FreeSpeech for 11-24-04

Don’t blame the coach because your kids can’t play football. He’s just working his best with what he was given.
___________________________________________________________________

Let’s start a petition to fire the parents of Fayette County High School football players because the last football season was 1-9. A “long-struggling program” displays, bluntly, a lack of talent in your sons, not in Webb’s coaching. A FCHS mother stated that her “son has a right to play for a winning team.” Yes, ma’am, he does. He has a right to work harder and to promote teamwork, but not to win because mommy wants him to. These overbearing mothers need to stop and realize that Webb is coaching, but their children are playing. Yes, playing. Football is a game. McIntosh High School’s football team does not win all the time; however, they also do not have parents starting petitions to fire people working their tails off to help the team. Stop placing blame on the nearest target and humble yourself enough to realize that it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how your sons play the game. ___________________________________________________________________

I feel for you parents under the regime of the Fayette County High School Football Booster Club. My child played sports with their children in younger years and they were exactly the same then. Each player was given a gift video tape of the “teams’” highlights through the season and when viewed realized it was a showcase for “Junior.” Of course he was a mediocre player, but you’d have thought he was Michael Vick by the way it was edited. It was hilarious! As long as these parents are in charge nothing will change at your school. Good luck!
___________________________________________________________________

It was sad to read yet another column regarding FCHS. As the parent of a senior I can certainly empathize with the last writer. It’s disheartening to send your child to school expecting fairness and not getting it. What’s even more difficult is convincing your child, who is considered one of the good ones, to keep putting her foot forward and expect the best from everyone. You have teachers who teach to the “top” of the class and it doesn’t matter whether it’s remedial, college prep or AP, it isn’t good teaching. Dr. Warr has a problem and he needs to acknowledge it along with Dr. DeCotis. We have another straight-A, talented and well-rounded student at FMS; she won’t be attending FCHS after what I’ve witnessed with our senior. Shame, shame, shame.
___________________________________________________________________

What’s going on with the county’s Web site? As of Nov. 17, 2004, the Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes for Sept. 23, 2004, and Oct. 14, 2004, have yet to be posted on the Web site. These minutes have been approved by the Commissioners and yet they are not on the site. What’s with the delay? Also, why is information about posting election results the evening of Nov. 2 still on the home page of the county’s site? Isn’t there some kind of procedure to remove useless, dated material? ___________________________________________________________________

The Democrats have unveiled a scheme that they think will get them elected to the County Commission and School Board. The Democrats have done such a good job in Clayton and Fulton counties that I can hardly wait for them to do the same thing in Fayette County.

___________________________________________________________________

With all the talk about “special rights” for gays and others, it begs the question, from where do our rights come? The framers recognized that in a free society our rights are broad and not specified. The so-called “Bill of Rights” in the Constitution does not in fact grant rights, it simply promises not to take them away. It assumes we already had them! This theme is repeated throughout the Constitution and its amendments. The terms, “Shall not be denied or abridged” or “Shall not be infringed” appear repeatedly in the Constitution and indicate the rights to which they refer already existed. Similarly, when “activist” judges rule in favor of a person or group claiming a right, they are not “granting” it but are in fact “upholding” it, which in a free society is the presumptive position. For them to deny a right is the “activist” position, for in our society it is only with grave reservation that the government rules to deny a right, or freedom, to the governed. ___________________________________________________________________

Thinking down the road just a few years, when Peachtree Parkway north is four-laned (the bridges already are), it will be necessary to install a traffic light from Walgreens over to Peachtree Shopping Center. If not, no one will ever get out of either place. It is hard now. When installed it will be much closer to the Ga. Highway 54 light than the two at hwys. 54/74. Do you get the drift? Who cares? ___________________________________________________________________

So, Walgreens will put a berm in to protect us from intrusion. A berm is a scarp of a thing, a steep slope (ugly) with brush on it to cover up or hide ugliness, also. Why do these people want to intrude on a peaceful area? Build it behind the library, on the lake. Build it in the lake on a berm with a bridge to it. Better yet, don’t build it. We have enough drug stores now to supply the entire three adjoining counties. The Lutherans do not need all those millions; they should sell it for maybe $2 million for offices or another church, etc., and be happy for everyone. It won’t take but one generation of Lutherans to forget all the weddings, baptizing, funerals, souls saved, etc., in that location, but a Walgreens is forever something nasty. Who gets the big commission on the sale? Bet I could tell you without actually knowing, and they will never let up, even if it were a nuclear waste dump site for South Carolina, nor would their lawyers.
___________________________________________________________________

This is my first free speech (and maybe my last). I send it to defend the paper. I read Munford’s “Opinion.” He should have defended The Citizen more. There is nothing wrong with the Free Speech. It’s like the Vent. I don’t know but I would be willing be bet there are many Free Speech things that get deleted by The Citizen so you know there has to got to be some control over what goes in. And after all, didn’t the original Letter to the Editor get started by Jefferson or Franklin without their names ? I just think that The Citizen is a big cut above the other local papers.
___________________________________________________________________

“Proud pilot’s wife”: I’ll bet your husband was on a trip and did not know you wrote that “wonderful” article. If I were you, I’d plead the fifth; better yet, I’d drink one!
___________________________________________________________________

I had no idea I was supposed to hate Delta pilots. From now on I will do a better job. But what am I supposed to do about the Delta pilot who is the den leader for my son’s Cub Scout group? And what about the Delta pilot who coaches my daughter’s soccer team? How about the Delta pilot’s wife who was the first one to offer help when my father died? Am I supposed to hate them, too? I am not related to anyone who works for Delta but I have been a loyal Delta passenger. I know that times are hard but turning on each other like a pack of wolves certainly doesn’t make me want to be anywhere near you guys. Didn’t the pilots offer to take a 14 percent pay cut nearly a year ago? What kind of shape would the company be in now if they had accepted that offer? Maybe better than now and maybe not. I don’t think hating each other is very good for the company. One thing is clear: The hateful things that have been said in this column about the pilots only makes me wonder about the people who would write such things.
___________________________________________________________________

