t have to be logical. It wants the pump working post haste.
[Full Story »]
Attitude problem
The copperhead bream, the ones with the streak across their nose, are gathering off the edge of the big flat on the east side of the lake behind my home. My Daddy and I built this lake in 1976 and every time I look at it I remember him and the good times we had as he would hook another of those ‘titty bream’ , as he called them, because they were so big he had to hold them against his breast to get the hook out.
[Full Story »]
Another fun Florida weekend
Jacksonville Florida is approximately an hour from our house. St. Augustine is another thirty to forty-five minutes and Daytona Beach around three hours. The driving time to these locations is dependent on traffic and Big Red’s or Little Blue’s temperament. B. J. and I frequently skedaddle down to the Sunshine State for an outing.
[Full Story »]
Let’s make a deal?
Dear Editor,
There has been a soft rumble running past the dinner tables, grocery isles and the talk at fishing holes. Have you heard that the county is considering letting a private company put in a landfill in the county? Soon the talk is throughout the county and it is clear that this not what the people want. Sure in the beginning the people in the area thought of what it would do to their little neck of the woods, but after all the facts started coming in it was much more. All the risks that would fall on the county and why? [Full Story »]
There has been a soft rumble running past the dinner tables, grocery isles and the talk at fishing holes. Have you heard that the county is considering letting a private company put in a landfill in the county? Soon the talk is throughout the county and it is clear that this not what the people want. Sure in the beginning the people in the area thought of what it would do to their little neck of the woods, but after all the facts started coming in it was much more. All the risks that would fall on the county and why? [Full Story »]
“I’d prefer growth”
Dear Jamie,
Thank you for running the guest editorial last week (Feb. 1, 2012) affirming that private sector employment has increased for 22 consecutive months under the Obama administration.
It is true that employment by the private sector, the primary strength of the American economy, fell sharply in the last 12 months of the Bush administration as the nation plunged into a Great Recession. The first month of the Obama administration matched the worst of the Bush years, but the nation began a slow but steady upward climb from that moment on. By the Spring of 2010, a year after President Obama took office private sector employment turned positive. [Full Story »]
Thank you for running the guest editorial last week (Feb. 1, 2012) affirming that private sector employment has increased for 22 consecutive months under the Obama administration.
It is true that employment by the private sector, the primary strength of the American economy, fell sharply in the last 12 months of the Bush administration as the nation plunged into a Great Recession. The first month of the Obama administration matched the worst of the Bush years, but the nation began a slow but steady upward climb from that moment on. By the Spring of 2010, a year after President Obama took office private sector employment turned positive. [Full Story »]
A terrible idea
Dear Editor,
When we first heard about the possibility of a landfill close to my home, we thought it was a bad idea. Now, we’ve learned a lot more about it and we can see it’s a terrible idea; and not just for us, but for the whole county.
Appling County isn’t looking for landfill capacity. Our trash is handled by Sullivan Environmental which uses landfills that will last until at least 2050. Instead, a private company wants to process trash from surrounding areas and this requires our county commissioners to amend a ban on additional landfills. The idea (as best I’ve been able to determine personally) is to set up a recycling center using trash mainly from Jacksonville and then create a landfill with what they can’t recycle. The landfill will remain a permanent eyesore for generations. [Full Story »]
When we first heard about the possibility of a landfill close to my home, we thought it was a bad idea. Now, we’ve learned a lot more about it and we can see it’s a terrible idea; and not just for us, but for the whole county.
Appling County isn’t looking for landfill capacity. Our trash is handled by Sullivan Environmental which uses landfills that will last until at least 2050. Instead, a private company wants to process trash from surrounding areas and this requires our county commissioners to amend a ban on additional landfills. The idea (as best I’ve been able to determine personally) is to set up a recycling center using trash mainly from Jacksonville and then create a landfill with what they can’t recycle. The landfill will remain a permanent eyesore for generations. [Full Story »]
Obama’s misleading three million jobs created claim
By Bill Wilson
In the State of the Union Address, Barack Obama attempted to convince the American people that the economy has turned the corner, things are getting better, and “we’ve come too far to turn back now.”
Reading Obama’s speech carefully, he noted the 8 million jobs that have overall been lost in the recession. [Full Story »]
In the State of the Union Address, Barack Obama attempted to convince the American people that the economy has turned the corner, things are getting better, and “we’ve come too far to turn back now.”
Reading Obama’s speech carefully, he noted the 8 million jobs that have overall been lost in the recession. [Full Story »]
A night on the town
When my sons were students at Georgia Southern, they were both involved in music, especially Calvin, who earned a degree in music. Josh’s degree is in English, but he played on the indoor drum line and still plays several instruments for fun. Often the boys would call me and tell me to put a particular date on the calendar and come to Statesboro for a night of classical music. We heard music teachers and students in concert, as well as traveling groups. Once we had the pleasure of seeing and hearing a Russian group perform. How we enjoyed these outings. It never bothered me that I got back home late and had to rise early the next morning.
[Full Story »]
Feathered conspiracy
I am an avid bird hunter and have been all my life. When I was young it was nothing to walk out the back door with my Daddy’s 20 gauge Browning auto and Red, the red speckled setter, and by noon have twenty wild Bob White quail in my coat. Man, those were the days. I loved quail hunting and miss it sorely, but now that the wiregrass and old timber is gone and the habitat has completely changed, hunting wild Bobwhite is nearly impossible for us ordinary folk. Most quail hunting now is done on plantations where the birds are pen raised and released just ahead of the hunt. This is fun to some people but to those of us that were here when it was real; shooting a pen raised quail is like kissing your sister.
[Full Story »]
Being a citizen
Dear Editor,
When you feel passionately about an issue, sometimes your vision becomes blurry. It happens before you even know it and at times instead of stating your opinion you are just screaming. My daddy used a quote that I think is true today; “Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.” [Full Story »]
When you feel passionately about an issue, sometimes your vision becomes blurry. It happens before you even know it and at times instead of stating your opinion you are just screaming. My daddy used a quote that I think is true today; “Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.” [Full Story »]
“Is this worth the few jobs it would create?”
Dear Editor,
In response to the proposed Landfill off of Highway 121 in Appling County - 4th District:
We are property owners near the site and we have been away from Appling County for forty years. We just built our new retirement home in September 2011. One day not long after, when showing our home to some friends, it was mentioned that a landfill or garbage dump was being put within 1? miles of our new home; we were really upset about this. It seems that property owners should have been notified of something like this in advance and it seems that no one, or at least property owners in the area, knew nothing about this until they saw it in the paper. Then a meeting was held and the commissioners voted without meeting with any property owners that I know of. I thought Government was for the people and by the people; it seems that I’m wrong! [Full Story »]
In response to the proposed Landfill off of Highway 121 in Appling County - 4th District:
We are property owners near the site and we have been away from Appling County for forty years. We just built our new retirement home in September 2011. One day not long after, when showing our home to some friends, it was mentioned that a landfill or garbage dump was being put within 1? miles of our new home; we were really upset about this. It seems that property owners should have been notified of something like this in advance and it seems that no one, or at least property owners in the area, knew nothing about this until they saw it in the paper. Then a meeting was held and the commissioners voted without meeting with any property owners that I know of. I thought Government was for the people and by the people; it seems that I’m wrong! [Full Story »]
Comments