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2\ TllENKWS-JOl'RNM. Kacford. N.t. Manh 22. 2(MM) Viewpoints Mules don’t need gasoline The best epitaph to put on the stone of an untruthful man is "Here lies the truth." Recently I have been in con tract with some folks who have abso lutely n ithing in common with the truth. V/hy is it so hard to tell the truth? M;' minister has on occasion ac cused me of stretching the truth when I make some remarks about him in my column. For instance, he has some unkind thoughts about my ideas on Chapel Hill. The problem v*. ith him is he got blind-sided for nine years in the land of the Blue Sky. He actually thought that heaven began in Chapel Hill. 1 ha\e told him heaven is the wrong word for Chapel Hill. His son Ward has seen the light; he is going to attend Hast Carolina and enjoy the experience immensely. He won't know where Chapel Hill is located after spending four years with the Pirates. This boy is a good basketball player, scrappy, good at defense and doesn't hear his father yelling at the men who are calling the game. I was sorta embarrassed because he was so rough on the fellows. Since 1 am so calm at athletic events, it upsets me to .see people yelling at the whistle blow ers. Hnough on this subject. I don't know if this tale applies to some mechanics; my friend David M. passed it along. It seems a lady and her husband arrived at an auto mobile dealership to pick out their car. They were told that the keys had been accidentally locked in it. They went to the seiwice department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door. As they watched from the passenger's side, the husband instinctively tried the door handle and discovered it was open. “Hey," he announced to the technician, “it's open.” “1 know'," answered the y oung man, "1 already got that side." 1 know some folks like that. Am I the only one who has noticed that not one of the people running for president of the United States has A View from [ the Country Raz \utry mentioned gas prices, or suggested what to do about them, it makes one wonder if some of that so-called soft money is coming from the people who control the oil. It is easy to say what you would do if you were presi dent. Surely we must have someone brave enough to say to Kuwait that “if you don't let more of your oil loose, so the price will come down, we are going to say to Saddam, "They are all yours." Apparently it is not good poli tics. There is a solution. I have men tioned it several times. We could go back to the mules and wagon. It wou Idn 't matter about the price of oil, mules don't eat oil, only hay, and it's plentiful. This step backward in the eyes of some folks would solve a great many of our problems. Students wouldn't fight in school. They would be too tired from cutting hay for the animals. Besides, who would feel like fight ingin school after driving a mule- drawn wagon three or four miles to the .school house? Especially if the mule had been eating green corn. Just a thought. There wouldn't be any gangs in .school. What .soul would want to join a gang after riding a sw'eaty mule several miles. Just being in the same room with each other would discour age any activity other than taking a bath. Mules have a great advantage over fast automobiles. It is a pity our present day society can't see it. W/e could have given our preacher a mule instead of a car. He would look great riding the back of a mule from his house to the church with a hat on top of his head saying, “Go Pirates.” Mypartingthought— Ifyou don’t know the price of success, the Inter nal Revenue Service will gladly fur nish \ou with an income tax table. A,s8u(cr reEsstf .iWJi BCV CCm / t VffiLL, LETS SEE... Wy MOW’S THE HEAP OF THE HOUSEHaP. BUT SHE WCRKB THREE tlCSS.SD SHE’S N0ER HOME- HER BOVFRIENP SOl£- TTMES UVES HEFE WITH HIS TVJO KIPS,BUT HES IN REHAB FUGHT NOW. W HAIF SISTER AKP I ARE ii^VlNG IM VHTH Mi GRANPMA TOMORROW, SO i POM'T REALLY ilVE HERE AKVKIORE /iMfWAY AHP., Letters to Editor policy The News Journal welcomes Letters to the Editor and encourages readers to express their opinions. Letters must be signed and include an address and phone number. The street address and phone number will not be published, but are required so we may verify authenticity. The name of the writer and the town the writer is from will be published at the end of the letter. We reserve the right to edit letters for grammar, as well as those that exceed 300 words. We will not publish letters that we consider to be in poor taste or slanderous. In some cases we may add an editor’s note as a post script when we believe a correction, explanation or amplification is warranted. We may also, at our discretion, limit the number of times an individual writer may submit a letter for publication. Gubernatorial candidates, Democratic and Republican, agree to disagree Have you decided how you are going to vote in the May 2 primary elections? Most people haven t begun to think about their choices. If you know the names of the candidates, y ou are ahead of most North Carolinians. Even in the governor’s race, most people are not yet paying attention. Uist week. I observed all five can didates answering questions and ex changing views at a couple North Carol ina Press Association sponsored forums. 