Before we get too unfriendly to our neighbors, let’s be sure to remember this: Santa is a pilot!
___________________________________________________________________

Can’t speak for anyone but myself, however, for those wanting to “slam” the professional Delta pilots, listen up: For the almost 34 years of my flying career, NO ONE, not any other employee group at Delta, no managers, supervisors nor executives have ever shown anything but disdain and disrespect for the Delta pilot group. They’ve all enjoyed the benefits of pay raises and benefit increases handed down on the backs of pilot contract negotiations, but somehow always forget why they got them. Easy to ride the coattails on the way up, only to point the finger and play the blame game on the way down. So here’s my position made perfectly clear: The only people who truly care about my career, my profession, my sacrifices and my achievements are those who wear Delta wings and epaulets. If you’re not one of them, I couldn’t care less about your thoughtless attacks. Questions? Send ‘em to someone who cares!
___________________________________________________________________

For all the pilot bashers, remember, without the pilots there wouldn’t even be an airline. Think about that the next time you or your family members need to get somewhere quickly and safely.
___________________________________________________________________

Wow, everyone is so quick to slam the Delta pilot’s wife in the Nov. 3 Free Speech column. While I might not agree with everything she wrote, she made her points with no personal attacks. In response she’s received nothing but! Not one valid point was debated. This display is nothing but naked envy and jealousy and is disheartening to say the least. Obviously the “Delta Family” is no more.
___________________________________________________________________

I am so tired of all the news stations and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talking about the misery of Delta employees. Yes, my husband is taking a 10 percent pay cut. But, we don’t live above our means (we live very well, though), we don’t spend frivolously, and we save for a rainy day. There is no misery here; in fact we sleep easier at night knowing that we are helping our company survive so that we have a job. I know a lot of people are envious of Delta employees and would like them to be miserable, but I would like to say, “Thanks for the sympathy, but we don’t need it. We are fine, thank you!”
___________________________________________________________________

I thought our favorite “poor little rich girl” could use some cheering up, so I’m sending her my favorite riddle: What’s the difference between God and a Delta pilot? Give up? God doesn’t think he’s a Delta pilot!
___________________________________________________________________

OK, I have something to say about the person who commented about the dog in North Hill. First of all, he’s a dog, he protects the people that live in that house, especially being a Jack Russell, which are hunting dogs. And no, that does not give him the right to bite some random jogger. But, about the dog that he bit, that dog was in the Jack Russell’s yard. The dog did not get “torn apart,” it was fine, and, it shouldn’t have been in the yard or the Jack Russell wouldn’t have bitten it. So, in my opinion, that other dog got what it deserved. Also, the little boy did get bit, but don’t get the wrong idea, this boy was around 11 years old. The boy and his friend were playing next to the dog’s yard, and if I had to guess, because I know this boy very well, I’d say they were antagonizing the dog. If they were, then yes, of course the dog is going to come through the fence and bite him. I know I sure would, wouldn’t you? So whoever wrote that statement, quit thinking that the dog is some vicious creature who wants to kill everything in sight, because that is certainly not the way it is.
___________________________________________________________________

To our good neighbors from Coweta. When driving in Fayette County, please use your turn signals. You ain’t at home.
___________________________________________________________________

It is my understanding that a group of so-called “conservatives” are pressuring Mayor Brown to accept an unfair amount of the SPLOST for Peachtree City, just to assure that more money will be obtained from the federal government (or the state) by doing so. These are the same people who don’t want anything from the government, they say. If you want to know who got the most “pork” from Washington in recent years, just add up all that the Republican Congressmen and Senators have received for their state, and compare to the amount received by the Democrats. There is little difference per person, more now for the Republicans, as they have more people. There is a religious word for people like this, but I don’t want to mix the two.
___________________________________________________________________

When will our local, friendly bank add the lawyers fees to the million dollars, plus that they say are owed by the Tennis Center? Pretty soon us taxpayers will owe TWO million. Me thinks, the bank needs to make a deal with the Tennis Center: a 50-year monthly payback of about 1,700 dollars per month, including NO interest. All tennis members could chip in about two dollars a month for 50 years and it would be paid off. If the original owners of the bank, who have already gotten rich from Synovus buying their stock, need to put some back, then so be it.
___________________________________________________________________

Buster’s Top 10 thankful list

Epistle to the Editor

Thanksgiving marks the only time that we ever gave the American Indians any credit. Once we could take care of ourselves, we wiped them out (not very thankful). Nowadays we don’t have time to be thankful at Thanksgiving because all our stores already have their Christmas promotions out. It’s like Monopoly and we “go straight to Christmas, do not pass Thanksgiving.”

As I was leaning back in the Lazy-Z-Boy and watching the Ford 400 it occurred to me that I’d a lot more to be thankful for than a great season of NASCAR viewing. Even the sports-crazy guys at the Y-Knot will agree that there’s much that we should be thankful for right here in the Peachy City. Here are my top ten items to be thankful for this year.

1. Bob “I Own This City” Lenox is not our mayor. The guy backs a SPLOST plan that shorts us villagers $30-something million and he has the nerve to chide the City Council of Peachy City because it passed. He is proof positive that you can take rottenness to a higher level.

2. Our little grubbers are such good students. Oh, if we could just keep them off of the golf carts!

3. That fewer people, including our Kiwanis members, are not taking Fred “Developers’ Buddy” Brown seriously anymore. He comes off as a frustrated old crank that loves to emphasize his reign in public office in the most fictional way possible.

