Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / Feb. 15, 2006, edition 1 / Page 2
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, I 2,\ THE NEWS-JOl'RNAL Raiford. N.C. Fcbruar> 15,2006 Viewpoints Power and money like ham and eggs Much too soon the political season is upon us. It seems only a few day ago we put those in office who we fell could do the job. Now other are seek ing it and saying, “We can do better.” The next time around others will file and say, “We can do better.” Isn’t it great we live in a democracy —even with the government monitoring our calls, agree or not, we still have freedom. Anyone in America can run for President if he or she is a citizen and meets the age re quirement. Candidates are not required to take 10 tests or swear to be kind to their moth ers. They can lie their way into office and get rich when they get there. At the beginningthey need lots of money, which the supporters are expected to sup ply. Attending meetings is a must and eating bar-b-que is a requirement. Ifonedoesn’tlike bar-b-que, he or she will never get elected. Being morally straight is not a requirement. Many have been elected like the 66- year-old man who worked as a car sales man. He got in trouble and told his boss, “1 got a problematical situation, 1 got to go see a judge on account of this girl said I got her in a family way. She’s hit ting me with a paternity suit. I am gonna need the day off.” Naturally the boss let him go. A few days later, he came back from test driving a car with a customer and ran into his boss. Being concerned about his employee’s day in court, the boss asked, “How A View from the Country Autry did your day in court go?" “Not good, sir, not good." “What happened?” “Well sir, here sh^ sat. holding that baby in her arms. And I said to the judge, 'Your honor, you look at tliaj baby and you look at me. That bab\ don’t look nothing like me.’” “What did the judge say?” The judge said, “You keep feeding him ‘til he doQs." We have always haq scan dals in government. I lo\vever. as times passes and as vve become moreof an “anything goes” society, the scgndals seem to be getting worse. Powerand money go together like ham and eggs •— one doesn’t taste good without the bther. Where will it stop, I am not wise enough to know. Maybe we should change the constitution and require those running for office to attend church, but that wouldn't do any good if they don't listen. Most of them — if such a requirement existed — would run me off the back row and leave when the last song was being sung, ^ven in my time we had politicians who would say anything to get elected. Many of them went to Washington to get federal assistance. 1 am sure the tobacco pro gram was started this way. Re gardless two businessmen from Dunn. John and Jim, went to the capital. They worked for days frantically seeing agency officials, and assorted flunkies, elerks, and receptionists who really made them sweat. At last their mission was crowned with success. They retired to their hotel for a night of relaxation and imbibing. Late that night, Jim was awak ened from a snooze by a noise inthe bathroom. Hefound John lying in the bathtub, his arms outtlung with only his hat, shorts and shoes on, yelling, “There ain’t no lions in here, there ain’t no lions in here.” Jim looked around him and proceeded to try to rouse John from this condition. He met with no success, so he ran to the phone, leafed through a directory and called a doctor. “Doc," he pleaded when he at last made contact with a medico, “You’ve got to come over here fast. My partner and I have been knocked around in circles in this nutty town for days, and I’m afraid it’s gone to his head. He’s lying in the bathtub shoutin’ that the room isn’t full of lions. But I fell you Doc, he’s crazy. The place is full of 'em.” OH, I GET iT.'TltD To THE mV BE IN THAT PLW WHffT ?IA'I!?I ISet Worth My parting thought — My son is quite a wrestler. He wrestles with big shots. He writes me from college. He said the dean had him on the carpet the other day. That is about the same in telligence some of our politi cians show. Repeating “A safe learning environment and high student achievement go hand-in-hand.” — State DPI Su perintendent Dr. June St. Clair Atkinson on Sandy Grove El ementary School’s designation as a “Super Safe School.” Other stuff (Continued from page lA) I said as I zipped this way and that into the parking tot, where \ had to"accept a space almost at 71st High School. We day-hiked into a depart ment store and 1 overheard some one say, “$#%! this looks like Christmasl'llall wasn'ttheonly one who didn't get the memo. We nailed the first and poten tially hardest errand - the pur chase of a pair of female shoes - in record