F arm best as free enterprise
By John Sledge
N.C. Farm Bureau Federation
What country ranks first in
wheat and rye production and is
also first in hog numbers? Well,
except for the rye, a good guess
would be the United States, but it
would be wrong. Few people
would say Russia, but that would
be right.
A criticism of Americans is that
we don't know enough about the
Soviet Union and some of these
1982 figures from USDA prove
this to be true. Did you know that
the Soviets rank second in cattle
numbers, fourth in corn produc
tion and ninth in soybean produc
tion?
But remember these are produc
tion figures. When it comes to
yields it's a different story.
Then Russia is 48th in wheat,
22nd in rye, 23rd in corn and 16th
in soybeans. The reason is that
Russia lies mostly north of the 45th
parallel, about in line with
Augusta, Maine and their
agriculture is much more depen
dent on the weather than ours so
they have to get large production
by sowing large areas.
Most of Russia's agricultural
production comes from huge state
or collective farms, but the items
that people want more of, like
fresh vegetables, fruit and especial
ly meat are coming from millions
of private plots, less than an acre
in size. The harvest from these
plots is sold in city markets and
represents about 25% of Soviet
agricultural production.
Quality depends on management
By Lucien Coleman
What you see in the television
commercials isn't necessarily what
you get when you stay overnight in
a big-name motel.
It wasn't long after I had check
P ed in that I began to notice little
things that added up to something
less than quality. A leaky faucet in
the lavatory. A bathtub stopper
that wouldn't work. Wallpaper
coming loose at the seams. A blur
red picture on the TV. A lamp that
wouldn't work. Little things. But,
taken together, they spell "second
rate."
That wasn't the worst of it. Hav
| ing gone for several hours without
eating, 1 went to the dining room.
There, "second-rate" would
have been a compliment.
The tablecloth was dccorated
with an assortment of crumbs left
by the last patron. The first two
menu items I ordered were not
available. Taking the line of least
resistance, I finally said to the
Things That Matter
waitress, "Why don't you just tell
me what you do have?" She
thought there might be some
chicken breasts in the freezer (yep,
she actually said that), but allowed
as how she would have to look.
She did, and 1 ordered breast of
chicken. That turned out to be a
mistake.
As I sat chewing on a piece of
undercooked chicken breast, the
thought struck me that the dif
ference between excellence and
mediocrity consists of little things.
Attention to details. That's what
makes for quality. Go into a super
market where you have to stumble
over empty boxes sitting in narrow
aisles, and you know you're in a
second-rate place of business. Go
to an auto garage where the
mechanic leav es greasy smudges on
your car, and you get the impres
sion that mediocrity is the norm
around there.
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Have you noticed the difference
between fast -food places? Even
though they might have the same
name on the sign out front, one
place gives you clean, quick,
friendly service, while another ma
jors on slovenliness.
I stopped in a hamburger em
porioum in Florida, part of a well
known chain, and waited 18
minutes for my order. The tables
were dirty. The trash bins were
running over. The restrooms were
filthy. It all added up to mediocre
management. Management indif
ference to quality.
The point is, quality isn't
guaranteed by showy buildings, ex
pensive furnishings, or state-of
the-art technology. It finally comes
down to people. People who care.
People who give a rip about such
things as crumbs on the table,
spots on the floor, empty napkin
containers, litter in the booths,
leaking faucets, torn wallpaper.
And gnats on the salad bar.
Opinions
US opened terrorism door
By Richard A. Viguerie
What might have happened:
WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 8.
1983 ? A powerful bomb exploded
in the U.S. Capitol Building last
night, claiming the lives of 14
Senators and seriously injuring 12
others.
The blast tore through a hallway
adjacent to the U.S. Senate
Chamber at 10:55 p.m., just as the
Senate was adjourning.
A group calling itself the Armed
Resistence Unit claimed respon
sibility for the bombing and said
the action was taken in response to
U.S. "military aggression" in
Grenada and Lebanon...
That's the way the story could
have read, had the Senate not cut
short its planned late-night session
by adjourning at 7:05 p.m. on
November 7. As it was, the bomb
went off after the building was
deserted. There was more than
$250,000 in damage, but no one
was hurt. If the Senate had stayed
in session late as it did the night
before -- the toll would have been
much greater.