4. Our Peachy City is still a great looking place to live.

5. We have a wonderful police department (I’ve gotten over the failing to come to a complete stop citation from a while back).

6. That the “In-DIRECT” PAC, comprised of 30 members and no brain, is so desperate that they actually offered to buy candidates to run against the Peachy Three (Weed, Brown and Rapson) that we villagers elected a while back. Maybe the foul board of the “Keystone” Chamber of Commerce will throw in a $50 rebate for each PAC candidate.

7. Our city is a God-fearing and patriotic community. Even the Democrats are patriotic in the Peachy City.

8. That we will eventually have a chance to vote Chairman Greg “Emperor” Dunn out of office one day. It’s pretty bad when you have to say that Emperor Dunn’s strong points are his use of force and deception in ruling over the villagers.

9. That I had the very good fortune to marry a woman crazy enough to hang around with me longer than I deserve.

10. Our city is starting to appreciate our seniors and our veterans more than ever before. We shouldn’t forget that there will come a time when all the WWII veterans will be dead and gone. We have so much today that I wonder if our children and our grandchildren could ever comprehend what those bygone times were like.

Please don’t eat yourself into intestinal distress on Thanksgiving!

Yours truly,

Buster
The Bard of Braelinn
___________________________________________________________________

Wow, after scanning the Free Speech section from Nov. 10, it seems as though the “proud pilot’s wife” barked up the wrong sympathy tree. She would have been better off sending in her plea to the editorial section of Neiman-Marcus. ___________________________________________________________________

Dear Ms. “Checked the Pilot Box” Wife. I hoped you read all the responses to your whiney take on the pilot situation at Delta. Now you know, no one really feels sorry for the pilots. The responses to your opinion should be kind of a wake-up call to you, but I’m afraid you checked next to “clueless box” on your life application a long time ago. ___________________________________________________________________

Just a quick note regarding the Delt-”duh” pilot’s wife: Give me a break! You little prissy, be thankful, as someone else also wrote, that your husband has a job. Or, horrors, you may have to get one. ___________________________________________________________________

I hope the 21 percent of Delta pilots who voted against taking a pay cut will have the guts to leave the company. To put your fellow pilots and Delta employees at risk of losing their livelihoods for your selfish gain is shocking. If you feel it was wrong, move on. ___________________________________________________________________

Let’s not be too hard on the “proud pilot’s wife.” After all, she may have only married him a few months ago and knows nothing about the true “Delta family.” ___________________________________________________________________

If this town allows the Lutheran Church to begin the downfall of another major intersection as was done by former Mayor Lenox at Ga. highways 54 and 74, then we should make some drastic changes as soon as possible. Let the church go where they want to go, and sell if they can, but do not change the zoning. We destroy enough property and lives at the other terrible intersection without messing up Hwy. 54-Peachtree Parkway. If it starts, that is the end of any control. ___________________________________________________________________

Am I the only one disgusted by all the land being cleared in Fayetteville to build stores and houses we don’t even need?

___________________________________________________________________

Let’s try this one more time: Yes, it’s your body. And, yes, you do have a choice. It’s called abstinence. ___________________________________________________________________

I am tired of some of these judges with the way they try to hog the limelight. The latest is this Howard Mead, Roy Barnes’ guy, with these TV commercials. Enough already! Then locally we got Judge Sams with the green bumper stickers he gives out and he can’t ever resist mugging for a local photo op. What takes the cake was Pappy taking a two-month vacation on the taxpayers to run around with the girls of the South Pacific and then getting a free car. When do you guys do your jobs? Enough already! ___________________________________________________________________

It is very nice how your paper notes the plays made by former Fayette County football players in their weekly games. However, it is not nearly as interesting as the current games being played by current high school players in the county. Headlines should be about these current local athletes, not previous ones. Their are three Fayette county teams in state championship games. You should be doing in-depth coverage of these players. ___________________________________________________________________

Should we get rid of Brown, Rapson and Weed? They pay too much attention to the details, they continue to deny rezoning requests, they will not approve more multifamily homes, they caused the development authority members to quit in disgrace, they won’t pay illegal debt, they consistently use common sense and sound judgment and fight for Peachtree City. Seriously, you can’t buy them, you can’t fight them and worst of all, they listen to every resident, regardless of who you are and where you live. How is a developer supposed to make money anymore? ___________________________________________________________________

I have been a conservative all of my adult life. I am 47 years old. I voted for President Bush in the last election, but not this one. I do believe that it was very scary saying that you were voting for Kerry. Say what you want, but many Bush supporters looked at you like, “Don’t you believe in God?” That is exactly how Bush won. The people that come out of the woodwork to push Bush over the edge are very scary people. Whether they or you like homosexuals or not is not the point. Homosexuals are Americans. They work hard and pay their taxes. They are protected because they are Americans. They have the same rights that you have. Who cares about marriage? All Americans have the right to share their life with whom they please. I might not like your wife and you might not like my husband, but that’s tough. I might not like what you do with your wife in the bedroom and you might not like what I do in the bedroom with my husband. But we should get the hell out of each other’s bedrooms. Maybe if you got to know some gay people you would change your “holier than thou” attitude. I am a Christian and I have gay friends who are Christians. You can look in the Bible all day and you won’t find one word that Jesus Christ spoke about homosexuals. But, he does speak about divorce; but, hey, everybody’s divorced. Don’t want to rub any divorced conservatives the wrong way. I love how people love to spread hate using the Bible, just like the terrorists are doing. I love to hear right-wing conservatives quoting the Pledge of Allegiance. They always say “One nation under God.” Well, finish the rest: “With liberty and justice for all.” My Dad fought in WWII and the Korean War for the rights of all Americans, not just the ones he liked or the ones who go to his church. Freedom is what we’re saying we’re fighting for in Iraq. Let’s as Americans show the world that we practice what we preach. I voted for Kerry and believe in traditional religion. I just don’t like it when people use the Bible to preach hate.
___________________________________________________________________

