October 3, 2018 Page 5A
iRE15orter
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
show it's
new
The comment has proliferated: "The good old boys
are no more! The commissioners are rocking the
boat and some Mo ,nr, oe Countians are turning
over in their graves. Hereb the reason for those
comments: the commissioners are in the process of having
to hire a recreation director and a county manager.
Right now, there are two candidates for recreation direc-
tor, Tim Christmas and Landon Sparks, and narrowed
down to three for the county manager position, James A.
Hedges, Karl Kitchens and James A. Wood. They have
hired an on-the-job qualified finance director, Lorrie Rob-
inson, and approved the hiring of new hospital admim'stra-
tor Lorraine Smith. So far so good.
Ifyou are an observer of They Think They Are The
Fabulous Five, it will be most interesting to see how the
new hires will or can handle the micromanaging by their
bosses. In other words, how long will they tolerate the
nit-picking and stay on the job in Monroe County? And
this comment by another observer of county commission
politics: "Some of the most recent elected commissioners
have become 'good old boys'. The District One Commis-
sioner has been a tremendous influence on the newbies"
I WONDER how many of us have the phone numbers
of Forsyth Mayor Eric Wilson and County Commission
Chairman Greg Tapley programmed in our cell phones? I
have them both in my cell phone along with the number of
my county commissioner. Don't know dWayne Calhoun
has them in his phone, but he was the first to answer the
question "what are the phone numbers of Mayor Wilson
and Chairman Tapley" Wayne gets a certificate for a dozen
Dunkin Donuts, Dairy Queen Blizzard, Whistle Stop fried
green tomato appetizer, Jonah's
cookie, slice of Shoney's straw-
berry pie, Forsyth Main Street
t-shirt, and The Pickled Okra
sandwich, chips and drink.
Herds The Question for this
week: what is the name of the
woman daiming she was sexu-
ally assaulted by Supreme Court
nominee Brett Kavanaugh?
First correct answer after 12
noon Thursday gets the winning
certificate.
WE'VE GOT a Dunkin
Donuts in Forsyth but soon
after the first of the year, we will
only have a Dunkin but we are assured they will still have
donuts on the menu. Dunkin Donuts corporate people
say they are making the change that will emphasize the
diversity of their menu with an emphasis on their beverage
choices with coffee being their primary drink sale.
THE FLOODING caused by Hurricane Florence in
North Carolina brought back memories of the 1999 flood-
ing caused by FlOyd. I was sent to help with all the media
inquiries inundating the North Carolina EMA office. What
was worrying and conceming the EMA was the flooding
in an area where over 8 million hogs were penned.
As in 1999, the major concem in North Carolina this
food was the pig-pen flooding caused by Florence. Ac-
cording to reports, over 5,000 of the 8 million pigs and
hogs died. Yes, the pig/hog bodies were of concerri but
more of a concem was the pollution caused by over-flood-
ing of the hog waste lagoons.
The other concern, as in the 1994 flooding in Georgia,
was coffins popping out of the ground. It was a field day
for the local, state, national and international media. Didn't
happen due to Florence.
AS YOU are aware, I report on how our local taxpayer
money is spent reporting some of the most noteworthy
checks written. Those checks are miniscule when com-
pared to the checks that are written on the national level
as approved by Congress. A fuU-page ad in the Wall Street
Journal and paid for by OpenTheBooks.Com had 100 ex-
amples of Federal Taxpayer Abuse. Here are a few that will
leave you shaking your head if not your fist:
VLrtual Weight Loss Game, $228,830 by Georgia
Congressman, Hank Johnson Jr.;
Crescent City School of Gaming and Bartending, $9.5
million;
Comedy Club Holograms, $1.7 million;
Preparing religions for discover of extraterrestrial life,
$1.1 million;
Dancing with 15-foot fish, $10,000;
Professional Golfers Career College, $4.5 million;
Video game to encourage people to quit smoking,
$399,116;
Federal Government Public Relations, $4.3 billion-
--billion is correct;
How To Use A Lawyer Guide, $728,000;
Lighting for Liquor Stores, $50,000;
Fancy Rock Sculpture, $482,960;
Get ready for the most absurd:
New condom design with more lubrication, $200,601
authored by Joseph Kennedy III, Massachusetts;
Payments to gay Mexican prostitutes for safe sex,
$53,419;
Buying booze for embassies around the world,
$79,000;
Purchasing fidget spinners, $6,000;
Feminist porn book and other titles, $55,000
And finally the last one: Talking to Saguaro cactus,
$10,000.