time, and I hoped it was a good sign. It wasn’t. The girls had to go across the mall to do a girl errand, so we caught the northbound current of people and inched our way to the store. Reaching the entrance, 1 said nobly, “I'll just wait for you here,” and took my place in a line of males perched on a bench fac ing the store. I’ve seen these benches before but never really became a mem ber, first because I’m usually not allowed on shopping trips with females, and second, because if 1 were, 1 could probably contrive a schedule conflict that would be an improvement; “Aw', 1 would love to go shop ping for clothes with you, but I have to worm the cat.” The good seats were all taken so I leaned up against a cement column - feeling like a condi tional member - and began wait ing. “I keep looking at my watch every 5#%.' five seconds,” a man said disgustingly to another sit ting beside him. “There’s that word again,” 1 thought to myself. “1 know,” the second man re plied slowly for emphasis. “But at least sitting out here is better than being in there watching ev ery” - and here he inserted a great dramaticpause-“$#%! thingshe picks up and looks at.” For some reason my mind wan dered at that moment and I pic tured a t-shirt someone once told me about. Across the front it read, “She may be the most beautiful woman in the world but right at this moment she'son some man’s Iasi li)#'v'c! nerve.’’ 1 wondered if these guys’ bet ter halves had any idea they were being talked about so... impa tiently. My females were out only a few minutes later and I left the row of fuming males. Yes, I fig ured, the ladies did kr^ow they were being discussed, jjnvi no 1 imagined, they didn’t Care. And 1 also suspected the w^rd $#%! would be uttered a few i>,ore times before the end of day.';. Back in the fall we w^gre sitting around one day and the following question was posed: “What would you think about getting a robot?" Tosomeone like me that 's like asking if I would like hair. “Sure! ” 1 said. “Wf|at kind?’’ 1 pictured George J^tson s bot serving up dinner and tossing out the cat. I’ll admit I was a Imlc disap pointed at the answer-., a vacuum cleaner-but only a little. A robot is a robot. 1 was directed to a website, and a few days later a round piece of plastic about the circumfer ence of a medium pi^za and the depth of a Big Mac at^f jved. Charge it up, push a button on a remote, and stand back and be amazed was the gist of the in structions. The den would b^. a suitable test, we thought, because it has a wooden floor and a \arge rug. It had, however, been recently cleaned, but my gom wasn’t to test itscleaning capability -1 just wanted to see it go. After it had charged at its little dock for an hour or s^, its indica tor light gave us the go-ahead. 1 pressed “Clean.” Beep, beep, beep it said as it backed out of its do^k like a de livery truck or arqublance. It stopped, turned around, fired up its motors and brushes and began zig-zagging and performing something like little (pirouettes all over the room. Other than the betjp beep beep, which 1 thought was g cute touch, 1 was a little unimpressed. “I’m supposed to believe it's going to cover the entire roorP) doing ihaiT I thought. ltcontinuedon,goingthisway and that, venturing under furni ture, hitting this wal |, turning and clunking into that \vall. It sailed ovei the i ug and stayed w ithin the confines of the roorp, avoiding a couple of little transbiitters whose beams set out its boundaries. As an added bonus it st art led the cat. Then, after about minutes, it made its way back, to the dock, positioned itselfjusf so, shutdown to charge, and played some sort of victory soq^ailfl us know it considered itself done. "Well, it looks like it cleaned reasonably well,” my wife said as she examined the rug. Then she removed the tray that holds the vacuumed spoils. "Whoa!” we said in unison. From a clean room it had re moved as much dirt as shutting down a middle school-age chatroom. Since then, she has become a member of the family. (“How do we know it’s a ‘she?’” my wife asks? "Because it actually works.” Ha ha ha ha ha. :-p) Though Roomba lacks a cir cuit to hear, we often talk to it. “I’m going in the other room now. 1 want you to clean this room really good!” That’s how my wife talks to it. 1 say, “Well! Who needs some maintenance?” the same lan guage with which 1 talk to my truck, or “Get out of my way, stupid” the same language with which 1 talk to the cat. Or the children. (Just kidding.) Its personification is pro moted by the mournful tune it plays when it gets hung on the fringe of a rug. “Aw, 1 think she’s stuck,” 1 hear as aid is rushed to the other room. “You wouldn’tcome running if 1 got stuck!” 1 said. “But she actually does some work.”