Some of the worst drivers in Fayette County drive cars with Clayton County license plates on them.
___________________________________________________________________

North Hill residents and joggers, beware: The vicious Jack Russell is back. It wasn’t bad enough that he bit the jogger, tore a small dog apart and tried to bite anyone who happened to walk past. He has made his return by running through an electric fence and biting a large chunk out of a small boy’s leg. Animal Control, is anyone home?
___________________________________________________________________

Only a fortunate few of our area high school athletes are able to play in a state championship game. On Saturday night there was one Starr’s Mill athlete who played in her second championship game in six months. Aubry Ireland, who played the entire game in the AAAAA girls soccer championship game in May against McIntosh High School also played the entire match for the Starr’s Mill girls volleyball team in their victory over Sequoyah High School.
___________________________________________________________________

It’s great that the American Cancer Society raised money with the Cattle Barons Ball. It will benefit many adults. Have you ever asked how much money they spend on pediatric research? Don’t be fooled that it is the American Cancer Society. They would be better off calling themselves the Adult Cancer Society. So many times they use children in their ads to get to your heart but they are doing nothing to help these children. Maybe if they would have considered funding some pediatric research my daughter would not be in hospice care. She will never have the chance to get an adult cancer so they will never help her.
___________________________________________________________________

You don’t have to like the idea of gay marriage to be four-square opposed to the idiotic idea of amending the constitution to prohibit it. All you sheep who think you voted to stop “perversion” are really perverting America’s constitutional origins. A constitution is primarily a vehicle to establish a political structure and assert and protect basic individual rights. That’s why it’s called the Bill of Rights and not the Bill of Wrongs. When we start amending constitutions to regulate behavior, it’s only a matter of time before the behavior being restricted is yours.
___________________________________________________________________

When is someone going to do something about the administration at Fayette County High School? I know we’re not the only ones who are aware of the problem because I have talked to other parents and I have read Free Speech items regarding the “good ol’ boy network” at FCHS. Everyone has heard of the student who was kicked out of school and arrested for having landscaping equipment in the back of his truck on school property. I know of at least two students who went through this. Neither one of these students had threatened anyone, nor were any secret plots ever uncovered to harm anyone with the equipment. Then there are the students who are paid to “rat out” other students. For example, a student will be paid $100 for telling the administration that another students has “pot” in his car. Guess what student A does with his $100. Or the students who are harassed by the administration and the school resource officer to name a student as the guilty party regardless of whether the student is actually guilty. I know of students who were actually called into the office and told, “If you’ll tell us that X did this, we will give you $100 and your name will never come up.” The school administration has a “hit list” of problem students. After all, they have a reputation to uphold. Obviously, I am writing this in the Free Speech column because I am worried about retaliation. I have no doubt that the allegations I have made are true. I have heard them from too many different people. Of course, the school will deny all of this, but the students know it’s true. It’s time someone investigated this. We could just move out of Fayette County so we don’t have to worry about it, but that wouldn’t solve the problem. These things have been going on for years, and they are not likely to stop unless someone steps in.
___________________________________________________________________

It has begun. They are eating their own young. Senator Specter is being denied if possible the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee since he said it would be a mistake for President Bush to nominate a judge who was strongly against the current woman’s choice laws. I guess it doesn’t much matter what else the judge would be for or against, unless it be “values.” Our local elections in Fayette went about as expected, and I don’t believe we have but one or two who want to tell everyone else how to live. We did pretty well. May the Creator help us through the coming wars and all those politicians who spout out our “values.” Religion in our government will be disastrous.
___________________________________________________________________

Bard goes after cats

Epistle to the Editor

That’s enough! The French government won’t help us in Iraq but they’ll play nursemaid to terrorist Yasser Arafat. The time has come for us give the idiots back the Statue of Liberty! The headline in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution read, “Arafat Dead” and it should’ve been followed by the word “Hooray.”

The French hate the fact that we are in Iraq because they lost one of their best military equipment customers. They were probably helping Saddam with his nuclear program too.

Our local neighbor terrorist is a cat that lives a block down the road. If the villagers have to keep their dogs restrained, why shouldn’t we expect the same for cats? This cat on our street is a tiger wannabe. He pounces on our songbirds and sends them to a horrible death. There have been times that I wished for a pellet gun to take care of that cat.

I went over one time to speak to the terrorist cat owner and told her that I preferred my songbirds to her cat and asked her to keep the cat inside. You’d have sworn that I just spanked her child in front of her. She told me that cats are beautiful creatures and that I shouldn’t hate. I told her with a sparkle in my eye that I loved cats because they taste like chicken (I couldn’t help it.). I now see less of the cat probably because the owner thinks that I’m old and crazy. Oh, well, so many cats, so few recipes, as they say.

There was interesting story in the newspaper regarding T-Town’s mayoral race. It appears that the Townies had to vote for mayor at one polling place and then go to another polling place to vote for the rest of the ballot issues.

In the voting, 80 percent of the Townies voted on the big ballot and only half voted at the second location for the mayor’s race.

Only in T-Town! The Townies thought that they had a handle on the voting system. Their handle broke.

Next year we’ll have to send Jimmy Carter and a team of experts into T-Town to monitor their election.

I read where the F-ville “Delta Bunch” Council is considering a big box ordinance. Wake up, guys, it’s too late!

My goodness, they already have one of every big store in existence.

Even more surprising is the fact that the “In-DIRECT” PAC actually agrees with Mayor “Cheery” Brown on the annexation issue.

This should be a clear indication that “Cheery” Brown needs to go reexamine his position.

If the “In-DIRECT” PAC is for it then we all know that Councilman Stuart “Difficult Last Name” K. is in favor of it.