1 welcomed the chance to watch the candidates and try to get some idea about how they would be trying to get our attention and our votes during the next few weeks. Here is what 1 learned. The main areas of disagreement and contention among the candidates in each party were about issues that they agreed upon. Sound confusing? Let me give you some examples. First, on the Democratic side. Both Democratic candidates. At torney General Mike Easley and Lt. Governor Dennis Wicker, support a state lottery, with the proceeds to be used for education. But they argue pa.ssionately about whose lottery plan is better. Wicker proposes a plan similar to Georgia’s lottery — including guar anteed scholarships for high school graduates with at least a B average. He wants the proceeds to be “locked- up" constitutionally so they can’t be diverted by the legislature. He says Easley’s plan won’t give the same protection. Easley wants all the proceeds to go to pre-college education needs and does not propose the kind of “straight- jacket” limits on the use of the funds, as does Wicker. Easley also quietly makes the point that Wicker was once opposed to the lottery on moral grounds. He then questions how Wicker could change his mind on a “moral” issue. These differences may be very important to Wicker and Easley. But for me to remember them, I have to refer to my notes. ^ One on One D. G. Martin r I Both candidates are strong oppo nents of hog lagoons. They support restrictions on hog farming and they promise a phase-out of the controver sial waste lagoons. But they argue strongly about which one of them could and should have done something about the prob lem. Wicker says that Attorney Gen eral Easley should have been tougher on the enforcement of existing envi ronmental regulations. Easley says that the legislature (and Lt. Gover nor and former Representative Wicker) should have come up with stronger regulations long ago. On the Republican side. Repre sentative Leo Daughtry, former Rep resentative Chuck Neely, and former ooo , 6ur , 1 MVlNfep I JiASUfTWU.J Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot also argued about minor details in areas where they were in fundamental agree ment. In contrast to the Democrats all of them oppose a state lottery. Their ar gument with each other was about who was the strongest opponent. For instance, Neely and Vinroot questioned Daughtry’s “anti-gambling” position since his law firm had represented clients that have pro-gambling inter ests. All the Republicans were for limit ing government spending, but Vinroot said Neely and Daughtry should be criticized for their legislative votes in favor of state budgets with “pork bar rel ” spending. The Republican candidates all take “pro-life” positions. But Neely and Daughtry question Vinroot’s “anti abortion credentials based on his sup port some years ago of Planned Par enthood in Charlotte. Neely had to explain a newspaper’s characteriza tion of him as a “pro-choice” candi date in 1994. And Vinroot raised questions about Neely’s and Daughtry’s votes on state funding for abortions. When the Republicans finished their discussions I had just as much trouble remembering their small differences as I did with those of the Democrats. What does all this mean for the rest of the primary campaign? If these mi nor differences are all that now sepa rate the candidates, how are they going to try to persuade us to give our sup port and vote? I am afraid it means that we are at risk of negative campaigns in both primaries. Here is why. If the candidates cannot separate themselves on the issues, the only way to show a difference is to show that there is a difference in “character.” Unfortunately, the only way for a candidate to show a difference in char acter is to show that his opponent has character weaknesses. And the only way to do that in the last few weeks of a political campaign is to mount a negative and misleading television campaign. Such campaign can take “minor differences” and make them seem like high crimes. 1 hope 1 am wrong. But ifyou don’t like to watch negative 30-second po litical ads, be careful about watching television the next few weeks. The INeWS -Journal PRINTED WITH SGYINK Published every Wednesday by Dickson Press, Inc., Paul Dickson Pres - 119 W. El wood Avenue -^***^^ Raeford, North Carolina 28376 (910)875.2121 Call for fax number ' “ Home Page: http://wwvv.clicksonpress.com /xTiTfirRva e-mail: Njoumal @ coastalnet.com AlNIra Njournal® aol.com Subscription Rates in Advance In Hoke County: $14 — one year $8 — six months Out of county: $17 — one year $9.50 — six months Out of state: $20 — one year $i i _ six months Robert Dickson Publisher Ken MacDonald General Manager Pat Allen Wilson Editor Victoriana Summers Reporter Kristin Guthrie Reporter Henry L. Blue Production Supervisor Mantise Andrews Press Foreman Sam C. Morris Contributing Editor Teena Jones , Advertising Representative Composing Room Staff Robin Thumpkins, Sandra Wiggins Postmaster: Send address changes to: P.O. 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The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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March 22, 2000, edition 1
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