Okay, herds one more: two sculptures for a VA facility
that serves blind veterans.
Don Daniel founded the Reporter in 1972. Email him at
mediadr@bellsouth.net to answer The Question or make
a comment. Don't forget to listen to The Reporter On The
Radio on Majic 100 on Sunday mornings at 7 and watch
Don, Will and Richard---on Forsyth Cable's community ac-
cess channel.
!TAKING A LIKENS TO YOU by Dale Likens
I truly try to stay out
of politics. However,
I try harder to be a
Christian. I try also to
be an American who still
loves America. I must ad-
mit, I fall short in all three.
But once
again I can't
help myself.
Once again
I believe it is
time to speak
out against
what I call
evil. I have
my personal
views regard-
ing all three of
my concerns
above. There-
fore, I must
speak of each
in this artide.
Politics: One of my real
concerns in politics today
is: "What is John Kerry
up to? What is he doing
trying to make deals with
Iran?" IfI am correct John
Kerry is no longer our
Secretary of State. This
morning I listened very
attentively to General Jack
Keane (Ret.) when he
was asked if John Kerry is
legal in what he is doing.
General Keands answer
was frightening to say the
least. "Kerry is violating
a law. He is meeting with
officials from Iran. I have
never seen anything like
that in my experience.
He'S trying to say these are
natural things. But they're
not. There has been a lot
of reporting on this. Iran
has been an enemy of ours
since the 1980's when they
began to kill Americans.
And they killed us by the
thousands.
He is there
supporting
a policy that
is opposite
our Ameri-
can policy. I
never heard
anything like
that? Espe-
cially when
his current
Secretary of
State calls out
this particular
predecessor
for this kind of behavior!
It's an absolute lowest of
lows for a former govern-
ment serving official?"
Senator Marco Rubio is
so concerned about John
Kerry's intervention into
U.S. governmental deci-
sions in regards to Iran
he is asking for a special
Senatorial investigation.
Please follow through with
your plea, Sen. Rubio. It's
time Republicans grew
some backbone.
Mr. Joe Biden has also
entered the traveling
circuit spreading the good
news about those of us
who may be considered
'Trump Followers: "Some
of President Trumps
followers are the 'dregs
of society'?" He was last
quoted at one of his rallies.
Let's see now. If you decide
to look up the definition of
'dreg' I can save you time.
Some of the synonyms for
'dreg' are 'scum; 'losers,'
'trash' and 'waste" But
maybe he didn't mean me.
He just said 'some' of us.
Wow! I feel better now! I
may not be the scum of
the world! It's bad enough
being deplorable.
My Christian view:
Emmy host Michael Che
(whoever he is) says,
"The only white people
who thank Jesus at award
shows are Republicans and
x-crackheads'l"
Somehow I'm guess-
ing that was supposed to
be a put-down to white
Republicans who used to
be 'crack heads" Or could
it simply be that he is re-
ferring to all Republicans
who may be Christians?
Then again, maybe he is
saying white Democrats
don't thank Jesus for such
remarkable recoveries?
Perhaps he is saying black
people (whether Democrat
or Republican) do thank
Jesus for such recoveries.
I'm confused Judge Che!
I'll just say this Judge Che:
if what you are saying is
true then I sa ; "Praise
God for those souls (white
or black-Republican or
Democrat) who have given
up crack and are praising
Jesus Christ for their vic-
tory over sin! Amen!"
Then, Thandie Newton
(whoever she is) told the
audience when she came
forward to receive one of
the Emmys' thousands
of awards, "I don't even
believe in God! But I want
to thank her tonight!" No
wonder the awards night
was the lowest viewing
ever!