As a fund-raiser, the “In-DIRECT” PAC is selling Stuart K. action figures where you whisper your thoughts into the back of its head and your words come out of his mouth.

There’s a rumor that the Fayette “Keystone” Chamber of Commerce might sell them as well to fund an ad campaign in favor of the next tax increase that appears on a ballot. Why represent the entire business community when you don’t have to?

It was joy to see so many people turn out for the election! I think that the homosexual issue was a big draw. It appears that our American electorate set the story “straight” on that issue much to the chagrin of the mayor of San Francisco.

Yours truly,

Buster, The Bard of Braelinn

It’s a tough week when you learn both that your pay is to be cut 32 percent and your sales tax increased 20 percent.
__________________________________________________________________

Now that SPLOST has passed, this county better start fixing the current roads before adding new ones, or a lot of mayors and city council members will find themselves out of a job in the next election.
__________________________________________________________________

When the sycophantic editor Cal Beverly begins flaring his nostrils at the mere mention of annexation, we can only have pity for him. Mr. Beverly has the liberal mindset that blames everyone else and curses anyone who gets in his way. He editorializes in favor of a tax increase for traffic improvements and then he screams at anyone willing to derive a traffic solution. We in Centennial along with many of our other neighbors want to see the McDuff Parkway extended and we wish that Mr. Beverly would stop crying about it and go find some bicycle accident at the local elementary school to write about instead.
__________________________________________________________________

Dear Bard, Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me! Love, A (you fill in the blank) Peachtree City Citizen.
__________________________________________________________________

Thank you, Mayor Brown, for fighting for all of us! I admit that I do not possess the fortitude to stand against the ruthless mob like you. To take on nearly every public official in the county on the sales tax to lose by only 2 percent countywide demonstrates that a multitude of us appreciate you being our David against a bunch of selfish Goliaths. Keep doing your best to stand up for the average citizen.
__________________________________________________________________

Retired from the USAF, my family has literally lived all over our country and Europe. I have never seen a politician with the guts to stand up to the big guys like Brown. He is also the first politician that I feel comfortable enough picking up the phone and calling about an issue. In our Sunday School class today the lesson leader asked, “Who do you go to in times of trouble?” A woman in our class answered, “Steve Brown, he got us our speed humps!” Everyone in the class laughed but they were also shaking their heads in agreement. This was a good moment worth sharing.
__________________________________________________________________

Finally one good reason to have Steve Brown as mayor: He makes it easier to vote. Just vote for what he is against and you will be right 100 percent of the time.
__________________________________________________________________

My husband and I moved her from Florida a couple of years ago. We’ve gone to some of the Fayette Commission meetings. They seem different. You said in your editorial that now the commission would be doing things in closed meetings. We didn’t do that in Florida. We had the sunshine laws and I’m not saying it’s better there but it seems different. Why do we have closed meetings here?
__________________________________________________________________

Wow, a comment about the problems and pay cuts at Delta; too bad it’s from a pilot’s wife. Yes, there are problems between the workers and the pilots at Delta and they’ve gone on for years. Mrs. Pilot, get some facts about what has happened at Delta in the last 15 years: 17,000 employees (who marked the wrong box on their applications) have retired or have been furloughed so your pilot only has to take a 28 percent pay cut. Remember your pilot didn’t take a pay cut during Ron Allen’s pitiful 7.5. Remember the past contracts that got more and more. Remember that Leo guided us to $3 billion in the bank on 9/12/01. Remember that two years ago when other airline pilots gave concessions for their carriers to survive, your pilot laughed at all of us. In retrospect Ron and Leo should have been pilots. Remember 17,000 employees have taken 40 to 100 percent pay cuts and soon there will be more. Remember only 28 pilots are still on furlough. Remember when there was only one Mercedes in your driveway. Remember when other employees would talk to your pilot. Remember when flight attendants would ask if your pilot needed anything. Remember when someone would sit next to your pilot on the employee bus. Remember this pay cut now may be too late to save Delta. Remember the beautiful signature: Delta Air Lines. Remember the last time Mr. Grinstein ran an airline it was Western Air Lines and Delta bought them and crushed every employee.
__________________________________________________________________

Dear Proud Pilot’s wife: The reason so many think the pilots should be higher isn’t because they make more. It’s because they were making around 30 percent more than other pilots, and this brings them to average for the industry. Mechanics and others are going to be at about average for the industry too. We should all be at average for the industry when the times are tough. When the times are good, we should all be at equal levels above industry standards for our jobs.
__________________________________________________________________

To all the whining, greedy, egomaniacal Delta pilots and their pampered wives: My wife has been with Delta for over 30 years. Since 1997 her base pay has increased 10 percent. Factor in the insurance costs that were previously provided and she’s making the same as she was in 1997. Inflation from 1997 to 2004 has been 16.4 percent. Effective Jan. 1, 2005, her pay will be reduced 10 percent. I’m convinced that feeding the monster (pilots) has prevented Delta from raising her pay to at least keep pace with inflation. I know of no Delta employee who feels sorry for the pilots or their wives.
__________________________________________________________________