We should not be surprised
when our nation's lawmakers
become the target of such an at
tack. Since 1968, CIA files record
over 8,000 terrorist incidents
worldwide, and almost half of
them were directed at U.S. citizens
or property.
Some members of Congress
have demanded courts martial for
the military commanders caught
by surprise when terrorists bombed
the Marine headquarters in
Lebanon. Yet by the same stan
dard Congressional leaders could
r
be held accountable for allowing
someone to bomb the Capitol! In
deed, it was Congress (along with
various administrations) who, in
the name of "civil liberties,"
restricted our intelligence agencies
and damaged our ability to protect
the national security.
In 1973, the Office of Manage
ment and Budget failed to allocate
funds for the Subversive Activities
Control Board, thus shutting it
down.
In 1974, the Hughes-Ryan
Amendment required the President
to approve covert actions in ad
vance and then report the actions
to a congressional committee. The
Privacy Act barred the FBI from
keeping files on "First Amend
ment" activities. This meant that
the FBI could no longer keep files
of subversive newsletters or press
reports on the statements of poten
tially violent subversives.
Also in 1974, the Freedom of In
formation Act gave the courts the
power to decide whether
documents were improperly
classified. The act discouraged in
formants and foreign governments
from giving information to the FBI
and CIA.
Between 1974 and 1976, the CIA
demanded the retirement of 2,000
officers.
In 1975, the House Internal
Security Committee was abolished.
The Rockefeller Commission and
Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho)
reported on CIA "wrongdoing,"
exposing many covert operations
and demoralizing the agency.
In 1977, the files of the Senate
Internal Security Subcommittee
were ordered destroyed. Two years
later. Senator Edward Kennedy
(D-Massachusetts) managed to
abolish the subcommittee.
By 1978, no fewer than eight
congressional committees had
oversight of CIA and FBI funding.
The Foreign Service Intelligence
Act required a warrant before elec
tronic surveillance could be used as
a measure against foreign spies;
before a tap could be placed, the
FBI was obliged to prove that a
terrorist group received "substan
tial" direction from abroad. 1
During the Carter Administra
tion, the CIA director removed 820
officers from the agency's covert
operation section (the section at
tempting to counter terrorism).
President Carter de-emphasized
Human Intelligence Gathering and
relied more on technical methods
like satellites -- methods nearly
useless against terrorism.
The 1980 election reversed the
trend toward the dismantling of
our intelligence agencies, but we
have a long way to go before our
efforts are adequate against the
threat we face. With the national
political conventions and the Los
Angeles Olympics set for this sum
mer, we would do well to
remember the words of Karl Marx:
"There is only one way to shorten
the murderous death agonies of the
old society, only one way to
shorten the bloody birth pangs of
the new society . , . revolutionary
terrorism" (in the newspaper Neue
Rheinische Zeitung, November 5,
1848).
But it was not the Marxists who
crippled our intelligence agencies.
It was our own national politi
cians, Democrat and Republican
alike.
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EXTERMINATORS
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Dining Room
Drinking - a Family Problem?
AL-ANON MEETING
WED. -7:30 p.m.
Hoke Co. Health Dept.
PHONE FOR FOOD
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Wagon Wheel Restaurant
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107 S. Main St. 875-4078
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Wad Sat.
11 30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Sunday
Buffat AH Day ? 11:30 a.m. - 1
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ALASKAN CRAB LEGS
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LET'S START PLANNING
YOUR '84 CROP PROGRAM!
Now's the time to see Dan
Baker & Melton McMillan
at Parnell Fertilizer Co.
and map your soil fertility
needs.
Now, before the spring rush is on, you should .
pay us a visit. We'd like to help you put your
crop program on the road to top profits.
Planning now can help you make the most of
your money. Ordering now can save you moneyl
Our coffee is on and we'd like to talk over your
plans. See us soon.
Parnell Fertilizer Co.
Highway 71 ? Phone 858-3532
Parlcton, N.C. 28371
Together, we can make '84 your best y?ar ever!
: ? - -