America: Yes, I still
love America. However,
America is beginning to
remind me of a mouse that
runs loose in your house.
Oh, sometimes you can
hear that mouse in the
middle of the night. You
don't see any signs that it's
there. But then the signs
pop up here and there.
Even if you spot it run-
ning through your house
you think, oh, it's harm-
less. It might even seem
quite cute to you. 1hen the
destruction comes. Then
the family of destruction
begins to grow. If you don't
stop these mice they may
take over your house. Oh,
well! You get the idea!
Thirty-four days until
Election Dayt Wake up
America! It's time to clear
the house (and senate) of
all those mice! God bless!
Dale Likens is an au-
thor who lives in Monroe
County.
TO THE
To the Editor: this "threat multiplier" into strategic
loan Oliver's highly partisan plans. North Carolina's third 500-
et
p!ece, wems ant Acc p : year flood in 3 years caused many
ElectiOn Results," completely billions of dollars of damage. Last
misses on climate change.
Greenhouse gas pollution is not a
one-party concern. 55 percent of
Republicans in Monroe County
(and 70 percent of Georgians) think
climate change is happening (Yale
Climate Communications 2018).
Right-leaning majorities also agree
that human activity is at fault and
support regulating the pollution. The
United States military says drought,
flooding and rising seas threaten vi-
tal infrastructure and worsen refugee
migration. Top military brass factor
week floodMg also widely spread
toxic wastes'stored in vulnerable
animal and coal ash ponds. Warm-
ing atmosphere holds more mois-
ture, worsening our hurricanes and
storms. There is however, cause for
hope. Republicans have proposed
some very good solutions. The
Climate Leadership Council (includ-
ing Reagan Administration cabinet
members George Shultz and Jim
Baker) have proposed a market-
based plan to reduce greenhouse gas
pollution. Their plan will grow jobs.
The largest caucus in the House of
Representatives is half Republican,
half Democrat. At 88 members,
the Climate Solutions Caucus was
formed (at the urging of nonpartisan
Citizens' Climate Lobby) to reduce
climate risk and protect our nation's
economy, security, infrastructure,
agriculture, water supply and public
safety. These goals extend beyond
party affiliation, benefiting all Amer-
icans. Don't use partisan attacks to
silence those seeking solutions. We
must work together to solve our
growing climate change danger.
Jeff Joslin
Atlanta
7:
SERVING YOU
MONROE COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS
Greg Tapley Larry Evans Eddie Rowland
Chairman District 1 District 2
478-256-9277 394-0451 808-9354
John Ambrose George Emami
District 3 District 4
960-0764 706-207-03~3
FORSYTH ' ii, i iD
CITY
Eric Wilson John HowardChris Hewett
Mayor Post 1 Post 2
478-461-0889 706-819-2890 478-960-1017
Melvin Lawrence Greg Goolsby
Post 3 Post 4
478-993-7841404-402-I 134
Julius Stroud Mike Dodd
Post 5 Post 6
706-819-0797 478-994-6203
Austin (not long in) City Limits
Monroe County's congressman Austin Scott (R-Ashburn) held
his Jast Town Hall with his constituents in Forsyth (at right)
on Aug. 20, 2014. Scott did attend a chamber of commerce
event this spring but did not take questions from constituents
and therefore cannot be considered a town hall meeting. If
you want an opportunity to let Scott know what you want
him to do in Congress, call his Washington office at (202)
225-6531 and let him know.
II
:e
When Brian Kemp became secretary of state on Jan. 8, #'s
survey of the Monroe-Bibb County line was on his desk. The law says it's his job
to do something with it. He announced on Aug. 23, 2011 that he was rejecting the
Scarborough survey. Unfortunately, the law gives him no such option. So on March
10, 2014, the Supreme Court ordered him to set the line. That was four years ago.
The Reporter is devoting this space each week to counting the number of days Kemp
has been on the job, and yet not done his job. If you want Kemp to do the job which
he's sought three times before he gets a promotion to governor, call his office at
(404) 656-2817 and let them know.