In regards to the Delta pilots having to take such a “huge” pay cut: First, let me just say that I am the proud wife of a Delta mechanic. Let’s get some things straight. First of all, cutting the pilots’ pay will bring their salary down to the salary of the other pilots in the airline industry. Does a Delta pilot fly his plane better than an American or a US AIR pilot? Why should they be above and beyond what all other pilots in the industry make in these times of crisis? I don’t think everyone thinks that the pilots are the cause of all the problems. We surely know better. Furthermore, when (mechanic) friends of yours say that they have already taken a 10 percent pay cut, they are not meaning the one coming in January. They are talking about when money was taken from our salaries, and the pilots were given a raise. Hmmmm. I’m sure that if a gate agent or a baggage handler takes a 30 percent pay cut, it would thrust them into poverty. I’m sure you or I won’t struggle to feed our children like they would. We should be grateful to have our jobs at all, in this weakened industry. Because one day that could change. As far as “compassion” for the pilots giving up pay, please, you didn’t want to give it up. You were forced to for the good of this company and its future. You are union. We are not. Is your union looking out for the good of the company, or just trying to put as much money in your pockets before it goes belly up? Let’s get real here. If you can justify why a pilot needs to make WAY above all other pilots, while the rest of us sit back and watch our company take a nose dive to the ground, please, by all means, humor me. Otherwise, how about if we send our compassion out to the thousands of employees who are about to become jobless. Of course, you could always go fly for another airline, making 30 to 40 percent less than you do now.
__________________________________________________________________

As the proud wife of a Delta mechanic I would like to address the Free Speech last week of the proud pilot’s wife. Your husband is taking a 32 percent pay cut because the pilot’s union demanded HUGE pay raises before 9/11/2001 making them the highest paid in the airline industry. Mechanics are not. Yes, management “mismanaged” the company, but the pilots union is to blame also, for refusing to take a pay cut sooner. The rest of us have been paying higher insurance premiums for a while now (technically a pay cut), while you didn’t. Your husband still has a pension plan, mine will not other than his 401K plan. Thousands are losing their jobs as well because of higher fuel costs and high pilot wages. We are ALL sharing the burden now. Let’s just hope it isn’t too late.
_________________________________________________________________

To the proud wife of a Delta pilot: After reading your letter, I have changed my stance. I sure hope that Delta does not cut your husband’s pay. After all, he needs that money so you can take a few English and Economics classes.
_________________________________________________________________

To the proud pilot’s wife: Apparently your husband failed to tell you that the employees that didn’t “check the pilot box” have already given up 10 percent several years ago. That does NOT include the cut effective Jan. 1, 2005, nor does it include the increase in out-of-pocket insurance costs. The pilots may not have caused the problems we are faced with today, but they have created much animosity within the company. For instance, the work slowdowns during their contract negotiations a few years back and their chants of “United plus one,” referring to what United pilots received plus 1 percent more to be number one. Well, United took about a 34 percent cut, therefore Delta pilots should take 33 percent and they would still be “United plus one”! We are not asking they give more, just catch up to what the rest of us have already given!
__________________________________________________________________

To the woman who is “a proud Delta pilot’s wife”: You’re so proud that you had to use the Free Speech column where no names are required instead of writing a letter to the editor where names are required? First of all, blah, blah, blah, blah. Do people really think that the pilots or their spouses would voluntarily take a pay cut? Lady, get used to the real world and get out and get a job like all us other working women have to do to support a family. The pay cut for most Delta pilots based on a pilot making $250,000 or more a year for working a few days a month is much more than most hard-working people make after working 50-60 hours a week for a whole year. You may have to give up the country club or driving your children to school every day. But don’t expect most of the hard-working-class people to feel sorry for you. And what about the management? Yes, I agree that they should give back as much or even more than pilots. But don’t knock the little hard-working gate agent or mechanic/flight attendant for what they make. Everyone has had to suck it up, so why shouldn’t pilots? Just be glad your husband still has a job making $200,000 or more. He could be out of a job altogether, then it’s for dang sure you’d have to go to work.
__________________________________________________________________

I have diabetes and am wondering why the Fayette Community Hospital has located their Diabetes Education Program over at the Minor Emergency Care Center in Fayetteville. This is where they want everyone with the flu to go for treatment, as per John Munford’s article in the Nov. 3 paper. I am healthy, but at risk for illness due to my diabetes. Why would I want to sit in a room full of people who are sneezing and coughing all over me? Seems to me that the hospital should be promoting health, not making people sicker. Diabetes is epidemic, and education is the key to managing it. Seems to me that the hospital would be able to find a better place for helping people learn about such an important disease.
__________________________________________________________________

We have a lot to work out now that the national election is over. If the administration tries to ramrod through everything that offends nearly half of our population, there will be trouble like no one imagines. First, Bush must let the “church” know that we aren’t a theocracy of any kind, and there are scores of kinds. Some of the richer “church” dudes, like Dodson, Robertson, Church, etc., already are trying to tell Bush what he can and cannot do as President. We ought to know by now in history that chaos is all that evolves from such things as the old crusades and the inquisitions. Government is a different thing than a person’s particular religion, and it must be so. Perpetual wars won’t divert thinking people’s attention long. Especially when we aren’t going to get any more from them than we did in Vietnam.
__________________________________________________________________

No one seems to want to admit responsibility for all of the available flu shots currently being dribbled out to people of influence. If whoever should be doing this doesn’t soon announce a schedule, there won’t be enough vaccine left for the tiny kids, much less an old 71-year-old fogie with a heart problem and diabetes, like me. It is a disgrace; this is what private commerce does with health problems, screw-ups and profit. I am really frustrated with all of our local “leaders” who claim to have no influence over the health department, whoever that is. I can’t wait for our national health plan from the new national leaders; it will help us all, right, and create a health commercialism in this country like the flu shot fiasco. It is all being quieted, just as the million bucks somebody got from the old development authority that they now want us to pay for just like the new SPLOST and the new bonds. Wow! What a good start for fiscally conservative politicians.
__________________________________________________________________

Buster: SPLOST woes ahead

Epistle to the Editor

I think that we’re going to regret the day that we let Chairman Greg “Emperor” Dunn have complete control of our tax dollars.

Our “Pathetic Five” former mayors jumped on the lifeboat and left all the villagers on the sinking ship. Their financially linked developer friends are smiling from ear-to-ear.