*t' I noticed there’s an ad in the paper mocking Frank Inman ... 1 mean celebrating his birthday. Whatever he gets he de serves. I got to know him on our last few trips to Mexico where he was a one-man entertainment committee - kissing a “hornytoad' lizard, wearing a woman’s hat in pubi ic, and ham ming it up with the preacher, whom he called “El Diablo.” On our last trip 1 was carry ing around a video camera film ing people at the jobsite and interviewing them about what the work meant to them person ally. Frank was in a six-foot pit using a pick axe to whack through the dense clay to dig a septic tank hole. I handed him a microphone and askeu him the intentionally vague, “Frank, what do you think of this work?” He looked up at me and said, “You want to know the truth?” On the tape you can hear people off camera begin to laugh. “I’m not going to be on na tional TV, am 1?” he continued. “No,” I replied. “Okay, then, it’s like convict work," he said. 1 thought to myself I’d have to chuck that bit of film, but he continued. “.. .and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. But since I volunteered for it... I’m loving it.” He proved to be one of the hardest workers but don’t let the serious photo in the ad fool you. Below is the real Frank. ❖ We Get Letters Grateful for response To the Editor: To Hubert Peterkin and the Hoke County Sheriff’s Depart ment: The family of Mrs. Mable Hasty wishes to express their sin cere gratitude for the professional manner in which the Hoke County Sheriff’s Department rendered their service through escortingand coming to the aid of the family in such a timely manner. We would also like to extend a special thanks to Sheriff Hubert Peterkin’soutstanding leadership and direction of the Hoke County Sheriffs Department. Sincerely, Pastor Jerome Hasty Jernell Hasty Love Sandra Hasty McQueen Mae Ann Hasty Stephens Local tax burden is heavier By Chad Adams Locke Foundation North Carolinians are shoul dering a heavier local-govern ment tax burden, according to a new study by the Center for Local Innovation. The average North Carolinian saw local taxes increase by 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2004 (July 2003 to June 2004). That is the latest year for which data is avail able. That growth rate is one of the many findings in CLl’s “By the Numbers 2006: What Gov ernment Costs in North Carolina Cities and Counties,” by CLI policy analyst Michael Lowrey. This is theeighth “By the Num bers” report published by CLI, a special project of the John Locke Foundation. In preparing it, Lowrey used the most recent data availablefromtheStateTreasurer, the Census Bureau, and the Bu reau of Economic Analysis to construct rankings of local gov ernment cost on a per-person ba sis. For counties, Lowrey also constructed rankings on a share- of-income basis. Local government costs rose in most North Carolina counties from FY 2003 to FY 2004, the CLI report found. The median county’s local tax and fee burden equaled 4.6 percent of a typical North Carolinian’s income. That figure was nearly 7 percent higher than the rate for FY 2003, Lowrey said. “Fiscal Year 2004 saw a sig nificant increase in the local tax burden on North Carolinians,” Lowrey said. “And that increase came on the heels of the substan tial increase of the previous year.” “Regardless of your perspec tive, this report does show that the cost of local government is continuing to outpace inflation and population growth,” CLI di rector Chad Adams said. Noting that local spending is relative to services delivered, Adams said, (See TAX BURDEN, page 3A) The INewS -Journal Published every Wednesday by Dickson Press, Inc. Robert A. Dickson, President Anne Dickson Fogleman, Secretary/Treasurer 119 W. Elwood Avenue, Raeford, NC 28376 (910) 875-2121 phinted with SGVINK Home vvww.thcnews-joiii'niil.coin Ken MacDonald (ken@thenews-ioumat.com} Publisher Pat Allen Wilson (pat@lhenews-lournal.com) Editor Victonana Summers (vickt@thenews-ioumai.com) .Reporter Hal Nunn (hai@thenews-journai.com) Sports Writer Hal Nunn (hai@thenews-iournai.com) Sales Representative Teena Jones (teena@thenews-joumat.com) Office Manager Linda Watson Otnda@thenews-joumat.com) Receptionist Sandra Wiggins (sandra@thenews-ioumai.com) Composition Design Mantise Andrews foreman email ads to; ads@thenews-)ournal.com email classifieds to: classifieds@thenews-journal.eom email legals to: legals@thenews-|ournal.com Periodical Class Postage at Raeford, N.C.(USPS 388-260) Postmaster: Send address changes to: P.O. Box 550 Raeford. N.C. 28376
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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Feb. 15, 2006, edition 1
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