I wasn’t a resident villager when Joel “Democratic Insider” Cowan was mayor but I know that he likes to take the credit for everything that was done after his term in office. It doesn’t matter who does the work as long as you get the credit.

Everyone at the Kmart will tell you that politics is always going to be suspect. All the villagers in the Peachy City and all the townies in T-Town are now to Emperor Dunn what a fire hydrant is to a big dog.

We’d probably all die from shock if we knew the real truth about what goes on behind the Emperor’s office door.

Mayor “Cheery” Brown tried to be the squeaky wheel and the Peachy City Council was 2 percent away from getting the grease.

The villagers over at Halloween Party in The Estates thought that the Peachy City and T-Town Councils could’ve limped through their SPLOST arguments a little better and gotten us some more of the tax revenue.

The saddest part was that the Fayette “Keystone” Chamber of Commerce was paying a fortune for advertising the SPLOST using the money from Peachy City businesses that aren’t getting the sales tax funds.

I’m so glad that I closed my little part-time business years ago and no longer have to be part of that Keystone bunch.

Scribe Beverly is going after the annexation deal like a pit bull with rabies. Continuous optimism is annoying but the Scribe is getting to be even worse on the other end of the spectrum.

The young villager that works at the Chili’s restaurant and lives on that side of town says that all his neighboring villagers are all in favor of linking MacDuff Drive and Ga. Highway 74.

The Scribe hasn’t had the best record in the last couple of years and it seems that it’s a lot easier for him to be critical than to be correct.

The guy backed two tax increases this time around! Maybe he ought to get his prostate checked or at least his rabies shot.

It was great to check all of those Republican boxes on the electronic pad! However, everyone in Glenloch would have been very tempted to vote for a Democrat against Commissioners Peter “Moe” Pfiefer, A.G. “Curly” Van Landingham, and Herb “Larry” Frady.

Yes, they’re truly sheep in sheep’s clothing. Some sheep do get sheared, though, and the president of the Peachy “Embarrassing” Bank has stepped down.

Nearly everyone associated with the old “Non-Development” Authority has moved or disappeared. Boy, howdy, did that bunch give the city a black eye. Tricksters never prosper and their wicked ways caught up with them.

I’m still hoping that Delta stays afloat and that I continue to have a pension into the future. God forbid that my wife and I begin to struggle and Judi “Hyphenated” Rutherford kicks us out of Peachy City.

Yours truly,

Buster, Bard of Braelinn

The ballots should be cast for president by now, but I doubt if it will be over. The only way it will be is if one or the other side wins an overwhelming number of electoral votes. I hope that is the case. Hundreds of lawyers won’t let it rest if there is a chance to mine fees.

__________________________________________________________________

I am a proud citizen of Fayette County and a proud liberal. I’m sure you would be surprised to know how many of us there are. I certainly respect your right to publish mainly Republican and conservative columns and editorials. I am disappointed that you do not print a fair share of articles and columns with opposing points of view. The citizens of Fayette County are capable of making educated choices when presented with both sides of an issue. I believe you owe them that much respect. It belittles them to do otherwise.

__________________________________________________________________

We were recently guests of the Sleep Inn in PTC in town for NASCAR. I was somewhat irritated when I came back from the race on Saturday to find that the hotel had no parking spaces due to the trick-or-treaters at The Avenue shopping center. I voiced my opinion to the desk clerk who then started to let people know that due to the hotel being booked that parking was available to hotel guests only. I stood and watched time and time again as the lady was yelled at by residents even after an explanation was given. A lady screamed at her wanting to know where the sign was. It’s private property, lady. Do you have a sign in your driveway telling me not to park there?

__________________________________________________________________

Recently Councilwoman Rutherford voted to deny the seniors living in Peachtree City an additional homestead exemption. This vote was a non-binding referendum simply asking the state to allow the citizens of Peachtree City to make this decision. Her reason, she doesn’t feel that a special interest group should get preferential treatment. She makes this statement while voting along the lines of Direct-PAC, a special interest group. Now I’m not saying that I agree or disagree with Direct-PAC, just that I find it interesting that she can pick and choose which special interest groups she can or will support. Why not support the referendum and let the citizens decide?

__________________________________________________________________

The presidential election is over; Thanksgiving is approaching. Some of us had an opportunity to see Fayette’s finest at the double Eagle Scout ceremony of Robby Romeo and Craig Hyatt last Sunday. In achieving the highest Scout standard that eludes 98 percent of Scouts, Robby and Craig honored their families and their community. The highlight of the ceremony was their slide show, which showed their own loyal friendship to each other over the years. There are many, many great kids in Fayette County and Robby and Craig are two of them. Congratulations !

__________________________________________________________________

I wonder when the city fathers and mothers of PTC last had their moral compass calibrated. Stiffing someone you owe money to is a sure indicator of poor character. Speaking of right and wrong and money: I’m still waiting for Councilman Rapson to reimburse PTC for the legal fees his wife cost the city with her frivolous law suit.

__________________________________________________________________

I don’t think we should use federal dollars to pay a modern-day Doctor Frankenstein to grow backbones, kidneys, and livers from stem cells. Those self-centered people who think it’s okay to grow humans in test tubes and Petri dishes just to harvest stem cells should donate their own money, sperm, and eggs and then let them answer for their own deeds on judgment day.

__________________________________________________________________

The Bard of Braelinn (self-proclaimed expert, retiree, Bush supporter) must be using the same “fuzzy” math that W. uses. According to his analysis of the SPLOST impact on seniors, he must have retired with millions per year. He states that the SPLOST will result in “our older villagers” having to pay “thousands of dollars more in sales taxes.” Hmmm, if 1 percent equates to one penny on the dollar, 10 cents on 10 dollars, etc., then that means to get to “thousands” would require spending more than $100,000 per year in goods bought in Fayette County! Exactly how many “older villagers” actually are earning enough in retirement to spend over $100,000 per year in Fayette County alone? It seems the Bard of B.S. is using not only “fuzzy math,” but a “campaign of fear.” Oh, he probably still thinks that WMDs will be found in Iraq. It’s time for the Bard to quietly slip into the oblivion from whence he came.

__________________________________________________________________

I was made to understand recently by a confirmed conservative that the government, federal, state, nor local, is NOT responsible for the flu shot debacle. I was told that this is a private business thing and that companies who want to make the vaccine can, or not, and that the CDC, Tommy Thompson, and health departments, and certainly not President Bush and his staff, are not responsible. Well, I agree with that. They aren’t very responsible. Who, in the name of mercy, would think that a drug company would put people’s health concerns concerning a possible epidemic ahead of profit? Capitalism doesn’t work that way. How do you think regular drugs got to be about $5 per pill? Leadership is all that it takes. The kind of leadership that isn’t interested in making certain people rich. I hope the election has made a better decision by now than the U.S. Supreme Court made four years ago.

__________________________________________________________________

I am writing this because as a proud Delta pilot’s wife I am tired of the misconception that the pilots are causing all of Delta Air Line’s problems. Delta is NOT in its current financial state because of the pilots. The 9/11 attacks, war, weather (hurricanes and all) and management are the reasons for the problems we are all facing. Next let’s address the pay issues. I have had friends say to me time and again that they have already taken a 10 percent pay cut (which does NOT go into effect until Jan. 1, 2005) and on the salary they make, they cannot afford to give any more. I want everyone to understand how uncompassionate that sounds. Because these friends checked the box marked mechanic/flight attendant, etc., and not pilot, there should be less expected from them? Because they make less money than a pilot, they should have to give up less? What about the gate agent who gets paid less than the mechanic? Should that person be expected to give us less or the mechanics should give up more? If I understand the formula correctly, the lowest income employee should give up 10 percent, the next level (mechanic/flight attendants, etc.) should give up 20 percent and the pilots should give up 30 percent. What I hear is that the pilots make the most money and they should give up more than 30 percent. What about the management? Shouldn’t they give up more than 30 percent because they make WAY more than the pilots do? Why are the pilots targeted? Finally, I would like to have each and everyone take into consideration that any pay cut is hard to handle. What I don’t appreciate is the fact that the other Delta employees think the pilots should and deserve to give up 30 percent of their pay and if they cannot afford it, it’s their fault for living outside their means. The compassion for what the pilots are giving up is not there. It is almost as if the other employees feel the pilots deserve a pay cut. These are the same pilots that make our community thrive. It is the same set of people that support the restaurants, retail and other venues in our county. Instead of everyone having so little compassion for our pilots, maybe we should each take into consideration what that support means to us and others in our community. After all, if you were to ask a homeless person if they would want the mechanic/flight attendant salary minus 10 percent they would be grateful. They would be grateful for their salary and 50 percent pay cut. It is all a matter of who you ask and what box they checked. Each and every one of us is given the opportunity to check homeless, mechanic, flight attendant, gate agent, baggage handler, pilot, management, etc. Why should those that chose pilot be penalized?

__________________________________________________________________

Bard wonders about MHS

Epistle to the Editor

Well, I said a little prayer before I went to the Atlanta Motor Speedway and asked God to give the villagers in the Peachy City enough sense to vote against doubling our taxes and to let Dale, Jr., rack up a few more points.

Former mayors Bob “I Own This City” Lenox and Fred “Developers Buddy” Brown asked the citizens to vote for the SPLOST so that we could get smacked up the backside by our infamous County Commission Chairman Greg “Emperor” Dunn.

I just got finished bragging on the Peachy City Council and I’ll be darned if the newspaper doesn’t say that Councilman Steve “Rebellious” Rapson lashes out at Mayor “Cheery” Brown.

Rebellious Rapson started chewing on Cheery Brown’s hide and saying that the mayor is knee deep in wrongdoing.

Councilman Murray “Smoking” Weed said it was all right and gave a completely different story than Rebellious Rapson.

My wife and I could not figure out what they were talking about in the first place. It sounded like they’re making a television commercial and Rapson didn’t really know what it was about.

Virginia Gibbs from the Fayette “Keystone” Chamber of Commerce added that Cheery Brown was trying to make the Keystone Chamber look bad but she forgets to tell us what he said that was so wrong.

It’s not really all that hard to make the Keystone Chamber look bad and they do a pretty good job of it themselves.

My granddaughter attends over at McIntosh High and she can’t understand why the football program is so feeble. It’s tough when neighboring Sandy Creek and Starr’s Mill do so well.

It could be that “Emperor” Dunn and the Three County “Stooges” are making some changes to the county water as it enters the Peachy City. Don’t drink the water, boys!

Somebody please fill us in on what happened to the Peachy Target. One week all the villagers were up in arms and the next week all the villagers were happy.

I can’t figure out what happened with the annexation thing either. Everyone at the Pancake House said it’s almost like the reporter is keeping it a secret.

“Scribe” Beverly was probably too busy asking the villagers to double their taxes on Nov. 2 in the editorial section to keep up with the other news.

To make matters worse, we now have complaints of porn on the FX channel. I keep up with NASCAR on FX and the closest thing that I have seen to porn is the beer commercials.

The villagers were worried about protecting their little grubbers. When is someone going to protect the rest of us from their little grubbers?

In my part of the village there is the annual event of trouncing through Mr. Buster’s flowerbeds, also known as Halloween.

If we don’t do something to cull the herd now, the damage will be twice as bad next year. Something to think about.

Buster
The Bard of Braelinn

Nov. 24, 2004

Nov. 17, 2004

Bard goes after cats

Nov. 10, 2004

Buster: SPLOST woes ahead

Nov. 3, 2004

Bard wonders about MHS